


Longest Novel

by MorganKingsley



Category: Craig of the Creek (Cartoon), Digimon - All Media Types, Gravity Falls, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Original Work, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, The Amazing World of Gumball, Wayside (Cartoon)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Alternate Dimension, Alternate Universe, Angst, Blood Sacrifices, Broken Arms, Civil War, Clock Tower, Comedy, Community Service, Corruption, Crossover, Dark, Death, Dialogue Heavy, Drugs, Empire, Everybody's straight, Falling In Love, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fatherhood, Futuristic, Georgia, Half fanfiction and half original work, Heavy Angst, Indiana, Inner Dialogue, Labyrinth - Freeform, Lazarus Pit, Lies, Lightsabers, Melting in Lava, Minnesota, Multi, New York, Out of Character, Pedophilia, Police Brutality, Police Interrogations, Politics, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rebellion, Rebuilding, Replicants, Sex, Sins of the Father, Skating, Slave Trade, Teenage Parents, Time Travel, Trade Federation, United States, War, Wisconsin - Freeform, Work In Progress, World War 1, World War 2, Young Love, bloody noses, comingofage, corrupt cop, corrupt mayor, corrupt politician, everybody smokes, montana, relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-16 05:12:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 92
Words: 1,398,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13629312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorganKingsley/pseuds/MorganKingsley
Summary: In 2018, nearly twenty years after he sold his honor and integrity to a media company for cheap money and entertainment for kids, a middle aged author decided that he wanted to make one final book in his career that would tell the truth of the adventure he had when he was young.An au of seasons 1-4 of digimon that takes place in the united states11 completed chapters out of 97 total





	1. Prelude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for those new readers: The first several chapters of this story are not as good as I remember them being when I wrote them. They are pretty clunky and can be kind of hard to get fully immersed in, and some things in the first parts of the story even might make some errors in the over all plot. It starts to pick up a lot better starting "I Move To a New Town" where the story really fits the narrative I want, and I feel like captures the overall point better. If you skip until there, I would not blame you, but if you don't and you really all the chapter anyways, I will ask that at least in these early chapters, that you put aside a lot of the problems you find and just judge it for the plot it is mainly trying to get across, rather than structural problems, which I know is not really strong for a while. Also, please don't get too crazy with the reviews on spelling and sentence structure. I know I'm not that great at editing. But let's be real here, there are fanfics on this site that come out on a weekly basis with sentence structure and spelling a thousand times worse than this. I'm doing my best here. I just have a decent story and plot I want to share with the rest of the world, even if there are bumps, I feel the scope and vision I have here is what is important to really be looking into... Besides, you can always look at the progression here as a sign of my changing writing styles as well as differences to how I capture the true vision here.
> 
> Sorry for the long authors note defending/excusing writing problems, I just wanted to make it well known that even I think this story does get a lot better once you stick it through

Prelude (2018)

In the year 2018, there was a man in his house. This man was on the lower end of middle-aged. He had turned 44 just this year. His name was T.K., and he was sitting around in his house. On this day, he was thinking about his career and pondering what he should write his next book about. T.K. had published his first book in 2000 when he was just 26 years old.

Before then, he had odd jobs that he worked in order to give him some form of income. At first, writing had just been a way of getting some money, but then his work had turned out to be a bestseller - the profits proving to fund his next project and so it slowly grew from there.

Eventually, he had covered almost every genre to some extent of success and failure depending on the book he'd written. He had made about one book per year for his now devoted fans and almost every one of his books had been some form of a best-seller. He now decided that at this point in his career he should write an autobiography - a book about the real-life experiences of his youth. T.K. figured there was no need to publish yet another book on a genre or series that he might not have been all that invested in.

It was at this point that he thought that if he wanted to truly capture his experiences, then it would be crucial to cover some of the most important events. That way, he figured, his audience would hopefully enjoy his story as much as he anticipated he would write it. There was one adventure that he had gone through when he was about twelve years old, the year of 1986, that he thought people would be interested in.

As he came to this conclusion, memories popped up in his mind.

This was when he finally made his choice. He grabbed the phone and called his best friend. Joe was the name of his friend who was going to be helping him out with this project. He and Joe had been having a decently running friendship ever since the adventures of 1986. He and Joe were forced to get along but as they had started to put differences aside, they were able to have a lot of really good conversations about life. T.K. thought that maybe Joe would be able to help him plan out the stories he wanted to share with the world.

Joe was five years older than T.K., meaning that Joe was born in the year 1969. A much less significant difference than when they were kids. T.K. was thinking of all of this as he had called his friend. He tried to think of the best way to tell Joe of his plans. How would Joe react? But he didn't have all that much of a chance to ponder this as Joe had answered the phone call pretty much right away.

"So T.K., what are you up to?" Joe asked. He was not asking that in a mean way, but rather in an honest, almost childlike curiosity. It was rare to get a call from T.K.

Without much hesitation, T.K. explained to him the idea he had had that morning and that he was just trying to make a new book. As Joe heard that, it made him very shocked and confused at first but then he just thought of his friend and tried to come up with what to say.

"I guess that I will help you out. Just give me some time to get to your house. Once I get there, then we can start." Joe had said.

T.K. sighed in relief. Not only would he have some help in this project of his, but he would not be forced to go through these memories all alone. With that, T.K. thanked Joe, hung up, and started waiting.

About an hour passed before Joe had made it to his house. As T.K. was waiting, he naturally brought out his journal and started to write in it. One thing to write about came to his head right away.

He thought of the fact that George H.W. Bush had died two days ago. As a life-time Republican, T.K. was devastated over the fact that the president that had helped make him a Republican had died. Prevailing President Trump, who also was a Republican and on the second year of his term, had made a public speech giving his sympathy of the president's death and telling the country that they should be united for their common mourning of former president Bush.

He was the second longest-lived president, just two months shy of 94 years old. The only president who had lived longer was Jimmy Carter, as he was still alive.

T.K. had been really sad over this whole thing and there was nothing that he could really do to express his sadness. He was currently living in a place that was largely democratic. Chaicago, Illinois was somewhere that T.K. hated to live in since he had not wanted to be called racist just because he had different political views compared to them. T.K. had never voted Democratic because he rationalized that even if the candidate for the Republicans were largely terrible as people, such as the aforementioned Donald Trump, T.K. always went by their policies and their ideas, not their personality. That was what made him never once vote Democrat. Obama was a nice person in his view, but Trump did share his policies more, same as Romney, McCain, both Bushes in all the elections they ran, and Bob Dole. Damn, even if Jar-Jar Binks was running as a Republican he would feel like he'd have to vote for him. Donald Trump had got his vote due to policies and ideas, despite the fact that T.K. hated him as a person.

T.K. decided to stop thinking politically for a little bit since it always made him angry to be considered a minority where he lived. So instead of thinking politically, for the time being, he looked at the pictures in his living room. There were three pictures that stood out to him especially. One of him when he was young and in his prime in his adventures, one of his wife when he had met her at the age of nineteen (he was thirty-six years old at the time), and one of their son Trent, who was five years old by this point.

Before T.K. could think too much more on that issue, he heard a knock on his door and got up as fast as he could. He started to walk to the door. He paused and took a deep breath, knowing with a 95 percent certainty who this person could have been. But he opened it just a couple of seconds later and greeted his friend Joe with as much excitement that he could muster under the circumstances. He was aware of how they were just about to start talking about the hardest experience of his entire life.

"So T.K., when do you plan on getting ready for this?" Joe had asked.

T.K. didn't respond right away. He decided that there was nothing else that he could do that would make putting this thing off any longer more tolerable. So he just nodded and led Joe inside the house that his friend had not been inside of for almost six months. They hung out every other week, but almost always at the college that T.K. taught at.

T.K. taught at a Community College for Creative Writing during his spare time to get him some money while he was working on his books. He taught his class every weekday for 75-minute sessions His class was worth six credits. The reason he did daily classes was that he was wanting to get the idea in his students' heads that you can't take a break from your writing or else the characters and story start to feel more like fictional characters and not like real events and people. Of course, they weren't real events and people, but good storytelling means those things should almost feel real. It was a quick and easy job for some quick and easy money and he enjoyed it.

"I think we should probably just get started with this as soon as possible. So we can make as much progress possible in the time frame that we have." T.K. had said.

Joe knew that T.K. was right. Both of them agreed that when they would write this story, they would just write the stuff that came to their head. After all, many of these things they were remembering for the first time in years.

Right when Joe and T.K. started to write their book, T.K. started to have a flashback of something in his past. The flashback had started back in the year 2010. It was when T.K. was walking down the street with a box in his hand. As he was walking down the street, he was getting ready to start his teaching job at the community college. This would be his first year here. He was not really sure if he would be able to do a good job teaching or not. But he was hoping that his first year would not be a total disaster. That was a very easy goal he thought to himself.

As he was walking around, he was trying to find a place to sit down for a couple of minutes to take a break. After all, he was starting to get a little bit tired from all of the walking and he was wanting to just let his legs rest up a little bit. Which was a little bit strange sounding. But he was just feeling that way. After he was walking around for another few feet, he spotted a girl who looked to be a young adult sitting down on the main staircase. She seemed to be really lost in thought. T.K. wondered if there was anything he could do to assist her.

When he had sat down next to her, he was thinking about the least creepy and friendliest way to approach her. "Hey, I saw that you looked pretty down. I know that it's sort of strange for me to come to you. Considering that we have never met... But I just couldn't help but wonder if you needed any help right now. If you don't, I will just leave you be."

When T.K. had said that, the girl looked up at him as if to show her confusion. She was not really expecting him to be there. She even considered opening up to this stranger. After all, he was being nice and it would be kind of mean to shoot him down when he was trying to reach out to her. He was being much nicer than half the people she did know.

The girl let out a pent-up breath before quietly replying. "I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing with my life anymore. I was signing up for college at the start of the year, but I have no idea what I want to do. I'm starting to regret signing up in the first place and I wished I went to a different place now. I really wish I didn't listen to my parents and that I just went with what I thought was right for my own sake." The girl said.

T.K. seemed to think about that and he wondered what he could say to her to make her feel better. "What do you think is making you question your own choices? I have not been in the college before, but I am going to be a teacher there and this will be my first year. I think that you should just take a deep breath and take things one day at a time. That is the way that I usually go at things. I go at it one day at a time and hey, it's worked for me so far," T.K. said, offering her a smile. He was tempted to put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting way, but he did know better than to do so.

"Well, I wanted to go out and meet some new people and make some new friends. I was getting really tired of being in this town and I hated growing up in it. High school was not that great and really ruined my idea of this town. I applied to a college in a different town. But my parents had found the application and then they put the letter back in my room. I knew then that they were going to force me to stay here. It really hurt me to know that they didn't care at all about what I wanted or the choices I was trying to make." The girl said and then T.K. sort of had an idea of how this had felt but he could not really try to help her besides motivation and nice words.

"I had a lot of things that my parents did not want me to do. And I wanted to do these things so bad that I started to rebel. I got in trouble quite a bit when I was even younger than you are. I really wish that I started to go out and be more independent, but then again I have some great stories to tell my class for writing pieces. And that is one way to look at it. At least if for nothing else, you can look at this as a possible life story and you can tell this story to all your friends and children when you finally grow up." T.K. said and then he was wondering what she was thinking about him saying this.

"I have no idea how you are able to look at things so brightly and not have a bad outlook on anything related to life. Honestly, it does impress me quite a bit. How do you do it? How are you able to keep such a good attitude on all of this and never want to give up? You seem to be that one type of guy that no matter what happens, you would never want to let anybody down. You really remind me of somebody I knew ten years ago," the girl said. She then held her hand out. "My name is Catherine. What's your name?"

"My name is T.K. Shioda. Well, you should probably call me Mr. Shioda when you see me in class. I don't really think that people will want me to refer to myself as my first name and all that. So I don't really care. But whatever, I guess if you want to do it this way, then I think that you should be able to have that choice." T.K. said, and then he shook her hand and that was when Catherine had pieced it together.

"That explains why I felt like I knew somebody like you. Didn't you have a babysitting job in 2000? I think that that explains why I knew you. I think that I was one of the people that you were babysitting back in the day." Catherine said and then when she had said that, T.K. looked at her and started to examine her face. When he did, flashes started to come to his mind and he realized that she indeed was the girl that he had babysat in the summer ten years ago, and now she was all grown up.

"Oh my god, you actually were that girl that I had known back in the day. There were several kids that I helped babysit and they were sort of like your friends. Like the really like strong one. Well, strong for the young age that you guys were. Then there was the one who you hung out with but they didn't talk much. I remember how you would always be asking me what I was doing, you were such a curious kid. I'd almost dare to say you had a crush on me." T.K. was sort of living down memory lane now that he was talking to Catherine. She laughed when she was thinking about how silly she had been.

"Yeah, I thought of you like my shining knight. I really thought that if I tried to get you to notice me, then you would. But you seemed to always be more realistic and always looking at the law and reading thick chapter books. But it was one of those things that always seemed to get to me every time. But I guess that it is all behind us now," Catherine said. She looked over at T.K. and she was wondering if what she was thinking about could possibly work out or if it was just a silly dream.

She looked over at Mr. Shioda shyly. "To be totally honest, I never really got over that. I still have had that hope that you would come to me. I've dated other people, but I guess that you were always stuck in my mind. And I guess that since I am now nineteen, that I would be old enough to at the very least ask you this finally. Mr. Shioda, will you be willing to go on a date with me?" Catherine asked. T.K. thought about it and after he had thought about it for a moment, he realized that he might not get another chance to have a relationship any time soon. He hadn't dated since 2004, which was six years ago by now.

"I know that this is unprofessional, but I think that I will accept your offer. I think it might be nice to go on a date or two with you. You seem like a very nice young woman," T.K. said. Once the words left his mouth, the two of them were blushing and T.K. felt a little strange accepting the idea to go on a date with a barely legal lady.


	2. The Tide of Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Minnesota 1966, a 16 year old man is forced to have his entire life change in just the course of one day. After his life gets ruined in one single action, he is forced into some alternate dimension where he wonders if he will even survive day to day struggles

Chapter 1: The Tide of Death

All the way back in 1966 Minnesota, there was a house with a younger man. This guy was trying to find a better job than the one he did have. He was a sixteen-year-old high-school dropout who was considered to be one of the true origins of an 'emo asshole'. The name of this man was Ken. He had felt like his older brother would be a total disaster to the world and was trying to find a way to keep him from leaving the house as often as he did.

His older brother was named Sam, and he was about three years older than Ken. The two of them have had a very bad relationship with each other and neither of them had been able to get along for much more than a week or two. Every time that they had tried to be nice to each other, it would be ruined right away. Ken was thinking about this as he was reading one of his history books. He hated going to school. But the one thing that could get behind was the history class. He had been reading a bunch of history related books when he had gotten the chance since he was a pretty curious person. One of the books that he had been reading was about a few presidents and the work that they had been doing during their time in office. Such as the term of William McKinley and the elections that he had been given against the relatively young, fierce, and outgoing William Jennings Bryan.

Ken was putting the book down after he had decided that he needed a little bit of a break from all of this reading and spacing out. There was also the fact that he had read this book like six or seven times already since he had 'forgotten' to return it when he dropped out in his sophomore year. Ken started to consider what else he should spend his time doing. He was dissatisfied with his very poor rating job. It was just at a gas station and the job was nothing if underwhelming. It only gave him the most basic of wages.

"Hey, Ken, what the fuck are you doing?" Sam asked when Ken was just staring at the ceiling in thought. As he was doing this, Sam had thought that Ken was being useless once again and that there would be a good chance to treat him like shit once again. Ken turned his chair around and saw that Sam was holding some drumsticks.

"What are you doing with those?" Ken asked. Sam considered his rebuttal. There was a valid reasoning behind all of this. Sam put the drumsticks onto the top of their dresser that was next to the door.

"No, I asked first, what are you doing?" Sam asked. Ken decided that maybe he should just answer his brother and get it over with. Then Sam would be able to just drop it and then he could go back to his own thing. At least it wasn't as bad as other times Sam tried to bullshit with him.

"Well, I was just reading some of my history books to memorize some facts. I'm not in school anymore man. I have to keep my mind sharp. But I don't think you really care at all. After all, the only thing you talk about is how I need to do something. Or get a hobby. At least I'm doing something right now." Ken said.

Sam decided to back down a bit. Sam did say he wanted Ken to get a hobby. He just didn't think it would be reading some boring books. Typical of his brother to choose something this lame.

"I thought you would get back into writing in your notebooks again like how you did in seventh grade. At least then you were working towards making some form of literature. You were writing your own story. Hey, I did send you that one notebook a couple of months ago. Why not go into that a little bit more?" Sam asked. Ken decided that he didn't want to tell Sam the truth. He had filled it up already and did so in about a month. Besides, Ken did not really want to write a biography or a lifelong story, but he felt like it should be something that he'd come back to every few years or so. He still hated admitting that his brother knew him better than he knew himself.

"Well, that was something that I did really enjoy doing back at the time that it happened. However, I don't really know if I can keep up writing and filling journals over and over again. I think that it was a good thing to do twice and it captured two parts of my life very well. But in the end, I don't think I would be able to do it for the rest of my life. Maybe in another few years from now, when I am like twenty or twenty-one, I will do another one. So that way I can see the difference in my life now to four to five years from now." Ken had said.

Sam decided that he didn't really want to argue with Ken. Even if he had thought that this was totally ridiculous. "Well, whatever works for you I guess. I would have done something else myself. But I mean, you are your own person, Ken. So go on and just do something that you think will work out your own way." Sam said and then when he said that, he walked off in a bit of a huff. Ken wondered idly how long it would be until Sam came back.

As he was thinking this, he was reflected of his time that he had to deal with Brad and their messed up plans for prom. There was something that was totally crazy albeit way more noteworthy than Joe and Matt's prom plans twenty years later. Ken then sort of thought that Brad and he could have been really good friends. They had only hung out two or three times since prom. But Ken had started to think that maybe that was for the better. Since he had only talked to Brad a couple of times, Ken figured they hadn't had time to ruin their first impressions of each other. And Ken would not want that to happen at all.

When he was done thinking about Brad and their prom adventures, Sam had shown back up in Ken's room. This confused Ken.

"I thought that you would have been out for a bit longer," Ken told Sam.

Sam chose to ignore Ken's statement. "So Ken, do you have anything that you are going to be able to do?" Sam asked just to fuck with Ken. Ken sighed and shook his head.

"I am going to be hanging with Susan. At least Susan and I will be doing something that is of worth. Susan and I have made so much progress in the last couple of months that I think she and I might go on to the next level soon," Sam said.

Ken was unsure what he meant by that. After all, it was no secret that Sam and Susan were having sex with how much Sam bragged about it and all that shit. That meant Ken must be talking about buying a ring. "Sam, are you actually thinking of... marrying Susan?" Ken asked. He was barely able to ask the question without feeling a sudden wave of every single emotion that he could remember having faced in his life. He tried to imagine what it would be like having Susan become his sister-in-law. He didn't hate Susan. In fact, he liked her more than he liked Sam most times. He was just not really sure how to take the sudden news.

"It's on the table now. I'm sure that once you get to see just how happy we are, you will work hard to support us however you can. Maybe if you start to prove yourself more, then I will think about inviting you to the wedding. But of course, you would have to earn it. Being my brother does not instantly mean that you get top treatment from me. Believe it or not," Sam told Ken.

Ken was still very happy that Sam was going to be making some great progress with Susan. But the more that Sam was a dick about it, the more that Ken did not want anything to go well for Sam anymore. Which he knew was mean and kind of petty, but that was how he felt.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't just hang out with Susan all the time and maybe do other things of actual merit in your life. You could use a hobby yourself that isn't just bragging about getting laid. Maybe you wouldn't be a total asshole then." Ken said.

Sam shook his head. He was trying to be nice to Ken for once and then he had ruined it without even trying to cooperate. "You need to stop being one yourself and maybe instead start to think about how I am making doing." Sam said and stomped off.

Ken was again alone to take that moment in. He knew that there might be a certain level of truth to what his brother accused. But it still sounded totally dickish when it came out of Sam. Sam had a way of always sounding a dick no matter how he tried to prove his point on literally anything. It could almost be another brag-worthy talent of his. That is if Sam was able to see how it had worked out so well.

Sam knew that the more he talked with Ken, the more that he would just get pissed off over his whiny little brother. He needed to grow up and it needed to happen real fucking quick. He had no idea when it would happen though was the thing that had scared the shit out of him so badly. Either way, Sam just had to leave the area to get some space.

Ken was thinking of how great it was going to be when Sam would finally break up with Susan. It would show Sam that he was not perfect and everything about the guy was a total and utter failure. Ken knew he'd be ready to laugh his ass of when it happens. Ken stood up and left his history book on the table since he'd thought that maybe Sam was actually right on that matter at least. He heard his mother's footsteps as she headed towards his room.

"Kevin, do you want to talk to me? Are you in an okay mood right now?" Ken's mother called. She was the only one who used his real name. Ken had told people to stop calling him Kevin after seventh grade, when he really started to change as a person and wanted something to reflect on it. But even since then, she would seemingly never give up on calling him Kevin.

"I was just having an argument with Sam. Sorry if we were being loud. I just thought to myself that I hoped he and Susan were going to break up eventually. It doesn't seem fair that Sam gets such great things to happen to him. But then Sam had told me that he was actually planning on proposing to Susan soon."

When Ken had told his mother that last little bit, she almost seemed on the verge of shedding tears. She thought that it would be great to have a daughter-in-law. She had always wanted a daughter and knew it was the closest she'd likely ever get. Especially with how rowdy Ken and Sam had turned out. But then again, she was just glad that she had kids at all.

"I can't believe that I am going to be a mother-in-law soon. I always liked Susan and think that she does a good job helping keep Sam calmed down. I think they have a really good connection, Ken. You shouldn't try and tell him that they are going to break up. Sam likes her and you should not try to ruin their happy moments," his mother said.

Ken shook his head before looking his mom straight in the eye. "Well, I'm sorry that your daughter in law will be married to one of the worst sons on the face of the planet. He's nothing but filth," Ken said.

She scowled before regaining her composure at the harsh words. Then she just looked at him as if he really did not get it at all. "You know what, maybe one day you will know what it's like to have kids. Maybe you'll understand the bond that grows with them and how much you want them to succeed in their lives. No matter what you like to admit, a kid is something that changes a person in ways that are completely unpredictable. I only hope once that happens to you that you start to grow into something else entirely." Ken's mother said.

Ken just stood up turned away from her to make sure that he wasn't looking at her.

"Maybe you are right. But I just don't get it right now. I feel like I can be critical of Sam when I feel that he has some major problems," Ken said. He turned around to see his mother again. She remained silent and left the room. Ken just sat down where he was thinking of getting ready to go to sleep.

He decided that he'd want to revisit some old experiences since he had not much else to do. Ken grabbed the second notebook that he had filled up. He started reading about the conversations that he and Brad had had as well as his encounters with that guy who had been in his Wayside life and had consequently ruined his life forever. He and Brad had got into a big conflict with that guy since he had ruined their Prom. It all ended with a huge fight, including a part with the police. Unlike in Wayside, where when they were let out they were practically heroes. Ken had thought that Brad and him should go on and hang out again. He could use a good friend right now. As much as Ken did not want to admit it, Sam was a little bit right on this whole thing.

"You know, maybe Sam is right in this case," Ken was saying under his breath. He shook his head as if he could not believe that he had actually said those words out of his mouth. He continued on reading the shit that he had written after he had dealt with Brad and Prom, such as trying to get done with his homework assignments as fast as he could. Soon enough, he had gotten more work in one week done than he had done in his first two years of high school. By the time the semester ended, it was his only semester in which he got a perfect five credit card. Every other semester before that point, he had failed at least one class before. Those classes and the credits that they had given him had finally brought him around to a 2.6 GPA for that semester, which was the highest that he had ever reached during high school. Not that he thought that this was necessarily going to be a turning point. But simply he was just too tired of school, and when there was finally a time that it had looked like he was actually making some real progress on this, it was thrown away. He didn't really have any good patience skills over this whole thing. But then with his drop out, he just needed to find a way to make his life good. At least better than working at a fucking gas station.

After a few minutes of Ken just sort of waiting around and doing nothing besides reading his old notebook, there was yet again another knock on his door. Ken turned around to see that his father was right there. He allowed his father to come into the room and then his father sat down on the bed a couple feet away from him. Ken wondered what type of rant he was going to be given from all of the arguments. Not that he really wanted to know. But he just knew that it was going to be coming.

"Are you going to talk to me about Sam and how we need to get along again? Because to be honest, I am tired of talking about Sam and thinking about him. I just want to be able to talk about something else for once," Ken said.

His father thought for a moment before replying. "You know, I was going to do that originally until you told me what you just said. So I will go along and respect your wishes for the time being. I will say something related to Sam for a quick moment and then I will switch back into a conversation that is not related to him at all. Anyway, there is something that I was originally going to be giving to Sam back in the day, but as time has passed on he is showing very obviously that he does not want this. I thought that maybe you would want to have this. Since you have a chance of getting into this field of career. And with that, here you go." His father said before he took something out from behind him to give to Ken.

"What is this? Why are you giving this to me?" Ken had asked when he had finally gotten to realize what he had been given. It was a police hat, and when he had seen this, he was wondering what his father was doing with it. He knew that this was what his father had done as a job and he had also known that he had had this as his first police hat. Which had made things even more strange for him.

"I thought that there was a chance that you might want to be in the job. I just thought that it would be really nice of me to offer it to you. And with that, I thought that even if nothing else, you would at least like having it as a visual piece. So I guess that if you want to wear it or become a police officer, then I am glad for you." His father had explained and then he put his hand on Ken's shoulder.

"Are you doing it soon? Retiring I mean," Ken asked. His father nodded - he was pretty old after all. At the age of seventy seven years old, he was by far the oldest parent at the graduation for Sam.

"There comes a point in which you have to throw the towel in eventually. So I think that with it coming soon, I need to start considering passing it onto somebody else in the family. That is if you actually have an interest in the career," his father said.

Ken considered what his father had been saying for a moment before nodding a little bit. He thought that he had understood what his father had said. But he still was not really one hundred percent certain what this meant for him. "Well, I will think about it at the very least. If you want me to become a cop, I might as well work towards it for the time being. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. At some point, I might find something that I like more. But unless I do, I can always fall back on this." Ken said and then he was hoping that his father would find this to be a fair idea.

"Well, you know, just whatever works for you is what matters. I won't bother you too much about it unless you start to follow something that is clearly not your dream or goal," Ken's father said. Ken's father looked at Ken a little bit, wondering what his son was thinking at that moment. But it didn't really matter since his father stood up and headed out of the room.

Ken then shook his head. Ken had wondered just how many more interruptions he was going to have to deal with in the next hour. He was seriously getting tired of people always coming in and talking to him and acting like what they need to say to him is just totally worth getting in his way all the fucking time. Ken just laid down on his bed and decided that he was going to try and take a little bit of a nap.

Ken closed his eyes and found himself having a dream about Wayside. He was thinking about what things would have been like had he not been forced out of the place. Well, to be fair, he was never really forced to go down there. But he did leave the place and completely against his own ambitions. Once he had gotten really involved in the dream, he started to have a bunch of terrible thoughts to it all. He dreamt about getting killed off by some sort of snake-like creature. Which was really confusing at that moment. Like the snake creature literally had nothing to do with Wayside or anything like that. He dreamt about the walls starting to close in on him and his friends, nearly killing the entire classroom before Todd came in to save the day. That was when Ken had woken up all of a sudden and then a few seconds after he had done so, he looked around and saw that his room was just like normal. He put his hand up to his head and rubbed his temples, trying to clear the terrifying thoughts, but was interrupted by a knock of the door.

Ken sat right up right away and he walked out to the front of the house. His parents had beaten him there, but he still did want to see what had happened. His mother had opened the door and then his father stood up next to them both. Then Ken was right behind his father. "What are you doing here?"

Ken's mother had asked this very question when she had seen the police officer there. That was exactly the type of people that had always made Ken's parents scared. Since his father was a police officer, it had meant that there was a terrible event that needed to be worked out and that his father would have to go out of his free time to go and help. That or Ken and Sam had done something wrong, and since Sam had usually never done anything wrong, it always was Ken who had done something. In fact, they had taken that into consideration when Ken's mother had looked directly at Ken and was giving him a 'what did you do' look on her face.

"I have some very bad news for you. Your son Sam was found dead near the football field. The death had come to us about twenty minutes ago. We made sure to come down here as soon as possible. We're waiting for results from forensics. But there was a gun found on the scene. I'm afraid that leaves it at either a suicide or a murder. I'm very sorry for your loss," the police officer had said.

Ken's mother had pretty much stopped hearing anything that was going on as she started to walk away.

"My wife will not be able to handle this very well. I think I might have to take a couple weeks off myself. I'll call the office soon," said Ken's father, the officer nodded in understanding.

Ken's father closed the door behind the police officer. Ken just slowly walked back into his room. Neither of his parents forced him to do something else. They all had their own ways to grieve. Ken was thinking a little bit about Susan and then when he thought about Susan, he had come to his own choice that he needed to see her and speak to her immediately. It was not really all that hard of a choice and he knew that it was a terrible thing to have to tell her. But honestly it was better for her to know that way than just having her find out on the news or the paper. He remembered a year or so ago when there was a school student that had died and all that was shown of their death was a fucking news paper article. Ken knew this was something that would really break her, and having it be done in person would be way better than this.

"Dad, I will be heading on over to see Susan right now. I think that she needs to know about the news," Ken said. He started to mess around with the clothes in his room, thinking of what would be most appropriate to wear in a situation like this. He was not really sure why he was doing this. But damn if he didn't make sure that he would have some nice clothes on to talk to her.

"Well, if you think that you need to go on and do this, then so be it. I will not argue with you," Ken's father had said.

Ken found a brown coat and then he found a red shirt and some black pants. He closed the door for some privacy. Then he put his clothes on. Once he put the clothes on, he walked out of the room and then he looked over at his father. "I'll see you guys soon. I think I will be back in a couple of hours. If I'm not back by then, I'll call letting you know what's going on." Ken said and then he walked out of the house.

Once he was out of the house, his mother was crying and screaming at her husband to bring him back home or else she will run out there to go out and get him herself. His father had said that he needed to find his own way and that Ken knew what he was doing much more than people gave him credit for. "He will be fine tonight. I doubt that fate will be cruel enough to take both of our sons away from us on the same day. If that were the case, I would start to think that maybe we were terrible parents and that we had nearly deserved it," Ken's father said and shook his head. Then he hugged his wife tightly. Ken was now totally out of sight from their house. Ken was running since he wanted to make sure that he would be over at Susan's house as soon as possible and make sure that he would help her out as long and as much as he was able to.

Ken's father was getting ready to sit down when he saw something that looked like a light where it reasonably shouldn't be. He stood up and started to walk over to the basement of the house. The closer he got, the more he began to presume what was down there. Soon enough, Ken's father was downstairs and he was now in the middle of the basement. That was when he saw the man who had been out of his life for several decades. Ken's father thought that it was over with for good. But he knew right away that this was the man responsible for Sam's death.

"I was not expecting you to be here. Why have you not aged lately? Unless my math skills doubt me, you should be over a hundred years old," Ken's father said to the man in the purple jacket. The man looked to be in his thirties. In truth, he was even older than Ken's dad.

"Oh Bill, I thought that you would have a much better greeting than this to your old lost friend. I thought that maybe you would maybe even be a bit excited to see me once again. I wanted to give you this tape. I think that it will truly show you all of the great work that I have been able to do with your son. I truly had a lot of fun with that weak child. Your younger son is a much better boy. He's one that I think will truly help me out." The man in the purple jacket gave Bill the tape, although most people knew Bill by the alias Nigel, and then when Nigel looked back up again he saw that this guy was gone as quickly as he had appeared.

Before Nigel went back up stairs, he walked up to the old and hidden television he had down there and put it in the more advanced VHS player. It was something that would not come along for decades still, but he had been around in a very advanced world and therefore had been able to get the true first copy of this machine. As he began watching the tape, he saw a large football field and he knew exactly what was going to happen. As if to show that what he was thinking was true. He saw Sam walk inside the field shown on screen, the man in the purple jacket walked forward to talk to him.

"So Sam, you have decided that you were going to show up after all. I am a little bit impressed that you had the balls to show your face," the guy in the purple jacket had said.

Sam was shaking in fear since he truly knew what was going to happen. "I was wanting to tell you that I don't want to do this anymore. I'm telling you that this project is over with forever. I never wanted to do this in the first place. I was an idiot to let you tell me what to do. But this is too far. I was able to tolerate it at first, but it ends now. Unlike my brother, I have honor," Sam had said. He turned away as if to leave the purple-clad man just then.

The man in the purple jacket laughed as his response. "Sadly, I will not take no for an answer." The guy in the purple jacket took out a gun and started shooting Sam in the back over and over until he was no longer moving. As if to rub it in the viewer's face, he kept shooting the boy with each step he took near the body. He shot him down again and again until he ran out of bullets. "Nobody ever turns down the king of the digital world." The man in the purple jacket said left the soccer field with the gun dropped next to Sam. As he was out of the football field, there was split second blink and you miss it flash of a figure in a red robe.

Nigel saw the tape end that way and then he took the tape out and wrote with his pen one word: EVIDENCE! He knew that there was nothing he could do now and if it was leaked now, Nigel would be accused of being the murderer. Instead, he would buy his time. Justice for his older son would be done eventually. But he was an old man, and if there was one thing being old taught you, that was that patience is a virtue. He walked up and when he was in Ken and Sam's room, he put it in a small box next to Sam's bed so that if something happened to this house and it was looked into, that tape can be found and everybody would know Sam did not kill himself. This would be the last thing he would do in his long life of service to the world.

With all of this going down, Ken was running on his way over to Susan's house and it was raining just a bit as he was running there. The rain wasn't so bad at that point in time. He was more worried about reaching the other side of the town, which was where Susan lived. She was a little under an hour away even with him running for a good part of the time. But that was something that Ken had thought about for a little bit but did not let it ruin his idea of getting there. Helping Susan out was far more important than just sitting home and letting the seconds pass until Ken would reach Sam's age, or even higher. Which now would be able to become at least some form of a possibility.

He was thinking about a ton of stuff realted to Sam. He was thinking about all the times when he and Sam would get into fights and Sam would try and get Ken to change his ways even though Ken thought that he was already doing a good job setting up his own path. But then he was thinking about all the times when Sam would make threats with Ken about the stuff that he did in Wayside and how much he was going to threaten to tell his parents what he did during Wayside. Sam would threaten to tell them just how bad Ken really was and why they should be ashamed that they raised somebody like Ken. Some of the stuff that he said to Ken was truly crazy and overall vile.

After it had taken him a while, Ken was starting to think more of the good times that he had with Sam before he died. There were a few positive memories. While he hated Sam sometimes, he did feel like there were a couple of moments that he had that were worth it. Such as the time when Sam had taught him how to play with bubbles. Ken was about six years old at the time and when he had done that, he thought that the two were going to be great friends for life. That was before Sam had started to become very fucking hostile towards him every single day.

Then soon enough, there was the time when Ken was eight and Sam had convinced him that he would be able to go far in his dreams and ambitions. Ken had no idea what those were but the way that Sam had said it made him believe for a moment that maybe there was a truth to it and when there was that thought to him, he wanted to try even harder for Sam. He would lose that attitude after a few months and Sam would be even harder on him.

There was how Sam and Ken had started to be able to go on and try and get closer with each other during the time that Ken was at Wayside. Which was yet again another point in his life that things were going well for him. And all of that included Sam as well. Which was something that Ken was also missing about being in that place. But then as soon as Ken had left that school and he had gone down to a normal school for his eighth grade year, once again things had started to go back to him and Sam not getting along. They would start to get into fights every couple of weeks and Sam would say that he never truly supported the stuff that he did in Wayside. Sam was just glad that Ken was not busy being stupid and that he had actually supported him at the moment just to sort of help Ken get more done.

Then in his first couple of years of him being in high school, Ken and Sam had talked a bit about what Sam could do with Ken in terms of helping him out in highschool. Ken thought that this was a good idea that the two of them could get closer since Sam could help him with school work. And with helping him out at school then Ken could be able to learn the ups and downs of how things were in school. But this had only happened like three or four times per school year. Only when Ken had thought that he would really need the help of Sam.

"The more that I think about it, the more that I realize Sam and I didn't have all that many things in common in the end," Ken had said and then he sighed. This should have been a moment that he should have been really making Sam seem like the best person ever. But there was just no way that he could have done that without feeling like he was sort of lying to himself. Which he thought was even worse than being honest. After about half an hour or so of walking on his way to Susan's house, he was reaching her front yard and with each forwarding step on the way to the door, he was thinking about the best way to tell her. He was just hoping that Susan would not get angry that he did this. Ken just wanted to make things easier for her so that he could go home and put all this unpleasantness behind him for a while.


	3. The Ascension Starts

Chapter 2: The Ascension Starts (1966)

Eventually, Ken knocked on the door of Susan's house. Once he had knocked on the door, he was thinking of the way that he could tell her the news. There was no real way that he could say it without making it feel like he had just not cared at all. Which was sort of true. At least in comparison to how much his parents and Susan had cared. But he was trying his absolute hardest to find something that he could do right.

"Ken, what are you doing here?" Susan asked when she had seen that Ken was the one there and not Sam. Eventually Ken found what he felt could be a somewhat decent way that he could tell her the news.

"Well, I just wanted to come by because I have to give you some really, really bad news. Sam has died today. I only found out about an hour ago and I knew I had to come here as soon as I heard. He was found at the soccer field is what the police said. So there you go, that is the news for you. I'm sorry that you had to hear this, but I have no other way that I can tell you this," Ken told her.

Susan shook her head, it was a lot to take in at once. It had looked like she was about to start crying at that very moment and that she needed somebody to be there for her very badly.

"Why did it have to be him of all people? He and I were making so much great progress together. I thought we were going to get married soon! That was what I was feeling from him anyway. I knew we were in love," Susan had said.

Ken thought about it. Yeah, he had hated Sam a lot. But Susan had really thought that he was something special and because of that, he was sad for her. Ken was just hoping that this would be over within a moment and he was hoping that Susan would actually be more forgiving of Ken than she would be of the terrible job that the police were sure to do. Ken thought that they clearly didn't care about what they are doing at all.

"I'm sorry that you have lost the person that you loved. I know that you were really close to him. He had wanted to marry you actually. I don't think it will be too big of a deal if I tell you now." Ken had told Susan and then when he had said that, Ken and Susan looked at each other for a moment. Then Ken started to turn to leave.

At first, Susan was thinking that it would be good for Ken to leave the area. But then, she thought about it for a moment. "Ken, can you please stay here for the time being? I know that you guys were not close, but it seemed like you guys both respected me in some sort of mutual way. I can't stand being alone after this horrible news. Could you please just be with me for the night?" Susan asked.

Ken nodded. He didn't really think about it too much since he thought that this was going to lead to somewhere of a disaster. But then Ken just walked on over.

"Thank you for staying here. I really needed you." Susan thanked Ken and then she closed the door. Then Ken had walked on over to the living room. As he was doing that, Susan was thinking of what to do now that Ken was in her house.

"I don't really know what else to do. I am just going to stay here for you and once you feel like you can be alone, then I will leave you alone." Ken was saying as he was looking around the living room. He was not really too familiar with this house. He only had been there three or four times before. And the last time that he was there was prom night, which was by far the craziest night of his entire life. He still wasn't entirely sure what the fuck had happened during prom night that year, but that probably just meant that whatever happened was a lot of fun.

"I think that I will not be ready to let you leave the house for a while. I think that I want you to be in the house at least for the rest of the night. It's fine if you sleep on the couch, it just makes me feel better knowing that someone is in the house with me," Susan said.

Ken just nodded in response. He was not really going to argue with that logic.

"Well, you know, I think that I should contact my parents to let them know that I will be here. After that, I think that I will be able to hang with you for the next several hours," Ken said and then he laughed. He was so glad that he was presented this opportunity. He just wanted to be with Susan and get to know the girl that he had liked for so long. He wanted to get Susan's attention now since Sam was gone. He knew that this was a terrible thing to do, but it was just all that he wanted in the end of the matter. About a minute or so later, Susan walked from her kitchen and then sat down on the couch. She looked at Ken and she had two glasses in her hands. Ken wondered if she was going to give him a drink. But he decided not to react to that at all. If she wanted to give him some booze, then so be it, but he wasn't going to ask her.

"I wouldn't worry about letting them know," Susan had told Ken.

Ken was thinking that maybe Susan was right. "So Susan, what are your plans in life now? Or do you even have any at this point?" Ken asked.

Susan looked at him and just seemed like she couldn't believe that he had said that. She would have thought that he would have waited for that bug of question for a little bit. Then she shook her head slowly and put her arms around him.

"You've never been the subtle one, I know. I probably will just focus on my studies again. You know, make sure that I'm going to pass all my classes in college. Since I signed up for that. But with Sam out of the way..." Susan had to take a pause before she could possibly continue that sentence. "With Sam out of the way, I can focus all on that and never again be focusing on something else." When Susan said that, tears started to come down once again. She was not able to handle it at all. Ken then put his head on her shoulder and they just stared at the wall. Then Ken couldn't say anything since he wanted to appreciate the silence that they were having.

"Well, do you think that you even enjoy working in college anymore or do you think that it will just be really hard, maybe even impossible for you to work on this?" Ken had asked.

Susan had thought about it and then she shook her head. She then told him that she couldn't be sure until she tried, then maybe she will be able to move on from Sam as fast as she could and as much as she could. "After all, there comes a point in which I have to go back to my education. If I don't go back to my education, then all of my work will go to waste. Also if I wait for too long before I go back to it, then I will start to just lose what I have spent so much trying to remember and then all of this will be too hard for me to do and then I will start to think about dropping out at that point," Susan said, almost starting to ramble at this point.

"You know, I don't even think that I have any sort of education goals after I am out of high school. In fact, I don't even think I will go on and complete high school. To be totally honest, I think that I am going to go on and drop out of the fucking place since I just hate it so much." Ken said and then he sounded like he was going to get super angry when he had even just thought about school. "There are zero things in high school that I had enjoyed."

"At least high school is better than people dying. At least you are young enough to where you don't have to have real life to deal with yet," Susan said.

When she said that he didn't have to deal with real life, Ken looked at her and was pissed off at that.

"Actually, I should have thought a little bit more before I had said that since you do have Sam as your brother." When Sam came out of her mouth, that was when she did cry. And then that was when Ken felt like he needed to be there for her again.

Without thinking too much about what what he was doing, Ken moved her arms that were wrapped around him up to his neck. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Is this okay?" Ken asked quietly, hoping Susan wouldn't decline him.

"I knew what I was doing when I invited you in," Sarah answered.

With that, Ken quickly closed the distance between them and kissed Sarah. She shoved her fingers into his hair, wanting him as close as possible. They kept kissing, Sarah opening her mouth for Ken as he trailed his hands up her sides. He wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but he knew he wanted to make Sarah feel good - especially after what must have been a terrible loss with his brother. He knew that she was much more upset about Sam's death than he could ever have imagined, and he wanted to make it up to her in every way that he could.

After kissing her for a few minutes, he wanted to get this show on the road and decided to pull Susan into his lap. He took a break from kissing her just to help unbutton her blouse. Susan wasn't the least bit shy and after undoing her bra and throwing it on the floor by the couch, she lifted Ken's shirt off as well, admiring his toned chest. She positioned herself so that she was straddling his thighs and could grind against him just a bit. Without any hesitation, Ken reached for the bare breasts Susan was practically shoving in his face. He'd never felt a girl before and realized he'd really been missing out all this time.

Susan hummed her approval of getting her tits squeezed and buried her hands in his hair, tugging a bit to encourage him to take her nipple into his mouth. Ken quickly complied, suckling one of her nipples while using his right hand to play with her other one. His left hand crept up her thigh and under her skirt to feel her soft skin. He stopped sucking on her flesh and instead ran some kisses across her chest and up to her neck. Susan sighed at the feeling and tilted her head down to keep kissing Ken.

Ken took the opportunity of having both of his hands freed to get a double handful of Susan's plush ass and ground her down on his dick. She felt so warm and smelled amazing. "Susan could you show us to the bedroom?"

After Susan dragged him to her room, she quickly turned off the lights and reached for his belt buckle. "Are you always this eager?" Ken asked jokingly. Susan scoffed at him before undoing his belt and pulling his pants and boxers down to his feet. She was on her knees in front of him and smiled up at him.

"I guess so. I just want to let you know how happy I am that you stayed with me," she replied. Susan grabbed his dick with her right hand and licked up under the bottom of his dick. Ken stopped her so he could sit on the bed, feeling that his knees might buckle. Susan complied and moved back towards him. This time she swallowed down the first few inches of his meat, swirling her tongue around the head on her way back up. Ken gasped and found it was his turn to put his hands in her hair as he enjoyed his first ever blowjob. Susan bobbed her head for a few more minutes before pulling off wetly and crawling up on the bed next to him. She stripped off her skirt and panties, gesturing for him to come over.

He laid on top of her, feeling the newly exposed skin and kissing her deeply.

"Whenever you're ready," said Susan, before opening her legs to him. Ken nodded and took his time looking over the now naked Susan, wanting to remember every moment for the future. Not wanting to keep her waiting, Ken lined himself up and slowly pushed into her pussy until he was balls deep. Susan gasped at the feeling, she was almost sure that Ken was better endowed than his brother from the fullness of her cunt. She scooted down a bit to put a leg over one of his shoulders and told him he could move.

What Ken lacked in experience, he made up for in enthusiasm, keeping a steady and constant thrusting into the moaning Susan below him. He kept one hand on the bed for leverage but couldn't resist cupping one of her handful sized breasts with the other. Susan pulled him down for a kiss, whining in his ear and taking the chance to give a lovebite below his ear. Ken knew he couldn't hold on much longer and worked on pumping harder to get Susan over the edge. Susan was enjoying herself thoroughly and gave Ken a hard slap on the ass, encouraging him to go even deeper.

Finally, Susan's moans got louder and Ken knew she was close. He kept going as long as he could, feeling the pressure building in his balls. He came hard in her, thrusting through his orgasm. As he stopped moving, Susan pulled him down for one last kiss before moving away from him to pull up the rumpled covers of the bed. She beckoned him to join her under the blankets and he happily complied. And that was how Ken fell asleep, spooning up against Susan in her bed, a happier moment in his life completely unthinkable.

Soon enough, Ken woke up in the morning well before Susan did. He looked at the time and saw that it was 7:28 in the morning. So even then he had a full night of sleep. Ken stood up and then rubbed his eyes a little bit and then started to walk around. He got to the living room and then put his clothes on. Then he got around and then walked to the front door and opened it. Then he turned around and heard that Susan was still fast asleep. He didn't want to wake her or possibly upset her so he walked out of the house without even closing the door at all.

Ken started to slowly walk home and as he was doing so, he was sort of pretending like the events of the night before had never even happened at all. Not that they were bad, but he didn't want to get into a shit load of trouble over this whole thing. His parents were not against him having sex. However, they were against the idea of no protection and probably even more against the idea of him getting laid with his brother's girlfriend less than a fucking day after his brother had died.

Once Ken had been outside, the more that he was starting to feel a little insane in his head. And in hindsight, he would not even pretend that he was actually in the right place. But he really felt like he needed to get to the bottom of his brother's death. He did not even care that he was not a huge fan of Sam or anything like that, but the fact is that the death of his brother would be a big thing in his life and that he needed to figure out what the hell was going on.

So instead of actually going back to his house, he instead decided that he would play a little bit of detective work. Yeah, a sixteen year old doing this was really insane, but he felt like it was better than the cops probably doing nothing and not being too smart and just playing it off as a suicide when in reality it couldn't be.

Ken walked around for a few minutes when he found a homeless man. The homeless man was holding a bowl out and the bowl was asking for some simple funds. Normally Ken would not care less about this stuff, but for some reason, seeing this guy made him think that he actually had an idea where Sam was before his death for a strange second.

"Did you happen to see a guy come by here yesterday? He looked quite a bit like me, but he wore glasses and was a couple of years older than me. I just need to know for some personal information. I really don't want to have no lead ins right now." Ken was saying and then as he had said that, the homeless man looked up at Ken and they seemed to consider what he had said before they would give a real answer one way or another.

"I don't think I saw anything like..." Right when he was saying that, he stopped and looked up as if he finally remembered something after all. "Yeah I did see him. He came here yesterday and he gave me a dollar. He didn't really say anything, just told me to use the money properly before he headed on and then left. There was nothing really to it, but he seemed to be really focused. As if his life depended on what was going on at that current moment."

As he had said that, Ken nodded and he was starting to piece more pieces together and he was not really liking where all of these pieces were going and he was hoping that he was wrong. But he seriously doubted that he was wrong about any of this, and that was the thing that was scaring him the most. "Thank you for your answer. I don't have any money on me. So I can't really give you anything." Ken said and then he started to walk down the streets. As he was walking down the streets again, it began to rain once again. He was not really getting why it was raining so much the last two days. It was almost like it was a sign of some things to come.

The more that he was walking, the more that the passing of cars on the street and the buzzing noise that they always made didn't really seem to get to him at all. Each person that walked by him treated him as if he was just a different figure in the grand scheme of things.. He was not really ready to be in the streets right now since it was getting as wet as it was.

But as he was thinking all about this, there was a light in the distance that got to him. He seemed to think that maybe he should head there to see what was going on. He felt like he actually was going to be able to find something there that he could use to help find out who killed Sam. As he was running there really fast, the people around him were wondering what the hell was going on with him and if he was starting to go just maybe a little bit crazy. Which Ken would admit that in hindsight that perhaps he had actually been going a little nuts. And he would think that he should have just let the event be what it was in a chance to look back at it again.

As Ken was running, the light was getting closer to him as it was not moving at all and it was just standing there for him to reach it. The more that he was getting closer, the more that it had looked like a person who was projecting themselves to be really bright - probably to try and attract Ken there.

Soon enough Ken reached this person and they were a person that looked like a general mail man. But when they started to talk to Ken, the more that he was able to see through it that this person was not really normal. "I have seen many things. I have seen your brother's death and I saw what had caused it. I have been working to see everything in the world so I would have more knowledge than any being on the universe," the man was saying. Ken stopped and wondered what exactly they were getting at. Was this man sort of like the monsters that he had run into during Wayside?

"Why not tell me what happened to my brother? I have been trying to figure that out for the last several minutes. I just really want to be able to put that to rest. I want to know what made my brother die. I don't want to live not knowing for my entire life." Ken said and then as he was saying this, he was getting close to shedding some tears but then due to the fact that this was going on in progressively worse rains he knew that the man would not really be able to see what he was feeling inside thankfully.

"Follow me if you want to know more about the death of your brother," The mail man looking guy said as his face suddenly grew so emotionless that ken was suddenly sure that this was just some form of monster that he had never been able to encounter before. As they were slowly going away, the light was coming back and they were gaining distance on Ken. With that, Ken was running as fast as possible to be able to go there and see where this thing was heading. But the more that he was running and his clothes were getting damp, the more that he was certain he was being led to the soccer field.

The time that it took to get to the soccer field was probably about twenty or so minutes. And that was in a full-on sprint. The entire time that he was going there, the more that people around him seemed to start to worry for his sake and think that maybe there truly was something going on and that they needed to find him some help. Once at the field, he saw the guy once again and they were happening to stand right in the exact place that the man in the purple jacket had been standing earlier.

"You can't escape your destiny forever Ken. You were lucky to put it off for another four years by leaving Wayside. But everybody can be able to only put something off for so long. It is time for you to be able to face what is ahead of you." The mail man looking guy was saying and the longer that the conversation would go on, the more that would change.

"What destiny are you talking about? Was it a destiny that was meant to kill my brother just because he is not me and that some fucked up beyond me being decides that he just isn't worth keeping alive? I am not a fan of him, but he deserved so much better." Ken said and he was purely angry now and the mail man has his face slightly changed to one that looked like it was burnt off a small amount, which confused Ken even more.

"I am just a normal guy. I have no greater point to any of this existence here. I have not really done anything that will be worth making me a huge part of your guys insane plot. So can you please just start to leave me alone more often?" Ken asked and he held up his hands as if he was just sort of defeated by all of this and that he had wanted this to be all over with for the rest of his life. The mail man with a burnt face started to twitch a little bit.

"You know when you just sit around your room doing nothing? You know how it is like to waste time? Everybody just sits around and wastes time and lets things be given to them and they don't try and go on to serve a fuller purpose in life. There is nothing that a person really does to justify themselves living for the vast majority of their life. They are pampered, expected to have the older people just be there to take care of them when they really should be out and trying to live out life of their own. With all the useless time and information gathering up, nothing can be filtered out in time." The mail man said and half of his face was just showing flesh and nothing else.

"None of this is making any sense. Why does what I do in my personal time affect you at all and why do you even care what I do on my own time?" Ken asked and started to walk a few steps away as if to show that he doesn't want to have this conversation at all anymore and the idea of talking with this man anymore was just starting to make him really uneasy.

"Data is always being made. Everything that is going on and everything that is happening is creating data. Every time you watch something at tv or every time you write something on a piece of paper, you are creating even more data for the world to digest and vomit out again when nobody wants it anymore. Nothing in here really matters and everything will just get worn down eventually. All data over time will be rendered useless." The mail man was turning more flesh covered and Ken was starting to tell that this thing was not really a human.

"Cut the lecture and put that off to the side. Just tell me why Sam died and tell me what had caused his death? When I find out why he died and who did it, I will just leave you alone and I will never get in your way ever again for the rest of both of our days." Ken said and then he was watching very carefully as if to see what the reaction to this thing would even be or if they do not have anything to say and that this was all just one big lie.

"You do not seem to get it. Sam's death is just another piece of data. All you have to do in order to figure out who killed Sam is just look for the man in the purple jacket. Eventually you will be able to see him and then when you find him, you can ask him why he did it?" The mail man was just totally covered with flesh and blood. And Ken still feeling as if there was something to him wanted to get some more questions out of them before he would leave for good.

"Do you really know where this guy is or are you just pulling my leg and if you know where he actually is, how about you just give me that information and then I can be able to leave you alone." Ken said and then when he had said that, the flesh and blood monster was just laughing and they seemed to be finding the struggle that Ken was having to be funnier the more that he was watching him starting to break down.

"It will be pretty easy to find him. Once you see a guy in a purple jacket, you will be able to see who he is and you will figure it out right away." The thing that was now pretty much a full on zombie started to give off a really creepy smile and then that was when Ken was thinking that he should just leave the place and just drop this question before it truly led him off stray and messed everything up even more than it was fucked up by that point in time.

"Yeah whatever, I am sure that when I see him, he will be pretty hard to miss. I am not even going to try and deal with you anymore." Ken said and then when he was starting to walk away, the door to the stadium of the soccer field locked and then he was forced to be in there for a undetermined amount of time and he had no idea what he was going to do about it. Ken turned around and he saw that this zombie thing was starting to come to him and Ken knew that he he had to do something to fight for his own survival just to leave this place, which was totally insane.

"If I have to fight to get out of here, I guess that I might as well." When Ken had made the choice that he was going to fight in order to survive, he turned around to see the zombie like thing. He started to run right down the pathway in order to reach the zombie. The faster that he was going, the more that he was picking up speed. Then soon enough, he jumped out and tackled the zombie down the the ground and then gave a couple of really good punches.

This seemed like it was going to be a really easy battle to do but then out of nowhere, the zombie like thing grew really large arms sort of out of nowhere and then threw Ken right down to the ground and then they changed their arm into a sort of sword like arm. Ken took a moment to really take in the confusion he was having, but when he was done with his obvious confusion, he jumped back up and started to get away from this thing before it could slash him up or anything.

He eventually reached a table that looked like all the drinks used for gaming would go on there. Ken went under the table and flipped the table over as a way to defend himself and give himself even just a few more minutes to sort of try and figure everything out and what the hell he was going to do. The sword arm stabbed through the table and then Ken could see it get less than a inch away from his arm. Ken gulped and he was scared that he was going to get killed at any second.

Ken stood up and then he picked up a bottle that was originally on the table and then he threw it right at the zombie. He knew that this was not really a good tool to help fight back with, but he was just wanting to use something that could give him even the tiniest bit of a one up given the situation. This bottle throw distracted the zombie for literally just a fraction of a second. But it was indeed long enough for him to get up and start running through the bleachers and find something that he could use to actually save himself considering the fact he would die in a moment.

The zombie started to run behind Ken and they were going at about his rate but to sort of make up for that and to make Ken really fucking scared was the fact that they were able to just jump past a bunch of the bleachers and not really have a second thought on it while Ken had to be smart about how he was moving around. There was just so much that Ken was trying to process and honestly the idea of dealing with a zombie killer was just too much for him to actually handle.

The more that he was running, the more that Ken was just looking down he was hoping for even the smallest chance that he could find the gun that the guy in the purple jacket, or as it was very vaguely described to him, would be there and then Ken could use that to defend himself with. He might be able to even take that thing out with this gun shall he be able to find it.

The zombie creature started to leave the bleachers and this was making Ken very confused. He was wondering why this thing was leaving him alone at the moment or if this was just a strange method to try and gain more speed on him in some strange fashion. Ken started to run to the top of the bleachers and he knew that he was not being very smart about what he was doing since there was barely any backing that he could be safe on shall he fall down and go right to his death. Which would be really terrible for his parents since he would be dead just a day after Sam and he knew that his parents would hate that.

He was starting to really hate himself for what he was doing right now. He should have just accepted Sam's death and left it alone. After all he was not even a fan of Sam, so there was no real reason for him to actually try and figure any of this out. And now here he was pretty much risking his life to figure out something that really does not matter in the long run. He was dead, and that was all there was to it. Did there really need to be a essay long answer on why he was.

Soon enough, Ken found the gun that he was looking for. Somehow there was actual ammo in it even though as Nigel would know, all the bullets were used. Ken checked and there were only two shots in it though. So Ken really had to make it count if he actually wanted to take this thing down as soon as possible. Right when he turned around, he saw the zombie thing right behind him. They took out their arm again and showed him just how sharp their arm was and Ken was thinking that there was no way in the world he could be able to escape that.

But then afterwards, Ken kicked the thing down the entire flight of bleachers and then when they were going down, Ken took his first shot and it barely hit the zombie's leg. Ken knew that he was going to have to be really smart about his second shot if he even wanted a vague chance of being able to take this thing out with the gun. But despite the fact that this was not even close to killing him, he knew that this thing would be a little bit slower as a result of the gun shot. Which showed something good might have come out of it.

Ken speedran down his way down the entire bleachers in order to get to the normal field again. He jumped down and then when he was at the field again, he saw the zombie like thing run down the entire bleachers and he was getting really close to Ken. Ken had held up his gun and then when he was holding up the gun, he was aiming the gun right at the direction if order to actually get some good shot at them and defeat the zombie.

When the zombie was getting closer and closer, Ken took the shot and the bullet took several seconds to reach them and with the course of several seconds, the zombie had actually managed to reach only a couple feet away from Ken. But then bullet seemed to go through the theoretical heart of this zombie and then they started to wonder what was going one and then they fell down to the ground. Ken dropped the gun down to the ground and then when he had done so, he saw the zombie explode.

When the battle was over,, he heard a voice call out to him that was really strange. "You seem to know what you are doing. You were at the fact of death and you somehow managed to escape it. That is a lot more impressive than I would have thought for just a normal human like you." The thing said and then Ken turned around to see this thing wearing all black and they did look like a human themselves which was odd.

"You look to be a human yourself, what the hell are you talking about?" Ken asked and then when he asked that, he started to look down and he was trying really hard to see what the facial expression of this man was. He was not really finding anything no matter how hard he tried and he was starting to think that maybe there was something to this that was all a lie and that he truly was not even seeing this guy at all.

"You may think I am a human. But as you learned from that man you just fought, that looks can be a little bit of a trick. You need to figure things out for your own. I want you to see the truth and ideals of the species we are for yourself." The man was saying and he was starting to float on over to Ken and this was when Ken was wondering if he had just been really high or something and that none of this was actually true. But when he saw the thing get closer to him, the more that he figured that this thing was actually real and that he walked into a boundary he never thought possible.

"I seriously do not even know what is going on right now with me. I am just seeing things right now. That is the only way that it makes any form of sense what the fuck is happening. I really do not have any clue what I am supposed to be do right now." Ken said and then he saw the gate to the soccer field open again. Ken started to walk on in that direction but then the strange guy called out to him.

"You are no different than any other human. Only thinking about how to survive to the next day. Only thinking about what will make you go on and move forward. You never once think about what it is like to care about other people. Many people just do nothing with their life and end up being useless or end up just trying to pass down the family line. You don't seem to get how much of a bleak world that you live in and it is all the fault of your families and the families before you." The guy said and Ken had to stop to wonder what the hell this guy was on and where they were heading with this.

"You think that you have done so much to actually help out people. Truth is that most of these things would have been able to be taken care by that person on their own. They would have never needed your help. You just thought that you were being helpful and you thought that you had actually done something good. But in reality you just benefited yourself and nobody else. All you did was benefit the way that you would be looked at by others." Ken was taking a few steps more when he had heard this since he was wanting to just get the hell out of there and figure out more of what happened to Sam.

"Nobody ever really cares about the fate of the world. They live out their lives without any second thought to the general world and are willing to fight in wars just to make sure they are the ones who win and live on. The future generations are forced to pick up the mess that the previous one makes and they think they do such a good job but then in the end they end up ruining things even worse than the generation before it and it just keeps getting worse with each generation until one day the world will be over." Ken was only a few feet away from the front gate but the lecture that was being given to him was still going on and on.

"The world owes you nothing and there is no need to even pretend that it owes you a damn thing. Nobody would ever really care about what really benefits the world or so called human rights. It is a flawed idea that many people realize is not really true and that human rights are not deserved as all of the stuff that they do is just a mess. And there is nothing that they can be able to get right besides just being able to pass on the family line because people have been told from the start of their lives that you must mate with somebody and pass down the seed." Ken was slowly down at this point because he knew that this lecture would not stop no matter what he would do.

"Nobody ever tells you how to raise that seed. There are even some people that don't even bother to pass down the scene because they are willing to commit sins inside their bedroom. All that will happen is that one day the world will eventually die off because people are too busy procreating and the result not really being able to be taught good and important lessons besides how to basically be bigger than their fathers. All seeds grow up to be disappointments that in the end will only go down as people in history books if they are lucky enough. Books that will eventually be destroyed and thrown away because in ten years, nobody will ever use them anymore and they are outdated. You do not really realize just how much in danger the world is in." The man said and then Ken was trying to figure out what really is the whole point of this.

"One day you will be on a bed looking up and closing your eyes for the final time but just before you actually do so, you start to wonder what you really did with your life and you realize all those wasted months, years, decades. You realize that you did nothing good to benefit humanity. Nobody ever lives on and no matter how much you try and how much you try to put it off, we will all die. What will you do to finally change the idea that you will be useless with no passing of your knowledge you are meant to build up?" Right before Ken left, he decided to stick around just to hear one more thing from this lunatic.

"You will probably not even do the bare minimum. You might not even try and raise the seed you create to make sure they grow to become a important plant. Hell, given your personal thoughts and what you may want to do, I would not be surprised if you never pass down a seed at all and that you just become a useless man who just ends off his family line due to passing it down at least once." The guy said and then when he had said that Ken walked out of the soccer field and slammed the door.

Ken would not ever have to deal with the problem of not passing down the seed. That was already done even though he did not know of it yet. But the problem was that Ken would never really know what to do with this and he never really even try to make up for the problems he caused and ever raise a seed until it was too late for that to become a fully bloomed plant and only three fourths of what could be. That is what the man would say if they had ever met again, which they did not. Ken knew from then forward, he would do the best to not only make his spot in history, but to pass down the family line when he was read and make things good in the long run to prove that thing wrong. All he would do is right now try to figure out what to do with Sam, but that was a good first step. But he thought he would pay a quick visit to a old friend of his from a couple of months ago.

When this was all over, Ken was heading down to Brad's house. if had to pick a time, it was probably eleven o'clock in the morning. Not too early, but it sure as hell was not really late either. Ken thought that it was late enough for him to possibly return home and have his parents not be waiting at the door and that they might be doing things of their own by this point in time. That was what he was thinking and hoping at the very least.

But as Ken was thinking about this, he was getting very near the front entrance of Brad's house and the streets had now been bustling even worse than they had been earlier now that not only was not raining anymore but there was nothing going on anymore and that the different stores were now all open. It was to show that people were now getting into their different things in that day without really giving a fuck what was happening at all in the grander scheme of things. Not only that, but every phone booth that Ken could even try to use if he had wanted to was all being used. Ken always hated how much things were happening during this part of the day and how busy everything was.

When Ken had reached the front yard of Brad's house, he took a deep breath and he was ready for this to all end much sooner than chances would probably be giving to him. "Hey kid, you really should washen up when you get home. You seriously look like you have been in a fight right now." The guy who was walking behind Ken for like ten minutes said and then he took a brief note on a note card.

"Thanks for the suggestion I suppose." Ken said and he sounded so defeated in that moment that the other guy added another note and walked away. Ken just knocked on Brad's door and when he had done so, he looked around and saw the worn down trees and the mowed lawn for a good moment. As well as the always open garage door that never really had any sort of a entrance so technically anybody could come in at any moment. Ken had considered it a couple of times since he met Brad but never really did so due to not wanting to scare Brad out of his ever loving mind.

When Brad answered the door, he took a second to think about what was going on until he pieced it all together. "Oh Ken, I heard the news of Sam. I honestly thought that this was all over. I truly thought that this guy was gone forever. What are you going to do about the man in the purple jacket?" Brad asked and Ken shook his head to show he truly had no idea at all.

"I really wish that I knew what I wanted to do. But here I am, pretty much on the verge of giving up on everything and seeing that I really have nothing else to do beside just possibly give up and admit that the fight is all over with for good and that there truly is nothing that I can do about it now. I think I might show up to the police to try and tell them what I learned. But none would take me seriously." Ken said and then he looked at Brad for any possible ideas that he could come up with.

"Ken, you know that nothing you could possibly say will make them believe you. You know as much as we don't want to admit it that in many fronts, you are going to be a one man army when it comes to this and that you are going to have to do a lot of this on your own. I really wish that none of this happened. It just shows that nothing we ever do really matters in the long run and that he might be one person who could possibly be able to live on forever despite what we may try and do." Brad said and then Ken nodded as if he was glad that at least Brad seemed to get it and that he was not totally alone on all of this at the moment.

"I am so sorry that you were ever dragged into any of this and that I was not able to keep you out of the fight. I feel like you are much too good of a man to ever be forced to deal with this and the fact that you do really sort of makes me more sad than I ever probably should be on this. I just hope that next time I try and track him down, he really be gone. That is if I even go on and try at all on this anymore or if I just give up on it for good from here on forward." Ken said and then he looked around and he was seeing a black cat just sit down and they rubbed themselves on him a little bit and it felt a little bit warm during the whole time and Ken just did not really give a shit at all anymore what was doing what.

"You didn't know any better. Then again, who really does know what to do when you are fighting with a seamlessly immortal being that will just not give up no matter what you do. Tell you what, I will drive you down to the police station and stay with you when you try to tell them what you saw. They will probably not believe you, but given how things are in this place now and all the things I seen you have to deal with, I sort of do by default." Brad said and then with that, the two of them walked down to Brad's car and inside Brad took off and Ken was used to the smell of untaken out cigarettes in this car and he really didn't fucking care about his friends smoking habits at all in the long run. It was his choice and he only started after the prom incident. Besides, it was the persons choice if they wanted to smoke or not, not Ken's choice.

When Ken and Brad were driving, Ken was starting to think about things that he was going to do and what he was going to possibly say to the police officers. "So what do you really plan to do if they do not decide to believe you, which you must admit is very possible." Brad said and then Ken just shrugged as if thinking that certainly will find a way no matter what may happen.

"Just because they may not want to believe me at the moment, doesn't mean that I won't at least try and prove them wrong. I need to try at the very least. I may not like my brother. But I need to try and serve him justice." Ken said and then Brad took out a cigarette and he started to smoke it as he was thinking about what Ken was saying to him and thinking if he could add anything.

"I admit I do admire how determined you are to do the right thing even when things are most likely to never turn out that way at all. Always makes me admire the way that a person can look at life." Brad said as they were finally pulling up to the police station for Ken to try and give the information.

Once inside of the police station, Ken was looking around and seeing people all over the place running in and out and he saw a couple of officers grabbing boxes that must have been used for evidence and putting them away as if to get them stored away for good and for the officers to never have to worry about them ever again. They seemed to not really give a shit what was going on in the life of Ken and Brad. "Do you think that maybe they are just simply too busy to look into what happened and that even if they had wanted to help out, that maybe they just could not?"

"Well, I still do want to give this a try and see if maybe I can be able to make any changes to their opinions of this." Ken said and then they walked into one of the many offices where once inside, Ken and Brad sat down despite the officer not giving them any real permission to do so. He was a fatter guy, probably closer to two hundred sixty pounds. He was eating a donut and he was reading a couple of case files. He was the general cop you would see in a movie.

"There always seem to be something you want to tell me. What is it this time and please keep it quick this time before I have to write up yet again another report with you. Honestly, I have no idea how your father is such a good man at his job when you can't behave for more than twenty minutes." The cop said and then Ken decided not even bother saying anything to that since he was just being an ass.

"Look, I think I may have something that can prove the fact that somebody murdered my brother and that it was not a suicide at all." Ken said and then when he said that, the police officer rolled his eyes as if he was not seriously believing that he was hearing shit like this again and that he was having to deal with more insane stuff with Ken again. Which was something he was seriously tired off in the truth.

"Look Ken, I know that you don't and that you are just a big load of bull and that you are giving me a bunch of bullshit. Please just keep it away from me. I don't want to deal with this. Just go home and come to me with real evidence that is not just a bunch of words." The officer said and then Ken stood up and was ready to rant when Brad put his hand to Ken's arm as if warning him to spare the possible risk of further trouble. Ken then just flipped off the police officer and left the place to show that he was not going to deal with this jackass anymore and then Ken left the police station with one police officer dressed in a black coat and blue shirt and yellow tie looked over and thought that maybe Ken had some merit. So he decided he would follow Ken and maybe see what he had to say.

It was then when Ken decided he truly needed to go home and that it was time for him to give this up and not beat the dead horse anymore than he had already been doing by this point in time. He felt like his parents would already be pissed off with him being gone this long and he wanted to limit the rant as much as he possibly could for his own sake.

It was probably around 12 in the afternoon, and about two thirds of the way home, he saw that there was an alleyway. He had never even noticed that this alleyway was there before in his life. Not knowing why he even cared now of all times, he started to walk down the alleyway. He was staring at the sky and as he was doing so, he had started to feel like there was something that was going to happen at any fucking moment. But he stopped thinking about that until he got to about half way down the alleyway. Then once he was there, he had found a man in a purple jacket.

"No way. Not you again." Ken said and he was on the verge of freaking on in a sort of PTSD style. The man in the purple jacket raised his hands and walked quietly a couple of steps. Ken had figured out that this guy was probably the one who had killed Sam pretty much right away. The guy started to make a couple of noises and Ken was not even caring at all.

"Well, since it seems that you already know who I am, I won't really worry about trying to make us trying to get to know each other again. But with that out of the way, I think that we need to talk about something else." The man with the purple jacket said and then Ken turned around and he was already starting to think about Sam a little bit.

"Wait a second, did you kill my brother? Were you the one that had killed my fucking brother?" Ken asked and then he was on the verge of picking a fight with this asshole. He didn't even say yes and Ken already knew that he was the one who had done it. Then the guy in the purple jacket raised his right index finger for a short second.

"I will not confirm or deny that I was the one who had done it. I will say though that I know everything about it. But that's not the thing that I had wanted to speak about. The thing I wanted to talk with you about was the fact that I have something even bigger and better for you." After he said that he turned around to be right behind Ken. Then he did something that sounded like popping his fingers. "I think you would like what I am going to show you."

"What are you doing?" Ken asked and then the guy in the purple jacket just snapped his finger. After he snapped his finger, there was a giant blue shape that was starting to be made. A gate had been created and then Ken shook his head. The guy in the purple jacket had explained that there was going to be a great adventure that Ken would be able to go on and that there was something that he would be able to appreciate.

"I know that you are not a very open person. But I think that this will change your ideas." The guy with the purple jacket pushed Ken right into that blue gate. Then afterwards, the gate closed and the guy in the purple jacket smiled as the gate closed. Then he started to walk away and then this was the end of the start to their great rivalry. No matter how much time had passed, Ken would never be able to forget this moment in his life. But then again, there was no real way that he could.

That was the last moment in life in which Ken had really any sort of childhood innocence. It was pretty much from this moment forward that Ken was forced to into adulthood and lost all of that carefree ness that he ever had and he was pretty much turning into that type of person that many people would grow to love or grow to hate.


	4. The Date

Chapter 3: The Date (1986)

It all started in late July of the year 1986 at Wayside Minnesota. What had been happening that night was a date between two high school students. The name of the guy who was getting the date with a girl was Joe. Joe was 17 and thought of himself to be very socially awkward. The girl's name was Aurora and she was in the same grade as Joe. The two of them were heading to their senior year soon and they were both getting ready for the fact that they were going to be leaving school in a year. They both had important choices ahead of them for what to do with their lives..

Joe was trying to not be so worried about this date that night. The main reason he was so scared of it was because he had never gone on a single date in his life and he was worried that he was going to fail miserably. No, he wasn't just a little bit worried. He was fully terrified that this would fail that he was going to never be able to be on a date ever again for the rest of his life.

His older brother was helping him get ready for the date. His older brother was a guy named Jim. He was much older than Joe. Joe was seventeen while Jim was thirty six, the younger end of middle aged at the time. He was getting used to the fact that he was starting middle aged, but in the end, he was not at all that worried about it. He was more worried about being really old than anything else. But he still had like three or so decades before he could start being considered old. Once he was sixty five, he was old in his eyes regardless of what people will try to tell him.

"Hey Jim, do you have any sort of advice on what I should do during the date? I have no idea what the hell to do." Joe was saying as Jim stopped for a second. He was about to head out of that room when Joe had asked him that question and then he turned around to see Joe. Jim thought about what could best suit Joe or just in general regardless of the fact if he were talking to Joe or if he were talking to a different person entirely.

"Well, one piece of advice that I will always give somebody is that they should not be messy about the way that they eat. If they are messy about the way that they eat, then they might as well not even try to go on a date at all since nobody wants to see something like that. And when I say nobody, I truly do mean nobody." Jim said and then Joe thought about how he could so called not eat messy. Just make sure that no food gets on his shirt was one way that he could do that he assumed.

"Is there any piece of advice that you would want to give to me specifically that you think will be able to benefit me more than anybody else? I feel like that is what is really going to save me during this whole date." Joe said and then Jim thought about it. He touched his glasses for a moment in the exact way that Joe had done it. Then he nodded and decided that he had something that he would be able to give to Joe as advice. Something that as Joe said, he specifically could improve on.

"Well, just don't be worried about having a conversation. When you go on to talk with her, just don't worry about what is going on. Just speak to her and carry the conversation like how you would on a normal situation. And don't try and act all like you don't know what you are saying. Just pretend like you know what you are talking about, even if you actually don't know what is going on." Jim said and Joe decided that maybe this was a good piece of advice and that maybe he should follow it.

"I think that things will be easier for me once I am at the date more. I think that if I talk to her for like an hour or so, then I will be involved in the conversation enough to actually talk with her for more than a couple of sentences at a time before there is a moment of strange silence." Joe decided as he realized that Jim was not really sure what Joe really knows he was saying at all.

"Well, just take my word for it and take it easy. Just like I said, act like this is a normal conversation. Which it really is. Just at a place with you buying the food." Jim said and and then Joe looked at the time. He had decided that he was ready to go on this date now. Well, he wasn't really ready. But he had to since he was getting close to the time anyways. So he stood up and thanked Jim for the conversation and then the two shook their hands. Joe then left the room.

"I hope that this goes well. Tell me how the date went when the date is over. I would be very interested to see how it goes. Well, hear I guess." Jim said and then Joe had left the house entirely. Joe was going to have to remember that. He had doubted that he would remember this in a few hours from now. But then again, Jim can always just remind him and then once he was reminded on that, then he could give Jim his answer. It was just that simple in reality, and there wasn't anything rocket science like to that. Joe got in the car and started to drive away to Aurora's house.

Soon enough, Joe had reached Aurora's house after about ten minutes or so of driving. As he was driving there, he was thinking about the advice that Jim was giving him as well as other things that he had heard that he could do for his date. From a bunch of different resources and all that. He knew that he needed to take it seriously, but he couldn't.

Aurora had left the house and then she saw Joe sitting there in the drivers seat. She smiled and then ran on over to the car and then got right inside of it. She laughed when she saw Joe sort of looking at her as if he were unsure of what to make of her. "So Joe, where are we going to go?" Joe laughed as if he had realized that the place he was going to was a terrible idea.

"Well, I am going to take you to dinner. There is this diner that I heard about once or twice. I thought that I would try it out and see if it is any good." Joe said and then as soon as he said that he felt like he was doing something extremely stupid by not trying it before he sent her there. As if he should have seen if the food was any good before he actually took her there. Aurora seemed to not really consider it as she patted his leg and then Joe started the car and he started to drive.

"Well you know, my brother and I had talked for a little bit and he was just giving me some points and tips for this date. I have never been on a date before, so I have no idea how to do it all. I don't think that it really matters all that much if I tell you the truth on that. I am just sort of hoping that this place is actually as good as I think it is and that I don't fuck up at all in this." Joe was now going on a slight ramble and Aurora had sort of enjoyed hearing him sound stupid. Not because she was a terrible person and wanted to see him fuck up. But there was something that was a little cute about him not knowing what he is doing.

"Joe, I wouldn't really worry about it all that much. Just take me there and then we will see just how good you are at this. Give it a chance." Aurora said and then Joe decided to remain silent. He didn't think that there was anything else that he could say that could change Aurora's mind. As he was driving, he was thinking about how he could be able to continue this conversation and see how the two of them could expand on their knowledge that they both had of each other. "Well, how about we talk a little bit about what we each plan on doing once we leave high school." Aurora decided to continue the conversation after a minute or two, and they were now half way or so of the way to the dinner. "I think that when I grow up, I feel like going into civil engineering. I know that sounds a little out there to most people, but I like that field."

"Well, as least you have a goal. I don't really even have one. And that is something that I know is a really big problem. The fact that I still have not come up with a single idea on what I want to do in my life shows that I am going into adulthood as a total idiot. That is all that there is to it." Joe said and then when he finished his sentence, he opened the car door since he had finally parked in the parking lot of the diner. "Let's get the hell out of here and get into that diner."

Aurora agreed and then the two of them left the car and went right into the diner. Once they were in the diner, there was a bunch of booths open and Joe had waited for a second. That was when he had realized that they didn't need to make any sort of reservations. They could just walk right to one of them. Aurora and Joe reached the third seat booth and Joe took the second seat and Aurora took the first seat. The waiter came along and gave them some menus.

"You know, I think that you will find something soon enough. I had no idea what I wanted to do until last year. When I was getting a job interview at that career fair. Looking at the jobs, I thought that the one that got to me the most was actually the idea of civil engineering. So here you go, that is my reasoning to do it." Aurora explained and Joe put his hand to his lips for a second before he continued the conversation.

"I think that I had ideas on what I wanted to do in my life. Then every time that I came up with ideas on what to do, I would give up on them and then decide to try and reach for something else. I think that every single school year, I have literally changed my ideas on what I had wanted to do." Joe said and then he started to list off some of the ideas that he had.

"Like in freshmen year, I wanted to be a actor. Then I wanted to be a police officer sophomore year. Last year I wanted to be a writer for a little bit. Now this year I have no idea what the fuck I want to do." Joe said as he kept switching every three words or so between the menu as well as the girl that he was on the date with. Then when the waiter came along she asked them if they wanted anything.

"I want a cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake." Joe said and then Aurora had ordered to get a double cheeseburger as well as a vanilla milkshake. She got a medium while Joe got a large. So in the end, the burger sizes and shake sizes had sort of evened out. Now the waiter just got the menus and got ready to make some of the food. Joe and then Aurora turned to each other again so that way they can finally focus on the conversation again.

"Seems like we both like to have easy food. Nothing that takes too long to cook." Joe said and then he laughed a little bit. He took his glasses off and this had shocked Aurora, but she decided to remain silent. "But anyways, about life after high school. Since that was the subject we were talking about. I think that when I graduate high school, I might go on and try to get a community college degree. Then afterwards, I will go on to a full on university with all of my transferred credits."

"Yeah, I am going to go right into the full on university. I am not going to fuck around with just a community college. There is literally no reason for me to after all. Being in the next place of my life I will feel like does require me going to a university instead of just being in a community place. But since you have no idea what you want to do in life, I feel like maybe it would be best for you to continue on staying here. You know, being in this place for a couple more years to start to get yourself more into what you feel like you will want." Aurora said and then she put her hand on Joe's.

"I just hope that I have made the right choice at the end of the day. I just have a feeling that this is something that I will regret doing in the end of it all. I have a feeling that there will be a part of me that wishes I either never gone on to college as well as maybe just going on to a university instead. I have a feeling that in the end, I feel like that I am wasting what I have in life that every body has that is needed. And that is time." Joe said as he thought on the concept of time. The concept of time was something that Joe took really took very seriously.

"Well, if you feel like time is the most important thing in your life, then maybe you should try to find a job in life as soon as possible. But in reality, every body wastes a lot of time. Or what would be considered a waste by a lot of people. I think that in the end, wasting time is the thing that will get at people the most." Aurora mostly agreed with Joe, but she still thought that Joe was a bit over worried about this. There was nothing about time that really worried Aurora too much. Well, aside from a movie that she hated or a class that she hated and then she would feel like she wasted all of those hours that are added up in the end.

"I don't even know what fucking job I would go on and get. I just don't know. I like to go out and do work. But I don't know if I could do some work forever and full time the way that people do that. I hate this so much. I hate not knowing what to do and I just hate it when everybody acts like I have no life and I try to argue with them but I know that deep down, they truly are right." Joe said and then when Joe had said that, he punched the table a little bit. But then he realized he was making a scene, and calmed down by about fifty percent afterwards.

"I think that once you go on and get a job, things will start to go easier. You will start to feel a little sad that you never were able to find a job sooner and you will feel like you should have found one sooner rather than later. That was what I had felt when I started to look for a job. I never have gotten one fully, but I got a couple of part time ones. Such as me getting a job at the aquatic center a little bit since I thought that this job would have worked. That had worked for about two or so months before I decided that I had to work more on my job than anything else. Which was a little sad for me to admit, but I had to sort of make peace with that whole fact." Aurora said and then when she said that, she put her hands behind her head and then Joe considered that when she had been saying that.

"I think that I just need to find one first. I think that this is something that we can both agree on." Joe said and then when he had said that the waiter came along and then put the food at the plate in order to let them have some food and all that. "Thank you for the food." Joe said and then the waiter walked away. Joe and Aurora looked at each other and smiled for the fraction of a second.

"So what is your family like. Sorry for changing the subject. But I just don't really want to talk about college or jobs anymore. I think that I will start to actually go angry when I think about it more." Joe said and then Aurora thought about it. She was not really even sure if she wanted to talk about family. But she decided to let Joe have what he had wanted.

"Well, my father and I have been able to get along pretty well the last few years. He and I have been able to talk a lot on my past and everything. We have been able to go and examine everything and see what I really want in life. In fact, he is somebody who has been able to give me a lot of advice when I needed it on what I could do. Especially when I needed the advice and he was willing to go on and give me it when I ask him for it." Aurora said and Joe nodded. She seemed to be getting along with him more than Joe had been able to.

"I am sort of the same way. My father and I have been getting along better at least than how we had been able to back like even five years ago. Five years ago, he was the most abusive person who would just do everything to make sure that I will not get anything that I want no matter how badly I wanted it. But in the last four or five months, it seems like he is trying to grow up a little bit. At one point, he hit me. But now it seems like he is trying to change that. He asked me what I would do and he also helped me get ready with this date for you. He seems to be getting more of a interest in what is going on in my life and for that I have to be a little bit thankful and all that. Even if it turns out to chance in the end, I still have to feel glad over what I am starting to finally get now." Joe said and then he took the first bite of his meal and then Aurora had a little bit of the shake that she had ordered.

"Well, that is good. At least he is making progress. Everybody has to make progress when they grow up and become better people. Just be glad that he is willing to help you at all. Or at the very least is willing to talk to you now. Be glad that he is not the way that he was five months ago." Aurora said and Joe had considered that to be a valid way of looking at it all.

The two had talked a little bit more on the subject of parents. Joe admitted that he only had his father as a parent and that he had no idea what the hell was going on with his mother. But he had not known of her existence for like the last several years. He thought that she might be dead, but he was not sure. Aurora had talked about hoer her mother was such a great mom. She worked a lot and by her working a lot, she had been able to provide a ton of money for the sake of the family. She always loved how her mother had been able to do nothing besides work on her job and her family and then get money for the family. It had shown Aurora that she really did care. They also talked about a couple of other things over the course of a couple of hours.

"I think that having siblings is one of the strangest things that a person could have. I don't think it is exactly a bad thing. But I do think that it does change your social perception on so many things that having at least one sibling makes you totally different than if you were a only child." Joe said and then Aurora wondered what Joe meant by that.

"Well, I don't have any siblings right now. I don't really know what makes my social perception of life any different than you. But I don't think that you are lying to me. So I am curious on what you are talking about. So would you be willing to explain to me?" Aurora said and then when she said that, Joe thought on something that she would have to admit to being true.

"Well, when you have a sibling with you, there is always a feeling of competition that you have with them. This feeling of competition is something that just drives you into every single thing that you do. I always try to out perform Jim, and while he always wins, I know that this can be not only motivation to make me better. But then beyond that, I realize that you can still respect your siblings even if you want to be better than them." Joe said and then Aurora wondered what type of competitions that Joe had during his life with Jim.

"Well, I always tried to show Jim that I can do certain things. Such as you know, being a better boyfriend to a girl than him. He never really had a strong girlfriend in his life. He always ended up breaking up with them. The longest girlfriend that he had was two years. The shortest was one that lasted a messily nine days. Which is just insane. Although Jim has already won the earliest to virginity thing. And I know that this is a given since he is so much older than me. But I mean like the age that we lose it in. Since Jim was sixteen when he lost it, and I am already seventeen and I still am one." Joe admitted as he always wondered what it would be like to go on and have sex for the first time.

"Don't worry about it. I'm still one after all. I never really been all that interested in having it. However, that being said, if the chances coming up and I get to have sex with a guy, then I will go on and have it. That is just how simple it is really." Aurora confessed and Joe felt so much better knowing that she was one to. So it wasn't like he was a complete novice and that maybe he did stand a chance after all.

"Well, I have wanted to have it for a long time. But I have never been able to get a girl to like me at all. I have gotten close to asking girls out but then they always turned me down every fucking time. You are the first girl that I have ever asked out that accepted me. I wonder if you ever been on any dates with any guys." Joe said and he continued eating since he was at pretty much the ending of his meal.

"I think that I have dated a couple of guys before. But I never had anything that lasted more than like five or so months. I just always got turned away from him near the end for whatever reason and I break up with him. I'm always the one who breaks up with him, not the only way around. I just date him and let him go when I am ready." Aurora said in a humor way since she was trying to make a joke around it but Joe thought about that for a moment.

"Well, we have been here for a while." Joe said and looked at the time on his watch. He couldn't believe that they put a steak knife in the middle of the burger. That was still pissing him off and it had already been like an hour since that shot happened. "I don't want the people in the diner have to kick us out due to time, so I think that we better start heading out." Joe said and then he stood up and held his hand out. Aurora grabbed his hand and then they headed out of the diner.

"Did you enjoy the date at all?" Joe asked and he was hoping that Aurora would say yes. Joe got inside of the car and then Aurora got inside of it as well. That was when Joe started the car and then they began to ride off. Aurora pit her seat belt on before she finally decided that maybe she needed to answer him finally.

"I think that it was probably the best date I have had in a little while. Although I still hated how bad that diner food was." Aurora said and then Joe snapped his fingers. He was so glad that she had beaten him to it. He thought that the food in the diner honestly sucked quite a bit, but he didn't want to say it. But since she was the one that had said it, he would be able to say it and talk about how terrible it was.

"I don't even get why that was so damn expensive. It just made no fucking sense to me. I thought that it would have been a easy pay place to go to. After all, it was supposed to be a fifties diner, and I thought that as a result of it being a fifties diner, it would have been cheap. Well, at least compared to other places I go to. I have been to modern places that were cheaper than that place." Joe was saying and then as he was saying that, Aurora was laughing as she was listening to him rant. Not because she thought the rant was stupid, but he was just so funny when he was angry.

"Well, have you been to a restaurant or a fast food place before with somebody else?" Aurora asked and she wasn't even asking him to try and prove a point or anything, but she was just curious to see what he had to say. If he did actually have any sort of experience on that sort of stuff. Joe laughed at hear as if what she had asked him was a great piece of comedy.

"No, I haven't gone to any of that stuff with anybody else on a date. I have done it a couple of times with somebody else with some so called friends that I was trying to make at the time. However, I have gone several times by myself throughout my high school years. Well, through out my high school years up until this point." Joe said and then when he answered her question, Aurora decided that maybe Joe needed some more experience if he wanted to actually know what he was talking about. But Joe waited for her to say that, but she actually didn't. Which made Joe feel like she didn't want to argue with him, if she even was trying to in the first place.

"Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be asking you when I haven't been all that much better on. Even when I would go on a date with a guy, I would let him pay for everything. I never had to deal with the paying of a date or anything. So I guess that I shouldn't be trying to act like I am such a expert on this subject when if anything, I am less of an expert on this than you. At least you actually paid for a date now." Aurora said and then she laughed and when she had laughed, Joe felt like he did some good and he laughed along with her.

"So what are you going to tell your parents about this date? Do you think you will tell them if it was a success or a failure?" Joe asked and he felt like he really needed to know if he was considered a success or not. That is, if she was telling the truth with her answer and all that.

"I think that I will tell them that it was a better success than I thought that it would have been. No offense, but when I heard you ask me on a date, I thought that you were going to be a mess. But I knew that I needed to give you a chance. Just like how my father told me to do when somebody asked me on a date on my freshmen year. Then when I thought on that, I waited for you and seeing how you talk and when you sort of put your sort of nerd like personality aside, then you can get a good conversation across." Aurora answered and the more that he heard her answer, he was starting to have mixed responses on what she said. He didn't feel defeated, but he didn't feel like he was a great player or anything like that after all.

"But would you think that you would ever want to go on a date with me again? Please just say yes or no. I want you to be honest with me." Joe said and then when Aurora heard him ask her that question, she knew that she had to make a hard choice. But she wasn't really sure if she knew what Joe would think either way.

"I think that I might like to do it again. I guess that I would say yes. But I don't know if I would want to go to a dinner like that again." Aurora said and then when Aurora had said that, Joe laughed. He wasn't even sure why he was laughing, but that was all that he could do by that point. "But now we will talk about you. What will you tell your parents."

"I will tell them that the dinner fucking sucked but that the conversation and what we had talked about was good. If they ask me what we talked about, I will start off and talk about one or two things. Then when we talk about one or two things, or when I say that in my answer, I will go more in detail if I feel the need to. If they ask for more, then I will tell them more until they either don't want to hear it anymore or until I don't even have anything else to tell them." Joe said and then he looked over at the sky. He realized that he was only a couple of blocks away from the house.

"Do you think that your parents will like your answer? Or at least your father I guess. I also wonder what your brother will also think about that." Aurora sort of pondered out loud and then Joe decided that he didn't really want to talk about this anymore. It was just something that he didn't even want to think about anymore. He just wanted to go home and relax and have a nice night and move on with his life the next day. Then pretty much pretend like his life was just the same that it always was.

"So Joe, do you think that you will be ready for high school? Well, I mean our last year of high school? Yeah, if you were not ready for high school, then you would be kind of screwed by this point in time." Aurora said and then that was her turn to laugh. Joe then thought about it for a little bit longer.

"I guess that I will be as ready as I can on this. I don't think that you will truly ever will be totally ready for school no matter what year you are in. That is what I am sort of thinking at the very least. So I will not really worry about it all that much at all." Joe said and then he stared even more at the lights of the street. That was when Aurora had tried to think of how she could continue this conversation. If she even could at this point. Maybe it was just dead at this point.

Thankfully for her at least, she would not have to really try all that hard. Joe had pulled up at her yard about forty seconds after Joe had finished his reply. Once Joe had pulled up at yard, he looked at Aurora once again. "Aurora, I really enjoyed this date. I don't know if you enjoyed it as much as I did. But I hoped that you at least did enjoy it a little bit. That diner really didn't ruin it as much for me as I may try and make it out to sound."

"Well Joe, I will be interested to try it again. But I don't think that I will do it soon. I need to take a couple of days to really think about what this date was and if I actually did enjoy it or not. I want to give it some hindsight before I make a true decision." Aurora said and then she held her hand out. Then Joe shook it and once she had shook his hand, the two of them stared at each other. Then Aurora left the car and Joe yelled good night at her. She yelled good night at him back and then she closed the door.

Joe waited until she had got inside of her house. Once the door was closed, he waited another two seconds and then Joe started to drive off. As he drove off, he was thinking really hard about what she had said and how she needed some time to think about that. This was when Joe started to feel like maybe she didn't really enjoy it as much as she had said she did. Or maybe if she enjoyed it even more, which would be a true victory for Joe.

The more that Joe was driving, the more that Joe was thinking about all of this. After about five or ten minutes, the more that Joe was not even thinking all that much about getting home in time. After all, he was like seventeen. He assumed that he was old enough to stay out all night one night. Even if Joe got in trouble over it, he could just say that he lost track of time. Which that part was true. But then after about forty minutes of him driving around for no real reason, he found a rest stop. This was when Joe decided that he was beyond tired. So he drove on over to it and then he parked the car. Then he turned the car off and closed his eyes. For the first and last night of his life, Joe slept in the drivers seat of a car. And he was glad that he didn't get like murdered or anything like that.

When Joe was asleep, he was having a really strange dream about something in the past and about a guy he only knew when he was a younger guy and living in the apartment with several other people. This dream seemed out of nowhere then, but as time went on, Joe was realizing he was sort of seeing the origin story of a man who would grow up to be one of his best friends in the later years of his life.


	5. The Skating Life

Chapter 4: The Skating Life

The dream had all started and right when it started, there was a really generic couple of words to show what the time was as if to show Joe just when this was taking place to help him figure out what the hell was going on a little bit better. It was saying 'May 1986' which mean that it would have been two to three months prior and therefore was a little bit recent, but also long enough ago to show that maybe things are not always the same anymore at the same time.

The dream just showed a couple of kids walking out of their school after the school day was over. The three of them seemed to be enjoying their conversation decently well. Or as well as one could be able to enjoy a conversation when you had just left school and you wanted to just get your minds off of the rigors of school and all of that stuff. One of them had black hair and he was wearing a red shirt and he had blue pants, as if he wanted to be dressing up as a normal boy. Nothing that really seemed all that strange to Joe.

Then as this was going on, there was the guy, a man of slightly darker skin walking right next to him and they seemed to be talking. By slightly darker skin it was not meaning like a different race, just more tan in a way. He had a bunch of frizzy hair and he seemed like he was trying way too hard to be like some form of soccer star or something like that. Joe did not really pay much attention to this guy, but he did sort of like the youth and ambition that he obviously had.

The girl that was with them had purple hair, which was something really strange for Joe to try and handle seeing. But it was not all that big of a deal to be totally honest. Maybe she just dyed it or something like that. This was the story that he was telling himself. After all it just did feel like the story that was the most realistic for him to think up of at that time. He thought that maybe those three were going to have some sort of strange love triangle lol.

"I can't wait until it is summer. I am so tired of all of these gross and old papers gathering up in my back pack. I want something else to do for once." The tan one was saying and Joe can tell that he had the most stuff on him and therefore was probably the least good student when he saw that his back pack was really fucking filled up. Joe was looking to see the back packs of the others and the girls was less heavy than tan boy, but still relatively heavy while black haired boy had the least heavy load in his back pack.

"T.K., how is it that you are able to do all of this school work so well? I think that it is like a fucking talent that you have that keeps it so that you are able to be as fast of a learner as you are. You seem sort of like a genius. I mean, already in Geometry and we are just in sixth grade. Like god damn." The tan guy was saying as if to really sort of capture just how impressed he was with this whole thing, and he seriously wanted some advice from T.K. regarding the matter.

"I just sort of set aside ninety minutes or so every night before I go to bed on nothing besides school. The other several hours of the day I just have some fun like the normal kid our age, but on the last ninety minutes or so before bed when I am trying to find at least something to do, I just sit down and do as much work in school as I can and I just stay on top of all the work and that is how I am able to make things work out so well honestly. Just being realistic with my time and my schedule." T.K. said and then after he had said that, the other two just rolled their eyes as if thinking he was like a fucking nerd here.

"Well, I am not doing anything like that. Thanks for trying and pretend like we are even a tenth as crazy as you are when it comes to school." The guy who was having a little bit of a tan said, and T.K. would later call him Davis, which made it easy to remember his name as that was a easy to remember name honestly. Like Davis would one of the easiest names that you can find on a general basis when walking around the city.

"I don't know Davis, maybe T.K. does have a good idea going here. After all, he is doing good in school. Lord knows you need to do better in school. No offense, but you and I both know that this is the truth." The girl with the purple hair said and then Davis was trying way too hard not trying to think that she was doing her best to make him try and become the way she wanted him to be, but that was something that maybe was not really all that big of a deal.

"Well Yolei, I think that if you or Davis want my help here, then I can help you guys out at any point. I would never turn down one of my friends on the idea of helping the, So just if you want something, just come to me and I will see what I can do to help you out there." T.K. said and then that was when he had felt like he needed to get something going on his agenda of that day. Davis was busy that day, so maybe there was nothing he can do there, but maybe he could eventually find something with Yolei.

"I need to be heading out. See you two later. Are you still around to hang out on Friday like usual?" Davis said and then as he was starting to head out, T.K. yelled that he was and then that was just how they had been able to make some simple plans. Nothing really too much to it, just them both saying that they wanted to do something and them pretty much just agreeing to do that. They agreed to meet up at the arcade.

After T.K. and Yolei decided that they would start to go on and just hang out for a little bit on their own, this was when Yolei was just sort of talking about some things that she thought were pretty cool. "Have you seen some of the skaters around town lately? I saw them playing around a couple of days ago when my older brother was just screwing around with his friends. When his friends showed up, they were talking about how they were getting into skating and all that stuff. I decided to watch their skating and when I saw their skating, I realized just how cool it actually was.

"I have heard about it. But I have never tried anything of it before. Maybe I should start and try it out soon enough. I think that maybe this would be pretty interesting to do." T.K. was saying and after he told Yolei that, she smiled and then she thought that maybe they could do that for their next hang out session that day. She mentioned that she knew where the skating shop was due to the fact that when she was hanging out with her brother, they had stopped by the skating shop for a moment and she saw a bunch of boards that they could actually stay at.

"Well, I think we should try this out. Just follow me to the store and I think the two of us could get a board going for you." Yolei was saying and then after she had said that, T.K. and her started to head off in that direction and as they were heading off in that direction, Yolei was just talking about how much fun it was to see the different styles of boarding and stuff. "Just watching all of their moves were really impressive, I never thought that I would actually see them pulling off some of the most impressive moves in history. I wonder how long he has been doing this to be even half as impressive as he had been able to perform that day." Yolei said and then T.K. was wondering if maybe he could actually be all that great at it and he was thinking that maybe he could take from her and her brother can give him a lesson or two on how to do a good job skating.

"I have heard about skating before. Matt had talked about it once or twice. But he truly did not really seem too highly about the whole thing. I guess that maybe Matt and I are allowed to view differently on some things after all." T.K. told Yolei and then Joe would later learn that that Matt was the older brother of T.K., and that they were both going to be working with him a shit ton coming up later.

"Your brother always seems to look at things very negatively. No offense to you when I am saying that, but he never seems to be looking at things on the positive end. I feel like he just in general does not really feel too highly of the world. Just strange how even you have a better outlook on life than he does and you have had your share of talking crap about the world and stuff." Yolei decided that she would probably let T.K. go on this whole thing with Matt and she just wanted to see him start his skating life.

So with that, Yolei and T.K. eventually reached the front of the skating store. The two of them walked right inside of the room and they were totally ready to go on and start to get something with the skateboard. T.K. was ready to start skating since he thought that the skating was going to be the best part about this whole thing. He thought that maybe he could get some advice from Yolei's brother on how to be a good skater and then that would be a good hobby to pick up.

The owner of this store walked up to T.K. and Yolei and after they had done so, they were looking at the two of them to try and figure out which once they wanted to help out. Well not really a whole want to help out as much as really sort of needed to help out since they was most likely no fucking way that a young lady like Yolei would actually want to go around and do stuff like skating. So it was probably out of default going to be T.K. who was going to ask for some help on this whole thing.

"I think that you should be looking in this section of the store to find a skateboard that will fit with you. Fitting is the first thing that really matters when you are trying to find something that will be good for your skating needs." The owner of this store had said as he led T.K. on over to the right hand corner of the store and there were like a good nine or ten boards that were open for T.K. to go on and choose from. T.K. now was looking at the boards and he was wondering if he actually could do even a hint of a good job on the whole skating thing even with a good board.

"I think I want this one." T.K. said after he pointed at a blue board. He saw that this one seemed to be the normal size of something that he would use. The owner of the store nodded and then pulled the board off of the rack and then let T.K. go around and do a short ride on this to see if he was actually going to do what he had needed to do. So when the board was handed to him, T.K. just placed the board on the ground and he was ready to go and try the whole thing out.

After T.K. had placed the board on the ground, he started to ride the board very slowly. He was not really wanting to get himself into any damage or anything. He was just riding his foot across the board and when he was doing this, the guy who owned the store was watching and then Yolei was excited to see that T.K. was going to probably start going around and skating. After doing this for like a minute or so, T.K. got off of the board and then afterwards he walked to the owner of the store.

"I will take it." T.K. said and then after he said this, he gave the guy who owned the store like ten dollars which was two more than was needed for the store. Afterwards, he was given a helmet for free to help him be a little bit safe for skating. Then with that, T.K. and Yolei walked out of the store and they were getting ready to get a little bit of skating going on and seeing if they actually could get more in the hang of this whole thing than Yolei looked over at T.K.

"I think that you should start riding along already. I think that you would really enjoy the riding here. I don't want you to put the money to waste." Yolei said and then T.K. looked over at her and then he shrugged. There was no real reason why he shouldn't do this. So he decided that he would start to do the riding. So he got on the ground with the board and then he started to do the riding and then as he did the riding, the hill was really fast to go down and Yolei was slowly running behind him so that way at the very least they would be in the same area of the block.

As T.K. was riding down the hill, he was just throbbing all over the place trying to just get himself not tripping. But when he was not trying to trip, he was just on the verge of screaming the whole time, but there was a little bit of honor to him, or what he was thinking was honor and then he was not screaming this whole time. But this whole thing was just a little bit of a silly moment more than anything else. Yolei had did pretty good considering the fact that she was just running to keep up with him the whole time.

Soon enough, T.K. had reached what had looked like a giant entrance to a house. This was when T.K. thought that maybe he could go inside since the door was wide open. But before he went inside the building, he was thinking that this was a terrible idea and that he was just needing to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. He was falling down and as he fell down, the board went right inside of the house and then he was right on the yard of the house. That was when Yolei showed up to see the situation that T.K. was in now.

"T.K., are you going to try and get your board or are you going to just it all alone and give up on the idea of skating?" Yolei asked and then when she had asked that, T.K. looked over and then he was shaking his head and then when he was shaking his head, the more that Yolei was thinking that T.K. had a lot of balls for a young man of his age.

"I used ten dollars on this. I hate the very idea of wasting my money, so I am going to get the board and then come back here. I know that maybe this is not the smartest thing to do, but I just do not want to waste anything so this is going to be what I will do." T.K. said and then after he had said that, Yolei just stood there as she watched T.K. enter the house to get the skateboard. He was going to grab the board, and then once he was done, he was going to go on and head right out of the place and then he would go home and that would be a good idea.

So when T.K. was inside of the house, he saw the board right away and then he grabbed the board. That was not really the hard part that was going to fuck everything up. But then soon enough, he saw that there was a guy smoking in the house and he seemed to be having some fun while he was just sort of giving zero fucks in the whole thing. Before he went back out to see Yolei once again, T.K. thought that maybe for a second he could walk inside the room and see what exactly he was actually smoking.

T.K. walked inside of the room and after he had walked inside of the room, he saw that the guy was stopping the moment that he saw T.K. out of the corner of his eye. When he saw T.K., he stood up and then he placed the cigarette on his glass plate and then he started to walk towards T.K. with his board. "Why are you inside of this house? Do you not know that you should not be allowed to go inside of other peoples properties?"

"Look here, I lost my skateboard and then it skated inside of here and after it skated in here, I wanted to grab it and then I got it and now I am heading out. I won't mess around here anymore, and then I will never tell anybody else what you are doing here." T.K. was telling the truth and then he was about to head out of the house when the guy managed to grab the board out of T.K.'s hand but despite what T.K. was thinking he was going to do, he did not break the board he was just looking at it and then the anger on his face was slowly starting to wear off there.

"I used to skate back in the day. I gave up on it after I started to hang out with my high school friends. They were smoking all the time and at first, I thought that it was dumb and I thought that nobody should want to do it. But then I tried it out and then as more time passed by, the more that I did it. Soon enough, I started to do it every day and I forgot everything about skating, everything about the ideas that I had for school when I left home, and I just kind of have been spending the money I earn on smoking and drinking." The guy was saying and then he handed T.K. back the board and T.K. just looked at him wondering why there was even this dumb of information given to him this whole time.

"Sorry for that, I was not really expecting that information. I think that I need to head out. Maybe you can help me with the skating." T.K. had said and then he was looking at the stuff that this guy was smoking. He thought that maybe he should come along and maybe smoke up a little bit. It seemed interesting and fun to do. But then the guy who had been talking with T.K. for this time looked over and saw what T.K. was thinking and then he grabbed T.K. by their arm and pushed him to the wall.

"I will not give you any of those. You should not even ask me for that. I do not want you to do this. If you are going to start smoking, then you should not even have this skate board at all." This guy said and then he moved T.K.'s left arm up a crap ton and then T.K. actually heard a crack and then T.K. screamed like a little fucking girl over there.

Then afterwards T.K.'s arm was let go and T.K. could only hold the skate board with his fucking right arm. Then he was trying as hard as he can to not think about what he just been forced to deal with. T.K. was starting to head out of the house and right when he was heading out of the house, there was the guy looking at him and then he sighed in annoyance and thought that maybe there was something that they could do here after all.

"Give yourself a arm cast, come back here after school tomorrow, then we can go back down to the skate park. I will give you one lesson, but nothing more than that. I think that this is the least that I can do after I broke your arm." The guy said and then he shook his head and then T.K. was thinking that despite how much he hated pain and felt like he was a little girl by showing his pain over this, he just ran out of the house and there was a single tear down his face as a result of all of this pain. Yolei saw what happened and then ran on over to T.K.

"Damn, what the fuck happened? I heard your scream well from out here." Yolei said and then she saw the broken arm and then she was about to freak the fuck out there for a second. "Oh my god, we need to get you to the fucking hospital as soon as possible. You are going to have a lot to explain to explain to your mom when you are done with that and come home." Yolei said and she looked at T.K. smiling a little bit. She thought that it was kind of cute to see T.K. be a little badass with a broken arm.

Soon enough, T.K. and Yolei went to the hospital and after he went inside of the hospital for a terrible injury for the second time in his life and the first time in two years, T.K. got himself a arm cast and then T.K. did not really think it was as bad as people were making it out to be. He did not need his left arm to skate and then do his school work. He could just use his right arm for both and then Yolei was looking at T.K.

"I think that Davis will think this is totally sick when you show up to school tomorrow with that skateboard and that arm cast. I think you will be the most popular kid at school for a couple of days. Maybe we can get yourself excused from a couple of assignments. What happened in there tough to get your arm so busted in the first place?" Yolei was saying and T.K. was more focused on the time at that moment. It was like past six in the evening at that moment and T.K. was thinking his mother was probably really worried then.

So it took a little while and he was not excited to do this, but T.K. made it back to his house and then afterwards, he placed the skateboard right in his room before anybody could possibly even notice him being gone at all. But then afterwards, there was his mother who called out to T.K. to see what was going on and to see if maybe he would actually explain some things to her on why it was taking him a million years to come home that night. "T.K., you had scared the shit out of me when you had not been coming home for so long. You should have let me know what the hell you were doing." His mother said and T.K. was placing his arm right at the side of the door and it was covering up the arm cast.

"I'm sorry, I just had a lot of school stuff going on. It really slipped my mind. It won't happen again. At least I won't do it again without telling you in the morning." T.K. said and then he walked inside of the room and he decided to get right to his own personal work. Then when this happened, his mother thought that he was telling the truth and that one mistake was just something that she could forgive.

It was after T.K. was left alone that T.K. was just thinking of something that he could do in that moment of time or something like that. He was just thinking that he felt like he could do, such as train up his skating and just seeing if he could improve his skills or something like that. He decided that he would just work on his school work for the time being and then on the next school day he would get ready for his practice on skating further.

On the next school day, T.K. woke up really early and then he placed the skateboard right at the outside of the house just for his mother to not notice and right before she could look over and see what he was doing, T.K. was yelling out to her "I will be working at school tonight when I am done, be back around the same time as I was last night." T.K. said and then when he was saying this he grabbed the skateboard once again and then he started to ride the board again all the way to school."

"I guess that he is starting to be like Matt now. Just going around and staying around like all night. I guess that maybe there is nothing that I can do about it. He is just sort of doing his own thing." His mother said and she was still blind to the fact that he had the arm cast and he was going try putting off that fact as long as possible even though he knew that she was going to get pissed if this was the case and he had not told her well in advance.

T.K. was riding his whole way to school and there was just some huge thrill to it the entire time. There was no way that the broken arm was going to take away from his skating, although T.K. was just sure not to make his broken arm touch the board or anything like that and that it was just his main one this entire time. As he was riding, he was just thinking about how much he was going to just kill it when he was training with that old guy and he had heard about this race coming up in a few days and he was hoping that he was going to do a great job with the race.

Soon enough, T.K. had made his way to school and once he was in front of the school, everybody instantly looked over at him and they all thought that he was some super badass and sexy guy. He had his skateboard right on his right arm, his back pack with only one strap and then he saw that there was his arm cast and then Davis looked over at T.K. and he was shocked at the fact pretty much everybody was looking over at him thinking he was the next popular dude.

"Wow, I was not expecting this to change your reputation in just a couple of minutes. This is the first time I ever seen everybody look at you. Yolei told me all about your arm and I was expecting that, but I was not expecting the board or the whole popularity thing." Davis said and as he had said that, there was a couple of girls that walked by and they were laughing when they were walking by the two guys and they thought that it was just really funny to see these two guys now.

"This whole thing makes no sense. I think that maybe we are just being laughed at and not being laughed with." T.K. had said and then he was wondering what he could do now. He placed the board on the ground and then Davis looked amazed at what he was doing. "I guess that maybe I can ride around here for a little while to get to my next class." T.K. said and then afterwards, he started to kick the ground and he was starting to ride his board. The arm cast was something T.K. had to watch out for before he could get too crazy here.

It took like two minutes for him to reach the other side of the school where his first class was, and when he had done so, he walked inside of the school and had the board on his side as well. Then he sat down at his assigned chair and he was just sitting through his math class, which he really hated to sit through no matter what the lesson material had been at all. He was noticing that the teacher did not give a fuck about his broken arm and that they wanted to teach their lesson and move on through all of that stuff.

The school day was pretty slow aside from the transitions and lunch period. During the lunch period, T.K. was sitting with Davis and Yolei and they were talking with each other. They were talking about the stuff that they were going to do after school. "I need to do a skating lesson with this guy that fucked up my arm. Maybe I can actually win the skating race coming up. I want to partake in that now. I think that you and Davis can join me if you guys want to watch the whole thing." T.K. said and the others looked at each other to see what was going on.

"I think that this is a good enough idea. I think that maybe we can spend a couple of hours skating around right now. I feel as if this will be a pretty fun thing to do right now." Davis decided and then Yolei decided that she was going to get on board with this whole thing. After this, T.K. was thinking about how great it was going to be to skate around and just not give a single fuck about anything else in the world at this moment. They just wanted to have a good time right now.

That was when there was this girl that walked up to T.K. and wanted to comment on his arm. "That arm cast makes you look really badass." She said and then she took out a sharpie. T.K. was confused at this at first but then after he realized what she was doing, he held out his arm cast while smiling and then she started to write her name on sharpie. Her name was written on the cast and was the first name to do so, and the name was 'Molly.' Then she looked up at T.K. and was smiling a little bit.

Afterwards, T.K. looked over at Yolei and Davis. "This is totally fucking sick. I am going to see if I can get other people to sign it lol." T.K. said and then he stood up and started to walk around the lunch room. That was when Yolei turned around to look at Davis. She rolled her eyes as if not able to believe the way that T.K. was getting over his head with all of this stuff about his arm injury. She at least was able to still talk with Davis for the moment right then and there.

"I wonder how badly his fame will get to him when he starts to show his skating moves to everybody else." Yolei said and she was starting to sort of regret giving him the idea of buying this and she had hoped that when T.K. was doing this, only Davis and Yolei would get a share of the fame and not just him taking it and hogging the whole thing. She was a little jealous she would admit, as she didn't want to admit it, but she did have a little bit of crush on T.K. despite only knowing him for about two months with her being the new student who showed up in April, pretty fucking late in the year.

"Don't worry about it Yolei. Just let him have a couple of days or fame and when he realizes that nobody cares anymore, then maybe he will start to hang out with us again. I think that is just how it is going to go. I know how it is to be popular for a week and then nobody gives a shit about you ever again. I will tell you that story later." Davis told Yolei and he was looking over at T.K. who was just getting a shit ton of names on his arm cast. Davis was in the same spot as Yolei, but he liked her and that was hard for him since she realized that she liked T.K., and that T.K. did not really give a shit at all.

T.K. was just going around and he went around the entire cafeteria and as he was going around, he was pretty much all done after about five or ten minutes. He sat down when he was done and then he counted all of the names that were on his cast now. "Thirteen names, that is pretty impressive. I thought that I was only getting like five or something." T.K. said and then he looked at the two friends as if he had caught jack pot.

"How long are you going to have this? I think that maybe you should get that off you soon enough so that way you can have a full body to help you with skating." Yolei said and then as she was saying this, T.K. did not like to admit it but she was right. He did need to lose it if he wanted to improve his skating. But the bell rang and it was time for the rest of the day afterwards.

When the whole school day was over, T.K. got out of his class and this was when he was ready to start his skating lessons with that one asshole. Davis and Yolei got to reach him just in time and then they went through the same pattern as the previous day and as he was riding, the sounds of the cars and the smell of gross mud was not really going past him as he was more focused on the zooming noise of the skating.

The entire time that he was flying around, his arms were flying around like absolutely crazy and this was starting to go absolutely crazy at this moment and all that stuff. But then it took only five minutes when going at full speed to get down to the house of that one guy who was smoking a ton and was deciding to go on and try and help out T.K. for a little while. As this was going on, Yolei and Davis were only like ten yards away from T.K. when he eventually reached that guys house. Then afterwards, T.K. jumped off of the skateboard and then he grabbed the board and knocked right at the door of his helper.

There was the guy who was putting his cigarette down and then he was not really smoking it at all. He had considered smoking, but it was a huge task for him to actually not do it. Then he looked down at T.K., Yolei and Davis. This guy was staring at T.K. and then when he staring at the three of them, he shook his head as if trying to figure out what the hell was going on now. "I guess that it is time for you guys to start your guys next lesson." This guy said and then he snapped his finger. "However, we should go to the skate park."

"Alright, let's go on and do this." T.K. said and then after he had said that, there was the guy who went to his car and then called Davis and Yolei to go to the car and they would just drive to the park. Then when that was going on, T.K. would be forced to ride down there with his board and he had to go as fast as he could to be able to see if he could actually beat the car. Which T.K. knew he could not do, but he liked how this guy had enough hope in T.K. that he could at the very least try this whole thing.

So T.K. was riding down the hill as fast as he possibly could. He was still trying to get used to this thrill of riding a board. He was just getting through this whole thing and he had felt like this whole thing was just over the top for him. He felt like he just needed to embrace this whole thing no matter how insane this whole thing was. That was when T.K. thought that he was still seeing the car still.

As he was seeing the car, he was thinking that maybe he would not beat the car, but he could at the very least make it respectable at the same time. He was going faster and faster and as he was getting faster, that was when the car was getting closer to him for a moment until he saw the car parking. This was when T.K. saw that this was the park and that T.K. needed to stop as soon as possible, which would prove to be the hardest part.

Soon enough, T.K. was trying to get himself to stop and then when he was getting close, he fell off of the board and he flew onto the ground and he gave himself a pretty lit fucking scar. He stood up and then when he was standing up, he looked on over at Davis and Yolei as well as the mentor guy. The guy shook his head not able to believe that T.K. was actually wanting to do this thing at all.

"Well, this is not really a great first day of teaching. Seems as if we have a really long ass way to go. But we need to still try and we need to get through this whole thing together. Your friends will be here to support you. I guess that maybe you will see this and all of this." He said and then he grabbed the skateboard from the ground and that was when T.K. was wondering what the hell was going on here. T.K. walked right next to Davis and Yolei and he was just watching calmly. The guy placed his foot on the board and then he was getting ready to start riding.

This guy was riding along the skating ring and he showed such great form and it looked like he was able to really show people how skating could truly be more of an art than people had been able to think of it before. He was just going at like what seemed like twenty miles per hour. He was jumping up and down and he was doing a bunch of moves that looked like there were from movies that would take place in the early 2000's as T.K. would later learn over a decade later. It took him less than five minutes to go around the entire ring twice and do all of his favorite spins at least once.

Then when he was done, he skated up the large slope and then he yelled in excitement and then handed T.K. the board. T.K. was totally amazed at what he was seeing and then T.K. was wondering just how he was going to beat that. "I have not done this in such a long time that I didn't know I even had those moves with my mind still and I am impressed that I can do it still. I guess that maybe I will actually be able to help you out after all."

"How am I going to be even a tenth as good as you?" T.K. was saying and then when he was saying this, he placed the board on his feet and he was not really sure how he was going to handle this whole thing. The guy was thinking and then before T.K. could mutter out even another sentence from his mouth, the guy kicked the board and then T.K. was now forced to start riding.

As this was going on, he was riding down the slope really fast and T.K. turned around as fast as he could to make sure that he could actually take this thing as best as he could. He started swinging around and his body felt like it was going to fall off of the board several times and T.K. had the fear that he didn't have a helmet on and he was worried at what would happen to him. So after he was riding for a while, and he was thinking his skull was going to be busted, he jumped up and then when he was jumping up, he barely managed to reach the end of the ring and then he was panting in terror.

The guy who had decided to start teaching T.K. to skate was staring at him in disapproval. He grabbed T.K. by the hand and then he slid down the ring to grab the board and then he walked up the stairs to get back to T.K. "If you want any chance to win the skating race, you are going to have to really step up your game. This is getting sad for me to watch. I need you to start to get more serious about this. But we can continue this tomorrow. Let's all go out for dinner, I will pay for this one."

"This is crazy." Davis said after this whole thing was starting to go in like mach speed. T.K. thought that this was awesome that all of this was happening, but at the same time he could not himself to agree with Davis that this whole thing was actually going really fast and he did for a short moment think that maybe they should be taking it a little bit slower than they have been at this point in time. But he did not think about this too much as the guy who was teaching him to skate brought them on over to the local pizza place.

"So do you have any friends that you talk with? I think that you should show us some of your friends." Yolei said and she seemed to be genuinely interested in seeing how he was like on his own personal time. The guy seemed to think about it and then he decided that there was no harm in telling them how he was like. After all, they were starting to be his friends and he felt that it was always good to be honest with his friends no matter what the situation would be or if it would ruin the friendship.

"Well I have a few friends. They pretty much forced me away from skating and got me into doing drugs and stuff. If I could go back to my fifteen year old and tell myself to cut the shit off before I started, then I would have done it. I think that it is too far gone for me to change anything. The only thing that can be said that is good is the fact that I have a girlfriend, but she thinks that she does not want to date me anymore with the habits I have. I think I should end my friendship with these people soon..." This guy was saying out loud but quiet enough for only the group to hear after they had ordered their generic pepperoni pizza. The place smelled like over cooked pizza and grease but the group did not care too much.

"Why is your girlfriend going to break up with you over this?" Yolei asked since while she was able to see the problem with drugs and how it can be dangerous for your over all health, it was something that did not really make her think that you should lose your relationship as a result of it. This guy seemed to think there was not enough he could say here to make them really get it.

"Well, when you smoke the first time, it is like you are on the top of the world. It is like the first time that you ever masturbate. The first couple of times you really enjoy it, but the more that you do it the more that your brain forces you to think that you need it and then when that happens, then you start to think that nothing is as important as this. It slowly gets to the point in which the people around you become unimportant and then you throw them to the wayside and then afterwards, you will only be the shadow of a man." He had said and after this, T.K. thought about that and thought that maybe he should never try and masturbate or at the very least get too deeply into it.

So with that, the group all started to think more about what was happening with the race. "When the race goes on, do you think that you can be able to convince your girlfriend to come along with the race? I think that she will be willing to join the audience if you are actually willing to race. I think that maybe doing this race can get you to start to go back to your old habits and not doing something that you do not really like at all." T.K. had said and then after he had said that, the guy looked at the group and he was not really sure if this would actually work out too well.

"I doubt that this will really work out the way that you will want it to. However, I do think that I will go on to the race just to see if I truly still have it. I think that this is something that I will really do for myself and not really for anybody else. I am not doing this for love and not for war, I am doing this for my own personal gain." He decided and then T.K. looked at the arm cast and all of the signatures. Looking back on it, he did feel a little bit bad for basically doing just that with his race now.

"I guess that everybody had room to improve I suppose. So when you are done with the race, do you think that you will ever talk with us ever again?" Davis asked trying to get into the conversation and breaking his relative silence by that point in time since he felt like that was a really good question to ask the dude. This dude was thinking a little bit more and he would answer that one final question before they headed home since they had been at the greasy and gross tasting pizza place for almost an hour by then.

"I guess it all really depends. If you guys still want to hang and feel the urge to do it, then I will be more than willing to still hang out with you three after the skating race. After all, age is not really that big of a thing with friends. I do have some friends in my thirties. I do think that I need to make sure that I make you guys come home by a certain time though to make it so that there is some showing of responsibility with you while hanging with me." He said and then the group talked for about another five minutes until they all decided to head out and head to their houses.

So the group got back in their car and as they were all in the car heading to the different houses, T.K. was thinking about this whole skating idea. This idea was already a day old and he was honestly thinking that the whole group could be able to actually help him out here. This whole idea could really make or break the rest of the school year to be honest and he was watching the sun set, and he was honestly a little bit worried how his mother would feel about this whole thing. But he decided that he would cross that bridge when he got there and all of that stuff.

Soon enough, T.K. had come home and when he had come home, he just went and closed the door. He was super glad that his mother was actually out at work that night and that she was coming home super late. She left a note at the front door to let him know about this. He sighed in relief to know that he was going to be safe for another night with this whole thing and let the cast be on for another night. But as he was doing this, he went right to his homework and decided that he still needed to do that to remain a relatively good student. Once it was ten in the evening, he went to bed and it was around this time when the skating mentor decided to talk with his girlfriend a little bit.

It was raining as he knocked on her door and he was getting totally soaked by this point in time, and his clothes were all wet so he felt like he was probably going to get sick sometime soon. "Clair, sorry for not seeing you for a couple of days. I have been trying to help some people out right now." He was saying and then after he had said that, Clair looked at him a little bit confused. She was thinking that maybe he was just trying to find a fast way in the house with all the rain that was going on.

"Just come on inside. I think that you just need to warm up a little bit." Clair said and then she let him inside of the house and then after he had said that, he sighed in relief and then he was sitting down and looking around her house. He always wanted to help her out and get into a bigger house, since there was pretty much just a huge living room and nothing else besides a bathroom. She slept on the couch and had only coffee tables for her stuff to be put on. Her television was always super small and only showed black and white. He knew that she was poor, but he felt like he could help her out.

"I found some guys a couple of days ago and they really started to make me see some of the stuff that I enjoyed when I was a kid and I wanted to help them out be as good as possible at their new hobby. I think that maybe skating is something that will bring the next generation to do something else besides just sitting around in their house doing nothing all day. I hate how unproductive the younger kids are being these days." He said and then Clair was staring at him as if thinking that she was starting wonder the situation of their relationship.

"So you are willing to help some kids that you never have known until just a couple of days ago, but you have known me for years and have been dating me for a fair amount of time. All you do is just make empty promises to help send your money to me and you keep telling me that you and I are actually going to improve our situation from now on. But all you do is just spend all your money on weed and just give nothing to me at all despite you promising over and over again that you would. Please explain what makes them different from me.

You and I have never actually been able to do real boyfriend and girlfriend stuff lately. We never have been able to go on a date, we have never been able to even just meet up for a simple coffee. Pretty much every time we do something is something that I have to wait for you to just show up and pretty much decide that we should hang out and pretty much just watch this dumb television all day when I barely even know what is going on at all." Clair had vented off her anger on the situation over to him and then he stood up.

"Look, I realize that I am doing some pretty bad stuff. I want to change that though. Seeing these kids has given me some good ideas on how to change. I will try and grow sober. I will never talk to those guys again if that is what you want me to do. If I can grow sober, then maybe I can start giving you some money that I earn every month and maybe we can go on some dates and then you can start to change your house." He tried to defend himself but Clair shook her head.

"You have been giving me this same story every single time and honestly I am sick and tired of it. I don't want you to give me this same excuse anymore, when you can barely even keep up your rent. Just save it and stop lying to me this stuff. Just please stop making excuses and if you want to change, and you actually mean it, then give it up. You have an addiction, and this addiction is starting to kill you." Clair told her boyfriend and then he was pondering the stuff that she had told him.

"I know that I keep saying the same stuff over and over again. I know that I have never been able to go sober for more than three or four days. I know that this is something that you probably want to just give up on, but I want to try and do this. I want to change, and I want to over come this addiction." He told Clair as Clair just held his face with her hands and shook her hand.

"Please don't do this anymore. Don't come back until you have actually make a real attempt to change. When you do that, then maybe we will actually discuss this stuff more and then I guess that maybe I will give you a tenth chance in a row. But I am not wanting to make any decisions yet given your previous record." Clair led him out of the house and then before he left she yelled out to him.

"Your clothes are still wet. Before you leave, at the very least take this bag. When you get home, maybe you should change into these dry clothes." Clair threw him the clothes and then after she did this, he wrapped the bag up so rain would not get on them and then he left the house. He started to head on home and he was thinking more and more on everything that was going on here. First he was in an addiction, his girlfriend basically indirectly dumped him, and now he is pretty much looked at as somebody who will never be able to pick up his life at all, which as much as he hated to admit it was probably true.

It took a while for him to walk home and the entire time that he was walking home, the rain was just doing small drizzle. He did not really mind a small drizzle, but it was just something that always bothered him. On the nineteen years that he had been on earth, there was nothing that ruined his walking and going to different places than just a bunch of rain. Soon enough when he did reach his house, he grabbed his glad plate, his lighter and all of his weed and then threw it in the trash can. Then while the lights were still dim in the room, he opened up the bag.

All that was in there was a short sleeve blue shirt and a pair of blue jeans that had a hole on the knees for both of them. There was also a pair of glasses that he totally forgot he ever had. When he examined the clothes a little bit more closely, he remembered that these were the clothes that had worn when he had first started to date Clair and that he probably never got his clothes again. Not giving any less of a shit, he opened his window and let some breeze in while he slept on the couch for the night.

After this, there was a guy who was standing on the other side of the street. He was watching the house and he was having some Vader style breathing. He was wearing a gas mask and he was holding something in his left hand. Soon enough, he figured that he was probably going to have to do something to help this guy out. He was not going to let this guy ruin anything anymore, and he was tired of seeing him constantly make promises that he would never keep.


	6. This Young Love

Chapter 5: This Young Love

The next day of school was pretty normal and T.K. had talked with Molly once again. "Hey, so do you guys want to watch my skating race when it comes up in a couple of days? I think that you would really enjoy watching me do this race. I want to get as many of my friends to watch this as possible." T.K. said and then he felt strange calling Molly his friend when he barely even fucking knew her, but it really did not matter all that much. Molly was reading her class book when he asked this question, but then when he asked her, she looked up and saw that T.K. was giving her the puppy eyes.

"I think that it would be fun to watch your race. Where does it take place?" Molly asked and that was when T.K. was fucked, since he did not really remember where the race was. He had to take a couple of seconds to think about it and he was sweating a little bit, and his knees were weak. But then he remembered suddenly that it actually did just take place at that school front entrance and he felt stupid for not remembering at all.

"Just at the front of the school. I will be racing with all of the experts of the town. I think that I will have a decent chance of winning, but that is only because I have the best teacher ever for skating." T.K. answered and he felt really not confident as he was saying this and the more that he was talking, the more that he felt like he was lying through his fucking teeth the whole time. Molly thought that there was a chance that he could be telling the truth, so she did not really give a crap about this.

"I wish you great luck. I would love to see how much you have improved your skills in just the course of a couple of days. But maybe if you win, maybe we should hang out a little bit and see where it can lead." Molly said and then gave T.K. a carrot and T.K. was wondering what was weird about this glasses wearing, orange shirted girl that she thought giving him a carrot was sexy. And they were technically way too young to be thinking about this stuff. He stood up though and headed out with a blush on his face and then the rest of the school day was pretty lame and nothing really happened.

Once the school day ended, T.K. rode right down to the house of his mentor and his friends both had something to do, so neither one of them could really make it that day. As this was going on, he was glad that he could just have a clear cut focused mind set. After he had knocked on the house door, T.K. took a look around just to see just how much cleaner the front yard than it was earlier. In fact, it made T.K. think that maybe there was a robber. There was some simple stuff that was missing like a rusty anchor that really made no sense being there in the first place.

"Came here early, I think we should get to work right away." The mentor said and then after he said this, he was seeing the strange and confused look on T.K.'s face and decided that he would explain this a little bit. "Got into a fight with my girlfriend and I made her a promise that I would try and sober up and all that but she said that she didn't believe me after me doing shit like this for so long." He said and then afterwards, he looked at the board. "I think that I should buy myself one so I can be ready for the race coming up."

"It would be awesome if we all did that race. I think that we should all get a board or something, maybe Davis can join the race." T.K. said and he was being rather big and unrealistic when he had said this. It was something that he knew was probably never going to happen, but it was fun to pretend that this was going to be the case. But after this, T.K. just went to the park with the guy who was just teaching him new moves.

Once they had made it to the skating park, the guy was looking around and he was wondering just how much more there would have to be. "If you want to have even a slim chance of winning, you are going to have to make a shit ton of improvements here. There is no way that you are going to be able to win the race if you have the talents that you have now. You really need to start improving a lot now." He said and then he was wondering how rough he would have to be with T.K. before it would get too rough and like he was doing too much.

T.K. jumped right into the skating ring and as he jumped right in the skating ring, he was starting to get a lot more comfortable than he was at the start of this before. He was not swinging around and feeling like he was going to crack his skull the whole time. In fact, after he was starting to get more into it the whole thing started to get easier. He actually started to go around the skating ring a couple of times before starting to feel like he could start doing tricks and by tricks like meaning pretty much skating down the rails and all of that stuff. T.K. had skated around for like ten minutes before he felt like he needed to stop.

The guy who was teaching him this stuff was just staring right at him. "Wow, you seem to be getting in the hang. Give it another day or two, and maybe you will actually be able to win this race after all. I seem to have thought that maybe you could not do it, but you seem that you can actually pull off a victory here if you try hard enough."

So T.K. and the guy sat down at a bench and then after he sat down next to the guy who was teaching him, T.K. looked up at the guy and asked the first question he should have asked all these days ago. "What is your name?" T.K. asked and he was thinking that the arm cast was not really making too much of a difference here and he thought that maybe he could just keep this on for a while.

"My name is Harold. Not really all that impressive after like three days of build up. I just thought that it was not really all that important to let you know my name. But since you wanted to know so badly, there you go. I live alone as you can see, and my parents both live on their own. My mother lives about an hour away and I moved out on my eighteenth birthday because I decided that I couldn't handle my previous house anymore. I barely see my father, just once every couple of years and then he stays for like a week and then he leaves to just be gone for another couple of years. Last time I saw him was on my graduation last year." Harold explained and then he explained more of his life.

"I lived in a town that seemed to be a little more bleak than I would like it to be. There was always some sort of crime going on and the guy who was elected mayor just seemed to be more focus on advancing technology, and more focused on the idea of making us sound like the most advanced place ever rather than working to help the citizens of the town. My mother always seemed to be trying too hard to keep me safe, something about my father and her previous boyfriend. I don't get it. But I decided I wanted the fuck out and that was how it was." Harold decided that he was talking too much on this and then he decided he wanted to talk about T.K. now.

"So why are you doing this at all? Is there anything that is making you really think that this is such a great idea in the first place." Harold waited for T.K. to respond and there was sweat coming down his face and he was thinking that maybe there was no true answer and that he truly only did it for fame, something Harold hated.

"I know that you are probably not wanting to hear me say this, but I think that I am just doing this for the fame of this. I have been trying to come up with a good reason to do this, but honestly I do not really have one right now. It is terrible to admit this, but I guess that I don't really have one right now." T.K. had said and then as he had said this, Harold seemed to think that there was a way that T.K. can change his looks on this whole thing.

"I really hope that you can change your looks on things later on. I think that you should try and change the whole view point on this. I don't want you to do something here and then realize that you guys don't really all that many things to do. Please do it for something, even if it is for the sake of getting a girlfriend. You should get one soon, and if you wait for one then honestly you might make some mistakes I will make." Harold had said and then after he had said that, T.K. thought that he did have a chance with Yolei or Molly. Although he did view Yolei as a friend and he knew Davis liked her more, but Molly on the other hand he could work out.

"What if nobody wants to date me or nobody likes me back? I feel then there is no point in it at all." T.K. said and then after he had said that, Harold seemed to think that there could be a valid point that T.K. had there despite him not wanting to admit it. He remembered back when he first met Clair while they were in early high school. He was making some new friends and there was that one guy with black hair and had a pair of shoes that were totally fucking wrecked. Then he decided to go to the short stop like store just to buy something to drink and on his way there he saw Clair was walking there and he decided to introduce himself to her and that was how it had slowly started.

"Honestly, you just need to take the chance. You never know if you don't try. I have been told that, and I do agree. Just trying and even failing is better than sitting there and putting in no effort at all. We are the modern age, we are the next generation even if we do not really feel it. We should grow up and try to change how we are to be the best possible version we can be so when we have a kid we are ready for them to be good children and people. After all, I am already older than my father was when I was born and the same age my mother was, and I am probably going to realistically have a child soon if I do start to change things with Clair." Harold was saying and then T.K. decided that the slightly older former skating hero had a good way of looking at it.

"Maybe one day I will have the balls to ask somebody out. I feel too scared to do it. I feel like my grades will start to fall apart if I don't." T.K. said and then that was when Harold shook his head as if T.K. did not really get it, the truth about reality that nobody really wanted to admit.

"Look, it does not matter what those textbooks say. Those are all filler just for cheap words. My father talked with me about it once a couple of years ago. Democracy is just a plot from the government to try and get the people to think that their voices really matter when in reality the people just try and get some power. When you are growing up, people just try hard to fight for certain power and do nothing besides just that. You don't really earn it, you just cheat the system. You don't work with somebody and actually win them over. Corruption is lying deep in the world, in both worlds as my father places it. I think he might be crazy, but if there is even a five percent chance that he is telling the truth, I am not willing to take the risk anymore." Harold told T.K. and that was when T.K. realized just how much truth there had been to it and that maybe the only way to truly change something may be to actually do it yourself. Not get elected, because then you get part of a system that just tries to one up you. No, you are a free and independent agent who works on his own to do the things he wants. Although he wondered what Harold meant by the two worlds thing, which was strange.

But then soon enough, the two decided that it was time for them to leave each other, and then T.K. skated his way back to the middle school and he was hoping that maybe he could find Molly there. He was thinking about the modern generation, the need to be there for your children when you grow up but the need to grow up and become the best man possible, he thought about in a way the modern age of love if that made sense. He was only twelve so he had no fucking idea what love was, but god damn there was no real fucking reason to not at least try and see what it is like.

The entire time he was skating, he was jumping up and down and doing some tricks of his own, even using his arm casted arm to do some flips and he did a spin at one point of his own body before he landed on the board once again and he did not even care that he had no helmet on. Helmets were just a ploy. This modern love was the more important piece of trying to survive, not making sure your skull didn't get bruised. Sirens were driving by with their sounds playing to a tone deaf T.K., annoyed drives telling him to be more safe when he jumped over them one time with his board, and then when he actually rode under a bus at one moment with himself ducking a million degrees all the way up several hills to the middle school.

When he reached the middle school, he found Molly on her way home from all the work she done. T.K. hopped off his board and picked it up perfectly with the arm on his arm cast, not giving a shit about the pain anymore as it would be fine. "Hey Molly, do you want to come over to my house and kill some time?" T.K. asked and then Molly looked at him as if she could not believe that he would ask her.

"I would love to." Molly said as she got on the board with T.K. and wrapped her arms around him as he skated the two of them on over to his house and he was liking how she gripped him, making him feel important and like he was going to save her in case something terrible happened. He hoped that neither Davis or Yolei would see this.

It took ten minutes or so, but when T.K. was done, he hopped off the board and threw it in his room and then he and Molly were inside of his room right away. "Going to be doing some homework, will grab something to eat when I am hungry." T.K. said and then afterwards he slammed the door with his good arm and he was ready to just hang out with Molly and take things easy for a little bit.

"Wow, how did you get so good at this whole skating thing in just two days? You seem to be a natural at this? Are you just a natural born genius who can do anything?" Molly asked and then T.K. shook his head as if thinking that claim was silly.

"No not at all, aside from like three or four friends, including you, I can barely keep a social conversation. Trust me, you are like a exception to that. I don't really have that great of qualities outside of the learning field. On the personal level I have a long way to go. I just want to win the race though." T.K. responded and he rubbed the gross sweat off of his shirt and then he threw the shirt on the ground and picked up a better yellow one and then flopped on the bed.

"I think that you should be more careful about bringing people over. I mean you don't want to give people the wrong impression. Did you even think about that at all?" Molly asked and then T.K. laughed as if thinking it was no big deal, after all Matt brought home girls all the time. Well, friends to be more exact. He was already dating Sadie.

"Trust me it is not a big problem. As long as I stay on top of my school work, nobody would give a shit. That is all that matters. Even some of my friends do not really think that it matters all that much to be honest. I guess I am not really sure. Maybe you can give me your thoughts on that in a little bit. I am not really sure what to do now." T.K. said and he did not want to do school work at all and Molly thought they can just strike a normal conversation.

"Well, no matter what goes down, I feel glad to know that I am starting to make some new friends lately. My brother Matt was really wanting me to get some new friends, so I guess that he is getting what he wanted, as Davis and Yolei were my only friends. I wouldn't count this young eight year old boy named Cody since he is more Yolei's friend than mine." T.K. said and then after he had said this, Molly thought of something really funny that would make even T.K. laugh even if T.K. was not the most socially great person.

"I want to add something on your cast, I think that it would be really funny." Molly said and then she pulled out her sharpie again. Knowing what was going on, T.K. held out his arm and he was getting ready for the signature already. Molly walked up to him and then she wrote on the cast 'V-Loser' and then T.K. was wondering what the context about this was. Like it wasn't something that triggered him or anything, but it was a little strange. She explained it in a couple of words "Well if people look at you as a loser, why not just embrace that and maybe work really hard on the skating race and then everything would be all better."

"I don't think that I want to work on school tonight. I think that I am going to skip it tonight." T.K. said and for the first night in like forever, and that it would slowly start a down going trend that would slightly increase over time. Despite this not being what his parents wanted, but this was the way that T.K. had wanted it to be. Molly smiled and then after he had said that, she wondered why he cared so much about school anyways.

"I think that you can do just fine without working too hard on school. Just sort of enjoy the moment while it is lasting now." Molly was saying just doing her best trying to make T.K. sort of not really worry about things at that moment. But then T.K. wiped his face and then he laid down on his futon for a moment and he was wondering what to do now. He wanted to keep talking with Molly, but he was really fucking tired and maybe needed to sleep.

"I really want to keep talking a little bit longer, but I don't really know how much more I can do of this right now. I think that I am going to go to bed right now." T.K. said and then after he had said that he placed his hand over his eyes and then after less than a minute he was fucking out. Molly decided that she would stay the night, so she got on T.K.'s real bed and then afterwards, she put the blanket over herself and then when she did that, both of them slowly went to sleep, Molly wondering just how this really went by in the first place.

The next day of school, T.K. rode his board over to the school with Molly on him like he did before and he was getting really used to this and he was enjoying doing that with her. Soon enough, he got off his board when he reached the front school yard and his wheels were already like getting scratched up to show the amount of use going on and then afterwards, he found Davis and Yolei. "Hey you two, so the race tomorrow is going to be fucking lit and I hope that I will at the very least get in the top three."

"You seem to be getting much more serious about this. I think that maybe you should work with that one guy a little bit more if it is tomorrow." Yolei said and she seemed a little bit jealous when she saw Molly and she was hoping that she did not make any crazy advancements with her. She was hoping soon enough the two would just get over it and then she would have a chance to get him again. Davis was yawning since he was fucking tired.

"I am really fucking tired. Just sort of had the strange motivation to do my homework last night. I did it and now I am starting to get ready to turn it all in." Davis said and it was strange how this was like the first time that he ever did this and it was sort of like the reversing of roles from here since T.K. was not doing it for like the first time ever. T.K. wondered what was going to happen now with this whole thing and if Davis would suddenly become a better student.

All of a sudden, there was the bell to go to school for the day and then that school day was just sort of the normal and people were wondering how much longer T.K. was going to be using the arm cast. He did not really care all that much since he was taking his finals already and everybody was just wanting summer. It was so close to the end of the year that everybody just wanted to hone it in now, even though T.K. decided at the last minute to slack off and Davis decided at the last minute that he all of a sudden gave a shit. But it did not really matter all that much when the school day was over and T.K. only had a couple of finals left after this.

Davis, Yolei and T.K. headed down to Harold's house and as they had reached his house, he was taking things a little bit slowly. "Just working on a car right now. I have a contract on my job to work on this car, since I work with cars on my job." Harold said and T.K. was interested in knowing that he was a car mechanic, and this was very interesting and he was wondering if he was any good on this job at all. He got out from under the car, deciding he could finish it when he was done with these young kids.

"When you guys had left, I decided that I would buy a skateboard and help myself out on the race, since I really wanted to do the race." Harold said and then that was when T.K. was interested on that and he wondered if he was even going to win the race. But that did not seem to matter as the group went down to the skating ring once again, and the session was mostly the same as it was the previous day and there was no real reason for T.K. to start doing anything differently.

The session lasted twice as long as the previous day due to the fact that they both wanted to be extra ready for the race. "I feel like I could actually be able to pull myself in the top three. If I manage to do so, I will be so happy and I would not ever feel like this was something that I felt like I wasted my time on here." T.K. said after the session was over and T.K. was just totally covered in sweat and he was feeling his hair starting to go all over the place. Harold was tempted to laugh over this, but he decided that he would be a little bit more respectful just in case.

"Honestly, I think that you can be able to pull this off. I have not really seen any skaters really all that great. I think you might pull off a last minute victory, or top three if that is all that you really want." Harold said to T.K. and then when this was going on, Davis and Yolei started to talk with one another. T.K. was already focused on talking with Harold, and they were pretty much side things and watchers in the eyes of their pro friend.

"So Yolei, want to go to my house now? I have this really awesome game that I can show you. It seems that you are a little bit more interested in video games than most girls our age." Davis was saying and then Yolei thought about that, it was true that she was more interested in games than usually. Besides, she can bitch about T.K. liking Molly to Davis, and then Davis can get some more school work done perhaps.

"Yeah sure, let's do it. They probably are going to be more focused on the race anyways." Yolei said and then after she had said this, the two of them started to head out of the skating park and Yolei yelled out to them "We are going to hang out at Davis's house, if you guys want to hang out with us later, then we will just be waiting probably." Yolei had said and then afterwards, the two of them started to head out now.

"It seems like they are a little bit losing interest in this. I wonder if you should start to hang out with the more. Are you sure that this is not affecting your friendships and all that at all?" Harold said and then he placed his hand on T.K.'s shoulder and then nodded. "You should probably try and head there and talk with them. Please, this is something I don't want you to fuck up on and I don't want you to make any of the same mistakes that I do." After Harold said this, T.K. nodded and headed out on to Davis's house to try and speak reason to them.

It took T.K. about forty minutes to skate to Davis's house and the whole time that he was doing so, he was wondering what shit he and Yolei were saying about him and what he was going to be able to do to try and make them see his view and make them see that he meant nothing wrong. If they were even feeling angry with him, who fucking knew maybe they were just wanting to hang out and there was nothing wrong. He hated all of this second guessing and he felt like when the race was over, he was just going to try and enjoy his summer as much as possible without all of the drama.

When he reached the front door of Davis's house, he was taking a bunch of deep breaths and then he knocked on the door a couple of times. Davis was just talking with Yolei for a little bit and not really paying attention to what was going on at all. "Honestly, I am starting to really regret telling T.K. that he should get a skateboard, and I thought that it would have been a great idea at the time. But I guess that I was wrong about this after all." Yolei was telling Davis and then he turned his chair around and was wondering what he could say to her here.

"Honestly Yolei, don't worry about it. Once the race is over, he will probably have no desire to keep up at this anymore, and then when he is done with this, then maybe he will start to go back to his normal self. I really would not stress this all that much. Just let it go out, I know that you think it sucks he is making progress with Molly, but honestly he likes her and thinks that maybe he has a chance with her. Why not just let him try and be happy?" Davis just did not understand girls and there was no way that Yolei was going to condense it down to a few fucking sentences for him to start to get it now.

"I just thought that maybe I would have a good chance on getting him to like me. But then after he started talking with Molly, I was starting to see that maybe this was not what was going to happen and I guess that I was not really ready for this type of rejection." Yolei told Davis and then Davis stood up and then he was doing some pull ups on the bar over his door.

"It is not really a rejection until he tells you that he doesn't want to date you. Just think about it this way, there are several people at the school. Just not getting this one is not really going to be all that big of a deal. You will be able to find somebody who will like you soon enough and then you will start to like them back, and everything will be all good." Davis was doing pull ups that entire time and when he was done, he jumped down.

"I guess that maybe you are right. I do need to probably take it easy. Maybe you should answer the door though, I heard a couple of knocks just now. I think that this might be T.K." Yolei said and then after she said that, she started to calm down and she was starting to pull it together in the way that Davis said she should. Davis walked to the door and then he answered it and then he saw that it was indeed T.K. just tired as fuck and needing a break.

"Sorry for being so late, but he told me that I should probably talk with you guys and make sure that everything is alright." T.K. had said and then after he had said this, Davis nodded and let T.K. inside of the house to let him stay there for a little while. It was a decent idea, although none of this was really that big of a deal despite what Yolei may have been trying to make it all out to be. But this was still a good chance for them to all speak and just have fun.

Once T.K. was inside of the bedroom, he was looking at Yolei and she was looking a lot less annoyed than she had been earlier, almost as if she was glad that T.K. was there and she was willing to put everything else to the side and just hang out with him for that moment and time. T.K. wondered just how much they could really talk about this before Yolei would tell him to shut the fuck up. So he was just thinking of different things to talk about, like maybe Yolei's brother or Davis's game.

"So what is the game that you got Davis? I heard you talking with Yolei about it a little bit before you guys left. Maybe we can play it a little bit, and then we can just have some fun for a few hours. Forget about everything else for now." T.K. said and then after he made that suggestion, Davis decided that this was a good way to start the moving on with this. So with that, Davis stood up and got the game and then Yolei was looking at T.K. to see what was going on with him, minus the skating.

"It's called the Legend of Zelda. I was going to the arcade a little bit and found it. I was hearing that there was no cartridge about it and after that was told to me, I was a little sad about that since it was such a fun game that I played at that time. So with this, I came home wanting to play it as much as I can here, and then when I came home, I actually found the game and it was on a cartridge, it was magically there and I wondered what made me find this. But I won't complain, so I can play it as much as I can." Davis told T.K. and Yolei and that was when everything Yolei was thinking about was thrown to the Wayside and even she was beyond interested to check this whole thing out.

"Yeah I want to see what you are playing lately." Yolei said and then she got excited and then after this, Davis started to play the game and after the main menu of the game T.K. and Yolei were both entranced in what they were seeing and at the time, it was like the biggest game that they had ever seen and it seemed to be much more ambitious than plenty of movies that they had seen. It was something truly great to witness.

For the next five hours or so, Davis tried to play the game and he had to restart two or three times, but with each restart, T.K. was taking notes and Yolei was giving some motivation, but it took a long time even though Davis did eventually beat the game in the long run. It was like eleven a clock in the evening when Davis had beat the game, and then after he had beaten the game, T.K. congratulated Davis for the game and then T.K. grabbed his board to head out of the house.

As T.K. was half a block down the street, Yolei had called out to him. "So can we talk for a moment?" Yolei asked and then T.K. stopped his riding and then turned around and once again grabbed the board with his hand with the arm cast. "I know that you are really into this now, and I feel bad for trying to put you off from doing this. Sorry for doing that. I want you to win that race, since you have put a lot of work this and I think that you are ready to win this race. Davis and I are going to watch you."

T.K. thought about this and then he said "Well thanks. I know that I have been putting a lot of time to this the last few days and that you are probably wanting to to hang out with you guys more. I promise that after the race is over with, I will start to hang out with you guys more." T.K. wondered how much more Yolei would want to talk before he had to head out.

"Crazy that we are out this late. I have never done this before. I think that this is the start to the end of our childhood now. I think we are starting to grow more into young adults." Yolei said and while T.K. did think this was out of nowhere, she was probably wanting to change the subject and then after she changed the subject, T.K. thought about it and then he seemed to somewhat agree with her sentiment.

"I guess that we are growing up after all. Soon we will be in seventh grade, and once we grow into our next grade, I guess that maybe some of our interests are starting to change. I think that they are starting to change already, with the skating and all of that stuff." T.K. said and then after he had said that Yolei was hiding her blush in the night time and then afterwards she said that he was probably right and then T.K. started to skate off to home once again.

T.K. returned home and then he was being super quiet and then he fell right asleep as soon as his body hit the bed and then after this, he was getting ready to rest a lot for his skating race. He hoped that he was going to win this, since if he did not he would feel like he would have wasted his time doing this. But that would have not been something that he wanted to even start to consider. As he was asleep, he was careful to place his broken arm under the blanket in case Matt or his parents were inside of the room and saw him for a second or two.

On the next day of school, T.K. honestly did not put all that much effort into his tests at all and he was just wanting to get the day over with so he can get to the race. Besides, just having his arm constantly on the table was really starting to hurt and he hated how much it was making him unaware of what was going on. So the two factors when put together really could not give him a good time with the tests. But it all did not matter by the time that the day was over and he was able to start to get ready for the race coming up.

As T.K. was getting ready for the race, that was when he got on his board. He took a moment to rub his arm over how much it had heart, but he did not want to get too bothered by it. Molly walked up to him to try and get one last thing of motivation to him and make him look at things differently before he starts to perhaps beat himself up over him possibly losing the race. She thought he needed that pretty well right then and there.

"I thought that maybe you were going to be beating yourself up if you did not win the race, and I wanted you to know that you should not do this. It is just a simple skating race. Nothing more nothing less. It would be awesome to see you win, but let's try and be real here. You have only been doing this a week. You might not even get in the top three." Molly said and then as she had said this, T.K. stopped and looked forward. She did have a good point as much as he had hated to admit that, but he thought more on what he had done now by this point.

"I guess that it is not what really matters right now. I guess that we need to just keep working on our friendship. But right now I need to focus on my race, and I can't really get my mind off of anything else right now. I am sorry that I sound like this, but I guess that this is possibly going to be the end of my time of racing and skating. Well, I guess it depends. I need to shut up and start to focus on winning the race right now." T.K. had said and then after he was saying this, Molly nodded and realized that he was right. They needed to just focus on letting T.K. win the race.

"Tell Yolei and Davis that I thank their patience and willingness to be there when I am doing all of these races and skating sessions." T.K. said that one final thing and then afterwards, Molly headed off and then she started to head off towards the other two friends. T.K. walked up to the rest of the racers and he took a moment to see which ones were probably going to be trouble and which ones would most likely be really easy to take care of.

As T.K. was ready for the race, there was a guy who was narrating out loud to get them all ready to start racing. Soon enough he called out that they needed to start racing. After the announcement was made, everybody started to ride as fast as possible. In the eight that were riding, there was one that clearly never skated until that day and probably just got the board that very day for a last minute par take. It was obvious since they started to fall down on the ground after he was riding for a couple of seconds and after he fell down once, he tried to do a second round of skating until he fell down again and afterwards he knew that he had lost the race so he already went back to the starting line when he had just skated for like forty seconds.

There were only seven left who were racing. As T.K. was racing, he was making sure that he was not paying attention to all of the ads that were going around and were probably trying to distract T.K. during the races. All of the ads seemed to be talking about different construction projects across the nation and their opening days. T.K. honestly did not care less, but in the second or so that T.K. glanced at one of the ads it was showing this one hundred story building being built in the city to sort of capitalize on this huge budget increase. Even though it would have been ten times more useful to have the budget increase go to schooling or something like that, but whatever.

T.K. focused back on the race and as he was watching, he saw another one of the skaters skating by but then he got on the side walk by mistake and when he had done so, he skated right to a wall and then he flew off his board and landed hard on his ass. That just left six more contestants left in the race.

So he kept on focusing on the race as he kicked the ground a couple more times and as he was kicking the ground, he was moving along very fast and the hill was going by at what felt like mach speed. When he saw a ledge he could gain a few seconds on, he skated to that place and then skated down that ledge to give himself even a few second lead, but a lead was still a lead and he was going to work with this thing now.

With him now in the lead for a few seconds, there was one contestant that had a shit ton of ache who probably had no life besides just watching tons of porn was catching up to him in the hopes to get in the lead himself. T.K. thought that this was going to be really easy so he just sped himself up a little bit and then the guy started to try too hard to catch up to him and on one of their strides on the ground, his foot slipped and he fell right hard on his ass, taking out another contestant and there were only four left.

Soon after this guy was taken out, there was this punk black guy who was riding really fucking fast even when compared to T.K. and Harold, and he was soon enough able to totally get well ahead of the two of them and after they had gotten ahead of both our heroes, T.K. was wanting to at the very least beat this one. There was one more guy right behind T.K., as Harold made it to second place again, and he was just trying hard not to get out of the race to be honest.

It was pretty much at this point where it was a three way race and T.K. was just trying to find a way to stay in the race and stay ahead of this one guy. Well that was not really going to be too hard as when he was riding, he hit the curb and then he flew ahead several inches into the air and then he skidded across the ground and he was out of the race, making it a three way race and T.K. the race had now reached the one mile point, so they were a decent portion into it now.

T.K. was now pretty much on a straight street, so he was riding fast and faster and soon enough, after he had been building up speed for a while, he was now in second place again and then he was starting to catch up to the leader and then the guy started to increase the gap once again and then T.K. was losing his second place speed and then Harold had caught up and was ahead of him again, so now he was wondering just how well he could do in comparison.

Soon enough, they were having to race in a bunch of curves and swerving parts of the street and T.K. was doing his best to not fall down and lose the race, since he thought that he could have a decent chance of actually at the very least finishing this race. Either way he was going to get at least the bronze medal by default but he was hoping it would turn into the gold medal, totally forgetting about the talk he had with Molly earlier.

It was pretty much a switching back and fourth back and fourth for like twenty minutes or so until the three of them finally managed to reach the ending street. By this point, Harold was only a couple of feet behind and he started to kick up his speed a lot and after doing so he was able to pull through last second and win the race by about three seconds. The black guy who was really good at this race had finished second and by a few seconds T.K. managed to actually finish but he got in third place.

But right as he was finishing, his board hit a rock and then he flew forward and the crowd was watching in horror as he sky rocketed into the air once again and then soon enough he hit the ground, his first landing part being his left hand, and then he landed on the ground with his left arm behind him bending and cracking even worse so that it was like the bones were ripped in half. By this point, T.K. let out a huge holler of pain that lasted all of ten seconds before he stood up and then high fived Yolei, Davis, Molly and Harold with his right hand. "That was totally badass, I don't even care about the hand."

Harold looked over at T.K.'s arm and then T.K. slowly grabbed the board with his right hand and Harold was wondering what was going on. "I think that we should take you to the hospital now so you can get a stronger cast or something like that." Harold had said this and then when he was thinking this, there was something going on that made everybody stop. Harold started to walk T.K. to his car and he yelled at Davis to get their rewards so they would not really be forced to let T.K. have a ruined arm even longer than he already would have to.

It took a couple of hours, and a lot of pain and screaming, but the doctors managed to get T.K. to calm down long enough for them to put an even stronger arm cast on him that would be able to endure stronger falls and situations like the one that T.K. decided to get himself into with the skating. The doctor on his way out told T.K. to not fuck up his arm again since if he did, there would be nothing left to give him for it so he better be careful with the arm. Now that the skating race was over with, T.K. saw no reason he couldn't be.

As T.K. was being driven home, it started to rain again. Harold didn't mind it so much this time with the fact he was in a car. But then after he pulled up to T.K.'s drive way, he looked over at T.K. and said "You better just tell your parents the truth now. There is only so much that you can get out of lying about the arm." After Harold said this, T.K. got out of the car despite not liking this. He walked to the front of his house and then he went to his bedroom. he would tell them tomorrow, but tonight he just needed to rest his arm for the first time in a week.

Right when he sat down on his chair, T.K. found a small piece of paper and he took it out. He pulled out a pen and then he was staring at it. It was going to be really hard to write with one hand, and he knew that it was not going to amount to anything, but he just needed to do something. So he lowered the blue ball point pen onto the paper and he wrote down on the paper "Can teenagers truly grasp love and friendship?" He asked this in response to Molly and the rest of the group.

Right after T.K. wrote that down on his paper, his mother walked into the room to get T.K.'s stuff for laundry and then she saw the skateboard and his arm cast. She then yelled when she saw that and demanded he explained this to her. "I got into skating and I broke my arm, I was going to possibly tell you tomorrow." T.K. answered and then his mother looked like she was ready to tell at him. But instead she just walked out of the room to control her anger.

After this had gone down, T.K. turned off his light in annoyance and he was pissed the fuck off at himself. He laid down on his bed and it took about five minutes or so, but he did eventually get himself to bed. After he started to go to sleep, the feeling of the house started to go down hill a little bit. But while he was asleep, there was something strange that went down, but he actually ended up getting his third place bronze medal from a man who was watching placing it in his room. This was the guy in the gas mask and he just simply said "Thank you." And then he had headed off.

As that happened, Davis and Yolei decided to stay at her house for the night. Davis told his parents he would stay with Yolei that night right after he had come home and then after he was staying there, he looked at her. He thought that there was a lot of stuff that they could talk about. "Sorry that T.K. seems to be more focused on personal hobbies and his arm than he was about you." Davis was saying and he gave zero fucks about it, honestly he was just wanting the subject to just drop now.

"Honestly as long as he is enjoying what he is doing, I guess I have no right to bitch about this whole thing. I think that maybe he will change his mind on a lot of things over time. But for now, I guess that he just needs to see what his life style and changes are going to be like." Yolei decided and as she was saying this, Davis stood up and started to walk around a little bit more to sort of get his thoughts a little bit more straightened out.

"I wonder how much more he will be taking this skating stuff and make it his main hobby. I guess that he will only keep this up for another few days or so. He has broken his arm two times already, I really doubt that even he will have the willpower to do it a third time. He will probably give up now since he is really smart on that level, but maybe he will keep this shit up a lot longer than we ever think he will." Davis gave his prediction and then Yolei was curious to see what was really going on in both these guys heads. She then remembered she needed to watch Cody soon.

"Totally changing totally, I think we need to watch Cody. Well, not we, but I do. If you want to join me doing so, you are more than welcome to do so. This is going to be tomorrow, and you can do whatever you want." Yolei said and then after she had said this, Davis thought that it was probably better for him to do this than force T.K. to hang out with him when this whole disaster was going down.

"Yeah, I will help watch Cody with you Yolei. Since I have nothing else to do and I can't really mess around with T.K. with his arm and he really needs the rest now." Davis said and then after he had said this, Yolei sighed in relief due to the fact that she always hated watching Cody all on her own. So with this, Davis and Yolei were getting onto more positive topics to talk about that for once not related to stuff like the racing that T.K. wanted to do and such.

"I wonder just what Cody will want us to do?" Davis was sort of pondering since Cody was always sort of more on the calmer side of things, and that he never really liked to do anything too crazy and ambitious. So this was something that Davis always did wonder every time he seen the kid if they started to change. One of these days, when Cody was older, he was going to take him out on the town and hopefully they would both be old enough to go to some place like the local bar or the strip joint. But he did not want to say that out loud since he did not want to ruin any thoughts that Yolei had with him.

"I would not really think that he is doing anything, he never does anything besides just read science books and try way too hard to expand some never ending desire for knowledge. He needs to go outside and play more. I think that is what we will do tomorrow. Maybe take him out to the park and try to get him some new friends, I am sure he will like it." Yolei looked up at the boring ceiling of Davis's room and wondered just how she can remodel it to make it less boring.

As this had been happening, Harold sat down in his living room tempted to smoke another. He even stared at the joint for a minute or so just not really too sure what to think. Then he stood up and then left it on the table, deciding to leave it alone. He had another place to visit now. It was the most important place to go to. He grabbed his car keys and as he had done so, he turned around and saw that there was his golden trophy standing there, even though he never had it in the first place. There was something written next to it saying "Keep your mind clear and aim for your true goals and you will see what life has in store for you." That was something his father used to say to him, and then he shook his head in wonder as he left the house and to his car as the sound of the never ending rain was getting to him now.

Harold drove on over to Clair's house trying to think of something to tell her. Then he remembered something for a moment. He drove right back to his house and then he rummaged through his stuff again and found the clothes that Clair had given him a moment ago. He grabbed the clothes and then put them on and then he went down to his garage and grabbed a shovel. With that, he left the house once again and drove to the soccer field.

It took like half an hour to drive there, but he took out his shovel and started digging while the empty field and game score lights from the last game were flashing right behind him and he was digging harder until he dug a hole seven feet deep into the ground. He found a small box in there. Right where he and Clair had placed it all those months ago. He took out the box and by this point his clothes were totally covered with grime and rain as he was looking inside and found a video that Clair recorded back in the day that she wanted her and him to watch when he felt more dedicated to tackle this relationship. He ran to his car again with the tape and all the other tiny things of the box and he was ready for her to show this to him with the empty box, the shovel, and the seven foot hole now in the football field for somebody else to deal with.

As he was driving down to Clair's house, the ads of hundred foot buildings, ideas of the next flying cars, transportation from Japan and United States by a single track instead of a plane were playing. Harold took it calmly as he saw people talking to each other and watching as they were all getting soaked to the core and a couple of homeless people trying to get money. Harold wondered how long it would take for hoover boards to come to earth and how long it would take before robots would take up the entire army. From what he read, androids were already starting to become a thing and the projects have been going on since the 30's, but now public knowledge was leaked of it.

After Harold pulled up at her parking lot Clair saw this happen and she opened her window and saw Harold with his old clothes and the tapes. "I'm sober now!" Harold yelled and she seemed to see the more truthful side to him when he said this, and then she decided to let him inside the house once again, but this time in a much more approved situation and then they popped in the tapes to start watching them.

"It seems like everything will go to the way that they should have been." Clair said as she wrapped her arms around Harold and was messing around with the shirt that he had. Harold looked down at her and he wondered if she was taking this the way that he had expected. Perhaps it would be time, but they should wait until the tape was finished and they would not have any distractions.

Meanwhile at the soccer field, there was a guy in a gas mask staring down at the seven foot hole. He touched the dirt and then he examined it closely and he knew that in just those ten to fifteen minutes it took the young man to get from there to his girlfriends house, that the monster already started heading there. With that, he took out something that looked like a lightsaber from Star Wars and then turned it on to reveal a red blade and then he turned whispered "Nobody messes with my family." Then he headed out of the soccer field to take on this monster.

The next day, T.K. woke up and he saw a duffel filled up in front of of clothes, a red journal and six blue ball point pens, extra wrapping for his arm cast in case he needed it, and the bag was on top of his skateboard. He grabbed the bag after he zipped it up, feeling the pain in his arm even worse now than he did before and his mother just said simply to him "Your father is picking you up in ten minutes and taking you to a summer camp with Matt. He and I both agreed that this is going to teach your discipline and how to act when around other people. Something that you clearly lack. We agreed on this last night and you will only be taking what is in that bag and your skateboard. We will not be debating this, and Matt was already going to the camp, so he is going to watch you. While you are on your way there, your father will talk to you more on this." His mother said and then he looked down at his arm cast and the pain was killing him. He truly was not super man. He truly did need to treat his body better. So he nodded, grabbed his bag and the board and then headed outside waiting on the steps staring out to the streets all sad feeling like he didn't want to do this and he was just staring at his broken arm hating himself for the next nine minutes before his father showed up.

Soon enough his father pulled up in the drive way and T.K. just placed the duffel bag and skateboard inside of the car and he got in shot gun seat. After he did so, he looked over at his father and the car started driving by. "In other recent news, scientists have been called down to examine the dead body of something that looked like a dog like seven foot tall monster that was found dead in a side walk around seven in the morning. There was a giant gash on the side of this monster and it has left people wondering if aliens do exist after all." T.K.'s father's face turned cold when he heard that and he instantly changed the channel on the radio.

It took about an hour or two to drive there and T.K. quickly fell asleep and his father would glance down every few seconds to really ponder what went wrong with his kid to make him think this was a great idea in the first place. But when the drive was over, T.K.w as forced to wake up and his father said to him before he left "Treat your brother well, treat your cabin mates well and most of all don't do anything dangerous. We don't want a second broken arm. Go to cabin six, that is where Matt is." After that, T.K. left the car with his items and went to cabin six like his father asked and when he did, he saw his brother there setting up the cabin.

"The others will be coming soon. Better make yourself at home. This will be your home for the next three months." Matt said and then T.K. flopped the duffel bag on the coffee table and his board right next to one of the beds and he flopped right onto the bed with his broken arm over his eyes to cover sunlight.

It was then when Joe woke up from his dream totally out of it. He saw that it was one in the after noon and he got right out of the car, having no idea where he was. He walked up to the first building he could find to ask for directions and he found one. It was made of wood and looked like it was over fifty years old. Joe knocked on the door and as he saw the door open there was six people in the cabin. All of them were younger than him, ranging from twelve to sixteen. It was after he saw that there was a guy with a broken arm and a V-Loser sign on it that he knew he walked into the summer camp he seen in his dreams. But before that could be asked about, there was snow falling down from the sky... in July.


	7. Digital Connections

Chapter 6: The Terrible Night at the Casino (1966)

After Ken had woken up for the first time in some place that he was not even sure if he was imagining or not, he was just trying to figure some things out for himself as to find out where he was and what he needed to do in order to get himself back to at least some form of normalcy. It was hard for him to even comprehend ninety percent of the stuff that he was seeing. But he was willing and forcing himself to at the very least try.

He saw that there was a giant bedroom. As he was looking around the giant bedroom, there was a huge bottle with heads in it as well as things that showed mementos as if the place was sort of like a treasure room that he had been forced to be thrown inside. As if he was actually a treasure for the person who had lived in here and that Ken was going to be killed and then put up in the house and then the next time that a person was here, they would be wondering just what the fuck was even going on. "Oh, the young man is waking up again. He seems to be confused about everything is going on. Maybe he will be willing to finally talk with me now that he is able to comprehend what is around him." The thing that was in the house said and then the more that Ken looked at them, the more that he was wondering if this was even a real human. It really did not even look like a human at all. They had actually looked like a octopus thing that was wearing a doctors clothes and they were looking at Ken as if wondering what the hell Ken was even like in the first place.

"Where the hell am I? Last time I checked, I was dealing with something that looked like a blue gate. Now I am here in front of something that looks like a octopus doctor. I feel like I am dreaming or something." Ken had said and then when he had said that, the octopus thing looked at Ken and then they smiled and they were wondering what Ken was even talking about.

"I have never seen anything like you before. You look like something that I had heard about in books before. As if you were somebody who has come back to life years after your kind has gone extinct." This thing was saying to Ken and as they had been talking more, the more that Ken was really starting to think that he was dreaming after all. Which was more realistic than anything that was going on at the moment. That was what he was telling himself at the very least. But then he stood up and he was feeling like he was already going to fall on the ground.

"I can barely walk at all. I feel like I am a little bit sick. Please explain to me what is going on right now. I can't stay here and not have any answers." Ken said and he was walking around slowly and each step that he had taken was getting a little bit easier for him to do this. Then with that, he tried to take things slowly and the slower that he was going, the better that he had been able to walk on this whole way.

"You probably need to relax for a little bit longer. You may not want me to tell you this. But I found you asleep in the forest. I did not really know what to expect of you when I first saw you. When I found you, I took you in and have been taking care of you since then and trying to make sure that when you did wake up, you would be ready to take on what is going on around you and you will be ready for the new life that you are most likely going to have to try to live." The octopus thing said and then Ken turned around to see what the hell they were actually talking about.

"What is going on? How long was I out? Please just tell me the truth." Ken said and then when he had said that, the octopus creature was quiet a little bit and then when they were quiet for a little bit, Ken was preparing himself for some news that he knew was going to be really hard for him to take in. He knew that there was no way that he was going to take this whole news too well and he knew that he was probably going to freak out.

"You have been in a coma for a decently long time. Probably longer than you have been in your entire life to this point in time. You have been asleep for eleven days. Right now it is July 31st, and you have been here ever since July 20th. I hope that you are not going to freak out too much over this news. I tried my best to make sure that you could wake up, but I did not really find a way that can get you up. I am very sorry for you." The octopus thing said and then Ken looked at the mirror close by and Ken could not believe he had been away from home for nearly two weeks. Asleep nearly two weeks. Nearly two weeks since Sam had died. He wondered if his parents thought he himself was dead as well

"What can I do now? I really need to get back to my house and I need to let them know that nothing is going on and that I am totally fine. I have a feeling that they are going to be really scared to see that I have been gone for so long and when I come back and show them that I am alive, they are going to be super happy and that this is going to get them so happy that it will make up for everything so far." Ken said and he was starting to get more serious about being with his parents again and showing them he was totally fine and at least one child was alive of theirs.

"Well, I don't really think I have a way to help you find your house. That is sort of out of my power. I hope that this does not really bother you too much. I'm sorry dude, but this is your own life now. You need to start to accept the fact that there is nothing of your past that will be given back to you. You are alone now and once you step outside of this house, you are going to be alone. How old are you?" The octopus thing was saying and then when they asked Ken that, he looked over at the strange being as if wondering what the point of that was.

"I'm sixteen years old. Not really all that old. I doubt that I will be able to last too long on my own. But if that is truly how it is and that is all I can do, then I guess that maybe I will accept this challenge." Ken answered and then the octopus guy looked at Ken and they were wondering how Ken could say that sixteen was not that old. That would be old enough to sort of take care of themselves and accept the terrible reality of being alone.

"Sixteen is more than old enough for you to go out and live your life in the outside world. There is a lot of stuff that somebody your age can do. So please don't give me the fact that you are not old enough. Despite what your culture will try to tell you, sixteen is in fact an adult and you better start treating yourself like one. But yourself whatever you want, do what you need to survive. But the fact is that you are on your own. You are not a kid anymore, take charge. Be the man that you are supposed to be." The octopus had said and then when they had said that, Ken started to get near the entrance of the house.

"Well, if this is what you believe in and what you think that I can do right now that can give me some good resources to handle this world of your world more?" Ken asked and then he looked at the octopus thing looked at Ken and they thought about his question. It was a valid question, but they were not really sure if there was any good answer of if there was nothing that can be given to him at this very moment until he went out and explored more. But then they remembered something.

"There is a swords master. Quite a interesting digimon. If you go to them and tell them that I sent you there and that you need to be taught some moves, they will probably be more willing to work with you than normally. So yeah, try that place out and maybe you can actually be able to get some good training and that way you can have something to defend yourself with." The octopus digimon that Ken assumed that was what this thing was now said and then Ken was slowly realizing this was the world that it was, not one he would have any good weapons besides a fucking centuries old thing that would break down upon hitting something hard.

"Okay here is the thing, I don't think that I can be able to fight things off with a sword. So while I am able to appreciate your offer and the fact that you want to help me, but I just do not see myself being able to put this thing to use. However, I could be wrong and if I am wrong, I will come to that training house and then maybe I will be able to use your sword master training house after all." Ken said and then as he had said that, the digimon looked at Ken as if trying to see if he could survive out there on his own.

"Please young man, do not mess with me. If you do not see that guy, I will most likely see you dying here. I do not want to see you die so soon after you have woken up. Just go there and tell him that you were sent here by me. This will make things so much better for you. Trust me, I know that I am telling the truth here." The octopus digimon said to Ken and when they had said that, Ken was starting to think that maybe they were right and that Ken really should check this thing out after all.

"Fine, you win. I will go out and give it a try. After all, if for nothing else, it might be able to get a few days to see what the hell this world is like and why you think I need to do all of this after all. I don't really know if this will work out too well or not, but I will see what I can be able to do here before I start to do things that will start to get even more dangerous for me. Since I have a feeling I am going to be in danger a lot coming up." Ken said and then he turned to the house door and the digimon had said one final thing to him.

"If you find the man in the purple jacket, do not come to him. Just leave him as fast as possible. He has all intentions to just use you and then when he is done using you, he will throw you away and then you will die sooner than Sam had been able to die. I know all about Sam. After all, I heard what you were saying during your sleep." The octopus digimon said that one final thing, and then when they had said that, Ken left the house and he started to go on and investigate the world and seeing what he could do. He was not really too sure if this place was really going to be the place that this digimon had been hyping up, but there was always the good idea to give it a chance and see what the hell was going on here and what he can do to survive.

When he was outside of the house, he saw that there was a small town that looked like it had been used for the setting of some form of western setting. Ken was going to go around and he was going to see if maybe he could get some advice from any of these things on what the hell a digimon was. It was just so strange since he felt like he was inside of a fiction world when this was supposed to be real life. This stuff was really fucking with him more than it probably should have by this point in time.

Ken then saw that there was a bar and he walked up to it. If the digimon that was talking to him earlier was saying that Ken was already an adult despite only being sixteen years old, maybe he could get away with lying and saying that he was going to be old enough to drink. Yeah, it was really silly for that to be the first thing for him to think about, but this was going to be something that he was probably never going to be able to do again so he was going to take care of it. Afterwards, when he was at the bar, Ken saw that there was no sign saying the limit to how old he had to be to go inside of this bar. He decided that he was going to give this a try after all and see what would happen.

So Ken walked on inside of the bar and when he was inside of the bar, he saw that there was probably a ton more of these so called digimon in the area. Some of them looked like wolf rip offs and while Ken would agree that it had looked cool, he was still very much confused and he had no idea how he was going to be able to figure any of this out. So Ken sat down in one of the chairs and he was looking around to see what type of drink he would be able to have and get away with it.

"Hey, I would like a scotch." Ken said and then he looked down and then he saw that he had thirty dollars in his pocket. He thought that maybe the digimon who took care of him slipped in some money so that way he would be able to have something that could get him going and that way he could be able to buy some things. The digimon looked at him and then nodded. The digimon was a brown dog with what looked like grey armor as their clothes. Ken probably thought that whatever the hell this thing was, he was probably looking at something that served in a war. Or whatever the hell a war was in this world and all that. The digimon started to make Ken the drink he had asked for with no reference to saying he might be too young.

"Here you go, that will be two dollars." The digimon said and then Ken pulled out three dollars, two for the payment and one for the tip. The digimon looked down at this and they decided not to mention the fact that they had paid one more than they had said he needed. He never got a tip before, so they do not really get the concept of what being a tip was like and all of that stuff. This was when Ken was going to bring up the point that was really confusing him this whole time and he needed to just get at least some form of answer.

"Why did you not tell me that I was too young to drink? I thought that there was an age that I had to be in order to actually drink, or am I just going crazy?" Ken was saying and then that digimon started to look at Ken as if he totally were insane and was wondering what the hell this guy was on and if he was just messing around this whole time. Then they thought that it was no real big deal.

"There is no drinking age. You can drink pretty much as soon as you can be able to pay for the drink. We have six year old drinking here and it doesn't bother me. As long as they have the money that is needed to pay, then we are all good." The digimon had said and then when the digimon said that, Ken was taking the drink and just said that he was a little bit confused and was sorry if he had caused any sort of confusion for that guy as well. Then when he was drinking, everything was going pretty decently and he was just sort of getting himself to actually enjoy being in this world after all and he thought that maybe this type of world would actually be something he could get used to.

"Hey, do you know of how I can get to the swords master near by here? I was told that I needed to find this one guy and then he could teach me the things I needed to know to be able to survive in this world." Ken said to the digimon who was serving up the bar and he was wondering what the hell Ken was talking about, but they decided that they were probably just trolling around and that Ken was just sort of out of his mind right now.

"Just walk for a couple of hours. They are near the exit of a road but down a very large pathway in order to avoid anybody coming in there. I don't know the exact house, but that is what I have heard form before." The digimon said and then Ken finished his drink and then he slammed down the cup just hard enough to make a noise but soft enough to not break it and then he thanked the digimon and then he headed on out away.

When Ken was out of the bar, he was walking down the edge of this pathway and he was getting ready to confront this digimon and whatever they were going to be able to teach him. He needed a strong thing with him for him to be able to actually survive in this whole world. He had no real clue what he was going to do here, and he had no real clue if he was even going to be accepted into this at all. In fact, he was pretty sure that he was not going to be accepted. But he could come up with a good reason for him to maybe get a couple of days. Maybe if he said that he was only going to be there for the weekend, then maybe the digimon would be more willing to work with him then since it would only be for one weekend. But that was what he was thinking at that moment. He was not really even sure if that was going to be how it would go. But he was sort of getting his hopes up.

The more that he was walking down these barren streets, the more that Ken was hearing about different things about how the world was just barely saved from total destruction a few months ago and now it is going back to the mess that it already had been just two months later and that they needed to start to work together again to make sure that the world did not get fucked up once again. It was making Ken wonder how the world so called nearly ended a couple of months ago and how it also so called only built up again to be sort of taken away once more. It just simply strange for him and he was not really sure what he was going to feel when he found out the truth.

The closer that he was to accepting the fact that he was not going to be returning home anytime soon, if he ever would at all, the more that he was just wanting to figure out what was going on here and he was needing to see if he could help out at all. While when he grew older, he started to gain much more cynical and hateful than he had ever been before, there was still a period of time back in the day when he was still wanting to help out and he had actually thought of the idea that he was able to make a true difference. But he started to think as he slowly got older and older that this was just not going to happen and when he started to think that this was not going to happen, the more that his world was becoming more of the one that his friends and the general world would know of him as when he had gotten much older.

This was getting really hard for him to really get used. Just because he had started to accept the fact that he was going to be doing this in the first place and the fact that he was not really going to be ready for anything that was going to be thrown at him, but he was still going to very much try since he knew that there was nothing that could be worse than just sort of wasting your life away. That was something he learned in his freshmen year. That you need to always work as hard as you can and make sure that you never waste any of your time since time is precious and everybody should try to do all with it that they are able to really do.

After the sun was starting to set, Ken had seen the pathway that he thought he was going to have to start going down. Ken figured that he should get going down there right away. As he was walking down this pathway, he was slowly having this strong feeling that this was where he needed to be and not only that, but maybe he should have always been there right from the start and that he should have never wasted any time just going around to any other place and that he should have been spending the last eleven days here instead of just sleeping around and wasting all of his time sleeping and being in a short term coma.

The pathway took nearly fifteen minutes for him to actually go down this pathway and he was kind of amazed at how long it had actually taken for him to be going down there, as he thought he would have been able to reach it much faster. But soon enough, after just going down a pathway with trees all at the side so there was no interference, he eventually reached the front door. He knocked at the front door of this place and when he knocked at the door, he was thinking about what to say. Soon enough, the door answered and he was shocked at how little he needed to wait at all for this. "Hey, I was told that this would be a good place for me to go to when I woke up for the first time in several days and that maybe you should be able to help me out find my way and get something I can use to fight with."

"You seem to be rather blunt about your intent on why you are here. I will give you that much. But what the hell do you plan on doing here to prove to me that you truly are ready for the tests that you are going to be taking when and if I do allow you to be here as my apprentice?" The digimon said and they had a large scar on their right eye and they seemed to be wondering just what a random human was doing in this world at all.

"You should not be in this world. You are not of our kind. I have no idea what you are doing here. Unless if that is that this world is starting to already fall apart. Which would be really awful considering the fact that we had just restored this world for the first time in several years a few months ago. Please tell me why you are wanting to train with me to begin with?" The digimon said and Ken was trying really hard not to think and constantly look at the scar on that persons face. They had not wanted to give off the impression that this is the only thing that they cared about since they felt that if this was the case, they would be looked at as a utter asshole.

"I just decided to come here since I was told by the people here that I needed to come here. There is nothing else to it. I don't want to give off a fucking essay as to why I need to be here and I have no idea how or why I even got to this place in the first place. So if you want, you should just cut off the I wonder shit and just work with me here." Ken said and then when he had said that, the digimon looked at him and there was a moment they were starting to get really pissed. But then they thought that maybe them being pissed off could be something that they can use for the training of this guy after all and then Ken can be able to improve after all and then he can become a apprentice that could be of use to the world.

"Right now, you have a long way to go and I really highly doubt that you guys have a true way that you can before what the world needs right now. But that being said, I can see that if I work with you, you can be the man who can bring peace and prosperity to the world." The digimon said and then after the digimon said that, Ken was looking around as the digimon started to open the door for Ken to go inside of. When Ken was inside of the house, he started to look around it to see what exactly it was like and what he could do to work with the digimon and how he could so call improve and be a good hero. He highly doubted that he needed to be a hero or that he wanted to be a hero or that he could be a hero. There was so much to go with. Ken just thought that maybe he can just learn more of what was going on and then he could eventually figure out where to go now. And then he could start to avenge Sam and then find the guy in the purple jacket.

"Look, I really feel as if training you might be a genuine mistake and that you could not really go all that far in life. But I have a feeling that you could be the only one who can take care of the upcoming threat in the world. That is if there even is one that is coming up and all that. I am not really gong to take the risk here and I am going to let you train here under the condition that you do not reveal where I live to the others and that once you are done, then you go to the ultimate training hall of JewelBeemon. Only when you are done will I reveal to you where JewelBeemon lives. That is the only time that I truly will trust you to take care of this." The digimon said and then when they had said that, they told Ken to just follow him for a little while.

"You will not be able to learn how to be a sword master if you do not even have one. You are going to need one if you want to be able to become a sword master. I know that you will probably be thinking that this is a strange weapon to use and that a gun might be much better. But in your world, the roles of a sword and gun are reversed. Where while a gun is basically able to win a war in your world and that a sword is totally useless, in this world the gun is a very dated thing and just won't be able to really hold up, but a sword can slice through things very easily if you know just how to use it properly. Not to say that a gun does not have their own uses. Of course it does." The digimon was continuing their lecture and they opened a door that showed a bunch of sword types and one of them was a wooden one.

"I do not trust you to take on the major one quite yet. I know that you probably want to get into the real action. I do not blame you for feeling that way. However, you are not quite ready to take on that major responsibility yet. In a couple of days, if you are able to show me that you can work well with it, I will let you have one of the real ones. But I want you to learn more first." This digimon said and then pulled out the single wooden sword in their collection. "I only have one here since I only take one apprentice at a time. I go by the ideal of one master and just one apprentice so that way both of the people or digimon can learn how to work with each other as best as possible. I think that once you see it for yourself, you will be able to see why I feel this way."

"How many digimon or people have you gone on and trained here? I am curious to know how much you have been able to use your skills to pass on the line to other digimon." Ken said and then he grabbed the wooden sword, not really sure what to think about this too much. He did not really know if he liked the idea of having a sword or not, and since he had never used one before, this was going to be one of the more interesting things that he was probably going to do in this world and on this quest that Ken thinks he is sort of forced to take on now.

"I have had seven apprentices in my twenty two years of being a sword master. My teacher was a human just like you. He taught me for a year when he was a little bit older than you. Then when that was done, I was left to go on and see what I can do. Every three to four years,a new apprentice shows up and I teach them for about a year as well until I think they are ready to go on and go to the world once more. I do not know if I will be able to teach you for that long given how much you probably have to do. But I guess that maybe you and I should probably get ready on all of this if you want to be able to at the very least fight on your own. I will probably not be able to teach you all of the different moves on how to fight, but I will at the very least teach you the very basic moves on how you can be able to win the battles. So this is going to be like level one teaching." The digimon said and then when they had said that, Ken looked down at the sword and he was not really sure what to think about all of this now.

Ken and the digimon went inside a small training session and Ken was told to be able to try and dodge some attacks. He was not really expecting Ken to be able to fight fully, be he thought that dodging was going to be a good early exercise that he could be able to learn and all of that stuff. Ken held up the sword and each time that there were a couple of swings at Ken, the sword was dodging the attack and this had gone on for three or four sessions and it had seemed that after those amount of times, the teacher was starting to let go on that and think that at the very least, Ken knew how to block and all of that stuff. "I know that this was pretty easy for you to figure out, and I was going to be more shocked had you not been able to learn that, but I was wanting to make sure that this was the very least you could be able to pull off."

The next day during the lesson, the teacher decided that they would try to teach Ken simple moves such as how to get a jab in right under the arm of the opponent. "It seems like something that anybody can do without too much teaching, but in reality like any other move you have to put more effort into it if you want to make it so that it does not like you are just swinging around with no real clear goal in mind." The digimon then took a step back after they said that and then held out their right arm as they were doing the movement of the stab and then Ken tried to do the same and he hopped a little bit as he was about to bring in a jab but the digimon kicked him to the side and then Ken fell down to the ground. Ken then stood up and then he took a couple of steps back to make sure that he had some room but then when the digimon started to get closer to him, Ken made yet again another jab at the digimon and then this time he actually did manage to touch the armor a bit, which was what the digimon had wanted him to do at the first place.

"I wonder how many different types of moves that there are." Ken had said and then when he had said that, the digimon decided to remain silent as they were going to let Ken start to see that for his own throughout all of the training that he was going to have to deal with. On the second day, Ken was taught how to do a proper swing. He was told that a swing was not just a matter of moving your arms around in a way that makes it look like you are just doing stuff right on the spot. But then the digimon showed what they would consider a proper swing to look like and how it would require both arms and a slow swing. Ken put both his hands on the hilt and then when he was swinging, he was doing his best to make sure that it was slow and that the digimon would be able to approve of that whole thing. Ken had to take a couple of times, since he was not really sure if he was actually going to do this correctly and he knew that this was just something that he was not really going to be able to master on just the first couple of tries. When he took a couple of tries, the digimon thought that Ken was probably going to do this as best as he could. So he just called off the lesson and told Ken to just let it go now. "How many more things do you plan on having me learn if you just want me to learn the pure basics and nothing else at all? I don't know how many days or nights you want me to stay here."

"I have no idea how much longer I can be able to have you here. Soon enough, I doubt I will be able to have enough time and I will be forced to kick you out so that way you can go on and start to follow your destiny." The digimon that was trying to train Ken said and then when they had said that, Ken was thinking that this was starting to not really be what he had needed and that he needed something more than just a basic amount of training if he had wanted to have a chance to so call save the world that he was just possibly thrown into that might not even be the same as earth at the end.

In the next day, the teacher digimon handed Ken a shield. When they had handed Ken this shield, this was when Ken was wondering why he would ever need one in the first place. "I doubt that I will be able to really give you any good defenses. So I will try and come down at you and I just expect you to block it." The digimon said said and right when they had said that, the digimon swung down their sword right down at Ken and then Ken was forced to block it. This attack was so out of nowhere but at the same time he knew that he should have seen it coming. Then Ken took a couple of steps back and there was more and more when Ken was being swung towards and then Ken had to keep blocking. It had gotten to the point in which Ken was blocking so much he had a feeling he knew how to use a shield more than he had known how to use a sword.

On the next day of training, right before the session had started, the digimon turned around to Ken and looked at them as if they were trying to decide if they should do what they had been planning on doing or if they should wait a couple more days. "After we are done today, I want to speak with you on something else. I think that you need to prepare yourself for that." The digimon said and then when they had said that, the digimon had told Ken that this was going to be duel. The duel was pretty short lived since it had involved the digimon swinging their sword down a couple of times and then Ken moved his sword around a couple of times and as he was doing so, the digimon had been managed to be touched a couple of times with the wooden blade. This so called duel had been lasting for about three to four minutes before the digimon jumped back and said that it was over. "I just wanted to see if you were able to pull this off after all. Seems like you can do a relatively decent job holding yourself up."

"So what is going on now? What do you want me to do now?" Ken had asked and then when he had asked this, the digimon led Ken to the exact same room that he had been led to at the very start of this training stuff a few days ago. When he was there with his short term master, the group was all wondering what there was they even needed to do. The digimon was just shaking their head since they were not wanting to do this but they had felt like they needed to do this.

"I think you need to head out on your quest. All you need to do is to go to all of the gangs in the area and you need to take them all down. If you can take down the four gangs, you might actually be able to have a chance on being able to save the city and then I think that JewelBeemon will be more likely to go on and accept you as being one of the apprentices to this group. I just feel as if you are the one who is supposed to go on and do this job, and while you may not be ready for this job, I still feel as if perhaps you are going to be the one who can have it all figured out." The digimon had said and then they looked down at Ken and Ken was pretty not wanting to do this, but he had a terrible feeling deep down inside that this digimon had been telling the truth.

"I don't like it, and I really wish that I was not the one who was going to be forced into this, but I have a feeling that you are telling the truth. And that is going to be the only reason why I will be saying yes to this. And you are going to be the only reason that I have a feeling that I may have even a small percent chance on being able to save the city at all. Since you did give me a couple of days of being able to practice and learn from here." Ken said and he was still not really able to believe just how little he was going to be training and how much he was pretty much thrown into this whole thing.

"Here you go. This weapon is going to give you a little bit of a edge on how to be able to be ready to take on the four gangs. It might not be all that you need. But this will give you at the very least a start and you will be able to have at least a small chance of being able to win this war. Well, I guess not really a war as much as just a short term battle that you will have to deal with." This digimon had said and gave Ken this black sword that looked like it had been made out of some sort of moon stone. He decided not to ask since he had a feeling that really did not matter.

"You need to probably head out as soon as possible. You need to realize that you have a lot of stuff to do and that every hour you waste here you are going to be increasing the chances that you will probably fail this test." The digimon had said and then when that was said to him, Ken grabbed the sword and then afterwards, there was a shield that was given to Ken as well. "You need to head out as soon as possible. Once you are out of this house, your adventure is going to pick back up and we will probably never see each other again."

Then with that, Ken nodded and while he didn't like this, it was the truth and then Ken headed out of the house and it took him less than five minutes for it to feel as if he was never really there to begin with and like he was never really taught anything at all and that he had wasted like five days of his life. Five days that he was supposed to be saving the world he supposed but it was just too hard for him to really think that he was the one who was going to be saving the world or anything crazy like that. He was thinking that maybe he was just playing his part in history and that he truly did not matter all that much and that even if there was not him on there, he would be the one who was forgotten all in history. This was what would make sense to him to be totally honest.

He was walking along and as he was walking, the more that he was thinking about going to that town that he had been in earlier. He thought that maybe this was going to be a little bit hard for him to really figure out and he was thinking that he just needed to sort of figure more things out if he had any real chance of finding even a single one of these gangs. In fact, he was still thinking about the gangs and how there was even a chance that one of them would be able to take over an entire city or anything like that. He felt like there was no real chance something like that could happen, but he was telling himself that anything could happen and that he just needed to be more ready.

It took a few hours for him to go back to where he had been starting his adventure at. A difference of four to five days was barely even a difference on the calendar and even less of a difference in the city. The exact same digimon were there pretty much and it was as if Ken was there the entire time and that there was nothing that Ken could even be able to find that could even show that he was there in the first place besides the two things on his body that showed he was at the house.

Ken was checking everything out and when he was checking everything out, Ken had been sure that there was pretty much nothing that he could do at that moment that would really give him any clues. He just had some form of feeling that there was nothing in the town that could give him any real clues. He thought that maybe he could ask a couple of digimon around, but that this would be all that he really could be able to do. Then he saw that there was a building that looked a little bit like a casino about three quarters of a mile away. When he had seen this casino, he thought that perhaps there would be a digimon or two that would be there to give him some answers.

So he started to walk on towards the casino and as he was walking there, the more that he was coming up with stuff that he could perhaps say to the digimon there to make them think that they could be able to help him out. There was just so many things that he needed to do in order for them to really get what he was trying to do. Not that they would be able to truly help him out and give him all of these answers, but he thought that even just a couple of answers would be enough to sort of give him ahead start on what to fucking do now. As he was getting to the front entrance of the casino, well he should say one of like the five entrances to the casino considering how fucking many doors there were, Ken decided to just look at the bright scenery and flowers that were all over the place and then Ken thought that had he failed this quest, then everything would be totally fucked. All of the work that had been put down would be thrown away and then there were be nothing that he could really do about it to make himself feel better about what the hell was going on.

He opened the front door to the casino and then when he had opened the front door to the casino, he was looking around and then he was starting to think that he was a little bit wrong about this. All he had seen was just a bunch of digimon walking around and they were all in super fancy clothes. Which already made Ken pretty much have a totally off outfit in the setting. Not only that, but then there was a huge group of digimon that were just playing poker or the digital world equal to poker. Ken was wondering what their version of the game was even like, but he was forced to tell himself that this doesn't matter and that he needs to focus more on the bigger things in mind. He needed to just focus on the bigger picture and that was the idea of him figuring out what the hell he needed to do to hunt down these four gangs.

Ken decided to walk towards this poker game. He had not really thought that there was a gang there or anything, but he thought that maybe they would be able to give him at least a couple of ideas just to see what the hell is going on. "Hey, do you mind if I join the game? I promise that I won't cheat or anything." Ken had said and then the group looked up at Ken and then they had remained silent for a little bit and then after a couple of seconds of thought, they decided that there was no way, even with the sword, that he was not going to be too much of a trouble.

"You can sit down, just make sure you are paying attention and that you don't ask any stupid questions. You need to pay attention as that will be the only way you are going to be able to learn how to play this. We are not going to take any breaks just for you." The digimon that was handing out cards said. Ken sat down as he was thinking about how generic this digimon had looked and he thought that this digimon was just somebody that was needing to fully let themselves go since they were getting close to being that way anyways.

The digimon was wearing a bunch of white clothes, a giant white suit. There was blonde artificial hair that they had, almost as if Ken was looking at Fred Trump's son, wasn't his name like Donald or something? That guy was only a couple of years older than Ken. He was like twenty at the time while Ken was sixteen. Only a four year difference, which is basically only one presidential election. But then Ken was wondering why anybody had thought that the blonde fake hair was a sexy look. He didn't look down on people who looked that way, he just did not really agree with this at all.

After that sort of out of thought moment, Ken looked at the poker table and the whole time that the game was being played, he was not only paying attention to the rules, which he sort of knew what was going on as it was basically the exact same as the game of poker rules that there were on earth. But now he was paying attention to the words of plans and all of that stuff. "Once we get down to Vegas, the boss is going to be so happy that we managed to buy off this town. Every little town is a fair win for us. But this one is even more important than the others. After all, it is a good stopping spot for all the trade that our boss wants to do." The digimon said that was right next to them as they were chomping down on a cigar. The digimon did not even really think Ken hearing this was not too much of a problem due to the fact that they thought he was too dumb to get it and Ken was so good acting like he was focused on the game that it actually seemed like he was able to convince them he was only on that.

"We have a good reason to believe that there will be no real problem on taking this town over." The digimon who had allowed Ken to join the game was saying and then he placed down his card and it had seemed as if he was going to win this game fair and square. Ken was looking at the cards he had a little bit more and when he was doing this, he was thinking that there was actually a chance that he could be able to pull off a victory at this game and then with that, Ken started to lay down all the cards that he thought he would need and use to win the game and then everybody else saw the cards he put down and they were slowly starting to realize that he was going to win the game. Then he looked at the digimon and they were starting to think that he was a cheater and that he must have done something to fuck up the game.

"Well, now that I won the game, do I get anything besides the fame of winning a poker game against a bunch of Vegas workers?" Ken said and then he looked around as he was smiling and he was starting to think that there was a chance that they were actually going to give him the information that he had wanted. The digimon that looked a little bit like a Trump rip off sighed and they seemed to think that this was going to be really bad but that if he was able to win a poker game, that he could be a little bit useful.

"You and I are going to have a little bit of a talk. Meet me up in my hotel room on the third floor. Once we are there, then we can be able to talk more about the deal that I am starting to think up of a little bit. I think that you are really going to like my deal." The digimon said and the more that they were saying this, the more they were thinking that this plan could actually start to go on and work in their favor a lot more than they had thought that it would have been like. Ken stood up and then looked at the other digimon and then their boss said something to their digimon that made Ken think that maybe there was a different plan to all of this.

Ken and the digimon started to walk towards their hotel room. The more that Ken was getting to being there, the more that Ken was thinking that he could actually be able to start a good infiltration into that area and then when they find a good infiltration method, perhaps he could actually be able to move up on the rankings of this gang and then that can be how he takes at least one of the four of them down. He was really thinking that this whole thing was going to be one of the smartest ideas that he had and all he had to do was just get the digimon to work with him, if that was even totally possible at all.

When Ken and that digimon that looked like a Trump rip off reached their room, the digimon closed the door and then they looked at Ken a little bit more. "So how were you able to win the game when there was no real clear reason that you should have been able to pull that off? It just does not make any sense how you were able to pull it off." Ken then thought that maybe he could just tell the truth and maybe this could get the digimon a little bit more willing to go on and work with them.

"Well, my brother used to play poker a lot. He recently died about two to three weeks ago. I can't believe that it has been that long already. Anyways, after he died, I was thrown into this place and I was able to use the moves that he had taught me in order to win this poker game and I have nothing besides just pure good memory to be able to give me this victory." Ken said and then when he told that digimon this, the more that for just a split second the digimon started to feel a little bit bad for Ken.

"Well, I do have some sympathies for you. It is never easy to go on and lose a sibling. I do actually know how that feels like. Was in my early twenties. Sister died from a illness. But I guess that the sob stories are over since I need to make you an offer. I want to take you over to where my boss is at. I want to be able to talk with him on the idea of perhaps getting you to join us. I think that if you are able to learn this stuff so fast, that maybe you can actually be of some use after all. I know that you are probably going to say no, but I think that I can convince you." The digimon said and then they sat down and as they were sitting down, they had their left hand under their back and it was moving around. As if they were going to pull of something that looked like a gun and that Ken was going to have to use his weapon and start to fight off a little bit and save his life.

"Well, honestly, I do want to meet your boss. But I need to know that this is not a barter and that you are just going to throw me down in the dumpster when you are done with me. I have a terrible feeling that maybe you are going to just use me until you are done and then you are going to throw me away. I just know of a guy in the purple jacket that would do the exact same thing back in the time when I had known him." Ken said and then he put his hand closer to the hilt and then the digimon pulled out their gun and aimed at Ken.

"I got to admit, you seem to be smarter man than I gave you credit for. I was just going to lead you to the ally way and then kill you. But since you figured it out, I guess that I can cut off the suspense and give you the present of just getting it over with right here and right now." The digimon explained and then Ken took out his sword and then he aimed it right down to the front of that digimon. "Do you seriously expect me to be scared of you when I see a fucking sword? I have a gun, I can be able to take you out very easily." The digimon said and then they started to put their finger at the trigger and then Ken started to swing around.

Ken didn't even think about it and he was remembering the lesson that he had been taught by that one digimon earlier. He slashed right down and as he had done so, there was a huge slash on the chest of the digimon and after a fight that lasted less than three seconds, Ken had actually won the battle. Ken then put the sword away on his hilt and while he did have a short moment of guilt of killing a digimon, he was able to tell himself that it was just a artificial being and that there was nothing that he needed to feel bad for. Then he checked the pockets of this digimon and then he pulled it out of there.

He looked at the contents of the pocket and then he had seen that it was a large wallet. He saw that the wallet gave him the map that he needed to follow that would lead him right down to the business center of the boss. But then right as that was happening, there was a huge alarm. Ken knew that he should have been more careful about what he was doing and then within ten seconds, there was the doors being thrown open and then Ken was forced to take out his sword again. His right arm was his sword and then his left arm was his shield. "You should have been more smart about how you were going to take out our leader." The digimon said and then Ken looked around and he was taking a head count. There was like fifteen that he needed to fight and he saw that one of them had keys. Ken assumed that this would be the keys to a car. Ken thought that he just needed to take that digimon out and then get the keys and then he could drive down the map and then he could be done with this all.

Ken raised his sword up as if he was getting himself totally ready for striking down at least some of the enemies. The first digimon charged at him and Ken ducked underneath and then when he had ducked underneath he stood back up when he reached the other side and then stabbed that one in the chest, which was good enough to take that one out. When he had done that, he looked around and was trying to see what he could possibly do about the other digimon in the area. When the next one started to come towards him, Ken knew that this one was going to be harder than the last one with the fact that they were carrying two weapons.

This second digimon swung one of their weapons down at Ken and as a result, he was hit in the chest and then he almost fell down to the ground but the pain was so bad that he was forcing himself to stay upwards and not to fall down on the ground feeling as if he was going to die. With the pain that he was feeling, he was making himself stay up and as he was making himself stay up, he held onto the sword that was given to him by that one digimon teacher very tightly in order to make sure that it did not fall out of his hands as he was basically having his damn life depend on this very weapon, which to be fair, it kind of was the truth already even without the over blown tightness to it. As he was holding onto this sword as much as possible, he turned around and then he was ramming the blade as far into the digimon as he could, making sure that this would be what very clearly ended the entire battle and made it very clear that he was not going to be messed with at all on this world.

Then Ken turned around and he was now holding both hands on his blade since he had started to slowly learn his lesson on what he needed to do. He saw another digimon come at him and they made a very clear swipe by cutting off a couple one of his hairs but that was not really the huge problem. He just saw that that the digimon was trying to kill him by doing it in the quietest way possible as a possible way to make Ken not really think that he was going to be in too much trouble over what was going on. But when Ken was starting to see a little bit of the way that this digimon was starting to handle the situation, Ken jumped up and kicked the digimon's face which made the digimon very dazed at what was happening and then afterwards, Ken took the killing blow and despite already taking care of three of the digimon so far, he still had twelve more to go, which was starting to make him realize just how much work he really had to be doing.

Then afterwards, the fourth digimon that was coming towards Ken stabbed him right in the foot which made Ken give off a quick scream in pain but he realized that screaming in pain was not really going to make him win this battle but he was focused on that stabbing so much that for the next minute or so when Ken was fighting this digimon off, he was having one of his hands focus on trying to get that thing out. Eventually though, he just gave up and then slashed that digimon straight down like the one that he had dealt with probably about five minutes ago by this point in time. Then grabbed the sword and as he was holding the sword up that stabbed him, he threw it down to the ground well behind him in order to make it so that none of the digimon got tempted to take him out with it, but he was still having eleven more that he had to deal with and he was already getting visibly tired from all of this. Well, maybe not really tired since that made it sound like a small deal but he knew that if he dealt with this too much more, he was probably going to die really soon and that was what scared the shit out of him.

When Ken saw the fifth one come to him, he saw them just punch him right in the face and the punch was enough to make him fall to his knees and he was feeling like this was making his battle movements very limited and that his death was going to be very close to being here. But he was not going to go out without a try. He was going to make sure of that. He was not going to go out without at least some form of a try. Then he saw the digimon just kick him three times in the chest and then Ken was feeling like he was going to die. Ken was starting to cry a little bit out of all of the pain which was quite a shock for him to be totally honest. Then Ken just stabbed the digimon in the face when he saw that there was a short moment that he could do that and took that one down.

After he took that fifth one down, he still had a good ten to go. This was starting to really wear him down. As if he was really getting near his death and it was only his second day after he left the sword training spot. The sixth digimon was holding a club with spikes on it and the spikes hit Ken on the side of his chest and he was feeling like his bones had just broke or something but then Ken grabbed the digimon and as they were falling to the ground, he stabbed them really quickly not even wanting to give them a few seconds to break away from the movement Ken put them on.

The seventh enemy of Ken started to slowly approach him since by that point Ken had proven himself to be a true foe that should not really be messed around with. ken had proven himself to be a foe that should be taken seriously despite what people would start to think about him when they had first met him. They aimed their spear right up near his throat and the stab nearly worked, as they had gotten to his upper chest. But in the end, their stab was just too small to really get his throat and while Ken did produce a fair share of bleeding as a result of the stab, Ken did not feel too bad over it and then he punched that digimon right in the face to make that digimon start to feel a little bit more weak and then afterwards Ken stabbed down at that digimon to take them out.

Then Ken turned around to see what the other eight digimon were thinking since he still had a little more than half way to go before he had truly won the whole battle. But then the next one threw a ninja star at him and this one was a true surprise for Ken and it got his left arm and it made his left arm bleed so bad he wanted to die. Then he realized that it wasn't really that bad when he saw that he was able to pull it out of his arm and then after he had pulled it out of his arm, he threw the ninja star right at the digimon who had thrown it at him and then when he did that, he slashed at that digimon very quickly and then he took out his eighth foe, meaning that there was only seven more of them to go. So by now he was literally over half way there and it was just down hill from there on forward.

The ninth one started to come towards him and they they had been coming towards him, he saw what that one was going to do right away. He knew that he did not even really have to try all that hard to take that one out. He just put his hand on their face and them slammed them down on the ground but then as he had done that, he saw the digimon took out something that looked like a strange gas and then after they took out this strange gas looking thing, it started to make Ken gag and then he realized that this was meant to make him have a daze and not really be able to know what was going on. Ken stood up slowly and then he just stabbed down on that one, bringing his victory count up to nine now.

With about sixty percent of the battle all won by this point in time, he was looking around for the tenth opponent and then he saw that was one who had been taking out their gun. Ken was well aware of the thing that the five day or so master had told him that the guns were not really all that big of a deal in this area and that he was going to be able to very easily take care of this one. The gun shots started to get close to Ken and some of them even started to ruin a little bit of his pretty much already ruined clothes and then he easily took that one out when he sliced them in half. With that, ten of them were defeated and then there were only five of them more to go.

The eleventh one took out a boomerang. Ken thought that this was a strange weapon and thought that if for nothing else, he could be able to appreciate the creativity of that one. Then with that all done with, Ken then saw the boomerang just about to hit him and he was now more ready to take that one out knowing what was going to be coming for him. Then he fell down to the ground when out of nowhere, it swept him under from his feet. Ken then hit the ground and then the next digimon was getting ready to take him out but then he stabbed them from the ground very easily and when he was done with that, he looked up and around and saw that only four of them were left, just as he had expected it to be.

It was getting a little bit easy to take that one all done with, as there was the twelfth one that was coming towards him. When the next one had started to approach him, this one had brass knuckles and they got a couple of punches at Ken and Ken was feeling some of his guts on the verge of coming out and he was starting to think that maybe he was going to die very soon if this was not taken care of sooner. Then Ken was on the ground and then he was bleeding out of his nose. He started to slowly get himself up and as he was slowly getting himself up, he grabbed his sword again before any one of them had a chance to steal it from him and then he slashed that up a good two to three times and he was able to win the battle that way.

Afterwards, the next one came towards him and as the next came out towards him, they had something that looked like a taser. This one was going to be really easy for him to take care of. He just sliced off the arms of this digimon and then after he sliced their arms of, the cut them into three pieces and then afterwards, there was thirteen out of the fifteen done with now. Only two of them were left to go and Ken was getting to the point where once he won this battle, he probably was going to sleep for a few hours to slowly start to recover from the shit that he just dealt with.

When Ken had gotten to the last two digimon, he saw that one them pulled out a switch blade and Ken had to think for a second on how lame of a weapon that was as he started to go and fight with, but he had a horrible feeling that if he had started to think more like that, this digimon was going to somehow come in and then wreck him totally despite the fact that Ken was not expecting it to happen. For some reason, he was one of those people who always felt like something was going to go down and then be terrible when in reality, there was no real reason for him to feel that way. The switchblade stabbed a little bit into his chest and that hurt quite a bit, but then Ken grabbed the blade out of him and then he stabbed the switchblade into the digimon again and then he sliced that one down with the sword and now he only had one left to deal with.

On the final digimon, Ken saw that this one just happened to be the one who had the key. Ken rolled his eyes at his luck. Not that he really could do anything about it before that point either way, but this was still annoying that out of all of them, it just had to be the very last one of them all. But then with that, Ken looked around and found a urn for the flowers of this room and then that was when Ken saw that the thing was about to fall over. Ken grabbed that pot and then he slammed it down to that final digimon and there was blood on his hand as a result of all of this and then he took out the final digimon by stabbing them in the face. Then he slowly grabbed the key and afterwards put it in his pocket and then he laid down on the bed and then he started to close his eyes and start to go to sleep.

After Ken had woken up, he was feeling really stiff and he was not quite sure if this was what he was actually seeing. He started to look around and he had seen that it was about nine hours after he had gone to sleep. Nine hours of sleep was a decent amount, but he had felt like he needed way more to make up from the fight that he had to deal with and the fact that he had pretty much just basically died and had he not slept at all, he would have been dead for sure. He looked and saw that his key was still there and he was really happy that this was still there. He picked up his sword again and he was going to continue being a blade runner even if he had never wanted to admit that this was the fucking case.

Then after he had left the room and grabbed the map once more on his way out, he was getting ready to figure out where he was supposed to go and what the hell he was supposed to be doing. He walked down the stairs and he was starting to feel really brain dead the more that he was walking down there. The lights and burning sensation of this casino was starting to really mess with his brain and he was starting to doubt if he was actually at the place he slowly started to accept that he was actually at. It had taken him several days for him to even start to get used to, but he was forcing himself to get used to the place and honestly the place was not too bad, he just did not like all the constant fear of dying.

Then he had walked down the stairs fully and when he was in the normal room once more, he was seeing a bunch of digimon looking at Ken as if they were wondering if he was okay and if he needed even more rest than the amount that he had gotten to this point in time. He was not really sure if he could be able to let them know what had happened, considering the fact that he was pretty much always going to be near death probably even if he had not wanted to be this way, and he was getting outside as all of the rich digimon who wanted to rob Ken for the sword that he had, decided to just leave him alone as they had decided that it probably was not really even worth going out of their way and harassing him over this.

After he was outside, Ken started to look around the area for a car and he was walking backwards as he was slowly getting back to the stream of thought that was keeping him alive in the first place, and he was slowly starting to get over the fact that he pretty much had nearly died like six or seven times. The casino lights were not really as bright and annoying after he had gotten used to it for the first few minutes. Not that it really would matter considering the fact that he was going to leave this place soon anyways and when he leaves the place, he would probably be driving down a huge road that would probably be really bleak by comparison.

Soon enough, he found the white car of the area and then he put the key inside the lock and then he opened the door of the car. Then Ken slowly got inside the car and the only part that was still hurting all of this time was his back. He turned on the car and then he started to drive down on the way to the destination of the map. The more that he was driving, the more that he was seeing the setting change from a bleak and destroyed city, well more like village, and he was seeing that the forest was actually really nice and that this would be a good place for somebody to try to drive down on a normal day if they had been given more chances.


	8. Desolate Wastelands

Chapter 7: The Desolate Wastelands

When Ken was driving along, he had been thinking deeply on how he can be able to have a life that meant even more than the life that Sam had lived. Ken was not wanting to admit it, but up to that point in time, Sam truly did have a much bigger and more impressive life than Ken had. But then again, Ken thought that he was still enough young enough to go and change these things up and that eventually, he can have a bigger and better life than Sam had. He wanted to die knowing that in the end, he had not wasted it and that nothing too bad had come out of this whole thing. It was a far away hope, but he thought that maybe just maybe, he could actually try this whole thing out after all.

After about four or five hours of driving, Ken felt like he needed to go on and head to sleep. He parked at the end of one of the roads that looked worn down and like it had been nuked or something. Ken had realized that even with the former attempts to save this world and restore it all, it still had a lot of problems that needed to be fixed. It showed Ken that no matter what may happen or what efforts may be put forward, there might not really be any sort of true hero that can fix everything. Or maybe it was fixed up and the world had decided to fuck it up in the course of just a few months, in which it was actually the digimon's fault and not the people that came along to fix it up.

It was after Ken had taken a parking when he decided to get up for just a couple of minutes to stretch his legs before he went to sleep. He saw that there was a statue that was a giant head that was barely above the ground and the statue had looked like it was sinking in the sand slowly. Ken realized that he was starting to walk into some sort of like ancient ruins that had been going down anyways and that regardless of what had been rebuild and renewed, that probably this place would not really be restored. The statue face was so covered in sand that Ken could barely make out the fact that it was the face of a former samurai. He looked down and found something that looked a little bit interesting. It was a gas mask, probably just used for the sake of covering up their face in the desert and not being totally covered up in the desert and getting in their eyes. Ken picked it up and he slowly went back to the car in order to sleep there for the night. He then closed the car door and locked it and then closed his eyes and several hours later when it was sunny once again, he stood up and then started to drive on once again even though there was only a quarter of a tank left he wanted to get as far as he could before he needed to just start walking once again.

Ken had to admit that it was very nice for the car to only totally die when the car had reached a couple hundred yards within the building that the map showed he needed to go to. Ken started to park with the remaining gas on the street and then he got out of the car being a little bit tired after pretty much eight hours of driving with the only break being a few hours of sleep. He grabbed the gas mask and had a strange feeling that he needed it. Not only did he want to bring the gas mask just in case he had needed it, he actually put the damn thing on just to be ultra safe. Then with that, he took his sword and put the hilt on and that was when he was totally ready to go out and try to take on the first leader of these four gangs.

When he was walking towards the house that the first gang leader was in, digimon were looking over at Ken and were confused at a human being here, the sword as well as the gas mask. Ken had three things going on that all had a very valid point to be confusing the digimon in the area. It was as Ken was getting closer to reaching this building that the confusion was starting to go away and they were starting to worry more than anything else that he was leading himself into what was probably going to be his death. "Hey dude, if you go in there, you are probably going to die. There is no way in hell that you are going to be able to take down that entire gang." The digimon that was near the entrance of this building said and they were really giving off that great vibe of being homeless. Ken looked down at this digimon and was wondering what they were talking about.

"I may be weak now and I may not really have a chance, but I really need to go in there if I want to be able to let this area start to be free of all the gangs plaguing the land. Besides, I want to earn the approval of being able to train at JewelBeemon hall. I heard that I needed their approval to go in there to get the ultimate training to be the best swords master around, and I have a feeling that I might have to be just that if I want a true chance of being able to survive in this world without any digimon helping me out." Ken said and the digimon that Ken was talking to looked at him as if wondering why he could not just settle down and just live life normally and not worry about simple things like gangs.

"Honestly my friend, life is too short to be worrying about things like this. If you worry too hard over stuff like this, you are eventually going to find yourself dead before you even really started to have a true chance of living. I know that I may sound a little odd telling you this considering the fact that I am sitting here as a homeless digimon near the building of one of the richest digimon in a very large area. I just feel as if you need to worry about trying to enjoy your life and not to worry about saving the world or anything crazy like that." The digimon tried to make Ken calm down, but honestly Ken was not really sure if he should buy this or if he should focus more on stopping these four gangs after all.

"Look, I get that maybe you want me to not really worry all that much about things going on in the outside world, but I can't simply do that. i really need to focus more on the bigger things. I really need to focus on doing something that I feel like will actually matter. My late older brother would feel the same way and I think that maybe I need to start to follow down his path and not fall into a position where I feel as if I had been useless all my life. I am so tired of being useless and not doing anything with my life and just feeling like I am going to go down as a person who is a shadow of a man." Ken said and then the digimon shook their head as if thinking that Ken needed to take it easier.

"You are too young to think that you are wasting all your life and time away. Just think about where you may be when you are ten years older from now and trust me, you will not be feeling the same way that you are feeling right now. You need to take it easy and if you go in there, I can almost guarantee that you are going to die. Even if you don't die by some luck, I am pretty sure that once you leave that place, you will have entered a war that you will not be able to get yourself out of. And nobody will ever leave a war happy." The digimon told Ken and then that was when Ken was thinking that this digimon really did not get where Ken had been coming from.

"I have already gotten into this war. I was thrown into it when I had been forced to fight the king of the casino several hours away and their group of thug digimon. The moment I had won that battle was the moment that I had gotten into the war. No matter if I want to fight in it or not, I am going to have to. Thank you for your concern and making me think that I have a choice here, but I truly do not have a choice here and I need to fight for my own to make sure that at the very least I survive the war. I will suggest that you get away from here as soon as possible. Even if I die, I feel that as if you should be the one who gets to live. I think that you have a good chance of passing along the line of trying to warn others not to make the same mistake that I do. Because we can agree on that at the very least. Even if I can't have a choice, you guys should have a choice and you guys need to take advantage of the fact that you do have a choice." Ken said and then he walked into the building and that was when Ken was officially at the point of no return. Even if he could drop out before then, there was no way in hell that he could now.

Once inside the building, there was a digimon that seemed to be in what would be this buildings version of the front lobby. They seemed to be reading a book and minding their own business. Ken felt bad for the idea of probably having to kill them, but he felt like if he wanted to increase his chances of going through this at least for the first few feet without a problem, he felt like he had to. Ken really hated the idea of killing digimon. But the fact was that he pretty much had no choice but to kill some if he wanted to win the war and if he wanted to survive. That was the reason he had any sort of sword training in the first place and all that.

So with that, Ken took out his sword and then when he raised his sword the digimon looked up at Ken for a split second but then before they could say anything or even try to do anything, Ken swung the sword down and then the first digimon was taken care of. He then started to walk further down the hallway and the further that he had been walking down the hallway, he found a couple of digimon who were guarding something that looked like a door or elevator. Ken stabbed both of these digimon down and then he opened the door to head on to the next room.

As he had headed on to the next room, he saw that there were a bunch of digimon sitting down and having a meeting. They all looked up and as they were looking up, Ken was seeing that maybe he was going to have to them out. In fact, when the digimon started to get up and go towards them, Ken knew that there truly was no choice that he had but to take them out, even if he had not wanted to do that. But then maybe after killing all of these digimon, maybe he was going to get used to this even if it was terrible.

As the digimon had kept coming up to them, Ken had noticed that many of them were not even using any real weapons to attack Ken with. They were using physical strength. This made Ken think that maybe he should be doing the exact same thing. But then he had realized that if he had done that, then he would be for sure dead. He knew that the only reason he had any hint of a reason of winning this battle was if he had used this weapon and the gas mask was going to block anything from hitting his face, so if for nothing else, he could be able to use his gas mask in order to have some form of face protector.

"You should have thought a second time before you came here. If you have decided to turn back and listen to that one homeless digimon, then maybe you would be able to live out a life and not worry about the problems of existence." One of the digimon, one that looked and smelled like a hypo out in the wild, which was making Ken a little bit curious on what the hell was going on to make them able to be in a professional meeting, but then Ken had to remind himself that none of this really mattered at that moment. The hypo digimon was about to try and slam into Ken but then Ken jumped up and landed on the ground a few seconds later in order to avoid getting hit by the bulldozing weight of the hypo digimon. Then Ken stabbed that one down and each time he was about to take one out, the digimon that he would eventually take out next would slowly say something to him about life that would slowly more and more make him think and even more so when he had actually gotten older.

As the next digimon, one that moved like a cheetah was coming towards him and even managed to slash into his clothes to make them even more fucked up than they already were, which was a pretty impressive feat, Ken had listened to what they were saying to him. "With each thing that you kill, you are slowly increasing the chances of extinction. You are creating a small genocide when you do this. And yet here you are just mindlessly doing it as if you don't even care. It is like you don't even see just how precious even one life can be." The cheetah digimon said and then managed to get a second slice on his leg on and that made him bleed and despite that, Ken had to think for a second on if he had wanted to take this out due to what they had been telling him and he had actually thought that maybe there was a valid point to what was being told to him. Then he thought of the pain that they had caused him and then he decided to go with it and then swung his blade down and took them out that way.

Ken then jumped on the table and the next digimon which was a sloth that was way more active than how a sloth would normally be in real life got up onto the table and slammed their fists down and broke the table in half. Ken was too shocked to even wonder how a sloth was able to have that power and not want to move at one mile per hour. But then once again he was telling himself that this was just the digital world. "With every day that you live, you are slowly creating memories that you and only you truly understand. Nobody else will be able to come along and ruin them. But when you die, all of them go away. Do you really want to take that away from something just because you were told that you needed to do something and you thought that it was a great idea to do so at that very moment?" The sloth digimon asked and then Ken was slowly thinking about all of this as he impaled that digimon and while that digimon did not really do a good job driving it in home for Ken, it was this thing that gave him the first thinking of it and he was going to be presented with the problems of memories a lot more often later on.

The final digimon that he was going to be fighting was a digimon that was sort of like a dressed up and more fancy gorilla. That sort of reminded him of the thing from that one horrible comic Flash named Gorilla Grodd. They grabbed Ken and then slammed him into the wall and then the digimon said to Ken "one of these days you will be presented with the question on if you truly made all the right choices and you will be looking back to this day when you were forced to kill all of us and you will be wondering more and more if the deaths of us was really worth all of the stuff that you might have a chance of earning in the end of it all. And when you confront yourself with this, you begin to realize that it truly wasn't." Then with that, the gorilla digimon punched Ken so hard in the face that Ken started to feel it breaking the gas mask, but it still wasn't totally broken and Ken would remember this situation for quite a while to come afterwards. That was the fourth and for that moment and just for a few short minutes final seed of doubt that was implanted into his head about what he was doing and then Ken just stabbed that digimon right in the side of the chest to take them out that way. Then with that, Ken stood up and then he looked down and then ran out of the room to continue running up the building to reach the room of the boss and he saw like a hundred of these gang member digimon looking and and getting ready to kill Ken.

As Ken was getting attacked, he was knowing that he did not have a lot of time to think things out. He just needed to fight as soon as possible and hope that his fighting will be good enough for him to survive through the night. It was kind of scary to think that he was probably wrong about all of this and that the homeless digimon might be the one who was right and that if Ken was not really too careful, perhaps he was going to die and then if he had died, then what he had done to this point in time would have been wasted and like that one digimon said, all of his memories would have gone to waste and nobody would truly know what he had felt and thought throughout his whole life. He was only sixteen, but all of the stuff that he had done in his life had made him feel so much older despite that just not being the case at all.

Ken took down a couple of these digimon right when they ran to him and he just sliced them down. He was not really even thinking about what was possibly hitting him, although there were a couple of things such as rocks of all things that had been hitting him. he was just forcing himself not to really dwell on it or else he was going to die. When there was one digimon with a gun that came down towards him, Ken just sliced the gun in half and then stabbed them right in the chest since he truly was not going to be wasting any time there.

Then he started to walk up a little bit more and then there was a digimon that tried to take off his gas mask since they had wanted to see if the gas mask was just hiding the face of another digimon or if it actually was a human as they had been thinking that it was. They just thought it would have been interesting. But then Ken kicked them down and then stabbed them in the chest and he was so used to doing that movement that he was thinking that it was a little repetitive but he supposed that was just fighting in a small nutshell.

The more that he was going up the stairs of this place, the more that digimon started to come at him and Ken was just slicing them down left and right trying to get his way up to the top. He had been trying to get to the point where he did not have to worry too much about dying or anything, but he thought that if he did have to die, he could just try to take out as many of them as possible. It had seemed like he had taken out ten or fifteen before he had reached the top of the staircase and he was seeing more blood coming out of him. He was so tired of bleeding all the time and he had felt like his death was so close to happening that it was truly just more of a matter of time thing than anything else.

As he was at the top of the stairs, he was feeling the sword he was holding getting so close to falling out that he was wondering if there even was a small chance that he was going to be able to handle this final fight of this place. He had seen a digimon that was sitting down on a chair and he had smelled the smoke coming towards him that they were smoking and there was the sounds of sirens. Ken could feel that this was going to be a messy battle no matter how the turn out had bee. Ken rubbed the soft side of the blade down his hands to clean it up a little bit and then he held it down as if he was getting ready for the fight he knew would be coming up.

"I have to admit that I am surprised to see you here. I thought that the digimon here would have been able to put up a better fight on a guy who had only been swords training for just a matter of a couple of days. Just you are stronger than you make yourself out to me. I am a little bit impressed actually." The digimon that owned this area said. The digimon was wearing a red robe that covered most of the body and the face seemed to be a little bit human like but Ken could tell with the hair all over them as well as with the nose that was way too long for a human that this digimon was not a human at all.

"I don't really know what I am even doing. The more that I really think about it, the more that I come to see that this is the truth. I feel as if I am just becoming too much of a dictator on who gets to live and who does not get to live." Ken had said and then when he had admitted this, the digimon groaned and they were getting tired of all of the sentimental talk already. They had always hated that about the workers there and then the digimon stood up and then told Ken to go to the window.

"I want to have a conversation with you before the two of us have to go into a battle. I feel as if you really need to be given a good perspective on what this world is truly like before you decide if this is the way that it should be done. I want to really see if you are smarter than you let on or if you are truly the dense man who just tries to fight for good but in reality is just causing more evil than good." This digimon told Ken and Ken walked to the window since they wanted to see if this digimon actually had a valid point or not.

"If you really look out and actually take your time to look around, you begin to see how much of a shit hole this place it. Please for one minute just stop and look around. I feel as if you will be able to truly see what I am coming from when you see this." The digimon told Ken as Ken was taking the look around and as much as he had not wanted to admit it, that digimon was right. The more that Ken looked around, the more that he saw that this digimon was right. There was no proper holding of this city and that the more that he looked at this city, the more he realized just how much of a disaster it was.

The streets were covered with small holes that looked like they were blown open by a battle or something like that. There were a couple of homeless digimon sleeping inside of a couple of these holes as they had wanted at least something to sleep on and that was the only thing that they could be able to actually come up with. As Ken had seen there were a couple of fights that were being broken out. The digimon would come up and then pull out a gun and then when there was a gun that was being pulled on, there would be a short shooting match and then a digimon would fall down dead and that was when a digimon's body would just be picked up and dragged across the street and thrown away. The houses looked like they had come out of a warzone, and not just any war zone, one that had destroyed the entire city. Buildings all over the place destroyed and some even toppled down to the ground entirely. This was making Ken start to feel a little bit sick inside since he was not really able to handle the things that he was seeing without feeling like he should start to look at things once again. Then there was the fact that the water when Ken can see some was almost all black as if there were a bunch of things put into it and there was no thought put into what was going on. Ken then looked at the digimon that was supposed to be the gangs leader looked at Ken.

"There is a war that is going on. Four gangs, and if you take me out, there won't really be all that many things to do with this one. I feel as if taking us out is not really going to do anything for you in the long run. You are just acting like you are a true hero but in reality you are not. You are just some dude running around acting like you are the savior of the world when you are not. Besides, even if you win this battle you will still have to deal with more in this gang. You need to go to the basement if you truly want to defeat the boss of this gang. They have been waiting for you." This digimon kept explaining as Ken was wondering just how much longer this whole thing was going to be going on for and how many digimon he was going to have to kill just to take one of these things down.

"You may think that this is the answer to all of the problems, but you are wrong. If you really want to be able to change things, you are going to actually have to come in and talk to some of the digimon. Not only that, but you need to actually go out there and fight those battles. If you feel as if you actually are able to make any sort of a change here, then maybe you can be able to go down there and fight in that battle a bit. Honestly, there is more to this war than just the four gangs. The war that is going on is much closer to being world wide than you may think. You are pretty much here to fight for each day that you have in order to even somewhat increase your chances of surviving." Then after this was said, the digimon finally decided that they would introduce themselves by name. "My name is Ceasarmon. I have been here for months since the digital world rebuilt trying to stay alive. That is all we really can do, is try to stay alive. I have a feeling that the longer that you are here, the more that you come to see that this world is more of a test of survival than who is good and who is bad. Good and bad are very vague terms that you will never really be able to put at something and have it be the truth since in reality, the whole deal is that this place can be looked at as a hell hole."

"How has the world turned into such chaos and like a warzone in just a few months after the world was restored if it has truly only been a couple of months since then? It just does not make sense to me how something was able to be so fine and completely returned to normal, but then to go absolute hell and back in just the course of a short period of time. I guess that maybe it is not as crazy as me being thrown into this just a few minutes after I wake up in this fucking place for the first time." Ken was going on a side tangent and Ceasarmon was wondering what the hell Ken was talking about on just being there and while Ken was over thinking it by a lot, there was a good point that it was strange that everything just went to what he would describe as chaos in just the course of a couple of months. Maybe there was something that Ken could learn from this after all.

"I need to go down there. You do not realize what you are doing right now. I don't really expect you to know what you are doing. But I really need to go down there and by going down there, I am able to save this world. I want to bring this world to as close to being a peaceful democracy as I can be able to get it to be." Ken said and then he pointed at the door of the room and then he was hoping the digimon would finally start to work with him a little bit, or at the very least leave him alone to do what he thought was the right thing.

"Do you really believe in the idea of democracy? The idea of one man equaling one vote, one voice?" The digimon had asked Ken and then Ken nodded as if he was thinking there was a small chance he was starting to turn this digimon on over to thinking that his cause was the right one after all and that he can just do a little bit more for them to see that this was the best way to go through the world after all.

"If you believe in the idea that every voice matters and that everybody should be given the right to give out their opinions, then I guess that maybe I should get my opinion out there and it would not go against your grand idea of democracy." Ceasarmon decided and then lunged on over to Ken and then Ken took out his sword and then he swung the sword to slice off a arm of this digimon and then Ceasarmon held the broken stump of a hand a little bit. This was what they were thinking could be able to get Ken more into the idea of fighting and saving the world was that he was just going to use weapons in case there was something going against him.

"I will not let you go down to the basement and have you take on my boss until I die or until you have proven that you are no longer on your own side and that you are going to be working with us." This digimon said and then they pulled out a gun from a secret cabinet and then when they had pulled out that gun, there was little to no chance that Ken could have been able to stop the attack and the gun hit him right above the heart and while it didn't kill him, he knew that he probably needed medical attention pretty soon in order to actually survive this whole thing in the long run.

Ken looked around and he saw that there was a tube on the ground and that there was a gas container right there as well. He had a gas mask on, and he was thinking that this was going to be a good time that he could use it. Even with the cracks, it was still not enough to fully go in there and kill him or anything like that so Ken grabbed one of the tubes and put it to the nos of the gas container. Then he started to turn it up and then as a result the room started to fill up more with gas than what the digimon was probably wanting him to do.

Ceasarmon was starting to gag a little bit and they were thinking that they only maybe had a few seconds to try and get in another hit or two on Ken before he died or maybe break the gas mask so that way he would start to fall victim to his own plan as well. Then Ceasarmon started to lift up the gun as they were gagging and feeling like they were starting to lose their breathing skills and then fired a couple of bullets at Ken and both of them hit his lower legs and this was making Ken wonder just how many times he was going to get hit in the legs. Ken then stabbed the digimon with his sword as much as he could and the blade had fully gone to the other side of Ceasarmon and then he had pulled the blade out and then he saw the digimon starting to gargle and then he fell down and started to get one last thing to say.

"If you believed in the true idea of democracy, you would not have killed somebody over their own opinion and not agreeing with you." Ceasarmon said and then when they had said this, they died and then Ken placed the sword in the hilt and then he walked away from the room. When he was walking away from the room, he saw a medic box and then he started to open the box and as he was opening the box he was seeing that his left arm was busted to all fucking hell and back. He saw that there was a small cast. He grabbed the cast and then he closed the box. Then he sat down on the ground when he saw that there was a bandage as well. He put the bandage on his nose and then afterwards he put the cast on his shoulders and then started to move the whole thing down his arm and he was starting to sigh a little bit. This was making everything work out much better and he had covered up his entire arm and there was just enough to where he could do two layers on the arm all the way around and he was ready to fall asleep. He would try and deal with this digimon master when he had woken up. He was tired of all the sleep, but the sleep was the only thing that was keeping him alive and he knew very well that this was the truth and that he needed to take advantage of every chance that he had to use the moment of sleep even if it was only for an hour.

As Ken was sleeping, he was dreaming to himself about the stuff that he was going to have to deal with when he leaves this place. If this is the true, one of the four gangs would have been defeated and then there would be three more that he was going to have to deal with, even though in no way whatsoever was he going to be ready to take this guy all out. He was also dreaming of when he would hang around Sam and when he was hanging around Sam, he seemed to be getting alone much better with him in the dream than he had in the real world. The two of them had been talking about girls and both the girls that they had liked and it had seemed as if Ken was actually starting to see more and more of the positive side of Sam and none of the negative for once in his life. At the end of the dream conversation, Sam smiled at him and thanked him for having this conversation with him and for sticking through with him as a brother this whole way through. Ken wondered what the hell had to happen to make them get along so well. The closest that it had come to being like that was when the Wayside events were over with and Ken was starting to seem to get along with Sam at least a little bit.

When Ken had woken up, he looked at the time in the clock that was barely hanging above the wall and not breaking that he must have gotten about three hours of rest. The arm did not really feel like it was going to be too useful anytime soon but Ken thought that maybe it would be enough to feel slightly cured. But he was still going to use the arm cast for maybe a day or two just to be safe more than anything else.

Ken started to walk down the stairs and he was looking around to see if there was a entrance to this basement that he had been told about near by where he can go down and see if he was actually going to be able to take this thing on, if he had wanted to or not. But then again he had gone so far into this thing that he felt like he sort of had to do the job now and that this was something that was destined for him to figure out and work with. The more that he was looking around, the more that the hurting noise inside of his head was coming. As if it were starting to scream at him and then Ken was thinking that he truly was sort of flying too close to the sun at this point and that he was entirely wrong about doing any of this for his own sake or for the sake of the digital world which he was starting to get more and more invested in as time had gone on.

That was when Ken eventually found a sort of latch door and then ken bent down so his right arm would have easier time getting the latch to open and then when the latch was opened, he decided that he would go down there to see if this truly was the basement or just lead him to a lower normal floor that he was not really too aware of before and that this was just something that he needed to explore a bit more. Then with that, he started to climb down the staircase and he was slowly starting to feel like he was getting sucked into something that was too far beyond him, if this had made any sense at all.

As he was going down the staircase, the more that he was seeing some form of light at the bottom and Ken was just really wanting to see what this light was. So he decided that he was wanting to see what this light would lead to and if he was going to actually find the next thing that he needed to do there. Maybe the leader of this gang as he was really hoping it would be so that way he could be able to just easily take them down. Then when he was done, he was down at the bottom of the staircase and then he started to look around and there was something that he thought was actually pretty strange. It was like a large room sized computer.

Ken thought that this was going to contain some answers to the questions that he had sort of been asking in his head and walked towards the computer. As he was walking towards the computer, there was a face that was looking straight at him. As if this face was wondering what Ken was going to do. "You have tracked down the main archive room of this base. As much as you want to be able to destroy me, you must realize that the computer is not enough to take me out and that this is all that you will be able to see of me as until I have learned to start to trust you much more. If you are even able to start to prove that to me. Until then, I just want to discuss things with you this way and see if you are going to be working with me now." The computer voice said and the more that the digimon talked, the less like a human they had looked and the more like a actual digimon that they were starting to look like.

"I have been waiting many years for my chance to take over in the digital world. I have been waiting to see if there was anything that can help me get up there in the rankings of the world." The digimon said and then looked towards at Ken in a way that was so soul sucking for Ken that he was not really too sure what to think about this whole encounter. "My name is Udinamon, and I have been trying to fight for the best of the digital world, but my main base of operations was destroyed and when it was destroyed, I have been hiding around in different places of the digital world to make sure that I would not fall and that eventually I could be able to find myself out of here and one step closer to taking over the entire digital world. It is my passion to bring this place to the greatness it deserves to be once again."

"I do not share your look at the situation. I think that you are only in this for yourself and that you have bended the minds and wills of all the digimon around you to believe that you are one for them, but in reality you just want to see yourself at the top of the totem pole and then you will start to turn this into a absolute dictatorship and get rid of all of those who might not really agree with you just because they do not appreciate your values or think that you are correct in this whole thing." Ken said and then he started to walk towards the computer and looking at the keyboard to see if there is a button that can destroy this whole thing.

"I do not really think that you truly want to destroy this whole operation. You have been just forced to believe that this is what you want, but in reality you are just confused on what you think is the best for this world, so you are just going and winging it. Little do you know that you are slowly doing more damage than good when you do stuff like this. You ruin every bit of progress that is being made to this point in time because you are thinking that you are correct and that everybody else around you is wrong. You seem almost more willing to destroy everything than you may be wanting to admit that you are." Udinamon was telling Ken and Ken was tried of being told pretty much that he was the bad guy when he was trying to make himself see that he was really the good guy and that this digimon was just trying to make him unsure.

"I will not allow you to continue to make me feel as if I am the villain here. You are trying to throw me off guard and make me join your side. I am sure that this is all that you are doing. Now I am going to fucking shut you down and I will never look back at this and think that I was wrong because I know that I am right and that you are the one who is at the fault." Ken said and then he started to press a red button. As he was pressing this red button, the building started to shake and there was a bunch of stuff around him that was starting to break down.

"You may think that you are making the right choice, but you will come and look back at this years down the line and you may be trying to tell yourself that everything you are doing is for the better. But the more and more that you look back, the more that you truly come to see that you were not right. The more that you will start to see that you were just wrong about this whole thing in the long run. It is just a matter of how much damage you do before you start to realize that everything that I have been trying to tell you is the truth. But you are too mighty and self righteous most likely to ever really see that you will never truly make a change for the better here." Udinamon said and then before Ken was forced to leave the place to make himself feel better, the digimon had said one final thing to Ken.

"Before you go, I want to tell you where to go if you truly think that you have the will to make things better. Go to the graveyard twenty miles away from this town. Once you go there, you will be able to find some things that can be able to start to help you on your quest." Udinamon gave Ken a short piece of advice and Ken was not really sure what to think of this advice but he decided that he might have to go with it. So he nodded and then started to run out of the place to get out of there as soon as humanly possible and make sure that he would not end up being the next death in the high school list. Even though he had dropped out, so whatever.

Ken was running out of there so fast that if he was running in track he would have been able to put up a decent race to win the whole thing. He was thinking that this graveyard was a better place to start off with than absolutely nothing at all, and that therefore he was sort of forced to try it all out. He was just fucking hoping that this place was actually one that was going to help him out and not a place that was going to get him to fall and die once again because he just can't be able to contain himself at all. The more that he was thinking about it, the more he was thinking of what if Udinamon was right and that this whole thing he was doing was actually being more harmful than being good.

After Ken was outside of the building, he started to look around and the more that he was looking around, the more that he was seeing this whole thing was probably going to be too much for just one man to take care of. He sat down for a moment and decided to give his arm a rest while it was trying to fully restore itself back to the least painful place that it was. He was just wanting this whole thing to be over with, but he had no real idea how he himself could make any real differences when he was barely even alive in the first place. As he was looking around the area, there were a bunch of digimon that stopped to look straight at him for a moment to see what exactly he was up to before they started to walk away and go back to their normal business as if they had seen nothing.

"You seem like you have a lot of stuff in your past." A digimon that stopped to talk to Ken said and they they took something out of their pocket and gave it to Ken. "I have a feeling that you need this more than I do. After all, you seem to be doing a bunch of things that I have never been even tempted to think is possible." The digimon said and then sat down.

"Thanks." Ken said not really sure what to think and he took a look at what he was given. It was a small bag that was filled with money. He was really thinking that this money was probably going to be more useful than the covered in blood and sort of fucked up money that he had so far. Then he looked at that digimon and was wondering what the hell had made this digimon want to give that to him in the first place. "I am glad that you want to help me out and all that, but why are you doing this? Shouldn't you just use your own things for yourself?"

"Honestly, I have no real need to go out and do anything too crazy or adventurous. You seem to be going all around and it seems as if you will need any help that you can get. I really think that everything that you need should be given to you when you need it. I can just see from the look on your face that you have quite the life story to you so far. As if you have already lived out a full life and not really have had any chance to settle down and just enjoy things for yourself." After this digimon had said that, they stood up and then started to look at him a little bit more as if trying to find something else to say. "I guess that it is more of a matter of what you do with the money and your life that is more of a issue now. Are you just going to waste it and act like you have no real need to do anything, or are you actually going to do something to make this worth it?"

"I have been facing a lot of these types of questions the last few days. I honestly do not really know what I can say would be worth it or if I am just following what I think is worth it and then it turns out one day that I am just wasting all of my time and doing stuff that I do not really enjoy. That is the thing that is really starting to scare me." Ken had said and then when he had said this, the digimon that Ken was talking to was remaining silent as if to decide what they had truly thought about the situation that Ken was in, even if there was a real situation that he was in at all.

"I think that you shouldn't be here for too much longer. The police will most likely be coming to try and arrest you for killing a bunch of the digimon at the casino. We all heard exactly what was going on in there. Here is some advice, you should not be so loud about this whole thing. But if there is one thing that you need to know right now, is that no matter where you go in your life, you are going to be a hero. You are going to be one person that will be talked about in this town for quite a while for the fact that you took down that gang." This digimon had told Ken, and then they started to walk on away, and then Ken was thinking that maybe it was true that he should just get out of here since he did not want to get arrested or anything.

Ken stood up slowly and as he was going around, he was starting to hurt a lot and he knew that no matter what he was doing, he was going to be in a lot of pain and that he was going to literally be on the verge of death the entire time that he was going around. He was probably going to die before he even reached twenty years old at the rate that he was going and all that. But he decided that he was going to make every single day count as much as he could to make this the best life that he could.

As Ken was walking towards the graveyard, he was just going off of the fact that it was something like seventeen miles away. He already couldn't remember how far away it was, and honestly he did not care all that much. He was just trying to get to there and he thought that once he was at the graveyard, he was going to see why they had wanted him to go there first and why he should be seeing if this place was truly any big deal. But in reality, it was probably mis hype.

This was the more that Ken was feeling as if his life was just going to fall apart before it could ever come back up. Sam would be so ashamed of him for just giving up on everything so far, and Ken would not really even be able to blame him anymore. He hated the way that he was now, and he wanted to be a much better hero for these digimon than just running around blowing shit up and then pretend as if this was actually what the digimon had truly wanted. But then again, Ken truly had no idea what they had wanted, if they even wanted anything from him. Maybe they just wanted him gone and away from this place. In which case, he could not really blame them honestly.

The more that Ken was walking around, the more that he was starting to feel as if there was no other way that he was going to be returning back home. This was something that was probably going to be out of his life until the night he died. Which is something he had never wanted to admit, but it was something that he was truly getting more and more used to as time has gone forward. He was just tired of feeling like everything that he had ever tried to finish and everything he had ever tried to do was just being thrown away as if it had truly never really mattered. It was like he was going to start dying away and that his existence was more of a fucking joke than anything else. His arm was aching so damn badly that he was feeling as if he was never going to be able to take the cast off and that he was probably going to just have to accept the fact that his arm was just going to be destroyed forever.

It was several hours of walking before Ken was starting to feel even a little bit of his motivation being restored. He was feeling as if this whole thing was just testing his patience and that he just needed to play along and sort of see how things go from here. This was something that he was going to win, no matter what was going down and no matter how much he had felt like things were against his favor, he was going to work as hard as he can to not only survive, but prove to be a true hero to the digimon of this world. Each hour that was passing the more that he was telling himself they needed him more than he needed them and that he was the one who was going to truly rise up and save the day and become a hero at the end of it all.

As all of this was going down, the more that he was starting to see something in the distance that he thought could give him a clue on where the graveyard was. This was when Ken was thinking that maybe he was walking about four miles per hour or so, and that he had been walking for about that many hours. Since he felt like he had not been walking that long and that the sun was just down and that he was already starting to reach what he had thought was gong to be the end of this whole thing. He thought that this journey was going to take a couple of days or something like that. But he thought that if he had just pushed through a little bit more, he could be able to reach the end after another hour or so of walking. That was what Ken decided to do. He was just going to power through the rest of the journey even if he had not wanted to do this. But he felt like he was so close that he needed to do this.

It truly was strange how different areas in the digital world had different looks of being put together or just being fucked up to all hell and back. Like honestly, the first part of the world that he was walking was pretty much just a gross forest that looked like it needed to be toned back a little bit. Then there was the second part which was starting off as a nice road and then turned into a desert. Now this was sort of like a wasteland. Just buildings destroyed everywhere and there was barely anything showing that there was life in this world. Ken was starting to become more and more convinced that the more that he walked in this world, the more destroyed that he was going to see it be. And that was what was still giving him a little bit more of a hope for the future. That there was still a chance that he was going to be proven wrong, and he was thinking that in just a couple of days, it was bound to start to get better and that this was just sort of a bad section of this all.

It was nearly pitch black in the night when he saw the place that he thought was the entrance of the grave yard. He walked up to it and the more that he looked at it, the more that he was starting to feel the darkness of this area coming over him. This was what was able to show him that this truly was the graveyard and that he was not really sort of over thinking this whole thing. So then Ken walked through the entrance and he saw a building there. As he seen the building, Ken walked to it and his arm was starting to feel less numb mainly due to the fact that he felt he was going to take some break. He knocked at the door of the building and he was waiting for the answer to come and show if there was anything there at all for him.

After a moment or so of waiting, there was a answer and then the digimon that had answered the door looked up and down at Ken as if to ponder what they were seeing. They were thinking that Ken was a interesting bloke, but that he needed to sort of clean up a little bit. "You know what, maybe I should let you in for the night. You seem to be somebody who can use a good night sleep right now." The digimon who was very gross looking had said. Their face was nearly broken and was all tilted over the place. They had a nose that looked as if it was barely keeping in tact and then they also had a bunch of dirt all over their clothes as if they were working at the grave yard every day. Which Ken thought that this was a good possibility considering the fact that they were working at a grave yard and all of that stuff. The door was very open for Ken to walk in, and then Ken walked inside of the house and then Ken had noticed that there were two beds in the house.

"Is the second bed for a guest in case there is somebody who comes by?" Ken asked and he was looking at the lesser used bed, which he was pretty sure that this was the one that was for him if he was actually going to stay there for the night. Ken had waited for a moment to see if there was any sort of good answer to this or if he was just sort of thinking that this was not really for Ken. But then Ken was starting to feel so faint that he did not really care all that much at that moment.

"Yeah, I get guests here about once a month or so. I usually let the digimon, or I guess in this case, a human, here stay at the house for a night or two since I am scared that if they go out in the grave yard, they will be attacked by all of the monsters there." The digimon was saying and then they said that they had just been called the "Gravemon" and then Ken was thinking that this was a terrible name for a digimon but then the digimon looked at Ken as if to think that there was nobody that had cared and that they were just going to have to deal with the terrible name.

"What is the monsters that you are finding here in the grave yard that makes even you want to stay here and everybody else that comes here?" Ken was asking the digimon and then he was getting on the bed. He knew that he just had a couple of a minutes for him to talk before he was going to fully go to sleep. He was already feeling like his arm was starting to feel a lot better with the rest and this was when Ken knew that this was the thing that he had needed more than anything else.

"They come out here every night. They are black beings that seem to be hard to see the face of. As if they were apparitions in the area. I am too scared to go out there and they are only around in the night. When the days are around and evenings actually, then there is no real problem and anybody who wanted to come by could be able to do so. Most digimon here are usually able to realize that they should just stay out of here, but then like I said about once a month or so, I would have a guest that show up without knowing about any of this and then I guess I have to let them stay here for the night because I do not want anybody to come here and be forced to go and travel during the night." This digimon had explained and then as this was being explained more, Ken was thinking that there was a chance that maybe this was what Udinamon had been telling Ken about if he had wanted to actually do something good for the place and not act like he was doing something good. This was when Ken was thinking that maybe this was what he had to do. This was when Ken was thinking that maybe he was going to have to destroy these monsters for the sake of not only the town but the sake of the digimon who could possibly come along and try to visit the place for a few minutes or something like that.

"What if I came along and tried to take out these monsters?" Ken was asking and then when Ken had asked this question, Gravemon was thinking about this and they were actually thinking that Ken was stupid and that Ken was not able to do something like this and that if Ken did this, he was going to go on and die. Ken then decided that maybe he was going to have to do this in order to prove to the world that he was actually going to be a good hero and that everything Udinamon had said was just false and to throw away his confidence.

"If you think that you have a real chance to do this job, I will let you have a chance on taking them out. But I highly doubt that you will be able to take this thing out. I have had a couple of digimon try to do this. But they had failed and either died or just left the place to never come by at all." Gravemon was saying and then after they had said this, Ken thought that maybe this was something that Ken truly had to do. Ken then laid down on the ground and told the digimon good night. As he had fell asleep, the digimon remained silent and just decided to let them sleep and do what they had thought they could be able to do. Ken was asleep and he had slept for a good eighteen hours, which was more than he had ever done before in that point, aside from the coma.

When Ken was asleep, he was thinking and dreaming about all of these things that he was possibly going to be able to see on his own time. He was thinking of a way that he was going to be able to defeat these things. He had no idea if he was really going to be able to defeat these things, or if these digimon that Ken was being told about were even true or not. He was just trying to accept the fact that there were too many things that he could do in order to get himself out of this situation. The pain of his legs and his left arm were just so bad that even when he was loving the sleep and he was having a mostly good night and no nightmares, he would not really get the best sleep that he could since he knew how much this whole thing was fucking hurting. He had also hated the way that his arms had felt and he had wanted to have his arms be open once again. But his left arm was still recovering and Ken was smart enough for him to realize that and he had just decided that he needed to just relax and that when he wakes up, he would be able to see the progress of the arm and if he would be able to take the arm cast off or not or if he was just going to have to use it for another night or two. He knew that he was at the very least going to be able to take the bandage on his nose off for good.


	9. Figuring out the Enemy

Chapter 8: Figuring Out The Enemy

After Ken had woken up, he saw the digimon was working around in the graveyard. Ken was moving around in the house a little bit to sort of get some exercise on his leg. He was not really sure what he was doing and why he was pretty much just breaking and entering. He decided that he was not going to steal anything and that he was just going to have to just take things easy. He thought that maybe he just would not take anything and that he was just going to see if there was anything that he could look at. He doubted that Gravemon would really be upset if he was just looking around for a couple of minutes.

There was this one thing that he had found. It was sort of like a tape. A tape that would let him listen to a conversation for just a couple of minutes. He decided that while Gravemon was working around, he would listen to the news for a moment and see what the news would be. So he turned on the tape and it was only a couple of paragraphs long, which was strange for him since he was expecting something that would last several hours long. "When that group of legendary warriors were going around and saving the world, they had come to that haunted mansion and they had saved the city. I was the first digimon that was brought back to life in this area. They had given me motivation to help keep the dead happy and make sure that nothing can truly disturb the peace. But with those monsters that I am seeing, I thinking that maybe I am starting to make the wrong choices. I am starting to think that I should leave this place as I can hear the monsters talking to me.

That is the scariest part. I can't even pretend that these monsters do not even exist. I am walking around trying to help tend to the graves and then I can feel them touching me. I am starting to shiver and when I shiver, I turn around and I see the sad faces of the dead digimon. As if I had let them down. Even though I had nothing to do with them. But due to the fact that I am the first man to see them dead and the first one to be seen by them after they had been buried, I realized that they had thought that maybe this was all my fault and that I needed to try and explain how this is not my fault. But then I can look further into the grave yard and soon enough I can find a manor. When I am in the manor, I can see that there is a digimon deep into work there. They had given me the story that they have been hiding from the law there for a long time while trying to create the ultimate way to save the world and the greatest weapon of them all to prevent any conflicts from every starting. They pulled out the weapon and were planning to use it on me until I ran away and when I ran away, I have been hiding in here for the last three days. I need to get the hell out of here soon, and I hope that nothing can kill me soon." Gravemon said at the end of the tape and then Ken placed it away and then he sat down on the bed. He was thinking about the tape for a minute or so before Gravemon came back to the room.

"You were out for a long time. What do you plan on doing right now? Do you plan on leaving the house soon and going away for good? Or do you actually have a plan to try and defeat these monsters? I honestly do not really have anything to tell you either way. This is your choice, and that either way I am not going to stop you. It is your destiny." Gravemon said and then Ken thought that maybe he needed to go to that house, grab the weapon and then leave and take out the other three gangs and then he could fix the one thing that Udinamon had going for them. That is if this was even a part of the plan at all.

Ken got up and as he was getting up, there was the feeling that Gravemon was starting to get that Ken truly was going to do this. "Well, I don't really think that it will be too smart for you to do this, but I guess that if you think that you have to do this, then I will not try and stop you. After all, it is your life and you should be the one making the choices now." Gravemon decided and then after they had said this, Ken started to walk off and he was not going to hold back anymore.

By the time that Ken was leaving the house, it was well and dark into the knight. He saw a few of these things that looked like black ghosts turn around and then Ken took out his sword and he was getting ready to fight these things off. The ghosts started to fly towards him and then when that was going on, Gravemon was staring at Ken through the window to perhaps see if this was something that Ken could actually be able to do or if this was just something that they were getting their hopes up and all that stuff.

As the first ghost flew towards Ken, this was when Ken just moved around and swung his sword down and took the monster out that way. Then when he had done this, he saw that the ghost was just turning into dust. This was a little bit strange and Ken was not really so understanding of the whole dust thing. Ken then turned around and then he held his hand out and then the next ghosts were starting to go on and fly towards Ken. Gravemon was surprised that Ken was even able to survive the first one at all since none of them had been able to survive this first one.

Then afterwards, the ghost began to come to Ken and this was the second one. The second one held their hand out and was starting to try and grab Ken but then Ken had jumped back and he was holding his sword on both hands and it was strange how he was so used to using this thing by now and that it was not even feeling all that strange for him to do this anymore. Ken held his hand out and when he held his hand out, the slashed down the second ghost right before they had their chance to slice them down. Ken saw that there were still four more that he had to defeat.

The third ghost started to fly towards Ken and then they hit Ken right in the chest by floating through him and then Ken had been totally and utterly hurt for a moment and the ghost flying through him did not only make him confused, it genuinely hurt him to have that happen. Then Ken turned around to this third ghost and he was ready to take this fucker out. He sliced that thing right in half and then after he had sliced that right in half, he was now ironically half way through the whole thing and that he still had half of these things that he had to defeat.

Ken took his sword hand and then he held it right out towards the ghost. He was totally ready for these next three since with a sword, they were not really all that hard. The fourth ghost was making their move towards Ken and when they were moving on their way towards Ken, the ghost slapped Ken right in the face and there was a small red stain on Ken as a result but then Ken stabbed that thing down and then he had taken the fourth ghost down pretty easily and now there were still two that he had to deal with before he had won the war.

Ken felt a silly calling this whole thing a war, but he honestly did not really care at the moment and he was too focused on taking all the ghosts out to really even care. The fifth ghost was coming towards him and then Ken jumped on top of a grave and when he had done so, he was keeping his blade really still and he saw the ghost come towards him. When they were within a couple of inches from him, Ken sliced the ghost down and with that, he had defeated the fifth one of these ghosts and he was ready to take on the sixth and the seventh ones.

The sixth ghost managed to grab a hold of Ken really badly and as he wad doing this, Ken was trying to move away and when he was doing this, the ghost was starting to actually get to leeching away at Ken but then Ken had kicked them away and then Ken stabbed the sixth one down. He was getting a little bit tired of this battle, and he was really glad that it was at that point in which there was only one that he had to deal with then. This was when he turned his whole body around to face the final digimon and then he was ready to try and just get this whole fucking thing over with.

The ghost started to fly towards Ken and then when they were flying towards Ken, he was keeping himself really careful. This was his way to not get into some deep shit and that he was not going to run the risk of dying anytime soon. The ghost was holding both their hands out and as they were getting ready to smash Ken into one small piece, Ken was totally ready to take this thing out. Then right when the ghost was holding both their hands out, Ken sliced down as fast as he could and then when he had done so, the ghost was defeated and then Ken turned around and then all the ghosts were defeated. That was when Gravemon left the house.

"Well, I guess that you were able to prove yourself. You should go up to the shack and present yourself to the keeper of that house. Maybe they will give you some help that I was just not able to do myself." Gravemon was saying and then they had thought that this was actually going to be a good starting point. Ken then nodded and he was being silent to show that there was at least some form of a understanding between each of them and then he started to head towards the grave site. If ken died here, then he guessed that maybe this was just it and that there was nothing really left to all the work that he had put forward this whole time.

Soon enough, Ken reached the front of the house and then he opened it. As he was opening this place, he was starting to be a little bit more careful since he was well aware of what was going to probably be happening. he was pretty much most easily likely going to be getting himself into a battle and he was just trying to get himself ready for when that was going to be happening. "So you have been able to find where I lived? I guess that maybe you are smarter than I had been giving you credit for after all. I guess that you truly have won this battle after all. I guess that there really is no point in even trying to change that fact now." The digimon that was in this house was saying, and then Ken realized that this was the real version of Udinamon.

"What do I do now? Why are you bringing me to this house?" Ken was confused and then as he was asking all of this, Ken was watching as Udinamon was standing up and they were walking towards Ken as if to tell him some things and they were hoping that this digimon had a damn good reason to bring all of this pain towards him and pretty much had single handed almost killed him.

"You may not realize this, but you are already a huge part of the way of defeating your enemy. Now that you have destroyed everything that I have worked for, there is still the Republic which is trying to take that city over and they were starting this whole thing. I was trying to defeat the republic and I thought that maybe I was truly the one who can be able to do this whole plan. Turns out that I was wrong about this after all. It seems as if you are the one who is going to defeat the republic. That is going to be the big grand prize. The other gang is going to be very easy. They are just a tribe trying to be a gang. Only about a hundred members in all. You will have no problem defeating them. Take out the leader and then when you take the leader out, then you just need to survive on defeating the blood savage minions. That is going to be something you can do in the next couple of days. Just walk a day or two and then you will find their site and then you can pretend that you are a member of this gang and then when you see them, maybe learn a little bit of their plan and then take them all out one at a time. Once this tribe and the republic has been defeated and out of this city, then you can let this city be free for the citizens and then you can be the hero that this city deserves. Once that is done, you can finally head on your way to JewelBeemon Hall. I have given them access to let you in once you have taken care of the job." Udinamon was saying and then Ken was really confused since with the way that they were saying this, it had seemed like it was that Udinamon was actually one of the good guys and that Ken was trying to kill something that was not really even the enemy this whole time in the first place.

"I need to head out if I want a chance to do this whole thing. Guess that I will be leaving right now." Ken said and then when he had said this, he was walking out and he took just a couple of seconds to really examine the house and all of the stuff that was used and then thrown away since there was no real reason to ever use it anymore. Ken was thinking that maybe there was no real reason for them to actually grab any of these if there was no real purpose to them at all.

After Ken was out of the house, he had gotten about ten to twenty yards away and then there was a large explosion. The entire house that been blown up and Ken was wondering if this whole thing was planned to happen after the visit was done. Ken was looking and he was seeing the rain barely contain the rain and be in that one spot. This was when Ken realized that Udinamon had done this on purpose to try and frame Ken as one of the bad guys and then with that, Ken started to run away and he was trying to get out of there as soon as possible before anything else could happen to him and before he could get arrested or something stupid like that for something that he truly did not do. Then as he was running away, he was starting to get slowly more and more soaked in rain and he was not even really giving a shit anymore.

Ken was trying to get the hell away from this place as soon as possible though just to be safe since he knew for a fact that if he had been in that area for too long, then Gravemon would start to come up with the wrong idea and then there would be a chance that he would be gotten in trouble. He did not want to get arrested on his quest to save the digital world, and he had thought that he had needed to be alive as long as possible and he thought that he could take out that random tribe and while the republic seems like it would be totally impossible to take that thing out, he had hoped that he could actually be able to take that one out as well.

But then after he had been running for about two or three minutes away from the grave site, he decided that this was good enough and that he would just stop running and that he was far enough away he probably be able to actually start to walk normally. He was sort of starting to run out of breath after all of that running but he was really glad that he was able to get himself away from there since he knew for a fact that if Gravemon saw any of that, they would bring him under the bus and then he would be thrown away and acted like he was the enemy of the whole thing. Although to be fair, he was probably the enemy of the gangs.

As he was walking, his arm was starting to feel like it did not really need the cast anymore. Ken thought that in his head, he might give it one more day and then he would take the thing off and throw it away pretty much for the rest of his life. Or maybe keep it still as a back up in order to make sure that he did not lose anything. He felt like he pretty much needed every single thing that he could get in order to make sure that he was in good health throughout this whole thing. Or at the very least living health. Which is why he still was using this damn sword since he knew that if he had gotten rid of that, he would have to fight by hand and he was in no way trained in the skills of fighting by hand. He had a better chance of being able to fight with a gun, and since he never even used a gun that would actually be saying quite a bit.

Eventually, he was reaching a sort of shack that looked like he could rest there for the night. Not wanting to take any risks, he walked right towards that shack and then he looked around just to be safe and saw that nobody was there. Well, to be fair it was not really a shack as much as a abandoned school bus that looked like it had not been used in several months. He just walked to the first seat and then laid his body down and closed his eyes with his hand over his eyes to block light and he was instantly asleep.

The sleep was actually pretty decent considering the fact that he was probably going to have to start being a wanted criminal and for the fact that he was sleeping in a school and on top of that he was only his hand to cover his eyes. Once he had gotten up, he was starting to get ready for the next stage of his journey. But as he was doing this, he decided to look around the bus a little bit to see if there was anything in there that could give him a little bit of an idea what the hell was going on here.

As he was looking around, he was seeing broken back packs and a bunch of skeletons. As he was doing this, Ken was starting to realize that this bus was the very last place a bunch of children digimon had been placed into before they had been killed. Ken shook his head, feeling so bad over this whole thing. He felt like even though he was not there, that he could have been able to do at least something here to help out. Then when he was starting to feel that way, he was telling himself that it was silly to feel this way over a bus that he had never seen before nor really could do anything about. Ken grabbed one of the back packs and saw a picture of a baby digimon with their parents and as he had seen this, he was starting to get teary eyed and then he punched the window next to him in extreme anger. He did not even care if it had made his hand bleed a little bit, he was just trying to vent his frustration out and by doing so, he went to the first thing that he could go to and then he looked out the window. After this, Ken started to walk away.

The more that he was walking away from this bus and that he was going towards this next tent, the more that he was feeling pure anger and that he was just wanting to stop all of this as best as he could. He did not even know these digimon and yet he was wanting to save them so damn badly that he would have given anything to help them survive. This was how Ken was able to start to try and justify himself on all of the things that he was going to eventually do, even if he had not wanted to be told that he was wrong. But the more that time would pass on, the more that Ken would start to see that maybe he was truly wrong on all of this after all.

Ken was just slowly becoming a sort of lone wanderer. He knew that he was pretty much going to have to do everything on his own, no matter if he had felt he was ready for this or not. This was a fact that he hated to accept, even though it was pretty much a main part of his life now. He was wishing a digimon was there to help him out through all of this shit that he was going through. Soon enough, there would be one.

The more time that he was walking, the more that he was starting to try and piece all of this together in his head. There must really be more to all of this stuff about his journey here that he just did not really get to this point in time and he was hoping that if he was really thinking about it more, he could have been able to find something that could have been able to connect all of this together and why he of all people was forced to do this job, aside from the idea that he was just having really shitty luck on all thus. But there must have been a reason that it was him who had to deal with all of this and nobody else on the earth.

Ken was starting to just get tired of all of this stuff going on. He was tired of all the walking, tired of all the fighting, tired of all the death, the list could have honestly gone on for a really long time on all the stuff that he was just really fucking sick and tired of. He was just wanting to have a good night sleep for once on this trip and not be forced to sleep on some hard service that was like a fucking school bus seat. Ken was not even to pretend that this stuff was actually any good for him to sleep on and all that stuff.

Then he was seeing something that looked like it was related to what he had needed to figure out. He saw something that looked like a tent or something like that. For some reason, Ken thought that he should be heading towards this tent although his legs felt like the could not really be able to take them anymore. He felt like he was getting near his death and that he just needed to rest in peace. He hated how he felt like he was going to die all this time now.

This whole fucking this was just pissing Ken the fuck off. He was so tired of feeling like nothing he could do would be able to really keep him safe at all. He was sick and tired of feeling like he was going to be dying at any moment. Honestly he was sick and tired of sounding whiny like how he was doing right now. This whole thing was just something that he hated and he was feeling sick to his stomach knowing how much time he was wasting all the time by just roaming around a dead world. But he had felt like maybe there was just a small amount of hope in this whole thing after all and that he just needed to hold up a bit longer.

When he was walking towards the tent, he started to over come his annoyed thoughts and he was starting to get more of a thought on just how he was going to be able to present himself to the digimon that were in there. He was not really sure what he was going to be doing on all of that stuff. He was just thinking that he was going to tell the guy or digimon, he guessed, that he was just looking for a place to stay and that he was doing this for his quest to find himself a nice place to just live. That part of it would have been true, as he had felt like he was just trying to find a place to settle down and that part of this was due to the fact that he was a man who was forced to kill a bunch of gangs.

Soon enough, Ken was at the front entrance of the tent and he was thinking about what he was going to be doing a lot. He had been thinking about the way that he was going to take out that gang, if there was even a chance that he was still going to be able to do that. Then he was thinking that he just needed to take things one thing at a time and that he did not need to try and figure out a million things at once. When Ken was slowly telling himself this, he sighed and then walked to the front guard of the tent to try and talk with them. "Will you be fine with me going inside that tent to meet your master?" Ken asked and then the digimon looked at Ken before they were going to give him any sort of answer.

"This tent is not leading exactly where you may think it will lead you. However, it will lead you through to the pathway that you can take the boat to meet our gang leader. Once you are there, then you may be able to speak with them about your wishes to help them take over the land." The digimon responded and then Ken nodded as if pretending like that was totally what was going to do, thinking that maybe all he had to do was just pretend for a little bit longer and then eventually, everybody would be able to start to believe him that he was on 'their side.'

"Well then, can I please go through and speak with your leader? We do not have that much time to waste. We need to talk with him as soon as possible. I have a lot of information about the republic. If I tell him this, he will be able to have a good start to take out the digimon who rule that gang." Ken said and then when he had been saying this, he was hoping that this whole thing would not really be as bad as he was sort of fearing that it would be. Then the digimon decided that maybe Ken was telling the truth and that they would let him through for the time being to give him a chance to prove himself.

"Go on through. Once you go through, just know that you will not be able to come back unless if you are fulfilling the will of our great leader and he directly lets you leave the area." This digimon said and then moved to the side of the tent. Ken was thinking that perhaps this was going to be the place of no return. Despite not wanting to do this, Ken walked inside of the tent and then he saw the pathway that would lead him down to the canel that would let him meet the boss of this gang. Then he could take out the next leader that way. This was all part of the plan Ken was telling himself, even if he was not wanting this to be a part of the plan, he was also aware that he would not always get what he wanted.

Ken was walking down the giant amounts of stairs, like what felt like a good couple of hundred. As he was walking down the staircase, he was just sort of thinking of how he was going to be able to survive this whole thing if he was going to be stuck here according to the digimon who was talking with him earlier no matter what he was wanting to do. As he wad walking down the stairs, he had been thinking more and more of the progress he had made in the course of just like two weeks or so. There was a lot of work that he was doing in these two weeks or so, even if Ken might have been a tiny bit off about the exact time, it was mainly due to the fact that he was just tired and not really caring all that much anymore. Ken was thinking about how his arm being in that cast was just sort of second nature to him now and that it wasn't really all that bad. In fact, he was actually pretty used to it by this point in time. He did not like wearing it all that much, but he did not really dislike it at the same time.

Soon enough, Ken reached the bottom of the stairs and he saw that there was a digimon guarding the boat. "You are allowed to come here to meet our master. We will remind you though that once you go through there, you have no chance of being able to come back unless if you are out to do a mission for the master of our group. This is to prevent people from defecting for as long as possible. You are allowed to turn back though, as you have not gotten on the boat yet. This is your only chance to turn back." The digimon explained to Ken and then that was when Ken thought about it for a moment. Was any of this truly worth it and was it worth him being forced to stay here forever just because of the idea that he might be a hero even though all pieces of evidence was trying to show that he was in no way a hero at all?

"I will go in there. I have a lot of important things to discuss with your master. I am well aware of the rules and I do not really care for those as much as letting your boss know what is coming up in this great war." Ken said and then when he had said this, he was getting himself ready for the big battle that was going to be coming up. He was going to be forced to go through a lot coming up soon and despite how much he was sure that he was not really ready for this, he was also telling himself that he was the only one who can do this. That was pretty much his main way of trying to justify to himself why he was doing any of this at all.

Ken then got inside of the boat and before he even had a chance to really think about it, the boat started to go off. As it was going off, Ken thought that this would be a good time to sleep. But then he told himself to take a couple of minutes at the very least to look around. But when he was looking around, all he was seeing was just a bunch of dirty water. That was really gross and there was no real reason for him to look down there as it was all brown and looked like some fucking cat fish just took a million year long shit inside of there. Then Ken looked up ahead of him and he was just seeing a bunch of mountains.

The mountains were actually pretty impressive to look at. It looked like it would go up for a good two to three miles, which would be nearly sixteen thousand feet if Ken was correct on his math. Then again, he had not taken math class in literally eons so it was not like it really mattered all that much if ken was actually right about the math or not. Ken thought that one day, he should try and go up that mountain. When he would go up that mountain, if he ever did, and if he ever returned to earth, he was hoping that he could be able to tell all the humans about this place. But then he was telling himself that he was doing all of this for the sake of Jewelbeemon.

There was so much that he was going to have to do when he met Jewelbeemon. He was certain that he had a ton of stuff that he needed to explain. Not only was there a lot of stuff to explain, he had hoped that the explanation would be able to let the digimon start to train him. Ken was starting to mess around with his hands a little bit for no real reason besides that he was just trying to find something for his hands to do. This whole thing was just a mess from start to finish.

Before Ken could be able to get himself to really rest too well, there was when the boat was starting to pull up to the front of the giant base for a small tribe that Ken was going to have to do his next order of operations. This was when he was totally ready for what was going to be coming up. Ken popped his knuckles and he was getting himself ready to take on all of these digimon and then he could be two of the main ones down and then he would only have the republic left to go through if what Udinamon was saying had been true this whole time.

Ken was walking up some more stairs and this time that he was doing so, he was looking around at the digimon of the area. Many of them looked as if they were warriors that had been forced to start to fight at a young age. Ken was hoping that he could help them out away from here and that this could be able to be his big grand helping of this world. He knew that it was a long shot, bit it was still something that he was shooting for since he was still having that side of good in him throughout all of this.

Other digimon looked like young children, digimon who were forced to be doing this and had no real idea what was going on. Ken was telling himself that he was going to try and not kill any of them since it was not really their fault that they had been forced to do all of this. It was truly the fault of the digimon that had been running the gangs that had been making them do this. This was what Ken was telling himself at the very least.

Eventually Ken was at the end of the stairs and then he walked on towards the front entrance of the final tent that he was going to have to go inside of. As he was going towards this tent, the digimon that were guarding the area were showing Ken that they indeed were not really able to believe what he was planning on doing, but at the same time they were going to give him a chance to show that he was truly one who was trying to just be a new member of this great gang. Ken was not really paying attention to them as he walked inside of the tent and then as he was inside of this tent, he started to realized just how bad the whole place smelled.

Like it seriously smelled worse than his bedroom on a summer day. Like there were a bunch of digimon that had been killed off and then thrown to the side as if they had not really mattered at all. Ken was also hearing a bunch of noises around him like babies crying and then screaming in agony. At first Ken thought that the digimon here were just normal digimon that really had nothing going on. But then this was when he realized that he was starting to walk into some form of slave union. As Ken was walking to the leader of this gang, Ken started to take out his sword and then the guards around him were starting to see what he was planning to do. Ken felt like this was the only way he could be able to do something good here and while he was willing to somewhat give them a chance at first, any idea of them having a chance was gone now and Ken felt no remorse for what he was going to do now.

Before anything could have stopped him, Ken took out his sword fully and slice the leader of the gang right through the chest. He did not even let them utter a single word before he struck the blow to end their life. It was only then when Ken was starting to think of what he had done, but at that point he was so deep into the mess that it did not really matter all that much. He turned around to see the hundreds of tribe members who were able to fight him starting to flow to him.

Ken then turned around and he held his left hand out in a posture that was sort of using a pushing technique despite the fact that he could really only move his hand and not really the entire arm or anything like that, and on his right hand he was holding his sword straight out as if he was getting ready for what was going to be coming next. As several digimon had started to come towards Ken, he was just starting to strike them down one by one and then he was not even thinking at all about what was going on around him. He was just fighting them all off one after another and he was getting some bruises and cuts all over him and he was thinking that he should have maybe thought things out a little bit better, but honestly he had not really cared all that much anymore. He was just doing his job and he was going to keep doing his job no matter what may happen.

It took several minutes for him to be able to jump out of the tent and when he had finally done so, he saw a digimon that looked like they were only ten years old stare at Ken. This was when Ken was thinking that maybe they were calling out to him to let him know that they were wanting to do something with him. Thinking that he had a better chance to survive with this fucking baby, he decided that he would go that way, and therefore he jumped down the cliff and he was holding his right hand out and his left arm was still in the cast and the cast piece was starting to rip up a bit as Ken landed on the ground on his feet with a amazing moment for Ken.

Then with that, Ken started to book it as fast as he possibly could, just slicing down a bunch of digimon that were coming to him in order to make them stop from coming straight at him. This was going to be a work in progress, and it was something that he was going to have to be very careful with since if he was not really careful, he might be the one who was going to die. The sword felt like it was starting to maybe break a little bit, but he was going to use it as much as he could before it would break, if it even was going to break at all.

The more that he was doing this, the more that the small digimon was starting to slow down and then Ken saw them open up a latch and then go down the latch. Ken thought about doing the same and he forced himself down the latch so that way he would be safe in there at least for a couple of minutes. This was something that Ken was starting to really think he had messed up on. He was thinking that maybe he should not have gone in so badass just taking out the leader with no plan at all. Hell, he was not even sure if he was following a digimon that was actually trying to help him or if he was fucking up on that count as well. He was hoping that none of this would really be too much of a problem.

After Ken was down there for a moment and there was nothing coming in to try and attack them, Ken thought that maybe he was actually safe for a little while and then he started to walk down the pathway to where this digimonw as leading them. This digimon had been pretty quiet. Ken was wondering why that was the case, but he was thinking that maybe they did not want to be exposed as a traitor or something like that. He was just hoping that this digimon, whoever or whatever they were, was on his side and that they were not really leading Ken to some form of a death trap or something like that.

Eventually, Ken found a large room that had been looking like it had not been used in several years. "The tribe has not used this place in a long time. You will be able to hide in here for a little while. Just long enough for you to talk with me and for me to talk with you about what your plan is and why you even did what you had done. I am not going to kill you, I just feel as if I need to know more about this and what your goals are. That is, if you even have goals in the first place." The digimon said to Ken and then Ken was thinking that maybe he really did not have any goals and that he was just being totally crazy with no real rhyme or reason. As much as he had hated to admit it, this did sound kind of valid.

"Look, I know this may be hard for you to fully comprehend, but I think that it is better for you to hear at least some of this stuff, so that way even if you do not agree with me, you can at the very least be able to see where I am coming from and then if you want to see how this fits into your views, then you can do that." Ken was saying and then when he had said that, he stood up in front of the digimon that looked like they were very interested in the story that Ken had to tell them. They had a sort of air flight suit. He thought that maybe this digimon was trying to maybe become a pilot or something like that now.

"Well, I was brought here under terms that I did not really accept. I had zero interest or idea on what this world was or anything. I just was woken up here and I was pretty much told that it was my turn to go on a crazy adventure. No real clues on what I was supposed to do. Just that there were a bunch of evil gangs that I had to kill in order to make things safe again here or something like that and that once I do this, there will be some form or master or something like that who will be able to start to train me. It made no sense to me then, and it still does not really make any fucking sense to me now." Ken said and then he looked at the digimon who was still sitting there excited to hear more of his story. "I was told one of the leaders and gangs I had to take out was this tribe and that your tribal leader was one of these gangs. I was not so sure until I saw the way that the digimon here were being treated, but when I had seen that, I decided that it was better to be a hero than to think that maybe I had a chance of being wrong. So I went at it and took this digimon out and when the attack is over with here, I will be heading out once again to leave to take on the republic." Then when Ken was done with all of this, he sighed and then he was hoping that the digimon would just let it go and if anything, maybe even join his side of this whole thing.

"I don't really know what to think and I am not too sure if you are lying to me or not. But if you are telling the truth, I guess that maybe I should be willing to tell you my truth. So here we go. I guess that maybe you should be the one who sits down now." The digimon said and then with that, Ken decided not to really argue and then he sat down to give this digimon a chance to sound like they were really important and stuff.

"I had no idea what this place was either until I was forced to come on here. When I had come here, I was sort of forced into the main tent of this digimon who was leading the tribe. When they were all asleep, I snuck out of the tent and started to run away but I could not leave the island no matter how hard I tried. So I went down after I found this latch way and have been hiding in here ever since. I am very much amazed that nobody ever has come down here to see if there was any signs of me here. But I guess that if they do not suspect, I should not feel too bad over this whole thing. So as I have been down here, I have found the old library of the tribe members here when they had first settled in this place. After I found the tribe, I decided to go along and read these books and the more that I read the books, the more that I understood that the tribe members were victims of war and that they had no real intention of causing any real harm, but their wish to save themselves and not have any digimon die off in the tribe was what made them work together here and create several weapons in case somebody tried to attack them." This digimon was saying and then they continued to talk about the old history of this town for the sake of letting Ken understand some of this on his own.

"Then there was an attack on here one time. After the attack was planted onto this village, many of the tribe members did not really survive and as a result the digimon here were forced to step up the way that they had looked at themselves and that they were going to have to not only create weapons, but not be afraid to use them. Since they had not used many of the weapons here. Decades were spent on trying to rebuild this village as if to pretend as if this attack had not really ever happened. The digimon here slowly started to come along and over time, the village had started to build up once more as if the attack had never really happened before. It was starting to look as if the rebuild was complete and the population of this tribe was getting close to being over a thousand." The digimon was explaining to Ken and then when they had said this, Ken was thinking that these digimon were all a bunch of digimon who had been taken down before but with a lot of effort started to become a true force to be reckoned with. That was where he was getting with all of this, and he was thinking that there was a ninety percent chance that he was right about that idea.

"When the digimon had started to think that they had a true chance of expanding beyond this point, they started to come up with the idea for utter conquest. Only after this idea of utter conquest was created did the digimon here start to try their absolute best to take out the tribe and make it so that their influence did not really spread any further. It is due to this that the digimon had started to think that everybody else around them are a real threat and then that was when the digimon here thought that maybe they just need to try their best to fight for the world and save it. Or what they at the very least thought was going to be saving the world. So that was what was really going on here this whole time. Not that I can really do anything about it." The digimon was telling Ken and Ken was seriously trying to figure out if this digimon was on his side or if they were not on his side at all. It was just something very interesting to figure out.

"So what happened after the digimon here decided that they thought that their idea was super noble and that they were the only ones who can truly save the world?" Ken asked a little annoyed, not really at the digimon here, but more at the fact that he was tired of there not being at the point and he just wanted to figure out what the hell was going on here. He just wanted to see what was so evil about them and why they needed to die in the first place.

"Well after the digimon in the tribe started to expand themselves out more, it started to turn into what would seem to be quiet the hazard. It was like all of the work that had ever been done in the digital world to that point in time never really mattered and that everything that had been worked on was just going to be tossed away to the wayside just for what the digimon in this tribe thought was going to be what would save the world. It had become more and more obvious that they cared for nobody but themselves and that nothing ever worked out for anything else and that everything that would get in their way was just a security alert that just needed to be thrown away and it was like you were just a side detour." The digimon that was a kid explained and Ken was staring at them since the wording of this was so confusing that almost none it really helped him out and that he pretty much just had to pretend that he had understood this to make it not feel and sound like he was a idiot of any sort of kind.

"'Well, I am sorry that I am taking so much of your time and that I can't be here for a really long time, but I need to get the hell out of here. If I stay here for any period of time longer, I have a feeling that I will be found down here and that I am going to die. Besides, I still need to worry about taking on the republic. If I don't take the republic out, then I am going to have failed in my job of trying to be one for the digimon and one who can help the digimon out." Ken said and then he had stood up and then he started to walk away and then the digimon called out to him to make him stay there for just a little bit longer.

"You do not get it. I am getting to the part with the republic and why the fight between the two is even happening. For you to really get what is going on, you need to see the motivation of the two sides and why the republic was in the end the bigger of two evils despite how it had looked when you had come here first." The digimon was telling Ken and then Ken was trying to decide if it was even worth listening to or if he could just figure this all out on his own. But he was thinking that maybe he should just take the risk that this was something that he could figure out all on his own.

"The war that had started was all about two different views. On one end the tribe you just fought a huge portion of actually did care for the saving the world and they did actually think that they would be the ones who can make a true change. But they had turned out to be the ones who had not really helped make a change and that in fact, they had made the entire situation even worse. But then the other group had realized and known this whole time that they didn't really care and that they had been doing nothing of value. Well, that was how it had seemed at first. It had later turned out that they were actually the ones who were making at least some change for the better. It had turned out that it was actually them who seemed to be any sort of hero. The original intentions for both seemed to turn out to be the opposite of what would really happen despite it not really being the goal at all." The digimon that was the kid said and then Ken was realizing that the republic were the good guys if what they were saying was actually true.

"So the republic are actually the heroes and it turns out that if I ruin the republic, then all of the good work that has been done will be lost. Is that what you are telling me right now or am I starting to really not understand this whole thing. Please just tell me right now. I am sick and tired of your answers that are not really the point of what I am trying to do. So please just tell me what is going on and don't fucking mess with me anymore." Ken was saying and then when Ken was saying this, the digimon stopped and thought on what Ken had asked and while his tone was making them annoyed, he was trying to see their point of view.

"Well, neither one of them are really any sort of heroes. They just thought that one of them was being good and it turned out to the other that they were not. Neither side of any of this are any real sort of good or bad. Both of them are terrible and filled with monsters that don't really care for anything besides their personal gain. Everybody else who is not in the world and their group can be able to see what they have been doing has just caused nothing but pain and suffering here. I thought that these books were enough for me to get at least one of the sides, and it turns out that this is not the case. It turns out that both sides are even worse than either one or even both of them are trying to make it out to be. You need to destroy them both if you want to have peace here. There is no idea of maybe leaving some behind, and honestly this would not really matter all that much as no matter what you do, nothing will change what is going on." The digimon was telling Ken and then Ken rolled his eyes since he was well more than aware of this and he was tired of this long winded bullshit that Ken would have been able to figure out himself. Sure it was maybe a little bit interesting to learn of the tribes history, but honestly it had not really mattered all that much.

"Look, thanks for trying to act like you were really important here. But you have been a giant waste of my time. I am heading out and I am going to do stuff that actually matters and you are not going to stop me right now. I have a job to do and I am going to do my fucking job. If I ever see you again, maybe you can give me another long and pointless history lesson." Ken said and then when he had said this, he was fully out of the room and he was not going to be coming back. Well, he was not really ever planning on coming back and he was just trying to change everything for the better and he was getting near the end of this all and despite what it may seem, this is the true final stretch.


	10. Finding JewelBeemon Hall

Chapter 9: Finding JewelBeemon Hall

Soon after Ken had walked out of this house, he was slowly starting to go on his way and he was starting to go on his way to try and take on the republic. Once he takes that thing out, if this was all said and true, then he would finally be done with this whole thing and then he could finally start to train with Jewelbeemon. That was what he had really wanted to do. He just wanted this whole thing to be done with so he could see if JewelBeemon was even worth the hype that had been built up all this time or maybe if he should just go along and train for himself. He was feeling like his head was hurting when he was touching his gas mask and then he was wondering if it was even worth keeping up this thing on his face at all or not.

But he decided that maybe he would keep this gas mask on for the time being due to the fact that it was just on his face for such a long time that he was going to keep it on until it was either totally destroyed or maybe he would have to nearly die for him to just decide to totally give up on that whole mask. But until then, he was going to just keep it on and everything. As this was going on, Ken was just walking around and he was slowly getting himself ready for the battle against the republic. He did not ever once in his life think that he was literally going to be going against the establishment, so that whole thing was just totally insane for him to even comprehend. It was something that he would joke about or maybe want to do when he was a little kid, but actually doing it now was something that just seemed to be totally off and something that he truly was not really even sure if he would want to do this at all.

So with Ken walking on his way back to the main land, he was thinking that he would come back to the island, and then go up this mountain one day when this whole thing was totally over with and that he would never have to worry about any stupid shit about the establishment and all that stuff. He was thinking that at least some of the digimon that were working for the so called republic would be near the place where Ken was starting his adventure probably two weeks ago or so by now. Ken was so tired and it was strange to think that he was only at this for only two weeks, but that stuff was just too much for him to fully think about and comprehend. He was thinking that he would have to level up, or in the terms of something related to that, in order to make sure he is ready to destroy the republic and all that stuff.

As Ken had been going into the area, he was trying to figure out how the hell he was even going to be able to survive this whole thing. It just seemed like something that he would never be able to pull off. And yet if he wanted to have extra training from the digimon, he was going to work hard to pull off the idea of saving the area from this republic. And then that was when he was thinking that maybe he was just in the low level stuff that he was dealing with due to the fact he was going to have to do this training right away, then he would be forced to do some things afterwards and Ken was worried that these things would be even harder than what he was having to deal with at the moment. It seemed impossible to think at that moment, but he was starting to try to be realistic when he was thinking this out.

Then when Ken had started to think that things were starting to get even harder than they already had been to this point in time, Ken was starting to think that maybe he was going to have to train himself maybe a little bit so that way he would be at least a little bit more ready for whatever was coming up and stuff. The more that he was walking by, the more that he was wishing that this whole thing would go by much easier. Ken was just walking by through the days and the nights and every day that was passing by, the more that Ken was just fighting off small digimon that would come by him in order to fight him and stuff. This was his way to train up a little bit, and the more that he was doing this, sun rises and sets would just sort of be a second nature to him.

With each passing day, the more that Ken was starting to feel that he was starting to get a little bit stronger and the more that he was starting to think that maybe he was actually going to be able to win this whole battle. The more that he was thinking he truly was going to be the one who was going to save the digital world. But then he was still tired of all the loose wandering, and that would never change no matter how much he was walking. But then again, this was something he was probably going to have to get used to when he was walking up that mountain on his way to take JewelBeemon and be able to start to be trained with them and stuff. But after a whole week of all of this walking, he was finally starting to get to a point in time when he was actually thinking he was going to be at that city again.

Once Ken was done with all of the travels, he had reached that town he had started at after about eight or nine days of just constant walking. Once he was there, he was seeing that there was a bunch of rain going down onto the ground. He took a deep breath and he was honestly just getting sick and tired of the rain. He was hating the very thought and idea of rain after seeing it a million times. He started to look around and he was seeing a bunch of digimon putting papers over their heads just to make sure that they could get at least a little bit less wet than they were going to be if there was no paper. Not that a news paper could really keep them too much 'drier' but a matter of even thirty seconds was better than absolutely nothing.

Ken was thinking and as he was thinking, he was trying to decide a good place to look and get some advice on how to defeat the so called republic. He was thinking and he was trying to decide what he was going to do. There was so many things going on that he was not really even sure if he could make this whole thing work. But then he decided that maybe if he would go back to that bar once again, he could get some advice and maybe a pointer at the very least on where the hell they were going to be.

When Ken had made the choice that he was going to try and get some help at the bar once again, he started to head on in that direction. He was trying to really figure out how the hell he was even going to get the digimon in there to really want to help him out. There was a terrible feeling that he had that he was going to be told off and that nobody was really going to help him out due to them probably being scared or something like that. It was a good point, but he was really wanting to have a digimon to give him at least a tiny bit of advice on how to handle this whole thing. As this was going on, Ken reached the front door of the house and then he opened the door to the bar to see if he was going to get any advice there for his own sake.

After Ken was inside of the bar, he started to look around and there were barely any digimon there at all. Ken walked right to the chair that he had been usually at for the sake of having at least some consistency in what he was doing. Once he had sat down, he was looking at the bar tender who took a moment to stop drying their cup and then they turned on over to Ken and they were ready to talk with him, even though they had not wanted to talk with this human ever again due to how terrible of a man Ken was, or at the very least how terrible of a man they had thought that Ken was. "Why are you coming back here? I thought that you were going to be away from here forever. After I served you, there have been digimon coming to me on a daily basis trying and get where you are and they have made threats that they would try and shut down my business even though I never even know where the hell you are or who you are. I am scared that my place is going to shut down just because of you." After the digimon had told Ken that, this was when Ken did feel a little bit bad hearing that and he wished that he could have helped out better, but that was just something that was not really the case anymore.

"I am sorry that a lot of digimon have been trying to bring your business down because of me. But I really need to know something. Once I get what I need to know, I will head out once again and then I will leave you alone as long as I can. I may have to run back into here again, but I am going to try and put that off as long as possible for your sake, and because I do want to try and make things at least a little bit right for you." Ken said and then as he had said that, the digimon turned over at Ken and they were wondering what Ken was even wanting and they were hoping that Ken was telling the truth when he had said that.

"Please be telling the truth when you are telling me that you do not plan on coming back here after I help you out. I really wish that this is the truth." The digimon had said and then when they had said that, Ken sighed and he was hoping that this was the truth as well for both his sake and the sake of this digimon. But then he decided to take the huge risk and then he decided to just go with it. He thought that if nothing else, he could keep his promise to not come back for a while.

"Well, I need to find a way to fight the republic. I was told that the republic was the biggest gang out of all of the ones in the digital world. I have a strange feeling that they are going to be coming towards me pretty soon, and that when they do, I am going to be going into the giant fight of my life. I don't really know if I am ready for this. Do you have any ideas how I can be able to get into this fight and not get myself killed? Where is the base of the republic even located?" Ken was trying to get this whole mess figured out. The digimon that was working in the bar looked over at him in order to try and comprehend why the hell this guy was trying so damn hard to kill him this way. But then they shook their head and decided that maybe one more piece of advice won't really be all that awful.

"I will tell you where the base of the republic is located at. Aside from that, you are going to be on your own. That will be the final piece of advice I am going to be giving you." The digimon decided and hoped that this would be good enough for Ken to be totally satisfied. "They are located at a dam about three or so days away from here. The base is a power plant. Once you go in there, you will be all on your own. I have no real clue what is going on in your mind, and honestly it is none of my business. That dam is going to be heavily guarded. If you go in there, do not really expect anything from me in return at all." The digimon that gave Ken this location turned his back to Ken and gave Ken one last shot. Ken paid two dollars and looked at this digimon after the shot one final time for what he had assumed to be that way.

"I hope that this is the last time I even remotely put you in danger. I do feel bad for this, even though I may not really seem that way. I am going to do my best to destroy the republic base to make this town safe again just for you and the rest of your town. I better be heading out now, just to get a true start on this plan." Ken said and then he started to walk out and he was still having his gas mask on and his arm cast, deciding that he would go all out and just fight with his right hand for his sword to see if he could pull this off.

"I hope he lives." The digimon that was working at the bar said and then when he had said that, he placed a cup onto the racks after he washed and dried it. Then he started to walk around and he was working to clean up all the tables since the bar was going to be closing in just twenty minutes. He thought that maybe it was time for the place to start to move up in the chain with how much stuff was going on lately and how many things were happening around them. They needed to be ready for the competition coming up.

Ken was just walking along and he was just walking, he was getting ready for the battle that he was going to be forcing himself to take place in. He was not really ready for this battle. In fact he was really starting to think that he was in over his head and that if he was going to do this, nothing about his life would come back to the way that it was. But then he decided that he had come way too far for him to start to second think himself and start to think that he is not ready for any of this.

The more that Ken was walking, the more he realized just how much the cast that he was wearing was starting to get really dirty and the fact that it was probably starting to compile like twenty times as much dirt as it had been if Ken was on earth normally. The cast would probably be just all white if this was a normal thing on earth. All of this was just totally crazy and the just few days that he had been on this world he had felt like he had grown up so much than he had been totally feeling like a much different person than he would have been had he been on earth trying to be all angsty and dealing with Sam's death in a totally hating life type of fashion.

Ken was able to really appreciate the world that was around him when he was travelling around the other side of the town. When he was heading around that way, everything seemed to be going on so much easier than it had been had he been going on the side he had been used to for the last several days. This walking on the path that he was doing right now was actually much more deep and personal to him. This side of the outside town seemed to have a lot more care put into it in a way.

This side of the place that he was walking around, he was seeing a bunch of trees around him and when he was seeing all of these trees, he was trying to really comprehend the fact that a bunch of these trees were pink and stuff. He was wondering what these trees were created from and how they had turned out to be pink and all that stuff. Ken was walking up to the tree and when he had looked at this tree, he was trying and figure out the whole setting he was in and all that stuff.

As Ken had examined the trees for about a minute or so, Ken touched the tree and he was having a strange feeling that there was something that was calling out to him. He had wondered what the thing that was calling out to him even was, and he knew that this was a little silly to even think that way, but it was really hard for him to not feel this way. The voice that was calling out to him seemed to be telling him that when he goes up to JewelBeemon, he should be expecting something to ruin the training and that the training was going to the only thing that could keep him safe.

Then when he had heard this voice call out to him and the thing was done with, Ken placed his hand away. Then with that, he started to walk slowly further and further away from what he was doing there at the tree. He thought that this tree was going to be the thing that could maybe keep him warned on what he needed to do in the future. Ken thought that maybe this whole thing was just too much for him. After a little while of just slowly walking, he then started to seem a little bit more scared about what was going on and then with that, Ken started to run as fast as humanly possible.

The more that Ken was running and the faster that he was starting to get, the more that he was feeling like he could run a fucking marathon. The more that he was feeling like he could take on the world and that he could just take on the republic. For some reason, his straight up running was making him really feel like this republic, or whatever it was, would be going down and that Ken was going to be the hero of the story. This was what was really keeping him going. He thought that maybe he could try and become the hero of his own story and all that stuff. As silly as that whole thing sounded.

Ken was thinking that he could save the world, Ken was thinking that Sam was going to be proud of him. It sounded crazy for him to even think something that would have never come to his mind earlier. The idea that maybe Sam could actually be proud of him. That was something that Ken had really wanted to do the more and more that he had thought about it. He wanted Sam to be proud of him, but he was thinking that maybe his spirit could be watching from up above and therefore be proud of him then in that way. It just seemed like this could actually be what really changes the whole dynamic of Sam and Ken, even though he had been dead for about a month or so.

On the end of the first night, Ken laid down on the bed. He was starting to look around and he was move his pocket around. He was wondering if maybe he could find something that could keep him entertained and then make it so that way he would have something to help him sleep. He really wanted to sleep and the more that he was looking for something, the more that he realized there was something he totally forgot about but maybe he could use that for a couple of hours.

So he started the tapes up and he was just listening to them for a little while. As he was listening to the tape, he was truly beginning to think more about what was going on in the world. "The warrior of fire was able to bring hope to the digital world when he came along and restored every single town in the entire digital world. Everybody had started to have some hope that things could be changed. Only when Cherubimon was defeated and then the warrior of fire and his friends returned to earth that made everything start to go down hill once again, due to the fact that the beacon of hope was gone once again. I know for a fact that I had hope when I saw that young boy walking down the street with his young fat friend. Their digimon, a smart wizard, a vanilla ice cream looking digimon and then a digimon with floppy and big ears, seemed to be so perfect with them. I was really hoping that they would talk with me and while they did not, I am not really caring. They were true heroes, and they must have forgotten about us since they are not perfect." The first recording of the tape had said and then the tape was going on even further and Ken was wondering just how great these heroes were truly.

"I feel like this world has been played around like a damn fiddle. Really think about it. This world was fucked up by a digimon named Cherubimon who ruined everything in the world. Then a bunch of digimon came along and restored the world. Once their job was done, then the digimon left the world and afterwards we all were left to suffer by a bunch of digimon going around and destroying the world by trying to form the coolest gang in town and then the digimon that want to just live out their lives are being forced to suffer for this." Ken was listening to this more and the annoyed voice that this digimon had the whole time.

"I am leaving town tonight. I really want to see what I can do to change the problems going on in this world. I hate the way that this world is. If I don't do something, then I will just have to shut up and not get to bitch at all. So the fact is that I am going to have to try and get at least something done, and maybe I can look at myself as a hero after all. I am probably looking too highly of this, but I feel as if I need to try and do this after all." This digimon was trying to get themselves more excited on what they were doing, but then Ken was thinking that maybe this digimon and by extension maybe even Ken was just trying too hard to make something that can't happen actually happen.

"One of these days, the digimon in this world are going to have to the damage that has been done in the world and they need to come and gather up once again to bring the world out of the problems that it is in at the very moment. The world is going to eventually go so far down the shit hole that eventually, the digimon need to come along once again and throw everything to the wayside and then once we do that, we can finally be able to make some more progress and maybe even make it better than it was when Cherubimon was defeated." Ken was seriously wondering what the hell had made this world so much better after Cheribumon had been defeated and then he was wondering what the world had looked like when it had been saved.

"I have been out and wandering the digital world for a couple of days, and the more that I have been travelling around, I was able to eventually find the front entrance to that one hundred floor building that the frontier group had gone up at the end of their journey. This building does not have open access for random digimon to go up since the guardians of this world are scared that if digimon come in here, they will find a way to ruin the progress that has been made in that place. I hated the fact that I could not find the legendary castle that truly had saved the world, but I was able to see the logic behind it all." Ken had wondered if maybe he could go in there since it would have been a little while since the world had been saved and then he could go up there and see if he could actually go up it to see what was so great about the place. Even though he was supposed to be more focused on the base of the republic.

"I tried to go inside that one building that had been controlled by the republic for a little while. I was trying to go inside of there but when I had done so, there was a few digimon that started to try and shot me to go away. I got the message and just left the place before I would get killed off for just being curious and wandering around the world. I walking around and I found something that looked like a grave yard. I am going in there and I am going to maybe spend the night there and then head out and continue travelling tomorrow. I feel like I really failed in my goal to help out the digital world and make it a much better place than it is. Here I am and I am probably going to die soon." The recording had ended there and then Ken decided that there was no point in keeping it anymore, so he just placed the tape down on the ground while he started to go to sleep and then he would continue on his journey later.

Soon enough, after Ken was asleep for a little bit, he had woken up and he was totally ready to take on the republic and save the day. Or what he was thinking at the very least would be saving the world. So he started to walk on in that direction. He was not running as he was just thinking that simple little walking and taking things as easy as possible would just be fine enough compared to everything else that was going on. He thought that no matter what he was planning to do, he just needed to accept the fact that sooner or later, this day, the battle was going to be over. Then if he won, he could head to JewelBeemon hall.

The more that Ken was walking there, the more that he was starting to really think through his plans and what exactly he was going to do once he actually got there. He thought that maybe he should just walk in and say that he was wanting to help out their cause. Then once he had said that, if they believed him, then they could let him inside of that place and then he could go inside and then as a result can stay in there just long enough for them to earn his trust. After a couple of hours or so, then he would start to take them all out.

It had been several hours that he was walking and the sun was starting to set when he had reached the front entrance. He was thinking that his legs were in pain once again and he was tired of all of this leg pain. He had no real clue why he was having his leg be in so much pain in the first place. There was no real explanation to why his legs were always in so much pain. He was just thinking that maybe it was from all the walking, but even that made no real sense to him. He thought that maybe he was just not really having enough will power to truly last as long as he had wanted.

Eventually Ken reached the front entrance of this house that was going to give him the final battle that he had been getting ready for. He was looking around just trying to see what he was going to have to do. The digimon that was guarding the door was looking at Ken to wonder what was going on. "Do you have any real purpose of being here at all or are you just wandering around for no particular reason? If you do not have any business to do here, then please just leave this place and don't ever come back." The guard said and then Ken was thinking of how much he was going to have to lie to make this digimon believe what he was trying to tell them and then maybe he would be safe after all.

"I was wanting to join the republic. I was wondering if maybe I can help you guys are ready to get some help for the battle that is coming up soon enough. You know that there is a battle that is coming soon, and I think that maybe I can be able to be of good use in this battle." Ken said to the digimon that was guarding the entrance and then when they had said that, that was when the digimon looked at Ken as if to figure out how Ken knew about this battle that was coming up. But the fact that he did know about the battle made him think that maybe he should actually let the young man in the building.

"Yes, there is a battle coming up soon. We need as much help as possible. If you think that you will truly be able to help out in any way, then maybe you should come inside." The digimon said and then they walked to the side. After they had walked to the side, the digimon waited for Ken to just go inside so that way they would not be exposing the front entrance for like twenty minutes. Ken slowly walked to the front door and right before he got inside of the building, the slowly stabbed his blade inside of the digimon to get the first of the several digimon the republic done with.

As that had gone on, Ken was inside of the building and he was totally ready to go in and start to wreck house with every digimon in there. He was ready to go on and save the digital world. Once he was inside of the building, there were a couple of digimon that looked over at Ken to try and figure out what the hell he was actually doing in there. "Hey, are you even supposed to be here?" The digimon asked and then Ken nodded to try and get them to believe that he was supposed to be there. Ken waited for the digimon to respond to what he had said and if they would actually believe in him or not.

"Alright, there is going to be a giant battle coming up in a few hours. it is best that maybe you try and help make yourself useful in the next few hours. That way when the battle starts, you can perhaps be able to actually be a decent asset to our team." The digimon said to him and then when he had said that, Ken nodded and started to walk further down the room to maybe try and have this be a little bit more realistic that he was wanting to help out. As he was walking around, there were some digimon looking at him to try and see if there were any ulterior motives to the whole thing or not.

Ken then was inside of a room that only one other digimon was in. Once he was in there with only that digimon, he thought that maybe this was a good time for him to try and get at least one more digimon out. He stabbed that digimon right in the chest like how he had done earlier and then when he had done that, there was one digimon less that he had to deal with and the battle was now a small fraction closer to being over with for good.

The more that Ken was going around the place, every time he would go to a room with only one digimon of the republic in there, he would just stab that one digimon down and then he would start to go around to see if there was another digimon that maybe he could take on. He thought that this whole thing was a pretty good way of looking at it due to the fact that one at a time would not really be all that bad.

This whole situation just felt a little bit unreal. He had no idea how he was even going through this whole thing. Maybe he was just sort of be the hero of the story. Even though he had thought that this would have been a pretty fucked up story due to the fact that he of all people would have been the hero. There was no real reason for him to be the hero. He was not a good man by any means of the world, and there was no real reason he could pretend that he was a good person, and now he was forced to pretty much change all of that in order to be helpful for the digimon that were there for him and the digimon that had been starting to give him and that they had for him.

It took like six or seven rooms, for him to have a few of the republic digimon to be taken care of. He had thought that this was not too terrible of a progress amount. But then he was sitting down on a table where there were a few digimon there. Ken then looked around to see if maybe he was going to take these things out. He found that there was a match a couple of feet away. "Oh look you're the new dude." A digimon that smelled like they were a homeless man who had a bunch of bad boogers going down their face. They reminded Ken of every single homeless man he had seen on earth, and he was trying to keep his disgust at the smell contained. Ken nodded as best as he could to make the guy not think he was a massive dick or anything and then once he subtlely grabbed the match he sat down on the table.

"I just heard that there was possibly a giant battle coming up, and I thought that maybe I could be a good ally here. I thought that maybe I could make a good case to being a soldier worth the recruitment." Ken was saying and then as he was doing this, he was striking the match on the table, doing it as quietly as possible to make sure nothing heard him. The digimon thought that Ken was a terrible choice here and that he would not help out at all. Ken then stood up and then he walked out of the room to take care of those six or seven digimon.

He had already started to feel bad for killing these digimon since while he only had like a fucking sentence of interaction with the digimon, he already had known of them as more than just that faceless digimon that Ken was getting way too carelessly getting to know the others as at this point in time. He had been able to have some dialogue with him and every time he fought another digimon usually, he had like no talk with them and he just took them out. Just the fact that he heard this voices alone already made that different, made him already start to think things out a little bit more than he probably ever thought he would have.

The building was starting to get set on fire but before there could be any more to his plan to go there, there was something that made Ken stop right then and there. Something that ruined everything about his plan. Or at the very least start to think things out a little bit more than he would have. It was the man in the purple jacket. Ken was starting to sweat a little bit as the guy was holding his hands up and he was trying to show that he had no plans of fighting with them at all. Ken then slowly was putting his sword down figuring he might as well give them a short chance to explain what was going on.

"I am surprised that you managed to make it this far. However I am going to rain on your parade a little bit, and I am going to tell you a little bit of the truth. That it is none of your main doing that got you this far. Or maybe not all of it. That the main reason you have even gotten this far has been entirely because I have been letting you get this far because my great plan needs you to do this job for me. That I am letting you get as far as this so that way I don't risk my own life being ruined. You may think that you have been a independent agent, but your entire scheme here has been my own doing and that I am just putting on a very well done and well scripted show to make you think you are truly something." The man in the purple jacket had told Ken, and then when he had said that, Ken was starting to get pissed out but he was thinking that maybe as much as he liked to admit it, that he was telling the truth. He thought that maybe this was all one big scheme, but he never thought it would have been staged by his biggest enemy.

"I think that you have a lot of stuff that is going on in your mind. I do not really blame you for feeling lost, for feeling the way that you are most likely feeling like right now. But that is all a human emotion. When you have come here, I thought that you were going to be a much better candidate to help me take over the digital world than your brother has. Your brother was worthless and weak, and I proudly removed him as a result. I am not even going to pretend that I did not do it. But you my young helper, for a sixteen year old, have proven himself to be most vital for my success. I must thank you for that reason." The man with the purple jacket was starting to have his face mold and change a little bit. Ken would have normally cared if it weren't for the fact that the burning smell of the house was just getting to him much more.

"It is just politics my friend. I need to use you to help advance the humans through the digital world. I have been trying to get humans in the council for the digital world for decades, and I have not had any luck. But if I can twist the young minds of a man, turn him into a war machine, then I think that I can get him to do enough good things to change the opinions of the council to let the humans be a representative. I know that you guys want a fair representation, which shows me that maybe we are not all that different." The man in the purple jacket was saying, and then as he had said that Ken gulped.

"I have a lot of use left of you. I do not want to let you die. So maybe you should get out of here as soon as possible. Just know that truly you are not the one who is behind all of the work here. You may think that you are, but I am the one that is pulling the strings the entire way through here." The man with the purple jacket finished and then he started to walk away out of the building and then Ken yelled at his direction to try and make a point there.

"I will make my own destiny! I am not going to let some asshole run my path. I will do things that I see them to be fit!" Ken yelled and then despite how much he had hated to admit it, the guy in the purple jacket was right. So with that, he started to run out of the building. He needed to leave this place and then when he was doing this, he was trying to find a way to kill this guy later on and maybe he could start to head out to find the hall of Jewelbeemon and then he could start to get the training that he had very much needed.

Soon enough, Ken was out of the building and he was watching the stronghold of the republic start to go down. Ken was breathing heavily knowing that the battle was over and that he could just head to Jewelbeemon. Although he truly was going to do his best to make sure he would not have to deal with any other ideas of something controlling his destiny, which he had felt like was actually extremely fucked up to even ponder. He had hated the thought that somebody was doing it for him. He wanted to do it all on his own regardless of what he was doing, he was wanting it to be his own work.

But before he could think too much on the bare idea of a victory, he saw something coming out of the building. As he was seeing this thing come out of the building, Ken realized that there was still one more battle that he had to do before he was going to have to be able to go on to Jewelbeemon hall. But he was thinking about the reward and that was still making him keep going through the entire thing.

The monster that was coming out of the building looked a little bit like a dragon or something like that. Ken was not ready to take something like that on, and he was hoping that this was something that he was just sort of imagining that he was seeing and not really something that he was actually seeing. But then when he was getting ready, Ken took out his sword and he was going to try and fight this thing off at his best due to the fact that he had not wanted to die. But he was just not sure how he was going to take this thing out, but he was really going to just have to try.

Ken then started to walk backwards and as he was walking backwards, he saw that the dragon was starting to get ready to breath fire at him. Ken looked around for a moment and he was trying to get a slight heads up on this whole thing. Ken started to run towards the dragon and as he was running towards the dragon, he was holding his sword as stiffly as possible not wanting to take even the smallest risk of making this weapon drop. As he was running up, he saw that there was a small hill that he could run up.

The dragon was looking around and then when they were turning around, they flapped their wing around. Ken flew down to the ground after this and then as this was happening, the dragon started to raise their wing up to hit him again. Right when the wing got a couple of inches away from Ken, he swung his sword and left a little bit of a gash on there and then the dragon was breathing fire on Ken and then when they were starting to breath fire on Ken, he started to feel the gas mask break and this was when Ken realizing that he was going to have to get rid of this thing. But then he realized he had a arm cast on still and there was also the sword that he had. He was thinking that maybe he was going to have to get rid of this arm cast. That was when he was thinking that he needed to figure some things out on his own.

The dragon was not breathing anymore after a few seconds and then Ken started to walk backwards and then he did that for a little while until he reached the side of the dragon. Then he ran towards the dragon with his sword raised and then when he got with a few inches of this thing, he slashed the sword down and then the dragon started to scream and then Ken thought that maybe he did some real damage to this thing despite only having one arm open for him to use. Ken saw the dragon fly up even with this going up and then Ken gulped as he was scared that this was going to kill him at the end of this all.

He had given it a decent fight, no matter what the turn out may be at the end of this whole thing. Ken then closed his eyes and then when he was closing his eyes, he was feeling like he was going to just give it his all and then he was going to start to not worry about anything else in the world and he was just going to worry about taking this thing down. So with that, Ken started find a giant spear like item that was near the fire in which he could fire at the dragon and then he could be able to take down the dragon that way.

As he aimed for a little bit and then when he was aiming this, he threw this spear right at the digimon and then the dragon started to do a dive attack at Ken but then when they were getting close to Ken, he threw the spear as fast as he could and then the dragon actually did get hit on the chest with the spear and it had looked like Ken was actually damaging this thing a decent amount. Ken was hoping that this thing would just go down and that when he was done with this whole thing, the dragon would stop attacking Ken now.

But then the dragon landed on the ground and the landing on the ground was having such a loud landing impact and then Ken flew back really far as a result of this and due to that the broken pieces of the gas mask have been getting even worse. The arm cast wrap around Ken's neck had fully snapped and then when the snap had happened, Ken screamed with the pain as the arm fell down on the ground and then he stood up and used his hurt arm to take off the gas mask and it landed on the ground with blood all over his face.

Ken placed his sword onto both hands and he was ready to take on the dragon with his full focus, something that he was realizing he had actually really needed to do. So he started to walk towards the dragon he saw as the dragon was getting ready to breath some fire once again at Ken and then possibly try to fry the fuck out of him that way. But then when that was coming up, Ken started to run really fast and then as he was getting close to the digimon, he stabbed his sword through the mouth of the dragon and the sword was starting to get really bloody as a result of this.

After Ken had done this, he was slowly watching as the dragon was getting a little bit limp. Ken then sighed in relief as he was watching the dragon start to fade away and then Ken had felt like he was finally able to start to take things a little bit more calmly and not feel like his very life was on the verge of ending. But then he took the sword out and after he took the sword out of the mouth, he fell down on the ground as he felt like he needed to get some good rest.

As he was resting on the ground, he was closing his eyes and then as he was closing his eyes, the sword was on the ground and then the gas mask was several feet away from Ken and he was honestly not wanting to ever see that again. It was probably time for him to get rid of the arm cast, although it was kind of a interesting thing to have on him for that time being. But then after a little while, there was nothing that he was thinking about as he was totally out by that point in time.

Soon enough, as if it had felt like no time had passed at all, Ken had woken up and when he was waking up, he was seeing the room around him and this was not the room that he woke up in at the start of this dumb ass journey. In fact, it was a totally different room actually. Ken started to get up and when he was taking in the 50's style setting, the music that was being played, and the general smell of the place, the more that Ken had realized that this was actually the bar that Ken had been in a couple of times. Then when he had come to realize that, Ken walked closer and closer to the digimon that was the owner of the bar and he was wondering if there was anything going on.

He sat down on the exact same chair that he had been sitting on the first couple of times. He was smiling when he saw them. Probably because he had known that this was all over and he was finally able to go on and meet with JewelBeemon to start to train with them. He was honestly tired of not having anybody be at his side and he had honestly wanted to have some allies work with him or at the very least give him some pointers of how he can handle himself in the great outside world.

"You were out for two days. It seems as if you have a good knack of being out for several days in a row. I guess that maybe you are used to this by now. I guess that it is time for you to head out and meet with JewelBeemon once again." The digimon was saying and then when they were saying this, Ken nodded. And then he started to look out the window. He was ready to get out of here. "Before you head out though, I did some things for you with the stuff that you had with you. I think that maybe you should look at what I did to see if you like this." Ken then nodded and he was getting ready to see what was going to be offered to him.

"I am surprised that your sword did not get destroyed while you were out doing that. But here is the sword, I did sharpen it up a little bit last night. Hopefully it will be able to help you fight better and stuff. Also I saw that you were using a gas mask, and then when I saw that, I decided that maybe I could try and fix that for you. Well here you go, just sort of there for your sake." This digimon had said and then the digimon gave Ken the sword and then with a red holster and Ken held the sword for a moment. Afterwards he was handed the gas mask and then Ken grabbed it for a moment and thought about it. He decided to put it on and then he felt a little bit better than he had thought he would feel when he put it on. Ken then looked down at his left arm and he saw that the arm cast was still on there but cleaned up and stuff. Ken thought that maybe it was just left on there due to the fact that the digimon liked the way it looked on there and then they wanted to just let Ken keep it for himself.

"Well, I guess that I need to be heading out right now. Thanks for letting me stay in your place for a couple of days. I thought that after all of the trouble that I have caused here that you would never want me to be here ever again. I guess that I was wrong here after all." Ken said and then when he was telling the digimon that, they thought a little bit about what Ken had said and then shook their head.

"I was originally wanting to do that. But then when I saw that you were nearly dead and I thought that maybe you needed some help when I was crossing by, I decided to come and get you and I let you stay in one of the spare rooms for the next couple of days while you were starting to recover. I just hope that I don't end up regretting the choice that I made here tonight and that you actually make this choice worth it." The digimon had told Ken and then Ken nodded not really sure what else he was going to say and then he just saluted the digimon that owned the inn as he left. There was nothing that he felt like he could really say to make the situation any different.

After Ken had left that inn, he was going to head right up that mountain and he was ready to just work out that section of his life that he had worked much too hard in the last couple of weeks to work out. So Ken was walking in the direction of the mountain and as he was going in the direction of the mountain, he was just thinking about everything that he was going to have to do coming up. This whole thing was just a big head full for what was going on. Ken was really glad that the sword was given to him and he was totally ready to go up that fucking mountain and the gas mask was probably going to help him out here. The more that he was going to be going up this mountain, the more that he was thinking that maybe he had not really made the best of choices when he thought that he could go up this mountain and that he could take on a really large gang or something silly like that.

It took a couple of days for Ken to go up that mountain and thee snow of the mountain was really bad and Ken was actually glad that he had a arm cast cover thing for his left arm by this point in time as that did give one of his arms a little bit of warmth that he did not have to worry about when he was going up the mountain. This was a good idea that the digimon had for Ken in hindsight when he was putting that whole thing in consideration. And this mountain was going to be a little bit rough with him but he was not giving up before he reached the top of it.

Soon enough, after a couple of days of walking, Ken reached the front entrance to the JewelBeemon hall. When he was standing there, Ken took a deep breath and then he knocked on the door. After he knocked on the door, there was only a couple of seconds of a wait before the door had opened and then after the door had opened Ken decided that it was the cue to allow him to come in there. After this, Ken just walked inside of the training hall and as he was doing so, he was taking the sights a little bit in and he was just not really worried about the digimon staring at him then and there.

Eventually, when he was through the hallway, he saw that there was the leader of the hall JewelBeemon. They honestly were not as impressive looking as Ken had thought that they would have been. And despite the fact that Ken came in with no permission, they were not really judging Ken and in fact, they thought that maybe they could use him for their own purposes. "What are you doing here? What is your desire?" The JewelBeemon asked and then Ken had answered that he was just trying to get something to teach him the ways of fighting and then that way he could be able to survive and not worry about dying every ten seconds. JewelBeemon stood up and then when they were walking up to him, they eventually placed their hand on Ken's face and when they had done so, for seemingly no reason Ken had a strange flashback to his prom night of that last year.


	11. Preparing for Prom

Chapter 10: Preparing for Prom (1966)

It all started at the month of May 1966. During that month of that year, there was this one guy who was sitting around in his lunch room at school. This was during the early morning, before the first period class had actually started. There was nothing really about that school day that would be of a good deal. However, there was something about the end of school that day which would be something to be worth taking note about.

The guy was named Ken. He was sort of wondering what the hell he was going to do that day. It was going to be the biggest day of the school year. Well, at least after the school day was over with. The stuff that was going on after school that day was prom of that year. Prom was the biggest deal. The prom dance was going to be the best things that most people would have. Every student had wanted to go to prom that year.

After all of this, Ken was thinking about how he was going to ask out a girl in order to get a date for the dance. He knew that she would probably not really say yes to him or anything, but he knew that he had to at least try to do so. If he had tried to do this, then he would feel good about the fact that he didn't just feel like he was going to bitch about things that he didn't even try to fix. So that is the fact that Ken was going to ask a girl out was going to be one of his best and biggest achievements in a while. He had did some great things in seventh grade, but that was a different story for a different time.

That was when he found this one girl. She had brown hair and she was walking along near the wall. There was something to it that gave Ken the feeling that she was feeling a little bit isolated and as if she had wanted to talk with somebody. That was when Ken had thought that this girl would be the perfect person to ask out for the date to prom. He knew that he was going to fail on this as he started to walk on closer and he was starting to not want to do this anymore as he was getting closer to her.

"Hey how are you?" Ken asked when he was right next to the girl. She looked over at him as if him being right there was one of the most unexpected things that she had ever seen in her life. But then she nodded and decided that she would talk with him a little bit. "Hey, I know that this is a little bit out of nowhere and I can see why you would say no to me, but I don't have any prom dates and I was wondering if you had any as well."

"Well, I don't have any dates either. I don't really know if I even want to go on the dance at all anyways. I think that I will just be sitting this one out." The girl had said and then Ken started to consider this a little bit. Maybe he could try and convince her that this would be a good idea. Or maybe he couldn't. Either way, he was going to try at least a little bit harder.

"I had a feeling that you and I will be able to make to help us have a better time. I know that if I go to prom right now, I probably would not be able to enjoy it all that much. But I can be able to have a good time, you know, if this night had somebody at my side." Ken said and then he started to think more on her and the idea of them dancing. It did make him a little bit excited. She seemed to consider it for a brief moment. But then she decided that she still wanted to stay home alone without him.

"I think I will stay home still. I appreciate you thinking that I would be a great date, but I still need to stay alone. Thanks for asking me. You seem to be able to have a good dance. I think I have seen you dance a few times before at previous school dances. I think that you don't need a date for you to have a good time. Most people probably need a date, but I think you are different." The girl had said and then when the girl had said that, the more that Ken was a little bit disappointed that she didn't say yes to his offer.

"Thanks for at least being nice about it." Ken had said and then when Ken had said that he started to walk off. Soon enough, he reached the table and sat down at it. As he was sitting, there was about a minute or two of silence. He was not really sure what to do about this. He was probably to go to the dance, but he was not really sure if he would want to do it since nobody would be with him.

"Hey sorry for being a little bit rude, but can you please move out of the way? I am trying to talk with some of my friends and I don't want to stand up talking with them. You seem to be alone right now and not hanging out with anybody." There was a guy that had said that and then when he had said that, he saw that Ken wanted to leave this place. He was pissed off that people would just not be able to leave him alone. Maybe the guy just didn't get it.

"Yeah, I will move out of the way. I don't really have any real reason to stay here after all." Ken said and then when Ken had said that, the guy nodded and Ken started to stand up and walk away. As he was walking away, the guy called out towards him in a way to show that there was nothing that he had meant to give off a terrible impression.

"Hey I'm sorry if I upset you in any way. That was not what I was trying to do. I don't really even know you, so it would be sort of a dick move just to try and ruin your mood without even knowing your name." The guy said and Ken seemed to consider that to be a good point for a moment. Even if he did not want to exactly admit it. "Anyways, now that we are on the subject, what even is your name actually?" The guy said and Ken decided that he would bite and see where this would go if he played along.

"My name is Ken. I only have been here for a couple of years. Nobody really likes to hang out with me. Well, not anymore at least I should say. Back in the day, a lot of people would like to talk with me and stuff. But those days are over." Ken sighed and he was actually thinking back to his so called glory days, when he could actually say that he was at the very least kind of popular. But any chance of him being popular was crushed two months ago when he was caught doing what people considered to be one of the most dishonest and gross things any normal human being could do.

"Well, my name is Brad. Nice to meet you. Don't know if we will ever see each other again, but it was nice to talk with you while it lasted." Brad said and then once Brad had said that, he started to sit down where Ken had sat before and Ken nodded. Now he wasn't angry any more. He actually seemed to be glad that at least one person had actually gone out of his way to talk with him even if it was for all of two minutes. It was still more than what any other person gave him since March.

As Ken started to head on his way to his first class period, he was sort of wondering what there was to Brad. He was sort of wondering if Brad would be asking anybody out to prom or not. If brad already had a date or not. Or if Brad was even going at all. Ken had no idea why he cared so much, but maybe there was just that bit of interest that he had.

Soon enough, Ken sat down at the table in the classroom. When he was in this classroom, he was thinking about what exactly to do. There was nothing that he could do that would make him feel like he would be able to do anything justice. There was nothing that he had felt like would actually get people to start to like him again. He didn't even know if people had ever liked him to begin with. Maybe it was a lie.

Ken was sort of thinking that he truly had no idea what to do. But then this was when he opened his back pack and when he had opened his back pack he was looking at a composition notebook. He was supposed to use this for school work, but then he thought that with only one month left in the school year, he would not need to use it anymore. So he took out a pen and made sure it had at least some ink and once he had made sure that nobody was watching, and most importantly the teacher was not watching him, he started to write down on the paper.

"Hello here, my name is Kevin. Well, actually my nickname is Ken. My biological name is Kevin. I have not been using that name ever since I was just in the seventh grade. That was when I had come to the next school of my life time, and this is the school that I have been in ever since I have been in eighth grade. I am going to be writing this as a way to try and get the trust of people again. If somebody writes this, they can see the good intentions I have and the way that I wish to help people out and even if they don't like the method that I am going at it, they can respect the fact that I have been trying my very best to save my city and do something that actually matters ever since I was in the eighth grade.

Well, something happened in March that made people start to lose hope in me. That is a different story for a different time. It is a story that I will explain when I am done with this story, the one that I feel like I really need to talk about. And that is indeed going to be the story of how I had lost the trust of all of the people that I had ever gone to school with and everything. Alas, I am stalling out a lot here.

So the story starts in eighth grade when I was going by the idea of my friend that I had in my previous school, which was named Wayside. My friend had what I would consider to be one of the best ideas on the planet. The idea could have been so good if it had worked out more and better. The worst part is that the idea did not actually work out too well for me and my friend. He took something that he thought would work out and then turned out to sort of drag things down to the ground. But then to be fair, I would end up doing the exact same thing. In fact, I would probably end up fucking things up even more than my friend had, which is something that I did not even think would be possible until it had happened.

So the idea is that he thought he could sort of become a superhero and sort of save the city and stuff. He thought that if he had saved the city, he could be able to go down as one of the greatest people who had ever lived in that city as well as something that he would be proud of. I thought that it was a good idea, but one that could be really dangerous on top of that.

I still remember when he had taught me his idea and how he thought it could be able to work out. I actually thought he could be able to pull it off. And when I thought that he could pull it off, I decided that I would work with him on stuff like that. But then as it would turn out he would almost die and the school that we had went to at the time was pretty fucked up and Todd, the name of my friend thought that the best way to be a hero was to repair the school and he has been spending the last three years repairing the school and from the letters that we have sent to each other, the school was still being repaired and as the school was still being repaired, there is about three fourths of the repair done and Todd would predict that there would be one more year left before the repair was all done.

I knew about the bad risks of all of this stuff and despite all of the bad risks about all of these things, I decided that I didn't care and that I could still do the work. I could still be able to pull it off. And for a while it had seemed as if I could be able to pull it off. I actually spent a lot of time out lining all of this stuff and I would say for a at the time fourteen year old it was actually quite possibly the most well thought out thing that a person of that age could have been able to do.

I spent most of my eighth grade year sort of improving my plans and doing a lot of drawing and creating a lot of ideas for suits and how the suits could work. Once I got done with school in eighth grade and ninth grade had started, I spent August of so actually getting lessons of sewing from my mother. I had lied to her, as she would later find out that when the whole hero gig was over. I thought that I would be able convince her that I was more interested in sewing and making some great pieces of clothes and stuff and while she was a little bit interested over the fact that I was doing something like this, she decided that she was kind glad I was kind of getting into stuff like that.

So I would use the facts that I learned from her and started to sew together things and when I was doing stuff like that, I had began to make a bunch of outlines at the very least for my suits and stuff like that. I thought that this could work out after all by the time that december rolled around and had made the first full on suit.

It was at this point that I thought I could actually become a hero at this point. By this point I was fifteen, two years higher than the thirteen years of age that Todd was when he had started to do his hero gig. I thought that the two years would actually have been able to make a ton of difference. How little I knew how wrong I was when I had made that assessment. I thought that a extra two years of development and growth could be able to make me so much more ready to take on the world and all that. While two years did indeed enhance my physical ability at the very least, it was still nowhere near enough for me to actually be able to do anything of real difference.

On January 10th of 1965, I had made my first attempt at being a hero. There were people being robbed and I had hated the fact that they were being robbed, so I jumped down as I was watching this stuff and as I had jumped down, I started to beat up the robbers and the robbers left the scene and the family was going to thank me when I jumped up and started to go away. I looked down at the family and their confused faces and them starting to walk away and stuff like that. I was watching them and I was glad that I had finally been able to make some real progress and do some things that had actually mattered. I had saved the day once and by this point I was being a hero in some way. I had thought that this could work out.

When this was happening, and I had returned home I returned home and as I returned home, my brother was coming home from hanging out with his girlfriend and he had looked like he was not that shocked at what I was doing. Just a bit disappointed I was into this.

I told him that he would not be able to convince me out of it and he had said that this was what he was scared of me saying. He had thought that I could be able to actually be taught some fucking sense, but in the reality I convinced him that there was no way that I could be changed to do something like this ever. He hated this fact but then decided not to argue with me and that as long as I would not die or anything like that, but could not really argue with me at all.

So with this, the two of us decided to drop the subject and over the next four months of so, I would ditch class a bunch when I heard of a robbery or a murder and while I was a vigilante by definition, I considered myself a hero as I had stopped nearly twelve cases during those three months. I had thought that this was something I could be proud of and everything like that.

I still managed to pass all my classes. Although I only got a D in my Math class and a D in my English class. On Science, Physical Education and Community Service I got a C, a B, and a A on respectively. The Community Service class was something I passed since I went to a couple of town events and counted up the hours really quickly after just the first couple of weeks of doing this. This was something that would be pretty good for my own sake at the end of this whole thing.

During the summer I did something pretty bold. I had found out about illegal drugs that were being made and I broke into that place where the drugs were being made, stole the drug and then brought the dug over to the police and gave them the information. This bust had taken a couple of weeks to really figure out and fully execute and everything. But once it was done, I was actually thanked and said that I needed to stop while I was still considered at my peak and when I did something that they could actually respect me doing.

The tenth grade school year was something I had a lot of hard time doing. The classes were hard to do and the classes were not only hard, but I was trying to get a date for home coming as well as find a couple of crimes I could actually bust. But there was nothing so it had seemed that due to the activity that the idea could just die off. But then due to me calming down and not working at it too much anymore, I ended up creating more crime since there was the impression that there was nothing left anymore. I decided that this would be something I would have to do all the time if I wanted to actually keep crime gone for the rest of my life in the city.

Once Thanksgiving was coming around, after a couple of months of peace and freedom to the city, I had to start fighting crime again. There was a bombing that hit during the Thanksgiving day celebration and caused the deaths of sixteen people. I was heart broken over this and took a hour or two to mourn over their deaths. Then after I was done having this moment, I decided that I would try and figure out the cause of this bombing and who exactly had done it.

So with that, as my family was going to actually try and have their Thanksgiving meal, I snuck out of the house and when I returned that night with thankfully enough time to get out of my suit before they came in, they were very pissed at me and was wondering what the hell I was doing. I didn't tell them the truth and I don't really know if they realized that or not. What I did that day was look around the town for certain buildings. I found one that only had one car parked and saw that there were no lights or anything inside. I decided to go and check it out and see if that house was the one that I would need to find. Thankfully it was the house that I needed to find after all.

I went inside the house after finding a small hole and when I went inside the house, I saw a bunch of bottles filled with stuff like pee as well as plants and other experimential things. I was over all grossed out by this as you would expect, but I decided not to really pay attention to those gross ass things as I went up the stair case and as I was now further inside the house, I heard that there was some sort of deal being made. I stayed away to the side to hear this deal and not get caught.

The deal was talking about a second bomb that was going to be dropped on the town mayor hall and the bomb would destroy the mayor as well as all of the workers in that building. I thought that this would be a big mistake so I headed on my way down to the town hall and I thought that if for nothing else, I could try and convince them otherwise to do something good as my time as a hero. This would be a really long shot, but I needed to try at least.

Once I had reached the mayors house and at the time I got to their town hall, I was wondering what I could say to the mayor to get them to believe in the fact that I was telling the truth. Well, once I had gotten there I was able to explain that the attack that day was not the first one and that there would probably be more that would be rapidly coming after this point in time. Given the attack that day and the fact that people were sort of upset over this and in mourning, I think I was able to convince them relatively easy just due to that stuff. This was one of the thing that I thought would go down as a heroic moment in my time as a hero. They asked me what the next attack was probably going to be. I told them that the next attack was most likely going to be in that town hall and I was able to convince the mayor as well as all the people there to get the hell out of there in time. This had actually worked and they followed me outside of the town hall and once we were two or three blocks away, I saw the town hall blow up and the mayor thanked me for saving their life and they thanked me for being safe and stuff. They did ask me how I knew about this stuff and I told them that I had saved the day because I had been paying attention to all of the conversations for the people in the town. I then said that I needed to continue my search and look around more.

Things started to go by easier for the next couple of hours and nothing really to work out all that much until it had started to get towards the nighttime. By that point it was starting to rain and I found a sort of area under the bridge that cars would drive by to the next town over. When I was there I found a gun and grabbed it. For some reason I had thought that I would need that gun. So then after I had grabbed the gun, I started to look around a little bit until I found somebody who looked to be kind of older. Well at least kind of older in comparison to my age as you can guess. But then again who isn't old compared to my age at this point in time.

As I had gotten there, I started to talk with him about what he was doing and what I was going to do in order to prevent him from blowing more places up. He said that this would be great until he pressed another button and blew up another building. This was the clock tower and this killed everybody in there since I had no time to stop that from happening. So when this happened I looked at the guy and asked him what he was doing. Why he was doing this and he seemed to think that I was stupid and decided to give me a few minutes to hear his story and his side of things.

He had explained how he was doing this as way to show the world that there will never be any peace. That peace is a lie and that there is no reason to try and ever even shot for peace since there will always be people that destroy places and kill people. I thought that this guy was wrong at the time and that there obviously could be world peace and all that you needed to do was just try really hard for it. That was what had made sense in my eyes to my sort of innocent self at the time. But with each passing day, I am starting to believe more and more that this guy was telling the truth and that there really is no world peace.

I had even tried to tell him that he was dead wrong about this idea and that there was the possibility of world peace and that all you would have to try hard to make the peace happen. I said that I could be a peace walker and that I could walk in a way for world peace. He said that I was wrong and that my younger age is just sort of making me feel like I could do something like this. I said that this may be true and I held my gun up to the guys face. I would not ever want to kill a person myself or anything like that, but I did not want to have this guy try and kill anybody else anymore so I decided that doing this would be the lesser of two evils. I kicked him in the face and he fell down to the ground. After he was at the ground but before he could try and do anything else, I aimed the gun right at his head a second time. I waited a couple of seconds as if to decide if I wanted to do this or not or if I was better than this. The guy then was wondering what I was going to do as he just yelled at me to do it. I fired the gun at his face and as I did so, I sort of had the feeling that everything around me went black and I did not really have any thoughts as I did so. Everything just felt cold at that moment, despite how fucked up that may sound.

I threw the gun into the water and when I threw the gun into the water, I started to walk home and made it back to the house at around ten in the evening. I have described this story in pretty good detail and that was the second biggest thing that had happened during my time in this whole hero act.

Later, the new year started and we were now in the year of 1966 and the 10th of that month came by once again and it was year since I started the whole hero gig. I don't really know what else to say to this whole thing. It was just sort of me looking and taking a moment for the fact that it has been this long already. But it was just a simple as that. There was one more mission that I did before the whole death of the hero gig had happened and the end of this would need to come along.

I would stay out until like midnight or two a clock in the morning every day due to how many things I was trying to do. I would do a bunch of one day things and I would do a bunch of random stuff. Sort of one day hero things like stopping robberies and other things. Deals that I felt I could be able to pull off and not risk dying at.

It was in later February to early March of that year that I finally figured out the one final mission that just changed everything and ruined the whole reputation that I had been able to gather up here. I thought that this would work out but in reality it just did not. I decided that this was taking it too far. There was a guy who was making weapons and shipping them to other countries in the world and I thought that I needed to stop this to prevent more shipments from being made and I could be able to end this whole thing off. I thought that I actually had a real chance to do something of value.

As I had made that one last big attempt to do something of actual use, I ended up messing things up even more than I had by that point. It was quite the hell. I had found a truck and when I had gotten into that truck, I saw a bunch of explosives and I had almost set them off and when I jumped out of there the truck had blown up. This was just the saddest thing ever when I realized that I was causing more destruction than I had actually done to help things out in.

There was a guy who was watching this and he seemed to be working with the group. He shot me in the arm and I screamed out loud and during my time of screaming, I fell down on the ground and as I fell down on the ground I saw the guy rip off my mask and the police saw this guy do so and everybody seemed to stop when they had seen that it was me. Somebody of my age and somebody of my ability and low level popularity.

When the person was considering if they should even try and go after me anymore, I kicked them right in the balls and then grabbed their gun and then shot them dead and by doing so ended off the whole weapon creation business. But as I had done so, the police had stopped me and when they had stopped me, they put me in the police station and asked me a few questions.

When I was in the police station I told them the truth and everything I had done and was thinking that I was going to be spending the rest of my life in prison. They were going to put me in jail when the police chief came in and said that I could not legally be allowed to be put in jail when I was just somebody of that age. However, despite me not being put in jail, the information of what I did would now be leaked out to the public so by that point everybody would know the truth of what I had done.

And that is where I am right now. As a result of me not going to prison, everybody now knows of what I had done and many people had thought that I was doing a terrible thing and that I was a massive traitor who had pretty much gone against everything that would be considered correct at least in the moral sense. If there was anything of the moral sense to even consider in this whole thing. Not that it mattered anymore.

So this pretty much just how things had ended for me. Ever since then I have been looked at as a terrible person. I really want to go on and redeem myself. If I redeem myself, then people will probably be able to forgive me. That is all that I want to do right now. If there is one thing that I want more than anything else, it is just to be able to return at least a little bit of a competent life by this point now. I will see how it goes now."

By this point, Ken was finally done with his writing. He stood up and then when he was done with all of this writing, he heard the class bell ring and he had to head on his way to the second period class. Second period was just math class and Ken just did a few problems from the text book that he was supposed to do and by doing so was able to finish two of the topics from the book. He still had to do like fifteen or twenty left before the end of the year.

The third period was much more interesting. It was global studies and the class had talked all about Vietnam war and how the war was going to work out. The class was talking about their thoughts on the war as well as how they think that the war could have ended and all that stuff. The teacher had thought that this would be a good conversation point, but at the same time, Ken was feeling a little bit terrible for all of this stuff. He felt like he could do something about this war but just did not. This made him feel bad deep down.

When the third period class was over with, Ken started to head to his lunch period. In that lunch period, Ken was wondering what the hell he was going to be doing then. There was not all that many things that he could do during that lunch period. Well, maybe he could talk with Brad and see how the guy was. If Brad would ever want to talk with the guy again, and if he didn't feel like that talk during the start of the school day was just going to be a one time thing or some bullshit like that.

When this was going on, Ken sat down and he was just looking around the classroom. He didn't really know what else to think at the time. He was just sort of wondering if he was going to try and ask another girl out. Ken thought that perhaps something like this would be a good attempt for his own part. He had been thinking about asking a girl out really badly. Well he did ask a girl out before, but that was just one girl and it had failed. There was no real reason think that he couldn't be able to ask at least one other girl before the start of the dance and everything.

But that was sort of put to the start when he sees something that Brad is doing. He sees that Brad was trying and ask a girl out on a date. He thought that this was such a interesting idea that he wondered what the hell he was going to be doing. He was wondering if the girl would actually accept what Brad was asking her or if she was going to turn him down. Ken hoped that she would accept his offer.

"Hey I was meaning to ask you something." Brad had said and then when Brad had said that, the girl seemed to be thinking about what Brad was saying. As if she had not wanted to talk with him or anything like that. She had wanted to go to her normal school life, and it wasn't even like she needed a prom date. She already had one date of her own and all that, so Brad can't even help her on that. But Brad didn't really know that then.

"I was thinking if maybe you and I should go out and go on a date with each other. I think that you are quite beautiful and I like the way that you always do good on your tests. And yeah I am doing terrible on this." Brad said and then he blushed. The girl liked the terrible way that he was doing this, but she decided that this should be cut off before then. "Well, here is the thing. I had a girlfriend and we broke up a month or so ago and I wanted to have a date with me so that way I could have a person to be with and I was hoping that you would say yes to this and everything."

"Well, if I didn't have a date, I might consider saying yes. But I already do have a date. So I won't be saying yes. I don't want my date to feel like I am betraying him or something like that. I don't really want to deal with that right now. I just want to have a good time same as you. Maybe you can find a different girl who will say yes to you. You will find somebody most likely." The girl said and then Brad nodded. He took it pretty well for somebody with his expectations. Then he started to walk away. He was wondering when Ken would try and talk to him. He didn't mind the idea of Ken talking with him, but he just sort of wanted this to be over with already and not be putting this off at all or anything.

"Hey Brad, I heard some of that. Seems like we both got the short end of the stick. I feel sorry for you. I will leave you alone for now. Just wanted to let you know that it sucks to have that happen to you." Ken was saying and then when Ken had said that, Brad remained silent and he didn't really know what else to say to that. He felt glad that Ken was being as nice as he was but at the same time he was not really sure if he wanted to continue talking with him or anything.

"Yeah, I don't think I will want to ask another girl out yet. I feel as if you and I should sort of go stag. I don't really want to go stag at prom, but I don't think I want to ask people around all the time for something that they will most likely just end up saying no to anyways." Brad had said and then when Brad said that, Ken decided to just leave it off as a nod to him.

"I wish that people would want to go on dates with us more often. I really wished that the girl that I had asked earlier had said yes to me." Ken had said and then when Ken had said that Brad seemed to think about it. Brad wondered what else he could say that seemed to be either enough to drag on the conversation related to prom or just go on and start a new conversation.

"I really think you need to maybe just do some things of community service. If you do some things of community service, then perhaps people will see that you are better than you were at one point and that you are willing to put your time and effort into making the town a better place and everything." Brad said and Ken thought that this was a tone deaf but probably a good idea. Even if he didn't want to do community service, that would probably be the only thing that he could do in order to get the respect of the people once more and to show them that he is a good man. Then maybe he could actually be able to get a date on to a dance afterwards from this point forward.

"I just don't want to deal with the commitment of spending several hours, maybe even days of my life doing service for things that I thought would actually be a good service." Ken said and then when Ken said that Brad decided that Ken probably still don't want to do this anymore. He decided that he didn't want to argue with Ken at all since Ken had already decided that he was in the right and that nobody else was really in the wrong at all.

"Brad, I know this may be a little bit out of nowhere, but why are you talking with me right now? Aren't you going to be hanging out with your friends more? They are probably much more interesting to talk and hang out with than me. I mean I am just being realistic here." Ken had said and then when Ken had said that Brad decided that there was a good point there. But then Brad had thought that maybe Ken was actually kind of a interesting figure to go on and hang out with and everything.

"I don't really know. I just feel like there is something that I could get out of you. I feel like maybe there is something that can make both of us understand each other a little bit more." Brad had said and then when Brad had said that he did stand up and he realized that he was actually supposed to hang out with his friends. He arranged something with them earlier.

"Speaking of my friends, I just remembered that I needed to hang out with them. Nice to talk with you and maybe we can talk with each other a little bit earlier." Brad said and then when he told Ken that he stood up and then began heading on his way over to the group of friends that he had. This was when Ken decided to just think about the conversations that he had been having with Brad.

Like he wasn't even all that much of a friend with the guy, and yet he was getting more along with the guy than anybody else in the school at the time. He did not really know just how sad that truly was. It was really sad in the end. How some guy he had met that day earlier was more of a friend than anybody else in the school had ever been ever since March. He had wished that people would just give him some attention. He really needed that right now. He needed somebody there to let him know that he wasn't entire alone. But he just knew that it wasn't going to be the case. Ken looked at the two people fifty feet away from him kissing, and Ken was thinking about what a couple they make.

When Ken was just trying to get all of this over with before he would return to class, there was a girl that sat down next to him. Ken had no idea why a girl would be trying to get caught dead talking with a loser like Ken, but he decided to count his blessings. 'It's seems like you are pretty lonely right now." The girl said and Ken nodded, she was right about that at least. Nobody seemed to really want to talk to him. "Who was that guy that you were talking to earlier?" For a very short second, Ken had actually forgotten that Brad had even existed. He could not believe that this had actually happened. He thought about it and then he thought that maybe there really was no harm talking with this nice lady.

"Just a junior named Brad. He was just talking with me. I only met him today. probably trying to be nice to me after a incident that had happened earlier today. Still more than I can say about most people in this school. If I just vanished away, nobody really would care." Ken said and he looked at the girl for the first time and said "What is your name?" The worst part was that there was actually a tiny sense of truth to what Ken had said about the nobody caring thing if he had left. But he didn't get to see the truth come out yet.

"My name is Ally. I'm a senior at the school. I have seen you once or twice in the school, but you never really seem to talk to anybody. Are you just one of those people who do not like making friends or something?" Ally said and Ken remained quiet for just a couple of seconds. "I get that friends are hard to make. I really do get it. I don't blame you if you don't want to go out there and be everybody's best bud or something like that. But you should at least try and get to know people a little bit. After all, they might start to really respect you in the end" Ally said and Ken shook his head.

"I tried to do that. I thought that it was working for a while. But it seems that I am just not normal enough here. Back in my old school, that wasn't really a problem. Nobody cared if you were normal or not. It was really easy to get by there, just had to basically show up to class every single day and you were good. But here it is different. There are quite a bit of standards that I have to meet up to." Ken was basically facing the exact same problem Todd had but in a reverse school environment. Todd had to deal with going from normal to crazy while Ken had to deal from crazy to normal.

"Now that I think about it a little bit more, you look like somebody who was on the news once. What did you do to get on there?" Ally asked and Ken was glad she didn't know the exact context. If she did, then there was no way in hell they were going to talk with him any more since he killed a few people even if it was indirectly.

"I just got involved in some things that in hindsight I should not have started to try and deal with." Ken said and he decided that leaving it as simple as that was effective enough and that it would still be able to get the point across. Ally considered that and she was wondering if it was really all that bad or if he was just saying it to get her off the subject. Besides, she knew that classes were going to start soon anyways.

"If you had a second chance, would you have gotten involved in these things that you say you shouldn't have or would you have stayed away from it knowing what would happen?" Ally asked and Ken thought about that for a moment. As they were having this conversation, the people foot ball and how annoyingly loud they were being was distracting Ken a little bit, but not enough to make it so that he couldn't process what he was trying to say. All had to end up waiting about seven seconds or so before she ended up getting the answer that she was wanting.

"I would still do it. Despite how crazy that may sound, I think I would still do it. Maybe I would do it differently with the hindsight factor kicked in and knowing what I would need to do to stay out of trouble. But I would still do it regardless. I think there would still be a merit to doing it after all regardless of how the final turn out would be. Besides, for all we know, things might end up being worse if I did nothing at all." Ken said and he could not believe that this was the answer that he had given Ally.

"Well Ken, I would really like to hear what your perspective is later. Right now we should be heading to class." Ally said and got up to start heading off. Ken sat back a little bit longer thinking about the class thing. He was honestly just thinking about not going at all. It would be easier if if did that after all. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to pass the classes. He was going to drop out anyways after the prom night after all.

There was nothing really else that Ken had to do really do for the rest of the school day. He walked around the high school track a little bit to sort of see what the hell was going on there. Well, that along with actually getting a little bit of exercise which he felt was a good idea. Only when he was there for like ten minutes or something and he did about two tracks of walking the bell had rung and Ken had to go onto his fourth period class, which was his science class.

Science class was one that he was not really all that interested in going to. All he did there was just write a bunch of Biology notes and all of that stuff. This was sort of a boring thing for him to do. He was not really all that interested in stuff such as Biology. Like he wasn't really going to blame the people who had liked the class, but he personally just did not like it all that much. It was a personal preference that he had in the long run.

During fifth period, it was his English class. While he was in his English class, he was getting ready for a essay that the entire class would be forced to write. He was not a fan of essays at all and he hated doing them. Then again, who would really want to take them at all. But he decided that he would just do them for the sake of passing his classes. He cared more about passing his classes than doing something that he had actually liked. Not that he had really cared if he had passed the classes or not at the long run of it all.

Once the school day was finally over, Ken decided that he would just try and head right on home. There was no real reason for him to stay there any longer. Besides, he needed to go and get his suit on for the dance. He knew that he needed to do this if he wanted to get people to be impressed with his performance at the dance. He thought that if he saw Brad once again, then maybe he would talk with him once again.

By the time that Ken reached the school track a second time, he would actually find Brad was standing there. Well, it started off with him just standing there but eventually he would walk on his way towards the exit of the track. Brad was most likely just starting to head on his way back home, and Ken thought that maybe he could get a chance to talk with him once again. Ken started to walk there a little bit faster. It was totally off in the way of where he had lived, but he thought that maybe he could thank Brad being so nice to him earlier that day and everything.

"Hey Brad, just wanted to thank you for hanging out with me. It was a really nice thing for you to do. I barely have talked with anybody in recent times, so I thought that you could know that you really gave me a good time. The fact that you talked and hung out with me at all makes things so much for me than they were earlier." Ken was saying and then when Ken was saying that, he started to walk on his way home. Since his house was on the other side of town as compared to where Brad had lived. But before he had fully gotten away, Brad had called out to him once again.

"Hey Ken, I know that you probably don't live in this direction, but maybe you and I can hang out for a little bit. I mean there are still like five hours before the dance starts. Maybe you and I can talk for a little bit more before the dance starts." Brad said and then when Brad said that Ken stopped. He thought that Brad was being even more nice than he was originally just for this moment of reaching out and everything.

"I think that we can perhaps have another final good conversation before prom. I was thinking that prom might be my last big thing before I leave high school in general." Ken said and then when Ken had said that, Brad decided to ask him where the hell he was going from there. Was he planning to drop out pretty soon, which would have been one of the worst ideas on the planet for him to do.

"When I am done with prom, I do plan on just dropping out of school. I don't want to do this anymore. I want to leave this place and just never have to worry about coming back or anything like that. I want to leave this place on a high note. So that way I don't end up hating this place even more than I already do." Ken said and then as he was walking as fast as he could, he was trying hard to not go so fast that Brad would be several feet away. Brad was trying to find a way to argue with Ken to make him understand that this was a terrible idea in the first place.

"You know that if you do this, you will not be able to get a bunch of opportunities to show up in your life again. You will just be shut off and you will never be able to get a good job. Obviously this will not be all that big of a deal if you just hang around your house and live off of insurance money. I don't know if that is something that you plan on. But whatever, it is your choice at the end of the day." Brad said and then Ken was nodding. He knew exactly about all of this. But he still wanted to make this choice all for himself and not deal with people telling him this was a terrible idea.

"You know I get that. But I just don't want to be in this school anymore. I just want to be able yo do my own thing. I want to not be forced to do a bunch of hellish things that I will not even be able to enjoy anymore." Ken said and then after Ken had said that he shook his head. "I can get a gas station job or something like that. Just something that I might be able to work at for the time being and all of that stuff."

"I guess that you could be able to get this job, even if you won't be able to make a full living off of it. I doubt that you will be make a full on living off of a job such as this. But then again, you are at least coming up with something that could be considered a good alternative. I doubt that anything too bad will happen if you actually do this." Brad had said and then when Brad said that Ken was looking at the statue near his house. He had never known about why the statues were there, so he decided to never really pay too much attention to it. But he decided that he could talk about it that once.

"Seriously why the hell was this thing even made in the first place. It never really makes any sense that this is just here. I mean out of all the things that they could build, they could have built a doughboy statue or something like that. But then again, there is that forced attempt to have so called equality even if it makes zero sense in the context that it is being used in. To be totally honest, I feel like liberalism is just a bunch of bullshit and just one of the most annoying things that somebody could make and try and work out with." Ken said and then when Ken said that, the two of them looked over and Ken pointed to that staircase nearby.

"My house is up these stairs. I don't need to do anything here besides just grab my suit for prom. Unless if there is something else that I need to grab that I don't remember. Such as you know, money or something like that. I think that I might use some money for the sake of buying a ticket and get some other things for the dance. But aside from that, I probably won't really get anything else." Ken said and after he had said that, Brad and Ken were going up that staircase.

"I am surprised at how big your house is. I was not really expecting it to be all that big. No offense at that to be honest. I don't really think that you give off that impression of having a big house at all. If you get what I am saying here." Brad had said and then after afterwards Ken reached the front door of the house. He opened the door and the two of them waited outside for a couple of seconds before Ken went inside and then Brad went inside a second later. They started a really strange conversation after this.

"I'm really bored right now, and I don't really know what to do right now. I guess that aside from getting ready for the dance, there is nothing to do. I really hate trying to make new friends, and then having them all leave me when they are done with me. Like their purpose with me has been served and then they never want to talk with me again after a while." Ken said and then after he had said that, Brad considered that and he was trying to really ponder what it would have been like to be in Ken's shoes. Talking with somebody who they only would get to know for a couple of days, or even hours in this case, and then they were just getting thrown away. Brad thought that maybe they can just talk at his house for about ten minutes or so.

"How bad was it really... being at your previous school and having to deal with different friends once you started to move on to this school? Did it really change your life all that much?" Brad said and Ken looked down on the ground and he knew that Brad just would never be able to understand.

"Yes it was truly awful. I had spent a whole school year helping some of my friends try to form a good life, a life that they would actually be a little bit proud of, dealing with some terrible monsters, and then I was forced to move away since I was the one that was indirectly responsible for what had happened. Trust me Brad, if you had been there with it, seeing what had happened, you would see what had made that whole thing so hard, and that group so special." Ken said and Brad was wondering what that whole thing was really like.

"Maybe it really is because I wasn't there that I can't really understand where you are coming from, not from lack of trying, but maybe I just need to be in your spot a little bit more to fully understand." Brad said and Ken stood up as he was rubbing his head. The more that he was talking with Brad, the more that this was really annoying him and the more that he was wishing that he had just kept his mouth shut and not tell Brad what he had been thinking and everything.

"You know Brad, I know what you are trying to do and I really appreciate that, but this is too much. I don't really think that you will get it. I don't blame you for that, but that is just how it is." Ken said as Brad stood up and then Brad thought that he could really make Ken see that he did care and he was really trying to understand Ken and that maybe Ken really could start to see his point of view before Ken just would shot him down here. But Brad did not really know what he could really tell Ken before it would start to get too far into his own back story.

"Ken, did somebody die when you were working with your friends at Wayside? I feel like I would only really understand if that is what happened..." Brad said and he was just going to leave it at that. He was hoping that Ken would figure out what he had meant and that he was just going to be allowed to only leave it at that and not go super in depth over any of the guilt that he was going to feel.

"Yes Brad, that did happen. Some of the people that I was friends with at Wayside when I went to school with them died on the final few days that I was at their school. I tried really hard to protect them. My friend Todd did as well. Todd was a good man, and he did his best to work with me. But in the end, the two of us did have some different ways of looking at things. That led to a little bit of conflict. While we were never rivals or something like that as you may imagine, but still, I wish that if we had come up with a more clear vision of what we both had wanted, the two of us could have eventually saved the city even more than we did. I think that maybe one day, I can see Todd again and we could truly understand each other once more." Ken told Brad as he was hoping what Brad would think.

"To be honest Ken, there is a point in time when you have to take your past, and just move past it. There is a point where no matter what you did, if you continue to look further and further back on it, the more that the event will really start to eat at you. Do you want to have a huge amount of survivors guilt?" Brad said and as he had told Ken that he was trying really hard to not talk about his past, since if he did, that was going to do a great job being the exact opposite of what he was telling Ken about.

"I don't want any of that, but I feel like I need all of it. I feel like the only way to truly remember what had happened and what I did that was wrong, I need to remember the stuff that had happened and continue the survivors guilt as much as possible." Ken said and he was wondering what about that was really making Brad thinking this way. It didn't really make sense for him, and it made even less sense for Brad. "One of these days I suppose, I can get over it. But that was only three years ago..."

"If something happens to my younger brother Tuck, then that will be on me. I at least feel like that will be the case. I know that he is sort of his own thing, and that he is ten now and when you are ten, you can do your own thing, but still, I feel like I am still at least a little bit responsible." Brad told Ken as Ken looked around to ask about the brother.

"What was your brother like? What makes you feel like everything that happens to him if directly your responsibility? Sam was never really that way with me." Ken said and then when he had said that, Brad thought about Sam and the more he had thought about it, the more those repressed memories were starting to come up.

"Well, I think I am just worried that they will start to do some things as me. I mean there were a few things in this last year or so that I should have never gotten into, and if I had a second round to do so and change everything, I would have changed it and not done any of that stuff at all." Brad told Ken as Ken was starting to think that there was a good way of looking at it and then when Ken was starting to think that if he had a sibling, he would have tried really hard to protect them.

"I am really glad that you are looking at it that way. This is better than the way that my brother ever looked at it. I don't know though, I don't really think I want to talk about rough stuff anymore. it is starting to really get to me. I will go on and change into my prom clothes." Ken said and then when he had said that, Brad was starting to wonder what the fuck was going on and what they had done and if somebody had heard this whole thing.

Brad was thinking that if somebody knew what they had said that this would really turn everything to the shit hole. "That is probably the best thing to do. I don't mind staying here, but this is something that I want to kind of get to the point of since I do want to go to the dance soon. Even though that is like four hours from now." Brad said and then Ken agreed to that. He needed to just enjoy at least one night of the time that they were outside and he was just hoping that prom was going to be even half as good as people had hyped it up to be.

So with that, Ken was starting to get ready to go on and get the suit ready when Brad was wanting to ask who was there. And he was sort of letting the fact that he exposed all of these details to a guy he barely knew really sink in but then soon enough he called out to Ken and then he was getting ready to ask the question that was in his mind.

"Is there anybody in the house right now besides you and me?" Brad asked and there was no real reason for him to ask that question, but he just felt the interest and need to ask him how that is. "I mean everything is pretty quiet here right now. I know that there are not all that many things that would be too affected by your answer, but whatever."

"I don't know. I bet my parents may be in their bedroom. But if they don't come out of the bedroom, then there won't really be anything to worry about here. I don't really think that I will need to talk to them about anything of you coming here if they don't ever see you. After all, there are only a few minutes that we are going to be here." Ken said and then he went into his bedroom.

"What is even going on here in your bedroom? You have a lot of things here that it looks like you have never used. Or at the very least not used in a very long time or something like that." Brad said as Ken placed the back pack on his bed and then Ken nodded. There was a level of truth that there was to this. He just didn't want to admit it. Not that he could use a lot of the items that he had gotten, aside from gifts from Todd and his notebooks.

"Yeah to be totally honest, I don't use things that people give to me all that much. It is a little bit of a self weakness. Then again, if I have no real reason to use it, then I should not even bother. I guess it really doesn't matter all that much. Unless if you count the money used to get it as wasted as a result." Ken replied and he didn't ever really think about the wasted money aspect as much as the fact he never really needed a lot of this stuff.

"Well, I guess whatever suits you in the long run. I mean, I would have tried to use a lot of the stuff that I have been given from my friends and family. I guess that is just one of the many aspects that makes the two of us different. But anyways, so where is your suit and what does it look like on you?" Brad concluded that little debate and then he would go onto the main thing that made the two of them go to the house in the first place. Ken then snapped his finger when he remembered that prospect.

"Yeah I will need to get that now. Thanks for reminding me. I would have totally forgotten had you not brought it up. I was more focused on the little conversation that we were having." Ken said and then after he had said that he went to his drawers. Then he pulled out what the clothes were and flashed them for a brief second to Brad. "I will change the bathroom over there. I will be back in about a minute or so." Ken said and Brad couldn't really say anything at all before Ken went right inside that bathroom. He just sat down at Ken's bed while he had waited for Ken to come out again.

Brad was wondering if he should check out more of the room or not. He was just really curious to know more about this dudes personal life, but he knew at the same time this would be extremely disrespectful to just sort of go through the dudes belongings. So despite the fact that he would admit he was very tempted to do so, he decided not to do it. But he did lay down on Ken's bed and pretend to be sleeping there for the minute or two that he would wait for Ken to be done in there.

As Ken was in the bathroom, he took a short second to look at himself. He usually did that when he was in the bathroom. No real reason besides the fact that he had a chance to. Once he was done taking a second to evaluate himself, he took his shirt off. After he had taken his shirt off, he placed it down on the ground and looked at the black button down shirt he was going to be using for prom. He grabbed it and then slowly put it on as if he were going through a personal transformation or something silly like that. After that he took his shoes and socks off and placed them next to his now useless shirt. He then grabbed the black slacks and brushed them off for a couple of seconds to get rid of that annoying dust that would get on there and then once he was done cleaning it up on a low level, he placed the clothes over his body slowly and then zipped them up when he was done. That was when he grabbed his black socks and slowly covered his feet in them and then put his dress shoes over that. The dress shoes he barely ever wore but did do when there was a major event coming up. Once he was done with that he took another look at himself and was kind of surprised at how good he had looked despite the fact he put virtually no effort into it at all. Then he left the bathroom to head back to Brad and talk with him further there.

"So that is what you look like when you are wearing nice clothes. I guess that you don't look that bad. Although I can see why you don't o out of your way to do it every day. You don't really look like that type of person who would be able to pull it off all the time." Brad said once he had seen Ken and he felt as if he were able to make a better assessment on the matter. Not that it really mattered all that much. It was just interesting to kind of compare and contrast a little bit to what he thought in his head to how it actually turned out in real life.

"Well I don't really think we need to be in here for any longer. So I think that we can actually head on our way out now." Ken decided and then when he decided that he then remembered one tiny thing that he could not believe he had almost forgotten about. He needed some money to go on and get read for the dance. If he didn't have any money, he couldn't get the ticket and all of this would have been for nothing. So he decided to go to his personal desk and see if perhaps he could get something from there.

He pulled out one of the drawers in his personal desk and when he had done so, he grabbed the money that he would need to go to prom and maybe get something to eat at the same time. Then when he was done doing that he then said that they really could leave this time. So with that, Ken and Brad began heading their way out of the house and on their way to prom. As this was happening, Sam saw what they had done and felt glad that Ken was actually taking action for once and was going to try and have a good time at this dance or anything in his high school life for that matter.

"Honestly, high school is just a heaping load of bullshit in my opinion. I don't understand the purpose of it and I doubt that I ever will. I know some people will find that to be some terrible thing to say and that I should respect the education system more. But why should I value a system that has so little value for the students in the first place? It honestly is just bullshit if you ask me and I am not even going to pretend that it isn't. We need to be more honest about the system." Ken said and then he looked at Brad wondering what he had thought on it.

"The school education system does have a noble goal on the end of itself. I will give it that. But it is really hard to see how it can exactly live up to that when the teachers seem to only be there just to get their pay check. It is sort of a cynical thought I have to admit, but I suppose that in the end there is a level of truth to the whole thing. I wouldn't slam the entire school system because of teachers that don't really seem to care though." Brad gave his thoughts on it and Ken was not too sure if he had felt the same way. He sort of got Brad's defense, but it still seemed very shallow in his mind.

"I sort of see where you are coming from, but I still don't really feel totally sold on the whole thing. I know that maybe I just need to relax a little bit and accept the fact that not everything is perfect, but I don't really know yet either. I feel like there should be at least some attempt at a perfect education system. That is how I feel on it at least." Ken stated and Brad was wondering what even would be a perfect school system in his eyes, or if he was just sort of thinking truly outside of the box.

"Where do you exactly plan on this if you don't mind me asking?" Brad questioned and Ken was thinking about it. Even though he had not wanted to say it, there was a good reason that many of these things had been the way that they were. Perhaps school was just a broken system. Perhaps he should just accept that fact for what it is.

"I can see if I can try and fix things later. I don't think there is anything wrong in trying in my opinion." Ken said and he was just too far out there and unrealistic on these type of things to really have a good grasp of things. He knew that, but he wished that things just actually would go well in the world that he didn't even care how far out there and unreal the whole thing was. He just wanted justice. Was there anything wrong with that wish in mind?

When Brad and Ken were sort of on their way over to Brad's house, Ken was sort of thinking of things he could say that could have any way to continue this conversation. He knew that he and Brad could have a lot to talk about he was just sort of having a hard time figuring out where to go. Maybe this was a sign that the things they had a common. The views that they had shared, were slowly started to come to an end. Which would have been a bloody shame to be totally honest.

"I just sort of thought of something. I know that this be out of nowhere. But is there something that you ever saw in your life that just scared the shit out of you and you had no real clue what the hell it was? I think I have seen some things like that in my life time. Stuff I don't know the answer to, or I guess I should say don't want to know the answer to. But have been sort of forced to see the answer to it in the hardest ways possible." Ken was saying and he was thinking about one man. This one man had ruined everything in his life and he wanted to get revenge but didn't know how he could at all.

"Yeah when you mention it I guess I do have one thing that sort of is in my life. Something that I wish was never in my life. Something that I would deny being in my life if I could. A man I had met when I was younger. A man in a purple jacket. I have no idea why he liked that jacket so much, but I guess that maybe it is his certain type of style. I just have a feeling that this guy wants something to do with me. I don't even know what it is though. Why would he want anything to do with me when I haven't done anything yet?" Brad was saying and as he was saying this Ken could tell that he had sort of triggered Brad into a topic he didn't really want to get into. Not that he could really blame Brad at all.

"What made you see the guy in the purple jacket? He was one of the things I was talking about in terms of people who have sort of ruined my entire adulthood life. I guess I should say teenage life. I just don't really know what is going on with him or what his problem is and I don't even know if I want to know. If you get what I mean when I say that." Ken said and then he shivered at the idea of this guy showing up again and trying to do anything with him once more. Ken really fucking hated that guy.

"This guy has tried to ruin my life so many times I truly have lost count by now. I don't even know if I want to keep count anymore at this point. I just wish that he would go away and never be in my life anymore." Ken said and then when he had said that, he waited to hear what Brad would have to say on the matter. He was curious to hear what Brad would say about this after all. Since he did ask for his thoughts on the whole thing.

"Well I think I was in school one day. I think it was the end of my previous school year. Which for me was my tenth grade year. I was super excited about finally being done with it all as you may be expecting. I threw the school supplies into the trash can with my friends and after I did so, I saw the guy for a moment. He was standing there across the highway of the school. He was just looking at me as if he wanted to attack me or try and get my lunch money or something silly. Of course I did not know any better at the time. Scared the shit out of me a couple of hours later though when I had time to reflect on what I had just saw. But then I decided not to worry too much about it when I went home and decided that I would head my way off to sleep. That would only be the first time out of several that I would see him." Brad answered as he shook his head. He could not quite believe that there was that guy to begin with. Seemed like something you would hear about in a fictional story made for just selling copies.

"What were the other times that you had seen him if you don't mind me asking. I can see why you would not want to answer that question though due to how much of a touchy subject this kind of is." Ken was saying and by this point, the two of them had passed by the park that was near the school and was getting near the curved high ways that would eventually lead to the large ass hills that would just be able to soon lead to where Brad had lived. Brad thought about what Ken had asked and if he did want to answer the question at all or if he had wanted to end the topic right there.

"I don't remember the next time I him was. The time time that I remember though was when I was hanging around near the movies with some of my buddies. We were talking about the movie that we had just seen and what we had thought about it. It was just a general play around for the group of us. But then something happened that put a sort of stop to my blood. I saw him again. Sitting in a car staring at us. There was a point in which I did get the courage to talk to him. Not during this encounter. I think it was the next encounter. I saw him a ton during that one summer of off time I had that year." Brad had responded and he had shook his head when he realized when that this guy was actually still a real life thing. He had thought that maybe this was just a thing that only really affected him and stuff.

"What were some of the things that you had seen that year? What were some other encounters that had happened during that time?" Ken said and then Brad shook his head. He had no idea what the hell was going on here. But he knew that if he wanted to help Brad defeat this asshole, he would need more information on what they had done during that time period. Ken didn't really have to deal with the guy too much in the last couple of years. After the whole Wayside incident, he has only seen him like once. And since he wasn't really sure if he was making this up, he decided that he would just talk with Brad and then things would be better.

"I don't really get what I did when I saw him next. I think I was hanging around in that sort of town lake near by. I was trying to build a fort or something like that with my friends. We were just trying to have a nice and fun time. Nothing more, nothing less." Brad said and then he shook his head when he truly did remember what this all was. "As I had built the fort and all that stuff, I saw him looking at us and then after seeing him for at least three times, I decided to see what was going on. So I began to walk my way over there and then as I began walking my way over there, he smiled at me since he was excited to see me coming over there."

"What the hell did he do next after that?" Ken asked and then Brad nodded as if he felt like this was going to be easier for him to deal with now. Living these memories once again were easy for Brad to do now given the fact that Ken was there, and there was at least one person who had been able to discuss what had happened then. So he decided that he would continue on this conversation and give a answer to what Ken said.

"Well when I had seen him, I told him that I had seen a few times and I had no idea who he was or what he was doing." Brad said and then he tried to remember what he had said as a response to this whole thing. "I don't remember what he said, but it was something related to taking something over."

"Oh my god, that asshole is still obsessed with taking that fucking place over? I thought he would have gotten the point by now and that nobody wants to help him do this evil shit. I just thought that he would have gotten the fucking message by this point in time." Ken said and then when he was saying this, this was making him actually really pissed. But nothing really makes sense to this. The two of them were now at the hill nearby the house. This was when Brad was asking him what he was talking about by this point in time.

"I have no idea what you are talking about right now. He didn't really talk all that much about what exactly he had wanted to take over. He was just being really vague and said he wanted me to take some place over and he had just left it at that. I didn't really know what else to say besides the fact that I just didn't know what to say or if I wanted to do this at all." Brad was saying and then when Brad had said that, Ken decided that he would explain what the world this guy was talking about was. He didn't ever go there, but there was some things that he had heard about it from his friend Todd and all of that stuff.

"I don't know anything about this world at all. I hope that I will never have to learn about that world at all. It is kind of scary for me to think about even the idea of me learning about the world or anything like that. However, I heard something from my friend who I had talked with and was really close with at the time. He had told me all about what this world was like and all of the things that he had to do in this world." Ken said and then he decided to go into what he felt was the best description possible to it.

"There was something digital about it as he had described. He said that there was something odd about it. As if he had gotten out of time or something like that. Like he went back in time to a different century or something like that. I was confused when I first heard about this and I don't think that most people would actually get what the hell had happened when they saw it on their own. But there was something to the way he described it that made me believe in him." Ken said and then he and Brad were starting to get close to the entrance of Brad's house. They would talk on detail to detail once in Brad's house.

"This whole world thing just seemed to be one of the dumbest things that I have ever had to hear about in my whole life. I don't really know what the hell else to say about it besides that right now. Although I do wonder what the hell he was talking about when he said he was in a different time. He did say that he had gone into the third crusade for a little while. After he had been in there, he had been forced to go on a bunch of contracts that would actually be going around and killing tons of people for the sake of keeping things closer to a good and up to date timeline. I don't really know if he was telling the truth or not here. But I don't really know or care if he was telling the truth or not." Ken had said and then when he had said that, when they were inside the house the two of them had no idea what else to talk about there.

"I don't really know what this world is all about. I don't even know if this world exists. I really feel as if the person who had said this and made these offers to us might be on a lot of drugs. That really would not surprise me all that much." Brad had said and then when Brad had said that he decided he had no real clue where he was going to go from there.

"I don't really know if I would want to talk about that disaster of a guy anymore or not. I feel like he is just out there to secretly kill us. I doubt that he actually wants to do anything for our own personal gain. I just feel like he is trying to lure us into something so that way he could be able to kill us this way." Ken told Brad and he felt like this was going to be one of the worst things that he would ever have to deal with. "If I ever see this guy again, I am going to try hard and defeat him once in for all so that way I will never have to deal with the guy ever again."

"But are you sure when you see him again, that he is not going to try and kill you first and probably be able to succeed at this. I feel like if you are trying to defeat him, he will find some strange things like a gun or maybe some force powers to defeat you. If this other world he was talking about what was true, then maybe he has some force powers." Brad was almost seeming like he was a Star Wars fan, which surprised Ken a little bit despite the fact that everybody at the time was a Star Wars fan.

"Well, it could be worse I suppose." Ken said and had no idea where he was even going with that. "I mean, I guess that we could be dead right now. I mean I had honestly thought that I was going to die several times during the time that I had known that asshole. In fact, I would say that there were several times that we should have died." Ken was saying and then when Ken had said that stuff, Brad decided that maybe there was a little bit of truth of this to what he had said.

"I guess that maybe there is something that you can be glad for. For all of the times that you even admit that you should have died, you have not died. I feel as if you could always be looking at the ways that it could be worse. But to be honest, that is not what really matters. What matters is the stuff that you have been forced to deal with for all of this time."

When Brad had said that the two of them had sat down at the couches and they were ready to talk with each other a bit more and stuff like that. "You know, I do wonder what it would have been like if I had said yes to his offer. Do you think that I should have said yes to his offer. I know that this really does go against everything that we had said earlier, but I feel like we could always talk about a nice alternate history universe or something like that while we are on it."

"I feel like if I said yes to his offer, we would be in a much different spot in life. I would not be trying to be a fucking hero and a great person when I would have no real need to do so at all. I admit to that. I would have probably been in that world and doing things there that I will admit that I would not be able to imagine at all." Ken said and then after Ken said that he looked around and thought about what he would have done. "If what my friend had said was true, I do wonder what that world would have been like or what different time period I would have been forced to go out and check in."

"I feel like if I had to go to a different time period from the one that we are in, I feel like maybe we should have been in the future. The future is something that we could have really changed and done something that matters. But the past is so locked in that I do not really think it matters anymore and besides if I mess with the former timeline too much, I will probably change things and I would never exist. You know, like in the whole idea of the butterfly effect." Brad had said and then that was when Ken thought about the point that Brad had raised and thought that this actually was a pretty good point to bring up.

"When do you think that we should go on and head down to prom? I do not want to be late to the dance or anything. I mean, I guess if I was like ten minutes late or something like that I wouldn't mind, but anything beyond that I feel like will sort of take away from the experience and fun of being there." Brad said to Ken when he sort of remembered that prom was still a thing and not just that asshole in the purple jacket who had ruined everything in their life.

"Maybe in like twenty to thirty minutes. I don't really see any problem in staying here for a little while. I mean we came here for a reason and there is no reason just to leave due to the fact that there is a dance in several hours from now. Although you should probably change into your outfit sometime soon so that way maybe you don't forget about it or anything." Ken had responded and then when Ken had responded to that question, Brad decided that maybe Ken was right to that on a certain extent.

"I should probably get my suit on right now. If I don't do that, then I will probably forget that I am supposed to do that and then I will be going in stag and you should never go in stag when you go to prom. Like Winter Ball and Homecoming is one thing, but prom is something else entirely. Like I know I sound strange when I say this but prom is sort of like a creature of its own if you get what I mean." Brad said and then when Brad had said that he stood up and then looked at Ken. "I will probably be back in a few minutes. See you when I am done getting ready."

With that Brad had gotten out of the room and Ken was just sitting there and he was wondering what the hell he was going to be doing while he was waiting for Brad to get dressed up and Ken was almost certain that he would be much better dressed up than Ken would be for the dance. It was a little bit pathetic that he was so bad at this stuff but he really could not help himself.

So with that Ken started to think about what Sam was going to say when he saw Ken come back home. Ken always hated the way that Sam would react to when he would actually do some things that would be considered fun in the eyes of most people. Sam was honestly probably the most annoying brother that had ever been created in the history of brothers. Well, at least in the eyes of Ken or something like that.

Once in the bathroom, Brad took a moment to look at himself in the mirror to see what he had looked like. He was just taking a moment to see the expression on his face and if he really felt good about what he was doing at all. This whole thing was just something else to him. Not just because of the fact that he was hanging out with Ken, a person who he didn't even know existed back twelve hours ago but the fact that they were talking about this really evil guy in the purple jacket. Well to be honest, was this guy even all that evil at all. Or were Ken and Brad just sort of over thinking it and this was just some random guy who really had no ill intentions and Ken was just over doing it. Well not really Ken ad much as Ken and Brad. Not that it really mattered all that much.

After he took a moment to think about this, he took the suit from the hanger that was in the bathroom and then afterwards he quickly took off his clothes and then once he took off his clothes he realized that this was something that was not what he wanted to do. He was worried that somebody would be watching in the window up above and try and take a moment to examine his nudity or something fucking stupid like that. Then he grabbed the white shirt and then looked at the white shirt for a moment for relatively no reason. He then put the shirt on and then he took a second to look at the black vest. He really like the black vest and then put it on over his shirt and then brushed his hair to be a little bit spiky and all that. He liked the idea of spiky hair for some reason. He then put on his black sports underwear and then his brown pants and then he put on his black socks and then his black dress shoes and then tied them up and then he smiled after he looked at himself in the mirror. Then he headed on his way over to Ken and talk with him more.

"Hey Ken, how are you? Were you just sitting there the whole time? That must have been pretty boring. Sorry if I gave you the impression that you weren't allowed to do anything while I was up there." Brad had told Ken and then when Brad told Ken that Ken shook his head. He really didn't care all that much that he was not doing anything for like five minutes. He was just a little bit bored, but he didn't care too much since he knew he would talk with Brad again soon afterwards anyways.

"Well, I was just thinking a little bit more on the subject of that guy in the purple jacket. I know that it feels like I should probably just let this subject go and leave good enough as it is. That would be what I would normally do if I had any trace of sanity left in me. But I don't really think that I am fully sane anymore. So that is why I am still on this subject." Ken was saying and then when Ken had admitted that he should have dropped the subject, Brad felt a little bit glad that that even Ken admitted that this subject needed to be over with.

"The last time I had seen him was at the end of the summer last year. I was walking around town and when I got near the hospital, I saw him right next to the bus stop right there. He seemed to be smiling when he had seen me because I saw him actually turn over at me. He told me to follow him and there was that part of me that felt like I needed to check out what the hell was happening. So I followed him for a little while just to see what he would do or what he was going to say. I thought that if for nothing else, it would have been at least a little bit interesting to see what he would have said to me." Brad started the final meeting story and he was wondering just what the deal was with the fact he was near a hospital was, but he decided to let the subject go.

"After a while, the guy was at a gas station and since he was so much faster than me, he decided to just wait for me while I was walking on my way there. When I reached him at the gas station, he had said that he would wait for us until we had reached him since he was so unlimited with time he didn't really care about how long it would take for his targets to meet him again. I have no idea what context that would fit in, but whatever. Anyways, so when I saw him again he told me to keep following him and that he needed to show me something else." Brad had said and then when Brad had said that, he shook his head as if he didn't want to remember the thing that he had seen.

"When I had reached him once again I was in a empty part in town that was crossed off by a off limits trespassing sign. I felt like if I wasn't smart enough, I would get in a lot of trouble but I decided that it really didn't matter, so I just walked on my way over there and didn't really care what the sign said and if I got in trouble, I could just explain what happened and get myself out of trouble that way. So when I saw him, I saw something that looked like a ritual and two people that were sleeping there that he put in a hypnosis." Brad continued his story and Ken gasped as if he remembered something in his earlier past.

"I think I saw something like a ritual when I was only like 9 years old. I don't really recall all that much of it or what was behind it. I doubt that anything was really behind it. Well, I guess I should say doubted. But if this guy was behind them after all, then I guess it will put context to the fact I remember it so clearly." Ken was saying and then he shook his head because he refused to believe that even the guy in the purple jacket had been related to that insane ritual.

"What did you even see in that ritual? I saw a bunch of people hanging around a circle and they were singing some form of oath to join a cult. The cult was something about a man named Blackwood. And something called the Blackwood company. I have no idea what the hell this is all about and I don't really know if I ever want to find out all about that. Not that there is anything that I could do to stop this cult, if it even is a thing." Brad told Ken and then when Brad told Ken that, Ken started to think really hard about what he had actually seen when he was there.

"I think when I had seen the ritual, the ritual was just talking about something called the Monster Hunters. I think that sounds even more insane and unlike anything from real life than what you are talking about. At least you have heard of something that sounded like it could have been like a real person or something like that." Ken said and then shook his head. He wondered what had happened with Brad after he had seen that ritual and what he had done. If he had ever even done anything after that ritual. "What did you do when you saw the ritual?"

"When I had seen the ritual, I jumped in the area and kicked down one of the candles which started a fire. The guy in the purple jacket looked over at me and he was extremely pissed off over the fact that I got in the way of his ritual. He pulled out his hand and seemed like he was ready to try and kill me. He had said that he was wrong about me and that I needed to be eliminated in order to not get the word. That was when I knew that I needed to get out of the area as soon as possible." Brad seemed like he was reliving the memories of having to escape like his life depended on it.

"Then when I heard him say that he lunged at me and I looked over and saw a giant window. I thought that maybe this window could be something that I could use to save my life. So I ran on my way over to it and then I broke the window open and jumped out. I fell down and got inside a hole. Which I feel like is the only reason I am even still alive to this day. I stayed inside and waited in that hole for a while." Brad said and then he ended off by saying that he had never seen the guy ever again afterwards, and he was saying that he was glad this was the case since he had never wanted see him again.

"I have no idea what to think of that. I mean you do have a pretty bad experience with the guy. But compared to what Todd would have to deal with when he knew that guy, what you had to do was pretty easy. He actually had to drive a car and almost drive it into a staircase and kill himself as crazy as it sounds in order to defeat the guy. Or what I thought would have been enough to defeat him, but since you knew him afterwards, obviously he was not defeated at all." Ken pounded his fist onto the couch and he couldn't believe that he was so angry about all of this. He was way too invested in this whole thing.

"Wait a second, I think I see something outside. I don't really understand if what I am seeing is true or not." Ken said and then he pointed out in the direction of Brad's window. The two of them stood up and opened the curtain and they had seen that Ken's fear was totally true. They had seen the guy in the purple jacket. But what he was doing wasn't really all that scary. It was just a little bit strange.

"Is he here due to the fact that he had heard us talking with each other?" Ken said and then he shook his head since he knew that is this was the case, they would have to be a lot more quiet about the way that they were talking since he didn't want to get in any trouble over what he was doing here. He thought that they could be able to have a casual conversation and not get caught for what they were doing.

"I really hope that he doesn't know what we are talking about and I also hope he doesn't get in the way of us having a good prom night. I don't want to get into a giant fight during prom." Brad told Ken this and he shivered over the thought of him being forced to fight this guy. This was the worst thing that he would ever have to do during a school event. Ken would have to agree, but again, Wayside and Todd.

"Maybe we should be heading out soon and going on to the prom event. Maybe in a few minutes so that way he would be able to gone by the time we head out. You should get your money. I think that this would take long enough." Ken decided and then he closed the curtains. After he closed the curtains, Brad nodded thinking that this would be something that he could do that would take long enough for the guy to go away.

"See you in a couple of minutes. I didn't even notice that I never got my money yet. That would be something that could ruin everything. I don't want to be forced to be turned back at the front door of the dance. That would be almost even worse than having to deal with the guy in the purple again." Brad headed off to his bedroom and he was in there for a much shorter amount of time than he was in the bathroom.

When Brad walked into his bedroom, he grabbed his wallet and made sure there was at least twenty dollars in there or so. He thought that he might need another ten. So by that standards, there would now be thirty dollars that he would have for the dance. Then when he was done, he walked into the living room again and Ken took another moment or so to check out if there was the guy out there or not.

"He is gone. Thankfully he is gone. I thought that he would have been out there for as long as it would have taken us to start heading out to prom and everything. I mean, considering how crazy this guy was, I would not be surprised if that was what he was doing." Ken got up and began to head on his way over to the front door of the house. Brad thought that Ken and him should head out there before the guy would show up again and try and kill them or try and make them join some cult or something like that.

"We should head out of here pretty soon, but I still feel like this one of the better things for us to do right now. If we leave the house, then he might know what we are talking about of him since it is in the public, but at the same time I don't want to drag this thing out too much. Give it another ten to fifteen minutes, and then I think we should head out." Brad said and then Ken was thinking that this was a good plan. Ken and Brad were thinking about other things to discuss now.

"How is Tuck? You mentioned him a little bit earlier, but it seemed like you were not wanting to really expose any details of him outside. Are you will to tell me some things now that you have gotten to know me a little bit more?" Ken asked and then when he had asked that question, Brad considered it and while the answer that he was actually having was no, at the same time, he was knowing that Ken was a relatively reliable guy, and he was thinking that maybe he was going to play along with this for the time being. He felt like a couple of details for the guy wouldn't really be all that big of a deal.

"My parents had Tuck as a way to try and make my life more exciting since I was starting to complain about how life was boring with no siblings and being the only child. So my parents decided that maybe if they did this for me, then maybe my life would start to get more exciting and I would not feel like things were so boring anymore. I feel like for the most part, that this was what had happened." Brad said and Ken wondered why Brad felt like that.

"If I was the only kid, I felt like things would have been so much easier and better for me. I wished that this was the case honestly." Ken said and then Brad felt like he and Ken were very different on that aspect, and then Ken just added in a "I feel like Sam just makes my life so much harder than it ever needs to be and he mainly does it for no real reason at all. Just kind of pisses me off."

"I wonder if Sam will be at prom. He seems to be kind of vague about it. He talks with Susan, his girlfriend, all the time and I am pretty sure that they are going to go on some form of a date since they do that every friday since they started to date. But at the same time, I am sure that even if they don't go to prom, they are going to do something like have sex. I just hope that if they do go to prom, they leave me out of it." Ken said and he was not even trying to shit talk Sam, he was just wanting to be sort of independent.

"I bet they will be going to prom. I really see no reason why they would not be going to prom. After all, prom is one of the biggest nights of the year and it will be odd for a already established couple to not go there. At least in my opinion." Brad said and then Ken nodded at that, Brad did have a good point. It would actually be a little odd if they didn't go to prom. Ken was just trying to think best for himself really at that.

"I guess you're right. I mean, my parents would probably be more shocked over me going to prom over Sam doing it. There is no reason for them to be shocked over Sam going to prom. In fact, he has probably been going on with it for the last several weeks, and my thing was sort of last minute. Besides, my suit isn't really all that impressive compared to say the suit that Sam would most likely be wearing to prom..." Ken said and then he figured that he was going to drop the Sam thing there.

"So Ken, what do you really think the purpose of life is? No I am not talking about what brings everything together, I am talking about what is sort of driving the world forward? What do you really think we are supposed to do in our life?" Brad asked and Ken was wondering why Brad was asking him this, but at the same time, Ken thought that maybe there was a valid point to this question, so he decided that he was going to answer it and not really talk down on Brad for the fact that the question was being asked.

"I think that we are put here to sort of create a story of our own. We are given a chance to really see what life is like on our own. I don't know where we are when we start off our life or anything like that, and I don't really any one of us will ever know, but I feel like whatever it is we are brought forward from there to try and give our life a chance and see if perhaps we can really change things one way or another." Ken said and then he felt like he said all he could handle on that subject.

"It is strange to think that way, but I do see where you are coming from in a certain point of view though as odd as your idea may be. I am wondering though if that were the case, then why the hell would there not have been some form of a sign about it early in our life? I feel like since there is no real sign about anything like that, maybe there really is nothing for us to accomplish and that maybe there is no divine being at all." Brad said and then Ken nodded to that question.

"Yeah I mean I don't think that maybe there is one single divine being that defines everything, but I do feel like there could be something. I don't fully believe in the idea, but at the same time, I never want to debunk the idea and I am willing to admit that the idea could be there." Ken said to Brad and then he was starting to think that maybe they did need to head out soon, as the fact that they were here was starting to make him feel a little bit at an unease.

"I don't really know, and the fact that we will never know is one of the things that really scares me. The fact that there is no answer so the fact is that basically anybodys idea could actually be the right one. I don't really know if I want to consider that, since it would mean that the ideas that the mormons have could be as right as the other ideas, and if you get to know me a bit better, you would know that mormons are not really people that I respect all that much." Brad said and Ken was seriously pondering asking Brad about his huge problem with Mormons.

"I feel like if we stay here now that the guy is going to be coming back. I feel like it is time for us to head out again." Ken said and then he stood up as Brad was staring at him. For a few seconds, he had totally forgotten about the whole problem that they were forced to be dealing with in the first place. Brad slowly stood himself up and he was taking a slow and deep breath and then he started to rub his pants a little bit.

"Yeah, perhaps you are right. I don't want to end this conversation off. Considering the fact that I was thinking you were really getting to know the whole thing behind Tuck a little bit, but I figure that maybe that was something that we were never really supposed to be taking about to begin with. Maybe one day, we can meet up again and tell each other all of the details about our life that we had not talked about earlier, and that we might want to know of a little bit more." Brad said and then right when they were getting ready to head out, there was a strange calling that made both of them stop what they were doing.

There was something that a shaking in the house and then there was the lights flickering off and then Ken took a deep breath and he was starting to think about the worst part himself. This was what the man in the purple jacket did before he started to attack them at their school, and he was starting to fear that this was what was going to be happening, and that they needed to get now. Ken looked at Brad and they looked like they agreed and they were ready to leave.

Brad and Ken got out of the house as soon as possible and there was still two hours left before the dance would start. "Do you know of the best way to enjoy myself at the dance? I don't really know if I could actually be able to enjoy myself since I am sort of a social reject and while I get why I am a social reject, nobody will ever want to dance with me at all and this pisses me off honestly." Ken said and then Brad felt like he would actually be able to help Ken out here. He thought that Ken could actually get some good use off of Brad's advice.

"I think that you should dance your heart out. If you are not going to get a date, you can always be able to just dance as much as you can to show that you are still enjoying yourself. And besides, it could be a good workout. As much as that sounds silly, but I am sure that you will get it once you try it out a little bit." Brad said and then Ken had nodded. He knew exactly what Brad was talking about here.

"I do that every once in a while. I did that for Winter Ball. I really hurt my ankle while I was doing so. My ankle has never been able to recover from it ever since. If I move my foot around a little bit, you can hear a few pops here and there. It feels like it is wearing down. I really hate that and I can't really walk around without feeling like I was aging a ton in the course of just a couple of seconds." Ken was saying and then when Ken said that he really wanted to feel his ankle, but he didn't want to stop walking or anything.

"That must really suck. I didn't know that you had something like that happen to you. How are you able to handle it at the rate you are going?" Brad had said and then as Brad had said that, Ken nodded. He knew that Brad was just saying that and that Ken didn't want to argue with Brad there or call the fake sympathy card but he thought that there was a lot of things that were more important than the comments that Brad would make here and there.

All of a sudden Brad and Ken saw something that interrupted their conversation that they were having. They were seeing a guy that looked like he was going to prom riding a bike or walking his bike.

Ken was wondering why the guy who was going to prom is just bringing his bike along with him. Like he knew that he probably wanted something that he could use for transportation, but why not just ride the bike instead of just walk it down the hill. That was why it didn't really make any sense to him and probably not really to Brad either. Well to be fair, Ken didn't really know what made sense to Brad or what didn't make sense to Brad. So he was just sort of guessing on that. But he thought it was a pretty safe guess.

"Hey what are you doing over there?" Ken had asked and then the guy who was walking his bike actually stopped and looked over at the two of them to see if they were were really talking with him or not. He smiled when he see Ken nod at him since he felt like he was finally getting at least some form of attention for once.

"Yeah, what are you wanting to talk to me about? I want to get to prom as soon as possible so I don't get to miss out on any of it." The student had said and then when the student had said that, Ken started to think about what he was going to say to this guy. Maybe he would just ask about the bike as well as his date for prom and then leave it off at that.

"Why are you going to prom with a bike? I would assume that if you wanted to go to prom with a bike, you would just ride down there and not just be walking it down. And besides there are like two hours left before prom. Do you seriously need to be heading down there so soon and right now." Ken said and then the guy decided to think about the point that Ken had made there.

"I was hoping that it would have gotten me to prom a lot faster, but it seems as if that is not the case. I am guessing that you guys are going to be going there as well. I think I might have a little bit of time to spare after all to have a little bit of a chit chat." The dude said and then sat down on the seat of the bike. Neither Brad nor Ken decided to tell the kid that this was a bad idea and that he could fall on over.

"Do you have a date for prom?" Brad decided to ask and that was when the other guy blushed in a moment of not wanting to day anything. Truth was that he just wasn't into that type of stuff. He liked the idea of dating and would like to date. Just not in the way that people would think of when they are talking in the general sense. He was strange in that way to say at the very least. It would make sense the more that you were able to know that guy.

"No I don't have a date. Not really interested in any of that stuff to be honest. Don't really want to go into a lot more detail than that. I just sort of keep it to myself what my thoughts are." The guy said and both Ken and Brad were thinking that this guy was acting more than just a little bit strange. But neither one of them wanted to comment on it, so they remained silent for the most part. But Ken was starting to make theories a little bit.

"What is your name?' Brad decided to at least get to know the guy a little bit since he was there was he didn't want to be a dick. After all that was what he had done with Ken. And Ken had turned out to be a pretty decent guy, so he had thought that maybe he could give this dude a chance and see exactly what he was made of after all. And if he wasn't all that good of a person, they could just leave him alone and go on their own way and act like the event never happened.

"My name is Eddie. I just moved here this year. Trying to fit in. Got sent here after some sort of embarrassing stories that I don't want to talk about. Lived with my mother formerly but I live with my father now. He is more tolerant of the stuff that I do, although not by too much. Even then, he would never threaten to kick me out or anything. That is why I moved here. But I will stop talking about me and let that be for a different story for a different day when I get to know you two more. If I ever do get to know you two more that is." Eddie said and he felt a little bit stupid inside for going off on that long tangent that neither Ken or Brad probably really gave a shit about at the end of the day.

"Well, I feel sorry that you had to go through that." Brad said in a way that was sort of half meant it half didn't really mean it. He was just too confused to really say anything beyond that point. Was still better than what Ken was doing, who was just sort if trying to add in the pieces together. "Well, my name is Brad. I will probably see you more around school now that I have met you and sort of have a visual of you in my head."

"Well I guess that makes me feel better. I don't know if I will ever really talk with either of you again though. Not that it really matters though. You two seem nice enough to at least talk to for a couple of minutes." Eddie said and then that was when Ken decided to bring the guy into the topic that he and Brad had been talking about for the last hour or two. He might eventually regret it, but he felt the need to know what Eddie would say on it.

"Did you see some guy near this house a few minutes ago? He looks a little bit strange. Has a purple jacket. Probably a middle aged man. He also looks like he doesn't really care about anything in the world at all. Kind of makes me think he is a little bit of a creep to be totally honest." Ken said and then that was when he thought that he should say his name, so he sort of randomly brought it up kind of out of nowhere. "Oh yeah by the way, forgot to say earlier, but my name is Ken."

"Well that is one way you can change topics really easily. Talk about some strange dude who you think is sort of a creep and then introduce your name afterwards. Although now that you do mention it, I think I do know who you are talking about with the guy in the purple jacket. Saw him once a few weeks ago. Didn't really know what to think aside from the fact that he looked really fucking strange with that outfit. Probably got it from a thrift store." Eddie said and then Brad and Ken both stopped what they were doing when they heard what Eddie had just said.

"I thought that this guy was a bit strange. I didn't really know what to think of him due to the whole purple jacket. But I don't really think that it mattered all that much. Although when I did see him, I could have sworn that he was staring at me and he was wanting to talk with me or something like that." Eddie had told the two of them and he put his hand on his pocket as if he was wanting to make sure that there was some pills there or something like that.

"I wonder what he did or if he was doing anything. Was he trying to get you to pay attention to him or do you think he was just looking around to see what you were going to do at that moment?" Ken was saying and then he was trying to figure out if the recent sighting was actually real or if Ken was just imagining the whole thing. If he had seen the guy, then he would know that he truly wasn't dead but if this was fake, then Ken would now be going insane right now with these fake seeings.

"I just saw him staring at me. This wasn't really all that big of a problem to me. I just saw him do that and I walked away. The biggest problem was the news that came up soon afterwards. I saw the news and in the news, the report was talking about a high school student who had recently died. I think you guys heard about that. Their body was found in the sewers and the death was reported to be about forty minutes after the time I had seen that guy. Which means that had I shown up a little bit later, I would have been the one who was killed. So I am starting to be glad that I was never the one who was killed since I was less than hour away from being the one who was killed then. I am convinced that this guy was responsible for the death of this student. I seriously just can't look at any other way and any other person would could have been responsible for the whole thing." Eddie had said and then as he had said that Ken and Brad looked at each other. They heard about their death and there was a second one who had died a couple of months prior. Nobody talked about it in fear of being looked at as a heartless asshole, but it did happen.

The three of them were waiting to see who was going to ask first. "Do you think that he actually is the one who had killed this person or do you think that it is just a really bad coincidence. I mean I am hoping that it is the latter, but I highly doubt that it is that nice. I have a strong feeling that this is the truth." Ken had said and then he rubbed his hair because he was not too sure if this was just the truth or if he was just over thinking it along with the other two in the area.

"I bet that he is the one that did it. I don't really know how he did it exactly. I am not even going to pretend to know how the hell this guy is able to do something like that, and I don't really care to know." Brad had said and then when Brad had make that decision, the three of them remain silent for a moment. Eddie said something that made the other two think more about what was going on.

"I think that we should try and ask other people about the death. Maybe we can ask some of his friends about it and see what they think about it. Or some of her friends. I don't even really remember what the gender of the kid was. Although I don't really think that the gender is all that important at the end." Eddie said and then he thought into it a little bit more. "I also think that maybe we could ask the principal of the school and see what the principal has to say about this. See if I can get their house address and I can ask their parents what happens by visiting them. After I earn their trust a little bit. If I am able to even talk to them at all." Eddie thought that he might have been going a little bit too far with this whole thing. And that maybe he needed to get the hell out of there. If he had stayed there a bit longer, then he would be taking this whole thing way too far.

"Well I might be seeing you a bit later. Prom better be good. I don't want this to be a waste of four hours of my life. You don't know what I can be able to do with four hours of my life." Eddie said and then took Brad and Ken's advice and got on the bike so he would actually ride it to the prom place.

"He does have a good point. If we want to be able to get a little bit more, maybe we should ask the school around and see what they say. After all, the principal would probably give us the kids address if we really press for it." Brad popped his knuckles since he usually liked to do stuff like that to prove his point. He and Ken really needed to get the hell out of this place, and head to prom. So they decided they would head there now like Eddie.

"I think that if we stay here for too much longer, then we will not be able to make it to the dance in time. Not that it would really matter if we end up being a few minutes late for a dance like prom. But I don't want to do anything like that." Ken had said and then the two of them started to walk around. The school was about twenty to thirty minutes away from where they currently were at the moment.

"I think that the sooner we drop this subject, the more that we will be able to enjoy this dance for what it is. I think that once we get inside of the school, we should just drop the subject and leave it off at there. I don't think that you will really blame me for that in the future." Brad told Ken and then when that was done, Ken decided to agree that they would drop the subject during the duration of the prom. But he did feel like he needed to say one more thing before they would drop the subject.

"While I would agree that we need to let this go during the dance, I think that one more agreement we should make is one that I think we should agree on. That if we ever see the man again in the near future, then we should try and and fight him off. If we fight him off, then we can be able to move on finally. I feel as if this is one thing that we can agree on. That we will leave him alone until he shows up again." Ken decided and Brad decided that he would go by this promise and agreement even if he had not wanted to at all.

"I wonder what will be at the prom. The school dances usually are a lot more things to school dances than just the general dance and songs. They usually have stuff like snacks or maybe a couple of games to be able to entertain the people who are in the school." Ken had said and then he wondered what type of snacks there even would be at the school if there would be any at all. "Probably just a bunch of chips and salsa and most likely some form of punch since there always is punch at the school dances."

"I don't really know or care all that much. I just sort of go there for the dances and dance with the people who are in the school and see what I can be able to pull off." Brad answered and he just really wished that there would be at least one person he could be able to dance with even if he didn't know who that person would have been and to be honest he didn't even care who that person would have been at all. Not that it really mattered all that much.

"I like dancing a lot. But I just really want to make my day even better than just dancing. So I will go around and try and ask a girl every few songs or something like that. I don't really know what to say about that. Maybe once I get a couple of dances done with, then I will a girl out and use my dancing as a way for them to say yes to my offers." Ken said and then Brad had shook his head. Brad thought that Ken was being totally unrealistic about this whole thing.

"I think that if you really want to get a girl to dance with you, you should probably get to know them a little bit you. You know, see how you guys get along and see what you guys have in common if you guys have anything in common. I mean you guys need to give them a chance on that type of level. If you don't really know them personally, will the dance really mean anything." Brad told Ken and he thought that there was actually a level of validness to all of this stuff. But he just wasn't all that great of a talker at all.

"I don't really have all that many things that I would be able to talk with a person on. I don't really think that I will be able to talk to somebody with them shooting me down for the fact that I have been considered to be the biggest piece of scum in the entire graduating class. I just don't really think that I will ever get any respect ever again. And that just makes me sad." Ken said and then after Ken had said that, he shook his head and just did not know how else to put it.

"Look just because nobody likes you now doesn't mean that you should just not try at all. You may have to try if you want to have somebody like you at all. Don't dismiss something just because it doesn't seem to go too well at the moment. Trust me, I feel as if once you really open up a little bit more, then things will start to go better for you. If it doesn't, then I will eat dirt and admit that I am wrong." Brad said and Ken laughed at the image of Brad eating dirt over things related to Ken. He knew that he didn't actually mean it, but it was just a broad term.

"I just am too scared to even try and do this. I will maybe try a little bit later. Like when I am done with high school and I am far out of the school side of my life then I think that I will be ready to do things related to dating." Ken told Brad and Brad thought that Ken shouldn't even wait the two years for that and that he should try and do something sooner. But maybe that was just a personal bias that Brad had been facing.

"How much does the dance actually cost?" Ken decided to ask a little bit out of nowhere. He didn't even think about how much it would cost until that had been a thing he had felt inside of his pocket. He took about thirty dollars from his pocket, and he felt that hopefully that would have been enough and that in reality it probably would have been enough. The most expensive dances in the school were usually thirty dollars or so.

"I would not really worry about the money that you would need for prom. I would be more worried about the songs that are being played and if the songs are going to be any good or not. If the songs are not any good, it would be really hard to actually enjoy dancing around. So I hope that for your sake, that the songs are good and that you don't get turned off just from the songs alone." Brad laughed as he said that and Ken was wondering what the hell was so funny about that stuff. He thought that it might have been interesting if that was the case, but he was not really all that worried about the dance or songs. But Brad might not be right that the songs are the only important part but it could turn him off from having a good time at the same time.

"Honestly, just as long as I get one dance, I will be happy. That is all that I want honestly. I just want to get one nice dance. I think that this is something that people can be able to understand that I just really want to be shown that I am not totally forgotten here. I know that I sound a little bit silly and paranoid when I say that, but I just sort of can't help but feel this way." Ken told Brad and then after Ken had told Brad this, the two of them were now on the final hill before they would actually reach the school.

"Either way, this is going to be fucking awesome. I am still really excited even if I talk about how annoying it is to be like this. I just think that this will be the best part of my school year. It will probably the only part of the school year that I will actually be able to enjoy here." Ken had said and he did a couple of air wave punches that seemed to make no sense to anybody else even to Brad but Brad decided not to talk at all since he could tell that Ken was enjoying the moment a lot, despite him shit talking earlier.

"You know, this will be the best dance I have ever had. It seems for me that each dance gets a little bit better than the last one. So that way if this trend keeps going up, the dance next time will be even better than the last one and then afterwards, the one at the end of my high school years will be the best dance I have ever had in my entire life." Brad said and then when he had said that, the two of them reached the entrance of the school and were ready to pay for their ticket.


	12. Fuck prom

Chapter 11: Fuck Prom

"Let's just get our ticket right away and just go inside the dance room so that way we don't have to be forced to be kicked out for not paying or we don't miss the first few minutes of the dance." Ken decided and he went to the front entrance of the ticket sales and he gave the people the thirty dollars he had with him and didn't even wait to be told if he had enough money or not he just walked inside of the dance floor. The person who had been watching the money prices and ticket sales was about to call out to him but they had decided to let it drop when he was so far away that he could not be able to hear her at all.

Afterwards, Brad had paid his price for the dance and then he did something similar to Ken. When Brad had done that the girl decided that it didn't really even matter at all what the people were doing. At the very least they had paid for their ticket. Well they had paid more than anything else should have been the correct statement. Besides, there would be those assholes that paid extra and then that can make up for it all.

When the ticket buying was done, the two of them were starting to dance as much as they had wanted. Brad started to look for girls that he could dance with since they all started to look at him with his great suit and they had thought that he had looked pretty sexy to be perfectly honest. Afterwards, the girls would not be able to have enough of him and they wanted to all have a turn with him. It is like the girls had loved him, which was something that Brad had not really experienced in a long time.

Ken was just going as good with his dancing as possible. He had not even cared that there were just a bunch of Beatles songs, a band that while he didn't hate them, he just didn't really care all that much on them and would only listen to them when they were all over the famous stations and stuff like that. He was not caring though since he had went to the table of the dance floor and wanted to go as much as possible since he wanted to be totally lit.

While this was going down, Eddie had his own fair share of awesome entertainment at the dance. Not what other people would be considered correct to do at a dance, well at least later on in the four hour spree of events but he had honestly just not cared all that much what people had thought of it. He was enjoying what he was doing a lot and there was no real reason to make him stop, even if it was not really considered to be correct in the eyes of many people.

At least at first it had seemed he was just doing the exact same stuff that Ken had been doing. Just dancing around and was going crazy and not really giving a shit what people would be thinking of his dancing moves and all of that stuff. Eddie started to do a bunch of random dances as if he had was trying to go down as the craziest person in the history of the dance floor. Or at the very least the history of the school. It wasn't like it had really mattered all that much. Nobody had stopped him or told him that he needed to stop at all. He had thought that he was just too good to be stopped for his good and fun to watch dancing.

That was the main thing over the course of the whole thing. The fact that people had been able to enjoy watching him do all of this. Even if it was just as a meme but that doesn't mean that it wasn't all that enjoyable at all. A meme is something that is always able to be enjoyed no matter what people would think of it and he was just wanting to show people that he could go all out. One of these days, people will be talking about everything that Eddie had done during the dance and it will go down as the best thing that would have happened in the dance. It is hard not to be the best thing about the dance though when you look at the future of the dance and all of the stuff going on.

"Hey Eddie, what exactly are you doing right now?" There was a random guy that finally stopped Eddie on what he was doing when they thought that Eddie had needed to stop and finally take a break. Eddie turned around and saw the guy who had made Eddie stop what he was doing. He had no idea what to really think of the fact that this guy was doing this to him at all. The guy was kind of nice and he wasn't being a dick about the whole thing. And besides, the guy looked pretty decent to Eddie and he felt so bad over the fact that he was thinking that a guy was pretty decent looking and all that.

"I'm just dancing around right now. I don't really think that there is anything else to do right now besides just enjoying the idea of dancing. So if you don't mind, I am going to be going back to be enjoying what I am already doing right now." Eddie said and in hindsight he sort of felt bad for how rudely he had put it, but at the same time he honestly had not cared at all. He just wanted to get back to his dancing even if it had meant that he was going to be a little bit of a dick about it.

"I was just asking a general question. Sorry if that bothered you so much. I didn't know that you couldn't spare a couple of minutes to chat up with somebody over your dance moves." The guy said and he was starting to wander away when Eddie seemed to think about it a little bit more. Maybe he could give this guy a little bit of a chance. See what he was really like. After all, it could not be worse than not being talked to at all. At least with this, he could say he talked with somebody during his time at prom and maybe even get a dance or something. Even if it was with somebody of his own same gender. Which despite him not wanting to admit it in person, he had actually preferred it that way. But that was something he tried to keep to himself so that way people wouldn't go around making fun of him all the time.

"Look sorry. I just was not expecting somebody to talk with me. How about we start over. I was just having some fun dancing. How are you doing?" Eddie decided to try and interact with this guy normally and see how it would go from there. "What type of dances do you usually like to do? Are you even a dancing guy or are you just somebody who stayed behind to observe the dances?

"I dance to songs I like. So about three or four songs per dance. But everything else I just sit and watch. No real reason to jam out if you just simply do not enjoy the dance I feel like." The other guy had said and Eddie had thought there might have been a level of truth to what he just said. But Eddie just liked dancing so much he never really cared what the song was usually.

"I only sit out one or two songs per dance usually. I only really do that to take a break. I feel like if I just dance the whole time, then I would probably be just dead by the end of the night in a mental state. So for my own sake I have to take a couple of quick breaks here and there so that way I don't like totally over do it or anything. Or at the very least that is just how I do it." Eddie said as he laughed over how much of a daredevil he was. He didn't like taking the breaks and when he did it was only for one song before he would go full throttle again.

"Well, I don't know if I got your name. If I did then I already forgot. So can you tell me what your name?" The other guy said and Eddie supposed that he could talk for a little bit longer. He wanted to go back dancing but a couple of topic points would not hurt. And if one of them was as simple as his name, then things would probably be over with in a couple of seconds anyway. So playing along for just a little bit would not be all that big of a deal for his dancing streak.

"My name is Eddie. How about you? What is your name?" Eddie responded and the other guy smiled when he realized that Eddie had seemed to warm up to the idea of conversation. Showing that maybe he wasn't a total asshole after all. Or not as much as he had been in that introduction moment and that he just needed to warm up to the idea of a conversation first. That is what the other guy assumed of it all.

"My name is Richard. Nobody really talks with me that much. Probably because I swear all the time and has a really bad probability of having a STD. Please don't ever tell anybody that since I don't want people to make fun of me even more than they already do. If they find out then I will be looked at as the dumbest guy on the planet and I will be made fun of until the day that I die." Richard told Eddie as he scratched his balls and Eddie pretended as if he had never seen that.

"I never really like to talk with other people that I never meet. I am always scared of how people are going to react when they see me the first time. However. usually once I start to get to know them a little bit more, the better that they seem and the less I worry about the way that they would react to my own personal feelings and ideas." Eddie told Richard and he had no idea why he was getting so personal all of a sudden with this Richard guy when just a moment ago, he had no idea this person even existed.

"Well that is the thing. You got to be open to talk with people even if you are scared about. Everybody is scared of something. Talking with people about what you are thinking and what you are feeling is a very large fear that many people have and it is hard to fix unless if you tackle it head on. You need to be more open. you need to talk with people and then you will start to feel at peace more." Richard had told Eddie and there was a way about how Richard said this that really kind of moved Eddie. The longer he talked with Richard, the more guilty he had felt about it.

It had even gotten to the point in which Eddie was not really minding the whole ball scratching thing. It had bothered him and annoyed him at first but then over the course of a couple of seconds, he stopped really caring all that much. He was just wondering why he would do it publicly and not at the very least be a little clever about hiding it. That was when Eddie decided that he just needed a moment to be alone and that he wanted to just get the hell out of the area before this started to get so bad, he could not be able to rebound from it.

"I need to go to the restroom. I need to be alone right now." Eddie had said and then he ran out of the room. As he ran out of the room, he was heading on his way to the restroom. He was going to stay there for a few minutes. Just to really sort of comprehend what is going on in his small head. Yes, he called it a small head. He didn't even care how silly it had sounded. But once he was in the bathroom, he put himself against the wall and started to pant really badly.

"Why am I feeling this way. It just is not right. I should not be having these thoughts. I wonder if maybe I can just calm down a bit and everything will be able to go back to normal. He just seems to kind of be a really nice guy. I just don't really know what else to say about it other than that." Eddie shook his head and then he realized after he had said that he actually did really need to use the restroom. So he went inside the first stall, was glad nobody else was in the bathroom to hear him and then he did his business and washed his hands as if this never happened. Washed hands, indication of a new clean slate in his eyes.

Once he was out of the bathroom, Eddie thought that he could be able to go back to the dance floor and be able to be fine as if this truly never did happen. But right when he was just a couple of feet away from the dance floor and giving things another round, he saw Richard also standing there. He saw that Richard was just minding his own business. Or what Eddie thought and Richard was pretending to be minding his own business.

"What are you doing?" Eddie asked when he had reached Richard again in his very best attempt to pretend as if he had not noticed the fact that Richard was standing right there and being a quiet and patient man. This was making Eddie even more concerned for his own sake and being able to actually present himself in a way that seemed to be even with the smallest amount of dignity. Maybe he should have done a better job washing his hands and taken another minute or two in the bathroom to make sure that everything truly was all washed up and everything.

"I was just waiting for you to get out of the bathroom. I wanted to make sure that our conversation would actually be able to be finished and not forced to be cut off at any one random moment due to the fact that you needed to do something. After all there are still about three and a half hours left of this dance to go." Richard was telling Eddie and Eddie had the bad feeling that he was just not going to be able to get rid of this guy and this was what was worrying him so much.

"I don't really know what else I can talk about. I feel like I have sort of hit enough points to say that we had a full conversation. I think that we can just leave things off here and just go our own ways. What would you say? I feel as if that would be a good idea." Eddie said and then when Eddie had said that Richard put is hand at the wall and was looking at him as if Eddie really had not said all that there was to be said.

"I know that you are hiding stuff. There is no real reason to be so worried. Just open up a little bit and just have a normal conversation. Just tell me what is worrying you so much right now. I am here to talk. Unless if you want to go back to dancing. In which case I will actually respect your wishes and leave you alone." Richard had said and then Eddie was trying to decide if he should take this leap of faith or not. Eventually, he decided that he would give it at least a try.

"I was really not wanting to say anything, but I feel as if you sort of have pushed me to the point. I thought that I could at the very least have the decency to hide it from you. But since you are so insistent of me letting you know, I guess that I will go on and tell you." Eddie said and then he decided to say it fast enough and with no interruptions to make sure that Richard did not stop him from what he was going to try and say. "Well the thing is that the longer that we have been talking, the more I have been impressed with the way that you have been speaking to me and the way that you seem to be open minded. So I went to the bathroom to get my thoughts together and act like I was keeping it all calm when I have not been at all in reality."

After Eddie had told Richard that, he watched as Richard was sort of thinking of what Eddie had told him. He had not really known what to say. It was just odd to hear Eddie basically just say that he was sort of into dudes. But then Richard decided that Eddie was at least smart about what he was doing in the idea of being mostly quiet about the whole thing. He decided that Eddie needed to have some sort of response to what he had said so that way there was at least some form of pay off to what he had said.

"Honestly, I don't really know what to think of it. I don't really know what to think of you liking me here. Maybe I just need to take some time to think about what you have told me right now." Richard said and then Eddie was so surprised at the assumption that Richard had said but he thought that maybe Richard had sort of exposed to Eddie what he was just too scared to admit in reality.

"Maybe you should go on and give this a try. You never really know if you like something until you go on and give the thing a chance. If you give this a chance then maybe you will actually like it more than you had assumed. You know, trying something with me." Eddie said and now he was feeling terrible for sort of trying to seduce Richard into doing something for his personal gain. Maybe he just needed to go away and leave the dance entirely. He knew that he was supposed to be having it with girls, not somebody with the same lower body part of his own.

"I guess one try could not be all that bad. What are the possible side effects that could really come out of it in the long run? I think that we should go into the bathroom and then that way we can be able to be hidden for a little bit. Maybe people will just think that we were having a really bad shitting." Richard said and Eddie shook his head over the dumb ass ness of this idea but he was glad to be given a chance so he didn't care.

Eddie had agreed with the idea and they headed on their way to the bathroom. Then when he had walked into the bathroom, the two of them look at the first stall of the bathroom. Eddie opened the door and then when Eddie had opened the door, Richard had walked inside of the stall. Then Eddie came in afterwards and once he was done, Eddie closed the door and then afterwards Richard looked over at Eddie.

"Are you sure that you want to do this? Do you think we should stop this before it starts to get any worse? I have a feeling that if we get caught while doing this, then we will be made fun of for the rest of our lives and I don't really know how else I can be able to live the rest of the high school life to make it so that I am able to actually not be ruined. I don't want to be ruined." Eddie was saying and he shook his head and then afterwards Richard told Eddie that he needed to shut the fuck up.

"You were the one that had brought up this idea to begin with. Not just keep going on and give me a blowing. I will go around with you once you are done with me." Richard had said and then afterwards Richard had unzipped his pants. Then when he took off the pants, he put his balls and dick outside of the hole in the boxers and it was erect. Eddie decided that he needed to give this a try before he was told to stop doing it.

Eddie put his mouth to Richard's dick and then he started to suck him off as fast as possible. He was really excited to be sucking this guy off as this was the first time he had ever had sex in a way that he was able to enjoy it and fulfill what his personal desires had been. He had sex once back in freshmen year and he had it with a woman. He had thought that it was decently pleasurable but in the end he did not really like it that much. He felt like it was a little bit boring for lack of a better term. This on the other hand was something that he had liked and he had wanted to do more often.

It seemed that Richard had agreed when he had told Eddie to keep going on with the sucking. This made Eddie go as fast as possible and soon enough he had decided that he needed to pull out in a figurative term for a couple of seconds. When this was done, Richard started to cum all over Eddie's face and Eddie felt excited when he had that on his face. He wiped the white semen off of his face since he did not want to get caught doing this in the future and facing even more ridicule.

"I think I should switch. It needs to be my turn to get sucked." Eddie said and then before he was able to get his much desired turn of getting blown, there was something that scared the shit out of him. Something that was able to ruin every form of enjoyment that he had ever been able to have in this dance. This was when he had saw somebody that he talked about with Brad and Ken. Nothing he had imagined he would see again.

"What the hell are you doing? Why are you just standing there like a fucking idiot? I mean you are not doing anything right now." Richard had said and then when Richard had said that Eddie said that he needed to check something out to make sure that he was going crazy at that current moment. So Eddie looked at Richard and thanked him for the moment and said he would come back when he was done and they can finish up. As this was going on, Eddie walked out of the bathroom and he saw the man in the purple jacket standing there.

"What are you fucking doing here?" Eddie had asked and then when he had asked that question, the guy shook his head. Afterwards, when he was done, the guy started to walk away and he was showing Eddie that he needed to follow him there. Eddie started to follow him into the dance hall and with each step that he had taken, he was getting more and more glad that he had wiped out the cum off of his face.

As this was going on, there were two other things going at the same time. There were two side stories going on in prom. There was the stuff going on with Ken and Brad afterwards, and the stories that both of them were far less embarrassing than what Eddie had been doing. Far less of an embarrassing than what was just going on at that moment. He had really not liked how any of this was going on. By he meaning Ken, since he was just doing a bunch of dancing around. The dancing was the best thing that he had been doing. He had been wondering what the hell he was going to be able to do in terms of having a possibility of a date and all of that stuff.

Ken had actually taken his shirt off and then when he had taken his shirt off, he felt like he was bringing down the house a whole ton. He actually did a couple of acting sexy dances with his shirt by rubbing it on his balls. As somebody would later on describe it, the way that Ken dances would have been considered spastic at best, borderline pornography at worst. It was a funny way of looking at it, but he really did not care all that much. That was when Ken had actually walked up to a girl and he was going to actually try and ask her out and see if she would like to dance with him. Maybe after him being shirtless and him having a few good dances, then maybe the girls would actually be able to like it (T.K.'s note: I actually did an entire school dance without my shirt off. It was Winterball in Sophomore year. Nobody remembers it since it was just over shadowed by junior year Winterball.)

After he started to try and ask another girl out for him dancing with her, Ken thought that there was a lot of stuff that he could do in order for her to say yes to his offer. He got his courage up and decided that he would just her if she would say yes to his offer to dance with her. "Hey, I noticed that you seem to be a little bit alone. Do you want to dance with me for a song or two?" Ken was saying and then the girl looked over at him.

Despite being appalled by the fact that he didn't actually have a shirt on at all, she seemed to think that maybe Ken could actually be good enough for one song. "I don't think that I want to do anything beyond that at all. But maybe a couple of songs would not be all that awful. So I might as well just go along with this. Let's see what you are made of when you try to be intimate with me."

"I don't really know if I can pull it off too well. I can at the very least try to do a good job at it though." Ken gulped as he had said that since he felt like he really could not fail this at all. He needed to show her that he was a good dancer for the sake of showing that he could pull it off. But at the same time, he needed to not be reckless about the whole thing, so he decided that he needed to just go as slowly as humanly possible to make sure that he would put his hands on her shoulder as well as just have him talk with her for a little bit.

"So how are you right now? How have you been enjoying the dance up to this point in time? What do you think that you would do in order to make the whole dance better?" Ken decided to pull a small talk type of conversation. He had known that this was a bad choice since he knew that she didn't really care about the dance. But he thought that there was at least something that he could talk with her about.

"I don't really know if I would change anything honestly. I was forced into this terrible dance. I don't really think that I want to be here that much longer. I think that I might tap out in another hour or two. Sorry if I make it sound like I am not grateful for being here. But I don't want to be here for four fucking hours." The girl had told Ken and while Ken would want to be here the whole time, there was no real way that he could argue with her. It might be kind of boring to be thrown into this dance and just not have anything happen. "Why are you not wearing any shirt at all?"

"Because while I was dancing, I went a little bit crazy. I usually do some silly stuff when I am doing a bunch of wild dancing. This is nothing all that strange. I would not really think about this too much." Ken told her and she had thought that this was fair enough, even if she did not like to see him on the verge of nudity or anything like that.

"Well I guess you don't want a bunch of sweaty clothes or anything like that when you are done with the done. So I will leave you alone on it now. Just be prepared for other people to get onto your business for this. Or maybe I am the only one who will call you out and I will feel like a giant asshole for speaking like this to you." The girl decided that it was time to talk about something else before Ken would get annoyed and end off this somewhat decent slow dancing he was giving her.

"You know, I think that maybe you should just talk slowly with some people. If you did so and talked with them and got used to them and got to know them for a week or two, then you will be able to get them to go on a date with you soon enough." The girl said and Ken was getting tired of everybody telling him he could on dates soon when he knew that he just could not. He was just tired of being told he was good enough even though he was not good enough for this.

After this, Ken and the girl were silent for a few seconds. Ken put his arm around the girl's neck and she was kind of shocked that he was jumping to that conclusion. Not that she minded it or anything, but she just was not expecting him to do anything. Maye there was more to this guy than she had originally thought and she just needed to give give him an honest chance here. As he was just not that bad or a guy at all with the dating scene. Or at the very least the seduction scene.

"How about you show me more of what you are made of after the dance is over? I think I would not mind giving you a chance to prove your worth." The girl said and Ken was starting to wonder if she was wanting to have sex with him. He had never had sex with anybody and he was not really sure if he could be able to handle this with no experience.

Then again, everybody who has sex the first time goes into it with no experience. So when he sort of came to that fact for himself, he decided to stop making such a big deal out of it and just embrace the fact that there was even a girl at all who was offering to try and do something with him. This was making him feel like there was some good that could come out of him.

"I think that we need to take things a little easy right now." Ken was saying really quiet and thankfully he had said it so quietly that the girl did not hear him. So she decided not to freak out over this whole thing or anything like that. He decided that he would just keep more of these thoughts inside of his head so that way there would be no real chance of something coming out of his mouth that he would be caught on for.

This was when there was something that forced him to stop what he was doing. Well maybe not forced him to stop doing what he was doing as much as very much willed him to stop doing what he was doing. He saw a girl running out into the school hallway and was escaping the dance as much as possible. He was wondering what the hell was going on with her and felt that she might need some help in order for her to want to get back to the dance. "Hey, I will be back in five minutes. I need to go on and find my shirt." Ken had said and then the girl was going to try and say that she didn't mind him without a shirt anymore, but he ran away before she could go on and say that.

So Ken ran off and he went inside the section of the hallway that was no longer inside of the dance room but was still close enough to the dance room that the person who would leave into this hallway could just take a quick break and still make it back into the dance after a song or two. Once Ken was inside of the hallway, he saw everything all dim and dark. This was making him feel like he needed to start treading this thing really quietly. He had no real idea why he was taking this so slowly and why the hallway was so dark to begin with. But he had not really cared as he was getting closer to the end of the hallway and onto the staircase. After he got onto the staircase he reached the second step of the staircase and then sat down next to the girl while he had a quick flashback to the staircase of Wayside.

"Hey, what was going on?" Ken asked the girl and was wondering what this major problem was. "I know that this may not be my business at all. Sorry if I am getting into something that I should stay out of. I just can't really help but ask you." Ken was saying and then when Ken had said this, there was a silence that she had for a few seconds. She was trying to decide if maybe she should tell him what was going on or if it was just something that he should stay the fuck out of.

"You know, normally I would be really angry and try to tell you to leave me alone, but I can't really help but not do that. I feel like you are nice enough to know what the truth is. So I guess I will let you know what I am going through." The girl had responded as she was starting to cry a little bit. Ken really was starting to think that he should have left her alone when she started to speak everything out to him. Ken was thinking this was going to just take a minute or two but then she gave him like a ten minute story.

"I just found out that I am pregnant. Do you know fucking realize how much of a disaster this was. I have no idea why the person who had sex with me had not been using protection. I just don't understand why a person could just not give a shit about anybody else. How could he decide that sex was so great and not realize that he could have at the very least been smart about the way that he was doing it." The girl had said and then when she had said that Ken didn't know what to think. A high schooler having a kid. This sounded like a bad idea for anybody with sense, even him.

"Why not just give up the child for adoption so that way you don't have to worry about being forced to raise a kid that you might never have ever even wanted?" Ken asked and when he asked that he actually did feel a little bit bad for saying that, but at the same time he was just trying to be realistic and reasonable with this whole thing. The girl was a little appalled by the whole thing but she knew that he certainly did have at least some form sense to it despite her not wanting to admit it at all.

"You know what, I think that while there is a level of truth to what you say, I don't think that I would want or should do just that. I have the kid and the kid is inside of me, I feel like it is my job to raise the kid even if I don't really want to." The girl had told Ken and she was looking like she was on the verge of crying. And Ken could be able to understand why she was so close to crying over this whole thing. He would if he was in her shoes.

"I just thought that it would have been a decent idea. I thought that maybe you would have considered it for a couple of seconds." Ken had told the girl and she shook her head. She had told him that she did consider the whole thing for a moment. "I think that you need to talk with the dad a little bit for a moment. Maybe if you talk with the guy a little bit you two could be able to come up with more of a compromise."

"I doubt that you would be able to understand what he is thinking. I had considered it for a little bit, but at the same time I think that he would just shot me down the entire idea of the whole thing. I think he would just tell me that he doesn't care about the kid at all. And that he would just want me to fuck off and that I need to take care of myself without him be next to me and that it is my fault that I am pregnant to begin with since I am the mother and I am the one with the baby in my stomach." The girl had told Ken and Ken was wondering how he was going to be able to tell her that she would not know any better until she had given it a try first.

"Maybe you should just ask him first. You probably never know any better until you actually go on and give it a try first." Ken had said and she was shaking her head as if he just was not able to get it at all. There is a level of truth to it that Ken would have to admit. That was something that he was just never able to understand since he was not the one who was having a child inside of him. He was glad that he would never have to be the one who would have to carry the child inside of him.

"Look I appreciate your trying and you acting like there is a little bit of a heart inside of this asshole. But at the same time, you just do not seem to get it. So please just stop asking me about the guy and the idea of him being able to help me. He would not give a shit and there is never be able to have the guy do this. He would just say that it is all my fault and that I need to just be smart in the future." The girl had told Ken and then Ken nodded. This was showing him indicate to her that he did indeed give up the entire argument and that maybe she is the one that knew what to say. But maybe he just needed to come up with a different topic about the child, such as her getting funding for it.

"What about money to raise the child?" Ken had asked and then the girl considered the question. She seemed to think that Ken really did have a good point with the idea of raising money for the child. If she didn't get at least some form of job or something like that, then she might actually be forced to give the child up for adoption and she did not want to admit that this is the case. But maybe she will have to get her parents to help her get some money at least for the first couple of years of their life.

"The thing is that after the first couple of years of the kids life, everything will start to calm down a little bit more. We will be able to actually go on and get a job during hours they are at school and then that way I can be able to start to get funds on my own. But until the point they are at least five or six years old, it will be really hard to handle." The girl was saying and Ken was thinking that there was a very valid point in what she was saying here right now.

"I really hope that everything goes well with this kid. I really have no idea how I can be able to help you out here. If I can be able to help you out here at all. Maybe I just have to wish you good luck and everything." Ken was saying and then he came up with an idea. He went inside his pocket and realized he had six dollars in there. "I know that these six dollars are nowhere near close enough to giving you the money you need to raise the kid, but maybe it can it can help you out here. It can be able to help you get something at the store or something like that." Ken said and then he stood up and shook his head. He really had no idea what else he was going to be able to do to help out this poor girl.

"Are you ever going to see me again?" The girl asked and Ken turned around to look at her. He had no real idea what he could say to that question. There was a chance that they might see each other at school again, but then again he did not even know if he was going to continue down the school path. He was actually thinking about dropping out before he would get any deeper into the whole program. He was just so sick of being used by everybody and he had just wanted to get the hell out of this place. But if this girl needed to have somebody help him out here, then maybe he could just stick it through the next couple of years to make sure that she still had at least one person who would have to help her out with this stuff when nobody else would be there for her.

"I don't know if I ever ever come back here. But if you need me more, then maybe I could just come along and help you out if you need me to. I guess that I will see how things go. But I sort of think that maybe I should not drop out after all." Ken shook his head and then as he was shaking his head, the girl could not believe that he was doing this or was even considering this at all.

"Were you seriously planning on dropping out of the school?" The girl had asked and then Ken had sort of thought about that and he was thinking more and more on this. Then Ken had started to consider this more and he decided that he would not drop out at least for the rest of the term. Even if he had not wanted to stick in the school. But there was only three weeks left in the term. So sticking it out there more weeks was not going to be all that bad.

"I think that I might stay here for the rest of the school year." Ken had said and then after he had said that, he started to walk off on his own but then afterwards, the girl yelled over at him to say one final thing to him. It was a sort of relatively small thing, but she felt like she needed to say something in order for him to get the fact that he had done a good job.

"Hey Ken, thank you. I am really glad that somebody was there to help me out and talk to me about all of the problems that I am having right now. You are already better than the real father of my eventual kid." The girl had said and then after Ken was thanked, he was wondering how the hell she had known his name considering the fact that he had never once gave it to her. Well maybe he was more popular at this school than he had ever thought that he was. Or maybe at least popular enough to where everybody knew what his fucking name was and all of that stuff. Which wasn't all that strange when he had considered it in the long run. Even if he had not wanted to admit it.

Soon enough, Ken was out of the hallway and as he was out of the hall he was inside of the dance room. He had been missing out on three different songs on the dance. Which had been about twelve minutes out of the four hour duration and all of that stuff. This was what he had thought was going to be a small amount to where he can still go in and go all out and dance.

As he was dancing as hard as he could, he started to forget about the entire conversation that he had with that girl as well as the fact that he was going to go back to that last girl. Ken was totally not really giving a shit about that girl and the date that they were going to have. But he was just thinking that maybe she would forget all about all of that talk. After all, Ken had sort of forgot about it as well. But maybe he just needed to give up and then just let things happen naturally and not be forced to check out a different event going on. Not that he was forced to check out pregnant girl in the first place.

After he was done with this, he started to just want to dance around as much as he could here. He thought that the songs that were being played here were so much better than the previous songs that were being played and all of that stuff. He didn't really care all that much to pay attention to the songs, but he liked it more than he had liked the beatles songs and all of that stuff.

"I want to give you some of my best movements." Brad was saying as this was going on. He was having much more of an interesting thing going on than Ken just dancing out. The whole pregnancy thing was so much more interesting than him dancing around and it was interesting at first but that was the only real interesting thing going on in this entire part he had in his dance. Brad had thought that he could be able to lose his virginity to this girl at the end of the dance.

Brad hated it when he admitted that he was still a virgin. He tried to keep this fact away from people as much as possible. All he had to do was just have sex once and he would be able to lose the v card. The card of him being a virgin. He just doesn't really think that it mattered all that much to him but the fact that he was going to be able to have sex with other people they would probably want t o know the truth of his sex life and all that stuff.

"Hey want to dance with each other for a little bit? You are really beautiful and I think you should have another person dance with you since I feel like you should not be left alone." Brad had said and then when Brad had said that the girl had looked over at him as if to think about what he had said. She thought that it would be pretty nice for them to dance with each other, so she had decided that she would accept the offer of the dance and all of that stuff.

"How good are you at dancing?" The girl had asked him and Brad said that he practiced dancing for a little while. He didn't really know if he was any good at it though. He had thought that he was good enough with this for a little bit longer. He thought that he would be good enough of a dancer that he could be able to satisfy her dating needs for a couple of minutes and make her feel like she was there for a purpose.

"I'm not all that great at dancing. I bet that I am good enough for you to be happy for a little bit I suppose." Brad was saying and he was a little bit embarrassed over what he was doing. He put his arms around her chest and he smiled and the girl laughed a little bit when she saw what exactly he was doing. So this was going good and so far Brad did not feel like he was doing too bad here. Which he was glad that for now at least he was doing decent.

"You are better than you are giving yourself credit for." The girl had said and Brad shook his head. He felt like she was just saying that for his own sake. He was glad that she was being nice to him though, so he was going to remain silent on this whole thing. Brad put his head on her shoulder and she didn't really seem to mind. They were dancing around, so they were going to be a little bit touchy feely and everything.

"So have you ever dated a girl before? I think that she would have been very lucky to have you. Why did you guys leave each other or did it just end off on a mutual feeling?" The girl was saying and then brad remembered the one girlfriend that he did have back in the day. They dated for about eight months or so and then they broke up about two months ago. Which was around the same time that Ken was exposed for trying to be a crime fighter and all of that stuff.

"Yeah I had a girlfriend at one point. Her name was Misty. I really liked her. She always liked to wear blue and she always liked listening to music. She told me that if she was a boy, she would try and do some crime fighting and show people that she had a lot of stuff going for her. She would work out every once in a while which is funny for me to imagine. I am just glad that she is out having a great time where ever she is." Brad had said and he was fine with lying about the personal stuff with Misty for as long as possible. If she asked him where she had gone, he would just come up with a fake story to make her not worry about the sanity of Brad.

"Can you tell me what happened with her? It seems like she was a great person. Seems like she was having a lot of potential ahead of her." The girl said and Brad felt like he needed to end this conversation as soon as humanly possible so that way he didn't feel like he was going to tell her off or anything like that. He didn't want to be an ass to her or anything like that, but she didn't know what Misty had to do for the sake of everybody in this school. She was an even bigger hero than Ken was and from what Ken had said to him earlier, it seemed like Ken had also given it a decent effort back in the day.

"She doesn't go to this school anymore. She is off taking a vacation. She will probably be back at the end of the school year. She said she needed to be off and do things of her own. I am sorry if I am not describing this good enough to you. But I don't really know if I want to go on and relive all of that over again. The last moment that we had together." Brad said and he wiped his eyes once to prevent himself from crying and then the two of them were able to start enjoying their dance again for the most part.

"What is your favorite class subject?" The girl had asked Brad and then after Brad had been asked that question, Brad had thought about it a little bit. He thought that he could say something like science and that would be considered a good enough answer for the sake of her question. But he didn't want to say something like math and then have her laugh at him or be telling him that he was crazy for liking the hardest subject in the entire school. At least he wasn't saying like Trig.

"I really think that I would have to go with Chemistry. It is the only class I can think of that actually seem like I get any sort of material out of it. It is the only class that I think actually gets me anything of worth. The teacher is also kind of interesting to be listening to. But I guess that at least it isn't something like pottery. I mean I can see why some people would like pottery, but it honestly is just not my cup of tea as strange as it sounds." Brad said as his answer and he didn't think it was a great answer, but he thought that it was good enough for the moment.

"I like Design and Draw. I am able to allow my creative mindset roam loose and everything. I think that when I go to that class, I am really allowed to show everybody what I really think of different subjects and all of that stuff. I guess drawing for me is like writing for other people." The girl had told Brad and they were still going along just smooth and not being worried about what they were talking about or what he was doing at all. He was just wanted to have a good time talking with this lady and not worry about anything else.

"You know, I think that we should go to my bedroom once the dance is over. I think that we would have a good time at this dance. You know, I think that Misty would be proud if you show me your moves." The girl had told Brad and Brad was just trying to be quiet since he was not wanting to admit that he was still a virgin and everything. But she thought that he would be good at bed, so he needed to pretend that he knew everything that he was doing and all of that stuff.

"I have no real idea what the hell to do right now. There are still over three hours left of the dance to go. I don't really know what else I can do in this time period. Maybe I should start and head home soon after all. But then again I don't want the thirty dollars to go to waste." Brad had said and then the girl had looked at Brad as if she was going to laugh at the fact that he had only paid thirty dollars for the dance and everything. But she thought that she didn't want to ruin the moment, so she remained quiet.

"How about we just bounce out to the bathroom or something? Maybe we can come back in like twenty minutes or something. Nobody will really notice that we are gone. So I don't think that it will really matter all that much." The girl had said and she was starting to move the button on his shirt. Brad then realized that he didn't have a condom or anything. He needed to get his condom as soon as possible. But maybe she didn't really care. But then again he didn't want to get this random girl pregnant or anything like that before they were really in a real relationship and all of that stuff.

"I think that we should leave and get some condoms soon. The condoms would be pretty important to have." Brad said and the girl thought that he had a really good point. "I will be going on and buying a condom soon. I will come right back when I am done getting it. So I will be seeing you in half an hour or so. How about that?" Brad had said and then the girl nodded. As of this, Brad let go and then the girl said that they would see each other soon.

As Brad was heading off, he was wondering if this was going to go well. He was glad that he was going to get laid that night, but at the same time he was scared that she was going to think that he was taking so long. But as Brad was going to be heading to the store near the school to buy a condom, he had seen somebody that scared him shitless.

He saw the guy in the purple jacket and he was standing right at the entrance of the school. He was looking over at Brad and he seemed to be waiting to waiting for Brad to go on and make a choice on what he was going to do. Pretend like he wasn't really there at all or was he actually going to try and fight and defeat this guy. What would Misty want him to do? She would want him to be safe and to stay there and not do anything while she did the job. But Brad knew how well that turned out. He knew that he needed to go on and try and do things on his own. There was nothing that he could do that would make him feel too proud, but this was about making Misty proud.

"Brad, what the fuck are you doing?" Ken asked in the direction of Brad and then Brad turned out and saw what Ken was doing. Ken walked on over to Brad and before Brad was going to be able to go on and try and comment on the fact that Ken has no shirt on at all, Ken started to talk about what the hell was going on. "Did you see the guy right there? I think you know what this means."

"I think that we need to go and get Eddie. I think that he will need to know this so that way he can help us out fight this guy. I really hope that he is not busy and is willing to help us out with this guy." Ken had said and then when Ken had said that, Brad nodded. He had not wanted to do this, but he didn't care. He needed to fight this guy off as soon as possible and as much as possible so that way things can be easy for them in the longer run. So with that Brad nodded and they started to walk down the hallway and they were on their way to look for Eddie and see what Eddie would say to this whole thing.

"Hey Eddie, can you help us out?" Ken had asked and then when Ken asked Eddie that Eddie looked over at Ken's direction and he zipped his pants up. Brad and Ken decided that they would pretend not to notice what he had done during that quick couple of seconds. So with that, Eddie started to think for a moment. They had seen him half way down the hallway and they would learn that Eddie already knew of this asshole before they even saw him there.

"I don't really know if I can help out or if I would want to really help you guys out. This guy is crazy and I think that we need to be more careful before we start to go out and be crazy over this plan." Eddie said as he pointed towards the door and he was proving the point. "Look I know that you want to do something about that guy, but we can not. We will probably die before we even land a hit on him."

"You are saying the worst. You need to calm down a little bit. We need to give this a chance. Please, just let me have a chance against this guy." Brad said and then he shook his head. Ken was shocked at the sudden change in attitude over how he had taken this guy. Earlier in the day, he was just not really wanting to do this at all, and now all he wants to do is take this guy on. Ken then put his hands up and he was going to try and be the compromise dude.

"Okay, I agree that we should take this guy on and everything. However, maybe we do need to plan things out here more. If we don't plan things out a little bit, then we will be screwed. Please, how about we just stop and take a moment to plan things out just a little bit?" Ken was saying and then after he had said that, the two seemed to calm down a little bit. Maybe Ken was right, that they needed to fight this guy but they just needed to be more calm about this whole thing before they actually did anything.

"Wait a second, look over at what he is doing!" Ken screamed really fucking loudly. For the first time in the entire evening, people were actually able to hear the conversation and they all looked over at what Ken was doing. He was pointing towards the guy in the purple jacket and they saw him grabbing a girl. This was the girl that Brad had danced with earlier. This was the moment that Brad had switched his attitude fully.

Before any one of them had been able to take the guy on or be able to try and save this girl, he had run out of the school and she was screaming the entire time. "Come on, we need to get her right now. Before we go on and lose our chances of finding her." Eddie said and Ken looked over at Brad and Eddie.

"I guess that we need to get the hell out of here as soon as possible." Brad had said and then they seemed to consider what to do. The three of them walked out of the school and then they were walking to this one car. The car was just going to be their transportation device. But then they needed to give the car back. But this was the matter of saving a girls life. Brad had not cared at all at this point in time anymore. Brad punched the window and broke it and then they all went inside the car as Eddie was about to call Brad out for what he was doing. But Eddie could tell that Brad was just not in the mood.

The three of them got in the car and as they are in the car, Brad started the car and then they started to drive off when Brad found the car keys. All of this had reminded Ken a lot of the time when he and Todd had gone on and tried to do this fight during his last few days at Wayside and all of that stuff. Ken thought that it was one of the strangest things that Ken had ever seen Todd do during his entire time that he was in Wayside.

It had all started in June 2nd of 1963, the last Friday of the school year and the group was all hanging out and having some fun. They were just not really caring at all what was going on at that moment. "Hey Todd, so now that everything is all taken care of, do you think that you will want to stay in this school full time." Marcia had asked and then Todd nodded.

"I think this might be the first school that I have ever gone to two years of one school district. I needed to find the right school. But now I think that I have found the perfect school district to be at for now." Todd had said and then that was when the guy in the purple jacket come along and then Ken looked over at Todd.

"Kevin, sorry for forcing you into this, but I think that we have one final mission that we need to finish here." Todd had said and then Kevin nodded. So they headed out of the school and the other members of the group were giving them good luck statements and telling them that they hoped that they would take care of this once in for all.

So then once they were outside of the school, Kevin went inside the driver seat of the school and Todd decided he would drive this red car that was right next to the entrance of the school. Todd stole the keys and then after he had stolen the keys the two of them started to drive after the guy in the purple jacket. As they were driving after him they eventually reached the forest that had given Todd nightmares for the last several months.

As they were in the forest, they drove right into the worst part of it. They drove into the part of the forest in which there was a staircase. The man in the purple jacket held his hand up and this made Todd lose all control of the car and the car hit right into the staircase and that set it on fire. Kevin and Todd barely got out of the car in time. Once they were in the car, the two of them looked on over at the man in the purple jacket and he was just remaining quiet and they were wanting to have Todd and Kevin ask him what was going on at that moment.

"You guys have turned down my offers over and over again. I do not get what is wrong with you guys. I do not get why you guys keep turning down all of my offers right now. I need to understand how you are able to keep turning down my offers. I have given you everything that you could possibly be able to want!" The guy in the purple jacket yelled out loud as loud as he was possibly able to.

"Because your offers are totally terrible. None of it makes any sense. You are totally insane and you need to leave me alone now." Kevin said and then he got in the car again and started to drive it himself. He then drove the car right into the man in the purple jacket and when he had left the area, the car blew up and the staircase was totally destroyed, so they couldn't ever go back there even if they had wanted to. So this had given them the impression that maybe he truly was done for this time for real.

It was after this that Kevin dropped out of Wayside. He was really angry at the fact that he needed to leave Wayside. He was doing this because he wanted to give Todd a safe time when he had mentally figured out that the main reason the guy in the purple jacket kept coming back was due to the fact that he was there. When Kevin had gone to this new school district, he changed his name to Ken to hide from everybody and act like everything was a restart and something that would never happen again.

Todd and his friends had remembered Kevin for the rest of their lives. They had remembered all of the great adventures that the Wayside group had together and all of the things that they had done. All the good, the bad, and even just sort of the stuff that never really mattered. Before they could continue thinking about all of his Wayside adventures, Brad had called out to him to get him back to the present.

"Ken, we need to find a plan like you said. You said that we needed a plan. Now come on and give us your great plans." Brad was telling Ken and then after Brad had said that Ken seemed to start to think about all of this since he was now the one who had to figure things out. Ken suggested that they all go their individual houses to get some supplies in order for this battle to happen. It was a silly idea, but better than no idea at all.

"I guess that it would be what some would suggest we do. We have nothing to fight this guy off. If we have at least one thing to fight them off, then we could be able to actually have a chance after all. We have no chance as it is. So I think that your idea is probably a good idea now." Brad had said and Ken had clearly been able to tell that Brad was clearly out of this. Maybe once he knew Brad more, the more that he could open up about this. But as of right now, the guy was seeming really distant and it was starting to scare Ken a little bit.

"How about we go to my house first since it is only a few feet away." Ken said and then he pointed in the direction that he and Brad had walked in earlier that day. Brad nodded and he had started to drive right in the direction Ken had pointed at and they were going to only be there for a quick moment just for him to get some weapons and then they would be done.

Ken got out of the car right away and started to run up the staircase and he went inside of his house. As he got inside of his house, he broke right into his fathers bedroom. He knew that his father would probably be angry if he knew what he was doing, but he didn't really care all that much at that moment. He just grabbed his fathers gun and as he grabbed his fathers gun he nodded. This was something that he felt was going to be his best bet on being able to defeat this guy.

After he grabbed his fathers gun he put the gun in his pocket. Then he started to walk out of the room and as he had done so he heard his father call out to him. "Hey Ken, I thought that the dance would go on for another two and a half hours. What are you doing here?" Ken turned around and he looked at his father as if he was trying to find the nicest way to tell this man off. He knew that there was nothing he can do to justify stealing his fathers police gun, but he knew that he could just give a short response and then be able to leave the house and pretend as if he had never done so.

"I will be heading back to the dance when I am done with all of my stuff I need to take care of. I will tell you how the dance was when I come back. I know that it will be a pretty great event. But I needed to get something for my own sake." Ken was saying and then he didn't know how to continue this anymore and his father continued before Ken could even try.

"Look here Ken, I don't mind what you are doing. I have my own share of stupid stuff when I was younger. Just please be safe about what you are doing. That is all that I want you to do. If you can do this, then I will leave you alone here." His father had said and then he shook his head. He was too old and tired and worn down to try and fight Ken off at this moment. He just wanted his child to be safe more than anything else.

"I will try to be safe." Ken had said and then his father nodded. He knew that this was probably the best that he he could have wished for his son. Not that Ken could always be super safe and like not getting in trouble as can be proved with the fact that he almost got arrested and cue every Wayside event ever. But the fact that Ken is promising to at least try is something that he liked to hear.

"I just hope that you guys don't get yourself in even more trouble." Ken's father had told him and Ken was wondering how he knew about the other two. He knew that it wasn't all that big of a deal but he could not help but wonder. Ken left off and then Ken left the area and then the he went right to the car to have Brad's turn to get his stuff.

"Please don't get too risky. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose one of my kids after finally getting it after so long of trying to get one." Ken's father, his name being Nigel, had said under his breath and he already knew that Ken had stolen his gun. He had no idea what Ken was going to be doing with that gun and he didn't want to be a jack ass over this whole thing, so he had decided to just let it go for the time being.

Ken was in the car and he told Brad to get right on the drive. He didn't really know that his dad was well aware of the fact that Ken had already stolen his gun. So he had thought that he was being sneaky and that he was being all smart about the whole thing but not that it really mattered in the long run.

"Why are you being so insistent on this whole thing?" Brad asked when he was about a block away from the house. Ken pulled out the gun and then Brad was kind of surprised that he took his police gun but he didn't really care all that much. Ken had said that he just didn't know any better and he had wanted to be safe.

Brad had thought that it was a decent point, but he wanted to go to his house next. "I guess if you are getting a gun, then maybe I should get a weapon of my own so that way I can be able to defend myself in case he attacks me. I know the perfect weapon that I can be able to use in order to defend myself."

"What is that weapon going to be?" Eddie asked and he had thought that Brad needed to come up with a really good answer or else he would really have no hope in what they were going to be able to fully accomplish and all of that stuff. Or else maybe Brad would be able to come up with a good detailed explanation on how he could be able to pull this whole thing off. Brad started to think of the way that he would word this whole thing.

"I have a baseball bat. Hopefully that will be good enough to be able to fight him off decently enough. I just don't really know though, so I will just see how it goes before anything else goes on that would ruin what I am planning. I doubt he has anything that can destroy this baseball bat or anything like that." Brad was saying and then when Brad had said that there was a moment of silence in the car before Eddie decided that he would try and fight a point.

"I have some dynamite. I think that this dynamite will be a good enough weapon of attack that I could use in order to defeat this guy. Just set the fucking thing off and then when I set the fucking thing off, I will be able to destroy him this way. Since I have a feeling that the main thing that we really want to do is destroy this asshole." Eddie had said and then as Eddie had said that, the three of them had seemed to think that this was a good point for them to bring up. Maybe some explosives would be the best bet after all.

"I just hope that you have something that could actually set off this dynamite. If you don't have anything that can set off this dynamite, there is no real reason to bring it at all." Ken was saying and then Eddie raised his hand as if to calm Ken down since he had more than enough matches to be able to set off all of this dynamite. Not just some dynamite, but all of it he has something to set off.

"I just need to be in my room for a minute or two and I can find all of the matches and when I find all the matches, then I will be able to actually have something that could make this dynamite worth it." Eddie was saying and then Brad and Ken seemed to calm down. If Eddie was so certain on all of this, then they should start to believe him and not think that he was just being a whole load of bullshit and all of that stuff.

Soon enough Brad had pulled up at his parking lot. As he had pulled up at his parking lot, it was Eddie and Ken's turn to be in the car while Brad was getting his stuff. They were sort of wondering what they were even going to be talking about while they were waiting for Brad to get his stuff. "What do you think Brad is dealing with on that whole girlfriend thing? He is really angry over that whole ordeal and I just do not really get it at all." Ken was saying and he felt terrible for not getting it, but he just could not really help it.

"I have a feeling that maybe he and his girlfriend had a really bad breakup and he does not really want to think about it or look back at it at all. I can't really blame him to be honest. I just think that he needs to calm the fuck down before he starts to snap at us when we don't really deserve the snapping at all." Eddie responded and then when Eddie responded that way, Ken thought that while there might have been a good point on it, there was just something that was false about the whole thing and that they did not get it. And Ken was not afraid to admit that neither of them really got it at all since it is just the truth.

"I think that once this battle is over, he will be more willing to talk with us about it. That is what I am sort of guessing at this moment. I just do not really think that it matters all that much honestly. I just think that we need to let this whole thing go for now and not just look back at it and say something or assume something that we really regret. If we end up doing that, then we will lose any possible chance of being able to be friends with Brad at all. And I don't really want to lose the chance of them being friends with me and all of that stuff." Ken said and then he shook his head. But while Eddie agreed, he thought that he did have one last thing that he could say on the matter.

"While you are right, I do think that we should just plain ask him once the battle is over. I think that by this point, we will have earned it. I think that it is now a matter of just earning it by this point in time." Eddie said and he was very sure that he would have earned it by that point in time and he felt like there was no real reason to think that they needed to try and earn it more. But then as they were saying that Brad came back in the car. This was what happened when Brad was in the house.

The moment Brad went in the house, he looked in the house and hoped nobody noticed him there at the moment. As he was inside the house, he was looking around and was trying to find his baseball. He was just wanting to get this baseball bat and then he would just be done with this fucking disaster and he would be able to show Misty that he had truly learned of what she had wanted him to be able to do. He was going to pass down what she had wanted.

Brad went inside his bedroom and he grabbed his baseball bat. After he had grabbed his baseball bat, he looked down at the picture that was next to his bed. It was a picture of Misty when she was at his house and she was holding her hand up and she was smiling. Brad was standing over her and he had both his hands on to sides and he was laughing at what she was saying. Brad grabbed the picture and then he was on the verge of crying when he had read that and then he put the picture inside of his pocket and he was ready to go on and return to the car once more.

As he was at his front door there was his mom who had called out in his direction. "Brad what are you doing with your baseball bat? Shouldn't you be at prom?" She had asked him and then Brad tried to come up with a good lie and a lie that nobody would be able to pick up on right away. Brad just was thinking that he would tell her that he was just trying to show some dates at the dance what he was capable of.

"I just feel like I need this. I have a bad feeling that something is going to happen if I don't then I will be beat up at the dance. I just have a feeling that I am going to have to defend myself on this whole thing." Brad was saying and then he was thinking about what Misty would have said had she seen him doing this. His mother looked at his face and she could tell that he was thinking about Misty then.

"I can see that you are thinking about her. I think that you need to let this thing go. I know that you are still mourning, but you need to let it go. If you don't then she will haunt your thoughts for the rest of your life." Brad's mother had said and Brad shook his head. He knew that she was telling the truth, but he just could not do this. He could not get over her no matter how hard he had tried and there was something she must have been able to understand about this. After all, her first husband did leave her alone.

"I need to get going." Brad told his mother and shook his head when he was outside of the house and he went on over to the car. As he had went on over to the car, he saw that Kevin and Eddie were talking and that they had shut the fuck up the moment that they saw him get inside of the car. They realized that if Brad had heard anything that they were saying, then they were going to lose all of his respect and they did not want to do any of that. So for that reason they had remained quiet.

"I guess it is is Eddie's turn. I really hope that you manage to be able to get yourself enough dynamite to actually be able to fend for yourself here. I really hope that you don't end up not having enough dynamite to actually do something, anything of worth." Brad said and he was too angry and sad to think about the quantity anymore. He had wanted to show that he truly was worthy of being with Misty. Or worthy of having her have hope in what he was doing.

"Oh trust me, I have more than enough dynamite to be able to go on and fight this guy and do more than a good enough of a job on this battle. I am more worried that the gun doesn't have enough bullets to be able to attack him and defeat him." Eddie responded and while Ken had wanted to debate with him and tell him that he was wrong for thinking this way, there actually was a good point to what he was saying and he didn't want to admit it though. But he just had no idea how much more he would be able to contribute at this point.

"I am sorry that I am not really wanting to talk all that much right now. I want to just get this battle over with and I just want to go back to prom and go back to the girl that I was having a decent date and dance with. So please me if I look and sound like I just simply do not give a shit." Brad said and he seemed like he was actually starting to light up on the idea of talking with her for a little bit. Ken had thought that there was something he had wanted to tell them, but he just did not know how to open up about it before they would just start to make fun of him or tell him that he was going way too far with this.

"I will be in my house for a few minutes. I will need to grab all of my dynamite and make sure that neither of my parents are around and seeing what I am doing. If they see me they will do everything in their power to make sure that I won't get out of that house." Eddie said as he was leading and pointing and saying to Brad which directions he needed to go and when they pulled up at his house, he quickly got out to get the fucking dynamite.

As he was inside of the house, he bolted right into his bedroom. He did not want to meet either one of his parents at that current moment, and he was just trying to get the stuff so he would be able to leave the place. As he was in his bedroom, he went to his drawer to see if it was there. He found three pieces in there and he put all three of them in his pocket.

He knew he had at least six or seven more that he could be able to find before he would leave the house and then he could go on and leave the house. He then went to his dresser and each of the three shelves in the dresser had two pieces and he put all six of those pieces in there. Then he had one last drawer that he could find. Once he was in the final drawer, he found four more and he put all four in there. Then afterwards, he looked over and saw that there was a bunch of matches that he could get and he grabbed them all. Then he put the matches in his other pocket and he was wanting to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

As he was all done, he opened his bedroom window. He heard a bunch of people walking around in the house and he knew that he had to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. He was waiting for a few seconds and the longer that he waited the more that he heard that the people were walking in his direction. Then he put his body inside of the window and he was leaving the house. He knew that once he was outside, he needed to close the window. So he closed the window as fast as possible and then he started to walk on the roof for a little bit. Then when he was several feet away from the house, he jumped down the house roof and then once he was done, he looked around the front yard and he was wondering if his parents had known what he was doing. He then walked off and went on over to the car.

When he had finally gotten to the car, he saw that his parents looked outside the house and opened the door to yell at the people to never intrude the house again or else they would call the police again. But since Eddie was in the back of the car, neither one of them had seen that he was actually there, so nobody really knew what he was doing. He was glad that neither one of them knew what he was doing and that he was able to get away with this entire thing which was the best thing that he could have hoped for.

When he was telling them to start the car, Brad listened and decided that he was not going to argue with what Eddie was requesting of him to do. He realized that if out of there as soon as possible, and defeat the man in the purple jacket, they needed to start driving off as soon as possible. But then as they were doing this, they were talking about where the man in the purple jacket might have been. Brad seemed to think about it a little bit and then he realized where exactly he was.

"I think I have a good idea on where this guy is. I feel as if this guy is waiting where I had met him the last time during my summer earlier of this school year." Brad had said and then when Brad had said that, he heard Ken stop what he was doing and he was wondering if Brad was actually thinking that this was the truth. So he was going to ask Brad if this was the case but then before he could even ask the question, Brad already said that he knew that this was the case.

"It is just a feeling that I have. Please understand what I am thinking. I just know this is where he is at. I am almost one hundred percent certain that this is the place. Please just don't argue with me and we need to defeat this guy right now. We can not take any risks right now. We need to defeat this guy right now." Brad was saying and then he was saying this with such certainty that Ken knew if he tried and argue what Brad was saying, then he was going to be kicked out of the entire operation and they would be forced to try and find them on their own with no car.

"Thank god. If you are so certain where he is at, we need to just grab our weapons and we can get the hell out of this place. We can just defeat this guy and then we can go back to prom and enjoy the last stretch of time here." Eddie had said and then as Ken had heard this, he nodded and he looked over at Brad. He knew that Brad was right, he just was not really sure at first, but he was now sure of it.

"I do believe you are right. I was just shocked at first. But now I am absolutely certain that you are right. So let's just get the hell out of here. Let's just fucking kill this asshole so that way that we can be able to be done for good and Misty can be made proud." Brad said and then he turned the car really badly and as he turned the car badly, he turned on over to where he had met the guy in the purple jacket once more and he was ready to fight him once more and save the day and prove Misty that he had true honor.

"Thank you for deciding not to argue with me and acting like you know better than what I do. I really need that right now. I don't really desire having any arguments with people right now, and I don't really think you would be able to have a leg to stand on." Brad was saying and then he was pulling up when he had gotten near where he last seen the man in the purple jacket and he stopped the car after he was done.

As he pulled up, Ken and Eddie realized what was going on so they both got out of the car as soon as he had done so. They looked around for a minute or two and it got to the point in which even Brad was starting to doubt that he was right about his guess on where this guy was. But before this doubt could really be able to settle in at all, the guy laughed and all three of them knew that he was there after all and was just waiting for them.

"Don't give up so easily. That is a good sign of just how weak minded you three really are." The guy in the purple jacket had said and then Ken was on the verge of wanting to start the fight already. A few seconds later, the guy had shown up to view and they were all able to see him standing there as if he was sort of showing off his glory or something to that extent. Ken was already playing around with his gun to start and use it for the battle he knew was coming up.

"I have a feeling that you three want to talk a little bit before we have our great duel. I know that you guys are wanting to save the girl and take me on. All in due time. The girl is safe for now. Long enough for us to talk a little bit. See what you are all thinking and see just how similar it really is to what I am thinking about and wanting you guys to do for me. I have a feeling that once you guys hear my offer, you will have a hard time refusing my wish." The guy in the purple jacket said as he held up his arms and he looked over at Ken to see what he was thinking, since he was the one he wanted to use most of all.

"What is there to even talk about? The fact that your goals make no sense and the fact that you literally seem to be taking away everybody's sanity just by being around? Yeah because there is real reason to justify hearing what you have to say about that." Brad said and he seemed to be more angry than either of the other two by now. Which was sort of a shock at that moment and the man in the purple jacket seemed to think about that for a moment himself.

"You need to give me a chance. You need to just listen to me a little bit more. If you listen to me a little bit, then you will be more enlightened on what I am saying or what I am proposing." The guy in the purple jacket said and then he put one hand inside of his right pocket and pulled out a orb. He was going to show the group this orb and he thought that they would actually be more convinced to say yes to his offer.

"Inside this orb gives away all of the information about this digital world that I am wanting to have you guys take over for me. If you look inside of here, you will see exactly what I mean here." The guy pressed a really small button on this orb and then as he pressed the button there was a bunch of images being shown up. "This is a world with a bunch of monsters inside of it. This world is one that is ever expanding and it will never stop growing as long as I am here. If you guys work with me, you are able to help give me the piece I need to bring peace and prosperity to the world. You can be heroes. You can be kings."

"Why would I want to be king of this place? I don't even know what I would do in this place. I don't even know what this place is. So I do not even think that I would ever want to take it over if I don't even know what the fuck it is. You can't even find a way to make the offer tempting. Or maybe you need to talk a little bit longer." Eddie had said and then he had raised his hands up when he had said that as if he was getting ready to concede a battle and admit that he was wrong. But then the guy in the purple jacket had snapped his fingers.

As he had snapped his fingers, there was the girl that Brad was dancing with earlier. Brad had screamed his fucking head off when he had seen her. This made Ken shocked that Brad was reacting this fucking badly over it. "Oh man you still have not gotten over what happened with Misty. What a fucking shame. You really need to let it the fuck go." The guy in the purple jacket had said and then when he had said that, Ken was looking over at Brad and then he was going to try and say something to him to get his attention going and to remind him that he and Eddie also existed as well.

"Brad, please get back to the current moment and tell me what the hell is going right now." Ken was saying and then Brad had turned around and he was thinking really hard about what the new friend to a way had been saying to him. This was when Brad had decided that he needed to get back in the present moment. He would tell the truth about Misty later when they have learned the truth a little bit more.

"Look, we need to focus on the main objective right now. If we don't focus on that then we will have had no point in coming here to fight this guy off at all." Ken had said and then when he had said that Brad nodded and he grabbed his baseball bat and then he pointed over at the guy in the purple jacket. He was wondering if this was guy was going to speak out at this.

"What even is your main objective right now? What do you really need to defeat me? Is there any real reason for you guys to defeat me? I don't think that you need to focus on this so much." The guy in the purple jacket had said and then as he had said that, Eddie grabbed one of the pieces of dynamite and he was getting ready to set it off and start this fight off on a good level.

"Our main objective is to make sure that you never return and that we can be able to live the rest of our life normally. We also want to make sure that you never come around and try and make other people join your side anymore. We need you to see that your ways are wrong. We will either do that or make sure that you are going to die." Eddie said and then he lit a single match and then he threw it over at the guy in the purple jacket.

Right after he had thrown it in the direction of that guy, he actually had the decency to throw the girl off to the side. As he had thrown her off to the side, he was looking on over at Brad and the others to see what they were going to do say about what he had done. He was wondering if they were going to try and argue his methods and say that he had done something stupid by throwing them off to the side and they should have just placed her down at the ground or something really small and stupid like that.

"Are you even going to try and fight us back?" Ken said and then he started to point the gun in the direction of the guy in the purple jacket. The guy was going to try and say that he would fight them off again but the dynamite exploded. They had thought that he had won for maybe a second or two but then all of a sudden he started to move around and then he raised his hands up. He was getting ready to kill the members of the group.

He shot a giant beam off in the direction of the three of them. He was really annoyed when he had seen that he had missed all three of them. He had thought that he had actually had a real chance on hitting all three of them. But then when he was done trying that out, he grabbed a giant knife and he was getting ready to stab Brad when Brad had hit him with the baseball bat on the side. The guy in the purple jacket sliced his knife and it made a pretty big cut in the chest of Brad. Brad felt really bad over it for a moment but then he decided he would give up and instead of using a knife against him, he grabbed a gun. Then when he had grabbed the gun, he shot Brad right in the foot and this made Brad scream and made him start to move off to the side.

The girl was wondering if maybe she could be able to help the three of them out or if maybe she should just see how the rest of the battle should turn out before she would actually try and see how things turn out. Eddie grabbed his dynamite and then threw another two pieces over at this guy. This started to blow some stuff up, such as his shoes and a little spot on his legs.

"If I wasn't as old as I am right now, then maybe you guys would not have a real chance on being able to defeat me. I am just too worn down to give you guys any real fight. Maybe you guys should have tried to fight me ten years ago. Then you guys wouldn't be able to say anything about my performance right now." The guy in the purple jacket had said and then he aimed his gun right at Eddie and then he aimed for a second before he shot the gun and then it hit Eddie's right arm.

Eddie screamed and then made one more piece of dynamite at the guy and he thought that maybe he should just end this battle right at this moment. Eddie sat down on the ground and then he held his right arm with his left one and then as he was doing this the guy in the purple jacket walked up to Eddie and Brad hit him once more as he was doing so. He grabbed Brad and head butted him and that made Brad pass out and then after he had done so, he came on over to Eddie and then he kicked Eddie right at the ground and then stepped on his right arm twice. After the second time Eddie screamed that his arm was broken and then the guy in the purple jacket had laughed but then Ken knew that the battle was now on his own and now he needed to defeat them.

"You still have me to take care of." Ken had said and then the guy turned over at him and Ken regretted saying anything right away. The guy seemed to be excited to see Ken rise up to the challenge and he was wanting to see what Ken was even made of. If Ken had even any idea what he was getting himself into. The guy in the purple jacket raised his gun up and before he fired the gun, he had dropped it as if he was going to want to fight Ken hand to hand.

But Ken had not wanted to do that. He pointed the gun at the guy in the purple jacket and he started to run around and he shot the guy in the chest. The guy in the purple jacket flew on his way over to Ken and then he attacked Ken by punching him right in the face, which had helped give him a black eye. When he got the black eye, Ken barely was able to see from his other eye and then he grabbed his baseball bat that was next to Brad.

He then hit the guy in the purple four or five times in the neck and even once in the ball sack. It was something that Ken had felt proud of being able to do, and then he started to go off to the dynamite. The guy in the purple jacket returned the favor to Ken by kicking him in the ball sack and then he pushed Ken in the ground and then Ken saw a bunch of scratches on his bare chest.

Ken walked himself to the dynamite and grabbed all the remaining matches. Then he set all of the dynamite off and then threw them one at a time. It took a few seconds for them to all be thrown but with each one added up it was a giant explosion. Then the guy in the purple jacket started to run on his way towards Ken and he screamed at the top of his lungs. "KEVIN!" But before he could do anything else to Ken, Ken pulled up his gun and then shot him in the face three times and then at the chest twice and then the gun had run out of all his bullets. He then placed the gun on the ground and held his hands up into the air.

"You win for now. I need to tend to my wounds." The guy in the purple jacket held his hand to his chest and he groaned really loudly. He snapped his fingers and then after he had snapped his fingers he faded away. Ken stared there for about ten seconds or so before he started to feel like he was safe in order to talk to the others. He ran up to Brad and picked him up and Brad ran his way to the girl and then Ken helped Eddie up while Eddie was still screaming about his arm.

"I think we are safe for now, but not once in for all." Ken said and then kicked his shoe top on the ground and he felt like he really wanted to smoke or something. After he was finally calmed down from the battle that he had just subjected himself into, he looked over at the three other people in the group.

"I think we should be heading out back to the school. There is no reason to stay here any longer." Eddie decided and then he headed on his way over to the car. As he headed inside of the car, Ken had sat down next to Eddie while they had waited for Brad and his girlfriend on over to the car. She went inside of the car passenger seat and then Brad went inside the car and then he turned on the car and was starting to head on his way over back to the school.

"I think it is time for you guys to hear the truth. I think I will tell you guys about the relationship that I had with Misty. I think that you guys have earned the right to hear it." Brad said and then shook his head and was really sad. He was speaking as much as possible on the way back and he was taking his time so that way the three of them could be able to see just why Misty was so special.

"Honestly, my girlfriend was a girl. I don't really have anything else to say about you. You know, the girl that you want to ask out for several months and then when you finally do ask her and she says yes, everything goes really well. She was the one person that made me really want to be open to the idea of a relationship." Brad had said and then as he had said that, he put his hand on the girl's hand and told her that it was nothing really against her, and that when they get to know each other more, he would probably view her the same way that he had been able to view Misty.

"I first met her when I was fifteen years old. Which was two years ago. It had all started when I walked up to her, she seemed to be writing inside of a diary or something like that. It seemed like she was really focused on that stuff. I asked her if she was a new student and she had said that she was not a new student, but just not all that popular and she gets made fun of by all the other girls in the school. I told her that I am not a girl so I would not treat her that way. She laughed about this and then she had decided that I should be allowed to sit next to her and I sat next to her without reading anything that she had written, even though it was tempting to." Brad kept saying and he laughed when he thought about the missed chance to read that diary that he was glad he would get to read later on.

"After I had asked her if she has any friends, she admits that she only has like three really strong friends that she hangs out with all the time. I said that I would try and be a good friend to her and she smiled at the thought of that. And over the course of the next year or so, we kept talking and got to know each other really well." Brad explained and he got into a detailed lecture on all of the stuff that she and him got along on with.

"The two of us would meet up every day during lunch at school and when we would meet up we would compare and contrast all the classes we had and see if maybe we could find ways to help each other out in all of our classes. We thought that we had thought that this would have been a good thing for both of us. We just wanted to make the two of us pass every single class that we could be able to possibly pass during our course of being in school." Brad laughed and he remembered one of their teaching sessions. "I remember when we would go to a dinner or a lunch every week to debate our stuff in the middle of our study sessions."

"I was starting to have the balls to ask her in around late July of last year. I was not really sure what I would be able to say to her in order for her to say yes to the date that I was going to try and get her to go with me on. I then eventually decided that I would just hang out with her the whole day and during the course of our hang out, I just decided to ask her if she had wanted to be my girlfriend and then she decided to say yes and then I smiled and we kissed during the course of the sun set. I was so glad that this was going on." Brad said and then he explained how they would talk about the different things they would do during the course of the relationship.

"Misty explained to me how she had wanted to be a hero. She found out about this one guy who had gone around the city for the last several months and how he had been a hero for the city but she felt as if he could need some help." Brad explained and he looked over at Ken to sort of let him know that their secret was safe with him. "I said to her that this was a terrible idea and that there was no real way that we could be able to help this guy out and that even if we knew who he was, he was on his own. She decided to take this into her own hands and decided that she would try and be a hero on her own."

"I had thought from the start that this was a terrible idea, but she did not really care and no matter how much I tried to tell her not to do this, she said that she needed to so this and that it was needed for the sake of our city. In case the other one died or something related to that effect." Brad explained the origin story to her trying to save the day and then he explained the exact details of what she did.

"She tried to make some sort of robotic suit, which had helped her out for a while. Her science teacher was naive and didn't really know what she was doing, so when she asked him all these questions about rockets and other things, he would answer them and let her know how they all worked out. She used all of this information to create rockets and some strange assortment of weapons of her own and she used them to also give her strange 'powers' like short term invisibility. All really small and simple stuff, but all of it together gave her a fighting chance." Brad then went on to explain some crimes she fought against.

"It all started off very simple. Save this old lady, save that cat, stop a robbery, all simple stuff anybody could have been able to do even without the stuff she had. She quickly was famous in town as the teenage super star. She had everything going for her. She really did. But then she started to get into the big stuff. Like try and stop drug cartels or getting in high speed car chases. It was insane. But one of the cartels found out she was, and then she had a case of meeting the man in the purple jacket. That was when it all went downhill for our great hero." Brad was at the stop light and he turned over to the other three and remained silent for a few seconds before he continued the tragic story.

"After the man in the purple jacket had caught her, she really was now in a mission to save the city. He brought her to the power plant in the city and when she told me that she was going to do the big mission to save the entire city, and described purple jacket, I knew what was going on. I tried really hard to tell her not to go and we argued over it. She broke up with me as a result of our argument in anger and she went right to there." Brad seemed like he was going to cry as he continued the storyline.

"She went to the power plant and on there, she found the man in the purple talked for a minute or two like what we had just done before we took him on but after this conversation, they started to fight each other. She managed to last about six minutes or so but he zapped her really bad and this almost single handedly made her unable to fight anymore. This whole time I was driving in that direction with the hopes of being able to catch her." The whole car fell silent when they had realized where this was going and what was going to happen next.

"I grabbed her and held her in my arms and the guy vanished right before I was able to see him, so what I said about the last time seeing him being last summer was true. I took her to the hospital and we made amends and we were now dating again and she apologized for not listening to me. At the hospital she was placed at the bed and was there for two days. At the second day she told me I was allowed to keep her diary and she told me to write the final entry of what happened and what she did to save the city. We had one final kiss and then she died. I grabbed her diary and wrote in four pages explaining the final mission and what happened and once more for a single page about the funeral and never touched it again after I read through it once. It was the worst day of my life. She died on March 12th, the same day the original hero was caught and almost arrested. I have a feeling March 12 has more to it than we think. As if it was a city wide fuck up day." Brad said and then said one final thing before he talked about the funeral. "She did save the city and keep it safe for the last two months after her sacrifice, and defeating this guy was hopefully finishing what she had started."

"The funeral was a nice and quiet one. About forty people showed up. Some people in my family, her family, her friends, two teachers including the science one, and about six or seven random students who didn't know her but decided to pay respects. People seemed to be easy on me for about a week or so due to the death and for that week all homework and tests were excused, and all bullying stopped for me since even the bullies knew that I didn't want to deal with it. My few friends stuck with me and as a result I made a couple more. I hope that you guys are going to be some of them." Brad said and he finished up his story there and pulled up at the school.

"Well I think it is time for us to part ways for the night. Maybe we'll see each other during school." Eddie said and then hand shaked all three of the other people there and then he went to the school first. Ken nodded and then he put his hand on Brad's soldier as if to show his sympathy for the death of Misty.

"If you need me, just come to my house. Right next to the school." Ken said and then he went inside the school. By this point all that was left was Brad and his new possible girlfriend. She looked over at him and she was trying to decide what to think at the current moment.

"How about we dance another song or two and head to your house? I think you need a little present." The girl said and Brad smiled and nodded. "By the way, my name is Meryl. You would want to know the name of your new girlfriend would you?" Brad hugged her and thought that maybe there was something to get out of this after all. He agreed and they headed back to the school to. What will now be described below is a description of all three of our heroes and the rest of the night they had.

For Eddie, he was finding Richard again. The two of them had some unfinished business to attend to. After all, Richard needed to give Eddie a little lick or two and maybe they can do something else once the dance was over at one of their houses. But all he needed to do was find where mister get up in his business was.

"Oh there you are? You kind of just left a little out of nowhere. What even was the point of you doing that?" Richard said when he finally caught Eddie walking around. Eddie had turned around and he looked back down at the area of Richard's pants in which his balls would be. Eddie wondered if maybe he could go on and suck it off a second time. But then he remembered that it was still Richard's turn to go on and suck Eddie off.

"Hey how about we go home and then we finish off the job?" Eddie said and then when Eddie had said that Richard smiled really badly. That was when Eddie decided he would start to head out of the school and Richard had followed him. He held Eddie's hand when they got to the front of the school. Eddie was on the verge of laughing and Richard had smiled really badly. Neither one of them really cared anymore if they knew they were faggots since they would be out of the school soon anyways as well as the fact that they would be not caught with everybody dancing anyways.

After this was done, the two of them left the school and then they started to walk along on their way to Richard's house. They had agreed that maybe it was better for them to go there instead of being forced to deal with the risk of them being caught by Eddie's parents and all of that stuff. But then they were wondering what they would be doing if Richard's parents had caught them doing this. They decided that maybe it didn't really matter.

"You know, I don't really think that us trying things out is really all that big of a deal. We can just tell them they things went a little too crazy and risky and maybe they would be able to believe us if we had told them that stuff. After all, they usually believe me on most of the things that I say." Richard said and then afterwards the two of them were happy that this was all going well.

"I do not really care who gets to know anymore. I feel like people should not really be allowed to give off opinions on what they feel like for the things that I do on the sexual field." Eddie was saying and when he had made this choice, Richard had thought that Eddie had been getting a lot more courage just in the last couple of hours that he had known of Eddie and of his existence.

But things ended off when Richard and Eddie had reached the front entrance of the house. As they reached the front entrance of the house, the two of them started to go right up to Richard's bedroom. This was something that they were both really happy and excited over. Eddie closed the bedroom door when they were in the room. Then Richard landed on the bed and took off his shoe. Eddie took off his shoe and then he went on Richard's bed. The two were not going to wait at all to start this moment.

Eddie started to take off all of his clothes as he was getting ready to bang Richard a little bit. Richard took off his clothes and then when he took his clothes, the two of them started to pound each other and as they were having sex, both of them were trying really hard to be quiet since they were not wanting to get caught doing stuff that many parents would get annoyed by. They went at it for about twenty five minutes before they were done and then Richard turned off his bedroom lights so that way they could be able to sleep really nicely. Eddie wrapped his arm around Richard's body as they were now asleep. This was going to be the best one night stand in the history of their entire lives.

All as this was going on, Brad was dancing with his new girlfriend at the end of prom. The two of them were just not really paying attention to what the hell was going on around them. Neither one of them were going to talk about the event that had happened with the guy in the purple jacket. They were just taking this as casual as humanly possibly giving what the hell was going on. Once the dance was over, Brad thought that maybe it was his turn to have sex with his new partner.

"Sorry that I went on such a large rant about Misty and the life that I had about her. I just really felt like I needed to talk about it." Brad had said and he felt the great grasp of his girlfriend on him and she put her head on his shoulder and Brad was able to smell her flower scent perfume. He wondered how she had really even felt about what she had heard with his back story. Or maybe he was just pushing a subject that just needed to be let go.

"Honestly Brad, I see what the problem was. I am sorry that this terrible thing happened to it. This really seemed like it was the worst thing that you ever went through in your entire life. But I will try my hardest to make this whole period of your life not be a terrible thing anymore. I really want to make sure that you have a good rest of your high school career." His new girlfriend told Brad and she really liked the way that his shirt had a bunch of sweat on it due to all the dancing and hard work he had done. Under any other moment, the sweat would have been fucking disgusting, but this was a true exception.

The rest of the dance was really nice and great and it felt like Brad was able to take the nice long break that he had needed from all of the stress of losing a loved one two months ago. It was something that he really liked to talk about several years in the future. The songs at the end of the dance were just a bunch of background noise and not only that, but the entire surrounding stuff around him was just nothing he cared all that much about. When the dance was over, the principal got up and did some announcements for the school to explain that they needed to leave the area.

"Okay students, it is time to go on home. This was the best four hours of the school year and I feel like this is a general agreement. I hope that you will be talking about this for months to come and that you guys will never be able to forget about all of this." The principal had said and then after he said that he looked over at Brad and winked and there was something to it that indicated to Brad that he knew everything that happened.

Afterwards, Brad and the girlfriend went on over to the girlfriends real car and then the two of them went inside the car. The girlfriend started up the car and then she had looked at Brad as she smiled. The car lights and sounds of them all starting up in the area right outside sort of distracted both of them of what was going on. This was just hard for them to handle and the girlfriend started up the car. She then started to drive on the way to Brad's house as he was giving her details and instructions on where she had lived.

"Do you know if your parents will be here or not or are they going to even care what you are going to be doing with me?" The girlfriend had said and then Brad thought that this was a really good point. He really had to consider hard on what was probably going to be the most realistic thing that would have happened. "Of before you ask me, I decide that it might be best for you to know. My name is Eve." Eve said and then Brad kind of wasn't really thinking about that and then he got out of the car and Eve did as well as they started to head to the house. Brad decide he would give her the answer then.

"My parents will probably not be too shocked over the fact that I am bringing a girl on over to my house. However, I do not really think they are expecting that I will be having sex with you. I just think that it doesn't really matter for that reason. They will probably recognize I will be having sex eventually and they will probably be annoyed at first but they will get used to it." Brad told her and then kissed Eve on the lips. Eve was shocked for a second when they were kissed.

"Let's go inside. The longer that we stay here, the more that they will probably just be thinking that there was something going on beyond the original point. If we go right in they probably won't really notice and even if they did, they might not care." Brad decided and opened the door and the two of them went right up the house stairs and went inside of Brad's bedroom as they went right on the bed and didn't even close the door fully. Thankfully as Brad would realize later the next morning, the parents were out for the night and they actually were at a hotel for the night having sex on their own. So brad was able to get away from this for at least this first time. Future times not so much.

"Oh Brad, I am glad that you decided to dance with me. I thought that you were just going to keep dancing and not really care about anybody else that is in the school. You need to relax. Just get in the moment." Eve started to calm Brad down and with each passing second, the two of them were getting less guilty over the fact that Misty had died and Brad was just happy that he had gotten to live long enough to see himself having sex with somebody. Such a nice girl who didn't really judge Brad at all for what he had gone through before.

When this was all done and said with, Ken was at his own at the last couple of minutes of the dance. As he was left alone, he realized that no matter what he had done, he was always going to be the one that he nobody really liked at all. He was always the person that people would just throw away once they were done with him and Ken was starting to sort of see that this was the case.

This was when Ken started to walk on home. The more that he was walking away from the school, the more that the sounds and music of the prom dance were sort of dying away. He had just seemed like he wanted to get anything related to the dance to be even better. The only that he did during the last few minutes of the dance was the fact that Ken was dancing around and just wanting to sort of forget about the fact that he had just faced the worst person that he had ever met in his entire life.

Ken was just walking further and further to his house and as he was getting closer, the outside was pitch black and after five minutes of walking, there was no sound or anything that would be able to indicate that there was anything else going on. For all intents and purposes, despite what may make sense, there was nothing going on besides Ken just walking home.

Ken walked on home and as he was inside, everything was quiet. He walked further and further inside of his house and when he had gotten to his bedroom, there was a door that opened and this was the bedroom door that connected his parents room and his own room that almost all of the time was never used before. The guy who had come in was the old and tired father of Ken. "Ken, so how was prom?"

"It was fine. Just a lot of strange stuff that happened in the dance. I don't really know what else to say. Maybe I will talk about it more when I am in the better mood in the future." Ken had responded and he flopped onto the bed really hard. Sam was somehow still asleep throughout this entire thing, Ken pulled the gun out of his pocket and then it flopped onto the ground. As he had done this, Nigel sighed and then decided he wanted to take a moment or two to talk with Ken about what he had done.

"Ken, you need to know that I have done a bunch of things in the past that I have really regretted. But I just want you to know that I really want you to do better than me. That was why I was so disappointed when I heard about you thinking about dropping out. Since I really wanted you to go on and finish your education. If you can choose what to do, please don't drop out." Nigel had said and then that was when Ken decided that he had enough of people telling him what to do.

"I'm sorry dad, I just don't want people to tell me what to do anymore. I just want you to leave me alone. I am my own person. I don't need people to try and change my destiny as a human being." Ken said and then he flipped around so his head was on his pillow. Nigel was hearing Ken groan super loudly and by this point Sam was barely even sleeping anymore. This was when Nigel only said one more thing before he left Ken alone to sleep.

"Maybe you just need some time to think about it. Just think about it this weekend and then you can come up with the right choice when you know what you want to do." Nigel finished the conversation and then Nigel headed on out of the room. Ken fell asleep instantly as he had wanted to do. As Ken was asleep, Sam got up and walked closer to the bed ken was on and he picked up the gun. He was shocked and then shook his head. Ken was even worse than he had thought he was.

Sam just shook his head and he thought that his brother was needed to be stopped before something could happen to him that would make the whole situation even worse. Sam could not be able to get himself to sleep when he had seen this and he was wanting to do something to sort of take his mind off of what had happened. Sam then walked to the table in the bedroom that he and Ken shared. As they sat down, he was thinking on what to do. That was when he found the notebook that Ken had written during his days of Wayside. He opened up and saw a couple of pages and then when he had seen these pages, he was thinking about the idea of maybe reading these. But then he thought that despite how much he had hated his brother and how much of a criminal his brother was, he felt like there was a piece of privacy that he should respect. But then he heard a little bit of what Ken was saying in his sleep and he was talking about the events that had happened that night as well as the events that Brad went through with his girlfriend as well as the events that Ken had to deal with when he was trying to be a hero.

Sam thought that despite how stupid Ken was, maybe that he could do something to the same vein that Ken had done. So Sam took out a small notebook from his back pack and then when he had taken out the note book, he grabbed a small night light and then when he took it out, he started to get ready to do some writing. He wrote well into the hours of the night and when he was doing this, he had eventually filled up the entire thing trying to tell the story that he felt like needed to be told. When Sam would eventually die, this would later turn out to be his legacy and the only thing that he worked on that would be passed off and then his parents would read this as future evidence and later even just to see what the thoughts of their child was like in the last few months of his own life time.


	13. The Journal of Sam Ichijouji Part 1

Chapter 12: The Journal of Sam Ichilouji -Part 1-

-I am trying to do something right now. My brother has yet again disgusted me with his utter love for anything besides himself. I feel like I need to just do something to get my mind off of the disgust that I am having. I saw him come home tonight (May 13 1966) from prom and he had a gun with him, and I have a terrible feeling that maybe he had killed somebody with that gun. Knowing Ken, the name of my brother, this honestly is not all that shocking to really consider the idea of him being like that. I can hear what he is saying right now and I think that despite how much I despise him and his way of looking at life, I think that maybe I can learn something from him and maybe I can tell a story here. Here we go now, and from here until the end of this notebook, I am telling the story that I can hear him say, and absolutely nothing else.

So it started in 1963 when Ken, back in that day Kevin, was starting to get to the end of his seventh grade year at Wayside. He was starting to try and get some last hang outs with his friends. One of them was named Todd, and that was the one that Ken seemed to be the best friends with out of them all. I don't really get it, but I guess that it was not all that big of a deal.

"Hey Todd, I really respect the work that you have done here, and I think that this is giving me a lot of inspiration. Do you want me to do something like this. You know, try and be like a hero in my own way. You just seem to be so selfless and you seem to be the one who really wanted to help everybody else out, and I can really be able to respect this." Kevin said to Todd and then Todd was seeming to think of a way that he could help his friend out in the new ambition that he was starting to gather up.

"Well, I did it because I wanted to help others out. I had no real claim to fame and I was not trying to do this to make myself famous, it just happens that the man with the golden armor seems to be sort of the inspiration for some things going on now. For better or for worse, my golden armor persona is now a huge thing in this world. Or I guess in the town of Wayside." Todd said and then he looked at Kevin to continue what he was saying "Honestly when I first came to Wayside, I felt like things were actually right and I felt like I should have been doing something to try and help out as much as possible. I saw the way that outside of Wayside school, this town was sort of struggling to get along, I decided that I wanted to help out and do something of my own to truly save this place and increase the way of living here. Unless if you have the motivation that I have, there is no reason for you to even try to do something." Todd said and then Kevin thought that this was true and that he should just let Todd do the job on his own. He did not really have the motivation to help Wayside too much. Besides, Todd was doing this perfectly fine on his own. So he just let Todd do this on his own, and despite not wanting to help right now on his own, soon enough Ken would get the motivation to do so in his next place of living.

So when Kevin was finally done with Wayside, he was really scared of how he was going to transition and all that stuff. When the teacher was trying to get all the students to try and introduce each other and all that, Kevin gulped and then he said "My name is Ken." Afterwards, that basically started to be the nickname that he was going to be going with pretty much the rest of his life to this point in time. This was something that I didn't get at first but eventually embraced due to the fact that I thought that honestly he was going to start to change from there forward.

While Ken moving to this place was something that seemed to change his life for the worst, I was changing my life for the better. On my first day in high school tenth grade year, I was totally ready to just start hanging out with some new friends. I made a new friend pretty much in the first couple of days of the year. "Hey my name is Sam, this is my first day here. I don't really know what is going on around the school." I said and I seemed to be not really sure how to compose myself. I used to be really out there and open to other people talking with me, but something about being at a new school was honestly a little bit scary for me to handle.

"My name is Steve. This is my third year here. I think you will really like this school." Steve said and then he decided that he would give me a tour of the school. After he decided that he would give me a tour of the school, things started to get a little bit better for me. I love hanging out with some new friends when I first meet them to be honest, and with each friend that I made at that school, every thing was getting better.

It was on my school day there at the school when I met the girl who I would eventually start to date and sooner rather than later begin to fall in love with. I walked into my Chemistry class and when I was in Chemistry class, I started to try and get to make some new friends. I sat next to five people on one of the tables and I started to talk with them right away. The teacher made us all introduce each other to the people that we were all sitting with at our desk. I introduced myself to them and then Susan looked at me and shook my hand and then she said she was glad to see me at this school. I shook her hand and then when I shook her hand, things started to go better from there for me.

It took a week of having class with her to have the courage to ask her out on a date. I remember the day when it was happening for the first time. I only knew her for a week so I thought that maybe it was a little too soon for something like this to happen, and that was something that was starting to worry me a little bit and all that. But I felt like I needed to do this before it would slip by and I would not do something. "Hey Susan, do you want to go out to dinner sometime this weekend? Like Sunday maybe?" I was saying and then when I was saying this, that was when Susan looked at me and then she thought for a moment before she decided to nod.

"I guess that I will do it. How about we go to that one Italian place that is close to the school? I have been hear dank things about it, but I have not been there." Susan answered and then when she was saying this, I nodded and I thought that this was a fair plan and then we went our own ways and I had spent the next two days getting ready for this date to go down and I was really hoping that I was not going to fail this date. I was wondering how things were going with Ken since I was really hoping that leaving Wayside and going to this school was going to let him learn his lesson. Although I would later learn he was just getting even worse than before.

"How has your first week here been?" I asked Ken and I was hoping that he would be willing to talk with me here, but then he was just focused on reading that journal that he wrote during his time in Wayside I was starting to think that he was just not really caring about anything else in the world. I really wanted him to actually pay me some attention and not be looking at this book the whole time.

"I am just really missing that school. I had such great friends I did so many things that I really enjoyed here." Ken said and then when Ken was saying this, I sat down and then I thought that maybe the two of us could help each other out and that if I gave him some advice, then he can give me some advice here and then with that, the two of us could improve our friendships with each other. Guess that I was a little bit wrong with that.

"I think that it is time to put Wayside behind us for good. I think that we need to put this behind us Ken. I think that constantly thinking about this place is not going to do you any good. Just try and find something that you want to do, something that can get your passion up here, and then you can leave that place behind. But that won't happen if you don't at the very least try here." I was saying and then after I had said that, Ken just looked up at me and he decided not to really add anything. He placed the notebook down and it seemed like they we would work with each other. But little did I know this advice would bite me in the ass soon.

It had seemed like Ken was finally starting to improve, so I started to just focus more on the stuff going on around me and that was the date that I was having with Susan. When i was having my date with her, she seemed to be more focused on the fact that I was just seeming to be all calm and collected, something that she was not really expecting me to be like given my previous times in the class. "I thought that you were just going to be all uptight about everything that is going on. You seem to be much calmer than I would have expected you to be. That is a great thing actually." Susan said and then I placed both my hands under my chin, no matter how silly that fucking looked.

"I am just trying to be calm, I realized that my brother is finally growing the fuck up. This makes me happy knowing that he is no longer that dumb little kid that he used to be. I really wish that he can keep this up and that he will be a good man one day. But so far it seems as if he is not quite yet. But let's not talk about my brother. Let's talk about just things that I want to get to know you about over." Sam said and then when he had said that, Susan nodded mainly because she did not want to hear him constantly talking shit about his brother, which was honestly too much for her to handle.

"I think that you are really going to like it at this school. I have been trying to figure out why you asked me out of all people. I thought that maybe you would have asked some of the more attractive girls in the group. I really am not all that attractive and even I can see that for myself. I know that many people are not really thinking that I am being too nice with myself, but I am just telling the truth here." Susan was saying and then I was shaking my head. I had no reason to believe that there were better looking girls here, as I thought she was the truly best looking girl at our school.

"I truly do not see where you are coming from. I really think that you are the best looking girl in this school. But even beyond the looks, I think that there are other important things. You are smart, and you have worked really hard at school and you have been helping me improve on my Chemistry skills since I really do not know what I am supposed to be doing here." I was telling Susan and then when I said that to Susan, she smiled and she seemed to be excited that somebody had noticed and appreciated the effort that she had put into here.

"I never seen somebody take so much time to be thankful over the school work that I have done. I feel like people don't really care about the effort I have put forward into school over the last few years. But the fact that you seemed to like the work I have been doing already makes the two of us connect more than I ever thought that we would." Susan said and it was strange, but I felt that the two of us playing with each other and their uncomfortable ness was staring to make us more comfortable and feeling as if we actually could take on whatever was coming up in the world. As if the two of us were a perfect combination that had been made from the start of time.

"Well, I don't even really care all that much about school. But the fact that you are such a dedicated student here and the fact that you and I seem to actually know what is going on, and the fact that you helped me be calm and focused when talking with Ken, then I think that you are truly making things better for us both." I said and then when I had said this, Susan was seriously starting to wonder what the hell was even going with Ken that made me hate him so damn much.

"I mean don't get me wrong, I don't doubt that he has a long way to go before he's fully mature, but let him enjoy his youth. Maybe in a couple of years from now, he will be more ready to tackle real responsibility. Just let him enjoy life right now." Susan said to me and I was seriously wanting to change the subject and talk about something that I know she would not want to fight with me on. I figured that maybe we can talk about Chemistry class since there are a lot of things that we can discuss there.

"Let's talk about something else, a more calm and fun subject that I bet we will be able to both enjoy. Chemistry is a very hard class so far. I wonder what the teacher has in store for us at the end of the school year. I think that maybe once a week or something, we should meet up and just work on school work and when we are done, maybe try and do something else for a while." I said and I was slightly hinting at the sexual deed, but I didn't want to out right state it due to the fact that I didn't want to have Susan think I was a bit of an out there freak on our first date.

"I just think that he is wanting to get us active right away instead of just spend like a week or so on some boring class papers that none of us are going to be taking seriously and he probably knows that none of us will be taking seriously." Susan said and I considered that idea for a moment, but at the same time I thought that maybe this was just going to be one of the harder classes and that we were going to have to get used to these standards.

"Hey Sam, want to come home with me tonight?" Susan asked and that was when I got really excited. I had a feeling I knew where she was going to be heading with this. I nodded really excited when I heard her ask that and Susan smiled, thinking that this was going to work out wonders after all at when we actually do start to get a real relationship going. If it wasn't already at that level yet, which I am starting to think we are actually getting there.

After that, Susan and I started to head on over to her house and I was slowly getting myself mentally prepared for this. It would be my first time on this, and I am assuming that it would be Susan's first time on this as well. I was just hoping it was actually what I thought that it was, and that I wasn't just sort of having my deviant mind play these tricks on me after all. Looking back nearly three years later, I knew it was silly to think that but I was so over the top excited for the possible outcome.

Once we were at Susan's house, she waited until her parents were asleep and then she closed the door to make sure that it was at least relatively quiet once we started to get into the groove of things. "Hey so Susan... I know this is really fast and the fact you went on a date with me anyways is awesome, but I was wondering if maybe you want to... you know... start going out with me. As you know, boyfriend and girlfriend." I said and that the closest I went to choking on something with her related to our relationship.

Susan paused and was trying to really take in what had just happened, wondering herself if this was all too fast or not. But she decided that it was no real big deal and she nodded. "Yeah that would be awesome. I would love to be your girlfriend." Susan said and I took a deep breath while really taking in the fact that she did not turn me down. Then she sat down next to me on her bed and we stared at each other. I was already feeling the twitch inside my pants and I knew what it was for.

I do not really want to make you guys uncomfortable and wonder why I am making you all suffer, so I will not give you the long and detailed version of what had happened. Long story short, we had sex. It lasted for a little while and this was my first time, so I was god awful at it and I wish that I would have recorded it since it would have been hilarious to laugh at in the future. Once we were done, we went to bed and made sure we were quiet about it.

Once I returned home that day, I went on to my room and was doing my very best to make sure that my parents did not catch onto what I was doing. When Ken would get into trouble, he took a disturbing amount of pride in it and was very public about it. Unlike me who felt strange about it and didn't want people to know what I had done. That is another thing that still makes the two of us very different in a way that I would say makes me better.

"So how was the date with Susan?" Ken asked when I was in my room and I could tell that he had been waiting all morning to ask that question. I looked over at him and was wondering why he had absolutely no life and why he was even bothering with this in the first place. After all, it was none of his business and he should have just treated it like that. I sighed and told him that it went alright and that the two of us had a great time. I didn't tell him the girlfriend thing or the moment when we banged, since I thought that he would abuse that knowledge in a way.

"I know there is more to it than that. But it's very obvious that you don't want to tell me, so I will respect what you want I guess." Ken said and then he decided to leave me alone. I was thinking that this was rather mature for his standards, but then I started to think that maybe he was doing this to maybe pull a card on me later on with the fact that he didn't expose me for something so in return I should do the same for him or something totally retarded like that.

"Just remember I am only going to tell you something if I feel like it is your business, and none of this is your business, so I will tell you none of it." I told Ken and that was all that there was to the conversation. Ken raised up his two arms and he was showing that as a sign to declare defeat and he left the room. I had no idea what he was doing, and I reminded myself to be careful about that, but for now, I wanted to give him a chance to prove himself an ally.

Later that night, I was sort of thinking about the school year. I was thinking that perhaps it was not really going to be all that bad. I thought that with Susan at my side, that maybe I was really going to be able to enjoy this year after all. I thought that Ken and I would be able to start to become friends by relative standards and that none of the stuff I was worrying about was really going to happen or not in the way that I feared at least.

Sure, Wayside and leaving behind old friends was a tough bitch to deal with, but I can live with it. After all, Ken seems to be dealing with it just fine, and he is the one person I thought more than anything would suffer with it. Or he is at least looking like he is dealing with it fine. If he isn't then I have to give him props for doing a good job hiding it. That is honestly pretty impressive how he can pretend that things are going his way if they are not. Maybe he could be like a good actor or something like that if it was a performance.

That night, Ken was down in the basement of the house. I would later learn that he was using that as his operation base to do his own stuff related to his retarded idea of becoming a super hero. He was just drawing a bunch of outlines on it until he created one that he eventually ended up really liking. It was one with wings under the arms, a motorcycle helmet, black and white clothes, and combat boots. It seems really cool to him and it was kind of cool the first couple of times I saw it, but it was still a silly design. Now Ken was just thinking of a good name for it.

Things seem to go a little bit casual after that for a while. Susan and I would meet up every day after school for two hours before heading home. Most of the time we just did like hopeless romantic stuff. Every week end we would meet up at her house and we would have a weekly session of sex. My parents didn't know about it and they honestly didn't care. Ken did know all about it and he was just simply not saying a damn thing about it. I was wondering what he was doing, and if he was planning something behind my back. But I decided to ignore it for now since he was doing the same for me. Besides, he was thirteen, getting close to fourteen.

It had gone on like this for about six weeks or so, with little to no changes in the whole thing. This was basically a part of the daily routine, and with Susan at the week ends, weekly routine. This was until six weeks later as I just said, when Ken walked up to me while I was getting ready to go on my date with Susan. There was a look on his face that showed he really meant it when he was about to say that he wanted to talk with me for a moment. He was an annoying little shit, but he was my brother and I feel as if I should have placed him above Susan.

"Ken, I have a date with Susan coming up very soon. You are well aware of this. So I will give you ten minutes to tell me what you really want to tell me. Once those ten minutes are up, I am leaving and you will have to keep it in." I said and I knew that this would make him talk fast and I was hoping that he would actually take it seriously.

"I was really wanting to tell you something. But you were always gone doing something every time I come up to take a break and try and tell you. But I am thinking about going around and saving the city. I think I want to fight crime." Ken told me and I was thinking he was just talking about becoming a police office and I told him that it was a fair idea and that he should try and look into the police force. But looking at him again made me see he didn't think of that idea.

"I don't want to do it in the traditional sense. I don't really have any interest in fighting crime by being a police officer. I don't really have the patience to do something like that. I want to do something right here, right now, that I can easily take into my own hands." Ken said and I looked at him, and I was starting to get it. I knew where he was going, and I was wondering what made him insane enough to actually believe that he should actually be doing what he was thinking about. I shook my head and then Ken was placing both of his hands together as if he actually had the best idea in the world.

"Sam, I think that I have a good place to goo off of here. I think that my idea is so much better than just sitting down in the office every day and acting like a jack ass who pretends they care when they only get paid for the misery of others."' Ken said and it was really making me mad to hear him talking that type of level about our police station. I knew that he was talking about our parents and that our father was collectively in there.

"You better fucking take that back. If you think that you dressing up in a fucking cape will actually get any good done, then you are just as crazy as the people who commit the crimes. I will not continue this conversation with you and I want you to cut that shit of. I don't ever want to hear you talking that way about our dad again." I said and then I left the house and I didn't even say anything to my parents as I was heading out. I almost did, but I didn't want Ken to be in super deep shit. I was going to be taking care of that myself when I came home.

As I was getting in my date with Susan that night, I was trying really hard to get the moment with Ken outside of my head. God, my brother was a fucking ass. One of the biggest pieces of crap I have had ever had the displeasure of knowing. He only cares about what goes on gets him in the next step above. He may not act like it or pretend that he cares about everybody else, but trust me, he is going to use his 'fighting crime' life style to go on and pick up some ladies who would other wise never even dream of touching him. It was honestly just kind of retarded at this point in time.

"Is there something going on Sam?" Susan asked and then when she had asked me that, I looked over at her and I thought about it and if it was even worth bothering her with how my brother was. She already knew all of the horror stories of how Ken was. But I thought a short piece on it would not be all that bad.

"Just Ken acts like he can do a better job fighting the world of crime than my father. He doesn't know what it is like to go out there on a daily basis and throw your fucking life on the line and almost die every single day." I told her and then she looked at me in a way that was suggesting that since I didn't do that either, that I wasn't one really to fully speak on the subject. "I mean, he almost got himself killed on more than one case during his seventh grade year, and he acts like he can do so much better when he can almost die every fucking time." I was fucking livid with this asshole.

"Look Sam, he is an idealistic man. He had a lot of big ideas of how he wants the world to be. Can you blame him for that? He's fucking like fourteen or something. Just let him live in his idea that he is going to be the savior of the world." Susan suggested and that was a horrible idea, and I thought that maybe she needed to see where I was coming from.

"But Susan, our father is working at the police station and has been putting his entire life at something like that. Then Ken comes along and acts like he can do a job a thousand times better than our father just because he had a crazy battle with some crazy guy who wore a purple jacket. Trust me, I do not even want to go into that story at all. If you want to know, just have somebody like ken explain it to you. But seriously, he acts like he is better when he never even has done something like this on his own." I told Susan, wishing she would finally understand but I doubt that she would, which was awful.

"I don't know, I think you should just let him follow his own path. If he feels like he can do a good job, maybe just give him a chance to prove himself. That is what I would do. I wouldn't instantly throw something away because of what it may sound like to you." Susan said and I considered that for a short moment. Maybe she did have a point there. Maybe she actually was right on that, even if I hated to admit it.

The rest of the date was great, and I think that once we put aside what we were thinking about Ken, nothing really was bothering us too badly anymore. The next part that I want to talk to you about was this time after we came back from winter break in that school year. Honestly nothing before then was really worth all that much of a interest and I doubt that you will constantly want to hear about me banging Susan and all of that stuff. You got the point after the first time I wrote about it.

Anyways, so when I had returned to school after winter break, I started to make some new friends. Well, two major ones. Steve and the others in Chemistry class weren't really people I hung out with too much. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind them and it wasn't like we didn't get along, but it was a very much in the class room thing. Also by this point in time, we were about a year away from when Ken started to act like he truly was the hot cause and start getting in the whole super hero role which honestly was just a horrible idea.

The first one of these people that I started to hang out with was named Sheldon. He was a little bit of a social nerd and basically did not have any good skills talking with people at all. In fact, getting him to talk to me at all seemed like something that was like a record breaking event for me to do. Not that it was a bad thing though, it was just the truth of how Sheldon really was like.

I was at school one day and he was at his locker just trying to get to next class really fast. He was one of those no time wasting students who wanted to just get ready and be out of the locker room in like fifteen seconds since he knew that if he did not he would have to deal with some people taking the liberty to make fun of him for various reasons. To be honest, he seemed to just sort of have that little bit of a pervert vibe to him. Not in the way that he was into super little kids or anything like that. In the way that he just sort of looked at people around him with a little bit of a sexual way. It was a little odd, but not really all that big of a deal.

"So dude, I was wondering if perhaps you would like to go hit the park after school today." I said and he thought about it. I could tell from his face that in reality, he didn't really want to but at the same time he didn't want to say no, so he was just going to sort of force himself into the whole idea. I raised my hand up and was trying to show that it was alright if he didn't want to do it. I could honestly understand why he would not. There were some assholes down there all the time and I was not too big of a fan of them myself. It made sense to me.

"I wouldn't mind going, but probably for not too long. I should probably be doing some school work honestly. Don't want to get behind on my work and make my parents angry at my getting behind." Sheldon decided and I considered that, it was a valid point but since he agreed to go hang out with me, it was sort of something that he could not really take back.

"Well, see you after school then." I said and Susan and I agreed earlier that day to not really meet up anyways, so this was not really going to get in the way too much. She said that she was doing some family related stuff and that it wasn't on top of the list for this day in particular to go and spend some time with me. I didn't mind, besides I felt like the two of us did need a little bit of space every once in a while to make us really appreciate each other even more.

I went and just did the normal day by day usual stuff and I didn't really even care about the work all that much honestly. I was just in the mood to go and hang out with some friends and take things easier. So when school was over, I went to see Sheldon and he was looking around and checking everybody out. I rolled my eyes. I didn't mind it as much as most people like at all, but at the same time it was a little bit strange and even I had to admit that.

"So are you ready to head out?" I asked and he looked over and saw me. He nodded, thinking that it was probably enough for that for one day. It did make me laugh a little bit on the inside, but a laugh in more of the I felt bad for him type of way. He was not going to get anybody to think that he was prince charming with the way that he acted every single day. But I doubt he was able to really understand that. I mean he didn't even have the looks to be somebody of a prince charming.

I would never consider myself anything else than a straight bloke, but I mean I can recognize and see when a guy is good looking. It is just common sense. I just wanted to say that before I see somebody read this and make any sort of assumptions. I don't feel that way towards dude and probably never will, but I can see a guy and see that he is handsome or well put together. Doesn't mean that I want to put my rod inside of his ass or something like that.

Anyways, now that I am done making you feel like you hate life for reading that, I am going to get back to the main actual point at hand. So Sheldon and I started to head on down to the park, which was about a mile and a half away from where the school was, which was like a twenty minute walk since we were taking it slowly and not going super fast or anything. We didn't really have too much of a time limit and my parents didn't really care if I stayed out that late with some friends or anything like that.

At the park, we were looking around and the two of us were wondering what exactly to do next. We didn't really talk that out and the fact that we were looking like total retards was making it really obvious. "Yeah, maybe we should have made some better plans before we went down there." I said and the two of us remained silent for a little bit, thinking about that. It wasn't bad that we had no plan so to say, but at the same time, it did leave us to sort of be looking around with no idea on what exactly to do next.

"Well, maybe we can just relax for a little while. I mean, there is nobody around that is going to mess us up or anything like that." Sheldon said and then we sat down on the swings. I felt a little bit stupid being a near young adult sitting down on some swings, but it could have been worse. We could have been trying to 'fight crime' as Ken would put it and act like he was some great and mighty hero when in reality he was just being some dumb fuck by even thinking for a second that this would work. Honestly I was still pissed the fuck off about that. He acted like he was going to be the one who can make all the changes when he can barely make any changes to his own personal life style. Like who the fuck did he think he was for acting like that.

But as this was going on, there was a guy with red hair coming inside of the park and he had a black shirt on over his white shirt and he just in general seemed to be a cool and relaxed guy who did not really worry about anything going on round him. He seemed like the type of guy you would want to hang out with and share a beer with is what I am telling you right now.

"What are you two doing here? You guys seem like you are really bored?" He asked and I was surprised that he was taking his time to talk with either one of us. After all, we never said anything to him so it would not really give off the impression that we were worthy of his calm and collected attitude and all that stuff. "I'm just waiting for some girl that I was going to go and hang out with." The guy said and then Sheldon and I looked at each other.

"Well, my name is Sam." I said and then Sheldon introduced himself. The guy placed his back pack down and he looked out at the town and he was thinking about what to say and he was thinking about the girl that he was going to be meeting up with really soon.

"My name is Brad. I have been here for a while. What are you guys planning on doing? I don't really know how long I plan on staying in the park to be honest. Might just head out when the girl I am waiting for shows up." Brad said and I was wondering if the three of us were going to be hanging out any time soon or if this was just a one time deal. "I arranged to meet up with her lately and she has been pretty busy. I don't really know with what know. None of my business I guess." Brad said and then I looked at Sheldon.

"Yeah, maybe she is just doing some school work. That is what I would be guessing she is doing." I said and I thought that there was a fair amount of realism to it. Brad considered it but at the same time I could tell he was not fully sold on it either. He seemed to be a little bit distracted. As if this girl was honestly not even all that he was thinking about. I was wondering what had been going on with him to make him so fucking distracted that he couldn't even handle looking at us in a conversation that we were having with him. I didn't find it offensive, but I was just not too sure.

"I don't really know. She might be doing school work. But she never has been a good student. I am just thinking that maybe she is sort of doing some of her own so called personal work. She seems to be working on a lot of stuff late at night and I don't really know what it is honestly. It is starting to worry me honestly." Brad said and I was starting to sort of get reminded of Ken when I would hear somebody say that. I was not really too sure if that was my fault or if Ken was not really the only one out here like this.

But before I could question him any more, he waved his hand up and he yelled out loud "MISTY! I'M OVER HERE!" Brad got her attention and the girl, who seemed to be wearing a lot of blue and white and had her hair pointed to two different for of lightning buns, which I didn't get, started to come on over to him. "Well I will be seeing you later." Brad said and then he headed off with the girl. Sheldon looked at the girl and he was sort of taken by her.

"That guy seems like a nice bloke. Maybe my brother can pick up a couple of pieces from him." I said and I was wondering if we would be friends and hang out more or if Brad was going to soon forget that I even existed at all. I feel as if both options were equally possible given how things were around here.

I just spent the next few days working on my own stuff at school, trying to keep on top of all the work that is given to me on a constant basis. I didn't really want to fall behind since if I did, I would have bad grades and I wanted to graduate on time with high marks, so that would not be a valid option if I just was lazy and did nothing. Besides, I knew that this was a good chance to yet again one up Ken by doing something that he was not good at, and it was really great inside to always be able to one up that guy under any chance I may have.

Something strange happened though. I was just going down to the basement since I saw Ken down there a lot lately and I guess you can say that curiosity killed the cat on that regard. So I went down there and I thought that I would see what I wanted to know after about two minutes and once I was done, I can come up the stairs and then just move on in my life. I didn't trust Ken, but I never thought that he could go down to the level that he had, no matter how much he had talked of it.

So when I was in the basement, I thought that things were a little bit normal at first. Nothing too incredibly terrible. I then saw a small desk in the center of the room. At first I thought nothing too much of it. Looked like a gaming table. I just assumed that perhaps it was something Ken put in there to put his stuff on since he liked to work all the time down here. I actually was being pretty supportive of what I was seeing for this first part. He was just a fourteen year old boy, well fourteen in like five weeks, and he was using the basement as a man cave. If I was his style of teenager back at that age, I would have probably been the exact same.

I sat down on the family couch and it felt a lot more broken in and beaten down than it was the last time I went sat on it, which was when we were at the last school the previous year. I knew that Ken was using this a lot and that he just was the one who did it.

I sat down there for about three to four minutes. I knew I needed to meet up with Susan soon, and that being down here was going to be a problem if I didn't get out of the room in like ten to fifteen minutes. Ken was out with our parents doing some errands and I think they were going to be going out to watch a movie or something. I thought that maybe I would be fine until like seven or eight on most normal nights.

Ken managed to get a 2.1 the last term that we had, which was too date his highest graded term and the only one which he actually did not get a single F in it. They felt that this was worth the cause of celebration, and to be honest while a 2.1 is not great by any means, it was a step up. I was just thinking about that a little bit when I saw that there was a piece of paper on the floor that my foot was on. I knew that if Ken saw my foot print on there, he would know I was down there. So I picked it up and I was thinking about dusting it off or something to make it look like nothing ever happened.

But when I picked it up, my curious mind decided to just look at it for a moment. I saw that it was a giant list of stuff. The list was called "Targets" and it was talking about all of these people, names of streets, and one sentence descriptions of it. It was three pieces of paper actually stapled together. I didn't quite get it at first, but when I thought about it I started to figure it all out. These were the names of places different crimes took place in, who owned the places, and the names of some of the perpetrators. On one hand, the guy clearly did his 'homework' and knew what he was doing, but on the other hand, I was starting to wonder what his plans were and if he was actually going to start doing what I thought he was going to start doing.

Finding out about all of this did actually make me really pissed off. This guy did not know when the fuck to stop. But then at the same time, there was a little bit of worry that was coming through me as well. Such as his safety and if he should even be doing what he had already been doing. I started to look at his table and started to see the several pieces of loose paper all around the place. Talking about what he will do when he begins his crime fighting, where his first goals are, picking the places with the most small level crime at them, and some times he would write small hand transcripts of radio conversations that he heard. Usually like two to three minute pieces.

I thought that despite how crazy this all was, Ken was actually starting to take this seriously. A little bit too seriously if I had to say. I spent so much time looking down here that I realized I needed to meet up with Susan like forty minutes later and that I was going to be half an hour late.

Annoyed at myself, I threw the papers on the table and started to head out of the room. Since the papers were all flying around as if they were air planes for a little bit, I knew Ken was going to catch me cold sooner or later. But right now, I really did not care all that much.

If Ken was mad over the fact that I was being sane, then he was even worse than I thought that he was. He needed to get his stuff together if something like this was going to anger him. But right now, I was telling myself that this did not really matter all that much and that I needed to just focus on getting to Susan since I had made a promise to her and I had no intention on breaking that promise under any cases.

I ran to Susan's house at the fastest speed I could possibly do it, not wanting to waste even a fucking second on this. I realized what I needed to do. Once I knocked on her door, I saw Susan walk down the hall way and open the door for me. "What happened that made you so late?" Susan asked and while I knew she would give me a really fucking pissed off reaction over the exact extent of the truth, I knew I should probably be a little bit honest about it.

"I was down in the basement, looking at some of Ken's stuff and seeing what I can learn about what he was doing. I thought that maybe I could get some of the facts straight." I said and then Susan rolled her eyes as if she didn't understand what my obsession with this whole thing even was to begin with. In a way, I wasn't really sure if I understood it either. Maybe I was starting to over think it. But at the same time, he was over doing it. Maybe we were both being over the top. I think that is the better way of looking at it.

"Sam, I get that you really think he shouldn't do something like this. I totally one hundred percent understand why you feel that way. But he must follow his path and you must follow your path. You need to let it go bro. Just hang out with me and not worry about anything going on with Ken." Susan said and I thought about it. I knew she was right and I knew that I needed to take a breather, but it was just hard for me to do so. But I did want to enjoy the night with her, which in the end was a better wish for me.

"Fine... I will do it." I said and walked inside of her house and for the next few hours, I turned off my mind to all of the Ken stuff. It was a little nice not to be forcing myself to think about my brother and all of the stupid shit going on. It was probably better for me to do that anyways. After all, Susan was right. It was his choice and he needed to follow his own path. I kept forcing myself to remember that fact.

On Monday of that next week, I was hanging out with Sheldon a little bit and we were just sort of taking it casually and not really caring too much about what was going on around us. "So how is Susan doing?" Sheldon asked and I could tell from the look on his face that he was a little it worried that perhaps this relationship was starting to face some problems. I didn't really think that was the case at all, but maybe he was a little bit right in the way that perhaps I should have been taking her word a little bit more seriously than I had been with Ken and all that stuff.

"I think it is doing fine. We might have some disagreements here and there. but when you get into a relationship, you will start to see that everybody is like that. There is no perfect match made in heaven, no matter what the media tries to show things as. I mean, relationships are truly a give and take thing. You need to find the way that everybody can be at least a little but happy at the end of the day, you just need to really hone in that problem." I told Sheldon and he was thinking about that, and he thought that I was probably right and that when he got into a relationship, he would have to start to look into that.

"Yeah, I think you are probably a better expert on that stuff than I am." Sheldon decided and that was the most that we could have with each other before Brad and that Misty girl he was talking about earlier came along to sit down with us. I was not really too sure what to think of it, but I thought it was kind of cool that they were willing to talk with us again even though we barely even knew them to begin with. Perhaps nobody else was talking with them or something like that.

"Hey you two." Brad said as Sheldon gave a look of confusion, to show that he had already forgotten about the whole last week thing. Brad pointed up his right index finger as if he felt stupid for not realizing his mistake sooner. "I'm very sorry. Totally forgot that we have only met once before. But I was the guy that you two met at the park earlier." Brad said and then that was when Sheldon got the look of remembering on his face and then he nodded to show that he got it.

"I thought that maybe you guys would like to hang out. Misty and I were heading on over to her house in a moment, and we were thinking that maybe you would want to come." Brad said and then I looked at Sheldon. The look on his face was passive although I could tell that he did want to hang out with Misty, and I thought that maybe we could get this to work out if I started to pick up better with Sheldon on his social skills.

"Yeah sure, I think it would be cool if we hung out." I said and then Brad got a very small smile on his face thinking that this was going to be one of the best days of the last few weeks or something. So the three of us got up from where we were and started to head on down to Misty's house. "So what made you guys want to talk to us again after only meeting us once?" I asked, thinking that while it was great he was asking us to do this, it did feel a little bit odd and I thought that there was nothing too wrong with getting to know that fact first.

"Well, we thought that you guys needed to make some new friends, and I thought that we got along decently well in the short time that we saw each other, so I thought what the hell, why not give it a shot?" Brad said and I guess that it seemed legitimate enough. After all, both Sheldon and I, even more Sheldon, did sort of have a dead social life. I at least had some friends and Susan, but Sheldon didn't really even have that at all.

"What have you guys been up to? Are you guys having any plans soon?" I asked, just trying to keep up the casualness of the conversation and not make it too strange or anything like that. I thought that if they wanted to be friends with me, they needed to have at least a little bit of a open mind set to us. That was what I thought at the very least, and I felt that there was a good motive to that. Maybe I was just afraid of what Ken was going to turn into and didn't want them to follow that same path he is already starting to head down.

"Misty has been working on a project for a while and I think that the project will be a great success once it gets going." Brad said and I was curious what exactly this project was, and I felt that maybe I could help out a little bit if she told me a little bit more about it, that maybe I could give her some pointers or something like that. It would be mostly harmless, but I felt no problem in that idea.

"Please don't tell them what it is. I don't want them to start thinking things behind our back." Misty said and then Brad stopped and nodded and he felt a little bit bad for making her feel that way. It was not in any way his intention, but he did see where she was coming from and he did understand why it could annoy her. So with that, Brad looked at Sheldon and wondered what he was thinking of. It seemed like he was sort of off in a different world with his mind right now due to the fact that he was looking down all the time and not really paying too much attention to what was going around him.

"Do you guys have any plans for the weekend?" Brad asked trying to bring the subject to a easier one that most people can mostly agree on. Misty sighed in relief when she had heard this, not wanting the truth to come out just yet. I had plans with Susan on the weekly basis and all that stuff, but nothing like over the weekend or something like that. I just was probably to maybe hang out with her on Saturday, but even that was not a totally for sure thing.

"No not really, do you have something going on?" Sheldon decided to break the mold a little bit when he made that response. Brad looked at Sheldon and thought that maybe he would do. Misty was really sort of eyeing us carefully, wondering if Brad was going to drop the other conversation point at all or if Brad was totally away from that subject finally. She was really hoping that it would be the latter.

"No not really, maybe we can hang out this weekend or something? Do you like that idea?" Brad suggested as Sheldon had to pause a think about it for a moment. "Dude it's okay if you don't want to. After all, Misty and I were already having plans. Maybe if you just maybe meet up for like an hour or two, then everything would be alight." Brad said and when he said everything would be alright, there was an edge to the sentence as if he was utmost positive that nothing could possibly go wrong. I was not really too sure what could make him believe it so badly, but I thought that if Brad can feel that way about things, then maybe I could as well.

"Yeah sure I would be fine with hanging out for a little while. I just don't want to get in the way of your plans or anything." Sheldon said and then Brad said that if he had a lot of plans, he would have never asked the question in the first place. Sheldon considered that and thought that it was fair point, and that was all that there was to that small little subject.

Once we were at Misty's house, she let us inside and I started to look around the place a little bit. Her house was huge. Not like that she was some rich mother fucker, since there was nothing of insane value in there. Just a bunch of mechanical stuff. It was very clear that she was a engineer or maybe that one of her parents was. But it was just really spacious. Like the front hall was already bigger than my entire living room, and I was not even too sure what her bedrooms would be like, and how giant they would be.

Once the fact that Misty had a house like seven times the size of my own had sort of worn down and I was used to that fact, I was able to go on and actually enjoy the tour that she was giving us. I thought that there was nothing wrong with how big her house was and that I just needed to get used to it a little bit more. "My mom has been trying to create some things that are like robots, although not like the androids that you guys hear about every once in a while, I am talking about just full on robots in which you don't even fake the idea of them being like humans at all." Misty explained and I was wondering what that would be like in the modern society, and how well that would be accepted.

"How long has she been working on this stuff?" I asked, thinking that if I knew just how dedicated she was to the project, I can get a true sense on how impressive it was or how insane it was. Or how it might be a little bit of both of them at the same time, which was also a pretty likely out come. "My brother has expressed some interest in the creation of robots, but not nearly enough to want to actually create some."

"My mom has been working on them since I was a young girl. I am sixteen right now, so that is like ten years or so. She has made this one of her main interests, seeing how robots can thrive in the real world once they are developed and have the emotions of a human, but not the body of one at the same time. It is a interesting concept, but she is starting to think that it will never really come on through." Misty explained and the two of us that were not named Brad were pretty interested in this. Brad had known about all of this and was not shocked at all when he heard this. In fact, he was more shocked to see the totally shocked looked on both of our faces.

"My mom has believed that robots will come to be an accepted part of our society soon enough and she really wants to push that day forward with a lot of gusto placed onto it. I am really hoping that the project turns out as good as she wants it to, as it is one of her great many passions." Misty said and showed up a show case piece behind some glass.

I read it a little bit and it said 'Wakeman' and I was wondering if that was the name of her mother and that was her signature on it. I would not doubt it if that was what it was. I looked over at Misty and I had like a million questions to ask her but I just had no fucking idea where I could even start with them.

I decided that I was going to keep the comments to myself and if she wanted us to know more about these plans, then she would tell us all of these plans. Misty and the three of us started to walk around the house a little bit and I was wondering what was going on. I was a little bit worried about what it would be like if Misty's parents found out that she was hanging out with three guys. I mean, they probably wouldn't really mind the whole Brad thing, but Sheldon and I were probably going to be a little bit too far and something that she was probably going to start asking us a trillion questions about.

Soon enough, Misty opened her bedroom door and the four of us walked into her bedroom. I wondered why her bedroom was just so... bland in comparison to the rest of the house so far and a house that seems like it is meant to basically create a shit ton of androids or something like that. "This is where I work on my operations of my own." Misty said and then she closed the bedroom door when all four of us were in the room. I knew that she was wanting to show us something and in order to respect her wishes, I decided to remain as quiet as possible.

"So I have been working around a little bit, and I have been looking into the corruption of the city." Misty said and when she had said that, I realized that she was talking in the exact same way as Ken and Todd had been talking when I had known them form earlier. I decided to keep it inside my mind and not say anything since not only did I want to lose the respect of her right away, and besides I was thinking that there was a chance that she was going to act about it in a way that was not related to the destructive ways that Ken and Todd had been looking at it.

"I learned about this crazy fight at a place called Wayside Minnesota back last year and how there was the leading guy who was doing this in a way of trying to bring freedom of the town. I was really proud of the man who had gone out of his way, risking his life, to do something like this. I thought that maybe I could do something like this. I thought that perhaps I could be a hero of my own." Misty said and then I looked down, thinking exactly about the stuff that Todd had done and Ken. At least Ken had not gone into it and I thought that there was a small chance that I could turn back the ideas of Ken. But Misty I had no real idea if I could really turn her choice around, but I thought that it was possible.

"I want to save the city, and I feel like if I work hard enough at it, then maybe I can make a difference. Do you guys know somebody who can do just that?" Misty said and then when she had said that, I shook my head and looked down at my hand and was thinking a way to get the hell out of there.

"Sorry guys, I am really busy right now. I need to do some school work." I said and then I ran out of the house and started to head on back to my house. I needed to talk to Ken, and I thought that maybe I could talk to him a little bit and that maybe Ken and I could talk things out and maybe I could make a deal with him that could get him to change his ways.

I made it back to our house and I ran on down to the basement and I knew right away when I was the only one in the basement and both mom and dad were there, that I had failed and that Ken was doing something. I fell down to my knees and I was going to fail this. I wanted Ken to be so safe that anything I was doing would have been better than doing nothing at all.

I went down to my bed and laid down on it. I just stared at the ceiling in my bedroom not really able to do something for quite a while. I was just thinking about the failure that I had created, the fact that Ken was not safe and that Misty was going to do something like this. There was no need to destroy corruption when the police officers could do it just as easily as they could have, if not twice as easily.

But soon enough, a few hours had passed by, and then that was when Ken walked into the bedroom and he was having a bit of a bloody nose and that there was something on his eyes that showed me that he knew what he did was sort of wrong. i sighed in relief when I knew that Ken was safe and I just said "I'm fucking sorry." And then Ken shook his head and then he went to the bath room to take care of his body and get ready to go to sleep himself. I knew that the conflict between us was just growing and growing and that soon enough, we were going to fail here.

As a few days pass, when Sheldon and I met up, that was when Sheldon was filling me up on everything that had happened in the last few days and the stuff that Misty and I were talking about and stuff like that. I was just not really sure what to think, but I thought that after a few days, and seeing Ken safe, that maybe I really should give him a chance to prove Misty and why she was not all that bad at this after all.

"Misty just really worried me when she was telling us about those plans. I thought that this was going to get her killed or something like that, and I was worried about her. I couldn't even get myself to tell her that, but it was what I was thinking." I explained to Sheldon and it looked like he did agree with me at least a small amount. It felt good to know that at least one other person was able to see where I was coming from with the whole Misty thing. I mean, with all the context I had, it only made sense.

"I bet it can be a dangerous thing I suppose. But if the one guy from Wayside was able to do it, there is no reason on earth to assume that nobody else can do it. I think the Wayside incident will start to get more and more people to follow along in this save the world bullshit and then after a while of all of these movements, there will come a point where it all did indeed work out in the end. I think that this will be the over all outcome of this whole thing." Sheldon said and then after he had said this, I thought about that and thought that maybe there actually was a slight chance that this would lead onto something bigger, and that I just needed to wait for a while for all of these changes to really happen.

"I guess that maybe this is the truth. Maybe I just need to give it some time. I don't really know. I just don't want something to happen to her and then things just go down the shitter. If you know what I mean by that." I told Sheldon as the two of us contemplated this whole thing wondering what the ultimate out come of this whole thing would actually be, if we would see any real outcome at all.

"Maybe once she does a couple of things, Misty will lose interest in it and then she will move onto doing general stuff. That is what I am hoping she does at least. I mean, sure it is her choice what she does at the end of it all, but I just don't want to see any huge problems hit her, if you are able to see where I am coming from." I said to Sheldon, as the guy thought through what I said and tried to decide if he had agreed with me or not. It seemed as if he was sort of on the fence about the whole thing.

"I guess that can be true. I'm just not sure. I think she truly has the right intentions, and that she will go through this idea if she is truly convinced that this is going to be a good idea in the end. She needs to make the choice for herself after all. I just hope that no matter what the choice is, it turns out to be the one that she will be proud of and that she didn't feel like she made any real mistakes doing this. I will support her in her goals though, since I believe that when you have a dream, a desire, you need a crew to truly help you out through it all." Sheldon told me and I thought that he was perhaps doing it because he liked her.

"I just hope that it is the right choice. I think we can agree on that. For you know, avoiding any conflict, let's go on to a different subject that I think we will be more inclined to discuss..." I said and then was thinking about my options. "Well, my brother is going to be leaving middle school in three months and going to high school." I said as Sheldon looked a little bit excited at that.

"That's awesome going to high school is a lot of fun. I hope he really enjoys his time here. Maybe you should let him hang out with us for a bit, so he can get in the grove of what things are like at our school." Sheldon said and I thought that as annoying as it would be, maybe it was not a truly terrible idea.

"I guess he could use it to help sort of get himself situated in the life of a high school student." I decided, thinking that nothing could be horribly wrong about being at Ken's side for a while while he was getting used to high school. Maybe like the first two weeks or something, I can help him out for him to get into it and then I would let him be his own free agent on the whole thing afterwards.

That was the main part of the conversation that I was having with Sheldon at the time, and nothing really all that interesting that had shown up after wards so I am not even going to try and bore you or bother you with this stuff honestly. As Sheldon and I talked about stuff a little bit more, it just eventually turned into stuff like school and the prom dance that was coming along very soon. I was excited to go to prom, even though I was needing to get Susan to agree with me. I felt as if this was the best chance I could have to show Susan just how much I liked her.

Since my prom night was relatively nice this year, I am not going to bother you too much about it, but I guess that I may write about it a little bit. Although this is going to be the last thing that I write about in the 1963-1964 school year, and I will move on to my next school year, which is the junior year and I will be able to help not bore you as much by doing just that. Besides, I have already used like a sixth of my limit on this thing, and I want to fill in the last three years here before losing it.

So three days or so before prom that year, I walked up to Susan and I was getting ready to ask her. I knew what her answer was going to be when I asked her, but I wanted to sort of give her a sort of heads up so it had not really seemed like I had thrown this whole thing at her and stuff when she was not really ready for it. I doubted that she would totally in love with the idea if I just threw it onto her and give her no warning.

"Hey Susan, so since prom is going to be pretty soon, I was wondering if you would want to do that or not as our sort of date for the weekend?" I asked her, and then Susan gave me a shocked look on her face as if she could not believe that I actually had to ask her this question. I gave her a face that just showed that I was doing this for the sake of not making it feel like I was forcing her to do something that perhaps she would not enjoy.

"Of course I want to go to prom with you dummy. There is no reason why I would not want to go to prom with you. We're dating and we have been dating for like seven months now." Susan said and I took a moment to think of it. We were already in April 1964, sorry for all of the condensing and skipping, but I have a story to tell, and we have been dating since like September or October. So yeah, that is like six or seven months now, which was crazy.

"This weekend is going to be awesome." I said and I genuinely meant it. I was really going to enjoy prom night, and I was going to do my best to make Susan enjoy it just as much as I am, if not even more. I have a feeling that if this night goes well, then maybe Susan will let me stay over the whole week end and not even just a couple of hours or just that night. Just the thought of being there all weekend with her was making me feel a lot more excited than before.

After school that day, I was ready to tell my parents the great news. I think that even Ken would be able to be a little bit excited over the news that I was going to tell them. It seemed like Ken was starting to take the whole super hero thing a little bit less seriously. Probably that one night where he tried to do it and I was seeing him walk in the room really somber after wards. From what I guess, that was starting to really change his view on the whole thing.

"Mom, I am going to be going to prom this week end. I need to get a suit going for the dance and everything." I said and when I had said that, my mom seemed very excited. She may have been a little bit old for mom standards, but she was still very much on top of everything and she made it a part of her job to know everything that was going on. I was seeing the look on her face going from a little bit of shock to just pure joy over the fact that I was going to be going on a date with somebody and all of that stuff.

"That is great Sam. We can go to the store tomorrow and get you a new set of clothes for the prom night. I have been wondering when something like this would come along." My mother said and then after she said that, I thought about the suit that I was going to get and everything else that there was even a small chance that I would need. I wondered if she was going to do all of this stuff, or just the suit. I would not blame her at the very least if it was just a suit and nothing else.

"I will tell Susan that you are going to be helping me out here. I think that she will be very happy to know that I am going to be fully prepared this year." I said and then I walked into my bedroom. After I walked inside of my room, I saw Ken looking at me and there was a look on his face that seemed to give off a proud of me impression. As he and I looked at each other for a moment, it seemed like there was a understanding between us.

That net day, my parents decided to do as they had promised me they would do. Like I said, they were getting old, but they still had a little bit of activity in the real world, and they seemed to be knowing exactly what was up to date in the modern sense. I guess they were doing this that way they didn't get me and Ken like a bunch of archaic shit and all of that stuff for school but I don't really know what exactly to say about that stuff. But once we were at the store to get my suit, everything felt so different and I was not really sure if I was actually ready to go on and get the suit for prom after all.

"Just get the one that you think will be best for you." My father said and I thought about him saying that. I was telling myself that he supported me for anything that I would decide to get and that he was not really going to hold me down for this stuff that I could make. So I started to look around the suit isle and I was thinking about the one that I would probably end up liking the most. This was until I found a suit that I felt would not only be what I would like, but a suit that I feel like would be totally perfect for prom.

The suit was a full black one. Black shirt, black over shirt, and then a black pair of pants. I then grabbed the suit in all three pieces and then went to the shoe section and pulled up a pair of black Steve Maddens. The pair of shoes were created in theory by like a ten year old and their father pitched it to a company under his sons name or something like that. Then afterwards, I grabbed a pair of black shoes to totally complete the whole black suit.

Once I had grabbed all the pieces that I would need for my prom suit, I handed them to my father. He considered it for a moment and was wondering the context of all black stuff and then he nodded, thinking that it did make a decent amount of sense. So with that, we bought the suit and brought it home where I was going to get it ready for prom that year, my first of three proms that I would go to.

Prom night was probably a little bit of a under whelm. Susan needed to do a little bit extra getting ready and everything, due to the fact that she was a girl and everything and wanted to put on all the nice make up and stuff. But when she was ready and we were ready to head on out, we were already starting to be like ten to fifteen minutes late. So we didn't even get the full experience of prom or anything, which while I didn't really fully mind, it was still a little bit jarring to get used to the fact that she just gave up on about five to ten percent of the prom night.

I was wondering what Ken was going to be a into when he was in high school, if he was going to go to prom at all or not. I was not really too sure if it was going to be his thing in the first place and I was even less sure of who was actually going to have the balls to accept him to their dance. Like no real offense to the guy or anything, but I am just being real. Even if he and I had the best relationship out of any sibling on planet earth, I would still probably have a little bit of realism put into the whole thing.

Susan and I had a few slow dances and each one of the dances made me feel like I was really understanding what Susan was like as a human being even more than I had already felt like before. She and I really started to get a whole new respect of a bonding by doing this with her, and I felt like this whole dance was just worth it for that.

At the end of the dance, the two of us kissed and we both seemed to really enjoy the kiss even though this was like tenth millionth time that we had done it, so we knew exactly how we both were in kissing styles and all of that stuff. But it still felt like I was in love with her each time that I had done this. Like the two of us really were actually meant to be together, which sounded totally crazy and like I was jumping the gun, but I seriously could not help but feel that way.

The rest of the school year was not really something that I feel the total desire to talk to you about. I mean, it was fun and everything, and Sheldon and I and Brad and I and Misty and I started to have a good friendship forming and everything, but if I explained everything I would run out of space on this journal. So that is not going to be the main thing I will be talking about.

During summer of this year, Ken graduated middle school and he was sent right into high school. For a brief period of time, for the duration of this one summer, it had seemed like he was starting to sort of become a player. It started to look like there was small chance that he could get a girlfriend in early high school, but after a while it seemed like Ken was falling back to his normal every day self when he was in the third week of high school. Ken told me a year or so later that this was because he didn't jerk off a single time that summer and the whole time, he was trying to get work done on his project. I knew what the project was totally, but I didn't tell him in worry of a compensation of any bond that we were getting. But seeing how everybody was going and dating people and this ruining any confidence he had built up, he went back to the way that he was before.

I had no idea that Ken was into that, and finding out that he was sort of was a gross fact, and kind of pisses me off even more when I think about it, but this was sort of his way of showing that he was starting to trust me a little bit more and that he thought that perhaps there was a chance that maybe we could actually be friends after all.

At the end of the summer, I was back in my third year of high school, trying to get things together and I was starting to sort of focus on the greater good of my education, and Susan and I were starting to get near onto a year. It was this year when Misty and Ken started to take the hero thing more seriously. This is the bulk of the story I wanted to tell you all.

So it had all started when Ken was getting ready to transition into high school and Ken looked at me one day about three weeks before the school year started. "Sam, I know that you don't like a lot of my plans to try and be a good guy, and try to take on the super hero roll. I understand that you don't want me to do this. That is fine, that is how you feel on the matter. But in reality, I need to do this. Even if you don't like it, I can't stop what I plan on doing just because you seem like I can't take care of it. But since I am planning on doing this, will you be willing to actually try and help me?" Ken said and I could not believe that this was still on his mind. I thought that he had let it all go now.

"But what if you get hurt? Is there anything that you can actually do about it? I have a feeling that there is nothing that can be done about this if you get yourself hurt, and that you will have nobody to blame besides yourself." I told Ken and he nodded as if he knew that this was the case. I just wondered why he was so focused on this, and why couldn't just understand that this was a terrible idea.

"Sam, you don't have to approve of this. I know that you don't approve at all. But please stop trying to fight this, and just let me to do this. I know that we have our opinions on the matter, but can you just give me some ideas?" Ken said and then I thought this out and I knew that no matter how much I wanted to, there was nothing that I can do that would get him to think that this was a retarded idea.

"Fine, I don't like this, but if you think that this is the only way, I will not fight it. I will give you a couple of ideas, and it is your choice on what you want to do with these ideas. But maybe you can go on and pick up running. I think that if you get yourself into better shape, then perhaps you can maybe keep up in a chase with some of these so called bad guys. Hell for all we know, you might actually be able to pull off a crime victory once or twice. Just do what you want though." I said and then when I said this to Kevin, he seemed to get a look on his face that looked like he thought that this was a good idea.

"Thanks for this suggestion Sam, I will put it to good use." Ken said and then he walked up to his shoes and then put some socks on before he put the shoes over the socks and tied the shoes. "I will be heading down to the high school track and take a jog there. Probably be back in like an hour or something." Ken said and then he headed off.

As Ken was outside of the house, he walked down the pair of stairs just taking those slowly since he was well aware of how bad the stairs actually were. Then when he was totally away from those, he started to pick up his speed and he was heading on down to the track like he had promised he would. He was telling the truth, but he was scared that this was going to turn out in a way that he wasn't planning. He was worried that somebody he knew from middle school was going to find him or something and then try to make fun of him or something like that for not really be in all that great of shape.

Soon enough, he reached the high school track and then he placed his knee on the ground and then his hands on the ground. He was staring out into the distance and he was starting to think that now with his suit made, his studies on the subject done further, and this all on top of it, that he was going to actually pull this off and that he was going to do a good job being the hero that the town had needed him to be.

Ken then started to run and he was going as fast as he was able to get himself to go, and as he was running very fast, he started to lose track of time and he was having to stop after every lap to sort of catch his breath because he was sort of really out of shape. Which each lap, he would take a fifteen second break or something like that to really calm down and he was feeling the sweat coming onto his close and how they were starting to stick onto him. He was really not too sure how people can enjoy something like this when he was barely able to go more than three laps without feeling like his clothes were getting drenched, especially his underwear.

His ball sack area felt very itchy and he was going to scratch it up if he was in a sort of secluded place that nobody was looking around at to see, and he would have probably had a field day with it. But he couldn't think about it too much before he had to start running again and he did that for five laps before he decided that this was just too much. He remembered when he was a young kid and his record was seven laps. he had no idea how the hell he had done that, but it was awesome when he had done so.

After he was done with those five laps, he started to walk on home but as he was walking home, he saw a guy who was playing a guitar and he had a box open and he was playing some really great songs. Ken listened to him for a moment and the guy had so much talent that Ken was honestly a little bit jealous, despite not even wanting to play guitar. But if he wanted to play guitar, then he would have failed miserably and would not have held even a remote candle to this guy.

"How long have you been playing that stuff to be so good?" Ken asked the guy and then he looked up and didn't know what to think. "Just wanted to ask since you were so good at it. Do you have any songs that you like?" Ken waited for a couple of seconds and he was about to head on home before the guy called out to Ken to get his attention again.

"I have been playing ever since I was eleven. That was a year ago." The guy said and Ken looked at this guy. For a twelve year old guy, this dude was very impressive. "Are you wanting to play guitar?"

"No, not really my thing. I was just wondering considering how impressive you are." Ken said and then after Ken said that, the guy placed the guitar in his box and then he was thinking that Ken was a nice guy and hearing him say how good he was really gave him more motivation to keep going. "You should never give up. Who knows, maybe one day, you will become famous over this performance. I would tell them how great you were if you do." Ken said and then the guy didn't know what to say, and now it was sounding a little strange having a guy two years older than him talking this way, as if he was trying to suggest something, which Ken wasn't but this guy didn't know any better.

"My name is Taylor. Nice to meet you." Taylor said and then Ken introduced himself as Ken and they talked for about ten minutes about music and their different tastes in it, and Ken said that if they saw each other again, that he should try and hang out with him and while Taylor was not really sure what to think about this at first, he thought that there was nothing too wrong about it and then he decided to agree with what Ken suggested. With that, Ken started to head on home.

It was three weeks since then and Ken went down to go to the track every four days or so and then when school started, he eventually saw Taylor again on his way from middle school and they decided that they would hang out a little bit as Ken had suggested. Ken had actually forgotten about it until Taylor mentioned it and then when he was told about it, Ken decided that this was a idea that he still wanted to go through with so he walked home with Taylor since that was what he had wanted to do.

"Well, what are you planning on doing after school today? I was just going to be heading on over to my house." Taylor said and then when he had said that, Ken was not too sure what to say. He barely knew what to say, and he barely knew this guy at all. He was thinking that this guy was probably just wanting some attention. "You said that we should hang out again, or is this just not the right time for you to do so?" Taylor said and then Ken thought that there was something that can benefit him from this situation, even if it was going to sort of be at the expense of Taylor.

"Want to go to my house for a little bit? I think that I can show you something, since my house is like two blocks away and maybe you would be interested in what I am working on." Ken said and he was talking about the material in his bedroom and then Taylor thought about that idea a little bit. He knew it probably would not be something his parents would want him to do, but he didn't really think that it was a huge deal.

"How long do you think that it will take me to see your thing that you are wanting to me?" Taylor asked and then when he had asked that, Ken thought about how long it would actually take. In reality, he was not really all that sure. He needed to just give a answer and hope that it was a good enough one for him. Ken said that it would take a half hour or so for all of the stuff to be shown and then once he was done, then Taylor can head home so with that, they began to head on over to Ken's house.

Once Ken and Taylor were inside of the house, Ken and Taylor just went down the stairs because they knew that it was not even worth talking to Ken's parents at all. As they were down the stairs, Ken looked around and he was trying to make sure that nobody was around to see what was going on. He didn't want to get in trouble, but at the same time, he also knew that he was sort of over thinking it. Ken and Taylor sat down on the couch and then Ken was thinking on what he was going to do to start this off, to try and make Taylor not really think that he was insane or something like that.

"Well, have you ever had that feeling that you can go around and do something that you felt like was just so much better than the way that everybody else has done it and seeing nobody do it the way that you want to do it just sort of really pisses you off?" Ken asked Taylor as Taylor had to think about that for a moment, and he was wondering what was going to happen here. He had to really make sure that the answer was the true one since he did want to be honest with himself.

"I guess every once in a while. Mainly in terms of music though, and nothing else really." Taylor said and then Ken nodded. That seemed to be expected, given how Taylor was in the short time that he knew the guy or something like that. Ken was just worried that when he did tell Taylor this plan that Taylor would try and report Ken to the police or something like that. He knew it seemed a little out there, but there was that fear going on at the same time.

"I am wanting to do something like that with the crime rates of this city. I think that maybe I can do a better job than the police. My older brother does not believe in me, but I have some hope. I want to try and become some form of a super hero, and save the city and be the person that the city needs. I know that many people will try and call me insane for wanting this, but I think that this is what I really need to sort of help place me down in history." Ken said and then he opened up the box that he had placed his suit on and then he placed the suit on the table.

"Wow, how long have you been spending making this costume? I think that it can be made better, but at the same time, I do see where the merit of this could lead up if you really take a good care of your path way." Taylor said and he was seeing the white suit with the wings and the bike helmet. The bike helmet was the only part that really did not sell it to him, but he figured that it was done to sort of prevent his face from being seen.

"I spent a few months making the suit. The original suit that I had made, which had the same idea in theory, was destroyed after only one mission. I have been running and training myself to be able to hold my own on a small scale fight ever since then and making this suit so that way I can go out and get ready for any battle coming up." Ken explained to Taylor and then he placed the suit back in the box when Taylor was done looking at it, wondering what Taylor had been thinking.

"I guess that for a fourteen year old, the thing is decently well put together. Better than my stuff, I will give you that." Taylor said and then he thought about that for a moment, thinking about the stuff that he had been shown and what Ken was telling him. "What really is your plan to defeat the crime of this city? Or have you not really thought that out at all? You know, that might be important." Ken was not really wanting to have a twelve year old act like he was knowing better than him on this whole thing, but there was a point to what Taylor was saying, despite him not liking it.

"I have been studying the way that crime works a little bit in the city, and I am thinking that I have been studying enough to know where it is at its highest as well as its lowest at the same time throughout the entire year. I figure that soon enough, with all of the studying that I have done, I can be able to find the places that are at their worst and go for it. In terms of actual fighting, if it gets to that level though, I am not really too sure." Ken had said as Taylor was not really sure what else to say.

"I suppose that if push comes to shove, I will support you. But I just have a bad feeling that this is going to end up pretty badly, and that there is nothing that can be done about it. I hope that you succeed, and I will give you some pieces of advice if I can, but I won't be on the battle field with you." Taylor said and then when he had said that, Ken was remembering the way that he was at Wayside when Todd was doing the same.

"Well, what you are saying is still better support than what I was given from my brother, so I guess that I will just have to go with it." Ken said and then when he had said that, Taylor was able to see why his brother would find this to be a terrible idea, but at the same time, he could sort of see the merit of this idea. Ken was having a crazy idea, but if he really tried on it, then maybe this would be able to actually work.

"I will try my fucking hardest no matter what happens and I will do my best to make sure that whatever I do, it will be for the best sake of the city. That if what everybody should be doing." Ken said and then when he had said that, Taylor did nod and he was sort of going along with the idea for the time being. He didn't fully agree with it, but he did hope that it would actually succeed.

"Well either way, at least you are taking some action and I think we can agree that it is good to try and take action if you feel like there is a mistake in the world." Taylor finished the piece of the conversation as Ken and Taylor thought about it for a bit and what else to say. But the rest of the conversation really did not matter all that much. One of the next pieces that I want to tell of the story is the part when Ken actually tried fighting crime for the first time, at the tenth of January of 1965. By then, him and Taylor were friends for a while and Taylor had learned to trust Ken now.

"I think that I am going to take a chance now. I know that you really don't want me to do this, but I feel as if I had trained enough to actually be ready to take one some of the crimes in the city now." Ken said as he and Taylor were sitting down on a bench about two blocks away from a store. Ken knew that there was a bunch of crime there in the way that people would steal from there a lot and Ken thought that maybe this was a good starting point. "I feel like this is something small enough to work with."

Taylor thought about it. "I guess maybe you have trained enough to maybe try and take it on now. I doubt that you are really going to have a tough time on that." Taylor said and then when he had said that, Ken nodded and then he felt like he was ready to give this a chance. So he opened his box where the suit was and there was barely anybody looking so he went behind the bench and ducked down and then slowly placed his suit on and now he was ready to try and take on the thief that was walking out of the store at that moment. "I will be home soon. If you want to see me again, just come by and take off your stuff there." Then Taylor stood up and started to walk off. Ken started to run down the street and he felt a little silly wearing this and he knew that it was indeed silly, but he couldn't really help it.

After a little while, Ken had run down the street enough with the cars being forced to stop for him and he reached the store and the thief that was at the store and had stolen something that looked like a few energy drink cans. "You were not supposed to take those without paying." Ken said and he was rolling his eyes over how dumb this thing was. He was thinking that he was seriously going to have to revise his starting up line when he was alone again.

"What are you going to do about it? I have a gun." The thief said and then when they had said that, the guy pulled out his gun and then Ken kicked the guys hand and then the gun fell down to the ground and then Ken kicked it down into the sewer and then Ken punched him right in the chest and then the guy fell down to the ground. Wondering if maybe he should take this a step further, Ken decided that there was something that he could probably get away with if he just explained himself out of it.

He sat down on his knees and he grabbed the hand of the robber. "Maybe this will convince you not to go around doing this again. If you feel like you need to do something like this, just work to earn it and pay for it next time." Ken said and then he pushed the guys arm back enough to make the arm snap and then Ken stood up after he had broken the guys arm and then he grabbed the cans and walked into the store.

The guy that Ken had just basically beaten up with no real effort got up and he was holding his right hand with his left arm and then he started to run back on to his house and he was just trying to get himself away from the scene to make sure that nobody knew what he had done as well as the fact that he needed to just give his arm a moment under some cold water before he would bring himself to the hospital.

With that, Ken placed the cans down onto the ground and then Ken said "I saw that this guy was stealing your cans and not paying for them. I took care of that for you." Ken said and then the store owner looked at Ken and was confused at the retarded outfit that he had made but at the same time, he thought that Ken was still sort of the hero of the day and then he grabbed the cans.

"Thank you for doing that. I thought that those were gone forever. What do you call yourself?" The guy asked and Ken was thinking about this and he had never really considered what he was wanting his super hero name to be. "You know, in case you come by again, and I can give you credit for helping me out just now? I don't plan to tell anybody else?" Ken put two random words together and he thought that maybe the words were cool enough that it could work in terms of short term use, although he did plan to give himself a better name in the future.

"I am the Concador." Ken said and then he headed off and then when he headed off, the owner of the store was just staring at the guy who was now gone and he was wondering what the fuck that type of name was. When Ken was out of sight, he started to climb up the fire escape of the building and then after he had done so, he stared out at the ground and he was looking at the city in the first time of his life, in a way of him wanting to go on and protect the city as their hero.

So with that, Ken stared for about twenty to thirty seconds before he started to head off and he was going to meet Taylor up at his house to place himself out of the suit. The path way to his house was only like three blocks or so, which in hindsight was probably not a great idea, but Ken was a teenager making things up as he was going, so it was obvious that a genius plan was not really what he was capable of making. He flew right into Taylor's bedroom and then he took off his suit.

"So you took care of that job?" Taylor asked and then Ken nodded. Ken felt way more proud of this than he knew he probably should have, but he felt like he had over come a great obstacle taking this thing out for the first time and doing his first crime that he stopped. This was proof that Sam might have been wrong and that in reality Ken probably might of had a small chance of handling this whole thing after all.

"I feel awesome now. I just took that guy out right away, and I didn't even need to try all that hard. Just gave him a good punch, and broke his arm." Ken said and then Taylor stared at him as if Ken was insane at that part, but then he nodded thinking that maybe Ken was having a better idea on what he felt like he needed to do, and maybe there was a small hint of merit to this idea after all. "Give it a few more busts, and I think that eventually, I will be the hero of the city."

"I don't know, maybe you do have this in you after all. I guess that I should not have doubted you." Taylor said as he and Ken were staring out of the window of Taylor's room and Ken was wondering what Taylor would do if this turned out to be a terrible idea and if this was going to fuck him up. Ken was hoping that nothing would happen to Taylor regardless of what would happen to him and all of that stuff.

"Thanks for giving some form of support to me this whole way. I promise that sooner or later, I will give you credit for all of the motivational help that you have given me. I will not leave you out." Ken said and then as they were watching the city more and more, Ken was wondering if perhaps he could pull off a second operation that night of if he should try and take it a little bit slowly, and not just jumping from one battle to the next one. Ken decided that no matter how much he had wanted to go out and do some more helping, that he was going to leave it off here.

"I guess that if Sam finds out about what I am doing, I can tell him about the operations that did work out." Ken said and then as he had said that, Taylor was wondering why everything really had to go to Sam eventually. Sam was not really all that big of a deal even. He was just sort of a person that happened to be related to Ken and nothing else really. As Ken and Taylor were getting ready to just hang out for the rest of the day, there was more stuff going on with Misty, Sam, Brad and Sheldon.

"I think that Ken is just hanging out with one of his friends tonight. He seemed to have a actual sense of telling the truth on his face when he was saying that he had no plans to really do anything too crazy. A part of me wants to believe that he is telling the truth, but at the same time, knowing what he has been wanting to do this whole time, I think that he might still be lying to me about the whole thing." I was saying to Misty as she was looking in my direction and she was thinking about what I was saying. She seemed to be considering how she can use Ken to her advantage.

"I think that Ken can actually prove to be really useful. You should tell him about me. Maybe if he learns about my plans, then the two of us can help each other out." Misty said and then I looked at her. I was thinking that this was a terrible idea and that if Misty got to start to know Ken, then they would be starting to make a bunch of plots with each other that seem like they would get one of them, if not both of them killed by the end of the school year. I knew that I was either looking at a dead lady or a dead dude, either way I was hating this.

"Yeah I will think about it." I said and then I started to head on out and I was going home. I knew that Ken was probably going to want me to tell him about Misty and all of that stuff and everything, but I don't really think that anything could would come out of it if I tell him and if Misty doesn't know that I didn't tell him then maybe soon enough she would drop the subject.

Soon enough, I walked into our house and I saw that Ken was just sort of lying down on his bed. I wondered if he did even hang out with Taylor at all or if something happened and these plans were thrown away. I had a feeling that maybe he had done something and then he decided to come home at a certain time to make sure that maybe nobody would really start to wonder what he was doing in his side time. It was smart of a move, but it was still a little bit annoying.

"Did you have a good time hanging out with Taylor?" I asked and then Ken looked up at me. He just slowly nodded twice and then when he had said that, I just went to my bed and then I started to get ready to go to bed. Ken and I were sort of just agreeing not to say anything since we both knew that if we told each other anything, then the entire situation that the two of us were in would just go down to the shitter and neither one of us wanted that.


	14. The Journal part 2

Chapter 13: The Journal Part 2

Later on though, when Ken was just in school and he had done a couple of operations to save the town and everything, people were now starting to talk about him a little bit. Well, not really Ken in particular as much as the person that Ken was playing as, the Concador. "Do you guys know who he is? People are saying that he is on the younger side of the spectrum." One student would say and everybody was wondering if he was indeed a person who was actually going to school with them or if it was just a person who was in college and as a result was still considered young.

"I wonder if they are even a dude at all. I wonder if they are actually a woman." Another student would say and Ken was trying really hard to not say anything since it was really tempting him to say what he was, and he knew that even if he did say it, nobody would believe him. But at the same time, he was worried that if he did say something, then Sam would pick up on it and then there would be the rift between them grow even larger than it already was by that point in time, and Ken was not really sure if he was willing to deal with that.

One day, there was so much attention to it, that the teacher had to try and get them to calm down. This was when Ken had actually shown up once and actually helped stop a full on back heist by knocking down some of the people there as well as helping the police bring the safe back. There was a compromise that Ken made with the police as a result of him helping them out. They said that they would not try to arrest him this once for all of the problems he had created, but if he continued down this road, they would start to take some major actions. Ken didn't really believe they would do anything once they realized that he was the son of one of the workers at the office.

That was when I was starting to pick up on what Ken was doing and while at first I was willing to let it go, I was ready to confront him about it this time. I was just waiting for him to come on home and when he would be home, that was when I was going to ask him all of the details about it.

Ken was inside of his house and he looked around to make sure that nobody was seeing what he was doing but I was sitting there and he looked forward and then he started to get a really scared look on his face since he knew what was happening and what I was going to say. "I know that you are probably really mad, but remember when you promised me that you would not get on my case over it?" Ken asked and I thought that he didn't understand still.

"Look Ken, I get that you might have had some hint of a successful gig with this whole thing here and there, and that you might of actually helped some people out, but ask yourself this one question. Are you really helping yourself out?" I asked and then that was when Ken was stopping what he was going to say mid sentence and then he had to think about it. "If you are not helping yourself out and you are just blindly following the loose idea of full justice, then nothing can truly be done and nothing will really be done for you..."

Ken actually seemed to have considered what I had said there, and then he looked up at me and he was having a look of guilt. "I guess I have not really been helping myself out all that much to be honest. But I need to do something. I gave myself a task, and I will follow through with it. I will fight with my ambitions in mind until I get to the end of the road, and that means that if I can't be able to help myself, then that will be the price that I will have to pay I suppose." Ken said and then after he had told me that, I shook my head and then I went to my bed.

"Just know one thing. When your body ends up being found, I will not blame anybody besides you for what you done. Try and think about what you are putting our parents into. Even if you don't care for yourself or for me at all, at least try and care for our parents." After that, I went on and was getting ready to go on to sleep. Ken went to the mirror and stared at the mirror for a moment.

As he was staring at himself in the mirror, he was thinking about exactly what I had told him. He was thinking about what he was putting his parents through. But then he remembered what he would be putting the town through if he didn't follow through with his efforts so he shook his head again and then he started to walk off. He convinced himself that he needed to do this and that this was the best way to have him go down in history as the one who came out on top in a way. But despite that, he did need to get some rest, so he was going to resign himself that night and try and sleep for the night.

The next day Ken did one of the things that even I would have to admit he needed to do in his hero journey and that if he wasn't there to do it, then things would have turned out even worse than they already did and that the police could not have taken care of it. This was in later April of 1965, so about three months after he became a hero and people had been well aware of him by now.

It was all starting when Kens class was taking a trip down to a national park near by where we lived. On the way to the national park, the class was heading by a really familiar place Ken never thought he would have to return to for the rest of his life. That place being Wayside school. As Ken was getting ready to go on that trip down to Wayside school, Ken was sort of wondering if this was something that he would really want to do, or if this was just something that was going to just bring back a lot of rough memories. This was when I knew that I had to step up and get into the older brother role since I knew that Ken really needed me on this case, as much as I was dreading doing something like this.

"Ken, just think of it this way. you will be able to get to see a lot of your friends again. That alone really should be making this whole thing worth while. Just go in, and if your school allows you to hang out with your friends at all, then go in and just talk maybe see Todd, Maurecia, Myron and Dana and all that stuff again. Plus, if for nothing else, you can sort of resolve a lot of the unanswered questions that you have with Jenny. If you ask me, I say you really should go." I told Ken and then when he had heard my reasoning for it, he nodded and thanked me.

"I will be going. Thank you for giving me some motivation to do this." Ken said and then when he had said that, he put on his shoes and then he started to head right out the door to go on and catch the bus. But as he was doing so, he turned towards me and smiled. "Sometimes, I forget why we have so much conflict between us. You really do have your moments." Ken said and then he headed right out of the house to go on and get ready to have what he had hoped would be a really great trip.

It took Ken about ten minutes to get to the high school since he lived so close to it and then he went right in the bus after he sat by Taylor. "I was not originally going to go, since Wayside was where I went to school before and I was not really sure if I wanted to go by there again, but I am ready to take it on." I said to Taylor and he seemed glad that I decided to do this.

"Good, I was not really excited for how boring it would have been if you were not there." Taylor said and then with that, the bus went off and they were all on their way to Wayside. By now, the school was on its second year of rebuilding and for the most part, it was slowly getting there. Maybe another year or two to go before it was all done.

"So what was Wayside like back when you were a student there?" Taylor asked Ken and that was sort of when Ken was trying to decide for himself if he had wanted to let Taylor know more of if this was just something he wanted to keep to himself. There was only so much he could do to avoid it after all, and besides they were going to be there soon anyways and Taylor was most likely going to learn of how Ken was like at Wayside very soon anyways, so he figured he might as well just tell the truth and let Taylor decide for himself if Ken was on the right side of the deal on this matter.

"Wayside was one of the greatest places I went to, and for the two years that I was there, my life really did improve and I felt like nothing could go wrong. But it was really the end of the year that decided to make me leave the place. It was also when I decided deep down that I wanted to do something better with my life, and not just sort of be letting it come to a negative side affect in many ways." Ken said and Taylor wondered what was really so bad about the end of that year.

"I mean, there was this girl that I really liked. I felt like if I had the balls to speak up to her sooner, then maybe she and I would have had a relationship that I would actually be proud of, but I was scared and I choked, and besides she liked the man that I would call to be my best Wayside friend at the time more anyways, and that did create some form of a rift between us since I wanted to be there for her, and she clearly did not want the same from me." Ken said and then Taylor nodded. He knew that this must have been rough and it did sort of help him see where Ken was actually coming from in a way.

"Yeah, I never really thought of how that could be. That must have been really rough, to know that the girl that you like choose somebody else. Were you and him still friends afterwards?" Taylor asked and Ken nodded.

"Yes we were, and to some extent I would say we still are, but at the same time, it is odd how I would fall on the sword for the guy when I knew that in the end, it was not going to win me any points from that girl. She had made her choice, and I was just going to have to respect that." Ken said and then after he said that, the two of them remained silent and talked about tiny Wayside adventures that I don't really want to go into for the sake of brevity.

As Taylor and Ken were at the front of the school, Ken was telling himself to just relax and not worry about what was coming on up at any second. After all it would be just one day he would be there and then he can really try to move on his life again. After all this was nearly two years ago and he did sort of need to put it in the past. That was one of the many reasons I supported him going on this trip in the first place. I felt as if this would truly change his perception on the whole thing.

Ken took a couple if moments to really look around the place to see what was different about the place now that it had been two years since he even last stepped foot in the place. He had just hoped it looked as great as he remembered it looking. It did for the most part. Minus a couple if paint differences they decided to put in as a way to show their so called new and improved style of things. Ken wondered how many of these students from before would even be there now. If Todd was still there he would have been there longer than Ken ever would have been.

"I seriously can not believe that this place really is thirty stories high. It just is a little crazy to imagine. You would feel like people would just be sort of saying that for dramatic effect more than anything else and not because they are telling the truth." Taylor said as he was showing his bewilderment at the whole was thinking about how that was what they all say when they step foot in the school for the first time. Even Ken was one of those people who always had to remind himself of this fact every once in a while. But before Ken was allowed to go down memory lane Ken saw the person who had changed his life forever back when he had met him back three years ago on the first day of seventh grade.

"Hey Todd how have you been lately? I guess my school is coming here for the next couple if hours on our trip. I never thought I would get to see this place again with my own eyes. It really is kind of a crazy sight to behold." Ken Todd when Todd was now paying a littlebit more attention to him and not on the people he was casually talking with.

"I have been doing great Kevin. I really have enjoyed the time at wayside. I guess that should not be too big of a shock though. Maurecia and I are going out right now. Took a bit longer than most people most likely had expected. Dana and I are friends again like how we should have been. My to even is starting to not be so bad anymore. Most likely due to how he is taking the whole class president thing serious now, which is sort of turning around my original thoughts on the guy." Todd said and Kevin thought that this was all great. As if it wasn't all that bad that he left them behind at wayside after all.

"Do you mind if my friend Taylor and I hang with you for a bit now that we are here? If not, then we can just leave you alone and not bother you anymore..." Ken said and he was hoping Todd would not feel as if Ken was getting in his way and all that. He did not want the reunion between the two to have a bittersweet feeling or anything like that to it.

Todd accepted Ken's offer and with that he and Taylor started to follow Todd through the school a bit. Ken was hoping the school would be mostly back to where it was back in the day when he was there. He did not want to be there and feel like he was walking in some form of alien place if that made any sense. The three of then were on the fourth floor and the three of them were talking about how the last two years have been before Ken really began to notice even a single thing that was totally different than what it has been a bit earlier when he was a student.

"My life has been pretty calm after you left. I decided to give up on all form of fighting crime as I felt like it was just not my thing anymore and I did not want to deal with any of the negatives of it. Besides it seemed like after we dealedcwith closing that strange gate that the monsters started to finally go away so I felt no real need to keep it up anymore. Once I did that it seems as if Dana was able to trust me once more to not go crazy and bring a huge fight to the town anymore." Todd said as Taylor was having no real idea what was going on and what the duck Todd had been talking about. It seemed really fucking odd and he was not sure if he wanted to keep up.

"That really is great that things are going so well for you. I do wish I was still in wayside. Seems as if due to the lack of monsters that perhaps it would have been better for Mr to stay here and see how things could have gotten better ad time had gone on." Ken said and then something that confused him shower up.

It was a guy with what had looked to be no face staring at the three of them from across the hallway. All three of them looked arounnd to see what this was and Ken stopped what he was doing. "We need to go outside. That will help keep them away from here." Ken said and told Todd and Taylor to keep hanging out and to keep people distracted as Ken began to head down outside and the thing was following him to do so.

Most people never had or would have any idea how bold it was for Ken to decide to take that thing in all on his own and it did help him even in some form if indirect way to be the real hero that he so badly desired himself to be when he had first began this whole hero nonsense. But when he was outside he waited for the monster to come out and when it did Ken took something out of his back pack I had no idea he had but it was probably smart for him to do so. He had a large eighteen inch blade he was holding and the students wondered what Ken was doing as the monster started to get closer to him.

The monster started to change how their arms looked to make them appear to be claws and they started to get on their way to Ken who swung the blade on the monsters chest when it got relatively close to him. While it did not kill the monster, it did make them sort of slow down for a bit to capture what had just happened. Ken knew that if he lost there would be no wayside left and that this truly had to be done if he wanted to keep his former school intact while not making construction take a huge step back as well.

The monster grabbed Ken and then after they grabbed him just picked him up and then threw him down to the ground. Ken felt like he could feel his skull crush a little bit when this happened and he stood up trying to take control over what was going on. He grabbed his knife again and he was ready to try and stay down the monster again or something like that in which could make the monster gave to take it back for a bit and that was what Ken was sort of indirectly trying to do at the same time as all of this was going down.

Hen jumped up and that was meant to be his way of distracting the monster of what he was doing and make them feel disoriented over what was going on. But Ken jumped down and then he stabbed the monster in the chest. As he did so he saw the monster laugh a bit and then Taylor and Todd started to watch what he was doing and Ken was ready destroy the monster under any means that he had to or knew that he could do it under.

After the monster laughed for a bit they brought their fists out and started to punch Ken a couple of times and each time Ken felt like he was having the God damn world hit him and punch him back to reality. Eventually Ken was able to pull the knife out of the monster and then he stabbed the monster right in the chest a second time before pulling it out again and then slicing the hand off of one of the monsters. The hand hit the ground and turned into dust as quite a few if Ken's classmates watched to see what Ken was doing and if they could be able to help out at all. Taylor knew nothing about monsters but he thought that if he played the cards right he could still be able to help Ken out here.

The monster kicked Ken around several times and with each kick it felt more and more like he was just being beaten down to a miserable pulp. As this was going on though Ken was reminding himself of what was going on as well as who needed him then and there and that thought set truly did keep him going and not like he was losing every small thing that he had trained and fought for on his time of training and working on this whole the Concador persona. Todd felt awful for this since if he never gone to wayside he would have never gotten the ball that would have opened the gate to the monstercs which would have never given the man in the purple jacket reason to come to wayside at all.

Ken turned around and cut a huge mark on the back of the monster and he was now at the point the monster was moments away from death.

By now the blade Ken had been using was very covered in blood and Ken knew there was no real way to get the blood off of his blade or any of that stuff, but it really did not matter all that much since he knew the police would not come to him soon since his dad was a officer.

Then the monster started to scratch in Jen's direction for a bit but Ken was very much on top of trying to take that thing down that he did not let it even get close to him in any way.

Before the monster could truly take Ken down Ken stabbed the monster right in the neck area and the monster began to bleed a bit and the with that Ken dragged the blade out very slowly to make sure that the monster was truly dead and then the monster exploded and then Ken out the knife back in his pocket and then he slowly walked back to wayside as people were trying to figure out what they had just seen.

As Ken was in front of Todd and Taylor looked up at the school and took a deep breath As he smiled knowing by his time he did do his job and he could be able to hang with Todd again. Now they talked on school and how Maurecia was doing and hearing Todd speak like this made Ken happy. The last thing I will talk about on Ken and his side of the year is his meeting with Jenny and then I will move on to talk about Misty and her side of the year.

Ken was walking down the hall thinking if the battle he had just took part of. Honestly, he was not too sure how to feel knowing that monsters were still real and that he had not actually saved the school after all. It made him really question himself and all of the work he had done while he was at wayside. But before he could feel that way anymore, he saw the one person that gave him a incomplete feeling about the school, and he was ready to try and clear things up a but with her, to see if they were in good terms. "I will be back in a moment, just got some things to take care." Ken said as he walked in her direction.

"Jenny, I thought I would never be able to see you again. I'm glad I found you. How have things been at wayside lately?" Ken placed his hand behind his head, trying to be able to remain even a little but calm on this whole business. Jenny had a huge mix of emotions seeing Ken right there in front of her. On one end, she was glad, but she was also confused. Despite that, she was more wondering why he was not able to get over it after two years if this whole rejection thing being just how things were. Jenny dud that when Todd choose Maurecia. Todd made his choice and while Jenny thought it was sad, she was not going to pursue a matter she knew was just going to lead to things being even worse between them.

"Kevin, it is so good to see you. I hope that you new school gas treated you well so far. It was kind of hard seeing you move away. Like such a huge part of our normal life was gone when you moved away. Todd took it the hardest. Seems like you two really were good friends." Jenny said as Ken was wondering if the two can hang out while catching up with each other.

"Things have been okay. I slowly started to go on and follow Todd's foot steps on how to be a good man and a hero. He really changed how I looked at life, and I will try and follow the same influence that he has gone down." Ken said hoping that Jenny would take no real thought to it or that hell she would even admire it to some extent.

"I guess that you might not be the weak coward you used to be anymore if what you say is true. Which I really hope it is. I may not have liked all of the methods, but your plans and Todd's were still valid. I just wished Todd would see how much he means to everybody." Jenny said, letting her feelings for Todd come out just for this moment. Ken thought about that and how despite everything going for Todd, maybe even still there were some things he could be able to pick up on.

"I feel like a lot of the time though, that I am extremely in over my head. I guess that should be the natural feeling. After all, I am trying to save the city and a bunch of random stuff that most normal people would consider to be totally insane. I feel like maybe people are right and that I need to just take a break, relax, and sit down to think about what my true future is going to be. I mean, I am going to have one right? There is no way that at my younger age, that I would not have one." Ken said, suddenly aware of his own mortality at that very short moment he was having with Jenny.

"I don't really think that you need to worry about your future. Chances are you are not going to keep this up for more than two to three years from now. Go ahead and do this, if you feel that it is the right thing to do. Then when the dust settles, you can go on and start to live a life that people should actually be normally living. I think that once you graduate high school, you can worry about it, but until then, just go ahead and do this job of yours." Jenny said to Ken as he considered that sort of middle ground deal she was making.

"I guess that maybe you have put at least a little bit of thought into it. I am guessing it is because of Todd and the off chance that he might start to pick this habit of life up again." Ken said as he looked at Jenny and saw that she was slowly nodding at that assumption. "What do you like about him so much anyway? I am not judging you, I am just curious to see your side of it. I was jealous back then of it, but not anymore. Now I am just unsure what to think."

"He just seems to have a mind set of doing what is best for everybody. He saved my life, Dana's, Myron's, all of ours. When he saved mine though, I was able to really see what Maurecia saw in him. I thought he was just a general nice guy up until then. Nothing more, but nothing less. But then when he did that to me, and when he did so with little to no thought on the reward or anything, that was when it had all changed for me, and I started to very much respect him and everything he tried to fight for. If you see what I mean there." Jenny said and then Ken nodded at that, thinking if that was where he was or not.

"I wish I was half as good and caring as Todd. I will have to concede the fight there. He really does have a sort of true patriot sense of himself. I guess if I was even half of him on that regard, then maybe I would have had a chance of winning you... Not that it even remotely matters anymore though, as you clearly picked between the two of us." Ken sighed as he stared outside to think of the lost chance he had with Jenny.

"I guess that could have been the case. No point in dwelling about the past now though. You need to move on, and I have a feeling that you are sort of starting to see that. Which I am able to really be thankful for. The fact that you are seeing where the problem now lies, and that you are trying even a little to reverse that." Jenny said and then Ken nodded to that one. He was behind the times, but he was getting there slowly.

"I guess this may be where it ends with us. I think that maybe we are going to have to move on, and place this all behind us. In which case, thank you for speaking with me this time at all. Thank you for giving me a chance to talk with you once again, even if it was just for a little bit. It was what I really needed to move on." Ken said and then he and Jenny shook hands one final time as Ken started to head off and he was getting back to Taylor and Todd before he would continue his trip on with the school.

"That was what I needed." Ken said as he looked at Taylor and as he was looking at Taylor, his friend was able to understand what he meant and where he was going with that. Taylor smiled when Ken said that, proud that his friend was starting to move up in his life and was slowly becoming a man with a life. A man with a goal. A man with a purpose. A real human being in a way.

Todd, Taylor, and Ken talked for a bit longer until the three of them reached the first floor again, after they were done doing a full trip up the school and a full trip down the school. the three of them spent about two and a half hours doing so, catching up on life and filling Taylor in on a very short version of the school year. Once he was given the extremely short version of the school year Ken and Todd had together at Wayside, he sort of understood where Ken was coming from on a few things, but a lot of answers still needed to be give, but Ken said he would let Taylor read his notebook shall more questions come up soon.

"I have a feeling we will see each other again very soon Todd." Ken said, and he was proven to be right about them seeing each other again in about five years from then. But Ken and Taylor went to the school bus and headed off and continued their legacy in their way. Now I will be talking about Misty and her side of the school year.

Misty's side of the year and what she was up to all started to really go down soon after the year had started. Unlike Ken, who at least waited to about half way through the year to start his plan, Misty thought it was a fucking ten out of ten idea to do it right off the bat, which was even worse than Ken in so many ways that I could not even begin to ponder it. I was just sort of thinking I was lucky Ken did not know about Misty or else that would have made it all a thousand times worse to really handle. It was already bad enough what they were doing to not make the double influence even worse than it already would have been.

Despite the way Misty wanted to handle the plan being even worse than Ken, I would admit I felt like she was a little bit more ready than Ken, mainly for the way she had been developed a long the way. Sheldon and I hung out, it was on the early end of junior year. Which was the freshmen year for Ken. As Sheldon and I were hanging out, he seemed to be focused on something else entirely, and o had known him for about a year at this point, so I sort of knew what his cues were by that point in time. "What is really bothering you right now? Seems like you need to talk about something right now." I said Sheldon brought himself to reality, remembering that I could talk with him about Misty and Brad.

"It's about Misty. She is being really serious about her save the city idea. It also seems like she likes Brad more than me. I think they have a bit of a thing going on. But it is the next part that gets me. So her mother, if I even want to call it that, talked with Brad and I when she was gone. Turns out she was one of the androids she created. Which makes her really strong and easily able to do as she wishes. But her mom said in order to get the best product possible, she created a really terrible set back as a result. Misty only has one single seven year life span. Which she said was the longest one yet. The other androids only had four years so far, and before it was just one. She says with each model, she plans to increase the life span by three years." Sheldon said, and I looked at him shocked.

"She seemed so real. How many years does she still have? How many models does she make for each version?" I asked the basic questions I had.

"She says she makes four versions of each model. Misty was the first in the seven year she range, her first female version, and she is on the second version of this third model. She says it will be finished in one year. Misty has twenty one months left, so basically two years." Sheldon said and Brad over heard this as he was walking by and came to talk to us about this as well.

"I think when I am alone with her mother again, I am going to try and go on to extend Misty's life a little bit longer. I don't know how well it will turn out, but I don't want to keep trying to form a relationship with a person I know is going to die very soon. I can't believe that she forced Misty to have a bunch of fake memories that she created and implanted to make it pretend like she was actually born and had a life when none,of the stuff until these last five years were real at all." Brad thought on what it must have been like to have your whole life be fake.

"I truly am more curious to know why she is even making androids in the first place. I feel like it would just make more sense to just have a natural child every three to four years if you wanted to avoid being a horrible human being who is just trying to get power and nothing else. It is very obvious she only cares for power. But you can have power over your children when you gave some, so why not do something like that and male it more genuine than making a fake human for all intents and purposes?" I gave my piece on the whole situation, thinking of just the sheer amount of failure she truly was setting up for by doing this.

"I don't know how to feel. I still really like Misty and she is an amazing person, but what her mother plans to do is truly insane, and I am truly broken knowing musty us bound to die soon and that I can't do anything about it. I can try and maybe it can by some hope work, but I am not really too sure though." Sheldon was having his hand on the car wheel, since we were now in his car and he was getting ready for a drive around the nearly metal city.

"Misty is still an amazing person, no matter what may come up. No matter what she makes of this or what she dies shall she learn the truth, she has done so many great things in her first five years I doubt her last two years will really ruin it at all." Brad clearly was hoping Misty would like hi enough to pursue a relationship with him, but he clearly was not sure what to do to get that to happen.

"I guess if she is not going to live much longer anyways, there is no point on stopping her from doing as she wants with being a hero. You know to give the last twenty one months some feeling and meaning." I said as I was sort of slowly warming up to her trying the whole hero gig.

"I guess if I had to choose, then I suppose I would rather have a android do all this stuff instead of a normal human. Even if it is a android I do care about. Kind of crazy though, that we ourselves know one. Usually people just talk about them but since there are so few here, knowing even one is kind of a big deal. I do wonder if they feel and work on the same level that humans do, and if so, what really does give them the edge over normal humans. At this rate, we might see monsters or aliens in our life time. That would be one he'll if a thing to witness." Sheldon said and I guess I can sort of see the appeal to getting to know a personal android. Though I do wonder what Sheldon would have said about monsters if he saw the whole wayside thing. I doubt he would be so lose on what be would be saying then.

"Maybe when Misty will due soon, we can tell her the truth of what is going on. Maybe she can herself try and change what her fate is by talking with her creator about all this. I just hope she would listen to Misty of all people." I said my final piece on the matter.

"As do all three of us have that hope. Maybe when Misty only has a very small amount of time left, like only a month or so, then perhaps we can give her the reveal and she can get her mother to try and extend her life by at least a couple of years." Sheldon said his big piece on the subject as he was driving down the very busy road that was so damn loud nobody could gear or care what we were even saying.

"I wish that Misty and I can enjoy the final about two years of her life and make every single minute worth it. Maybe this is sort of a wake up call for us to just go on and enjoy what is given to us, and not what may be the case. Or maybe this is just all for a bit of sick entertainment." Brad seemed off in the distance as he was talking, clearly trying to pretend that none of this bothered him and that he could take it like a champ. Truth was though, I was very worried about him and I was worried of what he could try to do with these facts in mind.

We were driving down and sort of thinking about how things would be with Misty now with our knowledge, and I was worried what Ken would do, when Misty was having her first hero of the day moment where she was saving the city, a little bit in the same way Ken would later on, but in a slightly less violent and destroy the fucking city type of way.

Misty was going around the streets in the city, just looking for any possible sign of somebody being in trouble she can help out with. Besides, everybody was acting really odd around her and she was quite frankly a little bit tired of it all. She wanted to be looked at as normal, but nobody and not even her friends could be able to give that which was making her feel like nobody actually liked her. It was a silly fear and one she probably didn't need, but it was hard not to feel that way at all. But she knew she would have her chance to be a hero soon when she saw that there was a party in town hosted by one of her class mates. She decided she would go and attend the party for a bit to see what it was like.

As Misty was at the front door to the house of the party, the person who threw the thing saw Misty and he was totally confused what she was doing there when nobody had invited her in the first place. "This was not meant to happen, nobody invited you to come here. But since you are here, stay here and just enjoy your time, I guess." The guy who was throwing the party said as he was wondering what this freak girl, as he thought of her, would do coming up. He was worried she was going to ruin his part he worked so hard for. He was going to watch her very carefully to make sure she did not do anything he was worried she would pull off.

Misty was looking around the front room of this party hall and she was already feeling left out. She was wishing she would have hung out with Brad and Sheldon instead. They did show signs of caring, even if on moments they would be a little bit distant. But it was not like they just did not care at all, as she would never accuse them of being like that. Then she found a person she also knew from school and went their way.

"Were you invited to the party or not? I was not invited, I just came along when I saw what was going on here. I am going to get so wasted." This person and Misty sort of thought of the possible appeal to getting wasted as the other person started to walk to the drinking table and filled up their cup with some three percent alcohol.

Misty decided to go on and try it out. She just hoped Brad would not learn of this. Sheldon never seemed to mind it, but Brad would have a heart attack if he knew Misty had been drinking again. This would not be the first round of them getting into fights about it, and it was usually the main times the two of them would look like they were going to lose some form of their friendship.

"Do you like to drink a lot? I personally am a fan of it. Just taking a shot and then sort of losing track where you are or what you are doing. It is pretty fun." Misty said as sheets slowly convincing herself that one drink was not going to really be all that big of a deal and that as long as she didn't get drunk or start to abuse what she was doing, then it really would not actually be all that big of a deal. Besides, all she would have to so is just not tell Brad what she was doing, and she would be fine.

One drink was not enough to get her drunk, and she seemed to think that as long as she didn't get drunk, then her drinking was not really going to be all that big of a deal. She sat down and she was watching the other people have the party of their lives. The person she had talked with earlier already basically pretended like they never even saw her, so any faint chance of making friends here was gone, which was not all that big of a deal. She still did have Sheldon after all, and she knew damn well Sheldon would not comment or treat her like carp for doing something so fucking simple like drinking at a party. Despite him not saying so out loud, Misty was sort of sure that Sheldon did drink a little off on his side lines.

She really did think Sheldon was a nice bloke. At a lot of times she would have to wonder if she should choose Brad or Sheldon, and she did have good reasons for both. She wasn't really into Sam all that much, probably thinking I had too much of a no fun allowed keep you all safe attitude. I do see where that logic came from, and it was all Jen's fault. He sort of ruins any possible nice thing I would be willing to let the gang have with his constant getting into shit.

Misty was stopping herself from thinking more into this when she saw something on the back yard of the party house. A sight that would not only increase her stance as a hero, but she would later see could help see her learn more of what she was. But she never thought of that, and this up coming event was the first thing that made her start to feel a bit differently about the whole fucking thing.

Misty walked out of the house to the back yard not being seen by a single person on the way. As she was outside, she saw something that looked like a metal bird with a plague mask from back in the day as well as a black suit and Misty was wondering who this person was. The man held out his hand and a white beam was ready to shot out of him. Misty jumped on him and the he pushed her back as they flew up and away from there. Misty in anger stomped her foot on the ground but as she did so she caused a strange feeling, her starting to get ready to fly for the first time. She had a flame in both her feet and she was flying up as she looked down at the party, thinking of Brad as she was ready to fight her first target.

The two beings kept flying onward until it was at a point where they landed on top of some train tracks that were not being used that were a hundred feet in the air. Misty stared at the guy with the plague mask on. Under almost every other case, she she gave thought that this was the funniest thing ever, but given how intense this was, even she could not get herself to laugh at it all that much. "I guess you don't really know the truth. I almost pity you for that, but maybe you will start to see the truth now. But for now, I guess that none of this matters." The guy in the plague mask said and then Misty ran towards him and tried to punch him in the face but he swatted her down and then Misty screamed.

"You may think those memories are yours, but for good sake they are not. You are nothing, and you will always be that way, no matter how much you desire to change have tried to take away from me the one thing that truly matters." Misty stood up and kicked the guy in the plague mask in the chest but he got up again with no shout out to what happened.

"My memories are mine, and I have lived out my life to the best I can." Misty said as the man in the plague mask picked up Misty and started to walk her to the edge of the tracks.

"They will be yours only as long as you lie to yourself and you think you can make people feel like you are real. But soon enough you will see how false it is, and everything you will have done will be gone forever. Your entire life will be worthless. Nobody will remember you for who you were like, and it will be like you never existed in the first place. Keep pretending you are real, and soon enough they might even believe you." The guy with the plague mask said and dropped Misty as she screamed but then slowly remembered what happened earlier. She forced the fire to cone back and she flew all the way back to her room, tired and not sure what to think.

Misty was in her room, thinking that this guy was just forcing her to not be a hero and that he was a liar. She was real, she had to be. But the rocket thing was a bit odd, she had to admit. She will still be a hero, to prove him wrong and that she was real.

After that encounter with the guy in the plague mask, Misty decided that she needed to just talk with somebody about it. She had kept it to herself for about eight days or so, just pretending like her life was normal and that nothing had happened. But after eight days of waiting and trying to lie about it to herself, she just could not take it anymore. She then decided that despite the fact that we were not really super close, that maybe I was the best person to talk to this time just because of the fact that we sort of had a lower level of self disclosure with each other, and for some reason she was able to trust me knowing that.

"So Sam, I know that out of the three of you guys, that I know you the least. I know that you are worried about my plans and that you excessively oppose to all of them, but that is not what really matters now. I have a strange situation going on with myself, and I just need to talk to somebody about it. But in the extremely short version, I will just say that maybe you were right about this and that I was really in on over my head." Misty said to me as I took a deep breath and sat down next to her on her bed, since she had asked me to come talk with her at her house for some fucking strange reason.

"What exactly did you do that you feel like was stepping over the line?" I asked, as I was thinking about it and I was picking up the pieces and it was really worrying me that she was going through with it. Now it was only a matter of time before Ken went through his head on this whole damn thing.

"Well, I thought I was indeed ready to take on the world. I thought that I was ready to do something, and be the hero of the day. I thought that it was just going to be a easy ride from start to finish. One that I didn't even need to think about the possible out comes as I felt like I had already gotten them all figured out." Misty said and this was the first time I had ever seen her really start to show a full amount of regret to something that she was doing. It was honestly really hard to believe the whole android thing as she had done such a great job showing her emotions and how she truly felt about this subject. I was feeling like she really needed the help that I can give her, and that being here was only a first step to the whole thing.

"Misty, did something happen that change how you are feeling about this? If there is, what was it? I have never seen you look this uncertain about your plan before." I said as I started to drag myself a little bit closer to her, to try and comfort her more, but I was afraid that she might look at it the wrong way. But it was a risk that I would have to take, and there was quite frankly nothing that I can do about it at that moment.

"I saw this man earlier. He was telling me about how my memories weren't really mine, and that I am living in a fake reality. I told him that he was lying and that I have seen was real, and that he was just trying to fuck with me. I felt like that was what I could say, since everything that has happened in my life was from me, and that I truly am my own person. But the way that he was saying it, the level of his tone, it makes me think that maybe he is right and that I am truly living in a world that I think is real, and that I want to be real, but now that I see is just not real." Misty said as I was sort of thinking to myself what I should say, and if I should tell her the truth or pretend that I am just as blind to the situation as her. I figured that maybe that would be the best way out of this one, since she was clearly in a very rough place right now.

"Well Misty, what you are doing with me is real. You are not imagining it. Those memories are yours. What you take with them and do with them is up to you, and I will not try and act like you should be led down a certain way or not, but that is what you are. You are real, and you should never let what anybody says to you change your mind on that." I was saying the partially true answer, hoping that it would not make her any bit suspicious.

"You seem to get it Sam. You get that none of this is false. Thank you so much." Misty said and then she hugged me. I knew it was just out of appreciation and not out of spite or of love. I then looked at her directly in the eyes afterwards.

"Please Misty, keep doing what you are doing. If there is anybody that can do it, it is you. I feel like if anybody can free this city, you might be the only one who can do it." I was being honest on that, I felt like she could do it much better than Ken, although that was not saying much.

"If you even are getting this now, then I feel like I should keep it up. You are right, I will keep fighting for the city, and I will teach that guy that he is wrong if I ever see him again." Misty said and the look on her face was one of such pure joy that I could not get myself to tell her the truth. This was the one good lie, I decided to myself.

"I feel like when you save everybody, you will be known as a hero across the entire city. I will do my best to make sure you go down as that. If you do not get that honor, then I would feel like that is when we are starting to see the problem in our city today. Misty, just remember what you are meant to do, and go with it. If this is what you feel like you are destined to do, then it very could well be, and there is no reason to try and stop yourself from following that goal." I told Misty, and then I saw that she was almost starting to get a very bit mind with that, maybe a little bit too much for my own good, but I would rather have a confident person than a person who hated the world because of her being a android.

"Sam, you are a good friend when you try to be. I remembered because of this conversation, why we are still friends. I never felt like we weren't, but I was starting to forget why we were." Misty told me and that was when I felt like she and I talked enough on that matter at hand, and that we didn't need to go on any further with it.

"I think that maybe you get the point, and I know I certainly do. Let us just move onto a nicer subject, one that you will not be so uncomfortable with, and one that we can both get something out of. Like what are things like with Brad and Sheldon right now?" I questioned, knowing almost for a fact that she was going to pick Brad, but she did seem to have just a small enough of a thing for Sheldon that she felt like there was a small chance that she could choose him instead, albeit it was kind of faint though.

"They are both really nice to me. I think that Sheldon is nicer to me, and that I can talk with him easier to some extent, but there is something about Brad. His calm attitude and the fact that he seems to understand and be on top of everything so well all the damn time. It makes me feel like if I ever needed somebody, he would be the one for me that I could sort of go to for advice. That is not the way with Sheldon." Misty said and I can agree with that.

We talked about those two for a little bit longer, just comparing how they were and what their strong suits were or the lack of a strong suit on things that they needed improvement on. I was just doing it as a friend figure though. That being said, Misty did two more mini crime stopping acts in the city and that was helping her position of the town hero go down a bit better, and she was slowly learning more and more about her android powers. Soon enough, she ended up with a conversation with Sheldon about her life and his thoughts on her life.

"Sheldon, I just wanted to thank you for being there when it felt like nobody else was. I think you are the only person who has never lost any hope in me on what I have been doing, and has had some confidence at the least least in what I am doing and that I am doing the right thing. I really feel like you are able to understand me better than most for that reason, and I can't express my gratitude for that nearly enough. When I am hanging out with you, it makes me feel like I don't ever have to worry about what I am doing, or what I have already planned. You just listen to me and work with me and help me out no matter what the plans are. I thank you very much for that." Misty said and Sheldon was glad she was able to understand how he was doing his best there for her.

"You always need somebody in your life who is willing to help you out. I feel like you have some great ideas, and that there is nothing you need to be afraid of. I do not really see what the problem is. You have an idea for justice, and I want to see what you can do with that, and I will help you get that idea. I think that only is everybody worked together on this regard, there would never be the need of one person coming along and doing it for everybody else. We would be able to pull through and work out all the problems at once." Sheldon told Misty as she snapped her fingers in agreement.

"You seem to get it. I knew that it was a wise choice talking to you about it. I feel like when we talk with each other, we are able to work off of each other, and that there is nothing I have to deal with or fear over. I get you, and you seem to get me. I feel like Brad and especially Sam have had moments they do not get it. Like the whole hero thing with Sam, or the whole drinking thing with Brad. But you seem to get that I am living my life, my way, and that I don't need to follow any standards." Misty continued as Sheldon nodded on that.

"It really is your life. No matter what they may say, it is your life and you should be the one who chooses how to live it. I am glad you see that." Sheldon was saying being totally sincere there.

"I really think you are truly one of the greatest people I have ever met. You do not have any real problems with you at all. You are very easy to talk with." Misty said, and yet despite that, she still felt a bit uncertain and she still felt like she preferred to choose Brad at the end of it all, despite knowing Sheldon cared more.

"I just really appreciate what you do, the work you put in, what your drive is. I feel like it really is something to admire honestly. I think others can really use you as an example of what to shit for. I don't know how you feel on that, and I wish I was as strong as you, but I am not and I never will be as strong as you. But anything you want or need, I will do my best to help you out here. If you accept and what you do with it is up to you though." Sheldon laid it all down for Misty, hoping she would see his loyalty.

"I wish the others could see as you do. It feels like Brad is just sort of holding me back, and that Sam is sort of off on his own thing. Besides, a small part of this has become personal and I do worry that I might my emotions cloud my thoughts here." Misty told Sheldon, and that him to stop and wonder what she was on about there, and what he might be able to do to help, if he can at much as he hated to admit it with every my cell of his body, he was not sure he could.

"I think that you can really give the criminals what they deserve, and that you can kick their sorry asses out of here, I feel like it would give many people a bit of satisfaction actually, that is just me though. Plus, people will start to feel safer, and that is always a plus no matter what the case will be. If people stay and feel safe, I feel like maybe they will sort if forget about the other things they could consider a problem. Maybe that is just me thinking positively though, but nothing wrong with that." Sheldon continued to give Misty reasons to go at this.

"I think maybe you and Brad should talk this out. I like what you are thinking. I like how your plan works, and what you are willing to do to plan my side of the plan out. I just feel like I need answers, and none of them are given to me. I want more truth, I want something bigger, I want value. But I will never be given that. I just feel like I will never be given that, and that idea just hurts me on the inside to know." Misty said as Sheldon gave her a shirt hug for a brief moment of consolation, and thought on her point a bit more.

"Trust me, I will give you what you want. I will give you all the information you desire, no matter what the case may be. I will not fail with you now. If you need me, I have nothing better to do than follow down your path ways. I don't want anybody to tell you that you are wrong, there is nothing wrong with feelings and emotions." Sheldon truly did break through more to her as she heard that, something she wanted and needed.

"I see that you and I will have a very long friendship, one that will be good for both of us. You have already done more for me than anybody else, and no matter what happens, I can and will appreciate that. Brad is a good and lucky man, to be friends with you, me, and Sam. I feel like this will be good for him." Misty told Sheldon and he knew Brad was not the lucky one, Sheldon was. He had no life before this, and now being here with them, he did have one given to him for him to live.

"I needed this just as much, if not even more than Brad. He seemed like he was already in a good place, but I was not am probably will not be for a while. He had friends, while I didn't. Before Sam, I had nobody at all. Sam changed that, and soon enough you guys followed. I needed the help much more. At least, that is what I think on it while looking at it on the surface. But perhaps you know better than I do. Given how well you know him, perhaps you truly do." Sheldon was saying, wondering what details Misty could give him to prove him wrong.

"I guess you don't know him as well as I thought. Maybe if you ask him about it, he will be willing to talk to you more on it. I feel like you guys could trust each other, even if you are not super close right at this moment. I just doubt he would have true reason to push you off, but maybe I will be the one proven wrong on this case. I guess we will see." Misty said, and Sheldon considered it for a bit.

"I will test it out, maybe it will be what he needs. I guess if I talk to him, man to man, then things could go much better. I should probably try to know him better anyways, as that can be really useful. He and I can probably mutually grow as a result of this. I guess we can all use something to get us going, after all. Now you are the one helping me out here." Sheldon told Misty, thinking on how he and Brad could get closer by a result of this.

Misty kept up her hero stuff a bit longer, just focused on getting results more than doing what others thought she could and should have been doing. Brad and Misty had some time together I will go into, that way you guys get a bit of how she was with each of us in the year, and then I will go into her major battle of the year, which was in many ways more important than Ken's this year, but unlike Ken this year, who had a relatively happy ending, hers was a bit more bittersweet.

Her talk with Brad was a bit more serious than the other two by comparison in the way that she was just wanting to really get the truth from brad, no matter how it had gone. "I know that there is something that you are not telling me. I know that you don't want me to know something, I just can't figure out what that is. I need you to just be up front and honest about this with me. Tell me the truth Brad, I won't judge you no matter what you say. I just don't want to be living in a area of uncertainty where I am not even sure how to handle my fucking life anymore." Misty told brad as Brad was wondering on what regard she was talking about and was hoping it wasn't about the androids. "I feel like you don't trust me when you don't tell me these things, and I feel like it kind of hurts to deal with that face Brad."

"Well, I will admit that I am hiding something from you. But more because of how embarrassing it is for me, and it has nothing to do with you at all. I don't really know how you would react though, so I just never wanted to tell you." Brad said and this was something that he did want to tell her, and it wasn't about the androids, so he was thinking that maybe this could be able to help him win this one at the end. He can keep the truth of that way, while telling her the truth of how he had felt.

"What is it that you are needing to tell me? You do know that you can tell me anything that you want right? I have nothing to hold against you. We are friends, and I have no reason to throw something away just because of what you tell me." Misty said and then Brad decided that maybe he can go for it.

"Misty, I really liked you. Well, not really liked. I do like you. Like in the romantic sense. Not just in the friend sense. You are a really great person, and I want to have you see how important that you are. I have been wanting to ask you this for a while now, and I was worried of what you would say, but would you be willing to go on and go on a date with me?" Brad asked, not being able to believe how awful that was. After all, he said go on twice in the same sentence.

"If you mean it, I think that would be a great idea. I have been wanting to see if you wanted to do something like that with me lately, and I guess we are both getting what we wanted." Misty told Brad and then Brad was doing this while she was sitting down on her bed holding her hand forward while Brad was standing in front of her, both his arms to his side, while wearing a black vest and a white shirt under it and a pair of brown pants.

"I really do mean it. I think about the adventures and the things that we had together, and I feel like maybe we really could be a good item. I just hope that I am not proven wrong by feeling so. You and I have done so many things and you have helped me through so much of my problems, that I feel like you might be the person that I trust more than anybody else in the world right now, if you don't mind me saying that. Since you know, that could be a little bit over whelming for you to hear." Brad told Misty, and he was wondering just how far he can go before it was considered too far for her.

"I feel where you are coming from. I feel the same on a lot of aspects. I really do feel like we are a good combination. I am glad that you feel that way. Sheldon is a great guy, I feel like he is more of a friend. Sort of a friendzone thing. I don't want to ruin a friendship that I have with him, but you are somebody that I do feel safe with, and that is a really important thing at any moment." Misty told Brad as Brad got on her bed and was staring at the ceiling as he was laying down.

"I guess that maybe there is a certain thing that you don't want to ruin, because if you are not careful, you will be able to throw it all away. That was what cared me to even ask you in the first place, I was worried of how you would feel, and why you would worry about me in case I did my share of something stupid." Brad said and Misty laid down on the bed with him and they both had a short moment of staring at the ceiling.

"Do you think that Sheldon will really care if he knew that I choose you instead? I kind of feel like he might have already been expecting that I either had, or was planning to. I just don't really know if he can deal with the full and true fact all that well. He is a tough guy, but I do worry for him." Misty said and Brad shook his head.

"I don't think he would mind too much. He might be a bit sad over it, but give him some time and he will put it behind him. He may really like you, a little too much, but he is just having your best intention at the end. Let him do what he wants, and who knows, maybe this will branch him out to different people, which we both know he needed." Brad said and Misty was still not too sure if he was the one that needed it, she was still thinking deep down Brad was the one that needed it.

"Yeah, Sheldon may not be a tough guy on the outside, but on the inside, he is a really good dude. I think that he is probably fine, I just am not too sure. After what I had to deal with earlier with this plague mask guy, I am sort of questioning everything that I had seen earlier." Misty said, letting that detail slip before she added in a fast "Please don't worry about it." Brad was not really too sure on what to think, and he was sort of on the fence on if he should drop this subject or not.

"So Misty, how do you think you are going to remember this moment?" Brad said, sort of hinting at the whole android thing while not saying so. He wanted to see if all of those memories were hers, or if she was just sort of a robotic person at the end of it all, and that she has lost all of her way. Brad was really hoping she didn't have the memory problem, as memories were fort of a more special thing than he may have even realized, knowing that it could have been fake the whole time, and that none of this was real, and that whole thing was just sort of scary for him to really think about.

"Everything about this moment I will remember forever. This whole thing is precious to me. It shows that I am over coming any personal odds that I had with myself. It shows that I am not being left behind in this world anymore. I truly have made some friends, and not just some people who I thought were friends but in reality only cared for themselves. I think that perhaps you get what I am talking about, after all you seemed like you were sort of in a lost place yourself." Misty said and then Brad nodded at that one faintly, not wanting to admit it though.

"Just the whole thing with my family. I think you get it though, so I am not going to bother you with it. I don't want to think about the problems my family is having right now honestly. I just want to be at this moment, taking in everything around me. I feel like we got all the time in the world to just do something." Brad said and then he looked at Misty, wondering what she thought of that. She accepted, and they left the house to hang out.

Misty and Brad were hanging out at the ice cream shop, since Misty said that was something she would want, and Brad was willing to pay for her. They talked about the school year, what Misty did, they talked about Sheldon and I, and this over all was probably one of the few nights of the entire school year Misty gave zero fucks about her own personal mission.

The final bit of the school year was going down as Misty realized she had one opening, and only one, for her to do what she wanted. She only had one chance to finally defeat the crime bosses, while dealing with that one guy who was wearing the plague mask. But at the same time, she had to deal with the man in the purple jacket, which was even worse than the other one, but not by much. Misty knew from context clues he was going to pop up in the spring celebration coming up in just a couple days at the end of the school year. It was probably a thing they somehow knew Misty was doing and he wanted to track her down in a very public area.

Misty was hanging out with Brad, Sheldon, and I at the start of the event that day, and we were just hanging around and it was obvious she and Brad were trying to be clever and hide their thing but anybody, even Sheldon could be able to see through the whole thing. Even if he didn't want to say so, since it would be admitting he would have lost any chance of Misty being his girlfriend.

As they were going around, Sheldon saw that there was some form if music performance contest. Wanting to try something else out, and seeing if he could make his friends get a good laugh if for nothing else, he decided he wanted to go on and give it a round. Nobody was up, so he didn't think anybody would mind if he stole the spot light for a moment. He had absolutely no aspirations in music on any level, but he thought a short performance would be something that could be fun and if for nothing else he could laugh about later. He wanted to leave high school with some good memories after all.

Sheldon grabbed the mic and then he was staring at the audience a little bit, wondering what the he'll he had just put himself to. Either way, he started to sing. "I fucked up... In a perfect situation. I saw her, aimed at her, shot for her, and then after choking l... Let any chance of love down the drain. The pitch wad given, and I got a strike." Those were the first words, and people were wondering what the hell he was talking about, and they were intrigued. A guy like Sheldon, having a chance for love. That was some rich shit.

Sheldon sang for about ninety seconds, building up the song, talking about how he wanted to be a hero like the girl in the song, but how he wasn't cut for it. Then he gave a pause, where he was stomping his foot a but for the beat, and then after the rising action, he started to sing the climax. "Oh... The world. The world. The world. It is out to ruin my life. The world. Ruining some perfect situations." Sheldon stopped singing, as he dropped the mic and headed on to Brad, Misty, and I to go finish the rest of the event. As he was doing so, the people in his audience who wanted to listen to people sing started to cheer. Sheldon had managed to excite people with his performance, and that much was obvious.

"Sorry for that song, I just had a lot of my mind. You know, between school, friends, and what the hell I am going to do next year when this is all behind me. It really is a lot of material I have to ponder, and I just don't really know, and I feel like I have no fucking life at all, and I just wasted it all." Sheldon said and Misty shook her head. She needed him to see the bright side of things. Now he was the one that needed help.

"You did not waste your time. You made some friends, got a audience going, and did so well in school you were the only guy in your group to be accepted into a four year university. You got a life going on now, and I don't feel like you wasted it." Misty said, thinking on how great his life would be soon. It made her feel jealous. Sheldon was not too sure if he should tell them the truth on the four year college or if he should let them live in further ideas that nothing would be a problem and that everything would be alright.

"I guess I can see your point. I guess I am just looking at it a little bit short term. Not that it is really all that wrong to do so. Like the thing is we don't know how things will be now. If we ever really knew, which to be honest we fucking don't." Sheldon said as Brad was looking around, and he saw the school was having a water ball on contest. He looked at me and we both nodded. We wanted to partake on that contest, so we were heading off to do that.

Once Brad and I were at the water ballon fighting area, I grabbed a water ballon and for a moment, I saw Ken and I threw the ballon right at him, hoping to soak him to the core, as I thought it would be funny to once again one up him.

The ballon hit the wall instead of Ken and I rolled my eyes there. Brad threw a ballon at the girl who was about to throw one next to me. I then told mtsrlf not to get too wet since I was going to be meeting with Susan very soon, and we were going on a very big date, so I was just a little worried on how things would turn out if I wasn't very careful. Plus, she would most likely be wondering why I was so wet after a school day of all things.

Sheldon and Misty were walking around for a bit and that was when Sheldon thought that he should tell me the truth and that he knew about me and Brad. "I know you choose him instead of me. I know that you liked him more. I did hope you would choose me instead, but that is not happening. I guess that is why we became a unexpected hit for that moment, when I just made that song. Was no real secret I had made the song about you." Sheldon said and for a moment Misty was not really sure about the song thing, like she had actually not known that at first, which was a bit shocking shocking for Sheldon.

"Brad was worried how you would take it. Seems like you are quite the man about it. Maybe you really are cut out for the real world. I wouldn't doubt it. Besides, I think you are I are just fine as we are, being friends." Misty said and the two if them sat down on a wooden table, and Sheldon was so happy to just see her he didn't care at all. How could he judge her like this, when she clearly was happy where she was at and obviously did not regret her choice.

"Just know if one day, you change your mind, I will be there for you. I will be a person who would give you my umbrella if I had to in order to make sure you even had a chance of being dry. I know it is simple, but sometimes simple is just better than making a huge plan that will not work." Sheldon said, hoping that any tiny statement will get Misty to see the value of him as a romantic partner. He just was trying to not think about how she was an android so it was destined for failure even if she did chose him and not her.

"That is a strangely romantic proposal Sheldon. I will keep that in mind in case something does come up and I need somebody to keep me on track." Misty confirmed to him, and Sheldon thought that maybe there was a very small amount of hope for him after all, but before he could go any further there was a strange noise that stopped him right on his tracks. It was a sound to show the battle was starting soon now.

There was a loud noise and Misty knew what it was so she told Sheldon to keep everybody distracted, which he agreed to do. Misty started to run out of the school and as she was doing so, people only cared for a second. About half a mile away from the school, she saw where the plague mask guy was. He was standing on top of a tower and he was looking down at Misty, waiting for her to make the move. She stomped down and set off her feet rocket to make it up there.

By doing this, Misty knew that everybody was going to be wondering what was going on with her and if she was pulling something off with some advanced technology, but she knew that there was nothing that she would really be able to do anything about it and that she was going to have to deal with the punishments that were going to have to come along with it. Once she had flown up to the top of the building, the guy in the plague mask face looked over at Misty. "I see that you can't get yourself away from me, maybe you will truly start to see what my great ambitions are after all. Perhaps there is some hope left in you." The guy in the plague mask said and then when he had said that, Misty held her hands forward. If she was able to make herself fly, then despite how little she wanted to admit it, she might have the power to shot this thing down with her arms. Despite not wanting to say it, she realized that maybe there was a small chance that she could have had android blood in her.

"Just tell me the truth. Tell me why you care about me so much." Misty said and the guy looked over at Misty and considered that. It was pretty tempting to tell her the truth, and she had that look on her eyes that showed that she wanted the information badly, so he decided that he was going to give her the shorter version of it all.

"Well, I guess since you really don't have any clue, and you seem eager to know, I guess that maybe telling you a little bit about who you are will not bother you too much. The truth is, I am your father. Well, not exactly you may say. But I am your father in the way that I lived my life, done my own thing, became the man I am, and gave your mother these facts and she decided to use them for her development and her project. Now here I am, talking with you, the product of the idea that I had given her." The guy in the plague mask said as Misty was starting to get tears in her eyes.

"Am I starting to make you sad? Are you finally starting to see that everybody before these last five years are real? If it does make you feel any better, these last five years have been totally true, and those are your real memories, not mine." The guy said but then as he had said that, Misty jumped at him.

Misty punched the guy in the face a couple of times and as she was doing so, she was starting to cause the guy to bleed a little bit and she didn't even care how much it seemed like she was doing this terrible thing, she wanted to make this guy suffer. "Stop lying to me. My father died before I was born! My mother said so! My memories are mine, not just these last five years, but all of them." Misty then picked him up and then the guy in the plague mask laughed at her then.

"You will keep shooting this down and denying the truth for as long as you live, but in the end, this is still the truth, and there is nothing that you can do to change that. You might as well just accept it as it is, and try to adapt to your life being that way, or else you are just simply going to be living a life of a lie." The guy in the plague mask had said and then when he had said that, Misty placed him down and she was placing her left hand on her right arm.

"I don't even know who you are. If you were really my father, in any context, then why have you not gone out of your way to talk with me earlier? Why have you gone out of your way to pretend like I was not even here before?" Misty said and then the guy in the plague mask laughed as he had heard Misty saying that, as she clearly was not getting the full side of the, and no matter how long they talked, would they actually be able to really get her to learn the truth in full.

"It seems like you still think that I am the enemy. In the end, your mother is the enemy, and that you should be going out of your way to try and take her down. But I guess you will be in denial about that since she had been raising you your entire life and you just don't want to admit that she has been using you before. But I guess that none of this really matters." Plague mask dude said and then Misty shook her head.

"You are lying to me, and you are just trying to see what my reaction is. I will not believe what you are telling me. I can't believe what you are telling me. I don't want to think about my life being a lie. Would that mean that Sheldon, Brad, Sam, any of this is just something that I am imagining, and that you are the one doing all of this if what you are saying is true?" Misty questioned and the plague mask guy was holding her hand up.

"If you need to know, you need to just talk to your mother, if that is even the proper term to give her. I want to really make you understand what you have taken away from me. You have taken away so much from me, that I can't even live a normal life anymore and I have to pretend like I am just a phantom, and I am wanting to get my life back, and no matter what, I will get it back soon." The plague mask guy said and then when he said that, Misty looked away for a moment.

"I don't want to believe you. You are lying. I don't want to talk to a liar anymore. I can't handle this anymore!" Misty said and then after she had said that the plague mask guy was taking off his mask as Misty slammed her left hand to her right arm and then as a result the arm created a bullet that shot right through the chest of the plague mask guy, and then he seemed to smile when he had that happen to him.

The face of the guy was what confused her the most. The guy looked like Sheldon. Not just Sheldon, like the one she had went to school with, but a older Sheldon. One that looked like he was over a hundred years old and was already expecting the end of his life soon. He raised his right hand up and revealed a white button. "Just remember, in the end, I am your father. Never forget. Never try to deny it. I made you." The guy said and then he pressed the white button before placing his mask back on and then falling down the building to his death.

Misty stared down as she watched the guy in the plague mask was falling to his death. As this was happening, she saw that the building she was on top of was slowly getting destroyed from the ground up. Misty started her rocket once again and throughout the next ten minutes or so was trying to go through every single floor of the building flying through broken glass and creating her to bleed and she was getting people in three or four rounds and then placing those three or four on the ground. In the end, she saved about forty people despite there being several hundred in there. She knew that nothing she did could save them all, so she was just trying to save at least some.

After she had done that, the guy in the purple jacket walked through the fire and threw down the plague mask down at Misty in front of her. "He was telling the truth. You did a heroes a job. Too bad he won't live to see the end. But then again, who will?" The guy in the purple jacket said and then he just walked away, getting his entire point across and he already knew he was going to see her again eventually, so it didn't really matter.

Misty got down to her knees, trying to figure out why the hell the blood was not all over her, and just only on a couple of spots on her body. And it looked like the blood was starting to fade away. None of this made sense, and she was not even going to pretend that it did, but she was not going to change it. The next year was when Ken and Misty really had their lives start to get determined.


	15. The Journal part 3

Chapter 14: The Journal Part 3

So as Ken and Misty started to really change everything about their lives soon, Ken was having a bit of a crazy school year himself. He was sitting down next to Taylor one day and he was sort of mapping out what his big operation was going to be coming up. "I think that there are a couple of crime busts that we can really bring down. If we do that, we should surely be looked at as heroes. I just need to find all the right times for them, to make sure that I don't go too hasty." Ken said and Taylor looked at what he was planning.

"Are you sure that you will get away with this? I mean, I like the idea, but this is a little bit of a stretch. Do you think that maybe you should consider some other options? Like just staying in the city blocks or something?" Taylor said and then after he said that, Ken was shaking his head and Taylor feared that this was going to be Ken's response. "I was just offering, but now that you point it out, maybe there really are a couple of things that you can do, that can get them out more." Taylor said, sort of remembering some of the things that was going on in town. "Like remember how there is going to be a town hall meeting soon? Maybe you can try something out then. I think that this would be a good idea." Taylor said and then Ken nodded, liking Taylor's way of looking at it.

"I think that maybe the town hall would want somebody like me there. You know, somebody who can be able to protect them in case things start to go south? That would be a really smart idea." Ken said and then he held up his hand to Taylor, as if he was getting ready to high five him. Neither one of them knowing that in just six months, this whole thing would be a huge bust.

Taylor accepted the high five offer and then said "You may actually be onto something here Ken. There seems to be a method to the madness after all. Maybe your brother really was wrong about it." Taylor said, just not wanting to admit that he was also wrong about Ken as well. Ken was the only one who was starting to doubt this all. There was that increasing part of him that was really starting to think this was a bad idea, but he didn't want to admit it.

"I am scared." Ken admitted and then he said "That somebody is going to figure out it is me, and then once they figure out that it is me, they will find a way to get to my home, and then they will get to my family. I don't even know why this is scaring me so much now. Maybe it is a part of me maturing and seeing the true side of things. Maybe Sam is right. But since I started this, I can't get myself out of this." Ken said, and even I knew he was right about that. Ken did get himself here, and now he was stuck here until either he died or he was caught.

"I guess you have been putting more thought to this than anybody really ever thought that you did. Do you feel like you can really pull off some form of miracle here, or do you think that you are sort of getting yourself into some sort of suicide mission by doing all of this?" Taylor asked and Ken forced himself to try and actually think about it on what could really happen, and not what he wanted to happen.

"Realistically, I think that I am setting myself up for a death trap. I do not envision myself really doing too well on this long term. But that is not really the problem for me, as I never wanted to do this beyond high school, so it was a matter of basically just surviving these four years. But it looks like I am not really going to have a great shot on this unless I start to put more care into this situation. I guess Sam did have a point here. I guess that unless I get some help, maybe I can fail like Sam. I have been going at this for several months now, and here I am, just barely making any real progress. People know me on the news, but that is sort of the best it is going. Crime rates have only gone down three percent, which is barely even worth bragging about." Ken said and Taylor was impressed Ken was opening up this way now.

"Dude, you are only like fifteen years old. Even a three percent drop from a fifteen year old of all things is pretty great. Anybody who can reduce crime by three percent on a city as big as this should be proud of themselves and the work they have done. You truly are starting to make an impact. Don't tell yourself otherwise. I know that it may seem crazy, and to a lot of ways, it fucking is. I am not even going to pretend that it is not. But you have something going on, and you need to embrace what you have created. You have started a fire, and you need to continue burning it." Taylor told Ken to get him more energized.

Ken looked up at Taylor and there was a moment of hope on his eyes.

"I think that you may be onto something. Who cares if I haven't stopped it all? I have made a serious effort, and I made a dent. I made my place in the history of this town. What more can I ask for? I have made progress, and I have started to make the freedom here more work able. I think that maybe you can think about it in that regard, and I am truly doing well." Ken said and there was just such a burst of motivation there that even Taylor was able to be truly into it for a moment.

"I really think that you got this in the bag Ken. I know that this may sound crazy, and hard to fully over come. I do not blame you for it. You have done a good job though. I do not agree with all of your plans, and a lot of the time I may find them to be totally fucking insane and wrong, but you do have a decent idea what you are trying to do, and I am able to roll with that. You were never fully wrong about what you have said, and that is the thing that makes me think you could be onto something here. Just don't lose sight of what you have started." Taylor said and then Ken stood up.

"I really do have a good idea what I want with my life. I have been working on it all this time, and I just need to keep going. You seem to get it. I think that maybe I should have never told my brother about my ideas and just went to you. It seems like you seem to know more about this than he does. I don't really think he really gets it all, the problems that we are facing." Ken said and he was now ready to meet up with the town hall and get ready for their next big adventure. One of the last that he could be able to pull off with any amount of success I might add, but that is just how things are.

"Like you said, you planned to only keep this up for high school. Once you are done, then you can just leave it all behind, or give it to another person to pick up the mantle." Taylor said and Ken was wondering if he was lightly hinting at giving the mantle over to Taylor, which Ken figured was not too terrible of an idea, but he wanted to consider all options first.

"Let's go out there and pick up the job that we were going to do anyways." Ken said and then he and Taylor stood up and were going to just go straight to Ken's house, a block away, and start the plan with the town hall meeting.

So as they were getting ready, Ken did some studying and he was getting himself ready for all of the stuff that could possible come up when the final battle came up there. Well, I guess I should not really say the final battle, but the next battle. There were a couple of more that he did after this, and I am starting to think he had one just tonight, which could explain the gun I saw him having just a moment ago. But that is not important to this story.

One of the things Ken was doing during his research was finding out where the criminals who were planning on doing something to the mayor were, and then once he found them, what he was going to do to try and expose them, if he even could be able to expose them at all, something he was well aware of being a possible problem. There was something that was going to be a bit of a problem about a vigilante running around trying to tell the mayor that they were the ones who knew what was right and not them, when they were sort of not really operating by the law themselves, so that was something that he had to consider.

But at that moment, Ken really was not all that worried about it, he was just trying to take down these criminals and save the mayor from what could be a terrible thing, and he was willing to try anything out for it, even if that meant that he himself was going to have to stop operating fully by the law, something he never wanted to do but knew that he sort of had to do to get his full plan.

Ken was walking around with Taylor and they were sort of pretending to be talking about normal stuff, trying to make them seem like they were casual people, which was not too bad of an idea I suppose. As they were walking around, Ken was checking around a couple of specific areas since he was given some pointers that this was where he needed to go. The guy who said this was some sort of "Stranger" as Ken would explain to me when all of this stuff broke out and I forced him to try and explain all the shit to me to see if maybe I could let this be justified.

"I think this is the house. Just pretend that you are just waiting for your parents to pick you up or something if people start to wonder what is going on, I am going to go in there." Ken said and then Taylor nodded. There truly was something genius but yet terrible to this idea at the same time, and Taylor was not really so sure himself which one this was leaning towards. Either way, it was brave what he was doing regardless of how genius or terrible it was.

Ken looked around the yard a little bit and he found a bit of a hole that he could crawl into. So he forced himself into the hole and as he was forcing himself into the hole, he was already able to start to hear some of the plans that were going on, but like a dumb ass he was going further in. He was wanting to know every single thing that was going on. Taylor was just standing at the front, sitting down and doing his best to pretend like he had absolutely no idea what the hell Ken was doing, which to be fair, he didn't really.

Once Ken was inside of the building, he was looking around and he was trying to figure out all that he was seeing. It was a combination of really gross, and just simply kind of confusing. There were jars of what seemed to be piss lined up, but unlike actual real jars of piss, there was so hard stuff at the bottom, which meant that this was something else. Ken was wondering if he really did get himself too deeply into this, and the worst part was that he really had nothing to defend himself with shall something come up over this. As he was looking around, he looked at each jar, getting progressively more filled up and more green.

There was just something about it that made him feel a little bit sick. He was not even really sure why this was making him feel so grossed out over this, but he just could not really help it anymore. Before he could even touch one, he heard a bunch of people talking and he hid under a desk. He felt a little bit silly doing so, but it was the only thing he was coming up with and he didn't have anything to defend himself with, so he was just going to have to go with it.

"The mayor believes that we are just there for business related purposes only. He had no real idea what is going on. So for now, we are still on the clear. I am just more worried about that one so called hero. The one who calls himself the Concador. I feel like he might be getting onto something, and that the mayor might try to work with them just in case something comes up. If that happens, we might have to throw away our plan." The first person said and Ken was giving himself a point for being known to these people.

"He is nothing more than just one man in a suit. Even if he is the greatest martial artist in the world, which he is not, I would not worry too much about him. Get him alone, and he will be as weak as the others, and then you remove the suit, and he is nothing more than just a low life fugitive trying to be a hero." The other guy said and Ken could not really argue that one to himself.

"I would not really be so sure. He seems like he can hold his own. I would at the very least try and be careful what is going on. You might need to try and look into maybe hiring a few more people for us. Just in case something does happen. You never really can be too sure, and that is something we have to understand. But whatever you feel like is fine, I guess I will go with it, even if I disagree with you on it." The other guy said and then the stuff about the jars popped up for Ken to know about.

"Those jars will not contain enough explosive powder to make the entire city go up in flames unless if you add a little bit more. Then it would sort of be ruining the whole point of our plan." The other one was saying and then Ken took a loud gulp, not really too sure what he was thinking when he had heard that. It was quite the fucking thing to hear that they were planning on destroying the entire town. If he was smart, he realized that he was going to need everybodys help on that one.

"Well, we are mainly just trying to take out town hall. Everything else that comes along with it will be extra icing on the cake. Our boss even said that the only one that mattered was the town hall, so I really am not too worried about it. The pay will only just go up with everything else, which might not really be worth the risk of us not surviving." The second person said and Ken was trying to figure out what he was supposed to do.

"Just focus on getting the job done. Don't think about anything else. That is what I say on the whole matter." The second one finished his point and then the two of them just left the room.

Once they were out of the room, Ken stood up and he was looking around. Realizing what he was doing and how dumb it was, he grabbed one of the jars. He knew getting the others would increase his chance of exposure, but going after just one seemed to be just fine. Then he worked his way out of the hole and back into normal air.

Then he walked to Taylor as fast as he could while placing the jar in his pocket and said "We need to leave, now." Ken said and then with that, Taylor took his statement seriously and they began to head on out as Ken was ready to tell him what had just happened.

"Seems like things are a lot more serious than we ever expected them to be. I think that we're going to really have to step up our game if we plan on actually saving the mayor from any of what I just found out they were planning to do. Those people who were inside that building or honestly trying to bomb this city. And not just the town hall, but the entire fucking thing." Ken said when he and Taylor were alone, as he pulled out the drawer that he took from the basement in that one house, because he felt like he was a little bit more safe to do it now. It was totally crazy sounding and he had no idea how he was going to get the mirror to help him see what his point of view, if he would even be able to, but he knew that he was going to have to try.

"Are you sure that you don't want to go public on this one? I am pretty sure that the mirror would take the word of a public person much more to consideration than the word of a guy who just runs around in a cape and a bike helmet and all that stuff. I mean I'm pretty sure you could see you where I think that. I'm just trying to be realistic." Taylor said and wall candle not like the idea, he would be dumb to not see the benefit to it.

He had a lot of stuff to think about on that regard. He just wasn't really sure if he was ready to go public on any of this, but at the same time he thought that if he did go public with this tiny piece of information, that he could still probably be able to avoid his secret identity, just a little bit longer. It would just be more of a matter of if Taylor was right and the people would take his word more seriously if he was doing it publicly. Despite the fact that it was probably true, Ken was not really sure if he was going to take the risk.

Either way, he was given a very tough choice that he was going to have to make one way or the other, and that either way it was going to be something to his detriment. Can look over at his friend just trying to find a way to be sincere about any of the stuff that had happened.

"I'm so sorry about what I put you into. I have a feeling that once they expose me, you will be very soon to follow. And if that happens, then anything that would have happened to you would be 100% my fault. I don't really know I could be able to look at myself in the mirror ever again and try to justify that when I think about it. I just hope that no matter what happens you would be willing to forgive me if it does work against either one of our favors." Ken tried to apologize to his friend, but he wasn't really sure if it really cut it.

As Ken was thinking about that, he was wondering how Sam was going to react when the truth eventually came out to him. Either way they were way too deeply into this and there was nothing to be done about it. There was one main mission that was up and running, and they needed to do it. It was a necessity to do it. Even Sam must have been able to see this. That was what Ken thought at the very least. What Ken didn't know was that I just didn't really understand his motives to any of this.

It was very soon after that, that the operation was going to go down. Ken knew that in order for the mayor to really believe what he was going to say, he was going to have to percent that drawer as evidence at the very least. And he wasn't even sure if that was going to fully cut it. He was honestly considering what Taylor had said earlier about the just exposing himself. But for many reasons, he just could not get himself to actually fully go on board with that idea.

So he had entered the town hall a few days later, and as he had done so he was getting ready to talk to the mayor of the city. Once you talk to the mayor of the city, he would hope that things would be mostly cleared up and that everything would be coming to an understanding. Plus it could be able to show people he was serious about what he was planning. He just needed to get me on board with the whole operation in his opinion. Which is why we had a certain conversation at one point.

It had started when Ken walked up to me while I was doing my school work and getting ready for my date with Susan of that week like I had on every single other weak. I rolled my eyes at this because he always did this when I was getting ready to come on today. It was getting a little bit fucking annoying. "So Sam, I know you don't really like any of my ideas, and I know you were going on a date soon, but are you willing to just stick around for a little bit longer just to talk to me for a bit?" Sounded so desperate and in a way even since here when he was asking that, that I fell for once again.

I just simply nodded to give him the approval of letting him do this once again I can not believe in hindsight that I went for this once more. But I just thought that he actually knew how to excel contain himself and be able to handle the situation in a much better manner this time around, but I was proven to be very wrong as you will see very soon.

"Well, I was looking around, and there was something that is going to happen very soon that I feel like I need to try and help take care of." Ken said and I looked away from him, knowing full well where this was probably gonna go considering how Ken was and how he had bar none the worst idea of justice in the world, and it wasn't even close. But I figured that at worst, it would have just felt like he was wasting my time, and I have dealt with worse from him before to be totally real.

"There are some people that plan to blow up the entire town. I want to change that. I want to be able to have a chance to not just save the mayor, but the rest of the city. This is something I need to do if this town is to live on." Ken told me, but I figured that there was much more to it than this, and that Ken was sort of way over blowing this. But there was a small part of me that thought maybe he was right after all.

"I don't know if you are right or not. I guess that there is a small chance you are, but I feel like the police can still take care of this. I just have hope. But you have done some good things here, so I am willing to admit the chance you are correct. I will wish you luck. I don't like it fully agree with this, but I need to give you a chance, even if it does mean that I am the one who is making the mistakes." I said as I was thinking how much it would suck to admit that I was wrong, when there could or should have been no reason for me to be wrong under a natural case.

"I will be heading down there soon. I need to be there before the enemy does. If I do not, then all hope will be lost here, and there is nothing we can do about it. I have a job I need to do." Ken said and then he left the room, and I was sitting there, processing what had happened. Despite not thinking about it, I placed my hand on the chest as a sort of sign for good luck.

After that, Ken met up with Taylor and they were walking our way down to the town, where the moment of decision would be made soon. The second to last battle Ken would face while he was trying to be a hero, and the moment which made it painfully obvious now that I am writing this and thinking more on this, that he was doing this for fame and literally nothing else. He almost fooled even me with his intentions, but there was nothing that could truly change this.

Once at the town hall, Ken walked up to the mayor and he was ready to tell him everything about it. But then he thought of something, which was something he had wanted to do, but forgot about doing earlier. He turned around to Taylor and handed him the jar. "Keep this with you while I am going to be gone for a moment. I am going to change into the suit." Ken said as he was holding his back pack, which just had his suit. He knew that it was a bad set up, but he had nothing better going for him, so he had to do it.

"Alright, I will just keep this in my pocket." Taylor said slowly, trying to figure if this was a good idea or not, and wasn't really all that sure if he was appreciating the fact that Ken was forcing him to do something like this, when he was probably going to get caught and accused of being the one who was going to try and destroy the entire fucking city. But annoyed, he placed it in his pocket while Ken ran to the bathroom, and Taylor was thinking about how this was going to be something Ken would pay for if this did turn out the way that he was fearing it would turn out.

Once Ken was in the bathroom, he looked around and saw that nobody was in the town hall bath room as well. So he took his shirt and pants off as fast as possible and got himself dressed up in just a matter of thirty to forty seconds, not even caring if there were a couple of loose ends, since he felt like he needed to get ready as soon as possible. Then lastly, he placed the helmet on his face which was the part that he needed the most to try and hide his face. Then he slowly shoved the clothes he had in his back pack and then he walked out of the bathroom with nobody looking at all.

"Alright, just hand that to me, and I will try and tell the mayor about this." Ken said and then Taylor handed him the jar while Taylor was thinking about how suspicious this had looked, and how anybody worth their job or their lives should have been watching what they were doing, and been more careful about what was going on.

Ken then walked right up to the mayor of the town and he was holding the jar as carefully as possible, trying not to drop it for fear of what could happen. "Mister mayor, I need to speak with you right fucking now." Ken said and then the mayor looked at Ken and then Ken was forcing himself to slightly, although not annoyingly, change his voice to maybe be about three percent deeper. "There are some people who are planning to destroy this entire town, and this jar is one of the things they planned to use to destroy it." Ken said and then slowly pulled out the jar.

"Look here, I don't know what you are telling me, and I don't think I should believe in you. After all, you have been going around and messing up things in the city really badly, and you think I am just going to believe what you tell me, and act like you are the greatest hero who has ever lived? I am not going to fall for that. I have a lot of business to attend to, and you being here is causing me to question my very own safety." The mayor said and then Ken was not really too sure what to say to that. It wasn't technically wrong, which was the worst part.

"Well, would you rather take a risk with me and have a chance where I am lying to you, and then you can throw me away as a useless vigilante when it is all over, or take your risk here thinking you will be safe, but knowing that there is a small chance that I am telling the truth, and then end up with your death? If you would rather believe that I am lying and that you are safe here and that nothing can happen to you, then I guess that you are a truly lost cause and I will leave you alone as you wish." Ken said, and he was starting to walk away, and the mayor looked at him.

"If you are telling the truth, then I can not risk things for the people in this hall. For that reason, I will go with you and let you have the chance to prove me wrong." The mayor said and then Ken nodded and the mayor started to walk towards him with his guards, all of which were thinking that this was a trick he had, and the other people in the hall knew something was going on, so many of them were leaving it.

As they were all heading off, Taylor joined at their side once again and he was ready to tell them some things that were possibly coming up. But that was not really what Ken was wanting to hear and the mayor had no care for petty teenage problems, so he was sort of indirectly wishing that Taylor would not speak on that and it took about three minutes for them to walk down and out of the hall.

Once out of the town hall, Ken and the mayor walked down a couple of streets as a bunch of people were standing just a few feet away to see what could happen, with Taylor and the guards at the side of Ken and the mayor. It took them a little bit of time, but they all reached the end of the neighborhood, which was about three blocks and then the town hall blew up right when Ken turned around to see what was going to happen, and he was hoping that he could save some people before they got caught in the fire.

"It turns out that you were not lying to me after all young man. I guess that maybe I should have given you more credit than I did. But that doesn't change what you are doing. You are still going around trying to defeat crime while pursuing it yourself. I don't know who you think you are, or how you think that we are going to allow that, but if you think that we are going to allow you to keep this up, then you are sorely mistaken." The mayor said and then Ken rolled his eyes.

"You know, I just saved your life, and all you are doing is just taking down on me and acting like I am the villain here? You know, I should not even have bothered. You clearly do not care what I do, and you don't care what I did do to help you out. So with all due respect, go fuck yourself." Ken said and that was one of the first times he out right just turned down somebody for what they had told him, and the man stared at Ken with utter disdain over what he was saying.

"If it makes you feel any better, I am grateful that you saved my life. I will let this problem slide for now. But since you are highly pursuing this time, letting it slip this once is a tiny favor that will mean nothing. Just tell me one thing, how exactly did you know what was going to be happening?" The mayor said as Ken thought he could use this as another chance to prove he was not the one who needed to be brought down, and that he was perfectly justified where he was at.

"I found it in a house where a couple of people were talking about the plans to destroy the entire town. I found that jar I showed you, and then I wanted to use it as evidence. Turns out that one jar was not enough to stop their plans though. I am going to be leaving though. I don't want to ruin this chance that you are giving me here." Ken said, still with his helmet and not fully exposing what he was like, he left the place and then the mayor stared at him trying to make his mind up on what happened.

"I feel like there is more to this than he is letting on. I am going to try and get to the bottom of this, and expose him for what he is truly trying to do." The mayor said and then when the mayor had said that, he looked at the burning down to the ground and ashes town hall and didn't respond to that. Ken knew what he did was wrong, and soon enough they were going to expose him for the fraud that he was, with no other way to go around it.

After the incident at the Town Hall, Ken was starting to take things a little bit more cautiously. After all, he wasn't dumb enough to believe that the threat that the town mayor made was a lie. He was actually in that smart enough to believe that the town mayor was telling the truth about not laying him off the hook the next time. It was even getting to the point where in a sense Ken was even starting to question a little bit of his mortality in a way. It was one of the first times and the first time since Wayside that he actually was starting to do so. And a strange sense, that was showing his growth on this whole matter. Which I guess was a little bit of a benefit for me.

But despite the and this sort of pause that he took from the whole crime fighting and everything, there was one incident around March or so where he behind my back or behind everyone else's back with the exception of Taylor that he decided was so important that he had to do it. I guess when he was explaining it to me way down the road I was sort of able to understand it. But at the same time I still felt like it was such a dumb idea, that I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that he was still doing this stuff. I thought he grew up and finally grew out of it.

Ken may try to claim that he kept up the hero fighting for a little bit longer, but that just simply was not the case. I don't blame him and if that I was kind of glad when he started to slowly get out of it but it seems like it was not going to be a permanent engagement. All the stuff that he said about him keeping that up up until March is either a way to show just how much I did not buy the subject and how much he kept doing it away from me or the fact that he was trying to make himself look more impressive to everyone else. Which means that either way, regardless of which one he was talking to, he was lying to either me or you it doesn't matter which one it was still lie either way.

I guess I have built it up long enough and I guess it is time to really kind of get down to it. But I am starting to think that you know where this is going.

This was all about in the end the man in the purple jacket. The guy has shown up once again, and Ken thought that it would be up to him and only him for some strange reason that he had to take this guy on all on his own. He was basically acting like one big damn hero by doing so. Which I guess was sort of close to what he had wanted to do to begin with so I'll just tell the story now it's going to be a long one.

The final thing he tried to do in this hero persona that I was aware of took place on March 12th, which was only about two months ago. After this, He said he was going to stop and for once, given the tone of voice he had, I actually managed to believe him on what be said. He sounded like he was finally over it for once. Like he truly saw the errors in his ways. So it was straight after school that day and he was walking around with Taylor on the way to his house.

"Do you think that you might actually drop out of school this year? That seems like a big move, deciding what you want to do with your life this early on. I mean, I have nothing against your plan, it is none of my business, but I am just curious." Taylor said and Ken nodded. He just could not get himself to keep up with this anymore, and it was not really something he desired to pursue anymore with how his life had gone.

"High school is just something that I don't really want to go through with anymore. I get that some people love it, and they bit their peak there, but I am not that kind of man. I feel like I was sort of at my lowest point here when I went to high school. I want to do something in my life I feel like could be proud of." Ken said, hoping his point actually made sense. It just was not for him and he had hoped people could be able to understand that.

"If you feel like that is just how it is, then I guess I can't be able to force you to feel any other way. I feel like getting through these four years will be worth it for me, but I am not you so I guess things would be different for you naturally." Taylor said and Ken felt like there was some value to take out of the fact at least one person was able to see his point of view. But before Ken was able to keep this talk up any further, he saw something, saw someone that made him stop everything he was thinking or doing.

Ken saw the man in the purple jacket about half a mile away from his house. As he was seeing this, he looked at Taylor. "It is time to bring the Concador back for one final mission. I have some business I need to attend to." Ken said and he started to walk up the stairs to our house, and Taylor was not too sure what to think and even less sure what to say while he started to follow Ken. He knew that this one of those totally serious moments and he didn't date question Ken in this one. After all, he was running the show.

Once Ken was in his house, he started to get right to looking around the area for his suit and the helmet so he can get ready for the fight. Taylor was just standing there watching him get his stuff ready and he was really tempted to try and get to know more about this whole thing. After about five minutes of looking around, he found the suit and the helmet so he can get ready for the battle with this guy. He could have sworn this guy was killed like three years ago, but here he was again, alive and looking if anything even stronger than ever.

Once outside with all the needed stuff on, Ken was staring at the man in the purple jacket right in the eye. He had a million questions, but was much too scared to ask even a single one. "Long time no see my old friend. I thought that we might never see each other again, but it seems that even you can't put off fate forever. You gave it a strong effort though. You almost did pull it off forever. Had you not done any of this save the world business, then you just might have been able to pull it off."

Ken balled his fists while Taylor was slowly remembering the wayside incident again and the conversations that took place there. As the memory was coming back, even he was starting to get a little bit of fear running through him. Ken started to walk closer to the man in the purple jacket to start the battle.

Ken then ran right to the man in the purple jacket and then he punched Ken right in the chest and then Ken fell down to the ground. Taylor was just watching in horror this whole time, not really too sure what the hell to process here. "You have not gotten any better than when we last saw each other. I can't believe that you have done all of this stuff, and you are still just as dumb as you were before." The man in the purple jacket went down to the ground and looked at Ken right in the face. Ken was starting to feel helpless as this was happening, and he felt like for once in this whole time he had been there, that he was actually facing his mortality. He thought that he had earlier when he had that conversation with Taylor, but this made that look like nothing. He didn't realize how that was until this moment, aside from perhaps the Wayside battle.

"I just haven't planned my strategy out before." Ken said and then the man in the purple jacket stood up and then he started to walk away. Ken slowly got himself up and then he ran up to the guy when he was looking around and then toppled him down to the ground and punched him three times in the face.

"Oh maybe you weren't lying after all. You have a stronger punch than you did before. I will give you that much." The man in the purple jacket said and then the guy grabbed Ken and then picked him all the way up into the air. They were holding Ken by the neck and Ken was starting to feel the choking was about to kill him, and Ken knew that there was no way that he was going to survive this.

Taylor then grabbed a can that was on the ground and then he threw the can right at the man in the purple jacket. Once he threw the can at them, the man in the purple jacket dropped Ken right to the ground and then Ken needed to take a few seconds to let his body process what was going on and the fact that he was feeling like he had died. Ken realized that Taylor was in trouble and then Ken yelled over at the man in the purple jacket. "Hey, leave him alone! I will do anything that you want me to do." Ken said and then the man in the purple jacket turned around to Ken.

"If you are telling the truth, then we must be getting ready for the battle of the century now." The man in the purple jacket said and started to walk towards Ken and then Taylor was still standing there, not really sure what was going on, and he was still processing his opinion on this whole thing. "You probably should have thought about what you said before you told me that. Now I am going to show you everything that I am planning on you to go through."

"I don't care. I am going to die eventually anyways. Might as well try and see if this will be tonight." Ken said and he knew that it would be pretty early to die, only one month after his sixteenth birthday. "I have nothing to live for anyways, so prove to me that what you plan really is out there." After Ken had said that, the man in the purple jacket smiled and they were showing the silver teeth that they had. It was probably the most human thing that the guy had, which was really kind of impressive.

He grabbed Ken and then after he had grabbed Ken, the two of them vanished all the way to the soccer field. Ken probably didn't really know why this place was such a big deal. But then the man in the purple jacket punched Ken several times all around his entire body. Ken was feeling some bruises literally come onto him and then then Ken kicked the man in the purple jacket right in the chin as hard as he could. Ken kicked the guy a few times not really sure when he stop but then the man snapped his fingers and then they faded away somewhere else.

Once Ken and the man in the purple jacket brought Ken down to the one section in town that showed a giant statue of a guy holding a sword looking like they were getting ready to do some meditation. "When you die, I am going to dispose you with your father. You seem like you are too focused on your own thing. I don't want to use you. Your brother seems like he is the better choice. I need to convince him that my plans are the correct one." The man in the purple jacket said and then when they had said that, Ken was holding the side of his chest and he felt like he was about to throw up.

"What the fuck are you talking about? Why the hell are you using Sam or me for your own gain?" Ken said and then when he had said that he started to walk closer to the man in the purple jacket who was just so much more powerful than him, and he was probably not going to be able to battle him ever. Ken then grabbed the guys arm and was trying to push it far enough to break the arm.

Ken saw the man in the purple jacket grabbing Ken's arm and it was obvious that they were going to do the exact same thing that Ken was going to do. The guy was starting to move around Ken's arm around a little bit and then Ken was screaming a bit when he felt a tiny couple of bones break under him. The man in the purple jacket stopped though and then Ken felt like the arm was a little bit broken, but not enough to make him not want to battle anymore.

"Your family is easy to fool. I fooled your parents enough and then when I fool you guys, I can make your entire family my own slave, and I will have the strongest family in the country under my belt." The guy said and then Ken had no idea what the hell he was talking about. He knew for a fact that they were not the most powerful family in the country, and the man in the purple jacket was extremely out of date if they thought that he was, or anybody else in there.

Ken grabbed the man in the purple jacket by their face and then slammed him down to the statue a couple of times and then the guy was starting to bleed a little bit. Ken felt like he was going to be able to win this thing after all but the man in the purple jacket snapped their fingers again and then when they snapped their fingers the group were in the middle of the street, and it was a street with a couple of cars passing by, and Ken knew that this was a fucking hazard to do this.

Ken then walked up to the man in the purple jacket and then punched the guy in the face several times, making the guy start to bleed more and more. As he was bleeding more than ever, he took out a knife from his pocket and then Ken wondered what this guy was doing. He slashed the knife right across Ken's chest which made Ken bleed a little bit on the chest, and then Ken went down to his knees. As he was doing that, he was panting a bit and then the man in the purple jacket was bringing his hands up and Ken was probably imagining this when he saw this but he saw the guy was forming some form of claws or something like that.

Ken then jumped at him and grabbed the knife from his left hand and now Ken was the one who was holding the knife. He brought both arms to holding the knife. There was no real reason for him to do this, and it was kind of silly battle pose to hold a tiny piece of a knife like that. But then he had an idea.

He grabbed the knife with just his right hand and then he aimed right at the chest of the man in the purple jacket. This was quite the crazy idea for him to do this, but he was a man of crazy ideas. Then with that, he threw the knife right at his chest and then the man in the purple jacket started to bleed off a little bit. He looked up and then he stared at Ken. There was a part of Ken that was thinking he had made the wrong choice by doing that and indirectly giving the knife back to him.

The man in the purple jacket started to get closer and closer to Ken, and Ken was thinking that he knew what this guy was going to do next. The man in the purple jacket did not even bother to go on and address the knife that was in his chest. This was making the guy sound and feel way more badass than he probably should have been giving of the impression to be. Ken was looking around for something and as he was looking around, he realized that there was nothing that he was going to be able to fight with. This made Ken groan in annoyance.

The man in the purple jacket grabbed Ken by the back of his shirt and then he did one finger snap and this brought them right to the top of the school that Ken went to. Then as they were on top of the school, Ken looked forward when the man in the purple jacket moved his face that way. "I have some great plans today that I am going to show you before you die. Don't even bother trying to fight it, I have this all figured out." The man in the purple jacket said while he was still holding onto Ken.

"I guess that you don't really know how to appreciate the great plan that I have. Maybe I should have to show you what the plan is, and then maybe you can finally know what is going on." The man in the purple jacket said and then he started to speak to Ken in a one handed conversation. "Ken, I plan on destroying all of the weak things that people have created. People have thought that they have gone so far. But in that, they have started to prevent the digital world from being able to come and integrate onto this world. I feel like the integration is the best method to bring the peace that people are searching for, but sadly many do not even know of the digital world, such as yourself. What I plan to do is try to bring back all of the hell mouths. You already destroyed one of them, but there are still many more. I plan on destroying all the main industrial places of each state, and use what is left from the ashes to help give me the evidence that I need to track down the next one." The man in the purple jacket said and Ken was confused as hell.

"Your plan makes no fucking sense. You are crazy." Ken said and then when he had said that, the man in the purple jacket just refused to say anything to that. This guy did not understand the point of the perfection he was coming up with, and that was starting to really annoy him.

"I can't believe that I ever thought that you were the best person for the job. You seem to be totally naive to any of the beliefs that really matter. You do not understand why I am doing this stuff, because you were not there when any of these things happened. You were not there to appreciate the progress we made all of those years ago." The man in the purple jacket said and then when he had said that, Ken thought about it.

"Just because things are not the same anymore doesn't mean that it is a bad thing. It just means that we have progressed further along in our lives. You should look at all of the good things that we have done in our time on earth since you were born. You need to stop looking at things with rose tinted glasses." Ken said and then the man in the purple jacket refused to say anything to that.

"When you are my age, you will be able to understand how I feel." The man in the purple jacket snapped his left hand fingers, which were the opposite of the jumping around ones. Then he dropped Ken and made ken watch helplessly like a fucking dog when the business tower that was several miles away exploded and was going from the top floor down. Ken held his breath and he could not believe the horror that he had soon. Ken looked up to look at the man in the purple jacket in shock, impressiveness, and annoyance.

"I will do anything in order to get what I desire. Even if I have to destroy everything that everybody else had worked for in order to get it." The man in the purple jacket said and then Ken stood up and ran over at the man in the purple jacket. Just not sure what to do, he grabbed a large metal pole on the ground and then the man in the purple jacket was laying on the ground and Ken was ready to give this guy justice. He kept pounding the pole onto the man over and over and over again.

Ken lost all track of what he was doing, and the more that he was doing this, the more that he was feeling like he was slowly becoming the villain of the situation. The more he was feeling like he had been giving this man the justice that he should have been given many years ago. "You are the worst burden that the world has ever been faced with, and you should not even be here now." Ken said and then when he was done pounding, he saw that the man in the purple jacket was still on the ground.

He was starting to walk away after he stared for a few seconds, starting to think that he had actually killed the man, and despite the fact that this is considered to be one of the worst things that somebody could do, he honestly did not give a shit at all. This man had killed everybody else, and killing this guy, even if it had to be repeated again later, would give him some feeling like he had actually brought a hint of justice to all those who had to fall to his evil plan.

But when Ken was about to get himself off of the roof of the school he turned around once final time to see just to make sure what he was considering what true. What he had seen was something that scared the utmost shit out of him. He had seen the man in the purple jacket slowly get up and he was showing all the flesh on his face, which was entirely Ken's fault, and while he was tempted to throw up at the sight, he forced himself not to.

The man in the purple jacket raised his hand up while making a peace symbol. "You may have won this tiny battle, but you have not won the great duel of tonight." The man in the purple jacket slowly brought his two fingers together, and he was getting ready to snap. Ken stopped and waited for them to do this, since he knew exactly what their plan was. The man in the purple jacket snapped their finger and Ken vanished away again but this time to the place that he should have been expecting right from the start. He was brought right to the destroyed building, to try and frame him for what he had done.

Ken was on the ground at first, and he was still wearing just a pretty must fucked up version of the clothes and helmet that he had earlier. He started to stand up and as he was standing up, he was looking around and he was seeing all of the police officers coming around and trying to help the situation around. With them was the mayor of the city and Ken was absolutely certain that they were fucked now.

One of the police cars opened and showed his father and they were walking alongside the mayor. Ken could not get himself to do anything. He was in a streak of utter fear. He knew that this was the true end of the run, and that there was nothing that he could do about this. His father saw the guy and then realized that this was their chance to take down this vigilante man who pretended like he was better than the law. He walked up to Ken slowly with his older age wearing him down and then he grabbed the helmet. As he was doing so, the entire police force stopped to see what was going on and the mayor looked like he was having the time of his life.

He opened the helmet up and took it off of Ken and he was looking right at Ken's face. He dropped the helmet and he was trying to comprehend what he had been seeing. "Ken, why did you do this?" His father asked and then the mayor was just so shocked that the guy was just a sixteen year old guy that he couldn't even go through with his threats. His father walked backwards and away, just trying to pretend as if he had not seen that at all.

"I did something that nobody else was willing to do. I was able to go beyond the boundaries of what was given to me. You do not realize how messed up this system of law is. I decided that I would change it, and here you are acting like I am this horrible human being. I did the one thing that everybody else should have done before me. If you wanted me to never do this, maybe you should have done better at the job yourself or fuck, maybe even just take care of me better and be there. You should not have had Sam and I so late!" Ken said and for the first time in his life, he had the balls to straight up yell at his father.

The mayor walked up and grabbed Ken by his arm and just walked him into the nearest police car. He threw Ken right into the car and then Ken looked up at them as the door was slammed and the car was being driven off to the police station where he would be questioned for what he had done.


	16. The End of the Journal

Chapter 15: The End of the Journal

Once Ken was inside the police station, Ken never thought for even a second that his father could have so much strength in him as he threw Ken right into the prison interrogation room and then sat down on the officers chair. When asked if anybody should be with him, he said that this was a father and son conversation and that he wanted nobody to get involved with this. With that, he stared right at Ken and he took a couple of moments to process his anger at the situation before he was ready to start slamming his son over what he had done and how awful this idea was.

"You know Ken, I was giving you a benefit of a doubt. I honestly thought that Sam was lying about you. Then I remembered what was going on with Your time at Wayside, and how much you were a trouble maker then. But I thought that maybe you had learned your lesson then. I thought that you had changed. But it seems as if you will never be able to learn." His father said, and Ken was just trying to process the fact that his father was this mad at him. Something he never could have even fathomed he would have seen in his life.

"I did something that nobody else would dare to do. And yet you are acting like I am the one causing trouble. I went out there. I did the hard work. I did something that should have been done a long time ago. And now you are talking to me like this. I am the hero of this situation, and honestly you should be thanking me for what I have done." Ken said and his father shook his head, wondering if Ken would ever be able to get it.

"You are my son. You are only sixteen years old, and you are acting like you are suddenly the greatest thing that this town has seen? You should have stayed in school. You should have done something, anything, that would have gotten you out of something like this. Now here I am, having to basically deal with the fact that one of my children is going out of his way to do the one thing that I was supposed to track down and stop from happening. You are doing some crimes while I am trying to stop them." Ken's father said and then Ken slammed his fist on the table.

"Oh my god dad, I have doe things for this city. I have been able to prevent a few crimes before they were even able to happen. You dare think that I am causing problems. I have been the one who has been able to prevent them, and here you are, acting like I am the one who is the problem. You know what dad, fuck this. I am so done with people just throwing me around and acting like I can do no good, everybody does that." Ken said and then his father shook his head and he was getting angry himself.

"I get that you must be annoyed here, and that you must think that you are better than everybody else here, but you can't go out of your way to take things into your own hands. There is a system that we have here, and you coming along here starts to ruin the system." Ken's father said as Ken pounded his head on his table a couple of times and then he held his hand up in annoyance. "I don't see where you can even try and justify this here. I thought that Sam was wrong, but knowing that Sam is right, and that you have done everything that we have not wanted you to do, I don't think I ever want you to leave the house again."

"Well yeah, great idea, then I won't be able to go to school or any of those extra events. That is such a great idea dad. Have you even been thinking about what I have been saying or what you are saying? This whole thing is a dumb and pointless debate, and you just need to let it go and let me go along and live my life normally." Ken said and then when he had said that his father stopped for a moment.

"I guess that neither one of us can get what we fully want. Tell you what Ken. Let's make a deal here. And I am only going to offer this once, and I am not going to move the deal around at all, since you should be glad that I am even willing to play with you on this at all." Ken's father had said and then Ken sighed and rolled his hand forward to just let the guy know that he was willing to listen to this idea.

"I won't tell your mom or Sam about this, and I will even not ground you for this, but I need you to promise me three things. First is that you give this up entirely, and I mean never pursue this again. Throw away anything and everything you have related to your hero persona. Secondly, I want you to actually try and have a real social life from now on. Just do the stuff that most people would consider normal. Just have a normal and real life. Something you should have been doing in the first place. Third and final off, I want you to get a job in the summer. Doesn't matter what or where but you are sixteen years old. You are an adult, even if the law does not want to admit it. If you are old enough to work, you are an adult, and when you're an adult, you need to work. And I want that to start as soon as the summer commences." Ken's father said and Ken sat back.

"And what if I say no to these ideas?" Ken asked and then when he had asked that question, Ken's father remained silent really not wanting to listen to this bullshit. "I mean, when I turn eighteen, you need to be aware that all of these choices will be just on my own then."

"Then I guess that I don't have any further use for you. Then at this point, you might as well not even be my own son. Please, if you want to have any credibility in this house and have any respect from Sam or I, you need to just agree with me here Ken." Ken's father had said and then after he had said that, Ken thought about it.

There was something that he hated about this plan, and the idea of giving up his independent freedom was the one thing that he had hated. But he knew for a fact that he was not going to get anything that he would have wanted if he was going to actually earn any respect from his parents. "I don't really have any choice after all." Ken said and then he sighed. Then he held out his hand and then he shook his father hand. "I am only doing this because I don't want all of my freedom to go away."

"I will take you home now. You better be holding to your end of the promise. I can't even begin to think about what I will have to do if I actually found out that you are not doing any of this stuff." Ken's father had said and then when he had said that, the two of them started to leave the car and then afterwards, they slowly went to their normal car. Ken was looking down at the ground the whole time, and he was at the shot gun seat.

"Just promise me that you will start to really boost up the security of this place. I don't want to make this in vain." Ken said and then after he had said this, Ken's father just stared at Ken and then he nodded slowly just to get the two of them home and to end this pointless debate. Then the two of them were inside of the car and then Ken's father started the car. Ken was looking out the window the whole time and then as he was doing so, he was just wanting to stay quiet.

Eventually, the two of them went home and then Ken just went right to his bedroom while Sam and their mother was looking around. Ken was still wearing the suit, just not the fucking helmet, which was still enough to give the evidence off. Ken was just staring at the ceiling and as he had stared at the ceiling he was thinking about how life was going to be later enough. He could not believe that he put himself into such a pointless contract that he was almost certain he was going to fail on here.

Later on, when Ken was going back to school, it seemed like he was sort of slowly getting back to his normal self and even I was starting to pick up that something must have happened then. I was so tempted to ask him what had gone on but I knew that he was going to pull the 'none of your business' card which would have been really annoying. So I decided that if he was going to tell me sooner or later, he would and I would be more than excited to hear what had changed him there, but I was going to bide my time on that whole thing.

When time had gone on and everything, I started to think that Ken was becoming the man that he was in the early section of his high school career, when he was just focus on getting something done and making it all the way through the rest of the school year. I knew that he had wanted to drop out really badly, and that he was probably going to do it at the time the school year was over, which I was almost certain that he was going to do.

I was tempted to try and pick up some conversations with Ken, but I doubted that he was going to go along with it, and I guess that maybe it was for the best. Maybe we did work together when we were sort of just not telling anybody else what was going on, and what had happened. I knew that he would be willing to talk to me when he was willing to, and when he was willing to do so, I guess that I really had nothing to do, besides just pursue my relationship with Susan, which had been going on for two years strong, and it seemed like the two of us were getting near the point where I was honestly tempted to ask her to marry me.

I decided that during the summer of that year, I was going to propose to her, and that was something that was going to make me very happy. I then started to get ready for work on the final few months of school, since I just wanted to graduate so badly and even now as I write this, I am only one month away. It is killing me, the wait for it to happen.

When it had been two weeks since the event, I walked to Susan and had another date with her, and after the date we had our most passionate sex yet. That was after I decided that I was going to propose to her very soon, and that was making me even more aroused to see my future wife, if all things went well. After we were done, I told her that I was planning on moving in with her, thinking that this was going to be something that would move both of us forward, and I guess that we will be able to really have a successful marriage then.

Ken was talking with Taylor when the whole thing was all but in the past. "I know I made a promise to my dad, and in hindsight I am glad I stoped, but I still feel like I could have done more to help this city out." Ken said to Taylor, doing a sort of final reflection of that period of his life. The two were still hanging out, but it seems that week by week, that they were slowly losing touch. I feel like in five months tops they will not be talking with each other at all anymore. Maybe Ken losing the one person who sort of supported him could get him to step up into the normal life.

"To be honest, it probably is for the best that you stopped all of that hero stuff honestly. It seemed to really take up a lot of your time and thoughts. It was starting to worry me a little bit. This is the better life. Taking it easy, and not fearing what may come up in the future. Just relax bro and think about how great life will be now that thus is over." Taylor said and Ken stayed quiet for a bit after that. He considered all of the stuff he gave up on in the last two years to do this.

"You know, I think I rely want to go to prom this year. It is only a month away, and it seems to be one of, if not the most hyped things in a typical school year. This better be up to the hype though, given how everybody talks about it." Ken said as Taylor was glad his friend was moving up in life. "Besides, it can be a good final thing to do before I drop out, which I am almost certain I am going to do."

Taylor knew that this was what Ken wanted to do, and that no good would come out of fighting him on this, since he was basically certain that he wanted to do that. "I guess you will go out to get you job afterward then. Just like how your dad wants you to do. What do you think that the job will be, if you don't mind me asking?" Taylor was still interested in the life his friend was trying to make, and was hoping it would be a decent life that can make up for the fact he was dropping out of school soon.

"At first, I will probably work behind the counter at the gas station in town, seems as if that can be a good start up job. Don't intend on staying there for too long though. Plus, I need to find something that can be good enough for me to keep an apartment. I have a lot of stuff to do of I want to live on my own and that is just the first step. I need to start a life, and I needed to work to earn it." Ken said, looking forward at what was ahead of him.

The next week, Taylor's parents found out about his involvement of Ken's hero life and decided they were moving out, in a two week notice. The only reason they still let them hang with Ken at all was knowing that Ken so called turned his life around, and they figured that nothing too terrible could happen to their 14, nearly 15 year old son. It was hard for Ken to take the news, who grew a small level of normal humanity with him, but thAt honestly made me hate him more with how he was going to sooner or later fuck that all up.

The next week, Taylor and Ken hung out at the school track. Ken knew Taylor would leave a week or two before prom, and that sucked. Taylor said he would just it at the school he was moving to. Ken thought it was kind if dumb to make him move when there was only going to be five weeks left in the school year after he left. From what Ken heard from Taylor, whatever his grades were when he moves will be his final grades and since there was only one month left, he would just go there to get to know people with no homework for the rest of the year and that it would start next year.

On Taylor's final week, Ken and Taylor did one final reflection of their life and he seemed like he already missed the place, knowing it would be a place he would probably never be allowed at again. Ken apologized for it all, but deep down he knew that would not cut it. He did feel sorry for what he did. But he still felt like he did the right thing. Then he headed off and said goodbye to Ken, and that was when Ken realized he once again had no friends at all.

Then Ken started to focus on his school life mainly because he had no other choice to, and as we talked a couple of times, I wondered if he was sort of seeing the big picture and not what he was sort of wanting to see, which was a fucking miracle in my eyes. I saw he wanted to just go to prom and have a nice was day with no big problems coming up.

At prom week, Ken was just focused on the next thing, which was getting a date for the prom and all that stuff, but I guess he knew that I was more focused about Susan since she was my date, and that he was forced to do this all on his own, which was sort of a dose if life was normal and if he lived a normal one instead of the insanity he was doing. I could tell he was slowly learning from this all. That made me think he would just go through a phase after all.

Now that we are starting to run out of space here, and I still want to deal with one final thing here, I am going to talk about this year with Misty, which was another thing that had happened that started to show me the anger that I start to have towards heroes. Not because of her, but because of what happened to her. I knew it didn't matter since she would die soon because she was a android, but this was too much for her, and it should have been something that happened to her peacefully and not in this brutal and horrible fashion.

It started when she was hanging out with Sheldon one time near the start of the school year, and he was wildly debating the idea of just telling the truth to her. He liked Misty a lot, and he didn't want to lose any friendship with her, but at the same time he knew, despite how much he did not want to admit it, that it really didn't matter all that much in the long run what he told her, since she was going to die soon enough. "You know Misty, you were telling me about that one guy that you had battled earlier, the guy who claimed to be your father." Sheldon said and he was placing his hand on his chin thinking about how much time he had to spare while he was trying to get ready for his work in college.

"Yes I do, although I would rather not remember it. Can you please tell me the truth on this? Why are you trying to talk to me on this, it feels like you are trying to tell me something that I wouldn't want you to tell me." Misty said and then Sheldon nodded because this was sort of the truth.

"I know that you don't want to hear this, and I know that you actually hearing this will sort of be like your worst nightmare in the world, but the guy wasn't really lying to you. I was told by your mother, that you were one of her androids. That you were a creation she made. Seven year life span, and you are on your last year. That is why I have bee hanging out with you so much lately. When I was trying to get ready to head off for college, I decided that I needed to not only fill up that but just try to get ready for your death." Sheldon said and then Misty looked at him and while she hated this piece of news, there was something in the way Sheldon said it that made her realize he was telling the truth.

"Sheldon, why are you telling me this? Why would my mother not tell me this? I feel like everybody is betraying me now. Why is any of this happening?" Misty questioned and Sheldon knew that he should not have said this. He was slowly ruining any sort of respect that Misty had of him. But he had to tell her the truth, no matter how hard that would have been.

"I just had to tell you the truth. I know that you really don't want to know this, and if I was a android myself, I guess I would not really want to know about this as well." Sheldon said and then when he had said that, he was starting to get a tear in his eyes. He just knew for a fact that this was probably going to be the very last time that he ever talked with Misty. "I am so sorry. If there is anything that I can do to make up for it, just tell me what it is."

"I don't really know if I will be able to have you make up for this. You have been lying to me for the last few months. There is no real way that you can say otherwise. Pretty much everything that you and I have talked about, we have been talking with you not telling me anything about the truth. I don't really know if you can be able to make up for this at all. Sheldon, please be honest with me now if you are not going to at any other time. Did you want to tell me earlier and was our friendship actually genuine?" Misty had asked trying her best to not get angry.

"I did want to tell you the truth. Honestly, I really did want to tell you no matter how it went. But I decided to take the leap of faith now since I knew that no matter what I told you, it really would not matter all that much. I do believe that our friendship was real. I would not lie to you on that. There is no reason to lie to you on that regard." Sheldon said and then Misty was trying her best to remain silent.

"Misty, you got to believe me. I have no reason to lie to you. I wasn't really even lying to you. I just wasn't giving you the full story. That isn't lying. Please don't try and pretend that this is lying." Sheldon had explained and then when he had explained this, Misty was slowly taking a bunch of deep breaths and Sheldon felt like he was digging up his metaphorical grave as he was doing this.

"I want to believe you. After all, you and I have been friends all this time. But I don't really know if I am able to believe in you after all of this. I want you to tell me that everything you are doing is for the right cause. I want to talk to my mother about this, but I doubt that she would tell me the truth. I guess if for nothing else, you at least had the balls to be honest about it with me." Misty said and then Sheldon was trying to make sure if that was a compliment or a negative.

"Don't get angry at Sam or Brad. They are not the ones that choose to tell you this, and we were just as forced into this for the same reason that I was. Trust me, I don't feel like they deserve to be condemned for something that your mother will not tell you." Sheldon said and then after he had said that, Misty was wondering how many people knew about this.

"Please Sheldon, how long have you guys known about me? Like you, Brad and Sam? How long have you guys been aware of this part of me, and just been hiding it from me? If you promise to tell me the truth from now on, I just might consider forgiving you for all of this." Misty said and then when she had said that, Sheldon considered things for a little bit and he was nodding, figuring that there was nothing wrong with just telling the truth now. Sheldon sort of realized that he really did make the wrong choices here, but these choices were the only thing that he had felt like he was doing was actually right, and he was not going to take it back because of that reason.

"I promise you, that no matter how hard it may be and how much I may be tempted to keep something back, from here on out, I will tell you the truth. There is no reason that I would tell you something and not do it." Sheldon decided that there was basically no point of return here, so he was going to have to just go deeply into this whole thing. Misty was looking at Sheldon, trying really hard to decide if he was telling the truth or not. Eventually, she decided that he was and nodded.

"I don't like this Sheldon. But I trust you enough to believe that you were doing this just because you felt forced to. Promise me one thing though, if there are any further developments here that come up, then you must let me know right away. I need to know if Brad and Sam have something against me, so that way I can be ready for the worst." Misty said and Sheldon decided to nod slowly.

"I promise Misty. I will not keep anything from you from now out. Well, I think that maybe it is time for us to head off now." Sheldon finally finished this up and he started the car. "Misty, want to hang out a couple more times before I head off for college? I promise to stay here for the rest of the year. To get some funds for the school from various jobs, but I still haven't even gotten enough to get a first term here." Sheldon kept on going and then afterwards, he and Misty went quietly for a little bit.

"So, I know that it probably doesn't even matter anymore now, but I am still going to go on and ask you now. Is there any possible chance that you might pick me still over Brad? I know that you probably don't care anymore, and that it really is not something that matters at all anymore, but I just needed to get to know the truth." Sheldon asked the question, fearing the worst but also hoping for the best at the same time, and he was just wanting to get the true closure no matter what would matter.

"I don't really know what I am going to do now honestly Sheldon. I am just needing a lot of stuff to do right now. I have to really get used to what is going on. Just drop me off at my home, and I will take the time to process this whole thing." Misty said and Sheldon nodded. Soon enough, Sheldon dropped Misty off at her school and he took one final glance at her as she walked inside of her house and then he placed his left hand on the wheel and then he was ready to just start to place this all behind him forever. Then with that, he started to drop off.

About three or four days after this, when she had some time to truly process this whole thing, Misty was talking with her mother about the truth, and she was just wanting to know all of the details. "Mom, I really want to talk to you right now about something. Something that one of my friends had told me earlier." Misty said when her mother had taken a moment off of her work and then her mother looked up kind of annoyed and she was wanting to tell Misty off but when she saw the glowing look in her eyes, she decided that maybe it was better to just keep it inside and partake with her for the time being.

"What is it that you want to talk to me about Misty? I don't really have all that much time to take a break, so I am going to just give you about five to ten minutes here." Misty's mother had said, and then as she had said this, Misty sat down and then the two of them were getting ready to have the worst conversation of their life, and Misty was starting to think that this was a terrible idea after all.

"I was told by my friend Sheldon earlier, and he told me something really important. He had told me that I was one of the androids that you had created, and that I only had seven years to live, and that I only have less than a year left to live." Misty said and then after she had said that, Misty stared at her mother and her mother stared at her back and they had a short term staring contest and then Misty's mother nodded, taking a short moment to admit the truth.

"Yes, you are an android and yes you have lived about six of the seven years of your life so far. I know that you probably feel terrible for this now, and that you probably did not want to know this, but I do not really feel like I should be a able to justify my creation to you. After all, you are something that I did in order to keep up the funds in order to even live at all anymore." Misty's mother had said and then when she had said that, Misty decided that she was going to keep this thing up.

"Mom, I don't understand this. Why did you not tell me this from the start. At least I would have been aware of this stuff. But then here you are, just basically admitting to me that you are only just doing this for money now. I am only made just for your profit. Who is even your boss, but what are you doing now? What is even the point in letting me even live anymore?" Misty asked and then her mother stood up and was walking away.

"If it makes you feel any better, I will tell you this, and I truly mean it when I say that you are the best child that I have made. You are my greatest creation, and the only one that I can say that you are a true human being." Misty's mother told her and while that did made her feel better for a split second, she started to think that she was just trying to get her to be used for her own purposes now. Misty started to get back to her annoyance and she was wanting to know more information about this whole thing.

"Mom, please just try to find some way to give me more life. I want more life. I want to be able to live like normal humans. I want to do something that can actually matter here. I will be willing to accept the fact that I am an android, even if I absolutely hate to admit that, but please just try and do your best to give something to me, and maybe I will be able to put this all back in the past here." Misty said and her mother was wanting to break all her pencils, as her request was making her work stop, but then when she heard the desperation in Misty's voice, the desire for any amount of life, she decided that maybe, for her sake, that she would try to actually pull this off after all.

"Alright, I will try my best to find a way to increase your life. I make no promises here. I will try though, even if that turns out to not work in your life time. Even if it leads to your death first, then I guess that maybe it can be used for future androids beyond you for my later research." Misty's mother had said and then Misty started to walk away, just wanting to pretend that there was hope after all, something even she knew wouldn't happen.

Once Misty was inside of her room, she was just laying face down on the bed of her bedroom and she was starting to cry a little bit. She had been doing this every single night after she had started to find out and slowly accept the fact that she was an android. She was wondering what this whole sick joke was, and what her mother would really be getting out of all of this. This whole idea of her being a fake human being, something that honestly didn't even deserve to live at all.

The whole idea of her mortality was something that was so fragile to her that when it was literally so in front of her face that it made all of her other superhero problems seem like a very small deal in comparison. As this was going on, Misty was worried that she was going to die before her last year was coming up, or when she had lived her whole last year, but then it would turn out that this whole thing was just a false hope and that she would not get the extra life that she so truly desired.

Her mother was staring outside of her bedroom and then as she was staring outside of her bedroom, Misty's mother was starting to really get sad thinking that she really did set up the closest thing she had to a child to certain death and that she really only had a year or so to get used to the death of her daughter. She was truly going to try to extend her life, but she knew that this was not going to happen, but it was better than nothing at all.

This sort of created a strange, silent understanding of the two of them that showed that things were really more of feasible concept to understand than they had really imagined that it would have been. Neither one of them thought that they would be able to understand each other fully, but this whole thing for the first time ever was sort of able to start to drive them closer with each other. Misty was wondering if Sheldon could be the only one she would be able to trust, if she can trust him even at all.

"God, if you are real, then please just give my mother your blessing to make progress on this project that would further drive my life to being extended." Misty had said and then after she had said that, both of them were out of eye sight and Misty didn't even know that her mother was there, and honestly did not even care all that much after all. But soon enough, she was given her next saving of the day that made her sort of glad that she had android powers after all.

It was a week or two after the whole incident of Misty talking to her mother about the whole idea of getting new life when this happened. She was hanging out with her friends and by that point in time, she had pretty much forgotten about the whole thing by that point in time. By the whole thing, meaning the controversy of the event and everything. Misty was just sort of trying her absolute best to just live the normal life, just trying to have some friends and boosting the friendships that she had with Brad, Sheldon, and I that was sort of having a rough point in time, but she had seemed to make everything sort of all in the past.

She was in the middle of the school day, just having fun and she was talking with me. "You know, I think that in the end, Sheldon may have actually made the right choice in the end of the day. I guess that maybe he was just scared of how I was going to react to this whole thing, which I think to some extent, was actually a valid fear considering how I end up reacting to this whole thing. I have nothing that I could really do about this now. I am just hoping that my mother can find a way to increase my life span here."

"Don't worry about this whole thing Misty. Just find a way to make this last year or so really important. Just do your best here, and maybe despite your short life, you will be the one who will go down in history as the greatest hero of this town. Even better than that one that is named The Concador." I said, being one of the only two people who knew about Ken at the time, the other one was Taylor at the time.

"I am really worried about that though. What if I do something that will get me killed? What is everything that I am even working for, and will it even be worth it honestly? I feel like honestly none of this is actually worth it anymore." Misty had said and then I was starting to look forward. Before any of this could even keep up and before this subject really made any sort of sense, there was something that made both of us stop what we were doing at the very spot trying to comprehend what was going on.

There was a giant robot that was walking across the street, and it looked like they were trying to destroy some of the houses in the town a little bit. Misty looked at me and then she did something I was not prepared for. She hugged me and then she walked out of the car. After she was outside of the car, she stomped her foot on the ground a couple of times, which made her feet start to set off and she was flying all the way over to the robot to go on and fight them.

As Misty was landing on the street she was looking at the robot, to sort of process what she was seeing. "What are you?" Misty asked and then she was holding her left hand forward and she was getting ready to attack this thing. The robot turned around and they were coming closer and closer to Misty and then Misty fired some sort of laser out of their hands and then the robot was hit in their chest, which made Misty feel like she could be able to actually have a chance on this.

The robot came forward and closer to Misty after that moment of shock and then Misty was kicked in the chest and then she slid down on the ground and then Misty felt like her back was hurting really badly. She was standing up and then she was moaning in pain and then Misty started to charge her feet forward again and then she flew right to the face of the robot and punched them a few times in the face, making the robot hurt, or hurt as much as they could when they were a robot.

Jenny was taking a few steps back and as she was taking the few steps backwards, the robot was walking back a little bit and then Misty was seeing that this robot was in pain. Almost like they were indeed human. Which was really strange for Misty to consider, since this thing was even less human than she was, and she was wondering how the hell this thing was even created in the first place. Misty started to run to the side as the robot was starting to ride right towards Misty and she was wondering how the hell she was even going to be able to destroy this robot, if she was even able to do this at all.

Misty placed both of her hands together and then as she was doing this, the attack started to get really charged up and she used both hands to create a really giant beam to hit the robot which was starting to create a small hole in their chest, which showed that Misty was starting to win this battle. As I was watching this from the far out distance, I was thinking that she had actually got a chance to do this thing after all. The robot started to shot a bunch of bullets on their hand and the bullets were hitting the ground and when there was a ton of them, there was a couple of small holes that were being created at the ground.

The robot actually managed to hit Misty a couple of times on their left arm, and then Misty yelped a little bit as they had done this and then Misty was walking along on the street and then Misty held up just their right arm and then they were lowering their hand down and then the hand created something that looked like a small missile and then the robot was hit right in the face, creating a bunch of wires that were being exposed to this whole thing.

The robot flew to Misty a little bit and then they were starting to choke Misty a little bit, and then Misty was able to defend herself still and then she punched the robot a couple of times and then the robot was starting to show more and more of their creation and pieces of bits and Misty was thinking that soon enough, she would be able to destroy this thing and the battle would be won, and she would be able to go down as a hero once again, after taking a sort of short term hiatus on the whole thing.

The robot started to take a couple of steps back when Misty put her in pain left arm behind the robot and started to shot the robot in the back a couple of times which was starting to expose them even more, showing that this thing really did not have all that much of a mortality, and that sooner or later, this thing was just going to die now.

Misty got up right when she realized that she was the only one who was able to take this thing out and that she had a moment to do so. Misty started to fire at the robot a couple of times at their chest and everything was just really going in her favor, but she had thought that she would be able to find the weakness soon enough. As she looked around a little bit, she saw that there was a giant red button at the center of their chest being exposed. Misty had a feeling that this was needed to take the thing out.

Misty started to run closer and closer to the robot and then the robot punched Misty right in the chest three times but then Misty grabbed the button right at the center of their chest with her decent arm and then she slowly started to pull the button out, and that the robot was starting to fall down a little bit. Misty was holding the button after she had taken the whole thing, and then the robot was staring at their chest and then they started to fall down to bits and then right before they had fallen down fully, they had exploded and then Misty had realized that she had won the battle fair and square.

Afterwards, Misty put up her thumb at me and then she started to walk towards me slowly. I drove up a little bit and then when I was about ten feet away from her, she walked right inside of the car and then put in her seat belt. "I need to get some arm cast on my arm. Or at least some form of a cover. I really hate having a huge hole right in there." Misty said and then I started to drive off and that was her first huge victory in a long ass time.

After that had all gone on and everything, Misty talked with Brad a little bit and she was sort of really thinking about the relationship that is going on. She was wondering if this really was the right thing for her to do, or if perhaps she had made the wrong choice on this whole thing after all. Which was terrible for her to feel that way, but it was true that Sheldon was much better to her than Brad was, and he was the one who had told her the truth on this whole thing. "Brad, I have been thinking about this for a while, and I was wanting to really figure out what our stand is right now." Misty said to Brad, and as she had told him that, Brad was really confused on what the hell was going on.

"What do you mean? Is it because of the whole reveal about you being a android and that you are starting to really consider everything about your life now?" Brad had questioned and then when Brad was starting to pick this whole thing up, Misty was nodding and then Brad looked down and he was just remaining silent to this whole thing, fearing this whole thing.

"I just don't really know what to do anymore, I don't really know what answers are right anymore. I really hope that you understand why I am saying this right now. It is extremely hard to be taking the steps of my life without really knowing that I may have made all of the wrong choices on this whole thing. I hope that you that this makes sense. If you were something that you were convinced you never were, you would be thinking about your entire life now. I don't want to be doing this, and I never thought that I would be doing this, but now I am sort of forced to do this exact same thing right now." Misty was explaining and Brad put his arm over Misty's shoulders.

"As much as I hate to admit this, I really do understand where you are coming from. I was afraid that this day would come ever since I had found out the truth of what you were like, and that always made me realize that all of these things were going to come sooner or later. But Misty, please understand that no matter what, I will be there for you, and that nothing else will change that, even though you are a android." Brad explained as Misty was just silent for a good bit.

"Sheldon has been there for me. Taking care of me. He had the balls to tell me the truth. I feel like I may have made the wrong choice in hindsight, and I don't really know how else to handle this now. I hope that you don't take any offense to this statement." Misty said and then as much as Brad was hating this deep down inside, he would be naive to not see where her point of view was here.

"Sheldon is a nice guy, and I feel like maybe in hindsight you should have picked him instead. At least in theory. But that is not what happened. You ended up picking up, and because you had picked me, I am going to do my best to help you out and make sure that you are able to have the best final year of your life, as I am possible able to do here." Brad had said and then when he had said that, Misty was really trying her best to tell herself that this would work.

"Honestly Brad, I am really wanting to believe you here. I am going to go with you for the time being, but I don't really know how long this is going to last in the full on term. I guess in a year or so, none of this will really matter anymore. I just really am going to take this whole thing slowly, which I guess is the only thing that I can be able to take it now. It is the way that makes the most sense, and it is the most human way to do this." Misty had said and then Brad just remained silent.

"I have nothing better to do besides just to stay here right now. One of these days, I am going to really try and understand what it means to be a android. I still don't really know if I fully get it. I don't really think I will get it ever. Please Be able to understand that I will be there and I want to be the best boyfriend for you. I get that this is really hard for you to be able to get on board for, and I am able to sort of see where you are coming from, but there is nothing that we are able to do about this now." Brad said and then Misty was just trying her best to believe him, but she was just not able to at all.

"Brad, I am just so scared. I have too much to do, and so little time to do it. I need to save this city, and there is nobody else that can do it. Maybe that guy who called himself the Concador, but he is the only one who might be able to do it. Everybody else is sort of out of the option. I would not trust anybody else now." Misty said and then Brad did something she was not prepared for.

Brad just kissed Misty on the lips, and everything she was thinking stopped right here, and she was starting to sort of let the kiss sink in, which was pretty awesome, but she was just sort of doing her best to let it sink in. This was the best kiss that she had with Brad so far, and the passion and intensity to it was making her realize that Brad meant every single word of it so far.

They kept it up for a bit, and she was really starting to just let things wash away, and let the fact that Brad was truly there for her take over her emotions, which were so filled with confusing emotions that even having one easy one to follow was a really important one for her. After the kiss had been broken off, Misty was staring right at Brad and she was wondering what made him want to do that right then and there. Which was hard for her to feel that way, but she still did feel like there was anything wrong with wondering what caused such a out of nowhere and somewhat rare moment for Brad.

"Brad, I really enjoyed that, and everything, but can you explain what caused you do that?" Misty had said and then after she had said that, Brad was thinking for a moment and as he was thinking about this, he was sort trying to figure this whole thing out, not really too sure what he had really gotten himself into and all that stuff. He supposed that he should just tell her the truth.

"I was just sort of doing it on instinct. I didn't really know what I was doing, and I just jumped right into it. I just couldn't really keep it inside any longer." Brad said and then Misty nodded. Despite the fact that it was totally out of nowhere and made no sense, she would not be able to help but enjoy it, thinking that there was anything wrong with her getting something like this from her boyfriend. She knew in moments like these why she had chosen Brad after all, even if it was hard to really remember every once in a while.

"I will not go away until the day that you die. I will be there for every final day, and there is nothing that we can do about that Misty. You better get used to it now rather than later." Brad had said and then after he was telling Misty this, she nodded and she was starting to enjoy that confession a bit. "Just remember that no matter what else comes up, I will be there for you. Sheldon and Sam will be there to, but I am the one that is going to be there for you the absolute most out of all of them."

After Brad had said that, the two of them started to keep themselves together, remembering the promise that they had made with each other, and the stuff that they had worked together on and everything. But that was sort of over taken soon enough, when Misty had another battle that she had to deal with, although unlike the robot one from earlier, this one was much easier for her to win and she had a idea what she was needed to do during that battle.

The next battle had all started when Misty was seeing a giant light in the sky. There was something about the light that was making her think that maybe there was a battle that was going to be coming up very soon. It was a bit later in the school year, around the day that she had died and she was getting near the end of her life. Her and Brad had been going very well, she and I have done a few things like go and hang out at the skating park and everything, almost as if I was viewing her as a second sibling, a younger sibling or something like that. I was leaving high school that, I should say this year as well. As this was happening, I was wondering if there was something going on with Sheldon and everything.

"I need to figure this out. I wonder if this is related to that guy in the purple jacket." Misty had said, and then she had looked at me while she had said that and then she walked out of the car. Before she was done though, she had two people that she had to visit. "I think we have about ninety minutes or so before the final battle had started."

"Misty, before you go, I have something to tell you." I said and then when I had said that, Misty looked at me and she was staring directly at me, wondering what I did have to tell her and where I was heading on all of this. "Please be safe. I know that your life supply is running out soon, but please be safe. I want you to go peacefully, not in a round of violence." I said and then when I had told her that, Misty started to nod slowly and then I told her off.

As Misty was alone, she knew that this was going to her her final mission. She knew for a fact that it did not really matter what he had done. She knew it really did not matter who knew what she was like, or who she was or anything like that. She was going to confront her mother on the idea of getting extra life, and then once she was done, she was going to give Sheldon the long deserved present that he had been waiting for this whole time.

Misty had flown very fast and she was trying very hard to reach her mothers house. Right when she reached her mothers house though, she thought about it. She shook her head, finally accepting her fate once and for all. Then she decided that she needed to have a tiny thing resolved, and put it to rest once and for all. She realized that she had one final thing that she had to do. She needed to go on and visit Sheldon, to realize that there was something she should have done here to begin with.

Misty was flying on her way over to Sheldon, not wishing to tell anybody the truth of what had happened here, and she was worried that if somebody found out the truth, they would get really angry and then throw her away forever and while she knew nothing could change this, it was still too much for her to really handle. She didn't want to lose Sheldon, Brad and I. But as she was flying, Misty landed on the front door of Sheldon's house.

She knocked on Sheldon's door and then after she had knocked on the door, Sheldon arrived and then she was wondering what hell he was going to say here. Sheldon turned to the side and then Misty walked inside and then as she was inside of the house, the two of them walked to Sheldon's room and then Misty closed his bedroom. She was ready to give him the one final thing that he had deserved. Brad may not know this, and I just only knew because Sheldon told me, but in the end, she had made her choice. She choose Sheldon, even if it was only for a few moments.

So once Misty and Shelton were in their bedroom and they were all alone, Misty was ready to get right to the action. Sheldon was way confused what the guv was going on but he knew that whatever happened it would be for his own personal gain so he would go with it. He hoped if for nothing else he could touch the boobies of Misty and that it would be very exciting. " I was wrong to have chose Brad before you, but I seem to have been too scared to take the true step that I should have taken all of those months ago. But I can no longer afraid, I want to go right into it. I just hope that you don't mind that we're probably not going to get a full thing out of this, and I am going to die soon."

Sheldon was just so glad that Misty was accepting him at all, that he didn't even care if it was only going to be a short period of time or not. So he just looked up at her one final time, as if to make sure that she actually was understanding what her choice was and she was actually agreeing with this idea. Cuz he didn't want to get her into something that she would regret on the final hours of her life. So he had asked her and she nodded. She was very firm on this idea.

As this was happening, Misty was taking her shirt off. This was my Shelton was basically going off of what he had read in the books in order for him to have any idea what he was supposed to do. And if I had to kind of felt a little bit silly that he was put in this position at all, much less with an Android in the first place. But he was wanted to keep that part out of the story or when anyone wanted to hear his great first-time experience. Although he would personally not want to admit that he had waited till such a old age to do it. After all, he was already getting nearly into his first year of college. So he was definitely pretty late to the party. Most people would have lost it by 16 and he waited like an extra two to 3 on top of that. Or I mean I was I'm graduating high school this year and I'm about 19 or so, holy shit you can tell I'm getting tired, considering how messy some of these sentences and words or getting, but back to the point. And since he had already graduated high school last year that would technically me that he was 19 probably getting closer to 20, so in reality, was at your point like four years more.

Misty grabbed his shirt so they took it off, and this was when Sheldon knew that it really was the big deal and as a result he instantly got into it taking the rest of hers off while she did the same with him and they just simply had a good time. I don't want to talk about my friends or say experience inside be really weird so I'm just going to leave it at that and you get the point anyway so it's not like it really matters.

So after Missy had the best night of her life, she looked at scholten once again while he was on his bed looking like he was in pure ecstasy. She smiled, knowing that once and for all he was the right choice. But regardless she had a mission she had to fulfill, so she headed out of his house, never to see him again. Both of them knew that this was going to happen so when Misty was out of the house and she was on her way to the battle Sheldon went outside of the bed and walk to the edge of his window to watch as she was going away. As he was doing so he was on the near of the verge of the tears.

Misty had wanted more out of her final conversation with him, but in the end she knew that she had overstayed her welcome and that she needed to get right to the mission. She spent a few minutes on a couple spots around town either taking one last glance at them for the end or just sort of Scouting Around to see if maybe she could find some information about the enemy.

But then, she saw that there was some big giant blue robot going down the streets. Not just a big giant blue robot but it had missile launchers on it it was like a hundred feet tall it wait like seven hundred thousand pounds it had written all over it and it was going to destroy her. But missing you that she had to fight and keep on going or else the world will be on steak. As Misty landed on the ground she put her left hand up towards the robot and she was almost ready to do a yellow of Justice to get them to understand that she was the hero. But she knew she didn't have the time to waste for that, and that she needed to find something to distract the robot destroying anything else. Or else like an entire Burger Joint would go down like like make the McDonald's of the town would be destroyed.

So, she she found a lake like broken off like tire from a car and with all of her might threw right at the robot and the robot just looked right down at her and had like a moment of just like a staring contest with her. The robot raised their right foot up and was ready to stop Misty. But Misty sorta kinda figured out that this is what it was going to go for, and because they anticipated that movement was ready to come up with a counter-attack.

As she was trying to come up with her Counterattack, she was just trying I'll set the same time to just survive the moment. Which was like two very hard things going on at once making this whole thing and even bigger challenge than it should have been, if this really even should have happened in the first place which in all reality it honestly should not have been. The robot was about to stop right at her but she jumped aside and away just at the perfect timing to make sure that she really did not get stopped and wants she had that perfect moment she did her flying thing and flew right up to the upper leg of the robot, which is honestly the most she could or actually do given how big the thing was.

Once she was on top of that robot she kept punching at it and was looking for a site opening or weakness to get into it. She saw a very small opening that showed a bunch of wires so she took out her right hand and hit it a couple times and after she had hit it a couple times she saw a small red laser that was coming out of her middle finger so she use the laser on the wires it was slowly cutting the wires and half with the laser that she had. It was the best idea that she had at that moment, hoping that it would be able to make the robot stop moving at least a little bit or at the very least make the movements more haphazard and as a result give her a little bit of the advantage in the overall battle.

But that did not really look like it was going to be the plan as the robot picked her up with their left hand right afterwards. And it looked like she had gone her fair share of beating even more than she ever had up until that point in time. She even had to take a little bit of time to get herself up afterwards.

Once she had stood up and she was ready to take on the robot again the robot was raising the right hand to just crushed her. Misty flew right behind a car and she was doing that as a way to give her a couple minutes to really figure out what her strategy was actually going to be on this.

But before any of that could really go on the robot pick up the car and threw it right at a huge building so Misty flew by in order to stop the car from hitting that building which added a few more seconds on to the battle and a little bit more stress and extra effort that she had to put into the whole thing. As a result she stood up and threw the car right back at the robot and as it hit the robot it did a small amount of damage but not really enough to make it look like that she was now going to suddenly be the one who's going to come out on top or really change the outcome all that much.

Misty saw that most of the street was basically destroyed, and that this robot really did have the advantage over her here. The robot grabbed Misty with both of their hands which led to the girl yelping in pain and she could feel some of the pieces in her breaking, which was sealing the idea that she was going to die in the next day or two at the best. In all reality, she actually only really had mere minutes and once thusvduel was over, she should just accept the idea,of being buried. She was hoping Sheldon would be there for the funeral, as well as Brad and I to a lesser extent.

As the robot was putting more and more pressure, Misty was bleeding and the blood drops were going on the ground and it was breaking not only her on a physical level, bit also on a level on where she could be able to properly think at all. The robot threw her down and she slid for about six seconds until she hit the edge of the side walk. Misty was utterly broken, only able to function on a simple level. Most, if not all of her body parts showing to the public to make the android fact of her even more obvious.

Before she could do anything, the robot grabbed Misty's left arm and slowly ripped it off. This had nearly created enough blood loss to kill her all alone right there. Misty stood up slowly as she fired a few bullets at the eye of the robot, making them lose their right eye easily. This did give Misty a small opening to keep going. She now had a real opening in order to win. She kept firing hundreds, probably two hundred in all bullets to destroy more of the armor of the robot. The damage was fractional, and really while that did not do much to change anything, it was enough for more bigger attacks to come right in there.

Misty grabbed a huge chunk of the robots armor and forced it open. She then placed her hand directly above the wires and used the torch finger to set those on fire as well. Then she stepped back and once the fire started, she fired the one missile she had to do the final part of the job to destroy the robot. After they were destroyed, Misty looked down and saw how much they had been damaged and how little of a chance they could survive another battle.

Misty was watching the guy in the purple jacket walking closer and closer to Misty, and she was feeling like the robot was nothing compared to this man. Misty looked around, hoping he would not see her but that idea was thrown away when she saw him right in front of her and he was smiling. As if seeing her in pain was the funniest thing he has ever seen in his entire life. He grabbed her by the mouth and picked her right up, all the blood was coming out of her and she felt like a beaten up bitch while he was staring at her.

As the man in the purple jacket was ready to talk with her, Misty was not really all that sure what to do. All she could do was pretty much just stand there and watch as this guy pretty much just ruined her, and she didn't really know what exactly to do there. "You don't really understand what it means to not get in the way of my plans. My plans are much more important than your life, and I can end it at any moment, and then you will go down as a useless piece in the whole grand scheme of the puzzle, like you never even were born in the first place." The man in the purple jacket was saying and he was putting his hand right on her chest and he was doing a little bit of a dragging in there.

Misty was groaning and trying to form words out of her mouth, trying to say something to make this guy stop what the fuck he was doing, but deep down Misty knew that there was no way that this was even going to remotely happen. "I love how you are trying so hard to justify your pointless existence, but I suppose that you just don't really seem to get it. I guess that now that you are going to die soon, you will be fine hearing what my plan is. After all, nobody is here at all." The man in the purple jacket was saying and Misty was gulping really hard. He wad dragging his hand a little bit closer.

"I plan on uniting two different worlds here. The digital world, and this place called earth. When I bring both of these worlds together, I am going to be the supreme ruler. But I guess that is a little bit of a boring part that I don't really blame you if you don't care for. I don't really care about the after math details now." The man in the purple jacket now had some of his hands physically inside of Misty, and Misty was feeling the blood coming out of her.

"Honestly, you may be wondering how I am going to do this. Well, I need to get the androids to wok with me. That man who you killed last year. He was one of my top advisers on the androids. His name is Devon. He was indeed your father. In a technical sense. he just came up with you and gave some of his memories to you. Trust me, Devon had a full life. He was a true human. So much of a life that he can give a memory to all of his androids that are all different." The man in the purple jacket dug even deeper and all of the main fingers were slightly inside now.

"When Devon died, I was able to get his business. So a in way, I have to thank you for killing daddy. You did something even I didn't really have the balls to do. So with that, in a way, you helped me." The man in the purple jacket was now just having nearly half of his fingers in there.

"I will take the younger brother of your friend Sam, and when I grab him, I am going to have a great use for him. I am going to send him to the digital world and in a way, force him into a huge conquest of taking this world over. But that will only be a part of the puzzle. The other parts of the puzzle will slowly take over. I need to get this country to fall under my grace. Convince them to work with me, and I will have all of the files to work with." The man in the purple jacket pretty much had all of their fingers inside of the body of Misty, and Misty was having like a gallon of her blood coming out. She was basically dead, but he was keeping some of the blood in to keep a tiny amount of life in.

"Brad and Sheldon will be too broken to stop me from my plans. They will hardly notice that your plans did nothing in the long run, and that if anything, they helped me." The man in the purple jacket had his thumb in her body now. Misty was slowly having her eyes close now.

"It must hurt, to know that your plans did not really help at all. None of this was worth it. You basically just gave me more to work with. Man, I can't even imagine what it must feel like for you, knowing that you are nothing really worth it in the long run." The man in the purple jacket was now having his hand on the other side of the chest.

"I guess I have kept you around for a long enough amount of time. I guess you just need to go now. You have expired, and I guess that none of this matters. You are just a small piece of the puzzle." The man in the purple jacket had placed his hand and part of his arm all the way through Misty's chest. Misty had her eyes closed and she was dead right then and there. He laughed and then he removed his hand from her chest and then threw her dead body on the ground.

Then with that, he walked away and it was just in time for nobody to really be around to see what had happened, so he was about to get away with it for good. Besides, the death was not really what was important. It was just in time for Brad to pull up on the car and then he walked up to Misty and held her dead body. He screamed at the top of her lungs and he was crying and this was wondering who did this, and what he was going to do now, knowing that everything he said to her was a life. Waiting and being with her, and that never happened.

Things started to go by in a haze after this. Brad had gotten ready for her funeral, feeling like he was doing the one thing that he should have never done in his entire life, and this was the one thing he never really thought he was going to do. He thought that if he was going to have to set up a funeral, it would have been when he was much older and a person who had already seen all of the things that he should have seen in his entire life.

As Brad was setting up his funeral, I walked up to him one day and I was trying to go on and try to talk to him a little bit. I thought that maybe, I could actually get some real interaction with him. Seeing his way of why Misty was so special. I knew that she was a good girl, and that she had done a great few things, but this was something that I still felt like I needed to know now. "Brad, do you have a moment to talk?" I asked and then brad just stopped his arrangements and put down his cigarette. Which was something that he started pretty much right after Misty had died, and while I didn't agree with him I did see why he would do it.

"I am really busy right now. Trying to make this all properly set up. Please, just let me do this. Maybe later, we can talk about it." Brad said and then I stared at him for a moment, trying to see if it was one of those things where if I waited, he would tell me. But I realized that this was not going to happen, so I started to walk on away.

Right before I was out of the house, I looked around and decided to say one final thing to him to sort of give him a back up option. "If you ever need to talk with somebody, you know, to sort of let it all out, just come to me and we can talk about it. Or if perhaps you just want to hang out for a bit." I said and then Brad was just not saying anything and I knew that this was not going to work out at all. With that, I turned away and left him alone.

Brad was staring at the window, and Brad was sort of sinking in the fact that the friendship that we had was going to be over after this. Not that he had wanted it to be over, but this was just the fact that he was going to have to deal with. As this was going on, he was getting used to the fact as I was accepting the fact that I was never going to see him ever again for the rest of his life. But it would see like my brother Ken would have seen him very soon again, and I was not a part of it.

Brad attended Misty's funeral, just keeping his head down and trying not to force himself into any conversations that he had wanted no part of. Nor did he want to bring anybody into conversations about Misty that they would have to pretend like they cared about her, but if they had cared about her, they would have been there for her earlier and not placing her off forever. But it wasn't entirely their fault. Maybe Misty did have a hard time talking with others since she was a android and all.

After the funeral was over, Brad was walking by Misty's house to get one final look at it. Feeling like he wanted to give it one final look before he went on with his life, and he felt like he needed to just sort of really give his good byes. He had not been there once since she had died which was why he was shocked and looking around like crazy when he saw that the house was mostly destroyed, like there had been a fire or something like that. He felt like he needed to try and investigate and see what the hell had happened. Turned out the day that Misty died, the man in the purple jacket came along and turned down the entire house, killing every single android her mother had made, including the mother as well. Brad shook his head unable to believe what had happened as he looked around for any extra details

He found something that looked like a pink notebook. He started to open it up to one of the pages and he was looking at it. He then realized that this was Misty's journal. Something that she had been working on throughout the course of the those several years of her life. He then grabbed the journal, realizing that he had the seven years of Misty's life in there and he wanted the whole experience, so he grabbed it and headed on his way to the house, where he would give a reading of it there.

As he was on his way back to his house, he was wondering what all she had said about him, Sheldon, and I. He had wondered if she had other friends besides just them, and if she had lost touch with them or if they were still there, but she just never told Brad or the others about them. Either way, this was the final way he could get any knowledge of what Misty was like, and he needed to take that chance anyways.

As Brad was alone in his bedroom, he told his parents that he was not going to be doing anything for a little while. His parents didn't like it, but since Misty was only been dead for like a week or so, they decided they would give him a sort of loose like one month period of time before they would start to really get focused on what he needed to do. Which meant that he still had about three weeks or so left to go through before they would really get on his case once again.

Before he started, he took out a small blue pen and then he wrote on the front page "Journal of Misty Wakeman, 1950-1966." Brad decided to pretend like she was a normal human being. A person that was born and lived a full and normal life to this point in time. Brad felt like that was the least she had deserved after all that she had done for the group as well as the city. Then Brad smiled for the first time since Misty's death. He actually did something that he felt like was worth while.

After this, he opened up the first page of the journal and then he was ready to read through the seven years of Misty's life that was actually real, which considering the fact that she was only sixteen, was still nearly half of her persumed life. "February 1st, 1959, My mom bought this for me for my birthday. I had asked her to let me have one after I saw it at the store. She seemed really happy to give it me and I am going to write in it all the time." Brad read the first day and it looked like she was a couple of weeks 'older' than Ken at that rate. Even though by now, either way, he was older than her as of the day I am writing this.

"February 2nd, 1959, My name is Misty Wakeman. I am living in a city called Wayside Minnesota, which to to take honor in the school that had been build a few years ago, although the town is so big that it has like three different school districts there." Misty had said and then when she had said that, Brad closed the thing and then he stood up and he took out a giant cigarette and started to smoke it carefully.

Brad read through the entire thing in one sitting, and he missed the next day of school and was up for about thirty one hours reading this from start to finish, letting every word sink in. She somehow went the whole way not mentioning once about the android, which Brad thought was for the best and then at the end, Brad wrote "Misty Wakeman was the bravest person I ever knew. I loved her. Rest in peace. -Brad, her boyfriend." And that was the second and last time he wrote in her journal, and he decided that this was just too much for him to handle.

Sheldon one day was sitting down and he was just high as a fucking kite. Not really in the right spot to do anything, he wondered what it would be like to tell the truth. He sat down and opened up his computer and create a small document. The document that he was creating was a book that would be about a human fighting a huge army of androids and he would see the real life value of these. This was based off of him being the human and the androids were now about the life they have tried to gain and the trust of the humans. It raises the question of what humans are like really as well as if the idea on if animals are real or not or if they are just something that is fake that people created to try and justify their superiority. The book was called "Do Replicants Dream of Electric Sheep?"

If you ask me, given the context of what the title really meant, that the answer is yes. They do. But I guess that I have gone on long enough. I am going to end this off here, even I need some sleep. Please understand what I am telling you here. Understand that androids are just as much human as we are and while Ken is a piece of crap, maybe he did have a couple of good ideas here and there. I feel like I need to make up with him sometime soon. The end.

\- The journal was found the day after Sam had died by the police force and was taken in and considered for evidence. While many felt that there was truth to it, some considered it to be a part of some insane mindset her had. Eventually, with this journal as well as how the gun was placed, and the evidence tape being seemingly impossible to find, Sam's death was ruled as a suicide from insanity. While his parents refused to believe it, there was no fighting the case and they decided to 'accept' the official story. Just as how they had accepted the fact that their second son was legally declared dead after being gone for more than six weeks and there was no evidence offered. Both their sons died in twenty four hours. That was the life they had to accept.-


	17. Arrival at Wayside

In 2018 once again…

T.K. placed the start to the big manuscript down feeling as if it was finally time for him to take a break here. He knew that he could not go on all night without being worn out of what he was doing. Even Joe was starting to show some fatigue of the story and that there was a time they needed to stop. "I think it might be time for us to stop for the night. Maybe we can pick this up tomorrow morning. We got the first four chapters done, which is more than I could have dreamed up of." T.K. said as he got out of his chair for the first time in nearly twelve hours. That was, by far, the longest session he had done since he met Catherine and especially since he had his son. He used to pull off twelve hour sessions every week or so, but now he is lucky if he even gets two hours a day.

"I didn't even know there was so much stuff to what we went through. I remember some of it, but not this much until we started to work on it. And we are truly just barely scratching the surface here. Maybe when we start tomorrow morning, we can explain a bit about the stuff that maybe even predates what we have written a bit before. Maybe that Wayside school Ken keeps referencing. I remember he told us that story before, but I really can't remember the exact stuff he said." Joe said and almost as if on cue, there was a ring on the door. T.K. stood up and decided that he would be the one to go and check it out. Catherine and Trent were well asleep, and they barely got to talk to each other that day aside from a quick twenty second conversation when he was working and she came home from her job.

Soon enough, T.K. opened his front door and then he saw a small box. As he had seen the small box, he was totally confused and he was wondering what to really do at that moment. He looked up at Joe and then they both looked down and they saw that the box said "for your book." T.K. thought that there could be some material to get out of here, and then he grabbed it and closed his door very lightly since he did not want anybody to know what they were doing. They wanted their book to remain a relatively secret deal until there was more progress being made on it.

As T.K. and Joe slowly walked into the living room, T.K. placed the box down and then he was staring at the box for a moment. "Are you going to open it?" Joe asked T.K. and then as he asked T.K. this, he saw his younger friend nod and slowly open the box up. As he opened the box up, he saw that there was a small letter as well as a cassette recorder with several tapes placed inside of there for them to listen to. Todd opened up the recorder and saw that the recorder was titled Wayside and that each of the five tapes were different sections of this story. The tapes were called "First Quarter, Second Quarter, Third Quarter, Fourth Quarter, and Final Battle." T.K. then started to open up the letter to see what it had read.

"I have heard about your project. Don't ask how I became aware of it. I recorded these tapes for you and I really hope that you put these to good use. This will help you figure out the truth to Wayside and what had happened when I had gone to that school with Kevin, who you call Ken, and our friends. If you really listen to this, you will see just how much this actually matters to the development of both of our lives." The letter said and then after T.K. read that he looked up at Joe and was thinking that there could be time for one more chapter, despite being three in the morning. T.K. placed the first tape into his new recorder.

"How about one more chapter before we go to sleep?" T.K. suggested and then Joe thought about it. As much as he thought that this was a terrible idea, Joe decided that maybe T.K. was right and that maybe one more chapter would be a good idea so that way they can get a little bit more done with this impossible idea. So then Joe decided that if they were going to stay up for another chapter or so, that he was going to at the very least make some coffee to help keep himself up at night since coffee was the best thing to help him with his type of ordeal when he was at work.

"T.K. please tell me the truth. I get that you are wanting to tell the truth about what had happened, but I want to know if there were other motives to this as well. Like are you doing it for fame, or is there some sort of like justice that that feel like you have to be doing this novel? I am honestly fine with either answer, but I just really want to know." Joe said and then after Joe said this to T.K., he looked up and then rubbed his eyes taking a cup to get ready for his coffee.

"Well, here's the thing. Two members of our original team are dead. Both within the last two years. Ken is getting pretty old, and will probably be dying soon. I think that we need to be ready for what is coming up. I am honestly shocked that we all survived the adventures that we had in the first place, but it seems as if this doesn't matter. We need to be ready, and I have a feeling I might be next. I want to do our friends justice, and then prepare myself just in case something does happen." T.K. answered as he looked at the picture of the group of nine. The original seven plus Ken and Kari. Two of the nine were gone, and Ken was going to be soon following.

"I guess that maybe that does make some sense. I never really thought about it in that perspective. I never wanted to think of it in that perspective, but I guess that maybe you truly right here right now. So I guess that maybe we should be trying to get this thing out before anything happens. As much as I hate to admit it, we need to do this. Besides, this will put some peace behind what has been going on and it will make things better now." Joe answered and then he sat down next to T.K. on the worn down and smelly couch. T.K. sat down next to Joe on this case and he took out a notebook to copy down every single word that was being told to them at once.

Chapter 16: Arrival At Wayside (1962)

Dear T.K. Shioda,

Hi, my name is Todd Robinson, and I have a really crazy story to tell you right now. You may know of me as the 48th vice president under Donald Trump's current administration. But before that, most likely before many of you were even born, I had my own story with these monsters that is being written about in this epic novel. Considering what I have gone through, I am going to be sending you this recording that will explain everything I went through all these years ago. Use it in your book any way you please, but please at least listen to it before you decide against using it.

So this story starts in the year 1962, when I was starting my seventh grade year in September. I had moved to this new school after some things I did in my previous school. Well, in short to not bore you with the details, let's just say I wasn't always a good kid and that I very much had my fair share of getting into trouble back in the day. My parents thought it would be good to bring me to a new school at the start of my seventh grade year, to start fresh and hope that none of this ever happened. At least to the students knowledge.

As I was on the bus ride towards school, I was thinking about what the year was hopefully going to be like. I was going through in my head over and over and over again what I was wishing would be the case. I knew that none of it was going to happen, but I just so badly wanted at least one trouble free year. But as the bus was slowly pulling up to the school, I had a terrible feeling that this was not really going to happen.

I was getting tired of listening to all of the annoying little kids talking and stuff and them acting like fucking monkeys so when the bus was pulling over at Wayside, I got out of the bus as soon as possible. I don't know why, but seeing the huge school go over a few hundred feet into the air for the first time made me utterly stunned over what was being presented to me and I was wondering how the school had even gotten that big in the first place, much less how all the rooms were displaced in the ways that they had been placed, as it just looked so strange to even try and comprehend.

"It really is thirty stories high." I said under my breath still not really able to try and understand this all. But then after I had said that, I heard a guys from behind me and then I turned around to see who was trying to say high to me. I saw that it was a guy who had black hair and was my age, and he wore a purple shirt and green pants. For some reason, seeing him made me feel much more calm, as if I knew that I was not the only one who was going to be going through this insanity.

"Hey, are you the new kid here? I am on my second year here, so I am still decently new in the grand scheme of things, but I think that we still have a lot to learn, the both of us." The guy said and then Todd sighed in relief knowing that there was somebody who was still going through this the first time with him as well. Todd held his hand out and then the other guy shook it and that started a seemingly great friendship that lasted them the rest of the Wayside year. "My name is Kevin."

"My name is Todd. I was going here thinking that it would be a good place to start and try to form a new life. I felt like this was going to be a good way for me to try and pretend as if the stuff in my life had not really happened at all. I think that you should lead me around a little bit, since at the very least you know how the school looks and stuff." Todd said and as Todd had told Kevin this, Kevin thought that Todd could get some use out of this here.

So after this, Kevin and I started to head down the pathway towards the front entrance of school. As we had been walking closer and closer to the entrance of the school, I was wondering how he was going to be able to get to the top floor of this in time for the school day to start. I had always been thinking about the fact that he was going to get in trouble on his very first day here because of the fact he could not get up there in time.

"Wait, what is going on over there?" I asked when he was starting to get like ten feet away from the entrance. I was pointing up towards the top of the building and I was trying to show Kevin how there was something giant falling down from the sky slowly going on to reach the ground. Kevin told me to just move on to my side, and then I just did that as I saw the chair starting to fall down to the ground. As I saw the chair the ground, I was really impressed that it did not break at all.

"Wow, how did that chair not break? I thought that from several hundred feet in the air, that it surely would have." I said and then I touched the table in amazement and then Kevin laughed. He knew where I was coming here. Coming to this school for the first time can really be a bit of a over load and Kevin was not even going to pretend that it was not a bit of a over load.

"Yeah, I remember on my first day when like hundreds of pencils were falling down here. The teacher there, our teacher in fact, usually does this near the start of the year to study gravity. I guess that it is something that will start to make some more sense the longer that you are here. Don't worry too much about it right now." Kevin answered and as Kevin had said this, there was another person who started to walk towards them. They were going to try and pick up a talk with the two guys.

"Hey Todd, I heard that you're new here. My name is Dana. I also happen to be going to be Mrs. Jewels this year. Do you guys want to go up there with me right now? Best to get up there early so that way we have the smallest chance of being late, which can be a problem if you do not really know how to time it out properly." The girl said to us and she seemed to be looking around at Kevin and trying her best to avoid looking at me. I wondered why she was doing this, or if she was trying to hide something from me or something like that.

"I am just trying to get this all figured out right now. I have no real idea what the hell is going on right now." I admitted and as I was admitting this, the three of them us were thinking that it was time for us to go up and not waste any more time just talking outside when we can do the exact same stuff up at the top floor anyways. So with that, the three of us walked inside of the school and slowly reached the stairs of the first floor.

"I don't understand how the development of the building was like this to begin with. It just seems totally insane and I think that the person who had built this school should never go back to construction again." Kevin told them his opinion since while he did like the school and it was a very fun place to be at, this was much too insane for any one of them to be dealing with in the first place. I wondered how many stairs would created for each floor and how much of the school was actually just stairs compared to how much of the school was actually consisting of real material.

"I think it was probably a developmental error. I don't really think that it would be for anything else besides that since I doubt that the person who created the school thought that it would be a stellar idea to just build a school that is thirty stories with with little to no context at all over this." I said and by now, we were on the second floor. As we had reached the entrance of the second floor of the building, there was a loud thumping noise towards the three of us. We turned around and found some darker skinned color guy running towards us.

"Are you guys heading towards Mrs. Jewel's class? I am heading my way over there right now." The guy said and then saw me, the new kid and then he did his introduction to me as well. "My name is Myron. You look like you are the new kid here? This is my third year here." Myron said and I could already tell that we were going to have a very hard time getting along, but I felt like it was still worth the attempt if for nothing else to try and create some friends at this year.

"I guess we should be heading up to the class right now. We need to make a good impression on the teacher on our first day here." I said and I was truly mainly talking about myself since I really did not want to make any bad impressions. Besides, the longer that we stayed here, the higher the chance that there was going to be some random person who wanted to introduce themselves to me even though I was going to learn who they were anyways in a few minutes.

The four of started to go up the last twenty nine floors of the school now since they knew that I was right about this whole thing anyways. Then with that, I was really just trying to get up to the top as fast as possible. i was barely even talking with anybody at all. Then with that, Dana was yelling at me to slow down. "There are still like ten minutes for us to get there, we are already on the seventh floor. The stairs aren't really all that hard to go up. Take it easy. Just enjoy the walk up as it is."

I was thinking about what what she had said and I was thinking that maybe she was right about this, although I did not really think that she was right. I guess that I should give it a chance after all. "I guess that we should take it slowly anyways." I decided and then the other three catched up to me anyways. "I guess that maybe I just don't really want to make any of the same mistakes that I have made on my previous schools. I don't want to go to a different school yet again."

"What even was so bad about your time at your previous schools? We will probably never be able to help you if you don't let us know what the hell is going on at all." Dana had said and then I considered that question. I thought that maybe I should let them know, but at the same time, I was not really thinking that she was ready for this. She was a nice girl, and just the one day that I knew her was making me well aware of this, and I did not want to ruin any chance that I had to be her friend.

"I will tell you guys later. Don't really worry too much about it now." I said and then after I told them that, they seemed excited to hear more about my tragic back story later on. Which was only a little bit tragic but that is for a later time. Give it a month or two. As this happened though, we went up to the top of the school and we went to the top floor of the school.

We eventually reached our classroom and walked inside of the room ready to see what our first lecture was going to be. I was really excited to see what this was going to be. I was excited to see the new clean slate and see how good the idea to start fresh would really be. I hope that I would never have to be put into any situations that would make me feel like I was going to die again at the very least. So with that, as we walked inside, I saw that there was a desk near the back of the room I can go to. I went to that chair but as I did so, there was a girl who saw me and walked up right to me to get my attention for some reason.

She stared at me and as she was staring at me, I looked up to her to see what was going on and why she was just looking at me in this way. I didn't really mind it as much as I thought that I would have, that doesn't change the fact that it was still a little bit strange for me to really handle here. "You better be careful, if you do not know what you are doing, you can end up being... crushed." She said and then as she told me this, I was wondering where she was heading on this whole thing. "My name is Maurecia."

I then held my hand out to her and I was just trying to be a nice guy by doing that, I was not trying to give off any indication. But she did not really seem to get that. She shook my hand and then after she had shook my hand she took her other arm and then out of nowhere she punched me really hard on the arm. I screamed when she had done that, as I was just not really expecting that at all. I then looked at her trying to figure out the context of any of this, thinking that it was going to be a little bit harder than i would have really wanted to be good friends with her with that attitude.

"That really hurt. What was the point of doing that?" I asked and as I had asked that question, Maurecia winked at me and I was seeing her blush a little bit. Did this girl already like me or something and I have only known her for like a few seconds? It was just really strange and I did not understand how she could have gone from just meeting me to instantly thinking that I was the hottest person that she had ever known or something insane like that.

But before I could say and do anything else to this, there was the teacher who told us to sit down and start to get serious. Maurecia sat down in the seat that was filled with her purple back pack near her chair. She looked at me a couple of times after she was sitting down like this. I then looked at front of the teacher and I was wondering what our first lesson was going to be, or if this was just going to be a introduction day.

Her name was Mrs. Jewel's, as I would have already known about earlier. She had pink hair or something crazy like that, and she was like really fucking tall, and she had a green shirt and purple pants. I thought that she was just sort of a very interesting looking girl. I didn't really know what to say so I just sat down and listened to her talking for the class period.

Before I even knew it, we were already at lunch period and I think that this sort of just bare fact seemed to get everybody excited once again. After this, I started to look around, maybe trying to find somebody that I could talk with for the time being. The first person that I had talked with was Kevin, and he also was the first person that I hung out with in lunch that day. "Hey Kevin, want to hang out sometime soon?" I asked Kevin and then as I asked him this, he looked at me and he was thinking that it was going to be really fun to possibly hang out with me or something like that.

"Yeah, that would be fun. How about we do it this friday? I can have you stay the night even." Kevin said and then I was really happy that I was already starting to make some friends here, thinking that it was not really going to be all that hard to get used to being in this school as I had feared that it would have been. I decided that we could just talk for a bit and maybe see where that was going.

"So Kevin, what is your family like?" I asked thinking that this would be a basic and mostly harmless way to start a conversation. I thought that it would have been harmless. If for nothing else, I thought that maybe we could have talked for a little bit about parents and all of that stuff. I thought that Kevin could just give me a couple of answers that I thought would be a good way to sort of get to know each other. I knew this guy for a couple of hours, and I was going to be possibly staying the night with him. I felt like I needed to get to know him a little bit before I stayed the night at his, or anybodys house.

"I don't really like to talk about it. I don't want to talk about my brother. He is a total asshole. I just get angry thinking about him." Kevin said and then after he had said this, I thought that maybe he was just thinking too much about this and that he needed to just relax here. I thought that Kevin was just needing to give his family another chance or something like that, and maybe his brother would not be all that bad at the long run.

"Maybe when you finally see them is when you will finally get it. I would not make any ideas until you actually start to see them for yourself." Kevin told me and I thought that maybe he was right there as much as I hated to admit it. I did think that maybe I should wait until I actually saw his brother and the rest of his family and then once I saw them maybe I can actually get into the idea of how to judge them and think if they are really all that bad or if Kevin was just over hyping the whole entire thing.

"I don't know. I will see what I think when I stay the night. But onto a different subject, since you clearly have no desire to talk about this with me at all. How about the stuff going on at school? What do you think about our school so far and do you like a lot of the classes?" I was asking and then after I had asked them this, Kevin nodded to show me that he was a big fan of the school for the most part and thinking that this question at the very least was actually mostly harmless compared to the question that I had asked him earlier.

"The teachers seem to really enjoy the job here. Most of them are good people. I would not really think of anything badly against them. Just that maybe they need to maybe not miss so class. They usually miss a lot of class, and we are supposed to just sit around in a room with no teachers not really too sure what was going on." Kevin gave me a little bit of insight on what I should be expecting later on in the year when he had told me that. We just kept talking about the school, and he told me some things such as the fact that the nineteenth floor is pretty much the scary room floor, as the teacher there had only been at the school the first year after it was built and that they left and never returned. I told myself to visit that. He also told me about a guy named Louis I would meet in a couple of days. The conversation would not go on too long when the bell rang for the next class.

Soon enough, the lunch period was over and we went back to class to listen to more of the insane lectures of the teacher that I had no idea what the fuck she was on, as horrible as that may sound to say here. When the school day was over, I went home and told my parents that I really enjoyed my first day at the school, and they seemed to be taking that news very well, and it seemed like things were going well.

The second day was seemingly business as usual. Just went to class and the teacher told us about this class election that was going to be coming up soon and they were talking about hos important it was for us to all vote in it and that we should vote for the best candidate. The teacher then brought me up to the class and asked me why I was brought here to Wayside. I was asked three silly questions. 'Did I kill a man'? I said 'no'. 'Did you blow up the school'? I told them 'not even close'. Then 'did you run for class president?' To which I said 'no they don't do anything anyways'. After these three silly and insane questions, the day was normal and that nothing happened. Although I thought about Myron and thought that maybe I should run to keep that disaster from taking office after all.

On my third day there nothing really happened. Just talked with Maurecia a bit and she seemed to be getting a little bit calmer about her obvious crush on me, although it was probably very obvious to almost everybody that she did have a crush on me.

It wasn't until the fourth day that I was at Wayside when things seemed like things were starting to pick up once again with strange things. This was the day I met Louis, the day the first 'election debate' happened, the day that we all almost died, and the first time that I really learned that something strange was going on at Wayside. I will go in order I listed in the day, so with Louis.

As I had gotten in the school, I was getting ready to try and head up to the top floor in the school. As I got to the third floor, I was thinking that things were business as usual until I found that there was a guy cleaning up a fucking piece of vomit. It was strange since he looked like a person from my handbook, mainly because of the blue hair. I decided I would introduce myself.

When I walked up to him, I saw him look up and smile when he saw me. I knew that this was going to be a very nice guy when I saw that. "My name is Louis. I'm the cleaner at the school, and the activities director. What is your name?"

"My name is Todd. I am at the top floor. On my way there right now. Just heard about you before, and never seen you before. So I decided that maybe I should introduce myself to you and see if you are able to live up to the legend." Todd said and then he smiled when he said that, since he felt like Louis was at the very least nice enough to live up to the hype that people were giving him. As Todd started to go on and walk away, Louis called out to him and Todd decided to stay and hear what he was going to tell him.

"Hey, make sure when you go to class, to tell them that the first class election debate is supposed to be today. I doubt that anybody is really running in class today, but I think that you should let them know anyways since the principal is always having to tell people that every day when there is a debate since the class never does them anyways." Louis said and then he rubbed his face at the sweat of the work. Todd then told himself to remember that as he ran up the stairs and started to go on to the next class. I eventually reached the top floor with just seconds remaining before class started.

After I eventually reached the top floor of the school, I walked inside and was panting from the fact that once I got to the sixteenth floor I was basically running just to have a small chance of being able to get there in time. Then when Mrs. Jewel's looked over at me, I looked up and I could barely get the words "We are supposed to have a presidential debate today." And then I slowly got myself to my desk to just sit there and enjoy the moment that I have that I get to sit down.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that, I bet Louis is the one who told you about that." Mrs. Jewel's said and then I nodded to confirm that this was indeed where I had heard this news. Then Mrs. Jewel's sat down and she thought about it. "Well, we need to make a list of all of the candidates for the presidential debate so far. How about for this first debate, everybody gets to be a candidate and with each debate, we do a vote. There is one debate every month, usually the first Thursday of every month in the year up until May, where you get to be class president for the last month of the year. So there are going to be eight debates, and seventeen students here. So every month, after the debate, we will have a vote and the two classmates with the least votes every month will be out of the race until we eventually get to a final three in April, and the one with the most votes in May is the winner." Mrs. Jewel's came up with her system so on the spot that everybody decided that it sounded legit enough.

So with that the entire class was told to stand up and get ready for this debate that honestly none of us were ready for. I didn't even want to run for class president, and I feel like we should have been given a choice on what to do here.

"So now that we have this out of the way, what should we do with these debates? Maybe just ask some questions and each one of you get a answer on what you guys think here?" Mrs. Jewel's said as she was obviously having no clue where to go with this and it was pretty clear that she was not wanting to do this at all.

She just asked us a serious of questions. Since there are seventeen people answering this stuff, I will not make you miserable and describe the early debates. The later ones though when there are only like seven or five candidates, I will describe. Anyways, she asked us some stuff like what we would do to so called make Wayside great again when I rolled my eyes and didn't want to be in this class so I just said that it was already great and there is no need to ruin something perfect. At the end of the debate, Rondi and Joe didn't have any votes at all, so by default they were the ones voted off and I ended up winning the debate when I got three votes. Probably the don't change what is perfect message. Rondi and Joe didn't seem to care since this was so thrown on them. Now there were fifteen candidates.

And yet the story would still get even more crazy from this point forward. After the first debate was all done, I heard some faint noise and I was wondering what the hell was going on. I turned around to see what was going on and I was not really able to comprehend what exactly I had actually seen at that moment since it was just too much for me to be able to take on just on my own. So what I had seen was that there was a wall moving towards us. I stood up and then I walked to the wall and placed my hand on it and kept feeling it push on me. I turned around to Mrs. Jewel's but when I did so I could hear a noise that could see the wall getting further and further away.

"Mrs. Jewels, the wall was just moving a moment ago. What the hell are we going to do about that?" I saw Mrs. Jewel's starting to walk closer and closer to me. I was not really too sure if she was angry at me or if she was trying to see if I was telling the truth or not. I mean I was, but she was probably not full on believing me now.

"Todd, no disrupting the class when you want to use the restroom. You are now having a detention and you are going to be sent home early today." Mrs. Jewel's said and then I looked at her really fucking confused as if wondering how she got restroom from the wall moving. That literally made no sense whatsoever and I think that she needed to really examine where she got that idea from in the first place. But I raised my hands up as I started to grab my back pack and then started to head out of class.

As I headed out of the classroom, I was wondering what the hell was going on now and what I can do about the moving walls. Those were really starting to concern me just thinking about it and I think that I needed to try and fix it before it hurt anybody in the classroom. So I thought that maybe Louis would know the answer so instead of going on and leaving school and going home early, I decided to run down there. It took just four days in the year, and I am already causing trouble. I loved my fucking life.

When I finally ran down all of the stairs to the twenty sixth floor, I found that Louis was just doing some cleaning. That means that the debates took even longer than I had thought that they would have. I screamed at him to get over there to help me out. "The walls are moving in Mrs. Jewel's room and I think that it is going to crush the classroom soon." I said and then I was pointing upward towards my floor. Louis seemed to take a second to process this, and then he got this together.

"Holy shit, that is where the trash compactor was originally going to be. I think that maybe they are starting to defect and we only have at most twenty minutes to stop this from getting any worse." Louis said and then after he had said this, I was trying to figure out if perhaps there was something we can do to stop this. Or if we are going to just have to get the class out of there.

"I think the defuse boxes are on the top floor. I think that they are hidden behind one of the lockers to prevent people from messing with them too much." Louis said and then after he told me this, the two of us started to run up the stairs to reach the top floor of the school. I was wondering how the building of this school was so fucked up that a classroom was in the trash compacting room. It just really made no sense to me how something like that could possibly happen. It took us about three minutes to get up to the top floor and after we reached the top floor, I heard a noise behind us that made my blood freeze.

Louis opened up the locker that the defusers were in. When I turned around I saw something that made me realize that all of the stories that I heard in my life about monsters were possibly real. I saw something that looked like a human that had been cooked inside of the fucking oven or something. I didn't really know if this was a monster of maybe if it was just something that was showing a really fucked up human. The thing started to have a bunch of gross stuff coming out of their mouth and I had a loud gulp. I looked at Louis. "I'm sorry Todd, but I'm really busy right now. You need to do this on your own if you are wanting my help." Louis said and then I rolled my eyes as the thing started to run towards me.

When it ran towards me, the thing started to show claws coming out of their fingers. I jumped back and then they skidded pass the hall way and then stopped sliding when they were able to get some footing. I needed something to defend myself with. I only had my fists and I knew that there was only so much that I can do about this. Louis was working very hard to stop the fusion box to make the trash compactor stop working. I knew that Louis had not been seen if this thing had not attacked him yet. I wanted nobody to die, so I knew that I was going to have to somehow become a hero right here and right now.

I found a stick on the ground and I knew that it was something that a student just brought in for little to absolutely no reason at all. But I knew that this was going to have to be what I would use to defend myself for the time being to make sure that nothing would actually hurt me. The strange thing started to charge towards me and as they were running right at me, I knew that I was going to have to make a move very soon if I wanted to take this thing out.

Soon enough they reached me and they had their legs out and really fucking sharp claws. I slapped them with the stick and I was starting to hear the stick broke up a little bit and I was starting to think that I was totally fucked here. "Louis, can you please do something for me right now?" I yelled as loud as I could and I knew that Louis was just wanting to have his full attention on the project, so he just groaned and then threw something at me. I looked down and saw that it was just a pocket knife.

I grabbed the knife, knowing that it was better than the thing that I had at the moment. The strange thing kicked me down to the ground and then I was kicked right down to the ground and then the thing cut up the shirt that I had really badly. I was pissed off when he did that and then cut their chest a little bit. Blood was starting to be exposed to me and I saw the blood hit me. When the blood hit my shirt it started to sizzle. I then moved myself away and then I saw the blood actually hit the ground.

When the blood hit the ground, the blood created a hole that could make me see through the different floors of the school.

I then saw the thing lunge right at me and then I took a second slice and as I took a second slice at the thing I cut right through their chest and then the monster fell down to the ground and it had felt like I actually had won the fucking battle. The thing thing eventually fell right through the window of the school down to the ground. I noticed and saw that the door was melting a little bit. Louis was still working on the door and I stood up to him and saw him losing all hope in the defusion combination. "Todd, go to the lunch lady. She has a recipe for us." Louis gave me my next task and I was ready to help out there.

I was running down as fast as I can and I was really getting a sick stomach from all of this running and the fact that I technically killed something with that monster, but I had a job to do and I needed to save the class and my new friends. I was going to have a very serious talk with some of my friends after this though. I needed to know what the fuck these monsters were about and if they knew what they were. This whole thing was insane, and I can't believe I moved to Wayside less than a week ago and I am already starting to deal with life or death moments.

Eventually I reached the fifteenth floor, which was the one that the lunch lady was in. Her name as I found out later was Mrs. Mush. I saw that she was in the middle of cooking something that looked like awful green goo. I wondered if that was why the food was so bad the last three days. Anyways, I told myself not to think about that while I was in the middle of a situation that was literally life or death.

"Hey, I need some of your food that you are making. Louis is telling me that I need to get some for him." I said and then after I had said this, she looked at me and she seemed like the most happy person in the world to hear that somebody 'needed' her food. She then handed me the entire pot. I was looking at her confused as fuck as to where she got the idea that I needed the whole thing. But I rolled my eyes, thinking that maybe this was going to be better in the long run.

"Be sure to eat it slowly. You don't want to be like Sammy." Mrs. Mush said and the she looked at a dead rat. I was confused and a little grossed out that she let a dead rat in her kitchen. But I shook my head to tell myself once again not to think about that and to focus on something that mattered even more. Then with that, I was ready to head off and start to save the school again. I was here to be the hero of Wayside. Although when I was running to the top floor, I did have the somewhat justifiable thought of what the fuck was Mrs. Jewel's going to say when she saw me there or would she actually be happy that I broke the rules for once?

Eventually, at a way faster pace than what was probably safe, I made it to the top floor. I placed the pot on the ground for a moment to catch my breath from all of this running. "Hey Louis, here's you pocket knife back. I don't need it anymore. Let's focus on the class right now." I said and saw that there was maybe a minute before the class was dead. Louis grabbed the knife when I threw it at him and then he put in his pocket. I took the pot again and threw it as fast as possible and saw the goo start to melt the door. I wondered how this did not kill me when I ate it before.

As the door was finally fully melted, I saw everybody leave the class and I was so glad that they were smart enough to get the fuck out right away. I saw that Maurecia was a little bit stuck. I then decided to be a big hero for once and ran right the fuck into the classroom to get her.

Right as I was inside of the class room, I saw her trying to get out. "Grab my hand, we need to get out of here!" I yelled and while I knew she had a massive crush on me and that she was going to think of this as a romantic gesture and I would have to suffer through that later, this was not what mattered at the moment. Maurecia smiled as she grabbed my hand and then we slowly made our way out of the class. As this happened, Myron became the hero for a moment. He turned off the class light, which actually made the walls go back and the classroom eventually go back to normal.

"Oh my god, I never have dealt with that before." I admitted and then after I said that, I saw that the book shelves and a lot of the class was sort of wrecked. I smiled over the fact that I fucked up and I was trying to hide how scared I was over what had happened. Mrs. Jewel's took this whole thing a lot better than I expected and then she looked at the class.

"I will be repairing the class for the rest of the day. I guess you are all dismissed for the rest of the day. If the class is not repaired by tomorrow, I will send a letter to all of your houses letting you know that class will be cancelled tomorrow. Either way though, classes will be on monday as usual." Mrs. Jewel's said and this was the most serious she would be all year. As the year grew further, she grew more and more comedic for a lack of a better term. But for the first week of the year, she was actually really serious. Then she looked at me. "You are a hero today. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Keep this up the whole year, and you will be the greatest hero in the history of Wayside."

I gulped as she had said that as I was not really wanting to be a massive fucking hero or anything like that. But if I had to do so, then I guess that I would have to pick that up in my job here I supposed. With that, the class all started to head home. "Hey Kevin, if class is cancelled tomorrow, want to hang out right away and just spend the day fucking around?" I asked and then Kevin nodded thinking that was a good idea and he headed home.

With that, I looked over at the ground when I was on the twenty fourth floor. Dana then called out to me, and then I turned around to see her. "Hey Todd, want to hang out today?" Dana asked and I thought that there was no harm in this, so I agreed to just hang out with her for the day.

We went right to her house, which just so happened to be like three houses away from where I lived. Kind of crazy how that was the case. Anyways, so once I was there with Dana, we headed right towards her bedroom and she closed the door right away. I could see that she was going to get really serious. I was wondering what the hell was going on to make her get such a fucking poker face in less than one minute after we got home. "Todd, we need to talk about something right now."

I looked at her wondering where she was going with this. I had only been at this school for like four days, and had like two, maybe three conversations with Dana, and she was already dropping the ball at me. I had no idea what to think about this. "Is there something about the school today that is really scaring you? If that is the case, I do to. I had to fight something that looked like a strange monster wolf. I have no idea what it was, and honestly thinking about it, I am really scared over this." I said and then she nodded as if to indicate that was where she was going.

"Yes Todd, I saw that exact same thing. I thought it would have been your third or fourth week here, but not your fourth day. I thought we had more time. But that is not what matters. What matters is what exactly you had seen." Dana said as she stood up and slowly walked up to her closet and then pulled out a giant book that looked like it was like two thousand pages or something like that. I looked at her thinking she was fucking high or something when she thought I could read this entire thing.

"Every time there is a student who comes to Wayside, there is a report of this that gets eventually written. Always happens in their first year here. People have brushed it off as just paranoia. But now that it happened to you so soon and the fact that I saw it, I know the truth. This is not just peoples imaginations. This is the truth. There are monsters here, and honestly you might be the only one who has a chance to win here." Dana said and I was totally confused at this and I had no idea what the fuck was going on. She handed me the notebook and said "You can read this in your own time, but for now, we need to talk about today and what this may mean for the future and how I think you are the chosen one."

"Honestly, when I had faced off against that thing, it had scared the shit out of me. I had no real clue what I was doing, and to be honest with you, I thought that perhaps I was going to die after all. Honestly, the whole thing was just too much for me to really take in. I can't believe that I am actually still alive at all after what I had just dealt with earlier." I admitted and then Dana was glad that I decided not not just lie to her about how he felt and that this was just what she truly needed to hear after all.

"You are probably going to be seeing a lot worse in your time here, before we are through with the year and you are through with this quest that you are going to be going on." Dana said and then I felt like his head was about to explode. It was hurting after she had thrown all of this to me and gave me very little to no context at all over this and she thought that I was going to just take it like a champ. This was just too big of a thing for me to really take in at once, and he was not going pretend that this was a easy walk in the park concept.

"I don't even know if I want to this after all. I don't really think that I can do this, and I bet that you can actually see why I am coming this way on here. I have only been here for four days, and I have barely gotten to know any of the people here, and yet you are saying that I am the only one who can save the world. I think even you can see that this is just over the fucking top in every way possible." I placed both of my arms together and Dana sighed wondering what I was going to do to actually make her feel any better.

"Look, I get that you feel like this is too much for you. It's not like you are going to be doing this all alone. You still have us to be helping you. I hope that this can at the very least make things not seem so bad in comparison after all. Please Todd, I know that you wanted to start fresh and have a good year here, but there is no chance of you doing so in this case that we are in." Dana said and then after she gave her case to me I put both of my hands up and started to just walk out of the room.

"Maybe if you wanted to sell a case to me, you should have started small and made it something that I was actually able to try and believe in. This is too much for me to handle. I need to just go home and ponder what I had seen." I said and then as I said that, Dana decided to have the last word on this, and honestly I didn't even care that she felt that need to have the last word.

"Todd, please, just give me one chance to show you. Can you at the very least read the stuff that I wrote here? I know that this is a lot for you to handle, and I won't fight you, but please just give the writing a chance before you take everything down and treat it as utterly impossible." Dana pleaded and I seemed to think about that idea. After I thought about it for a bit, I grabbed the book and then nodded.

"I will read as much as I can tonight, and when I see you again tomorrow, one way or another, I will tell you what I think and maybe we can start to work there. I believe that the monsters are real. I saw one myself, but I do not want to get myself in a life or death situation unless if I absolutely am forced to do so." I agreed and headed out of the house. I went home and when I had gone home, I told my parents that I had a crazy day at school and that I didn't really know where to explain it, but I just went right to my bedroom and remained there for a while.

After I sat down on a chair in my room, I took the book out and started to read it a bit. I thought that I better keep my end of the deal with her, and that I better not give off the impression that I lied to her or said something to make her shut up. I opened up to the first page and started to read it a little bit.

"Page 1: My name is Dana Musgrove. I just moved to Wayside a few weeks ago, and the entire time that I have been here, I have been hearing rumors about what people have been seeing in their times at Wayside. I have about seven stories so far compiled together and I plan to add in more of these stories soon enough when I talk to other people. All these odd pages will be my reactions to the stories and what has been exposed, and all the even pages will be the stories themselves. I will tell my story first.

Page 2: So it started on my fifth day at Wayside. When I was here walking around on home, I saw something near the forest. I wondered what the hell this thing was. I knew that it wasn't a normal human, since they were nowhere near the height of a normal person. This thing was like eight feet tall. I walked into the forest to see what is going on and when I walked in the forest I saw this thing sitting down in in front of something that looked like a deer. The deer was dead and this monster was eating the corpse of the deer. I started to walk back as I looked up and saw that this thing was a person with multiple hands and only had some teeth and a mouth on their face, no nose, hair, or even eyes and ears. I ran away and it was due to this that made me want to write this all.

Page 3: I still have nightmares about this day, nearly a month afterwards. I don't think I will ever be able to forget what I very first thought when I had seen that. I was filled with horror and wondering if I myself was going to die. I never felt like I was this close to death. But now, I am questioning when I will see another monster again. The next story I will tell you about is Myron, one of my friends I made in Wayside so far.

Page 4: So it started when Myron had been in Wayside for about a month or so. He was in the middle of one of his speeches trying to be class president but he stopped his speech when he saw a strange pure white, no clothes monster, just turn on the lights of the room. After he had seen that, Myron said he forgot the most basic of class president jobs since that thing started to mess up with his memory.

Page 5: I don't really know if I am supposed to be believing what he was saying here, but at the same time, if what he is saying is the truth, then I guess that does explain why he is always so bad at this stuff. Could also explain why he jokes around all the time to sort of make himself forget what he had been seeing here. Well anyways, the next story that is going to be told will be about the never awake girl, Shari. This story was hard since I had to find the one time in the day she was awake and she is only awake for one hour a day, so I had to force this out of her in that short time.

Page 6: Shari was awake all night trying to do her school work. She said that she was trying to study hard for a test. When she was trying hard not to fall asleep, she saw a man that was wearing green clothes and his face was entirely covered in sand. Shari was thinking she was just tired and the man told her that if she just slept, she would pass the test and become a star student. Shari thought it just meant that one night. So she accepted and she watched as this man grabbed off an entire chunk of his face and poor sand on Shari. Now she sleeps for all but one hour every day but at the same time she passes her classes with straight A's since she knows every answer when the answers come to her in her sleep.

Page 7: That is actually really scary. Just the thought of something ripping a part of their face off just scares me to even think about. But as horrible as it sounds, I can believe it. I will tell you about the story of the elf impersonator, Steven."

It was after this I slammed the book shut. My head was hurting. I could not believe what I was actually seeing. It was too much for me to take in. But then I saw something that changed everything outside of my window looking up at me.

I stood up and I knew that if my parents knew what I was about to do, they would be losing their shit and acting like I was the worst person on planet earth for this. I stood up and started walking out of my room. When I left my room, I saw that my skateboard was right there at the door. I forgot to take it to school with me today, and I just realized that. Probably a good thing in hindsight since that thing would have been broken to all hell and back if I did bring it to school with me and the whole door issue. I grabbed the board and headed out the house to see what I had seen.

Things didn't seem to be too much of a big problem at first since I was walking right towards the back yard of my house. I saw that there was something that looked like a glowing light was there. In a human form. I started to walk towards it and I saw that this was probably one of the so called monsters that Dana had told me about earlier. I held my hand out and was walking on my way over there when the thing started to move away.

Knowing that this thing was heading in a certain direction, I walked right to the street and away from the grass of the yard. Then I placed my skateboard right on the ground for a moment. Then I started to ride down the street on my way to try and catch up with this thing. Once I was done with school today and before I hung out with Kevin, I knew I was going to have to tell Dana the truth and that I did indeed see this type of thing.

As I was skating down the streets, I realized that I did not bring my helmet and that was going to a really big problem if I was not careful. I knew that I was going to break my skull if I wasn't careful and landed right on my face at high speed. The glowing monster was getting further and further away from me and I was very well aware of the fact that I was going to need to go even faster if I wanted to catch up with them, and despite the fact that I had not wanted to do this, I did indeed do just that.

The skating had lasted about ten to fifteen minutes or so, and I was doing my best to increase my risk of not running into anything, which I knew was going to be a problem and would cause a lot of trouble beyond just the idea of breaking my head or something like that like type of stuff. I was riding and when I was riding, I felt like this was a thrill that I would never get tired of in my life, which was strange since I have done this like six or seven times now.

Soon enough, I reached the place that the glowing blue man had tried to lead me towards. I wasn't really too sure why they had decided to lead me to a grave yard. None of that really made any sense to be totally honest. I just stood around in the graveyard just to really try and process what I was going to be looking at. I walked after I got off the board and checked out different pieces of garbage and I knew that I was doing a massive waste of time when I was doing that.

I had no idea why I was so interested in all of the trash. Probably because of the fact that I was sort of in a lot of trouble and I knew that I was in a lot of trouble for being out so late at night. Maybe I was just trying to stay out as long as possible in order to prevent the time my parents would probably yell at me by another few minutes or so. I then looked up and saw the glowing monster again and they started to walk away but this time they were not speeding. They were taking it slowly and I realized that I was going to soon be where they had wanted me to be.

Afterwards, I reached the current trash building that they had wanted me to see. I had no idea why they had sent me all this way here, to be honest it just really made no sense to do this. I then crawled inside of this thing and saw that the monster was just glowing even brighter now. Before I can really process this, they were gone and I was totally alone and I saw that there was something sitting there for me to take. I was confused as I grabbed it and looked at it.

When I had looked at it, I realized that this was just a ball. I had no idea why the glowing thing wanted me to see a ball so badly. I then started to have a bunch of images just come to my mind when I was staring at this ball, as if this was showing me the past to something. Or a different world, which is still really confusing to this day. I don't really know how to describe this.

I then saw when I looked down at that a giant waste land. As if there was a bunch of battles that was held onto this place and that it was just a war zone. I saw that there was something that looked like a humanoid monster walking down this pathway. They were standing right in the middle of the field. Then when I saw them stop for a second, I saw them turn around and look right at me. Which wasn't so bad as the fact that they took off a hood and showed their face to me. They looked like what I would assume a leper would look like in real life.

I dropped the ball when I had seen that. I did not know what I saw. Did I just look at the end of the world or something terrible like that. I shook my head and the placed the ball right back in my pocket. I knew that I should probably keep it, but I did not really want to take any chances, so I decided to just have it in a place where I would not have it physically touching my skin or anything like that.

When I was done with that, I walked out of the house and as soon as I did so, the thing just broke down and looked like just a another generic pile of trash. I just sighed and felt so gross being in there. Then I walked down the pathway of the junk yard. Once I was out of the junk yard, I placed the skateboard on the floor and started to head off on my way towards home and decided that tomorrow i would tell Dana about what I had seen if there was school. If not, then I should do it on Monday.

The skating back to my house took about the same amount of time, although I did not feel any sort of pressure to try and get there in a certain time. I knew that my parents were probably pissed, but there was nothing that I could really do about it at the time. Since I did a bunch of stuff that people would consider really unsafe and perhaps I did deserve to be placed in trouble if I was indeed caught for what I had done here.

I made it to the back entrance of my house and saw a window that I realized I could just sneak inside of of. I decided to go right inside of the house by opening the window and placing my leg inside first and then lifted the rest of my body by doing so. Then I closed the window to my room and then I saw that my skateboard was still outside so I quickly opened my window and got the skateboard inside of the room.

As I had done that, I sighed in relief thinking that I can avoid trouble for the time being. I then walked right to the bed in my bedroom still taking a couple of breaths. Then I laid down on the bed and I turned off the light in my bedroom. I honestly just needed to go to sleep like right now since I had always been really tired. The sleep of that night was really tense for the first twenty minutes or so, but afterwards, I started to get easier and more relaxed while I was sleeping and with the skateboard right next to me so I can ride on it right out of the day when I woke up.


	18. The Hunt Begins

Chapter 17: The Hunt Begins

Soon enough, in the early morning, I woke up and right when I woke up, I decided to go right to Dana's house to decide to tell her the truth of what I had seen. I did not really want to do this and I was still just wondering what the hell happened, but I think that maybe Dana was right. Maybe I truly was the so called chosen one who had the only chance of being able to defeat these monsters, are crazy as it was for me to admit even to myself but I don't really know.

I knocked on her door a few times to try and get her attention. I was just really glad that my parents had no idea of what I did so I technically got out of trouble by default. I was convinced that I was going to get in so much trouble, but seeing that I got out of it made me feel excited. Like I can get away with this type of stuff more and that I truly can be more of a adventurous bloke who did not really have to worry about the risks he takes.

As I knocked and Dana answered the door, I looked up at her and she knew what I was going to tell her. "I saw another monster last night. I think that maybe I really am the chosen one who is supposed to save the town from all of these monsters." I said and I could not even comprehend that I had actually suggested this whole thing, but this was just the truth. Dana looked like she was about to freak out and get excited of this, and I started to walk a couple of steps back and she started to go off and give a shit ton of ideas of what I should do now.

"Well, I don't really have any ideas what to really do right now. I think that right now, I need to focus on school though. I will be hanging out with Kevin after school today. But once I am done with that, I can start to work more on this stuff when I am ready. I think that maybe when next week starts, I can start to work on this more." I said and then Dana started to calm down a little bit and then when she had started to calm down, the two of us sat down on her stair case and then I looked at her.

"Thanks for helping me out with this at all. I was starting to be scared over the fact that you were not going to help me here. Please do the best that you can here. I don't want to create any problems with your life, but I have a terrible feeling that if you don't work here and try your best to get rid of the monsters, then everybody is going to die soon." Dana said and I still was not really sure what to think of this, but I was starting to calm down towards that idea a little bit more and I was starting to accept this in some strange way I suppose.

"I hope that things are actually going to get easier as time goes on. I think that things will get calmer soon enough. I will work with you as best as I can. But first, I think that we need to just focus on school first. If we don't do good in school, I think we will have some other monsters that we are going to have to deal with in the school staff." I said in a joking fashion but I knew that Dana was never to have to worry about bad grades or anything.

"That is kind of funny. But I am totally fine with my grades and I doubt that I will ever have a chance of failing anything at all." Dana said and then that was when there was a letter that flopped down to her drive way by the mail man. Dana looked at me and this was when we had both known that there was going to be no school for the rest of the day and that I needed to go hang out with Kevin now.

"Dana, we should hang out soon. Maybe when we hang out next, we can go on some monster hunting then." I said and then I patted Dana's back and then stood up and looked at her getting a small smile on my face since I really liked to hang out with friends and I far preferred social activities than actually doing any work at school since doing school work was just not in any way my cup of tea. Dana looked at me and then she seemed to be thinking more about this idea of us going monster hunting.

"Maybe we should go monster hunting during school next week. How about like Tuesday or Wednesday?" Dana asked and then I nodded thinking that this was a good idea to do it on Tuesday so I would be able to have a couple of days to sort of chill out after I was done hanging out with Kevin. I then started to walk to Kevin's house since I vaguely remembered him telling me where he lived so I thought that I could be able to find it all on my own and Dana was just watching me wondering if this was a good idea or if she should try and give me some idea on where to find his house.

As I was walking on my way to Kevin's house, I gave up on that after a few feet and then placed my skate board on the ground and then I started to skate as fast as I could since I wanted to get there just as fast as humanly possible so that way I can not be outside for a super long time. I did not want to deal with any monsters and I was thinking that if there was a monster or two that found me, then I would be totally fucked since I have nothing in the world that I could be able to defend myself with.

It took me about thirty to forty minutes to skate my way to Kevin's house, since I knew that he lived past Wayside and I was having to roam a couple of streets a couple of times to find the exact house but I was able to find it pretty easily when I found a staircase by the side of the street. I got myself off of the skateboard and then grabbed the skateboard as I stared at the large stairs leading to his house. I smiled as I started to walk up the stairs, I was thinking about the stuff I can do on my first sleepover in Wayside.

I knocked on Kevin's door and I waited for him to answer. As I was waiting for him to answer the door, I thought about what he had said earlier about Sam and how Sam was just this horrible person and how I needed to get myself ready for that. I was also thinking that Kevin was still over hyping how bad his brother was and that I would actually be able to get along with him. Kevin answered the door and he seemed to need a second or two to process this but soon enough he remembered and then he turned to the side to let me in the house and then I walked inside. I placed the skateboard on the ground and I was taking my shoes off as well since his parents stared at me trying to indicate that I should do so.

I looked up and noticed his parents as I was sort of examining them in a semi full version. They were decently old from what I can tell. His dad looked like he had entirely white hair and he looked like he had a decent amount of wrinkles on him. His mother was not much younger, maybe ten years, which in the perspective of his fathers age, was not a huge amount at all. But they both looked like nice people regardless of that fact and like they did care a lot about Kevin and Sam both.

Kevin looked at me and said "We should be heading to my room now. I have a lot of cool stuff to show you." Kevin said and then I nodded as if to think that this was a good point since if I stayed there too long, then I would lose the point of hanging out with Kevin since that was the whole point of this. I haven't told my parents about this. Hell I haven't talked to my parents once since I started Wayside this week.

Once I was inside of Kevin's room, he closed the door and looked at me. "I just didn't want to risk boring you or anything. When they start talking about stuff related to their past, they will not stop talking and they will go on for hours. Both of my parents are in their older age. My mom was forty nine when she had Sam and fifty two when she had me. My father was eleven years older than her, so sixty when he had Sam and sixty three when he had me. Both much too old to have kids if you ask me." Kevin said and then when he had said this, I agreed with him but I indicated that we should try and keep quiet to risk not hurting his parents feelings.

I sat down on this old brown chair that looked like it was as old as this house and when I sat down on there, Kevin looked at me. "I think that we should just talk about Wayside a bit. Maybe that would be more interesting." I suggested and I was wanting to tell him about the whole monster incident that Dana got me into.

"I can see off of the look on your face that you seemed to be more focused on something that was told to your earlier about school. I have a faint idea that I know what it is going to be. I don't really know. Do you mind telling me what it is, to prove if I am correct or not?" Kevin said and he placed his arms at his lower chin and I thought about it since I was not really sure if they are actually going to be able to believe what I am telling them or not.

"Well, I found out that there are like these things like monsters in our town. I am still sort of confused about it myself, but I think that maybe I need to fight them. I have no idea if the monsters are only at this town or not, but either way, it is still strange for me to really take in all at once. The thing is, I actually seen some of these monsters as well. Like when I saw one last night at the junk yard, and I found something like this." I said and then I pulled out a piece of paper that was on Kevin's desk and then I pulled out the ball from my pocket with the piece of paper to prevent any illusions from coming to me. "If you touch it without any sort of cover, something will show up to you and you will see some form of vision." I handed the ball on over to Kevin and let him hold it for a moment.

As Kevin held it, I was seeing his face turn pale as if he knew exactly what I was talking about and then he handed me the ball in a super serious way and I was starting to get that expression on my face as well. "The monsters are real Todd. I think that maybe you are the one who is going to defeat them since you were able to be the one who found that ball." Kevin said and then I shook my head thinking that this was too much for me.

"I am willing to accept that I need to do at least a large portion of it since I am some form of chosen one or something silly like that. But there is no way in hell that I am going to do this all on my own. I think that you need to help me here, and maybe some of the other members of the Wayside group as well." I said and I saw as Kevin listened. "I mean, there is no way that I alone can do this all. Lets just please be real when we talk about this stuff."

Kevin nodded as if to think that while he did not like to admit it, I did need a lot of help and that I was exactly right about this whole thing. Kevin wondered if he can help me out here tonight while I stay over.

"If you think that I can be able to help you out with the monster hunting tonight, I will try my best. But I doubt that I will be able to really do it. But I can try I suppose." Kevin said and I thought about this, and I was thinking that maybe it was better for him to give me at least some assistance over nothing at all. But I really did not want to do it right now, I was thinking that I was just wanting to take it easy since we had made it through the first day of the school year, and this year was just too much for me to really handle. It was really hard being the nice and good kid, and I doubted that I really would be able to do it.

"Yeah, later tonight. But for now, let's just take it easy." I said and then when I had said that, Kevin calmed down and then when he decided on that, I thought more on what to even talk about. Maybe I can just find something in his room and maybe pull off a conversation with him on that stuff. Then I came up with a random topic I knew would barely work, but could maybe do well for the time being. "How do you think that the future is going to be like with the country thirty to forty years from now?"

"I don't really know. I just know that if I have kids, they need to do school on their own. I will not have anything with school after high school. Honestly, I don't really know if I want to even go through high school in the first place. I just am so tired of school, and that school is just really hard for me to deal with." Kevin said and I was thinking about that.

"Forty years from now. I am probably going to be far away from Minnesota. I haven't been able to stay in a state for more than three years, and then even then I couldn't be able to stay in a school for more than just one year." I said, thinking that if Kevin really wanted to know what happened, I wouldn't mind telling him since I have been there for a week now. "I have a really bad time staying a good student. I really like being a trouble maker, and I can't help it, as horrible as that sounds."

"I never really was a trouble maker nor a good student. I just tried to do good in my classes and I am barely getting any of my school work done or making friends. I am working twice as hard as my brother, and my grades are still only a C average at best, while Sam can fucking slam dunk every single assignment that is given to him and the lowest he has gotten in school was a B. I am glad that I am able to make friends with you though, you seem like a really nice guy so far." Kevin said and then when he had said that, I thought about that.

"My grades never were all that great because I never really did the work in the first place. There is no real reason to even bother. I just can look up the answers the night before on the test and then pass the test." I admitted in a subtle way that I have cheated before on a school test, which at the time I didn't really see the problem of, but as I grow older, I do see why cheating was so awful of a thing. I just was not wanting to study at the time and didn't waste any time on it.

"Was that one of the reasons you were not allowed to do a second year on a certain school?" Kevin asked and then I had to look back in my past and stuff like that. I think that it did happen before, I just needed to remember the grade that it had happened.

"Oh yeah, that was what happened in fourth grade. My parents were really ashamed of that, but then they decided to get over it since I was only in fourth grade and they had thought that I would change the way that I was." I said and while I didn't change that style back then or right now, right around the time of tenth grade or so, I decided to change how I was. But at the time, that was not how it really was. Kevin laughed and he had a face that was indicating that there was no way that he wanted to tell anybody since if he did, that would start to ruin a lot of chance that I would be friends with him.

"I had never cheated. I have gotten somewhat tempted to do so a couple of times to be totally honest, but in the end I never really had the balls to do something like it. I thought it was better to get a shitty grade that was my true grade over a good grade that I knew was false." Kevin said and I think that there was not really too much to talk about on that subject and all of that stuff. We just talked for a couple of hours about school, and I doubt you want to listen to that so I am going to skip to around three or four in the afternoon.

Once it was at this point in the afternoon, I saw that there was somebody who walked inside of the room. I noticed that at first he didn't seem to care all that much about the fact that I was here, if he had even noticed that I was here in the first place. I thought that maybe this was Sam or something, and when I had realized that, I was wondering what to say to him to make him notice that I was here, if I should even be saying something at all. Kevin was staring at me really forcefully as if he wanted to make me not want to talk to him at all. But I thought that I should just give him a chance.

"Hey, are you Sam? I am Todd, one of Kevin's friends that I had met a couple of days ago?" I asked and then the guy looked at me for a moment. As I looked at him for a second, the guy was trying to decide if he should think I was a good guy or anything like that. Kevin was crossing his fingers and I was seeing him do this, and when I saw him do this, I just started to focus on the guy more.

"Yes I am Sam. I thought that Kevin could not be really able to make any form of friends. I thought that he was too scared to do anything like that." Sam said and then he whispered to my ears as if trying to make Kevin not really hear what he had said. "I was starting to think that he was a faggot or something like that." I was starting to laugh when I had heard that. I didn't think that Kevin was like that, but since it was his brother who had said that, I thought that maybe there was a valid point here.

"I hope that we will get along pretty well." I said and then I shook his hand. Sam stared at me and he was trying to decide if he was a fan of me or not. "I just think that things will be pretty good. Kevin was hyping up that you were going to be this horrible person or something like that." I said and then Sam looked at Kevin as if thinking that he had stolen their friendship and like this was actually a really good thing as it would make Kevin lose another thing.

"Well, I am going to be heading out now. I think that you should be careful what you talk to Kevin about." Sam had said and then Sam walked out of the bedroom. Kevin looked at me as if thinking that I was going to finally get this whole thing. Kevin stood up and he placed both of his hands on his face as if he could not really handle the fact that I had talked to his older brother at all. I was trying to figure out what the hell his problem was when I talked with his older brother for just a minute or two.

"I didn't really think he was all that bad of a guy. I think that maybe you should just take it easy with the hate on Sam a little bit." I said and then Kevin sat down and then he just shook his head at me. I decided that maybe this was a good thing for me to just let it all go. "I am going to drop the subject right now. I think we should talk about something else entirely."

"Yeah, I agree. We need to head out and maybe do some monster hunting. I am more interested in that stuff right now. I think that the monster hunting will actually be pretty exciting honestly." Kevin said and then he looked around and then he looked around and found the green jacket that he had used every once in a while. Usually when he was in the forest and he was trying to look like a really cool war guy. I then started to get ready for the monster hunting as the monster hunting was the only thing that I was really wanting to do right now since I felt like it would really make up for the fact that Kevin and I had almost got into a huge fight over the whole Sam deal.

Eventually the two of us left the bedroom and when we were out of the bedroom. Kevin looked at his parents. "Todd and I are going to be hanging out for a little while outside. We will be back tonight." Kevin said and then when he had said that, his mother stood up and looked at the two of us. She started to look down my clothes as if trying to figure out if I was a good kid or not. Which she probably was able to figure out right away, like a smart person, that I was not.

Before they even could really figure out what the hell I was doing, the two of us were out of the house entirely. Kevin turned around and looked at me. "So where are we going to start our monster hunting?" Kevin had asked and then when he had thought about this for a moment. I started to think about this, and I was thinking that maybe the park would be a good place to start this whole thing off.

"How about we go to the park? I think that we can get some information there. If we don't find anything by like six or seven in the evening, then maybe we can ask Dana for some help. Later on, if nothing comes up by like ten or something, then we should probably give up and just head home." I said and then Kevin seemed to agree with me and then we started to head on our way down the stairs in order to start our super awesome monster hunting.

As Kevin and I were walking in the direction of the park, I was getting sort of excited for the idea of all of the monster hunting. "I have a feeling that we are only going to be fighting monsters during the night time, since that is the only time I saw a monster in public. I mean, there was a monster in the afternoon, but that was in Wayside, which was inside of a building, and I doubt that we are going to see anything different from that. Just using the previous context that we have so far here." I pondered out loud as Kevin considered if this was possible.

"Well, we are going to figure this out once we get to the park. I can't believe that we are doing this in the first place." Kevin groaned at the very idea of a monster finding us and that being more material for Sam to make fun of him. I seriously did not get what the hell was going on with him and Sam, and I was thinking that maybe I just needed a little bit more context with this before I went back home since that way Sam would not really judge us for what we were talking about.

Kevin and I sat down on a bench, and I bet that the two of us just looked really strange just seemingly skipping school and not doing anything in that time besides just sitting down like a bunch of retards. "Well, you said that this was your second year at Wayside. What was your first year like? I am thinking that it was probably more interesting than my first week or so here, minus the whole trash compactor incident." I looked over at Kevin and that was when he had thought about that for a moment.

"I think that my first year at Wayside was a little strange in hindsight. Nothing like a bunch of monsters or anything like that, but I think that there were a couple of other things that made it super strange. I guess I don't really mind letting you know about this stuff since you have been here for a week or so now." Kevin looked at the park and the eight year olds playing there, wondering how many of them were going to Wayside. "When I first started at the school, I met Dana and Maurecia and Jenni. Didn't meet Steven until I was here for a few days. When I first met them, I didn't think too much of them at the time. Although they seemed to grow on me, and one of them in particular was really nice to me..."

I looked over at Kevin and then when I saw the look at his face, I was starting to think that maybe there was something romantic going on here now. "Dana just kept telling me about all of the rules of the school, just acting like the rules were the only thing that mattered. Maurecia seemed to be always in a really bad mood, and that was something that many of the people thought would never be fixed. I guess when you came here, you started to change that thing since you seem to make her happy when she is in the same room as you."

"Honestly though, Jenni was just so nice to me. When I met her, she was instantly wanting to talk to me and make me feel welcome. She acted like I was already a good part of the class room when I had only been there for a couple of hours. She let me know about all of the details of the school and she never got annoyed with me once in the first few weeks of the school year, just as I was getting used to the school." I looked and wondered what else Kevin would tell me about his school year.

"The principal was really strange. He always acted like he was having no idea what students were or anything. After I was making some friends of my own, I started to do some more adventurous things in the town. We would hang out late at night and I would never get in trouble since my parents were always too busy sleeping. I went to this place that looked like a factory in my first month or so of the school year and I decided to hang out there. At the time Myron was with me, and he seemed to be really ambitious at that moment." It was when Kevin had told me about the factor that I started to get really worried.

"What exactly happened in the factory?" I asked and that was when Kevin stopped his story for a moment. He was just staring several yards away and I was starting to see that he was getting a little bit scared of what he was going to tell me.

"I walked inside of the factory and I saw that nobody was working there anymore. I assume that the shift was over, and I thought that maybe we had time to do whatever we wanted. I walked up to the machines and then I found a red button. Myron was standing next to me as I pressed the red button. But right as I pressed the red button, I was shocked when nothing happened. But then I heard a crashing noise. I turned around and saw the guy in the purple jacket." Kevin stopped and that was when I found a great question that I could ask him.

"What the hell? Who is that person? What were they even doing there? I can't believe that you actually went in there in the first place." I made a bunch of questions and then Kevin rolled his eyes as if wishing that I waited for the story to be finished and then I stopped. I knew that he just wanted to finish the story, so I stopped and let him do just that.

"The look on his face, was no surprise, utter sinister. He looked like the fact that I was here in the first place made him very happy. He came towards me and then he held onto my sides. Then he stared right at me and as I was being stared at, I thought that he was going to choke me or something but then before I could defend myself or anything, he threw me right down onto the ground and then he was about to step on me and choke me by placing his foot onto my neck and then that was when Myron jumped on him and then he yelled out me to get out of the factory. I did so, and then I ran out as fast as possible. Myron ran out of the factory a moment later and then once we were out of the factory, I stared at Myron and apologized for what happened. That day seemed to change Myron and he seemed to be much more scared about the most easy of things now." Kevin told me and then I wondered if Myron was ever going to change.

"Do you think that Myron will ever become the way that you say that he was originally? It would be a shame if Myron will always stay the strange coward man that he has been lately. He didn't do too much to fix the whole door incident yesterday. Not that I can really blame him to be totally honest." I stood up and then when I had said that, I thought I saw something in the distance.

"Do you see that? I think that maybe this might be a monster nearby or something." Kevin said as he pointed in the exact same direction that I looked. I was so glad that Kevin was thinking in the same way that I was thinking of there. Kevin and I walked down the street and as we were getting closer it looked more obvious to be a monster.

"I think we have our first monster that we can take care of." I started to run towards the monster and Kevin was just a couple of steps behind me. I never really thought that I would be slower than Kevin on anything in my life. I thought that maybe Kevin would be faster since the fact that I have gotten into trouble all of the time and it looked like Kevin could be able to become a decent track star or something like that.

Kevin and I reached the forest and when we were inside of the forest, I looked at Kevin. I hated being in the forest, and just the very fact that I was inside of the forest just made me way too scared to really go anywhere for a little bit. "The forest really scares me. I don't really know if I can track this monster down after all. I think I should probably stay behind now." I said and then Kevin placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Todd, you came up with the idea to do monster hunting. Not me. So we need to head there right now and destroy this monster." Kevin said and then as Kevin had said this, I nodded. I didn't like it, but he was indeed right. Kevin and I started to run down the pathway of the forest and as we were getting closer, the monster, which looked like a black dog with some sort of sharp teeth and green goo on their teeth was starting to get slower and it had looked like we were going to beat them in terms of speed now.

Eventually, Kevin and I were only a few feet away from the monster. That was when the monster turned over at me and they held out both of their hands and that was when I realized that they were able to go on and walk. I then sat down and then grabbed something that looked like a stick. I then stood up and then I held it with both of my hands. Kevin looked over at me and he seemed to be thinking that there was no way in hell that a stick was going to beat this thing. "Well Kevin, if you have something else we can use, how about you give me some ideas then?"

"I don't have any of the things that I could have used for fighting this thing. Guess that I only have what is in the area." Kevin said and then he looked down and he grabbed a rock. He grabbed the rock and then he threw the rock right at the wolf, thinking that this was going to be how he would take the thing out. Instead the wolf just got hit off to their side, and then the wolf started to run right in the direction of Kevin.

Right when the monster was about to hit Kevin and then scratch him up and eat him like he was going to die, I used the stick as that was the only thing that I could actually use. The monster just got moved back a couple of inches due to the large amount of force I had put into that strike. When the monster feel on down to the ground, Kevin looked at me and then he took a sigh of relief. "I was probably going to die if that thing actually attacked me the way that they were originally planning."

"I think that we don't really have anything that can actually do some real damage to this monster." I said and then looked down at the sharp end of the stick. I walked up to the monster as they stood up again and had a horrible idea. Then I stabbed the monster right in the chest hoping that can take the monster out. There seemed to be a short struggle and then after they struggled for a bit, the monster blew up and then I sat down on the ground staring at Kevin. "Maybe I really am over my head with this whole monster business after all."

Kevin and I started to walk out of the forest and as we were walking out of the forest, I was starting to think about all of the stuff that went on in my previous school. "Hey Kevin, how would you feel if I told you that one time, I had to work together with this horrible girl in my class in order to stop some robbers from stealing shit in school? It was kind of a crazy experience, and I doubt you would believe me, but in hindsight it does help me appreciate that jackass a little bit more than I had before." I said as Kevin and I were now out of the forest and as Kevin and I were walking home, I decided to take my turn to tell a story.

"So it started a couple of weeks before I had gone out and started to head to Wayside. There was this girl named Joy, and she was kind of a dick to me. We were in the same grade, and even same class. I would never have any luck with the women, and she always enjoyed making fun of me. We were studying for what was going to be our final and when we did so, she walked up to me and started to spit on my homework thinking that I had no chance of passing. But then I got up and walked in front of her. For once, I started to have the courage to take her on. I grabbed her shirt and told her to stop getting in my way. I even raised up my fist to get ready to take her on. I even saw her get a look of terror now." I started to feel bad when I had said that, thinking I took it too far now.

"But before the fight could escalate, there were two older people who were in their thirties who walked in the school. They both had things that looked like trash bags and they had a gun in their pockets. When they took out a gun, they shot a bullet at the ceiling to bring up their attention. Everybody stopped what they were doing. I looked at Joy and dropped her down. When I had dropped her down, we both hid for a little bit as the robbers yelled their intent out loud. Eventually, after hiding for a bit, I had enough. I wanted to save the day. But as I stood up, Joy stopped me and suggested a truce for us to save the day together. I saw the look on her face and saw that she had meant it. We agreed to her idea of a truce and we started to work together to take the robbers down, which was something that had a better chance of working than I ever thought it would." I continued as the story started to become much more vivid than before.

"Joy and I went to our class room and remembered what our teacher had told us earlier. We found all of the teacher baseball bats from the cabinet and then when we grabbed our baseball bats, we left the classroom. Joy admitted to me that she was sorry for making fun of me and that she was impressed that I stood up for myself for once.

When I heard her say that, I smiled and said that I just had enough, to which Joy admitted she was sorry about.

But before we could continue our motivational conversation, we found the robbers and I could not believe that I was doing this at all, consider they had fucking guns and we had fucking base ball bats. None of it made any sense at all. The two of them fired their guns at us and we ran to the side and missed the bullets

The robbers started to walk up to us and I could not believe what the fuck I was about to do. I slammed the baseball bat at right at the persons neck and when I did so, Joy stood in utter shock at what I did and then the robber fell down onto the ground, and he didn't move for a little bit. I could not believe what I did, and I thought that I would get expelled again for this. Joy hit the base ball on the leg of the other guy and then the guy fell to his knees.

Joy looked down and saw some of the stuff that the person stole. I then walked up to that robber behind him and then slammed the baseball bat right at the back of his neck as hard as possible. I dropped the baseball bat and then when I did Joy stared at me as if wondering what type of tendencies I had and if I was going to ever do something like that again. But before she could say anything, the teachers and students walked in the hall way to see what I did and then they saw the base ball bats and the two guys on the ground not moving.

Joy defended me and for once in her life, actually was there for me. She said it was for self defense. The teacher walked up to the baseball bat and then he looked down at me and told me that he never expected something like this from me, more like from Joy. He reported this to the staff and then a week later my expulsion was made official." I was almost done with this and then I added in one final bit to the story.

"On my final day of the school year, Joy walked up to me before I left that school for the final time. She grabbed my face with a lot of pressure and before I could defend myself, I saw that she was kissing me. The kiss lasted a few seconds and that was my first ever kiss. She said that this was my reward for saving the school and that she wished I was around for another year, and that way we could date or something. I moved to Wayside three months later, just two days before the school year started. That summer, Joy and I hung out a lot. Our former rivalry was gone and it seemed like we were dating. We even slept together in August, and that was my first time ever doing that. On my final day before moving to Wayside, she said thank you one final time and that I was the hero of that school and then she said that she loved me. I said the same thing and then I went inside my parents car to drive to Wayside, where I will probably never see her again." I finished and then at that moment, decided I needed to move on from Joy. She was a first love, and I needed to look at the others. Maybe Dana would do.

When Kevin and I reached the stair case to Kevin's house, Kevin looked at me. "Do you want to hang out outside a bit or should we just go inside the house?" Kevin gave me the offer as I considered that, it would be pretty fun to stay there for a little while longer, and to not really worry about stuff at all. "We can go back to the park, this time without the idea of fighting monsters or anything." After he proposed the idea of them just chilling in the park, that was when I decided that we should do this after all.

"Yeah, let's go down there actually. I don't really want to just stay in your house any longer. I hope you don't take any offense to me saying that." I agreed as Kevin and I started to walk down the stairs once again and then we were on the way to the park. The two of us were just sort of thinking about what we were going to do now, since we were probably not going to just stay in the park for a terribly long time, but honestly I just wanted to take a short break. I mean the monsters were a big deal, but honestly I don't really think I can handle taking on multiple at once.

"I just didn't want to be in the same house as Sam, and hanging out with you would be a good excuse to do exactly that. I feel sorry for acting like that, but I thought that you would still want to be outside of the house for a little bit longer. I was kind of shocked by the story that you told me about Joy and everything. Like I didn't know that you had done anything like that. But when Dana had asked you about what you had done and you said that you did nothing like that, why did you lie about it?" Kevin questioned as I could not believe that he was actually asking that question. Why the hell would I tell them the truth of that on my first day?

"I didn't want people to think that I was this terrible person on my very first day of being in Wayside. I think that honestly if I told them the truth, they would never want to talk to me ever again. I do honestly think that as the year goes on, people will start to care less and less about all of this stuff. I just really could not believe what had happened either. That was another real reason why I did not really want to tell them the truth on the first day that I was here or anything." I explained as I was thinking about what had happened as well as Joy and stuff.

"Who do you think that you would go on a date with if you had a crush on anybody here?" Kevin asked and I was assuming that he was wanting me to not answer Jenni, since he liked her. Honestly, he did not really have to worry about that. I only talked with Jenni like twice in my life. There was no way in hell that I could end up liking her or anything like that.

"I think that if I were to date anybody in the school, it would probably be Dana. I would not mind dating Maurecia, but she is just so stubborn and I don't really know if I can handle a relationship with two really stubborn people. I think we would just be too similar for the sake of having a good relationship and stuff." I answered as I thought that this would be a good answer, and I hoped that Kevin would be keeping that to the two of us. "Please don't tell Maurecia about this. If she finds out about this, she will freak out and she will punch me and all that stuff."

"Honestly, I wouldn't tell Maurecia. If I did tell her, she would freak out and she would act like you have betrayed the entire school or something like that." Kevin told me and then the two of us sat down on the bench of the park, just talking about various things throughout the next few hours until the night was over.

When it was about ten in the evening, the two of us headed on to Kevin's house and I felt like Kevin would actually be fine with it since he was barely going to be awake there and all of that stuff. I did talk with Kevin about some stuff that we had to do in class for the next few hours, and then I promised Kevin that later I would tell him about my time in the previous school in Iowa a little bit better and what living in Iowa was exactly like actually. Kevin seemed excited when I had told him that.

Soon enough, when we were all done with this, I headed on home and said that I had a great time with Kevin, even with that monster hunting that had almost killed us. But I said that part super quietly since I did not want anybody to hear us and get us in trouble for a stupid choice that we had made earlier. I walked on home and when I was walking on home, Kevin was thinking about what to do now.

Kevin walked on his way to the table in his bedroom. As he sat down on the chair, he was thinking about what to do now. He thought that he should try to find something to do. Perhaps to create some form of new hobby or something like that. It was a strange idea, but he thought that it would help pass time. He then found a black notebook in one of the drawer cupboards in the table. Then he opened it to see that nothing was on it. Kevin remembered that he had gotten this for Christmas a long ass fucking time ago. He then grabbed a blue pen and then wrote on the first page "My name is Kevin, and I just hung out with my friend Todd today."

When Kevin started to write that down, he had gotten lost in the writing of that silly journal. Soon enough, he had wrote four pages of material that had described the first week or so of the school year, just trying to make the whole thing make sense. Once he had written the full four pages happened to almost be on cure when I reached my house. The rest of the week end was pretty un eventful and the second week of the school year basically had nothing happen. So I will just skip through the next few days as a short summary until I reach the next next Friday.

On Monday, I went to school and Dana was told about the time that I hung out with Kevin on. Kevin had told her about it. I didn't really mind that he had told her. It was not like she needed to be left in the dark about what we did that night. It was really no big deal. Plus, I think she would have liked the fact that we did some of the monster hunting. After I told her that I needed a weapon, Dana thought about that for how she can get me something that I can personally use to defeat the monsters with. This made me interested, but I had no idea where she was actually heading with this at all.

On Tuesday, I was just working a little bit to sort of catch up on the school work that I was starting to already get really behind on. However, soon enough, I was called to the office and was told that I needed to step up and accept my actions for letting the class nearly die and the fact that I created a hole in the ground and broke the window. I was considered to do a huge amount of damage. As a result, he gave me a one hour detention. I accepted him and what I did need a lot of punishment. So I did the detention. The first of a shit ton.

In my third day of being in the second week of my class, I finally turned in my first assignment of the school year. When I turned it in, I thought that turning in at least some things into the class would get the teacher to not think that I was a terrible student too much. The teacher just nodded and acted like I was just a average student.

On Thursday, the fourth day of the week, I just sat down and talked with Jenny and Dana about some stuff like the upcoming dance of that school year. There was actually one per quarter held on the last Friday of that quarter. I was actually really excited when I had heard this, thinking that I can finally dance publicly. The first one was going to be on the last Friday of October, since the quarter ended the Tuesday afterwards, and I had assumed that maybe I would ask a girl out to the dance. I was considering asking Dana out to the dance on if she would want to go.

As Friday rolled around, Myron was thinking about how to get people to vote for him for being class president. Despite the fact that he was kind of annoying about it, I felt like it was a matter of better him than me. So with that, I considered on how to help him get elected. I told him that he should probably just make some new friends, get popular at the school and just accept peoples different ideas. I did that in my previous school, and even Joy started to appreciate that.

It was only Saturday, one week after the sleep over was over, that I had anything really happen to me. It was when I was hanging out with Dana that was when I was starting to change a lot of stuff here. "I was thinking about the conservation that I had with you a couple of days ago when you said that you needed a weapon." Dana told me and then when she told me this, I was having to think for a moment before I remembered but when I did, I snapped his finger and then she said that she had something to show me. "I really think that you will need this in order to make things go along good. You do need something to fight with monsters, and I think that I found the exact thing that you would need."

I nodded as she explained this, thinking that she did deserve a chance to really show me the merit of this idea. The two of us walked inside of her room, and she was wanting to make it so that her parents did not notice what was going on. "Breaking a rule? That sounds like something that you would never really do in your life." I said and then she was telling me to shut up.

"You don't have to be so open about it. I mean, I don't want anybody to know what I was going to do." Dana said and her parents asked her what was going on with the two of us and then Dana yelled out loud "NOTHING! Just talking about school and homework. Just don't worry about it too much." Dana said, crossing her fingers and hoping that she was not going to be asked too many more questions about this whole thing.

Once we were in her bedroom, she closed the door right away and that was when her parents got a bit more interested. I knew that we had at most three or so minutes before they were going to come knocking on the door. Then Dana, knowing full well of this, opened up a drawer to show me what she was having. It was a mini sword, probably eighteen inches or so. I was shocked that she had gotten this in the first place, and then she had handed it to me. "You are going to have to use this, and take out the monster this way. I think that the monsters will be in fear when they see you with this weapon. I have hope in you." Dana explained and I held the sword and then placed it right under her bed right when the doors open and I was blushing so hard and her father was staring at me. Even Dana could not help but blush.

"You better not be doing what I think you are doing. I will be listening to you very closely right now. If I hear even one peep that sounds like what I think you guys are doing, you will never be allowed back in this house again young man." Dana's dad said and that was when I knew he was thinking that we had been having sex. I mean, honestly I wouldn't mind banging Dana. She is a pretty swell girl and all, but I would do it at my house or something. You know, a place where basically nobody is at all considering basically nobody is in the house it feels like.

Her father headed off soon afterwards, and I took a deep breath and I knew we needed to keep the door open to keep them from thinking any more of this stuff. I held the sword a bit, and I had a strange feeling that I was going to have to use it in battle in the next couple of days. "I think that this will be a terrible idea. If I have to start using it I will basically have no training to even use a weapon like this. So I guess that I should just try and use this on some stuffed dummies or something like that to get some sort of thing going with experience." I said and then I remembered to bring my back pack that day and I placed it in my back pack.

"Well, just try and use it. I think that you need to get used to it really soon. After all, the monsters are everywhere and there is always going to be the need to use that at the back of your mind. You should keep it in your back pack at all times just in case you need to use it at random moments in time." Dana explained and then I nodded as I zipped up my back pack. I sat down and then Dana sat down next to me.

"Todd, you are a pretty good guy honestly. I am glad that you have come to school after all. If you had not, then I don't really know what things would be like in school anymore." Dana said as she looked at me, trying to hide her face and the fact that she was smiling really badly. Her smiles was making it hard for me to not smile at all.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and thought of what to say after all. "Well to be totally real with you, I am just sort of trying to fit in here. I think that the last school was just a lot for me to handle. After all, consider this. I was being made fun of this girl every day and here I am, already rising in ranks to slowly become one of the most popular people in school." I rambled and then that was when I stood up thinking that I had a super awesome idea.

"Oh my god Dana, how about we go outside right now and we try to do some monster hunting? I think that this would be really awesome. We can just say we are hanging out at the park or something like that." I said to Dana as Dana looked up at me and when I had made this offer to her, she was starting to get a little bit of hope in her eyes. Hope that there was going to be something that could destroy the monsters after all and that her faith in me was not mis placed.

"Yeah, I would love to do this. How about we head out right away. Maybe we can try somewhere else than the forest. I mean, I don't want to get dirty. Maybe we can head down to the pier or something." Dana came up with her idea and I decided to agree with her proposal and then we walked outside of her bedroom. Her father was staring at us and even her mother was starting to get somewhat concerned with this as well. I knew that I needed to tell the truth, and tell them where we were going.

"We are just heading down to the pier. We are going to be working on school there." I said and then I placed my hand on my back pack and then I said "I have not really been doing all that great in school and I want to have some good grades this year for once. You see, you daughter is a bright lady." I continued as Dana smiled when I said that, trying to hide the fact that she thought that this was the most romantic shit she had ever heard. "She is one of the very few people who can actually try and turn my grades around. See if the only one who can actually do this." I finished as her parents looked at Dana and she nodded. She was nodding because my grade situation was true. Everything I said was true. Even if it was not our purpose on what we had planned on doing.

"Fine young man, you win this round. I will give you one chance to prove yourself that you are not one of those men. However, you better bring Dana back by nine." Her father decided to concede this battle and then I sighed in relief. I really needed Dana to help me out, and that was super great for him to give me a chance.

Dana and I headed right out the door and before her father could start to get the chance to change his mind, the two of us started to head out as fast as possible. We were out of the block after thirty seconds, thinking that if we weren't away after like a minute or two, then the whole thing would be a bust. Dana and I thought about the exact monster hunting we would get to do.

"I don't really think that we should go too far out of our way to just fight a bunch of monsters. After all, I don't really know how useful this thing is going to be. However, I do think that if we find one, which is not really going to be all that hard considering the town we are in, then we should fight the monsters off and stuff." I said trying to just embrace the fact that nobody was hearing us. The only people in the block like us were just a bunch of construction workers trying to build a couple of houses. I thought that maybe I should live in some of those some time, thinking that the house will be a good place to really stay at.

But before anything could make us continue the idea of possibly finding monsters, I thin that Dana and I did indeed find one. It was when I looked forward and saw the construction zone. Dana looked over for a second to sort of try and admire the stuff in the same way I did, but simply was just not able to. But before she could break that news to me, we both something that looked like a man with a metal face. I looked over at Dana. "I think we should try and check that out. You know, see if that really is a monster after all." I told Dana as she nodded to my idea. Then the two of us started to walk towards the construction.

"Hey stay out of the area, you guys are getting in the way." One of the workers said and then Dana and I started to get faster for their sake since we did not want to make them really pissed off at us, and for good reason.

Once we had made it all the way through the construction working area, which took like ten to fifteen seconds to do, and therefore the workers stopped for that period of time in annoyance to let us pass, saw the thing was standing there and the closer that we got to seeing the monster, there was a thing on their right arm. It was a large silver shield or something like that. Dana looked at me and she was starting to get really scared and I was starting to think that maybe she really did not want to be doing this after all in hindsight when she was seeing what exactly we were going to have to deal with. "Dana, we need to take that thing on, or else the monster will possibly do something to another kid." I said to Dana as she shook her head.

The monster was just standing there, mainly to see what our choice was going to be and mainly to give us a chance to make up our mind on what we were going to do, not that it would really change things at all in the long run. "Todd, I know that I came up with that idea, but honestly that was before I saw exactly what we were going to be going against. I don't really know if I still want to work this off." Dana told me and then I held her hand. I could not believe I was doing this after only knowing her for two weeks, which was a really short amount of time.

"You don't have to fight. Just watch and make sure that I don't really do anything that gets me or anybody else hurt. Do you think that perhaps this is a little bit more of a fair deal?" I suggested as Dana thought about that, and the more that she had thought about it, the more that she was starting to think that maybe this was not exactly a bad idea after all.

"Fine, I will come along, but I will not partake in any battles. If something happens to you though, I can try and get you out of there or something really simple like that." Dana finally agreed, despite the fact that she really did not want to be doing this, she realize that she did need to help me out and that I did need her to be there just in case something happened.

So with that, Dana and I walked down the street as there were cars that were driving by but had to stop in order for us to cross the street. Some of the people behind the wheel were getting noticeably annoyed over this, but they did not want to run us over or anything like that. The honking still pushing me to go even harder, and the smell of the old and worn out and in desperate need of repair construction gear getting away from me, as if I had never had to deal with the smell in the first place. When we were across the street, the monster that we were looking at held out their hands.

They snapped their fingers, which were like a foot of their own and with finger nails that were four inches, which made me want to throw up. After they snapped their fingers, I saw that the monster be on the top of the building. I then dropped my back pack and then I looked over at Dana. I knew that whatever was going to happen, the battle was going to be a hard one. The hardest of the three so far.

"Dana, just remember if something happens, that you were the one who suggested that I fight the monsters in the first place. Just don't let that escape your mind or your reality." I then opened the zipper of my back pack and then grabbed the sword. I could not believe that I was going to climb the building with a sword in my hand, but this was monster hunting after all. Whatever works was going to be what I would need to go with in the end of it all. Then I started to head down the parking lot of that house, which looked like it had not been touched in eons, and I was getting ready to climb it.

Dana was just watching, hoping that this was not really going to be as bad as she was thinking as this whole thing would truly be. I was starting to climb up the tree that was just a couple of inches away from the house, and I thought that this was going to be much better and safer than actually climbing up the real house. It took about two minutes or so for me to do this, but when I had climbed up the entire tree, I then jumped the few inches to be on the of the house. The monster turned around and held up both of their hands. I then pointed the sword at her, thinking that I was just going to get wrecked since I had no training on the sword at all.

I then started to run towards the monster and then the monster just slapped me on the chest right when I was about to swing the first time and then I saw the sword starting to slide away and I was getting worried. Dana was starting to get scared and she knew that her hope in me was so badly placed that I was probably going to die soon, and that she was going to be responsible for my death.

I started to crawl towards the sword and then I grabbed it. Once I had grabbed the sword the monster started to try and step on me. I then swung the sword at their foot and it looked like they were in pain when I did that a little bit. Then the monster started to walk a couple of steps back, which was just enough for me to step up and then Dana was placing her hands at her eyes, and she was starting to regret the idea of having me fight monsters and stuff. When I stood up I swung the sword, just trying to get the monster a little bit more hurt but then the monster punched their hand onto the roof and then when they had done this, the roof broke.

Then when the roof broke, we were inside of the old and dusty house. The entire house was totally silent and the construction working was the only thing that was even making any sort of noise. Dana was walking slowly to the front door of the house, making sure that I was safe and everything. I then started to try and fight the monster but then they grabbed me and then slammed my head against the wall. I felt like I had started to get a little bit of a concussion or something like that. I was thinking that the monster was going to kill me. I then started to push harder and then I lifted my arm up and I realized the sword was in my left hand. After pushing hard enough and raising my hand a little bit, I had cut the arm of the monster.

After I cut off the arm of the monster, I stood in a normal way and had my sword looking right at the monster, and I was thinking that this was something I should have never gotten into in the first place. The monster raised their one hand up that was still on their body. Confused at what the hell was going on, I then saw the monster start to bring a light on their hands.

When I started to realize what was going on, I started to run away but I couldn't even a couple of steps away and then I was hit by the charging light and then it shot me outside of the building and then the house was on fire. Then I landed on the ground and I was right next to the back pack and then I placed the sword in my hand and zipped it up. I screamed at the top of my lungs and yelled "THIS IS FUCKING CRAZY!"

The monster then started to watch the house burn down and when the house was starting to hit the ground, I saw the monster just staring at me and their left hand was holding their cut off right hand. I saw a look of absolute hatred on their eyes. The monster started to fade away and I knew that I was going to have to destroy that monster sooner or later, despite the fact that I knew that there was no real way that I could pull this off.

I then stood up and then I stared at Dana, shocked that I did not have half of my body destroyed. I saw that there was a little bit of a hole in my shirt. I then looked at my hand and saw a bunch of scars on it. Dana looked down at me. "Sorry for all of this." Dana said and then she looked around.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go to the fucking pier and not deal with any fucking monsters. I need to get some training, I will do that later." I said and then Dana saw something on the ground. She started to walk up to it and I was scared what the hell she was going to find but then I didn't have any more fear when I saw that the thing was just a blue shirt.

"I think that maybe you should wear this. Make up for ruining your brown one." Dana said and then she walked up to me and then I took off my brown shirt. Dana looked away when she saw my for a twelve year old decent abs. I then grabbed the shirt and then placed the shirt on to me, which was going to be the start to my iconic shirt that i would wear for the rest of the year. Don't ask why I didn't bother taking it off. I just never felt the desire to do so. "Yeah, let's just go to the pier now." With that, I placed the back pack on my back and then we walked towards the pier to hang out there.

"I am really sorry for all of this. I didn't really know that it was going to be this bad. You have to believe me. If I had known any better, I would have never given you this quest in the first place. Will you be willing to forgive me?" Dana said and I was wiping the dirt off of my new shirt and I knew that she had meant it, and that made it a lot better for me, knowing that she was not just giving out some fake apology or something like that and that she was being truthful there.

"It really is not that big of a deal. I am still going to do this monster hunting, although not rally for you though. I hope you don't take any offense to me saying that. But I have already started to do it, and I feel the need to go with this still. I hope that all of the monsters can be destroyed by the end of the year, as I feel like this can be a good way to end this whole thing off. I never thought for even a minute when I joined Wayside though that this was going to be what my life would be like. It is kind of amusing to be totally honest with you." I responded as Dana thought about that and realized it was actually a hint interesting after all.

"I guess anything is more interesting than working on silly dusty work books all day. I still think there should be at least some rules to this whole thing though, so we don't go over board with this whole thing. Since you know, I don't want anybody to die." Dana finished her thought as we were getting towards the front of the pier and both of us silently agreed to let the conversation end there and we can talk about normal school stuff.

Once we sat down on a bench in the pier, I looked over at Dana and was thinking about how to ask her, hoping that I was not going to get her off beat when I did this and that she did not feel scared of me asking her and stuff. "Hey Dana, is there anybody that you like? Is there anybody that you could see yourself going out with?" I questioned, hoping inside that I was going to be the lucky bloke.

"Well, I guess that there is one person that I kind of like. Just barely know him though. He seems to be very busy though, you know, just doing jobs and stuff." Just hearing the subtle jabs that Dana was making made me think that she actually was indeed talking about me, and I was trying to figure out what to say about that and how to handle it. "I think he is a really nice guy, and I think he will work do anything that is for the best of his peers, and that is what I think is a really good trait for somebody to have."

"Yeah I wish I could really be somebody there for the community. I have tried to be that way in the past, but I guess that maybe it is just not something I am really destined to pull off. I have only been here for two weeks, and yet I feel like there is a need, a desire to help out as much as I can. I feel like I need to not waste my time being home all day every day fucking around and being useless pretty much." I explained and when I explained it in this tone, Dana looked up and then shook her head, not believing that I had exposed her this easily.

"Guess I was not really all that secretive about it. Strange, I read up on rules all the time, including the rules of relationship and stuff, and yet even with all of this study, I was not able to really pull it off. Maybe research is not all that you really need when it comes to stuff like this. But yes, if you could not figure it out, you were the guy I was talking about earlier. You really seem like a true and genuine guy, and that is what I think we all need right now." Dana confessed and I thought about what she had just told me there.

"To be honest with you, I kind of like you as well. I was not really sure how well you were going to take that, but it seems as if you are perfectly cool with that. That makes me truly feel a lot better about this whole thing. So Dana, I am thinking now, what do you think about just giving this whole thing a chance would be?" I crossed my fingers, hoping that this was going to seal the deal after just two weeks of being at Wayside.

"I think it would be a great thing to try out. I was hoping that you would be feeling this same way. It makes me feel a lot better that you do, makes me feel like I'm not so silly after all." Dana sighed and then that was when we were going in for our first round on all of this, something I was not really expecting us to do so early, but I guess when you're just twelve years old you want to dive right the fuck in I suppose.

Before we even thought it out, Dana and I had our first kiss. It lasted only five five seconds, probably because neither one of us were really too sure what to do with that, and when we were done, both of us were trying to figure out what had actually just happened, thinking that this was a terrible mistake for the first few seconds. But then we both got over that thought and decided to embrace what we just did after all.

Dana and I seemed to not really care about the fact that people were looking at us and were wondering what two twelve year old kids were doing acting like we were some form of couple. We were young, and I didn't give a shit that we were young. She was a lovely girl and she considered me to be a good man. Both of these things added up seemed like we were just meant to be a couple. Well, I will just say that it wasn't really that way, but we didn't really know better. "Todd, do you think that Myron actually does have a true chance of being class president?"

"Maybe he could. I am not really too sure. I don't really know though. He needs to change his act by a lot though if he does think that he can be class president. Maybe down the year, if he can get his act together, but not now. We're only two weeks into the school year though, so it is very fast to be judging this in my honest opinion." I answered what I thought about the matter and Dana seemed to remain silent probably because she did not want to try and make her friend sound like a idiot but at the same time she knew that I was right about this. Plus, she did not want to be in a place where it was a 'her friend or her boyfriend' type of ordeal.

The two of us started to head out of the pier and I always remembered the pier as the spot where I started to date Dana. As we were talking about Myron and how he would do if he won trying to keep it fair I suppose, the two of us were just holding our hands the whole time and people were starting to pick up pretty quickly that we were a couple. Even Jenny who was passing by and saw us noticed that.

"Wow, you guys got into pretty fast. I thought it would be a couple of months or something." Jenny winked and then she looked at me. "Just make sure you guys are careful around Maurecia. If she finds out oh lord will she be mad." Jenny walked on and then I started to remember Maurecia. The whole reaction she was going to have when she found out was going to be unbearable. It was almost going to ruin the idea of this relationship and even Todd knew that.

We hung around for a little bit longer and the sun was setting. "I think we should be heading home now. I know that my parents are probably wondering where I am right now. Don't want to keep them waiting for too much longer." Dana told me and I knew that she was right and that was when I decided to start leading her way down the way onto her home. I really did not want to get off on a bad footing with her parents the very first day that Dana and I are dating. I think we should keep that quiet with the parents for a week or two before they learned about this and then maybe we can droop the bomb on them.

"I hope that when Maurecia does find out, she doesn't act like a fucking nuke. I am scared that she is going to call people like you a traitor. I made my choice, and I have a feeling that she is not going to take the news well at all." I told Dana, thinking about that more than anything and I was just really not wanting to deal with any of that silly controversy and stuff. I bet that Dana felt the same way, not really wanting to deal with that nonsense. Which to be fair, it was nothing short of just nonsense.

"Todd, don't worry about it. Maurecia will get over it fast. She will be sad for a little bit but she will get over it soon enough. I am sure of that. Just let her have some space, don't bother her about it too badly and then when she calms down, then things will be the way that they should. Maurecia will be friends with us again and when she is friends with us again, then maybe we can go down and start to hang out and do some monster hunting. If you are still into the monster hunting idea that is." Dana got quiet when she had said that and then I nodded.

"Yes I am still wanting to do that. I just need to be training for a little bit. Once I get a decent amount of training done, then I will be more than happy to do some monster hunting. That is the truth." I responded and then Dana reminded silent at that, hoping that the whole thing would not get any worse.

Once we were fifteen feet away from Dana's house, we kissed once more and then she headed on home. I was not really ready to go home. I thought that maybe I could go down to the forest for a bit. I hated the forest. It was the worst part of the city in my opinion from what I have seen. But I was into the idea of training there. You know, having the worst part of the city being the place of my motivation I guess.

As I was heading down to the forest, that monster that I was fighting earlier that day was talking to the man in the purple jacket. He was standing behind a old worn down house. That was where his base of operations was. He was waiting for that monster to give an update on the situation and he was ready to bring out his best monsters to destroy me and the rest of my friends. He was ready to take big measures now. Once the monster was within two feet from the man in the purple jacket, he looked at the monster and he was ready to talk with the monster about the progress so far.

"I had great confidence in you and yet you seemed to be failing to do the one thing that I had asked you to take care of. I don't really think that I want to give you a second chance to take the children out. But who knows, I might give you yet another chance soon enough. But for now, I have a great plan that I think you will really enjoy." The man in the purple jacket said and then he took out his left arm and then the monster knew what the plan was going to be. There was a mixed feeling of emotions they felt when they pieced it all together.

"I have eight monsters that I have brought together. These eight monsters will be what I will be using for the next while to take down Todd and his friends. BlackMetalgreymon, BlackWereGarurumon, BlackGarudamon, BlackMegaKabuterimon BlackLilymon, BlackZudomon, BlackLadyAngemon, and BlackMagnaAngemon. I have been trying to bring them all together in the hopes that they will be working with me. I will be sending them one at a time to kill these kids as eight tests of power given to them." The man in the purple jacket explained to the monster and the monster was glad that this was actually working out perfectly.

"What is the point of taking only one of them out at a time to destroy Todd? Shouldn't you just throw them all at the group and then just once they all die, then everything can just be moving forward once again?" The monster questioned the man in the purple jacket and then he looked at the monster and then he was considering what was going on. There was nothing that he could say that could really make this monster get where their goals were coming from, and that was a big problem on having them be a worker on their front.

"Well, let me explain this a little bit for you. If I send them all in at once, on the off chance that Todd is able to destroy them all, then I would have nothing to really work with. I do not want that. That would ruin everything. I need some as a back up in case he manages to beat one or two of them. One at a time is the best way to look at it believe it or not." The man in the purple jacket explained and told his exact way of one at time.

"I will send one of them out every Saturday. So once every week. I will let him have this week off, give him a fair fighting chance. And with each week he managed to defeat the monster, if he does so, I will give him another week off to live and then I will keep this up until they are either all dead or until he wins the whole thing, which one comes first. This gives you eight weeks. You better train up in this time to become as powerful as possible. Because if Todd manages to destroy them all, you are the back up that I am going to be using and you will have a chance at redemption." The man in the purple jacket told the monster as the two of them looked out through the lights of the artificial city and more at what the true feeling of it was like.

"The school year is young still. We only are at the end of the second week. These people are still very early on in their lives. They might still be able to see what things really should be like in this world. I think they still have a chance. I need to focus on Kevin though. It is very important to remember he is the main goal out of all this." The leader explained to his monster counter part.

"What is so special about Kevin? He's just a boy. There is nobody really there to help him. The only ones that might give you are some trouble are Todd and Sam. And even they are not going to destroy you in the long term. I just don't really understand it if you don't mind me saying." The monster voiced their confusion as their master remained silent.

"When you have been fighting for as long as I have, then you would understand why I would need him. He is the key to everything, even if you do not believe in me. I have a method to my madness. I have a way of working through all of this that even you may not get. I don't blame you for not getting it, but I don't want to see you going around and questioning me because I will start to think you don't really want to work with me anymore." The man in the purple jacket looked at the other monster and they both knew what exactly that would have actually meant.

"Sorry master. I know it is not really my place to question your ideas. I was just wondering. I will leave you be. You are right, I should be focusing on improving my skills on the extremely small chance that those children are able to destroy the eight tests that you are giving them." The monster talking with the man in the purple jacket said and then they started to head off and leave their master be. The man in the purple jacket seemed to enjoy the fear of even their apprentices.

"The school year is young." The man in the purple jacket said a second time and they just loved the idea of scaring everybody that was working with them with that fact and the ideas that he had. Spreading fear and chaos was one of their great joys in life. But despite that, there was a little bit of a rhyme or reason to it. But he did not really want to go into that with anybody besides Kevin if he ever would go into it with Kevin.


	19. The Mansion

Chapter 18: The Mansion

The school week was pretty fun. On Monday when I went to school, I had Maurecia come up to me and she was wanting to make some romantic advances on me and everything. But then Dana came up to me and held my hands for a moment. As she was holding my hands to seal the deal to everybody that we had gone to school with of our relationship, Maurecia looked terrified as if I had betrayed her or something silly like that. For the next few days, Maurecia seemed to sort of be in a trance of depression that would only end when she had fully accepted the relationship I had with Dana.

I remember when I started to hang out with Maurecia on Monday and I was trying to get her to calm down, and she really did not seem like she was having any of it. I was trying to get her to understand that we were friends regardless of what the situation was and that us dating did not ruin anything. No matter what way I tried to deliver this to her, she would always tell me that I had broken her heart enough. I rolled my eyes. I barely even knew her.

In Tuesday of the week, I was thinking about how to get along with Myron better. I mean, I genuinely wanted to like the guy and he wasn't really all that bad once you got used to the whole class president act, but god he could be so fucking annoying sometimes. I mean I like Kevin, I like Dana obviously, I even like Maurecia a bit even though we were not dating, but Myron was the sort of mixed bag one. I promised Myron that we would hang out on Saturday and that we can perhaps go and watch some silly movies. When we discussed this Mryon wondered if Dana would come and I said that it would depend if he wanted her to.

Myron said it would be pretty interesting to have Dana with us to sort of have him see what the bond between her and I are like first hand. I felt like it was a little strange when he was wording it this way. But then again, Myron was her best friend and he was probably just having this protection feeling going on. So while it was a little annoying, I did understand it enough. Besides, what would really be done if I just let her come along. It wasn't like Myron would never want to talk to me again and I held her hands or something dumb like that. Myron was triggered easily, but it wasn't really like that.

On Wednesday, Kevin and I were talking about what the relationship about Dana and I would be like. I was talking to her about just how great I was the last few days and how being with her really made my time here bright. Kevin admitted that he wished he had that type of relationship. He seemed to be a little bit jealous when he had said that, and I did feel a little bad for him when he had told me that.

I told Kevin that he just needed to look around for a while and that soon enough they would be able to find a girl. He did not really seem to believe me and the more that I tried to reassure him the more that I was seeing him wanting to give up and quit this conversation. I decided to respect his wishes and drop the subject. We talked about hanging out next week or something, maybe on Sunday or something.

Thursday was when things seemed to start to repair between Maurecia and I. As we were sitting down and getting ready for class, she walked up to me and she was still looking rather sad. I knew that she was not totally over the fact that I had chosen Dana instead of her, not that I could really blame her. She had said that she was sad over the fact that I liked her less than Dana but that she was going to support my choice if that was what I really deemed to be what I had wanted.

Maurecia and I decided that we were not going to let this get in the way of our friendship and that we were going to remain friends regardless of the situation. I thanked her for finally understanding where I was coming from and when I thanked her, I could tell that she was much happier. For the first time since I moved to Wayside, she talked to me civilly and like she actually cared about what I wanted to talk about. We talked about Mrs. Jewel's class and how excited I was for the Halloween party soon.

Friday was the longest and most dragged out day it felt like. Just listening to the teacher talk for like a million years felt like death and I was getting excited to just reach lunch period that I didn't even care what I would do during that like forty minute period or so. I just wanted to do something that wasn't just sitting inside of that boring and lame ass classroom. We left the class when the bell rang and went right to the lunch room where I had a really strange conversation with Jenny.

It was the first time that I had talked with her really full on since I had arrived at Wayside. I don't really even know why she was the person out of all people that I was talking with. Jenny was just sitting there and there was a strange feeling that I had that I needed to get to know her a little bit. We just mainly talked about Dana and how my relationship with her was going. I was really wanting to tell her how much Kevin liked her, since I knew that he deserved somebody to date, but I knew that if I told her, then I would be betraying Kevin. And he was somebody I did not want to ruin the friendship with.

It was Saturday, and I had promised to hang out with Myron that day. I was not really sure if this was actually going to be a great idea or not. But I was telling myself that I needed to just give him a honest and fair chance. After all, there was nothing that he had done that was too terrible. But I was wanting to be safe just in case something were to happen. Something like a battle with a monster or something, so I placed my sword inside of the back pack. I was amazed that nobody noticed that I had the sword yet. The only one that had known was Dana, and that was only because she was the one who had given it to me in the first place.

I had been training on the side line when I was alone for most of the nights. I usually trained for about half an hour or so when I was getting ready to go to sleep, and I thought that this was just going to possibly help me out in the long run, but at the same time I was not really too sure at the same time. But when I saw Myron and Dana waiting at her house, I picked them up. "What movie do you guys want to check out?" I questioned as the two pondered their options.

"I don't really have any strong opinions of any one to see. I just want to hang out and have a good time." Myron gave his opinion and then when Myron had said this, I thought about it and shrugged. Dana was just happy to see Myron and I even trying to get along and talk a little bit. She was happy to see her boyfriend and her best friend doing this, since she had thought that we could be good friends and everything.

The three of us didn't need to take to long to get to the movies. It was only like ten to fifteen minutes away, and I was holding Dana's hands. "Dana, I am so glad that you accepted me as your boyfriend. I really respect everything about you." I told her and Dana was thinking about the fact that it had already been a week. It was like the fastest week of her life and she had nothing to say about it to make it sound like a terrible thing. It was the exact opposite of that.

Once at the movies, I paid for the ticket for the three of us to go and watch the movie. I was really hope that nothing too terrible happened. I just hope that Myron didn't get into any fights with me over this whole thing like a movie or anything like that. "So Myron when is the last time that you guys have gone to the movies?" I asked Myron once we were sitting down since had a little bit of time before we had to be quiet for the movie and all that stuff.

"September 3rd. I watch a movie every three weeks or so there. I think that it is just sort of my way to pretend that I am still popular and that I don't have to deal with the fact that nobody likes me." Myron answered and he looked at Dana who was just listening to the two of us. I wondered what movie Myron had seen, but for some reason I had decided that I would not pursue a subject. Instead, I decided that I needed to think about when the last time I had gone to the movies.

"I don't think I have been to the movies in a very long time honestly. I have only watched the movies when I know it is a movie that won't come out on television. Usually I just wait until it comes out on television before I go out and watch it. I barely watch movies in the first place to be totally real." I said and I had no idea what we were even watching and I don't remember what it was now, so I guess that the movie itself will sort of fade away into nothing besides the fact that I vaguely remember watching the film and everything.

"Well maybe you should give more of them a chance. After all, it is pretty amazing to watch the makers of these movies put so much time and effort into something on the chances that it will be good. It is like an experiment." Myron said and I wondered why he had suddenly been able to sound so smart at this moment. Maybe he was one of those people who was really smart on certain ideas, and one of those was just films.

Soon after, the movie started and I watched it and thought that it was decent enough for two hours of entertainment, but honestly I did not care about it at all. I was more excited to just hang out with Dana and Myron. Well, to be honestly, more so really Dana, but I did make a personal promise to Myron and I was not going to turn out on the promise just because my girlfriend was there. So I just decided to play along with the whole thing. Once the movie was over with, the three of us left the movies and were thinking about what else to do.

"How about we go down to the track? I think that it would be nice to just sort of chill out there for a while?" Myron asked and I thought that he was talking about the Wayside track. I decided that it was a decent idea. We were heading along our way there when Myron started to talk about other things. "If I did become class president, what do you think that I should try and make my first act be? I think I should probably give everybody free snacks to get them more interested in voting for me." Myron mentioned his daily vote and I laughed at that.

I don't know why, maybe it was because I heard this like a thousand times from Myron, but I don't really mind it this time after a while. He was honestly just really excited to be class president, and to be kind of honest, I was able to kind of admire just how much he was determined to stick through with that. "Hey Myron, well if you want to become class president, I think one of the things that you should work on, is just public skills. You know, getting people to think you are easy to appeal to. Maybe post a picture with a younger child or something like that. Gets everybody excited." I said as Myron thought about this.

"Yes, I should try and find all the kids and take a picture of me holding them and being really nice to them. That will surely raise my approval rating among everybody." Myron declared as he raised his hands up and for a short moment, I was actually almost on the verge of actually being excited for the man. He was sounding pretty sincere when I told him this and his reaction to it to the point I had almost believed in him.

Being at the track even just sitting there was sort of making me think a little bit about the stuff that I have missed out on being able to when I was younger. "So Todd, besides skating, is there anything that you are into?" Dana asked me, and I was wondering if she was wanting me to tell Myron about the monster hunting or something like that. As much as I wanted to trust Myron, I was not really sure if I was quite there yet. Nothing against him though. I was just wanting to be real here.

"I really want to do some sports this year. Maybe I can join the track team or something like that. It would be pretty exciting to see how I would place on the records. The skating is something that I want to really try my luck in. Maybe you know, to get a good placing on the skating race in the city. I think that there will be a skating race coming up soon. I mean, my school before did one and that was what got me into skating in the first place." I answered and as I answered her question, I was having a strange feeling that I was going to need to use it soon.

"I just don't really know how I can really do good at sports. I am not really all that active. I mean, I skate around a lot, but that isn't really being active all that much. That is more just knowing how to have a good time and everything. I think that maybe I can give it a try, but at the same time I just need to take things one day a time. Depends on when the sport starts." I finished my rant and then Myron was wanting to ask me something.

"Would you be willing to teach me about skating? Would you be fine with teaching me how to skate and everything? I think it would actually be pretty exciting. Although I don't want to get hurt or anything like that." Myron told me and then when Myron had asked me this, I thought about that idea and thought that it might be interesting for Myron to be into something that wasn't related to fucking being the class president or something like that. I think that I should try and teach him after all.

"I will be willing to teach you. Just promise that you are actually willing to learn and that you aren't going to just mess around and treat the whole thing like a joke." I said and then I held my hand out which was what I liked to do when I was getting an idea going with my friends and group members. I think Myron was going to have to think it out a bit first. Dana was watching and she was hoping that he would accept my offer which was going to possibly bring us closer together and more likely to be friends.

Myron shook my hand and it was a deal. "How about we head on down to your house after we are done with the track?" Myron asked and I agreed to that idea. It was a decent idea to just go there. After all, I was getting kind of tired of being in this fucking dumb ass track. Being in her honestly had made me angry due to the fact that the more that I was here, the more I realized that I was never going to get into track and that it was just a waste of time to even think about it.

"It is really great to see you guys getting along so far. I thought that you guys were going to be at each others throats since you two are totally different in personality and stuff like that. I guess that maybe I was actually wrong on something for once in my life." Dana said and then when she had said that, Myron and I glanced at each other for a moment and then when we glanced at each other for a moment, there was a couple of noises in the back ground and I knew that we were going to be in trouble real soon.

"Myron... Dana... Just stay back and no matter what you guys do, you should probably let me do this." I said as I took my back pack off and started to bring out my sword. Out of nowhere, a giant monster started to run towards me, and what I didn't know then but would later on know later was that this one was BlackWarGreymon. I then held onto it with both my hands, hoping that my like four hours of training would be enough to hold on for a moment.

The monster brought both of their hands back wards and they were doing something that looked like a charging attack. I picked up my back pack and then just threw it right at the monster as I saw Dana and Myron listen to what I told them earlier and jumped on to their side. I then looked up and was wondering what the hell I was going to do to take this monster out. I was having some debris on my face, which made my face hurt a little bit. I then stood up again and then I started to run to the monster but was running by the side to try and confuse the thing.

After a little while of running, I reached the back of the monster and stabbed their back a little bit. The monster turned their face around and I knew that this was a major mistake. The monster swatted me away with their left hand and then I flew a few feet away. The monster grabbed the blade out of their back and threw it at the ground. I knew that this thing was probably going to be able to kill me. I looked over at Dana an Myron, hoping they they would be smart enough to get out of this spot.

I then started to crawl on my way over to the sword and I knew that the monster was faster than me, so I was hoping that it would just take a few seconds for them to realize what I was doing. I could not believe how long it was taking me to roam on over to the sword, and Dana was looking around trying to find something to help me out with. Myron was just covering his eyes and he was probably just not wanting to watch me die or something like that. I really could not blame Myron for feeling that way. After all I was getting a beating to biblical proportions.

I then grabbed the sword once again just a second before the monster was able to break the sword and break me even more. When I grabbed the sword, I stabbed it right through the hand of that monster and then I stood up, feeling like I might have a chance to get through this. I then pulled the sword away from their hand and I saw the black blood coming out of their hand.

It would seem as if I would not really get to enjoy my victory. The monster used their left hand to push me back and I knew that this was just going to be impossible. If this was video game, I probably only had like five health left and that thing probably had like ninety percent of their health to go through. But this time I got up right away and Dana and Myron were just standing there trying to make sure that I would not get any more hurt than I had. The monster started to run towards me and then I walked past them, I swung the sword and the monster turned around and looked at me, seeing that I made a huge cut at their chest.

The monster held up their arm and it looked like they were going to try and shot like a beam of death or something like that at me. I then stared up and was starting to prepare for what they were going to do, although I was watching their blood start to seep onto the ground and then I was breathing very slowly, trying mentally to prepare for what is going on.

Dana and Myron wondered if I was even going to survive this whole little battle, and to be totally honest I was not really sure if I was going to survive this either. I was really happy that all of the noise going on and everybody doing their job was more important then me. I saw that everybody was just working on building some form of soccer field about ten miles away, and I had no idea what the hell was going to be the point of that soccer field. But at least it was not going to kill me. The monster started to charge to me and then I jumped up when I had the chance, which cut off their right hand and then they turned around and use their left hand to start to shot a bunch of missiles at me.

Hearing the stand of the foot ball goal fall down to the ground was at the time the most deafening noise I had heard in my entire life at that point. If there was forty to fifty people there, I am pretty sure that at least one of them would have died. I then saw the monster start to charge another attack that would have killed me as well as blow up a couple of floors of Wayside.

I knew that in order to save Wayside, this was going to be the only choice I had. I grabbed the sword with both my hands and then I started to charge at the monster. Dana and Myron were both covering their eyes now since they had a idea where this was going to go. It took five seconds for that fight to be over and when it was over, both the monster and I were standing back to back and I was panting, with some blood coming out of my hand.

Dana and Myron stood like statues as they saw the monster look at me but before they can say anything they fell down to the ground and was split in half. I had just killed the monster and saved Wayside school by extension as a result of doing so. I then placed the sword in the seethe and realized that I had nothing that I could keep it hidden now. I walked up to Dana and Myron and then said "Let's go home and get ready to start skating." I said and then the three of us headed that way.

I was thinking all about how I can really get Myron to understand the great thrill of the board. It was a little bit strange to be thinking in this perspective, but honestly skating was one of those things that I feel like people will be able to enjoy once you get in the hang of how scary the board can be the first few times that you go around riding on it. "Todd, I have been told about what it is like to ride the board. People say that it can be a scary feeling at first but once you are on the board for a little while, it does start to become really fun." Myron had said and then when Myron said this, I thought about that and thought it was a decently fair thing.

"Well, it is a lot like that actually. The first time that I got on the board I thought that I was going to keep tripping and be totally all over the place and embarrassed. But after I was doing this for several hours I decided that I was not going to give up on skating until I actually learned how to do it once and for all. So I got myself on the board and started to ride it over and over and over again." I told Myron as Dana was trying to figure out if she was impressed with my skating life or if she had thought that it was destructive.

"You guys seem like you should hang out more often. Maybe once you guys get to know each other a bit better, maybe you guys can start to try out some things that aren't just skating. I don't know, just an suggestion." Dana said and I was thinking that there was nothing too terribly wrong with that idea. It was more of if Myron was cool with that or if he thought that he should continue focusing obsessively on class president.

The three of us were getting near my house and I was still trying to really wrap my mind around that whole duel against the monster earlier. I knew that I was going to be fighting monsters and all of that stuff. I was totally used to this stuff by now, but it was still sort of really hard to comprehend. After all, I had sort of just saved the school in that moment and I didn't really even try all that hard to do so. Well, that is not really all that true. I have really tried and all that. But it was still different I guess.

"How much about that monster fight do you really want to tell the school about. I feel as if you need to let them know really badly what had just happened. After all, in case a big battle happens, they need to be aware and that way they can actually have a chance to defend themselves." Myron told me and I was wondering why the hell he was expecting me to do all of this. I was still a new person here. I mean I guess I can do it. But at the same time, if Myron wanted to be class president so badly, shouldn't he be the one who stepped up to do this.

"I don't know. Give it a little bit longer. If there are any other monster attacks in the next few weeks or so, then I will let them know. We are only three weeks into the school year. I want to at least give it a honest chance first before I start to go all crazy and act like we are about to fucking die or something crazy like that." I told Dana and we were getting near the front of my house and right before I went inside Dana said to me.

"Please tell them soon. I can understand if you want to not do it right now. Please though, do it soon. They need to know the truth." Dana said and I could see the look of desperation on her face. I said I would do it in a little bit but I wanted to just hang out with them and talk about silly teenager stuff like skating and who we want to date and all that. Then I went into my house and got my board and left just a few seconds later.

"Okay, let's go and ride around for a bit shall we?" I asked and the other two seemed to have a moment of excitement on their faces. This was my cue to tell that they did indeed want to do this. So I placed my feet on the board and I was ready to ride the thing. Myron and Dana just told me to keep slow about it so they can keep up with me. I agreed with them, thinking it was going to be great when they did finally learn how to skate on their own.

I had put the sword away though, knowing that if I kept it out, people would be wondering why the hell I had gone insane and would probably want me out of Wayside by the end of the night. I did not want to do that. I had only been there for three weeks, and I was already enjoying the place far too much to want to leave in a way like that. I wanted to go out in a bang if I did have to leave at all.

"How do you guys like Kevin? I think he might be one of my best friends here so far. He and I seem to have a easy time talking about our friends and stuff. And besides, he was one of the first people to hang out with me after school. The first being Dana obviously." I started the conversation about Kevin, and the other two had to think about that wondering what they could really say about Kevin, if there was really anything to say about him.

"He's a little bit out there, seems a bit to himself most of the time, but even then he still seems to try and be nice to people. I hear that him and his brother do not really get along well at all. I wonder what is so bad about his brother that the two of them just can't get along at all." Myron said and I was not really too sure at this point either. I had actually met Sam once and he really did not seem to be all that bad of a guy. Maybe they just got into a lot of fights back in the day. That was all I could think of.

"You stayed the night with Kevin pretty recently Todd. What did you think of the experience?" Dana asked me and I could not believe that I had not really filled them, especially Dana, in on the whole thing. Probably because I sort of felt no real need to do it. After all, we didn't really do anything besides just monster hunting. Which honestly was not really all that exciting since that was just like ten minutes of the whole time that I was there, but whatever.

"Well, we fought a monster. I think you already know that though Dana. I told him more about my past before I had gone to Wayside and this girl that I was nearly dating named Joy. But that is all a thing in the past now I believe. I also told him about how I didn't really think Sam was all that bad. Then he told me about this one time he and Myron went to a factory. Do you mind telling us your version of that story Myron?" I finished and remembered the part with Myron just then and there. Myron seemed to not want to talk about it, but I sort of put him in a corner there now.

"Well, he and I were just hanging out that day and we didn't really have anything to do. We were both just bored of being in the house, so we went out and started going around town looking for something to do. It was much more basic than you might think it really was." Myron started as we were getting closer to the skate park so I could teach him some really cool moves on the board.

"But thinking that we had already done and gone to all the general places, we decided to go down to the factory since it was closed and we would be the only people there." Myron said as I was starting to sort of come up with the great idea in my mind that we could have a awesome skating lesson in there eventually. I mean, as long as we just mainly stay in the front area of the factory that is. I wouldn't want to do anything that could get us in so much trouble that we wouldn't be allowed to do the skating anymore. That would sort of defeat the whole purpose of doing it in the first place.

"I'm pretty he told you about the man in the purple jacket that we met there and how he hurt Kevin." Myron said and I nodded. That was the main part of the story that Kevin had. Explaining the exact things that the guy did and why he was so evil. But I didn't really think too much about it. The three of us were basically at the front of the skating park and I picked up my board since I was about to try and hand it off to Myron for him to mess around with it for a bit.

"Wait, you saw a man in a purple jacket? Why have you never told anybody this Myron? That is a really big fact actually." Dana said ad both Myron and I looked at Dana as if wondering why exactly this was such a big deal. After all, none of us really even knew who he was, so making a big deal out of him was a little bit silly to be totally honest. But if Dana knew better than us on the subject, she needed to let us know right now.

"Have you actually met him Dana?" I asked, trying to be really nice about it but there was just something to the whole ting that was making me way more on edge than I would have wanted. I just didn't like hearing how scared she was to know that Kevin and Myron had met him. It wasn't even like a tiny fear type of thing. It was a full fledged, absolutely up the wall type of fear. It was making even me take this a little bit more seriously, which was something truth be told I was not really doing up until then, which wads probably my fault.

"Yes I have. It was about two months ago. I was walking home after hanging out with Maurecia..." Dana said and I was wondering what she was doing hanging out with Maurecia in the first place, but I told myself not to worry about that at the moment. "And I was three houses away from mine. When I saw him, he was just standing right there staring at me, doing nothing. It was really scary. I didn't know what to do, just looking at him made me wonder what was going on, and if I was the target of something."

"Have you ever seen him since?" I asked, thinking that maybe I should try and get some more information out of her and when I asked her, she just shook her head and told me that she had not. I placed my hand on my head. I was just much to unsure what to really feel. This was scary but also interesting at the same time. I needed to know more. Or I guess I should say I wanted to know more, as opposed to needed to know more.

"No I did not see him since. It was just that one night. I thought it really was not all that big of a deal. But if you guys have seen him at different times, then I guess that it is a big deal. Honestly, I don't feel all that comfortable talking about this anymore. Can we please just focus on the skating?" Dana asked border line begged and I agreed to this. It was probably smart after all to just take things easy and not worry about us dying and all that stuff. I looked at Myron, hoping that he would actually be at least tolerable at the skating.

Myron placed the board on the ground and then when he had done so, the board fell out under him and Dana and I laughed at that. As horrible as it had sounded to do something like that to Myron, I knew that it was something that Myron could also be able to find something a little bit funny out of this whole thing as well. He placed his hand on his head and looked at me as if he did not want to admit it, but that he had needed my help here.

"Alright, Myron, just remember that you need to balance your weight equally if you want to stay on the board for more than a few seconds. If you don't, then you will fall over and you probably won't be able to fall over all the time and not get any more hurt. If you need something to assure you that you will not get hurt, then just start with only one foot on the board and use your other foot for a little bit." I told Myron as he looked at me and he was wishing on the inside that I was right. Then he did exactly as I said he should and he started to ride a little bit, but it was very slow.

Dana and I looked at each other. "It is really nice when we can just sit down and enjoy ourselves. Not think about anything like school." I was purposely avoiding the monster topic, knowing that Dana was getting increasingly against it. Which was so strange since she was the one that brought it to my attention in the first place. It was that fight a week or so ago that really started her feelings on the matter that way.

"Yeah, it is nice when we can just take things slowly. It seems like we can just live like normal teenagers when we do that." Dana said and that was what made me like this idea more in the first place. Myron was trying really hard to get used to the whole skateboard thing, but I knew that it was just impossible for him. He had been doing this for like ten to fifteen minutes before he decided to just give up and then he handed the board over to me. He sat down and I laughed a little bit when I saw just how sweaty he was now.

"I guess that maybe skating is not really for everybody after all. Everybody has their own strengths and their own weaknesses. Your strength is the ability to be class president one day." I said, as if I could not really just fathom I had said that to Myron. He was one of the silliest people in Wayside, and that was really saying a lot. I had no real idea where I had decided to say that when in reality it could not be any further away from the truth. Maybe I was starting to get hope in the guy after all. I'm not really too sure.

"If you think I can be a good class president, then I will campaign even more. I will do twice as much to get the people to want to vote for me." Myron said and I thought that maybe there was hope in Myron after all, that perhaps I was actually putting my expectations in Myron correctly. But I was not really too sure yet. I needed to still see him in action before I would decide one way or another, which is something that Myron might not really want, but I was just trying to play the realist card.

"I guess you two really are going to be friends after all. I am so happy that this turned out to be a success. I was worried that you guys were not really going to like each other. Well, what should you guys do next time you meet up?" Dana said and I was kind of surprised that she was going this fast. I wanted to take things a little bit slowly. I mean, we barely just started to hang out. Today was the first day that we were actually any form of real friends. I thought that maybe this was a little premature.

"Well maybe we can use our friendship to help get me to become class president." Myron said and I was on the sort of fence about the comment. On one end it was funny, on another I thought it could work, and on yet another I was wondering if he was just using this possible friendship as a recipe for power in a way. If it was the third one, that would have actually really made me angry. I was not going to be somebody's political slave.

"We'll see how things go." I said and then with that, we just sat in the park and talked about meaningless things for a while. Myron headed home about an hour later, and Dana and I were talking about simple things such as the sky and stuff trying to stay away from the monster talk. I knew though that we could not avoid this topic forever. But then I thought that we could avoid it for the rest of the day. When I was alone after about forty minutes of this, Dana headed home and I started to skate around for a little while, just excited to do my favorite hobby once again.

The fourth week was a little bit more of the usual stuff that I was now used to when I had been at that school for so long. On Monday, the teacher gave us a lesson plan that we needed to have done by the end of the week in order to get all the possible credit. Given how easy the whole thing was, I wrecked it in like forty minutes and didn't even need to look back at it ever again. A lot of the stuff was just about how gravity works and what it actively does to us while we are on earth and such.

During lunch that day, I talked with Maurecia and I have to admit, it was really nice getting to know her. I was talking with her about all of the stuff that Dana and Myron and I did on Saturday, with the exception of the whole monster ordeal. I did not in any way feel comfortable letting her in on that. Afterwards, Maurecia thought that maybe we can hang out after school on Friday, which meant that it would be right before the whole Kevin thing since we agree to hang out the following Saturday. I agreed with her plans, wanting to fill up my schedule in some way.

At the end of the day, Maurecia and I met up again. When we were talking, she was telling me about how when we hang out, we should go down to the beach and I thought that it was a very nice place to hang out casually and that she was really smart for coming up with that idea. Then we decided to part ways for the rest of the day and I remembered I would hang out with her on Friday just so that I didn't like leave her hanging.

On Tuesday Myron came up to me and he seemed like he was already totally over the whole skating thing, and I wondered if he would ever go back to that or if he was just going to stay away from that shit for the rest of his life. But regardless he and I talked about what we were trying to discuss on Saturday and we both agreed at the end that perhaps we should let the subject go and not try and get any deeper into it or else it could create some real problems. Like who knew if that man was around or not in all reality.

Myron didn't seem as convinced as I was, but he knew that I was probably right and that it wasn't really something I needed to worry about all that much in reality. He said he would let it go for the most part not because he felt safe but because he didn't want to pursue something as dangerous as that and that keeping it away from our every day life might be the best way to look at something on that level. I was glad that we had both agreed on that least.

After school was over on Tuesday, I decided that I would go down to the skate park. Just because nobody else I knew could do shit with skating doesn't mean I couldn't go around and enjoy the thrill of riding myself. I just knew that if I wanted to do it, I would probably have to always do it alone. Which sounds kind of sad and lonely but I am so used to doing it that way anyways that it didn't really bother me at all. I just rode around until the sun was set, and then I went home and crashed for the night. Not doing a single thing of homework for the ninth day in a row.

During school on Wednesday, Dana and I were just relaxing on the school park and she was wondering what was up with me that day. I just told her that I was really falling behind in school and that I needed to get to it eventually. I then said that I didn't want to do it though and that just hanging with my friends was much more in my style. I then told her that I knew homework was like her main thing and style, but I just did not want to get into it at all.

Dana told me that she understood my point of view and she just told me that if it was nothing something I was into and that I just didn't want to do it, then there was no real point in forcing myself into it. I then said that I was worried about what it would be like if I fell behind on my work and what that would mean for my future. Dana told me not to worry about it all that much quite yet and that it wasn't too much of a deal at this point in time.

Dana told me that I had to chose what I wanted to do or didn't want to do and tat nobody can have an influence on it at all besides myself. I thought that perhaps she was a lot more correct on this than I had wanted to admit, and that there was nothing wrong with what I was doing after all. I said that I would do it when I felt the need to do it and that I would not get into too much of a hustle over it. Dana and I kissed after that hang out and I could not believe we were together for nearly two weeks.

On Thursday, Kevin and I were just hanging out in the library. When we were chilling there, Kevin mentioned casually how he thought that maybe he and Sam really could stat to heal the wounds of their previous life and that they could start to get along again soon. I asked him what had led to that happening and if he was actually going to give an honest chance to do this or if he was going to fail and find a way to blame Sam on it once again. Except I didn't word it that way for obvious reasons.

Kevin just mentioned how Sam seemed to be in better mood lately than how he was before and that he was actually wanting to get to know some people a bit better. Kevin even said that it had seemed to go as far as to reach him and that perhaps, the two did have a real chance of being able to get along as siblings after all. I felt that this was awesome and asked if he was going to not need to hang out with me after all on Friday for that very reason.

Kevin said that he still wanted to hang out with me then, and that the fact that I would be with him would probably be making the whole thing much easier. I then decided that I would still be there and hang out with him after all. Since I really wanted to see Kevin and Sam get along and I was getting kind of tired of seeing them hate on each other all the time to be totally honest with you. Kevin than thanked me for y help and that this was going to be a good day after all with my help.

On Friday, I was talking with Jenny. I have no real idea, but being around her made me feel so much easier than normal. I thought that she really was the best person to talk with on a general level if I ever needed some help on something, because she always acted like she in in a level of understanding me that nobody else was in. I wondered why it was that way with her of all people and not Dana or hell even Kevin or Maurecia.

I thought that maybe Jenny and I were just sort of like two people that were easily able to follow each other. I never really thought if it in any different way than that. There was no real reason to feel that way after all since we had barely known each other and I was only in this school for a few weeks, so no matter how I tried to get to know the people, there was always going to be a little bit of a barrier between me and them. I was just being realistic there.

We decided that we would hang out on Sunday, which mean that I had somebody to hang out with all three days of the weekend. That was a little bit crazy and to be totally honest, I was not really sure if I was ready for something like that or not. But I thought that it would be exciting so that was the main reason I didn't even think of getting rid of one of the plans. But after school when I decided I needed to go and hang out with Maurecia and see if she was actually worth hanging out with after all or not.

Maurecia had told me where she had lived earlier, so I had no real problem going on to find her. But once I had actually found her, it was more of a matter of convincing her parents that I had no ill harm with her and that I was going to keep her safe that was the main obstacle that I had to jump through. I seriously could not believe that I was having to do this right now. Then again, they were parents after all and it was one of their main jobs to worry about their child a little too much I guess.

Once I had made it very clear that Maurecia was going to be fine and that I wasn't going to let her on my skateboard since she was already getting kind of reckless with the skates, then Maurecia and I were finally given the freedom to leave that whole silly ordeal behind. "Thanks Todd for talking to them. I really do like my parents and I want them to respect you, that was why I wanted you to talk to them first. I really hope that you do not mind this." Maurecia explained to me and I decided that even if it was a little bit annoying, it was indeed better to be safe than sorry.

"Well, I guess your parents aren't really bad people. I would rather have parents that would be worried about what their kid is up to than parents that just simply don't say or do anything about what is going on with their children." I said and I had sort of meant what I had said. After all, the latter was just sort of a sign of utmost laziness in my eyes. I mean it's not so bad once their child is like sixteen, when they're not even really a kid anymore, but ten or so is insane.

"I'm glad you can see where my parents are coming from. You seem like you would be a pretty decent father once you get to that point. I think that if you find the right lady, you could be a really great dad." Maurecia said and I was thinking that she was hinting at herself, and I was sort of thinking it was funny, but I think she still knew I was focused on Dana for the time being. I was still thinking what it could be like if I did start to form a bond with Maurecia in that way though as a sort of what if.

"I don't really know when I'm going to have kids. I think mid twenties sound about fair. Not too incredibly young, but also nothing old at the same time. I think it can sort of be a decent starting age." I said and I was not even aware at the time how close that would be to being the truth. I didn't really intend on it being that way, it was just sort of how things went in the long run though.

"So now that you have been in Wayside for a few weeks, how do you feel about the place now?" Maurecia asked and I knew that I had a pretty good answer to that one now, since it had been a while like she had said and I feel as if I really did not need to put too much thought into it anymore. Can't really believe that it was the end of September already. I was already one ninth of the way through the school year when you think on that perspective.

"I really like it so far. Kind of have to get used to the swing of things at first. But once I got used to all the crazy stuff here, I ended up really liking the place so far. I just don't hope that anything crazy happens that can ruin everything. I don't want to end this school year wishing that I had never gone here in the first place. that would really suck honestly." I said to Maurecia, and I really wad enjoying her company with me. I was thinking that aside from Kevin and Dana, she could be my third best friend here. Yes, the whole crush thing was a little hard to handle, but I can get used to that pretty quickly.

"It is great that you like it here. You seem to be a man who wants things to be logical, and that is just simply not how Wayside works. But I'm pretty sure that you understand that fact pretty well by now." Maurecia said and I nodded. It was very easy to pick up how insane this school was, and there truly was nothing wrong with it. I realized that there was nothing terribly wrong with being different. Who cares if things made sense or not?

"I am glad that I decided to move here instead of stay at my old school. I don't really know how I would have liked being there for too much longer. There was just too much negative stigma I have in there. I really do feel like I needed a fresh start. As if I was making a new life over again, if you know what I mean. Although I guess Wayside is not really a start anymore now and it really isn't fresh either after a whole month there." I was holding onto the board as much as I could tempted to ride it and I was trying to keep my attention with Maurecia as well.

"I hope you decide to stay here long term. It would suck if you just left after only one year of being here." Maurecia said and she sounded really sincere when she had said this, and not in the silly crush way. In a way that was like I would really be ruining a huge portion of her enjoyment here if I did not stay after this. Despite everything, it was true. I did not know how long I would stay.

"I don't know. It all entirely depends on how the rest of the year plays out. I might stay here the rest of the year, and truth be told I really would prefer it to be that way. But if things start to go south and if it feels like I would enjoy my old school better, I might thing about going back. It is all entirely dependent on what happens." I said and I was just really hoping that Maurecia would understand that and accept that. When she took a few seconds to say anything I wondered if she did.

"I guess that does make sense. I wouldn't like it if you felt. It really would suck. Many people would miss you around here, including myself. But let's just see how the rest of the year plays out before we continue this topic. As you said, we need to just see how things play out in the long run." Maurecia was wanting to hold my hand and I could tell that she did. But at the same time I could tell that she was being respectful of the fact that I was dating Dana and she knew that I didn't want to do anything like that with her, as much as it may have hurt her to know that.

"I think if I continue things with Dana really well and if we don't end up cutting things off with each other, I would have no excuse to leave and I would be basically wanting to stay forever at that rate. As crazy and out there as it sounds to go that far into it already." I said and it didn't seem to crazy to go there since I had dated Dana half of the time that I had known her, by coming here jut two weeks before we started this relationship.

"It is nice to know that somebody here is making you really happy and is making you really enjoy your time here. I hope that as long as you remain in Wayside, there will not be a point where you start to lose your love for the place. Maybe Dana is just the person that can do this for you." Maurecia said and I can tell that she was doing her very best on this and I placed my hand on her shoulder to make her feel better even if for just a second.

"Whatever happens, we are friends Maurecia. I don't see how and why that would change any time soon. Just remember that." I told her and Maurecia nodded softly and I looked away, trying my best to not show any emotion to what was going on. I knew if I did I would be going in a rabbit hole of emotions that I knew I should not even come close to feeling with anything going on. Maurecia and I did end up at the beach and once on the beach, I took things like a million miles slower.

Maurecia looked over at me and she was smiling with delight as she had seen me. I could not help but be very happy as I was looking at her. "Can we promise not to tell Dana any of this? If she finds out, she would be fucking pissed, and I don't even know if I would ever be able to look at her the same way again given how she might react." I told Maurecia and then she nodded to let me know that she was fine with this not letting Dana know idea. I sighed in relief knowing that she was fine with my idea.

"So Todd, when is the last time that you got to really enjoy the beach?" Maurecia asked and I was really confused on what she had meant by really enjoy it. It was a strange question and I was wondering if she was talking about her being next to me was the main reason that I enjoyed this. Which to be totally honest and fair, was the truth. But at the same time, I was just not sure what to say. Then I started to hold her hand and I told her this was a one time thing.

Maurecia seemed like the world was about to give her everything she had ever wanted. She held my hand and she was on top of her mood. I was really glad that I could make her happy for even just a few minutes. I was wondering if maybe this would eventually lead into something much larger or not. I was telling myself not to worry about it too much. We held hands for about four minutes or so before I decided that this was too much for me to do and that I needed to stop for the sake of the relationship of Dana and I.

"Thanks for doing it at all." Maurecia said and I nodded. I knew that I had enjoyed it, and that was the part that scared me the most. Not even that I did it. But the fact that I enjoyed it and thought that it was actually really nice to do. The two of us remained quiet for about two minutes before either one of us really felt like we were safe enough and comfortable enough to start talking and acting like none of that ever happened. Which it may as well not have.

"Have you ever had a crush on somebody before you met me?" I asked, truly curious and I was thinking that maybe if I tried hard enough, I could get that person to go out there and date Maurecia. I was just thinking that it was a slight possibility for the fact that she was not allowed to date me any time soon. Maurecia thought about it for a moment as if she was trying to figure out if she had any genuine crushes before she met me or if I was the first person that fell victim to her eyes.

"I think that there may have been one or two people that I liked back in the day, but nobody that I could think of right off the top of my head." Maurecia said and I nodded, thinking that there must have been somebody and that all I needed to do was look around for a bit for the lucky person for Maurecia. "Todd, is there anybody that you liked before you had met Dana?" I was so fucking over this I was saying in my mind, I now had to explain Joy to Maurecia as well.

"Well, I did know one girl that I had really liked. Her name was Joy. She and I really got along. Well, that is not exactly true I should say. It was not really like I had loved her from the moment that I had met her. I do think that she only started to like me after the time when I saved the school. I will tell you that story later, when I feel as if I have earned your trust a little bit more." I told Maurecia and then the two of us remained silent for a little bit. She was obviously trying to figure out what she thought about the fact that I had liked other people besides just Maurecia.

"When you grow up Maurecia, do you want to move well out of the city or do you mind living here for the rest of your life?" I asked as Maurecia was now sort of forced out of the thought set that she was having, in order to answer the question that I had given her. "I want to go around and explore all of the states in the country. Then once I am done going to every single state, I will go on and go to different countries and one at a time go to every single one of them in the entire world. That is one of the things that I would really like to do in my life." I told Maurecia and she thought about that, wondering if this really was something that she would like to do as well.

"Perhaps I wouldn't mind going to see other countries. I wouldn't mind something like England. I hear a lot of really great things about England. That might be one of the first that I go to when I start to go around the entire world." Maurecia had said and I thought that there was nothing wrong with having that be the first place that we went to.

"I think maybe France or Russia would be interesting. I heard all of the stories about Russia and they scare the living shit out of me as well. But there is something about the country itself and the way that it is that does make me very interested to go out and give it a chance. I think that you don't really know if a country is great or not until you actually go out there and give it a chance for yourself. That is what I say at least." I then laid down and looked at the sky, as Maurecia was taking an extra few seconds to think about it.

"I really wonder what New York is like. People talk about that place as if it was one of the greatest achievements that had ever been created in this world. I guess to some extent it is. After all, it has advanced technology by a million miles. But at the same time, I wonder if that is all that there really is to it or if we really have to see more than just what is on the surface, if you sort of get what I am meaning there." Maurecia and I thought about all of this and what travelling around the world really were like now.

"Thank you for hanging out with me after school today Maurecia. I really am glad that we did start to get to know each other a little bit more." I said to Maurecia and I was wondering where else this was going to lead, or if I was just sort of over thinking this whole shit about us getting involved or something like that in our future. I just could not keep the idea of it out of my mind.

"I was so glad that you wanted to hang out with me at all. I was really worried that you were too involved with Dana to even want to give me a chance. I am sorry that I ever felt that way about you. It has seem that you have proven to be far beyond anything like that. You are just a good guy. I don't ever really imagine thinking over wise here." Maurecia told me and for a moment the two of us were laying down on the beach and we were staring at each other. I knew that if we didn't stop soon, I was going to start to try and move on to choosing her instead of Dana.

"The Halloween party is going to be one of the greatest days of the year. I am so excited for that party. Like you won't even believe it. I am counting down the days in my head. Only like a month left." I told Maurecia and I was going to go on a rant on that very soon and once that starts, then it will just be like a fan boy now.

"I am glad that you are really excited for that. It is always something that I am very excited over to have a bunch of parties." Maurecia told me and we just casually hung out afterwards. Soon enough, the two of us started to head home and it was getting near the later end of night when we did so. I was really glad when we did so since I was on the verge of breaking any vow that I had with Dana to try and take advantage of Maurecia and her feelings towards me.

Later on Friday night, when I had gotten home, I sat down on my desk and when I was sitting down at my desk, I was thinking about what exactly to do. I was not really sure what to do honestly. I had so many options but I didn't really know which one was going to seem the best and the most exciting. I knew that I could just go to sleep or something like that, but frankly I was not really in the mood to just sleep tonight. I was just too uptight and I feel like if I went to bed, I was going to do something that I knew was totally wrong.

I stood up and I was thinking about reading the book that Dana had given me. If I had read it, I knew that I would get more of an understanding on what was going on in the town. I just was thinking that maybe it was the best thing that I could do. Besides the fact that I didn't really want to do it, I thought that maybe it was the only true way that I could actually understand what was going on in the town and everything.

But right when I was touching the book and I was getting ready to read the whole thing, I saw something that made me stop right at the track. I found a box that was wrapped and I grabbed it. I was wondering what the hell was going on, and I had hoped that it was going to be something that I would actually be able to use. I was hoping that I was not really going to get in trouble or anything. I opened it up and I was taking it very slowly, just wondering what it was actually going to be. The whole time that I was opening it, I was thinking that something was watching me and I was not really sure what to think.

When I had opened it, I knew that it was just a simple gift. It was a cassette recorder with four tapes that I could use to get a head start on it. All four of the tapes were ninety minutes of length. I had no idea why I given this at all. I was not really all that interested in doing cassette recording, so this whole thing just really made no sense to me at all. But when I had read what it had read, I knew what exactly it had meant right away.

I saw that there was a letter to the gift. I opened the letter and I had no idea what to really think about the gift. It was strange and yet also uplifting to read this at the same time. "Todd, I know we haven't talked to each other since you have moved to Wayside, but I thought that maybe you should have this. When you fill a tape up, I want you to send the first tape to me. The other three you can use to any extent that you want." I read and I read that the letter was from 'Joy Sites.' I smiled seeing it and I kept the letter on the table. I knew that this was what I was going to do for the next ninety minutes. I would send it once I was done that evening tomorrow. She gave me this, and I was going to fulfill her promise. Even if I never used the other three, I wanted to use it a little bit. So I placed the first tape in the cassette and started to record after I pressed the play button.

"Hey Joy, it's Todd. I got your gift. I decided that I would use it right away because you wanted me to.

So I am wondering how your life has been lately. It is not all that exciting for me to be honest. Just making some friends and all that. Nothing all that exciting. But I doubt that you will really want to hear about that. Besides, I guess I have a lot of time to talk to you after all. I am just sort of surprised that you decided to give me something after all, considering the fact I haven't seen you in like a month or something crazy like that.

I wonder how the school has been since I have left. Is everybody acting like I was never there in the first place? I would not really be surprised if that is what they are doing. I don't really blame them for feeling that way. They probably don't really want to go over the fact that I was a student there. Besides, I never did anything that was worth going crazy about at my time at the school. I don't really know.

I am enjoying my time in Wayside. I feel like I have made the right choice by coming here after all. I feel like it was something that I should have done sooner. But if I had done it sooner, I don't really know what would have happened to the school when the robbers came and besides, I do feel as if that I should have stayed here longer since I if I had not, we would have never had our few month fling with each other. I feel like that would have made it worth it." I started the recording and realized that I had 85 minutes to go on it. Five minutes went by fucking fast.

I stood up as I was continuing this recording. "I don't really know what to tell you. I have a lot of stuff that has gone on the last few weeks. I doubt that you will really will believe anything that I will tell you. Besides, I don't really know what even is going on myself. So I guess I will just sort of start from the first day. Maybe things will make more sense to myself when I explain this out loud now. So it all started when I reached the school and saw that the stories really were true and that this place was actually thirty stories high and stuff. I could not believe it when they told me it was that big. But when I saw it, I was amazed, and utterly stunned.

I walked to the front of the school from what I remember. When I was at the front of the school there was a guy who walked up to me the first time. He was the first friend that I made in Wayside, but that is sort of able to be easy to figure out since you know, I barely knew anybody at all here. His name was Kevin, and we just talked for a little bit until I met a few people along with that and started to try and make friends with that.

There was Myron, and he is very focused on becoming class president. The amount of focus that he puts on that is honestly very impressive. I wish I was that dedicated to something as well. Maybe one day, I will find something that I can focus on that much. Anyways, Myron was just sort of a person that I found really annoying the first couple of weeks or so that I knew him, but by now I don't really find him to be that bad. I guess that he is one of those people that you really just have to warm up to.

Another person is Dana. She is the person that I am dating right now. I am really glad that I am going out with her. I really think that she was the right person for me. I don't really know why I feel so matter of fact on that, but just seeing her and the way that we are able to have a strong bond makes me think we are supposed to be together. We got together at the end of the second week of my school year here. Which I know is really fast. It took you and I like an eon for us to get any sort of thing working.

Maurecia is the name of the girl that has a huge crush on me. I sort of rejected her at first but the more that I get to know her, the more that the two of us are really good friends. I think that maybe if Dana and I break up, then perhaps the two of us can get some form of a bond here going. We were actually just hanging out today earlier.

The other girl that I am sort of friends with is Jenny. She is sort of a dare devil here from the month that I have been here. I wonder if perhaps Jenny and I will be better friends, or if this is just something that will be a sort of acquittance with me. I don't really doubt if that turns up to be the case. After all I have only talked to her a few times. We do plan to meet up in Sunday though. So who knows how it goes then." I continued and saw I still had 74 minutes of material to cover.

I eventually finished covering the other 74 minutes by just talking about what had happened in the school year to that point in time, hoping that Joy would actually find at least some of the material to be a little bit interesting. I just hoped that she didn't go on to listen to this and then be all like 'what the fuck is this' and then act like giving this to me was the biggest mistake in my entire life or something like that. When this was all over with for go, I pulled the tape outside of the recorder and then placed it in a small box.

Then I stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out what I should be doing. So I placed the thing in my pocket and I decided that I would place it in my main box. So with that, I walked out of my house for a moment and then I was wondering if my parents were going to notice or even care that I was outside. I mean, I had gone out a million times and all that stuff so I have a lot of reason to doubt that they were going to care about what I was doing this time around. I placed the box in my mail box and then put the red sign up and then walked inside of my house once again to sort of get ready to go to sleep and all of that stuff.

The next day, I was ready to go on to start hanging out with Kevin again, and I was hoping that we didn't have to go into any conversations about Sam or any of that stuff. But since it was Saturday, I would have to deal with the next battle of the monsters even though I didn't know it at at the time, but I would quickly figure out that was the trend.

I reached the front entrance of Kevin's house and knocked on it, hoping that he was going to be the one that would answer it. I would get my wish fulfilled as Kevin opened the door and he waved at me and he seemed pretty excited to see me there, and I could tell that he had pretty much set aside his entire day for this. Probably made some sense that he would do that, since he probably didn't really know how long we were going to be hanging out and all of that stuff. "I was wondering when you were going to show up. I was starting to think that maybe I should be heading to your house." Kevin said and then after Kevin had said that, the two of us started to get ready to head on out and enjoy the day. I was hoping that Dana was going to be with us, but I was getting sort of accepted to the fact that she was simply not going to be involved with this one. Not that it really mattered all that much what she did.

As Kevin and I were walking around, I was carrying the sword in a bag that I had grabbed before I left, to sort of try and make it less likely that people were going to see what the sword was, or even really care what the sword was. Not really a great idea, but I was sort of desperate and needed some form of idea to try and make this work. I hoped that Kevin didn't mind if I had to use it in our battle, and I was also carrying my skate board that everybody knew I liked to have around with me at all times, since it was sort of like a staple part of myself and everything, as strange as it may be to say something like that, that was just simply the truth of the matter.

"So Todd, what do you think that we should do?" Kevin asked after were sort of out and hanging for about ten minutes or so, and I was thinking that maybe he didn't want to sort of hanging around like a dumb ass for too long. I guess I couldn't really blame him too much. There was something a little annoying and boring after a while about just walking around and not doing anything. I mean, I didn't mind the people that did do that, but I was not really a fan of it after doing it a million times so far this year.

"I guess we can go to the forest a little bit again. I think that maybe we can find something there." I said, and I was pretty sure Kevin could tell that I was talking about the monster hunting. Kevin seemed like he was able to figure that out right away, but at the same time he didn't want to get into a huge debate with me on what was a good idea or not, and he was sort of bored himself, so he decided that he would go along with it on this case.

So as Kevin and I started to walk to the forest Kevin asked me the question that was sort of really on his mind "So Todd, do you really think that there are going to be any monsters here?" Kevin asked and I wasn't too sure.

"I just want to be sure. After all, given this town, and that forest in particular, I can't really be too sure. You seem to be the only one that has any support for my monster hunting anymore." I said and I was really hoping that he would be able to understand where my stance on this whole thing was, and that he didn't act like this was a terrible idea.

"I just am not really too sure if this is going to go the way that you think it will. I think that if you continue looking into this for a long enough time, then you will sort of find yourself in a position where you have to start making a lot of choices that you won't really be too proud of." Kevin said and I was wondering why he needed to tell me this.

"I know this, but I would rather take the chance and see that maybe I might do something I end up hating over just not doing something on the slight chance that I fail. I would rather fail and try over just sit down and not do anything. These monsters need to be destroyed, and I will go at any lengths to do it." I told Kevin, and he seemed to understand what I was saying, even if he didn't like it.

Soon enough, Kevin and I were in the forest and we were sort of just trying our best to relax in the forest that we could. As we were sitting down, I was thinking about what was going on, and how the time of Wayside has been a crazy and totally all over the place ride in just the first month and I was honestly wondering what the hell Wayside was going to be like in the following months, when we are deeper in the year. Each week seems to be getting even more crazy than the last one.

"I am glad that you trust me Todd. I know that it must be hard for you to find people to trust in a place that you have only been in for one month, and finding some people like me that you feel like will always be there for you is something that makes me feel really glad. I really hope that nothing any time soon will break that trust that you have been giving me." Kevin said and then I nodded and I was thinking that there was no real reason for him to worry about that. After all, he has been doing a great job helping me so far, and that is something that I really appreciate.

"I think that when you are in a tough spot, you need to find some of your friends and stick really close to them, and make sure that you don't lose any touch with them no matter what the cost is. I got a recorder from Joy from my last school, and I started to make a recording for her and I sent it to her. I think I will use these tapes more, I think that maybe these tapes are going to really keep me going and on top of this stuff." I said and then Kevin nodded.

"I think it's great that Joy is still keeping on top with you. It seems like she was a special person. I really hope that I had a special person in my life, as that would make my life in this town a whole lot more bearable and it would make me feel like I had a person to really share my feelings with." Kevin said and I understood his point of view.

"Just trust me when I say this Kevin, when you find somebody, they will truly make you feel like you are special. That is what Dana does with me. When I am with her, I feel like there is a great weight lifted off of my shoulders and that I can just relax and not worry about what is going on in the world around me." I said and Kevin seemed to really want that, something that can make him feel like he was not alone and that there was somebody who was always going to be there for him. I felt like it was a truly great thing for him to want, and that he should really try his best to go for it, no matter what the final outcome may be.

"I really want to get Jenny to like me, I just have no idea how I will be able to do so. She barely knows me, and will probably think that I am like a friend or something. I feel like she is going to friendzone me or something like that. If you get where I am coming from." Kevin said and I knew it exactly, and then my mind started to drift off to bad shit.

"I wonder what it would be like to have the deed with her... With Dana I mean." I said and then Kevin was looking up at me and he was starting to sort of pick up the fact that I was meaning to sex. Kevin didn't want to know what to say to that, and I guess that maybe he was just trying not to act too impure in front of me or something like that. I felt like it was nothing he truly had to worry about, the idea of being impure or something like that. After all, only he and I were here to hear it.

"I think that maybe when Jenny and I get together, if we ever do manage to do that, then maybe we could see how that is like. I think that it will be something truly magical, knowing that we could have that sort of intimate bonding. I feel like that is something I want. But at the same time, I don't want to wait. I would want to bang now if I truly had the chance given to me to bang. I think that if I was given the chance to bang, i would go on and take it right away." Kevin said and then after he had said that, I considered where he was coming from, and if he was having a valid point saying this or not.

"I think that you should really look forward to it and when it does happen, it will be something that will most likely be very special for you. As well as the person that you are doing it with. Regardless of it is Jenny or not." I finished and then after I said that, I heard a loud rumbling noise and I stood up and then I decided that I needed to use the sword. I pulled it out and then I handed the skateboard to Kevin. "Get out of this area right now. When the fight is over, I will let you know."

Kevin was confused as hell, and I didn't really blame him. After all, I just sort of threw a skateboard at him and basically told him to get lost. As well as the sword that I had just randomly pulled out and I had a feeling that this was also making his head spin all over the damn place. But then Kevin decided to listen to my advice when there was a black werewolf that came out of the forest in front of us. I would later learn that this one was BlackWereGarurumon.

Kevin ran out and then I placed the sword with both of my hands on the hilt. I was ready to take this thing on. I had been training for two weeks on how to fight on my side time, I was getting slowly better with each week. I was no master yet, but I was able to fight if I needed to. When I was thinking about this, for some reason I was thinking about how impressive it was I had the fucking blue shirt, green pants and white shirt under my blue shirt still intact after two weeks of all of this crazy stuff.

The monster started to get ready to punch me and I jumped to my side and I was ready to take this thing on. I held the sword tightly as I swung down and hit the side of the monster and the monster gasped in pain when I had done so. I started to step back, to get a little bit of a ground on them and get a little bit more of a clear goal on where I needed to attack. I was wanting this to go very fast and not have it turn out to be like a one million year duel or something like that.

Afterwards, the monster jumped right at me and then got me in the leg and started to scratch up my pants a little bit. But I stabbed the monster at their back and that made them start to get a little bit of a loosening on me and they were going back wards again and then I pulled out the sword before that all happened to make it so I still had it just fine. I had the sword held with my right hand forward and then had my left hand holding my right arm as I was pointing the sword right at the monster.

The monster started to charge at me and then when they were getting close to me, I swung the blade and then it went right across their chest. I saw them look down and see what I had just done. The monster started up at me for a moment.

Right when I was starting to think that I had actually won the duel, which was a very high up I understand, the monster took out something from their front pocket and it was a small gun. They put a few rounds in the gun and started to fire them. I had sort of the surprising reflexes to dodge them all as I started to run closer and closer to the monster and then right as one of the bullets hit my left hand and I screamed, I dropped the sword for a second and picked it up with my right hand only.

Then with that, I stabbed the monster three times in the chest, trying to add in extra measure to each one to make sure that there was no fucking way that the monster can come back and try and attack me again. Before anything can happen I pulled the sword out and was about to do another stab but I saw the monster stop and just stare at me and then they fell down onto the ground. Soon enough, they exploded and I had won the second battle against the monsters that the man in the purple jacket was sending to me. I was two down, and only six more to go, a quarter of the way through.

I then placed the sword away and then walked towards Kevin and when I saw Kevin again I realized he was only like forty feet away from where the battle was. Probably to try and get a moment to see what was going on, and have the sort of distinction of being able to see at least one of my battles for myself. I then held up my hand and I was letting Kevin get a chance to see it for himself.

"Yeah, now you know why I didn't want you to be there for the battle. If you were, something even worse may have happened to you, and I didn't want to have that on my... well you know... hands." I said and I could not believe I had said that. What surprised me was that Kevin ripped off a part of his shirt and handed it to me. I had no idea what he was doing it but I grabbed it with my right hand and then put the sword back in the back again. I needed a new back pack.

"That is for your hand. You know, to try and ease the pain a little bit. I know it won't really be all that good. But I want to help in any way I can." Kevin said and then I smiled as he had told me that. I placed the short piece on my hand and I was sort of sighing in pain the entire time and then I wrapped it up and then I held both my hands up. "Better than nothing." Kevin said and then we started to continue our walk like nothing happening, with Kevin carrying the skateboard for the rest of the time.

"You know, my hand doesn't really even hurt all that much anymore. That is strange. I thought that it was going to hurt a whole lot longer than it had before." I told Kevin and as we were walking along a little bit longer, I was kind of losing some ideas on what exactly to do. After all, there was barely anything really to do. I mean, maybe we could continue going down the forest, but what else can that really do for us after a while? But before I can start to really think on that level for too long, I could see Kevin pointing at something a mile or so away from us. I didn't know what it was so I had to look closer to see what it was.

"I see a house. I had no idea that people even lived in the forest. That is a little odd. Maybe we can go and check it out." Kevin said and I took no real protest to that idea, so we started to head on in that direction and I was wondering how the owner of the house would feel about two random middle school students walking to the front entrance of the house all out of nowhere. Who knows, for all we knew, there might not have been anybody there at all. Which would have been beyond strange, but I was not going to question it at all.

It took us about three to four minutes to walk that full mile and when we were done, Kevin thought about that same problem for a moment and he was wondering if this was even a good idea at all. But he decided that maybe there was nothing wrong with just trying something out, so he knocked on the door and just waited for the answer for a little bit. Kevin and I must have been waiting in there for a good minute or so before the door just opened all the way. In hindsight, it was like a little bit of a gust of wind type of opening, but I didn't think of it at that moment.

I saw that there was nobody at the front of the house to really greet us. I wondered why that was but I took a step or two in and Kevin was wondering why I was doing this and if this was actually a good idea or not after all, but then when I saw that we were mostly alone, I waved him to go inside. Kevin had a look of uncertainty on his face but he decided that if I thought it was fine, that maybe it was alright after all and as a result he walked on inside as well.

We looked around for a bit and this was obviously some form of mansion. I wondered why there was a mansion here, but nobody in it. I had no idea what the whole idea behind that was, if there was even a point to it. I looked over at Kevin and I was starting to get that idea as well that maybe this wasn't a good idea after all, but I thought that since we were already here, that it was a little too late for us to go back and that we just needed to continue the path anyways.

There were two stair cases in the area, which made it so that there was barely any real walk way at all. We had been in there for probably about three minutes or so before Kevin or I had decided to speak out at all. I decided to give the first bit of speaking when I said "I guess that maybe whoever owned this place had to leave at some point, and it has never been taken since. I wonder why they wouldn't put it up for sale." I said and Kevin thought of that.

"Well, the person who owned this house was probably scared of whoever might find out about them living here in the first place, and that was why they might not have made them leaving here a bit deal and all that. I am more worried about what made them have to leave in the first place." Kevin said as the two of us were walking up the stair case on the right side, and I was thinking that we were about to break something at any moment with how weak the stairs were, and I thought that we were really making a big mistake being here now that I thought of it. But we were too far into the place for us to turn back on now.

Once we were on the top of the stairs, I looked down and thought about what we were doing. I was thinking that nobody was going to know that we were here, and as a result, there was no real reason to even care at all what was going on. I looked at Kevin and got a forced smile on my face, thinking that this was going to be something we would never talk about again once we were out of here. But there was something that made me think that maybe we should come back here at some point, but I didn't want to force anybody else to do it if they were not in the mood to do so.

With that, Kevin and I walked into the first room that was in front of us, on the idea that there was going to be a huge idea on what we were missing in here and would give us a lot of context on what happened before they had to leave the house or something like that.

Once we were in that room, all that we saw were a bunch of boxes and a old run down book shelve. I was wondering what the point of this was, so I walked up to the book shelve and touching it was making it almost break down and I had to take a couple of steps back to be sure that nothing hit us.

"Are you sure that we should really be in here? I am starting to really second think this idea Todd." Kevin said and while I didn't want to admit it, I was sort of agreeing with him. I figured though that there was nothing wrong with checking things out a little bit longer before we left the house so I grabbed one of the books in the book shelve and as I slowly opened it I was thinking that I had stumbled across an ancient book or something like that.

I opened it and slowly saw that the text was barely there at all. I would really have to look down just to see what was on there at all. I thought that maybe this was some form or journal or something like that, but at the same time if it was, I had no idea why the person who owned the house didn't just take it with them since I looked down and saw that about a third of it was not used. But then I wondered if this was done as a sort of hint to future people to this house of something that we needed to know or something like that. I turned around to Kevin and he had a cold ass look in his eyes. "That looks like the exact same style journal that I used when I started to write a little bit ago." Kevin said and I handed it to him. He started to look at it and then he shook his head and placed it at that box right next to him.

"Todd, I really think that we need to leave this place. I know that you are really interested in all of the stuff here, but there is something about this place that is scaring me. Like it is watching us or something." Kevin said and I thought about it and then I nodded thinking that maybe Kevin was right about this after all.

Kevin and I started to get our asses out of that mansion. I was thinking to myself how I was going to be coming back there soon, but that I wouldn't do it with anybody else since I had a feeling that nobody else would really want to even be there, and that if I brought them here, they would be even more angry at me than they might ever be.


	20. Everybody Loves Me

Chapter 19: Everybody Loves Me

Once we were outside, I looked around and felt something very strange about the area around us. I don't really know why, but I felt like we had gone to some form of alternate dimension or something like that. This was making me wonder if there was any bit of this mansion that was like this world, or if we had somehow gone to a place that was not even on earth. Which would have been beyond bizarre, but still, I don't know...

"At least we're safe now. I think that maybe we should be a little bit more careful about entering random ass buildings. I think that it was a miracle that we even made it out of this one at all." Kevin said and then he looked over at me, and then I was wondering what else to say. I mean, Kevin was right, it would have been smart to not go around and do all that stuff, but I have a feeling that we just really needed to get some things straight and I needed to know more about this town before I really was able to figure out the whole point of these monsters.

"What are we supposed to do in order to figure out who all of the monsters are?" I asked and then I placed my hand on my chin and Kevin was thinking about that problem. He hated the fact that I was right about this whole thing, but he knew deep down that I was in fact right. We needed to look deeply into this stuff in order to figure out who was actually a monster or not. Plus, we needed to know how on earth we would be able to destroy these monsters at all.

"I guess you are right. Let's just keep walking and agree to put that behind us." Kevin said and I knew that he was talking about the mansion. I still wanted to go further into there and figure out everything about the place but I knew Kevin was probably just meaning not with him. I then promised him that I was not going to bring him along on any of those in house quests shall I go back to there again, and while I knew he didn't want me there at all, he was glad that I promised to just not force him along.

"How are you going to be prepared for the test coming up soon? Have you prepared for it at all, or are you just sort of going to be throwing it when you arrive? I have a feeling that I am going to have way too many notes that won't really matter, since I always take a lot of notes to try and keep it safe." Kevin said I figured that while it was not my style at all, I could see it and why he would do that. "The worst part is that I always leave the stuff behind on test day and I end up failing the test anyway."

"I just kind of go all in and not really know what I was doing. I sometimes pass, very rarely though, but most of the time I suck and honestly I don't really give a shit that much. I really don't give a shit about the material so why should I give a shit about the test that they want me to take? It honestly just seems like a huge waste of time, but I guess some people care way too much for their own good." I explained to Kevin as he thought that maybe that would explain why I would never really do all that great.

"I assume that maybe it just isn't really a concern for you all that much. To be fair, I doubt that it is too much of a concern for others as well." Kevin said and I was wondering what the test was even going to be on. That was how little I had paid attention, that I didn't even know the subject of our test, which meant I was destined to fail.

Soon enough, we were out of the forest and as we were out of the forest, I looked at Kevin and I could see him starting to get less and less scared and he was already starting to become just like the normal person that I was used to knowing. "Sorry I brought you into that all of that stuff. I guess that maybe I should try and realize when people want nothing to do with that stuff. I need to really improve myself there." I said and then I looked over at Kevin wondering what he was actually thinking, or if he didn't even care about that anymore, which was what I was hoping was the case.

"I guess that maybe the monsters are just a huge part of what you plan on working on when you are here. I just need to accept that. After all, you weren't really the first person to try and suggest fighting monsters all the time. It was sort of Dana who forced you into that stuff." Kevin said and I was glad that Kevin reminded me of that and that I didn't have to remind myself yet again that it wasn't really me. I thought that was enough to have Kevin go off of the idea of forgiving me, which was really great for me and that meant that I didn't have to feel terrible forever.

"I just hope that none of this gets in the way of our friendship. I don't want to not be friends with you over some things that I can't get myself over. Then it really would be my fault." I said and I didn't want to really consider what that would have to be like, admitting that something was entirely my fault. But if this ruined my friendship with Kevin, it was entirely because of me and I was willing to accept that truth.

"So Todd, when Dana told you about these monster things, did you really want to fight them or did it just sort of start to happen and you started to do something that you never really planned on doing?" Kevin asked and I had to think about that. I mean, I never planned on fighting the monsters. But I would be lying that even with how scared I was over it and how terrible the idea had seemed, that it didn't seem at least a little bit exciting.

"I didn't want to do it. That is the truth. However, I did think that there was a little bit of merit to the idea and that maybe I would actually get more out of it than I would have assumed that I could have. Aside from a destroyed hand, more time to practice my skating skills, and a sword that I barely get any time to use to train, then I suppose that this is going great." I showed a very vague and short moment of resenting my job, but then I got over it pretty fast since I knew that I can't really accomplish something by just hating it the whole time. I was a realist when I looked at things that way.

"Just remember what the job is, and just keep focus on that job. If you can do that, then you will be able to fully accomplish it eventually. I truly feel that way Todd. Just because I don't want to be with you during your battles doesn't mean that I don't hope you succeed. I really hope you manage to pull this off. It is not only your goal in mind we have to consider, but the lives of all of the people in our town that we have to consider when we talk about this." Kevin said and just hearing him give me at least some sense of a good luck oath, was making me feel still a little bit better and not like I was in a truly terrible spot after all with the fact that I still had some supporters.

"I am glad that Dana gave me this job in reality. Even if I have moments of not showing it, I am glad that she was able to help me find at least a little bit of purpose in this school when I first came here, something that I knew that I could really focus on." I said and then I thought about Dana and how she was the last beautiful girl. I was hoping that I wasn't the first heart that she would break, since I did not want to know how I would deal with a full on break up with how she would jump to somebody else.

"What are you thinking about?" Kevin asked and when he asked that, I broke my thought set and forced myself to focus on the matter at hand. Dana won't hurt me, I needed to remain sure of that if it were to help me move forward on my life.

"Just thinking about Dana. I am just really worried that something awful between the two of us will go down, and I am starting to think that I would never be ready for that, no matter how strong I may be on other things." I admitted and I hoped that Kevin didn't want to pursue it any further. I did not trust him to know my deepest desires with her and everything like that.

"Don't worry about it. I can tell that you make her really happy, and she would not want to lose that. She would not want to lose her happiness because of a few silly things. I am pretty sure that no matter what happens, the two of you will be able to work things out together, and that nothing will really change things all that badly." Kevin sounded so sure, I was actually almost able to believe him, which was sort of amazing how he was able to say something that actually made me almost think that he was onto something.

"How is Sam doing now? Are you and him starting to get along a little bit better? I really hope that you guys will be able to bury the hatchet so to speak soon enough." I told Kevin and I was wondering if I was saying the right thing when I told him that, but it was really hard to watch him and Sam have this huge conflict. I was just really worried about how it was going to ultimately play out if neither one of them were really careful enough about how to handle it and everything. I just looked at Kevin and just seeing his face was a huge indicator that he didn't want to think about Sam.

"I just think that he doesn't really care. I guess it is not a terrible thing. I guess I would rather have somebody be open about the fact that they don't care over be lying about it, but I am not really too sure. I just worry that Sam is going to turn his back on me when I really need him. I know it may be crazy to sound, but I feel like I will need his help at some point, and when he is not there to help, then I feel as if nothing will work out and I will topple down and lose anything I tried to work on with him.

"I didn't know that was the way that you were feeling. I had a feeling that maybe you were just in some deep, unjustified hatred over him. I guess I honestly can see where you are coming from here. I wish you better luck on that. Hopefully the two of you will find a time to really just sit down and talk things through without feeling like you want to rip each others heads off or something like that.

"Thank you Todd. I just don't know. I bet that when things get really rough, he will eventually step up. But I am just worried that it will be too late. If you get what I mean. I mean, don't you parents not really talk to you all that much?" Kevin asked, and then I thought about it and he was telling the truth. I hadn't spoken to my parents once this entire school year, and only one time since we moved to Wayside. I just had no interest in having a good bond with them. And as it would turn out, I would learn that this was just how things were.

"I don't even know when I will speak to them again. At the rate I am going honestly, it might actually be never. As crazy as that may sound, it is the truth of it all." I said and then when I said that, I felt a little bad over that. Never talking to my parents did seem sort of awful and I was not even going to pretend that it didn't, but what was the point in talking and working with people that I didn't really care for at all.

"So maybe you really do know where I am coming from. You just don't have a desire to talk with your parents anymore, and I have no desire to talk with Sam anymore. The more that we talk about this, the more that you will begin to realize that really none of this sounds all that different from each other." Kevin told me and as I thought more and more about it, I thought that maybe Kevin did have a point there. When I really brought it down, the two of us were really not all that different. We didn't have somebody in each of our lives that we had a strong connection with, it was just different depending on which one we were talking about.

"Yeah, our lives are more the same than I would want to say. I guess I should start to leave you alone a little bit about it now that you really brought that point forward. I just feel like it is better to really have a good bond with them. But I suppose that I don't really have a good place to really talk on there..." I said and it seemed that topic was slowly dying and as much as I didn't think I would hate a Sam talk more than him at the start of three minutes ago, I decided that Kevin had sort of broke me. It was really the whole parents thing.

"One of these days, the two of us should stay the night again. Maybe this time, at your house instead of mine." Kevin said and I thought about that idea. He was the one that had brought it up originally, and I was thinking that there was nothing bad with this idea, and that maybe he and I should do it very soon. Even sooner than he had expected.

"Want to do it tonight?" I asked and then Kevin looked at me. He seemed like he was thinking I was totally insane when I asked him that but as he was thinking more about it, the more that I can see his mind running. "We probably wouldn't be doing anything too crazy, after all we are sort of doing this last second, but still, I think it would be a little bit of fun to do this."

"Sure, I guess that we could do this." Sam said and then after he had said that, the two of us started to head towards my house. I knew my parents wouldn't give a shit what I was doing there, and I bet that they probably wouldn't even notice at the rate that I was going, but I guess that I could maybe be a little bit careful upon first entering just to be safe and not to have them come up with some dumb hatred filled rant at me, as unrealistic as that may sound, but for some reason I was thinking about how that could have happened for a moment.

As we were heading on to my house, I was sort of wondering if I even had anything that Kevin could use to pass time with, or if this was just a dumb idea that we came up with and that maybe I shouldn't have done that and thought it out a little bit more before hand. "I will be so happy when I can finally lay down and not have to deal with any dumb monsters or something like that. I have had all the monsters I can handle for one day." I said and Kevin looked like he was a little bit tempted to laugh at that.

"I guess that one monster a day is all you can handle?" Kevin asked and I nodded, this was something I was willing to do once a week, or once a day, but nothing more than that. I guess that maybe he was starting to really have some points of views that were lining up with me, and that we were not really all that different on the monster stuff as well.

Soon enough, we reached the front entrance of my house and we walked on inside, and I was just thinking about what Kevin would even be able to do in there, and the more that I was there, the more that I was thinking that this was a terrible idea. Well not a terrible idea, but an idea that I didn't really think I should have exactly done after all. But once we were in my bedroom and I closed the door, at first I thought of how strange that must be for people to sort of wander into if they did, but at the same time I knew that nobody would, so it didn't matter.

"So Kevin, this is my humble abode." I said and then when I had told Kevin this, he started to look around a little bit and he was thinking about the different things in this bedroom that can make this room appealing or something. The truth answer was that there wasn't really anything that could. I didn't mind that reality, but it was the truth. It was dirty and there was not really all that many things in the area that could have actually made it exciting for any of the average people to witness.

"Sorry I never cleaned up the room or anything, I never really thought that anybody was actually going to come on here any time soon. I mean, I am glad that people are coming over and staying the night and everything, but jesus if I actually had some better plans I would have cleaned up a little bit more." I said and then I sat down on my sort of couch bed chair thing and then I looked on over at Kevin and was trying to figure out what he was thinking. Kevin sat down on the thing as well and he didn't really seem to care all that much about it, which did make me feel a lot better that he was not insanely picky about all that stuff. If he were, then he would have been super disappointed in me.

"It's better than some people who just throw things together at the last second and not really care what I think and then when I tell them they worked too hard on it, they act all triggered and act like I should have been grateful for all of the cleaning that they did for me before I came on over. Like honestly, I don't care how dirty or clean your room if. I would rather have it be dirty and have it be very obvious that this is the way you live over a fake sense of clean when it will just get dirty in like five seconds after I leave." Kevin said and I was wondering what made him feel so anti a clean room on that level. I wonder if it was something he always felt or if something happened that made him feel that way.

"I guess you don't have to worry about that too much. I never try and act like I have the cleanest room on the block." I said and then I turned to the recorder that I had set up that Joy had given me. I was wondering what exactly to do with that things, since I wanted to make some recordings but at the same time I did not want to do it with Kevin around in the fear that he would think I didn't care about him and that this visit didn't matter. I didn't want to give that impression.

"Is that what Joy gave you earlier? It seems like you can really put that to use." Kevin said and I nodded. Truth was that I actually could and that I actually probably should.

"Maybe when you head out and everything, I will do a short recording or something. I won't bother right now. Did I mention that I was hanging out with Jenny tomorrow? I asked because I genuinely could not remember with all of the stuff that was going on lately, and it just sort of ditched my mind away. Kevin just shook his head, and I didn't know if I was telling the truth or not. I decided I might as well just come clean to him about that.

"Well yeah, Jenny and I were hanging out earlier this week, and after a while the two of us decided that we wanted to hang out this week end, and since I am already doing that with you today, we agreed upon tomorrow. I hope that you don't really mind that I am hanging out with your super big crush and everything. Though I doubt that anything will really come of it though, so I wouldn't worry too much if I were you." I said and I was telling myself that Dana and I were still together and the fact that we were going strong should be a reason not to do anything with Jenny. Besides, it would be awful to go do stuff like that with somebody I barley know.

"Just don't bring me up while you are hanging with her. If you can do that, then I guess I will be cool with it." Kevin said and I wondered why that was his one rule. I decided to just roll my eyes and I had no idea why we would even bring him up anyways, so I tried my best to assure him that there was nothing to worry about there. I had better things to do in my spare time than to talk shit about Kevin anyways.

"Besides, she doesn't even know you enough to really be a proper judge on how you are. Even I am probably more of a person who can judge that than her, and that is saying a lot since I still sort of barely know you." I said and I was thinking that maybe I was under selling the friendship I had with Kevin, but I was doing it to make him relax a little bit more, so I was going to go with it anyways.

"Thanks. I don't want somebody ruining any chance I have with her before I even get to really talk with her or anything like that. That would be the worst way to have a rejection, by somebody just making it seem like it is something she wouldn't want. I know Jenny is better than that, but I know that people can come up with some pretty convincing shit to say sometimes." Kevin finished what he was thinking, but he promised that he would trust me and not worry too much, which made me feel better and like I could be able to move on from the subject.

"So let's talk about something else. So Dana gave me this really fucking long ass book that she wanted me to read all of, and I am still barely anywhere in it at all." I said and I walked up to my chair and pulled out the book that Dana gave to me and was non verbally forcing me to read and then I let Kevin take a look at it for him to try and figure out what he had thought of it. I felt like he could have a good idea what to think of it.

As Kevin looked at the book, he was wondering what the hell was even going on in it. "Did Dana seriously ask around like five hundred million people their own story of what was going on in the town and then she just decided to write them all down? It seems a little strange to do that, if you ask me. I mean, wouldn't like five or six be enough to still get a good deal of evidence?" Kevin asked and I shrugged. It was just the way that Dana wanted to do it, although I wasn't really going to go out of my way and force her to explain her motives to me. After all, I don't explain my motives to skating.

"I just feel like there was a lot of stuff on her mind when she wrote this, and that she felt this was the only way to really let it all out. That is what I am thinking at the very least. I can ask her, and see what she thinks. But I doubt that she will give me a super forward answer on all of this. Who knows, maybe this was somebody elses ides and she was forced to be the one to do the job." I said and I was not really all that interested in the book anymore. I was already kind of thinking about something else now.

"I mean, do you actually plan on reading this whole thing or are you just going to keep it in your room and let it gather dust?" Kevin asked and I thought about that. I wanted to read it, but I was just not finding time to do it. I had a feeling Dana wanted it back as well soon, but at the same time, she hasn't directly asked for it, so I never really felt the need to go out of my way and hand it to her.

"I will let her decide what I need to do with the book. When I capture an extremely quiet time for me to check it all out, I suppose I will go back to it and see what is in there, but for now, I am just going to put the thing aside. Besides, I have a lot of audio recordings I want to fill up as well." I said, still thinking about what that is really going to do for me.

"If you think that you will ever come around to it, then you should probably keep it. Until then, if you are not sure, I feel like Dana can come up with some use of it still. Not really sure though. Maybe you can ask her and see what she is thinking about the matter." Kevin said and then afterwards, he opened it up to a random page. It was like one hundred thirty five or something. Out of boredom, he read that a little bit and then skipped to the final page and read the final page out loud.

"Page 1849: There is a lot of work being collected here, and I still don't even know how far I am actually getting on all of this. I feel like I am just sort of starting at the surface here, considering how little I still know about these monsters aside from experiences people had with them. I need to get to know more of these facts before I can truly say which side I am on. All I do know is that I need to keep studying and keep looking deeper. One way or another, I will figure this all out. One way or another, all of these mysteries will be solved. Maybe the next time a new student shows up at Wayside, I can get him or her to help me out with this."

Kevin looked at me after he read that and I was sort of trying to really let this all sink in. After all, Dana was still expressing hope in me. I had no idea how she could even be able to do so. I barely had anything that I could truly offer her. I was sort of at a loss on all of this myself, and I thought that if anything, she would be the one who can help me figure all of this out. But it was seeming less and less like this the more that I really looked into her stuff, which was worrying me.

"I wonder if Dana still had any interest in the monsters after the last few days or if she has given up all of her research on this stuff. I would really not blame her if she has lot all the interest that she did have on that stuff. The last few weeks really have been a lot for all of us, and maybe this was sort of the nail in the coffin to get her to stop really looking into all of this. Maybe it will be for her best sake if that is the case." I said, thinking that maybe this whole thing was going to actually come to an end sooner than I may expect and that soon enough, I may be able to just leave this all to the side.

"I'm not really sure. Either way, I think we really still need to dig deeper into all of this. We need any answer we can get." Kevin said and I looked at Kevin for a moment, wondering if he meant it.

"But just a couple of minutes ago, you were talking about how you didn't want to help. What is really making you say that you want to start helping now? It is just sort of out of nowhere, not that I have any problem with you wanting to help at all." I said and Kevin considered this but he felt like the answer was pretty obvious enough as it was.

"I decided that I didn't mind helping you, I just don't want to be fighting is all. But giving advice, and you know, looking around for thinks that could assist you on your quest, shall you choose to keep going on it, I am willing to do that." Kevin told me and then I thought that was a good stance in a way and then I decided that maybe if for nothing else, I could have a back up in case things start to really go south soon. Something that I was open to happening, even if that happening was not something that I totally envisioned since while the first monster was a little bit of a problem, the second one was kind of a push over.

"Alright, whatever you say." I said and then I thought about that and was wondering what else there was to do. "Well, I mean to change topics, if we wanted to go out and skate, you most likely will not be as bad as Myron was. But that is because he was truly terrible at it, and even if you did some of it right, you would be sort of the second best skater in the school." I said and though I said it, I knew it would be more of a by default thing than anything else.

"No, I'm not into that kind of stuff. Tried it a little bit ago, just not my thing. I hope you don't mind that." Kevin said as I shook my head. There was nothing to mind about that. It was just not for everybody. I wanted to suggest it, to try something else out, but at the same time, it was nothing I thought he would be in love with. "Although I am interested in what you would think of my writings if you did read them."

I looked at Kevin and I remember that he vaguely mentioned the journal that he started to fill up and everything, but then I thought that me reading it would be a little bit strange since it wasn't mine and those were his thoughts after all. "I mean, if you started to go on and make a bit more of a public story, then I would be willing to work with you a little bit more on these. I just don't feel it right to go on and start to read your own stuff and just sort of invade your privacy, if you get what I mean." I said, as I was hoping that Kevin would understand my point of view. I didn't want to shot him down, but I was trying to be genuinely courteous of his stuff at the same time.

"Well, is that is what you think will work best, then I respect that." Kevin said and he was thinking about that thing of work a little bit more. "The thing has like four hundred pages. I have already gotten about fifteen percent or so of the way there. I am very impressed with myself honestly."

"I think that this is great Kevin. It really is great to see you putting your focus on other things that doesn't seem to be of harm at all. It seems like you are making some real good progress here after all." I said, and I truly meant every word of it. Hearing Kevin talk like that was something that I was really glad to hear, and hearing the more positive tone in his voice was showing me that he wasn't entirely lying about the whole thing, which had made the whole thing even better. I just hoped that Kevin would keep this up for the rest of the school year, and slowly be improving upon it and everything so that way it did not seem like it was just false improvement or something terrible like that.

"At least we can agree that it is better that I can find at least some form of hobby. I really did not know how right you were when you said that forming some form of hobby was better than just sitting around all day. Doing something like that does make it so that my mind is truly going somewhere instead of coming to a full stop." Kevin said and hearing him actually start to really take his position on the easier in a much more calm and collected tone was one of the very few things that was really needed, and one of the few things that was given to us. I just wondered how long it was going to last before Kevin started to move away from that. I was just trying to be a little bit realistic when I was thinking that.

"Just keep it up and you might be through the whole thing by the end of the school year. It would be really cool if you actually can make it through that entire thing honestly. If you don't mind, would you tell me how it really felt doing that whole thing when it is over with?" I questioned as Kevin wondered what the hell he was thinking.

"I will tell you how it felt writing that whole thing. I really think that it will be one of the few things that I will be proud of when I leave high school. One of the few things that I feel like I would have put the full effort in, which I feel like is something that needs to be admired. You really are a good guy. You were the one that gave me this idea, and you were the one that started to help me come down this path way." Kevin told me, and hearing Kevin really talk that highly of me made me feel so much better.

But soon enough, we started to talk about things that I doubt you would really be able to have a interest in and besides, I already have a ton of detail that I need to give you on the later events of the year, so I need to try and keep things at least relatively narrow, if that is even possible at all.

But I will talk a little bit more about the in between time of when I hung out with Kevin and when I hung out with Jenny in that short period of time. When Kevin had left the house and I was alone again, I pulled out my recorder and then placed in my second tape and filled it up pretty fast. I think that I would send them off to Joy when I filled them up, so that way she would know when she would need to give me another one. Or I can just but them with my own money, which would probably be the better thing for me to do in the long run.

I pressed the play button and then started. "So I hung out with Kevin last night, and he ended up staying the night, which was not what I was expecting at all. I doubt that really anybody would have wanted that to turn into a over the night thing, but I suppose that it is better for me to do this than nothing at all. But I doubt that you will really want to hear all those details.

I just am sort of conflicted on the things going on in school now. You may be wondering what I mean, so I will try my best to really explain in a way that can help make sense out of the whole thing for both of us. I mean after all, I have no real reason to try and feel conflicted over this whole thing. But all of these monsters, and just the way that everybody is around the school, and seeing people get more and more scared about what is going on, I have a feeling that I can't hide this thing for too much longer.

I have been trying to not tell everybody about the whole monster thing mainly because I just don't want to get them scared. If they get scared, chaos will spread and if chaos spreads, then my job as trying to be a hero would have failed and that would make everything a thousand times worse. I feel like the weight of the world is slowly coming more and more upon me, and I know that it feels dumb to say that, but at the same time, I just can't help but feel that way.

Who knows, it will probably turn out soon enough that none of this will really be too big of a issue. I just have a feeling that the monsters are going to kill some students, and if that happens, I don't think that I would be able to live with myself ever. I was told to be the hero and that is what I will be. Even if it means that I have to be the one who falls on the sword. But I have a feeling that sooner or later, I will just fail." I started and wondered where else to go with this.

"I mean, it was sort of my job by force to make sure that everybody in this town was safe, and so far I am not really too sure if I have done a good job or not. I don't want to wake up one day and see that I had destroyed Wayside or something like that. If I end up destroying some of the actual building or something like that in an extreme attempt to so called save the day or something like that, I would have every reason to be excluded against in peoples groups and all of that stuff. I don't think that this will happen though, but I have to be a bit more careful before I go in there again.

The second monster that I have faced recently was really easy to defeat, but I have a feeling that I am not going to keep up this luck forever. I have a feeling that sooner or later, fate will come to me and eventually, as much as it would be horrible to admit, I might start to succumb to my wounds or something. I mean, I got shot in the hand yesterday and the only thing to keep it from bleeding out is a piece of Kevin's shirt that he decided to rip up and give to me. I seriously wonder how Kevin's parents or his brother Sam are going to react when they see a huge piece of his shirt gone or something like that.

I have a really big feeling that sooner or later, his family is going to come to me and talk to me about how terrible of a influence I am to their kid and that I need to stop hanging out with him. I doubt that it will be happening any time soon since they barely know me and they are probably not actually thinking that I have anything to do with it, but soon enough they are going to figure it all out and when they do, I imagine that it is not going to be a very fun ride. I am really not all that sure on how much I am able to rub the magic genie bottle before I am running out of my wishes so to speak. I know that metaphor really made no sense, but I am just sort of running on high gear right now.

I hope that soon enough, you can send me a message where you are able to tell me how you life if. I don't want to find out that I am just sending these messages and that it was all for nothing. I know that you are probably getting these messages and that it is nothing I have to worry about, but good god.

If it is possible, would you mind maybe when you get my recording, and I send it onto you, that you send me back a short letter or something to know that you got it. Even if it's only like half a page or something like that, it would still be the assurance that I would need to know that I can keep going at this and not feel like I am speaking to a void.

Joy, I want you to be honest with me when I ask you this question and if you do start sending me reply letters, I want you to be real fucking crystal clear with me. But what was your honest opinion of me? Did you actually consider me to be a friend? Did you actually hate me when you made fun of me all of these times, and most of all, when we were talking on our summer together, and had a lot of those deep connections, did you actually love me, or were you just doing that to benefit yourself? I don't even mind what you tell me anymore. It was over a month ago regardless of whatever you say. We need to move on no matter what. But just give me the truth.

I feel like most of the things that we have done in the school year at Wayside has sort of made me seen how light all the stuff at the previous school was in comparison. Like jesus christ, those robbers were fucking easy next to the monsters that we had to deal with. I also don't really like the education system that we had at this school school. I am not really learning anything here and despite the fact that my grades have never been all that great I felt like there was at least some form of purpose to what we learned, and I feel like I did learn some things, such as how to do some simple fucking math. God, I fucking hate math.

Well, I don't really know what else to really say right now. I see that I still have like seventy five minutes left on my recorder or something, so I have already used up a sixth of it. I feel like I have not really done all that much besides just complain and whine here, but you did give these to me as a way to tell you what my feelings were, and that is what I am doing right now.

I think that I will leave it alone for today, and maybe when I hang out with Jenny today, I will come back tonight and tell you how that went and then I tell you what I think of Jenny since that is the first I will really get to know of her.

I need to be heading out now, thank you for listening to this dumb shit if you are still listening to it at all and I will continue later. Joy, most of all, thank you for not throwing me under the bus with what happened to the robbers four months ago. Even now, I feel like that did save my life." I said and then when I had said that, I stood up as I pressed pause and saw that I still had fifth sixths of my recording to go through.

As I was getting ready to go on that hang out with Jenny, I was telling myself not to pull a Maurecia incident and that Dana and I were supposed to be getting along and be happy as a couple. Dana and I were happy as a couple, and that was the part that was making it even worse. I had just a much harder time being fully loyal than I should have been. Not that it was really all that big of a deal considering the fact that we had barely known each other. At least I sort of knew who Maurecia was, but I honestly had no idea who the fuck Jenny was mostly, and this was sort of meant to change that in all reality.

I had been skating down the path way that I was told to go down to her house, as she had said that her house was decently hard to get to, not that I was really sure if she was telling the truth or not, but at the same time, if she was saying so, I figured that maybe there was a grain of truth to it, so I wasn't going to go on and test her on her word, since I think her word was a bigger decider on the matter than I am.

I walked up to Jenny's house when I realized that I was near the place where the directions had told me I needed to go towards, I knocked on the door and as I had knocked on the door, I was just waiting for her for a bit. I moved my hand a couple of bits back and that way my way of trying to look sort of cool and well presented to Jenny, since she was a wild girl and she was probably going to really like that. Well, that was the idea that I was coming up with, I just hoped that it was actually the truth. Before I could think about how silly that whole thing was, Jenny opened her house door and she looked at me up and down for a little bit.

"Looks like you have dressed yourself up in your normal suit. I guess that nothing will get you to wear something else after all. Well, I guess that we should be heading out now. I just hope that you guys have some good ideas." Jenny said and then when we were walking along, I placed the skate board at my side. I think Jenny and I were going to have a little bit of a hard time really trying to get to know each other, since I had barely ever talked with her before.

"So Jenny, what made you decide that you wanted to hang out with me in the first place?" I asked and then when I asked that question, Jenny had no answer. At least for the first couple of seconds, and I sort of figured that maybe she was not really too sure what the answer was in all honesty.

"I guess I wanted to see what the newer kid was all about at our school. Although I guess you're not new anymore, after being here a month. Besides, I doubt that we can really be able to put off talking with each other for too much longer. After all, you are sort of becoming the most popular kid at our school, and everybody is starting to know who you are by now." Jenny said and I sure as hell didn't really feel popular. I just had a couple of close friends, doesn't mean that I was a fucking hit among everybody that was in class with me. Or maybe I was, and I just didn't know it.

"One of these days, I might be able to run for class president and win the election. Might do a better job than Myron. Not that I actually want to be class president. I don't mind politics, but I don't want to get involved with the bureaucratic bullshit that is involved with politics. Sorry for talking about that. Not really a great conversation to talk about when you are first hanging out with somebody, I know. Just sort of came to my mind, and I just wanted to say that. Maybe you would understand when you examine things a bit deeper. I feel like the government is just sort of a big problem right now. But enough about that, what is making you into the motor riding?" I asked Jenny as she was trying to process how I flipped from politics to her riding abilities. But since I brought it up, she was clearly excited to talk about that as I had given her a chance to.

"I love riding around. Just makes me feel like I am living the life. Just going out there, riding around and just not giving a fuck about the world. I think that Wayside is one of the best places in the world, and that is a reason why that is the case. Wayside just lets me live the life I want, and they don't give me any sort of hurdles that I have to over come." Jenny said as I understood her point.

"Wayside is good for that. It does make it so that I don't have to worry about living the life I want. But at the same time, I do not feel like I have indeed lived the life I wanted. Besides, I don't really know or care all that much about that. I just hate how terribly the system is taught. It is borderline insulting how bad the system teaches the students." I said and then Jenny was wondering what I had against the system.

"I think that they are effective enough. What makes you feel like they are not?" Jenny asked and I was not really in the mood to explain, but maybe I can indulge her for a short moment, and then that can put us on even footing for a little bit.

"I am just sort of missing my old school on that front. Really is due to the girl that talks with me a lot lately. This girl named Joy. Was a former student I went to school with. Have been talking with her by video recorder a bit, and I am sort of thinking about the stuff that we went through. Back at my old school, the students needed to write down about their feelings and stuff like that. There seemed to be a extra focus on what we were thinking about as we were working." I said and I looked forward at the huge building that was being worked on. It was sort of like some kind of advanced pyramid. It was really strange to look at it. "What type of corporation is being formed there I wonder? I want to go check it out." I said and then when I said that to Jenny, she looked at me and got a short lived smile on her face.

"If you want to go there, I have nothing against that idea. Maybe we should just go down there right away, and see what it is like." Jenny said and then after she said that to me, I considered that and thought that maybe Jenny and I did have a little bit of a ambitious side to us after all.

"How about I race you down?" I asked and then that was when Jenny gave me her ultimate 'your on' face and I knew that when it came to skating and racing, maybe we were really two and the same. So with that, we both got our wheels on the ground and started to ride down the hills as fast as possible, both of us trying to build up a tiny bit of speed that would give each of us just a slight moment edge if possible.

The two of us had been riding down for about six minutes just in a ultimate race, and I felt like this was giving both Jenny and I a little bit more of a connection with each other than I had ever thought it would have given us now. Jenny beat me obviously, because she was having way more experience than me. But I gave a pretty good race. She only beat me by like ten seconds or something like that.

With that, once we were both there, I looked at Jenny and we both looked back and saw all the angry old guys looking at us for ruining their day by our loud noises and the cars that were honking because we almost ruined their driving. We both smiled and laughed and then Jenny placed her hand on my shoulder and then said "You my bro, are quite the man." Then with that, we saw the entrance to the large working on in progress pyramid place and then we walked in with no permission from anybody else.

As we walked inside, we saw that the place was going up like thirty to forty floors, so even more than what Wayside was doing. Which was quite the impressive thing for me to see, and then I looked at Jenny to see what her reaction was to this giant fucking building. "What the hell had happened? I didn't even notice that this place was being built at first, and now it is at the pitch center of town, and we might be one of the first people to see what it is like." I said, as I turned around with Jenny doing so at the same time to see a guy with a giant suit and lanky legs coming towards us.

"So somebody is able to see the fast production that we have been coming up with. I guess that maybe there is hope in the younger generation so far. Follow me you two, and maybe I will show you guys what the future really beholds. The future is androids, and I think that you must be able to fully recognize that already my two young friends." The guy said as he started to take the lead with the two of us right behind him and then when he said that, Jenny and I started to follow him.

"My name is Devon. I saw from a business deal that a guy who wore a strange purple jacket about the creation of androids, and how he felt like they were going to bring the future forward and really drive the further progression of the world. I realized that this guy was right, and that was when I started my production to create the greatest human beings on the planet. I guess in a way, you could say that I am their father." Devon said as Jenny was looking at me and I didn't really know what was going on.

"How exactly can you be their father? You are just creating a bunch of robots. I don't really see how you can be the father to something like that. I don't really understand Devon." I said and then Devon shook his head as if he thought that I could not understand and maybe that I still was too young to go on and really see the two sides of the coin. "I wonder how many of these androids you are creating. Are you really sure that you are allowed to do this, you know right here right now, where a school is and a not really big business place in the first place?

"Even with your questions, you still show how you are indeed smarter than most people in your age. Yes, there is no business in this town and the main thing is your thirty story building, and that is why I am working here. I was speaking with the governor of Minnesota, our great state, and he was willing to give me permission to branch off and make a base of operations here, since he felt like this can really drive the extra business of Wayside. It is all about the economics of the situation, how to make the bang for your buck on any business. You can't have it compete with highly active cities, but you can't do barren and dead places, in which it will just sort of be a waste of placing it here to begin with. This place seems like it can be a heavy and effective compromise." Devon said and then I looked at him and Jenny asked the next question.

"What exactly is the point of these androids? Why do you really think they will be a huge success?" Jenny asked and then Devon explained it to us in what he was thinking was simple enough for us.

"They are basically humans when you really break it down. Humans that are not born, but created. Humans that have a limited life span, as a way to sort of make them not out of date and have them go down once they have filled their purpose. We have done four year androids so far, trying really hard to increase it to seven years, but we only have one copy of that so far. I sent her off to a different district, trying to make it see what would happen if you let them have their own lives. As a way to do some sort of experiment. Each android takes about half a million dollars to make, so as a result we are only able to make one every two to three months, and we are taking the production of them very slowly and seriously. We can't have any problems with them, or else they might create technical problems." Devon said as Jenny felt like her head was hurting.

"Todd, I know that we are both sort of wanting to talk with this guy more, but honestly I don't really feel comfortable right now. Will you be willing to leave this place now?" Jenny asked and I thought that maybe she was sort of thinking about this more long term than I was.

"Yeah, sorry man. While I loved to talk to you, I bet that I can't really waste your time and creation production, and besides my friend and I were not really planning on staying here for too long. Thanks for showing us this place." I said to the guy and then he nodded, and he was staring right at us, trying to figure us out from the distance.

"I don't really even know what to say about that." Jenny said when the two of us were sort of distant, and she was thinking that maybe nobody was really listening to us or caring anybody. Soon enough, we were out of the place as Devon placed his hand on his chin and he was wondering if he was going to use us as his next draft for the next androids. Once Jenny and I were both out, it was like we were never there to begin with.

"Now that we got that out of the way, where do you want to go to next? We still got a whole day ahead of us." I suggested, letting Jenny kind of run the show here since I was the dude and she was the girl. I felt like she was the one who probably had a better idea on where to go, considering how she was a wayside veteran, and had more experience than pretty much everybody, but that really was not saying much, considering the fact everybody else was only here for a couple of years tops. I was interested in expanding my outlook of wayside and seeing everything there was to know about it. If I really had not seen everything at this point in time.

"There are so many places to check out we would be out until the morning. I doubt that you would really mind that though. You seen like somebody who would go out late at night when you are given the chance to." Jenny said to me as I looked up at the sunny sky and held my hand out for a second. I knew nothing would hit it, but it still seemed like a soothing thing to do, knowing Jenny and I were in no real rush, and we could just relax as the day grew older.

"I do like to stay out late at night. But I don't do it all the time. I feel like to do so would be a brutal mis use of my time that I have been given. Not doing something, such as being out with friends, or working on some projects. Joy always called me a slacker. School wise, I sort of am, but that is because I do other things in my time. I work on stuff I know will matter." I said to Jenny as we kept walking along, that building out of sight, and the foreboding feeling that came along with it drifting away from me.

"That guy was really starting to creep me out. He just had such a sinister feel to him, and I feel like he was going to try and use us for some things if we had not been more careful. I am glad that he is away from us. Do you feel like there was something to him?" Jenny asked me and I could not help but agree with her, he really did seem like he only cared about his project.

"Yeah, I am glad he is gone. I might check it out later though. Maybe he does have a point." I said and we were done in the shopping section of town, where bright and bustling business was always happening. I figured that maybe we could stop by this place for a bit. "I never realized there was so much stuff here. I feel like I could be here for hours. What do you do down here?" I saw a place with a giant screen playing what looked to be an ad. The ad seemed to be promoting some kind of hair product. So nothing that would really affect me.

"You seem like you walked into a wonderland Todd. I am kind of shocked at how much this still amazes you. After all, progression comes at fast rates. Minnesota is the second fastest growing economic state after all, beating California this year, and expected to beat New York in about twelve years. But thankfully the population is still under control. Can't imagine wayside having as many people as a New York city school. Then I would probably not even know you at all." Jenny said while I was thinking we still had not really known each other all that well, but there was today.

"That is fucking crazy. I know this is sudden, but how is your family? Like on a how do you stand next to them all kind if level. Being a only child does have a few perks. I mean, I can almost do anything I damn well please. But I always do know that if something happens to me, my parents would have nothing left. Not that it really matters, as I barely ever talk with them. Gave not spoken to them once since I moved here. Try to fucking imagine that." I said as I knew there was no way Jenny and her family can be any worse.

"Well I guess I must say that compared to you, I am doing pretty solid actually. I am also the only child, so we share that fact. But I feel like that is not really a huge deal to you. I am sort of a person on middle ground with my parents. We talk all the time, but I can tell that they wish they had me earlier, since they do sort of have a hard time keeping up with me, and they are sort of on the older end. Mid fifties. Compared to Kevin, that doesn't seem so bad, but compared to probably you, that must be crazy." Jenny gave me her version of her life, and I was not bitter mine was not like that honestly. Yeah, my parents had me younger, but at least they can work and keep on top of taking care for me, even if I don't care at all to talk with them.

"Better than all the brothers Maurecia has, Jesus fucking Christ that is crazy." I said and Jenny laughed as she remembered that part.

"Yeah, I don't even know how her parents can have the motivation to have sex that much. Just seems a little insane to do that. I think three, maybe four at most, should be what a person does. Not like six or seven." Jenny responded while I felt like we did have some sanity left in the two of us, at least when compared to the rest. I walked right next to her, as I was letting the atmosphere sink in and was thinking where my life was slowly heading now that I was a full time student at wayside and we were one month in.

As Jenny and I were walking down the streets, I was sort of pondering what was even going on with us and the conversations that we had up to that point in time. I really do enjoy talking with her but at the same time I was sort of wondering if she was wanting to show me something else. I really would not mind if she wanted to show me something else, after all she did say that there was a lot of stuff in Wayside that I didn't really know about.

"So Jenny what were you wanting to show me? I mean nothing can really be worse than that other building that we went to earlier. I mean what can really be worse than a random guy about how he wants to make robots. I just kind of don't really like the idea of robots that I mean the kind of take away from the meaning of what it's like to just be a normal person. So what would even really be the point of doing that because it's sort of ruining the very core fundamental of what we are. At least that's what I think about the whole issue."

"I would not really worried about it too much. But there is some place that I want to show you. How about you just follow me down for a little? It's this place that the fair used to be and it's not really used anymore so I could technically do whatever I want on it. I like to go roller blading around on my motorbike. I try showing the place tomorrow reach you a couple times but she didn't really seem too into it. I guess you just one of those more typical skaters in that regard. But I think you would really enjoy the place. You do seem like you kind of like your own adventure, and I think that going to these older Fairgrounds would really you know help push that forward." Jenny said and that she told me that I sort of thought about how that would be a little bit dangerous. But considering the fact that I have been fighting monsters lately I don't really think that dangerous would be something I should worry too much about. If I was more worried about what was dangerous or what was safe, then I want to be going around fighting monsters in the first place. So doing this really by comparison seems like it would be a pretty minor deal.

"Yeah let's go there. I can't wait till you no try out some new moves maybe you can be the small the first people who can see my new moves. And if you are right and no one else is there, then they'll be no one to stop us from what we're doing. And as a result we can go on for as long as we want. But I thought that maybe there would be some other places that we can go check out, but this is definitely a good starting place." There was really a part of me as I said that thinking on the inside about how awesome this was going to be. How I could further show my passion for skating and trying out something new to other people. After all like it seems like Dana was really too interested in me going all wild and crazy. I couldn't really blame her after all, she was sort of like my girlfriend and everything. But at the same time it just really was sort of taken away from one of the things that I really enjoyed doing and that does kind of suck honestly. Maurecia seems to be much more into it then Dana is, but I'm not dating her and I really don't want to you know keep pushing it on the whole relationship matter so that is why I'm kind of staying away from her for the time being until you know things start to cool down a bit.

"Does Dana know about the fact that I was hanging out with Mauricio earlier?" I asked, letting that horror sink in.

"Would she really care if you did? She is a friend of yours after all." Jenny tried to put a realistic stance on it, but still.

"I think she would. I am just not too sure on if she wouldn't be." I said, but I decided to drop the subject nearly right away.

Before I could think any further about it, and before Jenny was even wanted to talk about it anymore, we found the entrance to the fairgrounds that told me about. We had been walking for a decent while and I had not even been paying any attention to it because we had been so lost up in different conversations such as Kevin and how he was you know sort of only slightly better than me on school and about Jenny's you know skating life as well as how I know and getting acquainted to Wayside and everything but I don't really want to bore you of those details so I won't say them.

So once we were at the entrance to the fairgrounds, we decided to go ride in since I wanted to see what these Fairgrounds are all about.

Once inside I was able to see what Junior was able to like about it so much. It was a huge area, and despite that it looks like nobody had been there for months. I really had no possible idea why that was the case when there was so much stuff that you could do with it. But I thought that maybe there were just some construction stuff going on and maybe they were just trying to turn into someplace else. Sort of like the guy who was having that building just dedicate to his Android creations. I don't know that's just what I think about it we would get our answer a little bit later once we came down there a few times but that's going to be explained later in the story.

"I wonder how you found this place in the first place. I mean if the place was closed down then there would have been really no reason for you to come here. Or was this place open until just recently? I guess in that case it would make a little bit more sense, but what would make you want to go back to it if it was closed down?" I told Jenny and as I said that to her I was placing the board on the ground and I was getting ready to do some skating. Jenny seems like she was just as excited as I was to start, and she was starting to wonder if maybe we can start to do another or something.

"It was here and working a little while ago. At least back when I first came here. But after a while, they closed the place down in order to just restart a new business. The fair grounds really was not that popular anymore. I mean you should have been here when there was a fair. It used to be like the main thing that people would go when we were kids during the summer. But it was taken away from us in a while ago and they really have not just finished the project yet here. I guess maybe they're just waiting for some really spectacular idea or something like that. I still kind of feel a little resentful or the fact that they took something away from us but what can you do about it?" Jenny told me as I looked around the place a bit more.

As I place the board down on the ground and was ready to go for another round of skating, I put my feet on the board and I was ready to go. Jenny did the same thing and we went off. As we rode around for a little bit, I was kind of thinking about what she had said, thinking about what really was going to take this place over. I was also wondering, what was the Fair really like?

I thought about that the whole time that we were riding, and I was skating around the railways and for a little bit I was really feeling like a free man and away. I always had that feeling when I was going around on the skateboard. Like nothing really was that big of a deal, and that just the thrill of what was going on around me was all that really mattered.

Every time I did a move, Jenny would go around and do the exact same move. But as much as I hate to admit it, she would have done it in a much better way that would have put my way of doing it to shame by comparison. I realized that no matter what trick I came up with, and no matter how hard I tried, she was going to find a way to make it just a little bit more impressive than me when she was the one that did it, but I really did not let that discourage me too much. It was just really nice to see her just enjoy something much more that she would have if she was forced to just do it at the school.

I noticed that she didn't really seem to do the skating I mean motor riding, or at least didn't enjoy super much when she was doing it at the school. I think that is because there is some sort of like a limited amount they can do with it and she doesn't want that. She wants to be unlimited she wants to just go wherever she just wants to race. As much as I know I would not be able to win the race against her, I really can't see why she would like it so much.

"You are so good at this I can't even keep up anymore. How much time did you spend practicing at this in order to be so good at it? You really should teach me how to do some of these tricks, because you are way better at it than me." I said as I was just going to finally take a little bit of a break, but Jenny was still going at it and she seems like she was not running out of steam anytime soon.

"I just have the energy in me. When I get on this bike, I feel like I can do anything in the world and that nothing can stop me. It is one of the greatest feelings in the world Todd. I really think that you would have known how it felt like when you do your skating around. I thought that it would sort of be like the same thing." Jenny said and I supposed that it wasn't really all that different. I just had felt it much less than her, which I felt like really was not all that bad of a thing. After all, she was able to do like five or six miles in ten minutes, while I was able to get two in ten minutes.

"I guess it is not really all that different from you. I just don't feel like I can take on the world or anything like that. God, I feel like even Myron is able to beat me on that regard in a way. I just do something and then feel a little bit more worn out after doing it for a while." I said and I was sitting on my skateboard as I was talking with her, thinking that it would look like it would be kind of cool to do something like that. Would give off a little bit of a the bad boy vibe, or at least I felt like it would have been able to.

"Maybe we all just have different levels of energy I guess. I feel like I could go on this all day, and not feel like any amount of fatigue was hitting me. But I suppose that maybe you just much more of a general normal guy than I am. After all, I would not really fit in the idea of a general girl with the fact that I do all this skating stuff to begin with. God damn it, you got me into saying skating when it is actually just motor biking." Jenny said and there was something a little bit hot about the way that she swore, like she could not believe the mess she was getting herself into.

"Hey don't worry about it Jenny. I know exactly what you are talking about, and that is what really matters. Trust me, if I had no idea what you were talking about, we would not be in this conversation right now, since I would have been so zoned off." I said and then Jenny nodded and got herself slowly back into her casual self.

"You know, I thought that you would have been much different. I am starting to hear all the rumors about you. Such as you going around, and fighting something like monsters or some crazy stuff like that. I am not really sure though if I should believe in any of that stuff. You just don't really sound like the type of guy who could hurt something. Are what the people actually saying true? Are you actually fighting monsters, or is all that stuff just a big lie?" Jenny said and I thought that if I told her the truth, I could either make an ally out of her or she would think I was pulling her leg.

"Some of it is true. I am fighting monsters. That part is true. They have been in Wayside for a long time, and I am just sort of taking care of the mess, or what I feel like is taking care of the mess. What is not true though is probably the extent of how I am doing it. I am betting that they are acting like that is all I am ever doing, and that my whole life is just fighting monsters. That is not the case, and I am just doing it when they encounter me. I don't go looking for them. I am sure you must have known about the monsters by now." I said, and then Jenny nodded.

"Yes, I know what monsters are. They have been around forever, and I have seen a couple of them myself. I just don't get why you would do that. Go out of your way to fight them. That seems like you would be setting yourself up for some sort of suicide mission. Like wouldn't you rather be doing something else?" Jenny said and this was when she sat down.

"Yes, I would rather be doing something else, like what we are doing right now, but I can't. I was given the job, and I have to do it. Jenny, I want you to tell me something. What do you really do in your spare time? What is your personal life like? Do you come down to the fair grounds often to just skate around?" I asked, and I saw Jenny look down and start to get a little bit of a more normal look on her face.

"I usually come by here during the weekends. Too long of a way to go during the normal school week, but that doesn't mean that I don't like to come here. Instead, I just go to the skate park to ride my motor bike around all the time. It usually is something I do for a little bit. But then when I am done, after about maybe an hour and a half, I return home and try to do my homework, but I always quit out of being bored. Like holy shit, that is the most boring shit on the planet. There is nothing fun about homework, and I don't see how people like Dana could get themselves to do it all the time. So usually when I turn in the thing for being due, I just turn in the projects lie half done and say that half credit is better than no credit at all." Jenny said and then she added in a "I just try to find some friends to hang out with, but most of the time I barely ever works out, and I just end up not having anything to do." Jenny finished and she sounded like she was even more bored than me.

"At least you get yourself to do some of the homework. I barely can get myself to write my name of the project. I like do that once every three or four things and then place it on my table. Then like once every quarter, usually at the end of it, I speed run all the things that I had in the quarter from the first week to the final week, and then as a result, I turn in every thing in the quarter at the end of it all. Which makes it so that I get like fifteen percent docked off of the thing, plus with how rushed it all is, I usually am lucky if I get like a sixty on the thing, and then I usually get like higher F's to low D's, like I usually end up with like a D+ report card. The highest grade I got from what I recall was a C-. Not that it really bothers me. If I was a grade purist, I know I can do a good job, but I don't fucking care." I said and Jenny laughed.

"You sound like you live the true life." Jenny told me and I agreed.

"I do live the true life. Not tied down by a bunch of false standards." I got up and was thinking about what to do next.

"Do you want to stay here for a bit longer or are you wanting to go out and try some different places out?" I asked, as Jenny put her ass on the seat of her motor bike, and she seemed like she was ready to go on another round of exploring the city. I was having a feeling she was going to show me a place I already knew, but I didn't really care. Anything to extend this and not worry about school or boring shit like life standards was enough to keep me going.

"Yeah, let's go on and do something else. I am kind of thinking that maybe the fair grounds aren't really the thing for you. That sucks, but what can I do about it? Anyways, I think that this place is a little bit obvious, but I think that this place will offer you something really special when you go and see it this time around, when I am the one really showing you all the different things that it has to offer." Jenny said, and I had no real idea what the fuck she was talking about, but I was willing to let her indulge me on this one, if she felt like it was for the best.

So jenny instantly took off and she was riding as fast as possible, and I was skating as fast as I could and I was trying my best to keep up with her, but I knew that it wasn't really going to do just that. Not that I really minded, after all, it was giving me something to be more awake and alarmed to.

I just wondered if she was ever going to slow down, and maybe give me a chance to catch up, but I thought that this was part of her appeal. Oh my god, here I am again with thinking about other girls in that sort of light. If Dana knew that I had been doing this, she would not have the end of yelling me out. So I was trying really hard to tell myself to stop, but I knew that this was just not really working. I knew that no matter what I told myself, she was going to be in my mind, all because I decided to hang out with her one time.

Eventually, I figured out where she was taking me. She was showing me Wayside school once again. I had been there so much that I had no idea how the fuck this was going to be anything new, but I had to remind myself that I only really looked in depth at a couple of the floors here. Jenny must have known something about this place that was going to make this place worth going to when we were out of there for the day, or were supposed to be. I was also wondering why was the school not closed down during weekends.

"I have only shown Maurecia this. She did not believe it until I showed her it. I feel like when you see it, you can understand why barely anybody knows about it. Have you ever heard about the nineteenth floor?" Jenny asked and then when she asked me that, I pondered it and then I shook my head. I may have been mentioned it once or twice, but nothing that really would drive it home that I would think of.

"I doubted you would have known of it. Barely anybody here does. The school tries their best to keep it hushed up. But I think that you could be trusted enough to know about it." Jenny said and then she opened the door lightly and we both walked in as fast, but also as quietly as possible. This was really freaking me out. I knew that she was doing something that was a terrible idea, but I didn't want to say anything about it quite yet. After all, I think that she might have been leading me to some sort of horror story, and I was not really ready to take it on if that was the case.

We were walking up the first eighteen floors and Jenny was slowly explaining what the floor was like. "So the creator of this school was originally meant to create the school with one story that was thirty class rooms on it, and I am pretty sure that you are well aware of that. But then he built it thirty stories high and one class room on each floor. Well, when he made the nineteenth floor, the floor is still there, but there is no class room. At least that is what the common myth is. That there was no class room on floor nineteen as he just made a mistake there as well." Jenny explained and I nodded, showing that I sort of got where she was going, but at the same time, I was wondering what was so secret about this.

"Well, I manged to find a class room there. I could not believe it when I looked, but when I saw it, I walked inside and saw what it was like. There was nothing there besides twenty desks and a bunch of back packs. Like there had been one single class session there. Then the session ended and nobody ever came back. I looked around it, but the more that I looked around, the more and more that there was a foreboding feeling, as if I was walking into unwelcome territory." Jenny said and this was the part she had lost me.

"What was so bad about this place that nobody ever wanted to go there for class? You had me up until you got there." I admitted, trying really hard to see the connection, but I was having shit ass no luck on it. I figured that maybe once I got there, I can see what was so terrible about it for myself.

Eventually, we reached the nineteenth floor and Jenny slowly brought the curtains to the side line and showed me the entrance to the class room. "I think that maybe if you go around and fix the problem of this room, things will change and you will be able to free the curse that is set up in this room and the room will be a place people can go to class on again. That is my theory at the very least. You need to try it out. I will help you out though." Jenny said and as we walked in, I saw that she was right, there was no students but a ton of supplies.

I sat down in one of the chairs, and despite it most likely not being a great idea, I opened one of the students back packs and read what it was saying. I didn't really know what I was to expect, given it was a back pack of a student, but it sure as hell was not what I was expecting. What I found was a small screen with only one button. The on switch and then when Jenny saw that, she sat down next to me and I looked at her as if to see what she was thinking about me using it. She gave me a nod and then I pressed the on switch.

As I had done so, I saw that it was a video that was given to be seven minutes long or so, and I saw that the person who was in the video was a guy wearing just a purple jacket. I rubbed my chin as the guy was starting to speak, and I was willing to give this guy a chance on speaking his case since I felt like for some reason, this was really going to help my case with figuring out the mystery of floor nineteen.

"The plan has been very slowly, I am starting to wonder if I should speed up my work, as it is not really producing any sort of results. I have been working on this project for many decades, and all I have been given are simple, almost not even worth my time results. The monsters always get destroyed when they show up on earth, and I can't be able to train them better to make them more suited to fight for the general purposes I have tried to place them on. Besides, it seems as if the hell mouths in each state are impossible to find without a ton of hours of research into it." The guy in the purple jacket started, and I looked at Jenny this whole time.

"The hell mouth in New York was destroyed in 1936 after the Battle of New York City, and that is no longer able to be used. As I suspected, the hell mouth of Georgia was destroyed in the later sixties after the whole Daemon incident. But that is only two out of the currently fifty of them. But from what I read, even though those are closed, there are still monsters coming out of some very weak gates, but instead of monsters coming out all the time, it is only one monster every decade or so, and barely makes any real impact on anything." The man in the purple jacket kept explaining, as I got a gulp in my throat.

"The one in Minnesota was relatively easy to find the entrance. It is in Wayside, and that general county. It is one of the busiest ones, given how much is going on in that state. I think that might be the first destination I go to on trying to open them up." The man in the purple jacket continued and that was when I turned off the button, I had enough and besides I had a lot of stuff I needed to talk to Jenny about on this.

"Okay, I have had enough of this guy. I have no idea what the fuck is going on, like what the hell is the hell mouth? I have never even heard of it. Besides, him talking about this so called Battle of New York City and the Daemon incident as if every single human being in planet earth knows what it is makes no god damn fucking sense. I mean, I sort of vaguely get the New York one, but the Daemon incident as he calls it, makes no sense. I feel like I really need a lot of answers if I am to get where this is going." I said and then I stood up and stared outside the window. Wayside was such a great place, but I had no idea what I can do if this was going to go the way that I feared it was going to go.

"Todd, don't worry about it. Just take a deep breath, and everything will make more sense. I don't understand most of this either. But if we work together and try to solve the mystery together, then maybe we can be able to try and stop this guy from what he is planning. Don't you really think that is more important than just getting this whole thing?" Jenny said and she was still sitting down.

"That would the case, if he wasn't basically trying to make some threats at our school and act like nothing fucking matters anymore. I didn't come to this school to just see it get used in some careless fashion. Please Jenny, don't try and act like this no big deal, when in reality it is a very big deal." I said and then I took a deep breath. Wayside was so great as it was, and I didn't even want to think about seeing it get ruined like this.

"Todd, whatever it is, the two of us can tackle this problem, and we can see what we can do as a team to fix this. We are not hopeless, we never have been and we never will be. there is a goal that we have now, and we can work our fucking asses off to try and reach that goal." Jenny told me and I thought it out. She had a hint of such certainty to it that I almost was able to believe in her.

"I guess that maybe you can have a point. Once this is done though, let's just hang out and take things easier." I said, hoping that Jenny could roll with that idea. But I was feeling the same thing Jenny described. "I think we need to get the hell out of here." I said and then Jenny nodded. We both ran out of the room and as I did so, I saw Dana was there as well as Maurecia. I knew that there was something that was about to go down.

"Okay guys, what are you two doing here?" I asked, trying to really settle the fact that all three of the major girls I hang out with were here, and that was going to make it really hard for me to stay focused on just one. "Jenny and I were just hanging around, seeing what the place was like when there was no class session going on." I said and while it wasn't the real reason, it really was not a lie on the end of it self either, so I felt justified by saying that.

"Dana and I were heading here because we were hanging out and Dana forgot her homework and she is worried that if she doesn't do it, this would be the first zero that we would get on her projects." Maurecia said and because I knew how much Dana loved home work and wanted to be at the top of the gang, I felt like I could not really try and argue this being a retarded and pointless idea.

"Nice to see you Todd. I got a idea. Maybe you and Kevin could hang out with me soon. I think maybe Tuesday can work." Dana said and I nodded to that, it was a good idea, but since I was hanging out with Jenny, I knew we needed to get on track with that again. "It seems like you guys are sort of doing your own thing, so if you want us to leave you alone, we will." Dana said and then Jenny and I started to head off away.

But as we were heading off, Jenny looked at me and was wondering what to say to me. "I think we should have hung out with them a little bit. There would be nothing wrong with it. Shows that nothing is going on between us." Jenny said and I sighed in annoyance. Dana and Maurecia were still only a few feet away, so I felt like this would have not been too big of a deal, but this was something I had no real desire to do. But since I had no desire to make Jenny and I feel like we were a thing, or create any doubt of it, I decided that maybe she was right.

"Fine, I will do it." I said and then we walked back to Dana and Maurecia and then Jenny was thanking me, and I could tell that she was slowly exposing her weak side there. I wondered why that was the case, but I decided no to pursue it. But before that could really happen, I saw something jump out of the class room. I saw that it was a monster, kind of like one with a set of really sharp teeth and looked like it had been scientifically modified to perform a bunch of killing. I realized I didn't have anything on me, and then as a result, I looked around the area to try and find something. I thought that maybe there was a thing in the class I could use. I looked up and saw something that looked like a confederate sword hanging on the wall. I didn't care, I needed that, so I ran back in the room to get it.

As I was running back to the class room, I saw that the three girls were looking at me as if I were a little bit crazy and they clearly had no idea what the hell I was doing, and to be fair, on a smaller extent, I kind of didn't either. I was sort of going at a hundred thousand miles per house, and I needed to protect these three girls. And as I ran inside of the class room, I got on all the desks and ran across them and then reached the teachers desk, which was strong enough to hold me there for about ten to fifteen seconds. Just long enough for me to grab the sword, take it out of the seethe and then aim the really dull blade at the monster.

I knew that what I was doing was fucking insane, and while I knew that there was going to be no real way to explain this to anybody if they found a dead monster in the class room, I knew that it probably didn't really matter as barely anybody even knew the room was there, aside from the four of us on this floor and the man in the purple jacket.

As if the entire fucking moment was on auto pilot, I saw the monster jump on my direction and then I jumped back wards, to not have the desk break down on me but break down on them instead. Which was exactly how the plan went, since the monster jumped on top of the desk and the desk broke and then I brought both my hands to the blade and I was ready to destroy this thing. The monster swung their arm around to try and get me, but I was smart and walked two steps back and stayed behind as I let the thing swing their arms around and act like a little bit of a dumb ass.

The monster waved their arms around for a bit longer and I swung the blade down, which cut off the tips of their fingers and I was wondering just how sharp this thing really was. It was sharp enough to cut through stuff, but it was not sharper than the eighteen I believe inch blade that Dana had created for me. The monster came at me with their ruined hand and then I kicked them back before they could attack me any further.

I picked up the trash can that was near the broken desk, and I knew that the girls were probably wondering how I was going to repair the damage, if I had any real intention to do so. I ended up just throwing the desk at the monster, since I really was not worried about what the fucking janitor was going to say about a room they most likely knew was going to never exist. If Louis cared so much, he would have taken out these class supplies by now and removed a hugely harmful weapon of a confederate sword to a bunch of fucking younger teenagers.

As I was watching the monster come back up and run at me, I swung the blade down at their right arm, which cut the thing off and then they used the pointing out bone of their right arm to stab my own right arm with it, causing it to bleed out a little bit. I winced in pain, wondering what made this thing so strong in the first place. I saw that the bone was still there, and that I felt like I needed to get that thing out before I continued.

I put my left hand on my arm, carrying the sword with my right hand, and I was wincing in pain the entire time that I was pulling the bone out, which was as sharp as a dagger. I felt like I was about to lose all train of thought as I was doing this, which would have given the monster a great opening to attack me, but I was not in the mood to do this. I then pulled out the bone from my right arm and then I stabbed them in the chest with it, something I had not really planned to do but since I had the source to do so, I decided to go for it. Once I had done so, I saw the monster growl a little bit.

I knew that the monster was not expecting me to do the same, and I saw that the monster was starting to leave the class room but they were doing so while they were limping, something I was glad to be forcing them into as it does make them weaker and something that I had to my advantage. I was now faster than it and I reached them and stabbed them by the leg, which made them have a howl that I didn't get out of my mind for days afterwards, that actually pierced through my ears for a short moment as crazy as that may sound.

The monster was outside of the class room, and I saw that they were looking at the girls. "Get out of the way!" I yelled out loud and Maurecia and Dana were just close enough to the stairs that they could listen to me. The monster was standing in front of Jenny and they had their hands out and I knew that I needed to take quick action to take this thing down. I then tapped their shoulder and then the monster turned around at me.

I saw them get ready to claw me up and they got my left hand a little bit as I tried to push them off with that hand, causing it to bleed again like what happened yesterday, and then I stabbed them in the second leg and then their arm and then right through the side of the body. By doing all of this, the monster exploded and faded away right as Jenny slipped and was about to hit the ground. To avoid that, I grabbed her and held her as tight as I could to prevent her from breaking any body parts.

As I looked at Jenny she seemed to have some sort of dreamy look to her eye. I knew what was going to be happening next, and I was not really in the mood for it. The blood on my hand was coming down and hitting the ground, and I knew that I needed a new hand bandage once again for the second day in a row. I will not lie, it was getting kind of old to have to deal with that all the time.

Despite my bleeding hand and carrying Jenny with both my arms, I slowly walked down the stairs down to floor eighteen. Once I was getting there, I was ready to place her down. When I did so, I heard the thing I was not really wanting to hear her say. "You know what Todd, the others are right, you are hot." Jenny said and then I placed her down to avoid any more Jenny gushing and then the others looked at me evilly.

"Jenny, you really should not be saying that out loud, you know next to those people. I mean what they think about me. So saying this is kind of a little bit of a hazard for me. I don't want and you know poppy forced to choose between three of you. So I hope you realize, with as much respect to this as possible, that I can't accept your offer." I said trying to keep myself calm and collected, and was well aware of how over the other girls were looking at me. It really was kind of the worst timing for the say anything like that. She must have been well aware of what she was doing.

Jenny gave that look on her face that show that she was a little bit bummed out about this. I decided to just Place her down even though I already done so I figured, I really do not want you no pick up again, because because I was worried on where that could go. So even though she was horny now and I decided not to pick her back up again regardless of what the case was. I just wished that no one would be too bitter about this small sentence that she just said to me. With that though Jenny and I decided that we needed to leave and continue or just hanging out.

So Jenny and I just went down the other 17 floors of Wayside, just to sort of get away from the area and finish our hangout session, since I still wanted to hang out with her regardless of that little slip of just a moment ago. I doubt that you really was realizing what was going to come out of that and to be honest, I was probably overthinking it. After all I had already made my choice.

"What should we do now? I mean, that was quite the experience. I think I've had enough monster fighting to last me a lifetime honestly. I'm not really too sure if I want to keep going at this but knowing my luck I feel like I might be forced to. Either way though, we should probably you know find one last thing to do before we head home and just wrap it up for the weekend. Besides, we have been enough for quite a while and I think that we both kind of know a little bit more about each other. That being said, I really would want to hang out. In the future that is, just sort of depends on when you want to do it. Because honestly I'm willing to do anytime on the block. I really don't have that many things to do after school, mainly because I don't do that much after school." I said, embracing my laziness.

"I should show you where I live. You know, it's not that far away from Wayside. I don't think you would really mind be another 20 to 30 minutes you know just going down there. Besides, I need to thank you for you know saving my life and everything." Jenny said, and I thought there was really nothing to wrong about just doing that so I agreed

As we were walking along, I was worried thinking about what she told me. I just really did not know how I was going to take that that three people are on to me now. Besides the whole monster fight, plus the whole 19th floor, and just meeting up with the other two, I just feel like there was a lot of thin ice I was treading on that day. I know that if I really wasn't all that bad but you can never really be too sure.

Although Jenny really wasn't lying when she said that she lived close to where Wayside was. It really only took about 30 to 40 minutes to do so. I thought when she said it was closed, that it would be several hours away like how the others were. So I was kind of shot when it really wasn't like hours away or something like that. Although it was sort of you know nice to just not do too much more walking. Not that I minded walking but Jesus Christ.

"So, thank you again Todd for saving me. You really are more of a brave man I thought you were. Just never give up on that skating life. You seem like you can actually pull that off with a bit more of the extra practice." Jenny told me, but I wasn't really too sure if I really wanted to be the best racer in town. I just wanted a little bit more of a normal life, but being that Wayside was not going to give that to me. I guess I was just never going to be a normal human being. It was just something that was going to have to get used to.

"Thanks for even deciding to hang out with me in the pool. It was really nice of you. How about maybe like we can hang out on like Friday next Saturday or something like that? I already plan on hanging out with Maurecia and and Myron on like Thursday, plus I do plan on hanging out with Dana and Kevin on Tuesday, so those are kind of filled up. But I think Saturday would be good." I said, a little bit more curious than anything else if she was going to take me up on that offer. I guess that I just was a little bit more insecure than anything else.

"You're becoming so popular, that I don't think anyone can really keep up with you anymore. I mean you've only been here for a month, and you're already like one of the front runners to be our class president. I do wonder what it would be like if it did turn into a you or Myron race. Don't tell anyone else this, but I would probably choose you instead." Jenny told me, and there was a part of me that really felt relieved when she had said that. Although there was that part of me, that didn't really want to be class president in the first place. So if it did come down to me or Myron or I would honestly hope that he who would win and not me.

I thought about it a little bit, and I thought that maybe a small moment with Jenny would not be all that big of a deal, after all she would want it. So I thought maybe I could sneak in a quick one.

"Don't tell anyone else because I don't want to get accused of being unloyal. But I think I have a little present for you." I said as I got ready to give her the kiss. Jenny for a short moment got to look of excitement on her face. She knew exactly what I meant, and it was exactly what she wanted. So in the end we both would win. And Jenny looked around for a short moment, to make sure that no one was looking at us and what I have planned to do.

With that, I put my mouth to hers. Then with that, we went at it for a little bit. Not too incredibly long, just to make sure that no one else would notice in case they were walking by and the whole problem would get even worse, but neither one of us could really resist the temptation which was why we were doing it. I had just hope that nothing like this would really come and ruin anything in the long run. Because if I wasn't careful, and I kept doing this, that could lead to Dana and I really having a lot of argument. Which could lead to us breaking this off. And as much as I would hate to admit it, she would be the one that was right, and I would be the one that was wrong. So it was a little bit of like a 50-50 type of situation.

Once we were done, Jenny looked at me, as if I had just dropped off the sky. I was really happy to know that I am made her day when I had done that. I was always a big fan of making people days even better, which as you know, I would be willing to do anything for that. I really was juggling with old father promised by doing this, but it was a risk that I was willing to take in order to do so. Besides what could really be the worst out of a breakup?

"I better be heading out now. It was a great time to hang out with you I really hope we can do it again. And I hope that if we do it do it again we can have another moment. Well just don't tell Kevin what we just did cuz I know he has a thing for you. With that I'm heading out." I said and I was heading home and Jenny was waving goodbye at me. I had felt like I had just scored a homerun when I had done that.

Eventually, I reached my house. When I had done so I was ready to just relax for a little bit. So I had to just float on my bed and when I had done so I close my eyes for a little bit, and talk just like a nice good nap or when I did so nothing else in the world really mattered.

I got up, and realize that about 90 minutes have passed since I close my eyes. Which had meant that I had done a full cycle of sleep and that it really kind of wasn't even a nap anymore by that point. Not that it was really too bad to do that. Besides I needed the rest probably way more than I thought I would have. But when I was up I figured I knew what I was going to do next. I was going to get the next a little bit of the recording done so I could be a little bit closer to having to having the second tape done with, which would be nice to do since I would like to hear back from Joy soon enough, even though we weren't even really friends to begin with.

I have pressed the starting button and when I had done so, I thought about all that had happened, and I was thinking a little bit about what I really got myself into. I was trying to debate to myself before I really got into the recording if this was really even worth it or not or if I did make a big mistake.

"I just got back from hanging out with Jenny today, and to be honest I am not really too sure what to make of all that has happened. I feel like that was indeed most of my fault, as there were a couple of things that I did that I probably should not really have done, and as a result, I kind of put myself in a even stranger situation. I guess you wouldn't mind if I told you the truth, in fact you are probably the only person that I trust telling the truth to, considering how you are just sort of here to listen to me more than anything else.

So as I was hanging out with her, we had found some strange place where a guy was creating a bunch of androids to sort of do the labors of the world for us and that we don't have to. At least that is what I am picking up off of it. I am not really all that sure. He says that each one of these androids takes like hundreds of thousands of dollars and I won't even begin to understand how this guy feels like this is a good use or money. It honestly feels like such a massive fucking waste, but that is what I think. Besides, there was something about the way that he was presenting himself, that just kind of scared both Jenny and I and we both agreed to just get the fuck out of there as soon as possible before he could do something to us.

I felt like things had a pretty smooth go after that, we just hung out at the towns old ass fair grounds, and there was something to be entertained by being there, probably just all the skating and the fun activities that we were having. We just talked a little bit about our lives and we just took that time to get to know each other a little bit better, which was always a good thing to do.

Once we were done hanging out there, she gave me this great idea to go back to our school to check out this strange floor in the school. So we went up there and once we were there, we saw that the classroom looked like it had been abandoned since before we were even born, but that was not the strange part. The strange part was the fact that we found a recording by this one man in the purple jacket and he was talking about some hell mouth.

After we heard that, we were forced to stop because there was this strange monster that attacked us and I ended up defeating it and I had to carry Jenny down the stairs because I was just being a nice guy and then when I was done, she decided to declare her love for me, which would have not been so bad if it weren't for the fact that I kissed her back, which means I have done that with three people since I came here." I started this session of the recording by giving a short version of the story while I wrapped a towel around my hand to sort of not get it infected.

"I just don't really know how well I am able to fully commit to Dana with what I have been doing. I feel like a terrible dude over that, and I don't really know too much, but I feel like there is just something to all of this that makes me feel like I made a huge mistake dating her instead of somebody else.

I want to keep going at it though. I have no real reason to stop now, I just need to really commit to having a good thing going with her. Wayside really is the place of miracles, and maybe I can pull a miracle out and make her understand that I am just a very hormonal teenage boy who just needs to blow his steam off, and that I still have a level of loyalty to her. I just hope that she would be willing to buy it, because if she is not, I might have to really start looking at the idea of ending things off with her, and I will admit that I would not really be a huge fan of that.

It is just that Maurecia had shown a level of caring for me that I really do appreciate, and Jenny openly stated that she had the hots for me, although I do think that she will be getting over that one pretty soon. I do hope so at the very least, as if she does not, things are just going to be even worse for me. I know that I should not even be having this conversation right now, but I just can't really help it.

I feel like things are just both going way too and not nearly enough in my favor at the same time, if that makes any sense to you. I think that once I start to get more of a focus on committing to Dana or somebody else, things will be great. Besides, I don't really see what would be too terrible about maybe just being friends with some of them. I don't really need to pick one of them to be my ultimate romantic lover, at least I don't think.

I'm just not that sure. I have a lot of things that I really need to sit down and think about. I just need to get my life together, and not fuck around anymore. I made some choices that I have to consider, and I need to start looking at the choices of my life and the choices that I have made. I hope that this stuff doesn't really bother you all that much, because I feel like I really am talking too much about this stuff to make you feel in any way comfortable." I shook my head, and I was wincing in pain as I remembered my hand and I wanted to skip school the next day, which I decided that I would do. On Tuesday, I would explain my hand hurt and I needed to just take a day off.

"I just made the choice that I was not going to go to school tomorrow. I am just so tired of going there with hurt body parts and the teacher saying she is going to give me detentions. I am just so fucking over it. I am just wanting to take a day off, relax, and then act like nothing ever happened and then once I come back, then I can hang out with Dana and Kevin as I had told them I would be doing.

Besides, I don't really think there is anything wrong with missing a day. I don't recall missing any days up to this point. Maybe one that I literally don't remember. Not that I ever really cared for perfect attendance. They can shove that award up their ass if they have to, I have my own life to live, and them doing this attendance shit is making it sound like my life does not matter at all.

Maybe I am going a little over board on it, but I just don't care anymore. They act like I have to live by their standards, and act like they are the only people that matter. Well guess the fuck what, they are not. They never have been the only people that mattered, and they never will be the only people that matter. When they see that, I might be willing to work with them again and maybe I can actually see some sanity to them once again.

One of these days, I am probably going to look back at these tapes and wonder what I was thinking in my life, and that I was totally insane for saying any of this, but right now, right here, this is the level of feelings that I have over it, and I am just at the end of it. Maybe you might be able to slightly relate. What do I know if you do or don't? I guess I will never really know. I'm just going to take a break, and I will tell you more when I finish hanging out with Dana and Kevin on Tuesday." I said and paused, with 60 minutes left on it.

I went to sleep again, and without even trying just slept through the rest of the day and then slept all the way until the hour before school started on Tuesday, which had meant that I had slept for about somewhere between thirty to thirty six hours. Not that I really cared. My body felt so much better, and I felt really well rested and like I didn't have the injuries at all. I placed the towel off and put it on the floor and went right to school, ready to take that on.


	21. Relationship Advice

Chapter 20: Relationship Advice

As I started to hang out with Dana and Kevin later that day, I was really excited to just have some fun with Kevin. I had barely talked with Kevin at all lately, so talking to him then was actually one of the many things that I was really looking forward towards. Kevin seemed as if his relationship with everybody in the group was sort of getting better and he seemed less annoyed at the presence at the very mention of his brother and everything. As we had started to hang out, I had actually walked up to him and we were sitting down waiting for Dana to come along. "So Kevin, how are things lately?" I was saying, trying to start up the conversation.

"Things are pretty alright honestly. I never really thought that I would have said that in my entire life, but here we are. I guess that maybe things really were just as you had said they were. Sorry for ever doubting what you were saying. Seems like you are actually a pretty smart and noticeable guy after all. I guess in the future, I should take what you say into consideration. I think that writing on that journal, which I have made a decent amount of progress on so far, really made him see that I was actually making a good effort on my life. Thank you Todd. You might actually be able to revive the relationship with my brother." Kevin finished and then right when I was about to continue that, I remembered Jenny and felt that was the more important subject.

"So I hung out with Jenny. I can see why you were able to take such a liking towards her. I am surprised that you haven't tried and take her yet. Better do so before somebody else does." I said, without even knowing then or several years from now, that when I was a older man, it would have been me in those shoes.

"I said before, I am scared to do so. I might try and find a girl who might be more insecure, and then I can be able to have something built up with her. Which I know some people will call a bit of a immoral idea, but I just need to do that. I really need to date somebody, and I would do something for that. I guess that I should just tell Jenny what I think." Kevin was saying and then he was seeing Jenny walking down on the way home. She saw me and blushed for a split second, but stopped when she saw Kevin.

As Jenny was in front of us, I was wondering what Kevin was thinking and while I thought that there was a moment of dumb courage there, that he was setting himself up for failure and it was all because of the fact that I had that moment with her and for some reason, she thought it was great to declare her love for me, which was plain and simple terrible.

"Hey Jenny, I know that we barely know each other, and that you probably don't want to really talk with me at all, but want to go and hang out? Like go to the movies or something like that?" Kevin was asking and then when Kevin asked her that question, Jenny looked at me for a split second, and she looked back at Kevin. "I understood that you probably know even Todd better than you know me, but I just can't keep this inside me any longer."

"Kevin, I would be very happy to get to know you as a friend, but I don't think that I would want to go on a date with you. I am already looking at somebody else, a really nice guy who has really saved my life before." Jenny said and she didn't want to say it was me on the off chance of Kevin not knowing this. It was a really impressive thing that he was not able to pick up on that yet. I guess that to some extent, he was still a little bit of a novice on this stuff but he was just starting to try. But then Kevin was starting to process all of this.

"I guess that this is a no. Want to just go hang out this weekend? Just on a friend to friend level? Like what you did with Todd last weekend?" Kevin was suggesting and then Jenny thought about that and then she nodded. She figured that maybe getting to know Kevin would be a interesting feat, although there was something about him that she could see was a little bit scary. Something like he was going to turn his back on them at any moment if they were not careful. It was a terrible way to be looking at Kevin at that, but she had seen it before any one of us had been able to do it.

"So just meet me at my house. I live about two miles away from here. Todd will be able to give you the directions." Kevin said and then Jenny slowly nodded as she just headed off, trying to keep all of these thoughts to herself, not wanting to really start up any sort of controversy with the guy and then after she was gone, Kevin looked at me and he felt like he had won a huge fucking victory.

"Well, I guess that it was better to do it now than it was to do it later." Kevin said and then after he had said that, I was sort of slowly nodding, not really too sure what to say. Kevin was a good guy and all that stuff, but he was in no way a player. I was holding on to my skateboard as I was doing so, just waiting for Dana to show up. She was quite the sexy lady, but god damn there was a huge amount of standards that I had to meet when I was with her. Even if they were not spoken out loud or really met.

"Are you really sure that she wants to hang out with you at all? Not to really sound like a dick or anything, but it seems like she was just saying it to not hurt your feelings. Like she was scared to really turn down." I said and I felt terrible for saying that, not really able to keep my thoughts to myself and I knew that it was all my fault, and that I was not even going to pretend that I was in any way justified for saying that at all.

"Why do you have to act that way Todd? You are taking the one thing that I felt like I was able to do, and you are just ruining it." Kevin said and he was acting like I was some sort of terrible traitor for doing this. I was just trying to be honest on this, and here Kevin was acting like I had just ruined everything, which I guess to some extent I might have been doing so. Ruining everything that he thought that he had done was being thrown away because I could not keep my mouth shut. But I thought to myself that maybe he was seeing the point of view that I had, and that I was right, even if he had hated this.

"I am sorry. I was just thinking that. Seems as if I can't keep my thoughts to myself sometimes. I am very sorry for saying that." I said and then after I had said that, I saw that Dana was coming along and I knew that this was pretty much the only way to get Kevin to not be pissed at me, so I was just bringing out attention on over to them.

"Hey look, it is our friend Dana coming." I said, stopping the argument before it even started and then when she was in front of the two of us, she saw that Kevin was just looking at me, trying to process what had happened, still trying to hide her annoyance there. But afterwards, when he seemed like he was willing to drop the subject as much as he hated to drop it, the three of us were heading on out of the school and were getting ready to hang out. In a way, I was glad as hell that Dana found us before this argument could get any worse.

Once we were outside, I was looking around for something for us to do. "I think maybe we should just go down to the forest. I heard a couple of things about there. I think that we should go and just see what those things are." Dana said and Kevin and I were both thinking about the mansion and we both got that moment of fear inside of us, like we were getting ourselves ready for a huge exposition dump that we were going to have to give her now.

"I would not mind going in the forest, but can we please not get too deeply into the forest?" I asked and then Kevin seemed to forget everything that we had said to each other. He was totally in agreement with what I was saying, and the look of horror on his face was showing Dana that this was something that she better be taking seriously. She looked at the two of us and she was a little bit worried, and she forced herself to nod and then afterwards, we started to head on further to the faint area of the forest.

"I mean I get that there are monsters in the forest, and I have no love for people fighting those, but I have a feeling that things will be alright today guys. Just take it easy. Honestly, I don't think that there would be any need to have another monster fight so soon after Todd had just had one in the first place." Dana said and if Dana was trying to have some hope in this, then I was going to try and pretend that things were going to be going well.

As we were heading inside of the forest, there was a couple of hints of being absolutely scared but also excited at the same time. It was a sort of morbid thing to be feeling this way. To be excited to go into a place that would be setting myself up for certain failure but the fear was because I knew Dana would not protect herself, or Kevin to some extent, but I felt that maybe Dana was right and that nothing was going on that day.

When we were near the forest, I was wondering when we were even going to find the mansion in the first place. I was wondering if the mansion was one of those things that we were going to only find once in our entire life. Maybe the mansion had a certain set of clues to something going on and I was a dumb ass to not go in there and really look in there deeper, but then as a result, I had lost my one chance on figuring out the truth to these monsters. That was the fear that was starting to come to me.

The three of we were inside the forest and we were just sitting on top of something that looked like a sewer drain entrance. As we were sitting on this, I was honestly kind of amazed that nobody saw what we were doing or the fact that the sewer drain entrance had not started to break down or anything. I didn't mind sitting there, and in fact sitting there actually was doing something that was making me more at peace and everything. Like this was going to be a good place for me to mediate and everything when I was not hanging out with my friends and I was not fighting monsters or school, which basically never happened at any point in time.

"So, what made you want to go to the forest today?" I asked Dana, and I was just not too sure what had made her think that this was a great idea in the first place. "I mean, I have nothing against the idea of you guys going to the forest, but it just seems pretty sudden considering how much you don't really like the idea of me going around and fighting monsters, at least as of lately." I was saying and I was wondering if she was going to get really annoyed at me asking this, or if she was just sort of having a little bit of a unphazed reaction to this. Which from what I can tell, was much closer to the reaction.

"I just felt like wanting to go on and get a change of scenery. I felt like there was just something special about the idea of maybe just staying out here for a couple of minutes and stuff like that." Dana had answered and then when she had said that to me and Kevin, I was thinking that maybe there was a good enough of a explanation to that.

"I have not really been in the forest all that much when I was at the previous school district and all of that stuff. I never really had any feelings to it, but I guess that maybe just being here all of these times with you guys is starting to change that a little bit for me. Maybe there is something about these monsters that is really going to start to set up what I am going to be become in my older life." I was saying, not realizing that in a strange way, it did help me on my life to starting to become a politician all the years down the line.

"I like to go to the forest about once a month or so. The forest is something that I feel like is the every once in a while guilty pleasure in a way. I just don't really think that I could will myself to go there on a constant basis, which I don't really know if that is a good thing or bad. It is probably a good thing in the way that I don't have to be exposed to any monsters, but bad in the way that I don't have a constant place to just think things out for." Dana said and Kevin was staring at the huge forest ahead of him.

"Sam always gets worried when I go to the forest. My parents are much too old to know or care even if they did know. So I am just here, taking advantage of the moment. But I know that I can't do it too often, mainly because of all of the monsters that are constantly coming along." Kevin told us, considering the problem that was being presented by himself.

"I wonder if maybe Sam has actually gone in the forest before and found some things that really scared him. I guess that can make sense of what makes him feel that way." I said, trying my best to try and understand where the hell he was coming from, but I knew that even that was a little bit of a weak defense, but it was the only thing that I can come up with. "I feel like he must know a few of these things that we would never understand, and as long as we understand his point of view, I can see how he would be all protective of everything."

Kevin actually seemed to consider that, and since he was slowly starting to respect Sam a little bit more, he thought that maybe I had a good thing coming there. "I wonder what the hell would even scare Sam all that much. I can't even imagine Sam really doing all that many things in his personal life. I just imagine that maybe he was playing one day as a kid and that was what had scared him so much. Maybe soon enough, I can talk to Sam about all of this and maybe he can tell me the truth." Kevin said as he was looking forward to a conversation with Sam a little bit more, on the hopes that Sam could give him some important information.

"If my parents found out I was going in the forest, they would be wondering what the hell even made me so interested in going there. I have never really showed any interest in going in the forest. So when I tell them, they are going to think that I am getting in with a very strange crowd. My parents already don't like you all that much Todd for some strange reason, and they might tell me that you are going into all of these wrong crowds and that you are the only one who really brought us over here." Dana was mentioning the problem between me and her parents, which honestly I never really understood.

"I never really get why your parents hate me so much. I am guessing that maybe you are the first person that you have had tried to date in your life, and that stuff kind of raises some fear with your parents. I guess that I can understand it. Joy wasn't really like that, but that is because she had a bunch of experiences there before." I was saying and Dana didn't even mention her reaction of Joy, which I was glad for.

"I guess that might be a valid point. Maybe that is something that I should have considered. But I am not going to make myself be single for life because my parents are too scared for me going on to date people. They need to accept the fact that I have a life." Dana had told me and Kevin and I totally agreed, that it was fucking stupid to hold Dana down because of fear, even if the fear was in some ways valid.

"I think you need to go on and try and make your parents see your own point. Look at it this way. If you mention their lives, they might see their point. On one hand, if they were basically forced into a reclused life, then you can talk about how shitty that is and how living a independent life is much better than doing that. But if they had a free and epic life, then you can explain to them why that is much better. Either way, I think that once you mention their past, they might start to warm up to this a little bit better." I said and then Kevin was thinking about that as well as Dana.

"My parents, especially my father, seems like he would have had a pretty good past. I think that once I try and get to see his perspective more, then things will start to go my favor. Then I can start to be a bit more independent and then everything that Sam would say would start to be a little bit more useless and going away. I have a feeling that if my parents are fine with me being independent, then Sam will have no choice but to do so." Kevin jumped down off of the sewer entrance and I could already see that his face was showing what I told him was getting him much more excited.

"Wow, you seem to be in a better mood really fast. Are you really sure that things are going to be working out as well as you are hoping them to." Dana said and she was wondering how guys worked on that level. Being so heavily mood swingy that it is hard to get used to the mood they are in since they are going to change it in a matter of just a couple of seconds.

"I feel like destiny is calling me. I feel like I can have everything just given to me. All I have to do is just talk to my parents, and then after I am done, I will have everything just given to me. That sounds like everything is finally in my way. Sam will finally be the one who might have to start to answer to me." Kevin said and then he told us that he wanted to go around the forest now. "Come on, if there's monsters, we'll kick their ass, and if not then we can just enjoy ourselves."

As I was thinking about that, I jumped down and then I walked on towards Kevin and then Dana did so. "I guess we can just go around the forest now. Let's get going now." I said and then afterwards, we started to walk down the forest. I was getting excited to just try and live a normal life for a little bit, or if there are monsters, then like Kevin said, we can kick their asses.

The more that we were progressing across the forest, the more that I was thinking of how this can be a great place to form a base. I don't really know why nobody had ever come up with this idea here. There was something like a creek around us. Which was strange since I never saw something like this in my entire month or so and the three times or so that I been in the forest. Each visit has been different. This was making me realize just how vast this place was in all reality. It was like we were walking in a place that was probably half of the size of the town or something like that, which was really strange. Nobody ever talked about how big the forest was probably because they were all focused on the craziness of the school and everything.

"Oh my god, this creek is amazing. I think that people can stay here for hours if they are careless about what they are doing." I said and saw that the piece of water was going down a huge amount of space. I was staring and trying to figure out where it ended. I was walking down the pathway, staring right at the ground and I was doing absolutely nothing else, and as a result Kevin and Dana started to follow me, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. As we were walking, our shoes and our pants, for me and Kevin at least, not for Dana since she wore shorts, were getting all dirty and everything. It was gross, but I was a boy. I liked grossness, right?

"Todd, that is going right to the entrance of the sewer path. Are you sure that you really want to go there?" Kevin was saying, hoping that I was going to stop. I mean, Kevin didn't mind going there to some extent, but he didn't want to deal with a huge shower to try and make up for the whole thing.

"Oh trust me, nothing is over there. I am pretty sure that everything is all fine. Please, don't really mind all of this. I will take care of things if anything come up. Like you said, if there are monsters, we can just kick their asses." I told them and everything and then afterwards, the three of us walked down the sewer path in order to see what was on the other side.

"Wow, this is a lot less gross than I would have ever thought it was. I wonder if people know about this path way. I feel like we are walking around some sort of entrance to an entirely different city." Dana was saying touching the steel and everything around her. She was totally amazed at all of this, like she was wanting to be a worker at architecture as she was growing older. But she could not really let the idea of a different city sink in before we walked through and saw what could be the start to a different city, but it was just the idea and not the real thing once we were on the other side of the sewer entrance. Certainly had nothing to do with sewers.

I was looking around, and I saw something like three tree houses. I was wondering who had made the tree houses, considering that we were the only people there and I was trying to find anybody else there, but really to no avail at all. After about a minute or so of looking around, I decided that I was just going to go up one of the tree houses to see what the hell I could find there. "Todd, that place isn't yours. Please don't get yourself into trouble." Kevin said and then I looked down a laughed about it a little bit.

"Honestly, there is nobody here around us. There is nothing to get in trouble over. Don't worry too much about this guys. Just relax, and come up here with me if you want." I said and then after I said that, the other two stared at each other, wondering if there was something that always made me feel that way, or if it was something that was just keeping me inside of acting wild until the idea of adventure was right in front of me. Which to some extent, it really was.

Despite the fact that there was a lot of doubt to this idea, my friend went up the ladder after I was already at the top of the ladder, just waiting for them to come up. Despite the fact that they hated the idea, seeing me so excited made them keep going and they eventually reach the top of the ladder and then we walked inside the first tree house.

As we were inside of the tree house, I was looking around and saw that the place was mostly empty, like it was a like summer camp place. This was making me wonder if this was what it really was. A really strangely placed summer camp. I rolled my eyes thinking that was a dumb idea. There was a bed there, and a book shelf and something that looked like a blue version of the journal that Kevin had been writing on. But from a small glance on it, the thing looked like there was only like one or two pages filled up on both sides, meaning that it was not even really worth looking at even if I was that type of guy.

But before I could look into other things that I would have looked into normally, I found that there was a person standing right at the entrance of the tree house. I was really confused and when I was thinking this out, I realized that this guy must have lived here. He had a scar on his face, was about half a foot taller than me, and he looked like he was ready to beat us up if we fucked up, and he could do it in a instant.

I was sitting down on the chair that was right next to me, holding both of my hands up to try and show the guy that I had no intent on any sort of violence. As this was going on, the guy was thinking that maybe we were not really wanting any controversy, so he started to lower his fists and he was looking like he was ready to just talk with us if that was what we had really wanted to do. "I am just a little bit scared of what is going on around town now. All of these monsters." The guy said and he started to actually seem like somebody who could be able to be an ally.

"You know about the monsters?" Kevin had asked, wondering if this guy had any idea of how he could be able to defeat them. If that was even possible to defeat them all. Which was something that would not be too hard if they were just trying to take out a few at a time, but they were talking about like hundreds of monsters, or thousands of them. Which is something that I could not imagine taking out even in my craziest of dreams.

"Yes I do. This is the main reason that I am even living in this house the first place. They ruined where I lived before, and I have to live in this tree house. Trust me, I don't really want to go into all of the details, but if I were to go into all of the details, then you would feel like you had just dealt with a huge war. Which to some extent I was a part of a small war, but that is not important. The thing is, monsters are real, and I know a lot about them." The guy said and then stared outside his window and closed the curtains again.

"I know that you guys might be doing this because you may sort of know about them, and that they might not sound all that bad, but trust me, they are violent. They are evil. Some of them might be able to be friends with you, but the majority of them only care about fighting. This is no game." The stopped and then he said that his name was Jason, and that this was the only thing he was willing to tell us about himself until he earned our trust a little bit.

"How much do you know about this creek? I know that this is a bit random to see a bunch of kids here who you probably don't want to tend to, but we saw this place and my friend here thought that it was a great idea to come up here. Sorry if that creates a few problems." Dana said and then Jason shook his head. He didn't care, and he knew that he needed some allies if he wanted to destroy these monsters.

"I might not like the idea of finding new people who know about monsters, but I sure as hell prefer to know that they are supporting me than knowing that I am going to have to fight them all on my own. So stay here as long as you want. Lord knows that you are the only one who actually could be able to help me out here." Jason said and he was thinking about the problem of all of the battles that could be coming up and who really even had a chance of winning them, if it was even possible to win the battles at all.

"I know that we have barely seen you here, and that you probably don't want us to leave so soon, but we are going to be looking around the rest of the creek. That is if you are fine with us doing something like that." I said and then I walked up to the door of the house. I knew that we were really starting to over stay our welcome. I knew that we shouldn't have gone there in the first place, but now that we were there, or had been there, we were going to be able to use this as a base of operations in the future just in case.

"Yeah, go ahead and do that. If there is something that you guys since that you want, just take it. Chances are that I probably don't really know what it is, and that you can just take it without any of my concern. Probably better be with you than with me anyways." Jason said and then afterwards, Kevin and I and Dana all walked outside of the tree house and went down the ladder, wondering if we should continue looking around, or if we should just go home, which were both pretty seeable solutions and both were thinks you could easily argue would have been the choice that we should have made.

As we were outside of the tree house and on the normal ground again, I was thinking about where to go on the creek. I had decided on my way down that I was going to keep looking around and then I walked on over to the water. I had no idea why I needed to go there, and honestly it made no real sense even to me to do so, but something about it just felt right.

Eventually, Kevin was looking around and he found something that was a little bit interesting. He was touching what looked like a sea shell. Not the sea shell, but the fact that it was silver, a color he had never seen a sea shell in his entire life. Kevin was not really sure if he should put it in his pocket or not. He placed it down, thinking that it was no big deal and honestly it actually really wasn't. It did help show how interesting the creek was though.

As Kevin was starting to check other things out, I was doing the exact same thing, trying to make sense of what was in here. I was also just trying to get a lot of the dirty stuff on my shirt taken off, since I was no real fan of seeing my clothes get retardedly wet. As this was happening, I saw that there was something walking towards the entrance of the sewer, but as we were looking to see what this was, I realized that it was nothing like a monster. In fact, it yet another human. A girl, probably about ten or eleven years or age. I was wondering how everybody was just coming down here now and why everybody was suddenly very aware of this place.

I was walking all the way through the pond, and I was waving hello at the kid, trying to get their attention while trying to get them realize that they need to get the hell out of there. There was no real reason to bring a ten or so year old kid to get into all of these monster fights. I felt like the monsters were the main reason that this place was so valuable be a base of operations in the first place.

"I was hearing a bunch of voices, and I was wondering why anybody would come on through here. I sort of decided that I was going to check it out. Here you are, I guess that there were people here after all, and that maybe I wasn't exactly going crazy. What are you doing here?" The girl asked and then Dana, Kevin and I were all the way out of the creek. I was thinking about that. I remembered that it was a burst of adventure that brought me here, but that was all that there was to it. No adventure, or anything like that.

"I just decided to be a little bit more out there and exploring the forest. When I was checking this place out, I found here and then I decided to just see if it was really just a boring sewer or if there was more to it than that. I guess that there is a person that lives here, but nothing really else beyond that. I would not really bother with it though. I would just maybe check out for a couple of minutes, and then I would just leave." I said and then the girl was thinking about that, and she was walking towards the creek as the three of us were walking away, slowly creating the same distance between us as before, but the spots just a bit reversed.

"Well, if you decide to come back, there will probably be more here for you to see." The girl said and then the three of us slowly nodded as we headed off, not really too sure what to think. I wondered if she had actually been there before, and she was pretending she was new to make us not confused about her past or anything.

After the three of us were outside of the sewer entrance, I looked at Dana and Kevin. "Oh my god, how much time has passed by when we were there? It seems like we were only there for like at most twenty minutes. It seems like we were there for like three hours or something like that." I said looking up at the sky and how it was starting to get more and more dark, and after Kevin and Dana were looking around a bit, they were able to see what I was talking about.

"Wow, I wonder if time just passes by faster when we are in there, or if we just spent a really long time staying at the creek looking around that spot, which I guess would not have really been all that unrealistic. Maybe we should try and head on home now, since our parents would probably be wondering what we were doing." Dana said and then she was looking at my skateboard and then I was thinking about that. I could stay here for as long as I wanted, but it was them that I should consider. After all, they were not really having as free parents as I would have.

"Yeah, maybe that would not be a terrible idea. Besides, being at that creek is a little odd for me. I feel like I am being watched by something that isn't there, if you can feel what I am saying." Kevin said and then after he had pointed that out, neither Dana nor I could really argue that idea. Not that he had pointed it out, I could feel what he was talking about. I felt like we had been watched. Not by Jason, he was just a normal guy, there was no way he could have been the one who can give me that feeling.

After that, I was thinking about how late it was starting to get. "Oh my god, now that you point it out I wonder if maybe there is something like. Like a sort of creek spirit. Sounds crazy, but we are talking about a city where monsters live after all." I said and then after I told Kevin and Dana this, we were walking along and we decided that it was better to head on home, but the problem was that I barely even remembered the path that we took to get there in the first place. It was like the forest changed up every single day.

As we started to walk on home, I was starting to get more and more worried about what was going on. About the position that we were in. The idea of getting the hell out of here. I was moving some things aside, like branches and bushes and I was freaking out inside. "Okay guys, it is time to actually start getting serious here." I said and then the three of us found a small building about three hundred feet away from us, not the mansion, sort of far out of town, but certainly no longer in the forest anymore. We started to head on that way.

"What is that?" Kevin has asked and then when he had asked that question, he was moving forward and before Dana and I could start to object, we were just following him keeping it to ourselves how much of a insane idea this is, but thinking that if Kevin had a feeling there was going something here, then maybe we could check it out after all. Besides, maybe they could help us figure out where the hell we were and where we needed to go to get back to our section of town, a section that I actually can remember.

As we were outside of the forest, I was looking to see the building and saw that it was nothing more than a closed store. I knew that it was something that we should have just left alone, but perhaps since it could give us some clues where we were, I started to walk down and I was looking to see what the store was. Kevin and Dana were following me, and then we reached the entrance of the store and saw that the store looked like it hadn't been used since before Kevin's dad was born.

I placed my hand on the door and wiped off the small amount of dust, seeing that the store looked like people were living in there and that the few rations that were there had been basically all used up now. I was wondering if the place was shut down but somebody decided to use the store and the few things that were in there to try and create a small term living. I realized that it would not be a terrible idea to do this, as it would give them about a couple of months or so of food.

"This is strange. I think that maybe I saw this place before. I think I know where we may be now. We need to go east now. Probably a few miles or so from here, which can be a bit annoying actually. But I will lead the way now." Dana said and then Kevin and I figured that maybe she was telling the truth, and that we should just take her word for it.

"What made you go to the store in the first place?" I asked after a minute or so of being quiet and thinking about the store. I hated the idea of Dana getting herself in trouble, or in danger from what I could tell. I feel like whoever lived there would try and keep any of that food safe, since once that food was out, it would basically be a fight for survival. This would be enough food to survive for a while, but sooner or later, that person would need a different supply, and if Dana went in there and take something to eat, then I can imagine that a battle might come up with it.

"I was just walking around one day and found it. Really was nothing else beyond that." Dana said and then after she said that, I decided to just drop the subject since I am pretty sure that they didn't really care to discuss this any more than we already have. Besides, I was just wanting to go home. I placed my skateboard on the ground and then I placed both of my feet on the ground and then I was sort of just skating on the side walk, taking it a little bit casually.

"I wonder how Jason is going to feel about seeing that one random girl there." I said and then that brought back the idea of the forest being this really huge place that is just sort of impossible to see all of. "I wonder what will happen once the monsters are going to find the creek. I just hope that maybe he could be able to fight them off without too much trouble." I feared that we were never going to see the guy again, which was not all that big of a out there fear considering how these monsters were in all reality.

As we were walking home, I was wondering if there was going to be anything that we can do before we went home. Just because we wanted to get to a place where we knew we were, doesn't mean that we needed to go right home and that meant that maybe we just wanted to have a little bit more of free time on this whole thing. Kevin was getting a little bored, but then Kevin thought of something about the creek and the monsters.

"So you know that monsters are all over the town, and then there is the creek, which is the one place in town in which there are no monsters. I think that maybe there is something in the creek that is making the monsters not able to go in there, which means that as long as we are in the creek, we will be safe and there will be no monsters that will be able to attack us." Kevin said and then I considered that but then there was another alternative that would have been really easy to point out, not to really ruin the party that Kevin was building up, but this was something that I still felt like in our work place, that we needed to point it out.

"That might be something related to it. However, that doesn't really matter all that much. There is a chance that the creek is not safe at all, and that the only reason monsters have not attacked it is because of the fact that they have just simply not known about it being a thing at all. However, we need to focus and either way, use the creek for our own good. If it is just because they have not been exposed, then we can use it for the time being, and if the creek really is safe, then we need to use that as much as possible." I decided and then Dana stopped that conversation right then and there.

"Guys, I think we need to stop talking about monsters. Can we please just find something much more nice to talk about? Like school, or something simple like that. The talk of all of the monsters is really starting to make me feel really uneasy. I know I feel a little wrong for saying that when I was the one who started this, but I very much regret it." Dana said and then after she had said that, I stopped and remained quiet mainly for her sake. I was able to see why she was getting this angry over it but I simply could not really help it.

"Yeah, maybe we should talk about something else. Hey Dana, did you know that Kevin asked Jenny out on a date? She said that she didn't want a relationship with him but that she was willing to hang out with him as a friend or something like that." I said and Kevin seemed like he wasn't as angry over what happened anymore, but he was still a little bit salty over it now.

"Yeah, I was hoping that it would turn out better, but I feel like that was probably the best I can hope for. I just wish that once we hang out, maybe she would have changed her mind. After all, she really is a special lady. I don't want to do something that she doesn't like, but at the same time, I don't know anybody who is better that she could go out with. I think that maybe she is just waiting for something that she knows will never happen." Kevin said as he was wondering what he could really do to earn Jenny's respect now.

"If you want Jenny to be your girlfriend, then perhaps you just need to do something that earns your trust. Maybe get her parents to trust you or something. Once your parents earn your trust, then perhaps you are able to start to earn Jenny's trust a bit. Talk with her, get to know her, and then soon enough, she will ask you out on a date. Once she asks you on a date, you can do something that will get her to kiss you or something. That is a very small version of what you can do, and it will take several weeks to earn their trust normally." Dana had said that and then Kevin actually believed that was a good way of going at it.

"Maybe when I hang out with her on Saturday, we can just talk a little bit. I can ask her a couple of basic questions, like stuff that she would like to do on her spare time, and then I can ask her a few questions on if she would need any help on school and on the slight chance I could help her out, that can get me closer to her. Then I just get her trust to maybe see her at her house, and I think that things would be just like how you said they would be." Kevin was rubbing his chin, really excited about the idea of earning earning Jenny's trust.

"I would not really be too sure. I think that she will not get over the person that she likes. She probably really has her eyes on that person." I said and then after I said that, Dana started to look at me and smiled since she was probably well aware of the person that Jenny had liked, and she was really not wanting to say it due to pissing Kevin off.

Thankfully Kevin was not looking around to see what was going on, and he was not seeing the small secret that Dana and I were starting to form and everything. I wanted Kevin to believe that there was a small chance that he could win her, and who knows maybe he can, and the thing with me was a just a small term phase that she was going to get over soon, which with the whole thing with Dana, would be possible.

"Jenny is somebody who when I am around them, they make me feel happy. They make me feel like I have somebody I could try and be like and that she can be a person who can give me courage. After all I don't really have any courage and that is something that I really need. I feel like when Jenny and I are friends, she can give me something that I need, and I feel like she might need the idea to be more open and public to people who she knows, and maybe once I earn her trust, I can get some courage, and then she can tell me about her fears or something." Kevin was really trying way too hard with this Jenny thing, but since I already had Dana and being with her today made me remember why I was with her, and really be happy with her, then I would not judge him too hard.

"Want to go home now? I am starting to get a little bit tired right now. Maybe even I can't keep this up forever?" Kevin asked first but before he could even keep this idea up for too long, he stopped when he saw Sam walking along down town and then he looked at me and shook his head. "Never mind that idea. I guess I can wait to go home for a while." Kevin had said and then I laughed at how Sam's presence could make him change his mind so fast.

"As you were saying, what are you wanting to do now?" Dana asked and that was able to make Kevin laugh a little bit and then the three of us started to walk a little bit faster to get further away from Sam. It was because Kevin was going a little bit faster, and we were getting faster as a way to try and mostly keep up with what he was doing.

After we were all away from Sam and out of sight, Kevin had looked like he was starting to get a lot more calm and a lot less tired. That brief moment of Sam energy still had not worn down for the time being. The three of us sat down at the bench about a quarter of a mile away from the down town section, and we were about half way over on the way to the houses of where we all lived.

"This town is still beautiful. I have seen so many things in this town, but even with all of these things that I have seen, I am still able to just be amazed at how fast this town is growing on a seemingly daily basis. I feel like this town was really where I was meant to be and that the previous school I had gone to was just a piece of getting me to where I was supposed to be in my life." I said and then I was staring right at the building where the androids were being created, which was still something I was wrapping my mind around.

"Yeah, it seems when you showed up at this school, things have started to really speed up on how things are happening here. It is like your being here is really sort of moving the town forward. Which I guess is really strange. Probably just a small coincidence, but still enough to make it worth pointing out." Dana was starting to really piece things together, and I was wondering if maybe me being there really made a difference at all.

We talked there for a little bit longer, and soon enough Kevin actually was tired and he did think that he needed to go home now. I felt like it wasn't too bad to actually try and go home now, since we had been outside for several hours anyways. He was the one that lived the closest, so I figured that perhaps we can just drop by his house first and then Dana and I could have some time to ourselves, which I was perfectly happy with since my girlfriend was Dana and I felt like I should just have some time with her anyways.

As we were walking home, Kevin was thinking about the hang out. "That was quite fun though. I really want to go on and see that creek again. It is more of a matter of actually finding the creek, since the forest seems to change it setting every single time that we go there. I wonder if that creek really is real, or if we were just imagining the whole thing." Kevin said and despite the fact that it sounded really strange to say that, I could see that it was not all that out there on this certain case because of all of the stuff going on in the town. Honestly, that would have probably been the least strange part of the town.

"Just remember what we had told you about Jenny, if you actually want to date her and have something going with her." I said and I was really hoping that maybe he could get her. Just because she decided to have that thing for me, doesn't mean that she couldn't help develop a thing for Kevin sooner or later, once she realized that falling in love with me would just be too far out there. "One of these days, if you really keep up on all of this, even if Jenny does not accept you, another girl must surely be able to accept you. Even if it takes a long time to do so." I said and while that was true, it was something he had to wait a huge majority of his life to get.

"I hope you are right. I don't want to wait any longer for this. Please just be right." Kevin said and he sounded like he was really worried about something. Like another thing that Sam was probably wanting to know about, and another thing he felt like he was going to try and judge Kevin on.

"Well, have a good night. See you tomorrow Kevin." Dana said when they were at his front house door and then Kevin waved good bye at them and then he went inside. I stared on over at Dana and I smiled. I was thinking about everything that we were going to do tonight. Or everything that we could pretend that we would have been ready to do. Just the thoughts of it all was getting me really excited for Dana and I really did like her, even if I liked the others just as much as much her.

We walked on forward to Dana's house, which I was thinking was a really bad idea since her parents did not like me at all. But at the same time, I was thinking that it was the lesser of two evils compared to going to my house since I am convinced that if they went to my house, her parents would figure out right away where I was and where she was and it would turn into a really bloody conflict. I was not really ready to have that happen. But as we were in her house, I was trying to remain relatively quiet since I was well aware of how she was going to treat me if her parents found out I was there.

"So Dana, what do we do now?" I was asking, wishing for something that she would give me, or that I could give her. I was thinking about the idea of if I went up to take the next step on my life, even though we had only been together for like a few weeks by this point in time, so I would not really be all that shocked if she was going to try and turn me down on the idea of fucking her so fast into the thing. But I feel like if there was one thing I learned from Joy, it would be how to make somebody's first time really something special.

"I think we can just relax casually for a little bit and shall things come up afterwards, then we can let it happen." Dana said and then she was sort of fingering my shirt a little bit and I was thinking that my chances of having a nice night with Dana was a lot higher than I could have really imagined that it would have been, and I was really happy for that.

"I don't mind relaxing casually." I said and I was only saying that because I was well aware of what was happening, and what this could lead into. That was one of the main things that I cared about, even if I had hated to admit it. "So Dana, how would you react if your parents found us here right now?" I was asking thinking about that and being as quiet as quiet as possible, since I didn't want to increase the risk of it happening just to prove my point.

"Well if my parents came along, then I can just tell them that you are only going to be here for like another hour or so. That way we can find some way to extend our time together, although you would be forced to leave very soon afterwards, which would be a bloody ass shame." Dana said and I agreed. I didn't want to ruin any chance of hitting second base just because of the parents of my girlfriend, and I was trying to tell myself to stop thinking about all of this.

"You know Dana, I don't really think I will ever want to go back to my older school again. I think that Wayside is probably the one place that I want to stay at regardless of what was going on. It feels like this place is sort of like being home now. I know that Wayside is way more strange than the school that I went to previously, but as a result, this is still one of the best places I went to and it really is creating a bunch of memories for me." I told Dana as my right arm was over her neck and Dana laid her head on my shoulder and then she closed her eyes a little bit.

"I am glad that you are liking the school so much. But I think that maybe there are a couple of things that you would not mind changing about the school. I mean I would not mind changing how the lunch is. Since the lunch is always absolutely terrible, and I really wish that the standards for food could be much better." Dana said and then I considered that. There would be a couple of things that I would make different after all.

"Probably the classes. These classes are just too much for me. I would change that, make the whole thing something that would be more like a real school room place. I want to actually learn some real material. That being said, pretty much everything else I would keep the same. Honestly, the place is not really as bad as I worried it would have been. I had a really bad fear for a little while, but I suppose that I need to give something a chance before I just wash it off as something that I think it is." I told her and I was starting to close my eyes as well.

Before I even realized what had happened, I woke up and saw that the outside was pitch black. I saw that Dana was now on her bed, probably getting up before me and when she saw how late it was, went to her bed and then decided to leave me there in order to not force me up. But when I saw that I was awake, I saw that Dana was so far asleep that there was no way I can get anything else going on here.

I walked up to Dana and then kissed her on the cheek and then I could tell that stirred her for a couple of seconds and then I walked out and saw the time in the clock. The time was one thirty two in the morning. I was out for like five hours or something. I gulped and then I walked out of the room really quietly, to not raise up the awareness of what was going on. I didn't want Dana's parents to know I was there. But before I left I quietly paced myself back to her room and grabbed my skateboard. I then left the house and waited until I was a quarter of a block away before I started to skate, being as loud as I wanted now.

As I was skating my way on over to my house, I was thinking about Kevin and his real chances of starting to date Jenny and everything, but I was thinking about how if Kevin was going to really try super hard, then maybe he could be able to pull this whole thing off. I was worried more about how much Kevin was going to have to go through in order to get her, and how much he was going to make her suffer in a way as a result of this whole thing.

I rode on my skateboard for about twenty minutes or so and then I reached my house and then I went right into my bedroom where I started to go right back to sleep, since I knew that in order to be ready for school, I needed to try and get a relatively decent amount of sleep in for that night, but I was wondering if this was actually something I should have done. Hanging out with people after a school day, when they were going to get really late into the night.

As I was sleeping, the dream that I was having was a strange one. I was not really too sure what I was watching. It seemed like I was watching a bunch of stuff that was related to monsters. The dream all started when I was just walking down a large street. As I was running down the street, of a place that looked like Atlanta Georgia, before the great technology surge happened. I realized that I wasn't really there and the person that I was watching was a guy with brown hair wearing something that looked like a blue vest. I had no idea how he was wearing this, as this was clearly in the 1800's, but I decided not to bother thinking about it all that much.

He held his hand out and after he saw that his hand was still there after a couple of seconds, the guy saw that he was safe and then he held onto his sword was tight as possible as he slowly walked out of the alleyway and onto the main section of the street. The guy was staring around and the streets were all dark and everything and the only thing of light was one street light.

He was still holding onto his sword and as he was walking down the street. I could tell that he was in a huge battlefield, as if Atlanta had been destroyed. Although this wasn't the civil war since there wasn't a bunch of holes or dead people. Instead there was a couple of destroyed buildings, fires, and a few monsters on the ground with only one or two human bodies on the ground. I was thinking that maybe I had been walking around one of the very first battlefields for the monsters on earth. Since there was no way that these monsters have been on earth for more than a hundred years.

He walked down to a wall and he was hiding on the wall for a couple of seconds to avoid getting seen. I was wondering what the hell was making him hide so badly, and when I was able to see what it was, due to him pointing his head out for just a small second, I was able to see what it was. I knew why he was so scared to walk around and how the chance of even one monster would be able to scare the absolute shit out of him.

When I was watching this, I saw that there was a giant eleven story tower that was all dark and having hundreds of monsters around the area, and I saw that there was a giant hole in the sky, which was really odd, but considering the always changing voice, I decided not to question this too much now. But he was looking down and he saw a picture of a lady, probably early twenties and then he gulped and put it in his pocket. A picture of his mother. He held onto his sword so tightly I could see the sweat coming down his face and then he ran out and he was ready for battle. He saw a bunch of monsters turning around and seeing him.

That was when I woke up, sweating and feeling like I was the one who had been there from the start. I opened my back pack and realized that the blade Dana made me, while not the same in style was the same size and from what I would tell from the guy holding it, probably the same weight. I held it and then placed it under my bed, not wanting to get caught with it at school. I stood and looked at the cassette tape. I would record thirty minutes when I got home. Today I felt like something big was going to happen. I washed my clothes, brushed my teeth, grabbed my skateboard and started to skate on down to the school for the upcoming day.


	22. New Guilmon

Chapter 21: New Guilmon (1936)

The legend of the tamers has been one that had sadly been pretty much all but forgotten over time. Back when it had happened, people were freaking out over it as it had pretty much changed the way that the world had looked at events and how humans even were able to look at each other. But it seems that the very important lessons that were taught during this important time was sort of thrown away. It makes sense as there was a terrible world war that happened less than ten years later, but the message still does and should stand.

It all had started in early 1936 when the school year was getting relatively close to being over. One seventh grade student in New York City Queens Borough was sleeping very contently and not thinking that there was really anything going on. Talks over the upcoming election were starting to come up, but they were not really all that big of discussions since the election was still eight months away and he wasn't even old enough to vote anyways so it didn't really matter to him all that much in the first place. The only problem about him sleeping so nicely was the fact that before he even realized it, the alarm clock when off and he was jumping right out of bed hoping that his parents weren't going to be checking on him soon.

The name of this seventh grade student was Takato, and he had been born and been born and raised in New York City. Which means that he was able to pretty much see the heartland of the nation as well as get the first glances of what the nation was going to start to bring forward to the table. Only three times in his short thirteen years of living did he leave the city and go to a different state, so this was pretty much the only thing that he ever really even knew. He was longing for the day when he was going to grow up and be able to travel all of the states, but until then he was forced to stay here and just do good on his school work.

While he was getting up in the morning, he had stared at his window thinking about that very problem. He was just hoping to get enough money from his jobs helping his family at the bakery to when he did leave the city, he could actually be able to have a real trip and not one that only led him to a couple of places outside of the city. He had no desire to leave New York City just to explore the rest of New York and that being it, he wanted to do something else along with it at the same time. But he was forcing himself to stop thinking too much about this when he decided to grab his stuff for school and head off to another terrible day of boring lectures.

As Takato was putting things inside of his back pack, he looked down at the new notebook that his parents had bought for him that previous night as a reward for him actually getting a C on his math test for the first time. The nice red notebook that was about 40 sheets and just big enough to make the drawings understandable and small enough to fit into his pocket. He liked the color red since it was the color of democrats and he would be a democrat if he could vote in the elections (In case you are wondering, in Longest Novel, the colors are swapped, so blue is republican and red is democrat as a way to show just another way that earth in this world is different from ours).

Excited about using this now, he put it right into his pocket while taking a pencil and placing it in there as well. This was going to help make classes way more interesting then it would have been if he was just listening to lectures he did not care whatsoever for. Then he slipped the back pack onto his back and headed out of the room. As he headed down, the wonderful smell of fresh cooked bread was coming to him. If there was one perk about living in a bakery, it was the nice cooked bread he would always get to smell when walking in or out of the house.

After he headed out of his house, he considered taking the train to school. He did it once and it was truly something special. Riding in that golden train across a track seventy feet in the air looking down at the town and people heading to their jobs. Seeing the construction workers working on a pond that is supposed to have constant water coming out of the center, and the scientist down below talking about his great plan to create robotic life and everybody thought that he was a little crazy but with each passing year it seemed more and more like he could be able to pull this off. The train going 70 miles per hour which would make it only take a minute to head to his school.

The greatest thing about being on this train though would be the fact that Takato can see pretty much the entire city at work at once. That was something that he always was enthralled by when he had been inside of the train. Millions of people living inside the most densely populated place in the world. The Empire State Building reaching the highest point a building had in the whole world and several other buildings starting to slowly follow. Takato wanted to create something this impressive when he had grown up, and that way he can go down in history as the man who created the impossible. For a thirteen year old, he always seemed to have a rather ambitious mindset when he was pondering the different things in the world.

Takato decided against going on the train, and he was walking along the way towards his school. He was just having a strange feeling to himself that the school day was going to be something much better than the other days to that point so far. He had no idea why it was giving him this type of feeling and he was thinking that it was probably just a little bit too far fetched, but he was just wanting to sort of try and justify the fact that he is doing this at all. Justify the fact that he was going to yet again waste another seven hours of his day at school, or maybe eight hours. He could not remember. It didn't matter.

As he was walking, the more that he was smelling the smell of smoke and oil starting to burn into his mouth. He had been used to it, so he was just not really all that surprised by it. But that still didn't change the fact that it did feel kind of gross that he was literally putting poison inside of his mouth the entire time that he was walking to the school and everything.

It took like half an hour for him to reach his school and as he was getting closer to the school, he saw that there was the yellow hut that he always hung out with his best friends at. He always went there for a little while before he went to school, as he was just wanting to just have some fun hanging out with his friends and not worry about anything that was going on in the world regardless of how much people feel like he should be worrying about this type of stuff, such as things going on in other countries. In reality, he did not really care at all what the fuck Hitler and Stalin were doing.

Takato walked to the entrance of the hut and then he climbed up into it, knowing that he was going to probably be greeted with his friends wanting to just play the card game that they always did play. He did like the card game, but he was wondering what it would be like to play a different type of game for once or hell not even play a game at all. But it was still fun and entertaining, and that was what really mattered in the long run.

As he was sitting down with his friends he was looking at their outfit that they were wearing today thinking that they had gotten some new clothes or something. The name of his friends were Kazu and Kenta, and they were always the type of people that seemed to have a decent amount of cockiness to them despite the fact that aside from the card game, they were not really all that popular at all. They were perfectly aware of this though and this was just their way of trying to cope with the fact that they were not popular but wanted to be.

Kazu was the taller of the two, and the one that Takato had known for a longer period of time. He was wearing a black shirt with something that seemed to be a yellow cross on it. Takato was trying to figure out the context of the yellow cross, but no matter how much he was trying, it was impossible for him to really figure it out. Kazu was also wearing a light tan pair of shorts and he was also wearing something that looked like a hat. Takato thought that his outfit was by far the more interesting of the two compared to him and Kenta.

Kenta was wearing glasses as it had helped him see things better. He was wearing two different types of shirts. One was orange and that was the under one, covered up by a white shirt that had buttons, but none of the buttons were buttoned up, so you were still able to see the orange shirt just fine. He was wearing grey shorts, and almost none of the people that Takato hung out with didn't wear long pants, so it was just kind of interesting when that thought had crossed his mind for a moment or so. Then afterwards, Takato looked at the card game that the two of them were playing and he was going to see if there was going to be any possible for them to understand the context of what was actually going on there.

"We are playing a game right now. Kazu is winning right now. Pretty much like how he always does." Kenta told Takato and Takato could tell that Kenta was not too excited about the fact that Kazu was winning the game once again. Considering the fact that Kazu always won these games and that Kenta rarely ever had a chance of winning one of these games, no matter what research he had done that night prior to see what he can try and pull off.

Kazu was looking down and then after he was looking down at the cards, he found one that looked like the max evolution of a digimon. He then took the card out and then he placed it down at the table that the two of them were playing on. "It seems as if I have won the game again." Kazu said and he was super excited that he had won this game and then he placed his hands behind his head as he was looking at Kenta to see what his reaction would be.

"Oh shit you barely got to see us play at all." Kenta said when he was hearing the bell to class ring. Takato rolled his eyes, since he fucking hated the classes and that there was nothing good about this at all. Takato stood up once again and then Kazu and Kenta already got off of the hut and they were heading out to a different way. Takato was about to follow them when he looked down and saw a giant glowing light. When he saw the light he was seeing something get created in front of him.

This was something of a red device. He knew that this was going to be something that nobody really would believe in him on. So he was going to have to be careful not to let anybody see it. But he still ended up grabbing the device and placing it in his pocket and then he jumped down out of the hut and started to follow Kenta and Kazu onto their classes.

As Takato had walked into the school with his school, he was looking around at the students just running by as if they were scared that they were going to be late. Takato was not really too worried about being late, since he just hated these classes in the first place so being a couple of minutes late was not all that big of a deal. But then he thought about how much fun it was going to be when school was done with since he and Kazu were talking about hanging out after school that day. So when Takato had been thinking that, he walked down to the gym with Kenta and Kazu.

The door bell rang right as Takato was running right into the gym room, so they were just barely being able to show up in time. After he had shown up to the classroom, he looked around and saw that there was the girl that he liked walking out of the ladies locker room. She was looking so great and irresistible and Takato was trying to hide the fact that he liked her, since he was not wanting to come off as really stupid about it and ruin any remote chance of dating her in the long run.

As the three students were getting ready to head their locker room, the teacher was just yawning and he was not really caring at all what was going on. Honestly he did not really give a shit about what his students did as long as they not get themselves killed or anything silly like that. How little did he know that this thought set was actually going to be very accurate and important later on in the long run. Takato was so tired of his gross smelling gym clothes and he always felt like it was smelling like some form of fucking pizza when he grabbed it.

He was slowly taking his shirt off, trying his hardest not to get the smell right in front of his face. Kazu was watching Takato as he was slowly placing his clothes onto him and then Kazu just placed his clothes onto himself in the matter of just a few seconds. Takato slowly placed the clothes on and he was thinking to himself that there was no way in hell that he was even going to have a slight chance of being able to get Jeri to like him with how gross it was. Then the whole group walked out of the locker room and the teacher moaned and sighed in relief as he was explaining what was going on for the day and what the goal of the day was going to be.

"You guys are all going to be doing some long jump. Just when you reach the white line, jump as far as you possibly can and we will record how far you had jumped." The guy said and then after he was saying this he was yawning and he laid his back further down in the chair as if he was starting to sleep.

The group was wondering what they can do to the teacher that could be somewhat funny. But then they decided to have a small hint of decency and they decided to just let him sleep and they slowly went on down to the track to do the jumping that the teacher had so badly wanted them to do. But when the group was outside of the school and they were heading outside onto the jumping ground, Kazu turned to the rest of the class.

"How about we don't do the jumping thing? It seems much more boring than just fucking around down at the track." Kazu said and then after he had said that, the class group was thinking that while Kazu was a idiot for thinking this and that this was a truly terrible idea deep down, they still thought that it would be funny as hell so they started to follow him down to the track and field down the hill and stairs as he was waving his hand around to follow him faster. Kazu was truly one of the craziest people at school and he was relatively popular as a result of this.

Soon enough, the class had reached the school track. Kazu was looking at the class mates as he was holding his hands up and he was on the verge of laughing his fucking ass off. Kazu was running right towards the long jump, thinking that he could be able to do this jump, but add a twist to this that can make him even more cool than people were starting to look at him as. Takato and Kenta had led the following of Kazu and they were starting to really worry what the hell he was going to do here.

Kazu had eventually reached the pit of the long jump and he was at the front of the line. They were all wondering what the hell he was going to do. "What if we take a bet to see who can be the first one to reach the end of the track? We should try and jump all the way from here, past the sand and then we can jump to the other side of the track. Probably like a hundred feet or so, and I think that this will be fun to do." Kazu said and then he got to the end of the track section of the jumping place. He then placed his hand and knee of the ground and then he stood up and jumped. As he was jumping, he landed on the ground and then he was able to jump across the sand of the pit but he landed on the grass. As he landed everybody was staring at him thinking that maybe he was in a lot of pain. Takato started to walk closer and closer to Kazu to see if he was alright. But before anything could happen, Kazu jumped up and he wiped the grass off of his leg.

"Well I guess the bastard was able to come out of this with no injury." Kenta said thinking that Kazu was going to at the very least start to sprain his legs or something like that. Kenta had sworn for the first time ever when he had done that and when he had done so, he was honestly not all that surprised at how much it just felt strange to him. But at the same time, he was thinking that maybe swearing was not really all that terrible of a thing after all. Just something he was not really wanting to do again.

Takato took his turn to do the jumping next since he thought that it could work out. As he was jumping, he had his right leg slide across the ground as his left leg was starting to get further and further away from his right leg and he was feeling like he was going to do the ultimate split. Takato felt like for just a few seconds like he was going to cry. But then after this happened, he stood up and then he was walking slowly at first and as he was walking for a few steps, he was getting faster and faster thinking that it was not really all that bad after all and that he just needed to give it some time to cool off.

Kenta had gone after him and he didn't even get off of the sand. He was a few inches away from reaching the edge of the sand, and then he stood up and walked off with no problem.

Jeri was the one who had gone next. She was incredible at the jump. As she was jumping, she spun around a few rounds and easily reached the other side of the track now.

As Takato had been watching this, he was absolutely entranced at the view and the more that he was watching her, the more that he was feeling that his mind was doing the most that a thirteen year old could when it came to falling in love and stuff like that. Takato looked down at the ground as he was feeling something strange in his pants. This was the first time that he ever felt like this, and it honestly felt right. It felt like something that his whole life had been building up for actually.

The rest of the classes had their turn with this and they were not able to do anywhere near as good as Jeri but all of them did better than Kenta, who just did a terrible job. After they all had a turn, they all had a tug of war all out wrestle session that lasted for like ten minutes and the entire class was just getting dirty and ruining their fucking clothes. But none of them seemed to care as the class headed back to the locker room and just pretended as if this incident never had happened and then they all forgot to record their scores, which was the only thing that really bothered the teacher. After this, Takato was taking a shower with the rest of the class and Kazu was standing next to him to hear what Takato would say about his accusation.

"So you were looking at Jeri a little bit earlier? Do you have a crush on her or something?" Kazu asked and he was meaning it in a decently playful way, but then Takato was trying to find a way to deny it. "I do't really care if you do or anything, it just really would be kind of funny if you do." Kazu told Takato and then Takato was wondering why that would be so funny. He felt like in his head that he would have to tell the truth, since he was trying to find out why Kazu was finding this so funny anyways.

"Honestly, she is kind of cute. But I am not like head and heels over her." Takato answered as he was showering to get all of the dirt from that totally painful long jump and wrestling. He was kind of impressed that the dirt was not really getting all over him and stuff like that. He thought that this was going to be such a dead give away for the teacher that they would pretty much angry at the school for the rest of their lives. But that seemed to not really be what happened, which mean that they can get away with this for the time being.

The rest of the day was pretty normal. The second period was history with Miss Asagi, and Takato had paid so little attention in class that he actually did get in trouble a little bit. He was holding onto his notebook that he had been given a little bit earlier and he was just drawing a bunch of notes on it while trying to come up with a outline on what a digimon would look like if he had created one for himself.

The digimon was totally red aside from what was on their chest, which Takato in hindsight would admit was a little bit of s strange design choice, but he honestly did not care all that much. There were random black marks on the digimon through out their body which was way too odd for them to look back on when looking at the paper outline. Then there were a bunch of horns from the top of their face going all the way down their body and the random tail that Takato had drawn at the last second. As he was doing this, the teacher was wondering what the fuck Takato was doing so they were walking closer and closer to him to see what had been going on.

"Takato, what had happened to paying attention in class?" Miss Asagi asked and then she went on with the class after she had told him to meet her after class that day. Takato rolled his eyes totally fucking hating this idea and thinking that this was a terrible idea. Once class bell had rung, Takato was forced to go on and see her and what she was wanting to talk to him about, even though he knew in his mind everything she was going to be telling him but he was just hoping that he was wrong about this and that she was not wanting to rat him out like a little girl.

"I want to talk to you because I was looking at your grades throughout the term. They have been really bad, and I didn't think for even a moment before that you can be able to get your grades back up in time for the term being over in two weeks. Then you turned in your last piece and I saw that you got a perfect score on the test. It made me realize that you really did have what it took when you actually put your mind to it. Takato, I want to tell you to start taking this more seriously in the future. Your future can be able to depend on this. If you start to take things more seriously by now. Please, just for these next two weeks, really work hard and try your best and if you can pass this class, then we don't have to worry about this ever. Just please, I want to see you do well and I know that you can and I just want to see you put in that small amount more effort now." Miss Asagi said and then Takato was not really too sure what to think.

Before Takato could hear any more of a rant, Takato nodded and headed off to third period while thinking that maybe she was right after all about grades.

As Takato was now in third period, math was just honestly not that interesting and Takato only took some notes like once every ten minutes since he was not really sure how much the teacher had important stuff that actually mattered in that lecture and what he even needed to pay attention to on the lecture coming up in the long run. He thought that his dad needed a bit more of a focus on this thing now.

Lunch period was after third period, but before fourth and fifth period. Honestly, lunch period was the only period of the day that was really any interest at all to the group in the long run. Takato was just sitting next to Kenta and Kazu to see what their conversations were going to be about that night. Well not really night as well as afternoon.

As the group was sitting down just hanging around, Takato was still thinking about what the teacher was telling him earlier and what he should be thinking of what he was told. "I don't know what the teachers want with me and why they want me to do things so differently. I doubt that I am actually going to get good grades in the first place, I think they just need to relax a little bit with this." Takato had said and Kazu placed his arm on Takato's shoulders and he was glad that Takato was thinking this way now and that there was at least one person who felt like studying was severely over rated in the long run.

"At least somebody is not really thinking that we need to over kill it with studying and that school is the end all be all of things in the world. I know that most people don't really agree with me here, but that is just the way that I look at it." Kazu said and then after he had said that, he was looking around at all of the asses of the hot girls in the lunch room. He always really liked looking at the asses of the girls he went to class with, and he was thinking that it was going to be even better when he was able to go on and see something more when he will see their pussy eventually.

That was when Jeri sat down next to Kenta and then Kenta looked over at Jeri as if wondering what the hell was going on in the first place. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Kenta was trying to be nice about it but at the same time he was just way too confused to be able to shoot it nicely and he was well aware of this now. That was when Jeri had something that looked like a sock puppet and she was laughing to see what the others were thinking with that.

"My name is Mr Leo. I am going to be Jeri's best friend forever." Jeri was saying in a weird voice and the group was not really too sure if they thought that this was just really stupid or actually pretty funny. Honestly it was a little bit of both. But then Takato decided that he was going to be the first to try and come up with a conversation here.

"Well where did you make that sock puppet? Are you trying to have some friends right now?" Takato asked and he was feeling a little bit stupid for asking that. Of course she was wanting some friends, who would not be wanting some friends. It was more of a matter of how she was thinking that this was a stellar way to try and get them. It just seemed so out of nowhere and it was going to take so much to get used to. But then Jeri looked over at Takato and she actually gave him a answer that was in her 'normal' self.

"I just thought that it would be really funny to see what people would say when they saw something like this. After all, you guys always play that digimon card game every day. It's not like you guys are really any better here." Jeri responded and then the three boys just sat there trying to think about that a little bit and Jeri did have a decently good point despite how much they did not really want to admit that at all.

This was when Kazu found something that he thought was actually going to be able to work out. He found this girl that he was having a mild crush on walking by the hallway of the lunch room. Kazu stood up and he winked at Takato as if he was trying to show Takato what he was going to do. Takato looked around and he was slowly picking up what he was going to be doing so he was watching as Kazu walked on over to the girl and he was going to ask her something to see if she was going to accept his offer to do something in the first place.

"Hey Patty, I was wondering a little bit earlier." Kazu said and then Patty turned around to see what was going on. She was looking at him to see what Kazu was going to say and if he was actually heading in the direction that she was expecting him to be heading. "I was wondering, if maybe you guys would want to hang out later now. Just maybe some time like tomorrow after school." Kazu then placed his hand behind his head and then the was watching as Patty was thinking it out a little bit for a moment.

"Yeah sure why not? See you after school tomorrow." Patty said and then after she responded that way, she started to walk away from Kazu and then Kazu felt like he was in the mood to celebrate and then he was walking back to the group. As he was walking to the group, Kenta stared at him in utter shock as if not really sure how the hell he was able to pull it off at all.

That was all that there was to lunch, or all that really mattered. It help introduce Jeri to the group in a way that was just not her being the girl from gym class, and it also helped Kazu get his first ever date. Fourth period was science class and there was literally nothing that happened in that class and there was no reason to write anything about it. In English class, which was the final class period of the day was the more interesting one of them. The teacher gave the class a crazy assignment that was for the group to fill out a notebook that she gave each member of the class and to write a 50,000 word story of their life by the end of the year and that the thing is due at the end of the year regardless of the progress of this. And the way that it would be graded would be graded off of both high quantity and high quality. Takato and Kazu and Kenta headed out of English class in no way excited for what was going on but they were excited to hang out in Kazu's house afterwards.

"I think that once we get on over to your house, I maybe we should play some more of that card game." Kenta said and he seemed to be a bigger fan of that game then the other two, which did not really seem to be that high of a mark right at that moment. Kazu and Takato still liked the game though, although they did think that maybe it was a game that they should play just before they start their school day and all of that stuff. Not that any of it was a bad thing, and since they had no ideas right at that moment, maybe they should accept Kent'a offer for now.

Soon enough, the three of them were walking along and the day was so nice and sunny out that Takato was a little but jealous that they were going to be going inside of the house instead of hanging out at the park or something like that. "I wonder if the park has anybody there that is willing to hang out with us." Takato said and he was just saying that as a way to try and get the group to think that this would be a good idea, but none of them seemed to pick up on the context that he was trying to give out to them, so he felt like he was just wasting his breath by doing so.

"I doubt that there is anybody who wants to hang out with us in the park. We honestly are not all that popular, and I doubt that we would suddenly become popular enough to be the big people in the park for the time being. As much as I hate to admit that." Kazu was saying and then Takato was wondering how Kazu out of all members of the group would be the one to say something like that. It just did not really seem to make too much sense with how he was.

As Kazu had said that, Takato was thinking that maybe he was actually talking about the rest of the group and that he was the only one could actually have a chance in any of the context of being popular at the park. As much as Takato had hated that truth, he knew that Kazu was right and that there was nothing that Takato would be able to do to have a normal conversation with other people when he hung out with them with the exceptions of Kazu and Kenta and to a very much smaller extent Jeri as well, but that was only in the last day or so.

It took nearly thirty minutes for Takato to actually walk to Kazu's house with him and Kenta. He forgot just how long this would usually take, but it was just hard to actually keep walking and be focused on all of this. Once they had reached the entrance to Kazu's house, he was eternally grateful that he was able to get out of that shitty smell since he always hated the smell of the city after the first ten minutes or so of walking. He walked inside of the house after Kazu and Kenta were inside of the house and he felt like Kazu's house smelled like heaven compared to the stuff outside.

Kazu went right into his bedroom with Kenta and Takato. As they were right inside of his bedroom, he slammed his back pack down onto the floor and he instantly jumped onto his bed in excitement. He was so happy to be done with school and he hated this whole system and he was just wanting to get any chance that he could to rest, and this was easily a moment to rest and he closed his eyes as he said to the group "I will not be doing that 50,000 word thing."

For once Kenta had actually agreed with what Kazu was saying in terms of not doing his homework on something. That just seemed to be fucking crazy and even Kenta was not going to defend how bat shit crazy this whole thing was right now. They thought that the word count should have maybe been like 5,000. Hell maybe even 10,000, but the amount that the teacher was wanting was so fucking over kill that Kenta was probably not even going to give it a real try at all on this whole thing.

As Kenta was thinking that he was going to do that, Takato was staring outside the window and he was thinking about what was going to be forced for them to do. "I don't know guys, it seems like it might be some fun to try it out. I think maybe we should try it out after all. Who knows, you don't know if you don't at the very least give it a small effort." Takato said and then he sat down after he said that and was staring at the small notebook that he had of Guilmon and the drawing of the digimon he had wanted.

"If I ever had a digimon in real life, I think this is what I would have wanted it to look like." Takato was saying and then he showed both Kenta and Kazu the drawing of Guilmon and he was shocked that they were able to see what he had drawn at all and that they did not really have too much trouble reading all of the rushed and crunched in drawing and scribbles. Kazu seemed to actually consider what Takato was placing for a moment before he gave any sort of a response to it.

"This looks actually pretty decent. I am honestly kind of impressed that you were able to make something that looks as good as this." Kazu said and then after Kazu told Takato this, Takato was now pretty much waiting to see what Kenta would say to this and what he can do to perhaps make this drawing better in the eyes of Kenta since Kenta was way more critical of this type of stuff than Kazu usually ever was with these type of matters, which gave a mixed feeling of appreciation and annoyance to Takato at the same time.

"Well, the idea is pretty good. I do have some problems with the crammed in drawing style and stuff, but I see that this is not your fault and I am not going to be all ratting you out for it. Overall, I do think that this is one of the better drawings that you have made here if I have to be honest. A lot of your older drawings were not really all that good at all." Kenta told Takato and then Takato got the notebook back and he was now ready to see what he can do now with this whole thing.

Takato placed the notebook in his pocket again and then he was thinking about starting something that could be a seemingly deep conversation. "What if digimon were actually real? What do you think our lives would have actually been like if digimon were real, do you have any ideas on that stuff?" Takato was asking and then after Takato had asked them this question, Kazu looked up in longing while Kenta seemed to be trying to register how scary that would be in reality.

"If digimon were real, the world would be so much more interesting and my life would be something that I would be excited for on a day to day basis. I would feel like there was something that I can actually try and do and feel as if there was something that I can fight for. Right now, there is nothing that I can feel like is worth fighting for, and as a result, I don't feel the purpose to even try and fight at all. I know that this is down beat and like I have nothing ahead of me right now because of this, but that is just where I am viewing things." Kazu said and then Takato thought that Kazu needed to be more clam about this and not beat himself up over it.

"I think that maybe you need to be a little bit easier on yourself. There is nothing really terrible about our life right now. I guess that maybe if we were in the same spot ten years from now, then I can see where you are coming from, but now right at this moment." Takato was telling Kazu as Kenta still tried to figure out what his answer would be.

"I think that if digimon were real, then it would be the coolest thing ever for the first few days or so. But then there would start to global problems with this and then with that, we will start to perhaps see something terrible like ass destruction. This world is not really ready for anything like that. I don't really know what to do, but maybe for right now this will all just remain theory and probably should just remain as nothing beyond theory." Kenta answered and Takato was sort of in the middle. But in the end, he just wanted a digimon so badly that his idea of side affects did not even matter all that much in the end of it all.

"I guess we will see how things turn out. I do have a feeling that they are real. I don't really know what makes me feel so strongly about this, but something to me makes me feel like there is a reality of them out there." Takato gave his thoughts as the group started to discuss it more and more. As they had been discussing this, in one of the largest building in Queens, there was a guy who was working on his job at that moment.

As he was sitting down and just watching the rest of the city, there was a girl who had been watching this with him. "Do you know what you plan on doing now?" The girl was asking her boss and then he stood up. He turned at towards her and she was thinking that he was going to pitch her some information that she was not really going to be fond of. But since he was her boss, she was going to have to shut up about it and she was going to have to pretend that she was going to be supporting whatever the hell this idea was actually going to be.

"I am starting to tell that there are some digimon in here that are real. I was scanning some data and I found it. I think that now is the time that we got to go in and destroy them all. We can't let them stay here forever, as they are starting to ruin this world." The blonde man said and then he pointed down at the table to show the girl what he was talking girl and she saw a bunch of messy notes and she was just having a hard time to be reading those in the first place.

"What do you think you are going to be able to do about these digimon? Do you really think that you can do anything about it?" The girl asked on the fence on if this was going to be a good idea or not. The guy sat down on his chair and he was just pondering what exactly he was going to have to create that can be able to truly destroy these digimon, since destroying the digimon was the main goal he was having to himself.

"I will create a program soon that will take them all down. That is the only thing that I can think of that will truly be able to do the thing that we should have done years ago. No, decades ago." The blonde man said as he started to add some notes to the paper and the notes just read 'create new machine' which was something very simplistic and his assistant was wondering what this type of machine was actually going to be. She was hoping that it was not going to be the type of thing that she was expecting him to make this.

As the man had started working on this project, there was a digimon that was walking around the streets. The blonde man was right about a digimon being in the city, but they were not really expecting it to be as small of a threat as it was actually going to turn out to be. The digimon was a small purple one and they had a red bandanna on their neck and they were trying to find a way that they could be able to digivolve. The digivolution was something that they really badly wanted to be able to try out.

The digimon was just annoyed that nobody is ever really hanging out with them or the fact that they do not ever have friends. It was strange they are starting to feel this way since they were not really too worried about having any great friends or anything like that. But just having nothing right now made them start to wish that this was something that they realized more and more that it really was good to have a digimon or a human with them who was able to understand where they were coming from. Impmon, the most lonely digimon of all time.

While these two things had been going down, there was Takato who was starting to get ready to head to sleep and Kenta was thinking that he was going to leave for the night himself. "Honestly, as much as I am enjoying hanging out with you guys, I don't want my parents to worry too much about me. So I am going to be heading on home right now. See you guys tomorrow at school." Kenta said and then he headed out of the house soon afterwards, as Kazu had looked at Takato and he was wondering what was going on now.

"I don't really have any ideas on what we should be doing right now. I guess that maybe we can just talk for a little while longer." Takato had said and then as he was saying this, Kazu was not really too sure. He was thinking about his date with Peggy that was going to be coming up soon. He really thought that the idea of Peggy was going to really be something else for him, something to prove to his parents that he was indeed ready to go out and try something else in his life.

"I guess that maybe you don't really have anything going on. Although you are not really all that good at hiding the fact that you like Jeri. Honestly, even I am able to pick this up and I can barely do all that good at picking up stuff like crushes." Kazu had said and then after Kazu had said this, Takato was laying down on the ground a little bit. He was seeing the sun setting a little bit, and he was sort of debating with his mind on what he should be doing on this and if his parents wanted him to be doing this at all.

"I hope that you and Peggy turn out to be successful. I think that you guys could be able to have a good relationship actually. Even though you guys have never really talked with each other before, but I don't really think that this is too much of a problem honestly." Takato told Kazu as Kazu was getting a little bit more hopeful when he was hearing Takato giving him some support. He was thinking that maybe he actually could be able to pull this off after all.

"I just hope that she ends up liking it as much as I probably will. If she ends up not liking the date all that much, then I feel like I would have wasted my time doing this. I feel like I was maybe a little bit too bold just coming up to her like that and just asking her out and all of that stuff. I think that the date is something that I am not really ready for, but I still feel like I just need to give it my best attempt here no matter what the case is." Kazu was giving his thoughts to Takato, as Takato thought that Kazu was going to do a good job making this work.

Soon enough, Kazu and Takato were going to start getting ready for bed. They had been talking with each other for a couple of hours and they had not even realized that they had been talking for that long. "Thanks for being there and giving me some support for my chances with Peggy." Kazu said and he was really hoping that Peggy actually liked him and was not doing this as a sort of pity date. That would make him feel so bad and like he would just want to give up on humanity all together.

"Just give it some time. I would not really think that you guys are going to jump into the different stuff after just one or two dates. I think that it needs to just be taken one step at a time. That is all of the advice that I am going to give on that since that is the only thing I think you really need to work on there." Takato told Kazu and then he laid down on the bed and then he had realized that he had not told his parents what he was doing and he was thinking that when he got home the next day, he was going to be in a lot of trouble. That was going to be the wort part of this whole thing.

"I think Kenta probably doesn't want me to do this. I wonder what his problem is right now." Kazu said and he was probably just over thinking it when he was saying this, but he knew that he was over thinking it. Kazu laid down on his bed and he just was thinking more about Peggy and what they were going to be like when they started to get dirty. He was wanting to really get dirty with her soon enough, and if Takato was not there right now, he would have gotten snuggy and he would have released a load.

Takato didn't stay up too much longer. He just looked at the picture he was making of Guilmon one final time and then before he could get himself to do something with it, he just placed the notebook down on the ground and then he closed his eyes as the dark sun was covering the entire night. He was liking the look of the dark clouds when he would go to bed in this place.

Soon after Takato had been the one who had gone to bed, there was a glowing on the pages. He was not really too sure what was going on and he didn't even know that there was a glowing but as the paper was glowing, there was something going on the city to show what the effects of this would be. A giant white beam of light coming down onto the ground and as it was coming down onto the ground, there was a monster that was being formed and then as the monster was being made, the guy from his work house was scared at what was going on.

He just knew that this was a digimon coming down to earth, and he was just not really sure what anybody was going to be able to do about this. He placed both his hands on his face and then he screamed. As he was screaming, everybody in the area was staring at him and then he stood up. "Everything I have done so far has been thrown to waste!" He yelled as he grabbed his light on the table and threw it down to the ground. Then he sat down and pounded his face onto the table three times before saying really quietly "I have no idea what to do now."

The girl who was talking with him earlier actually for a moment seemed to feel bad for him. It was in the way that he was saying this that made her think that maybe she was wrong about the way that she was looking at this whole thing. But then as this was happening, she started to walk away. Her boss looked up at her and just shook his head. "These digimon are going to kill us all." The worst part about that statement was that it got dangerously close to being true. She walked away, wondering when he was going to take this too far and when she was going to perhaps take over the leader role.

As the night went on, Takato was just sleeping very comfortably totally unaware of what was going on at all. He woke up at around 6:30 in the morning and he was seeing that Kazu was getting himself up as well. Takato started to spin his upper body around as a way to make himself a little bit comfortable from all of the sleeping on the ground that he had done. "Hey Kazu, did you enjoy your sleep last night?" Takato asked and he was wondering how strange that sounded in reality.

"Yeah I guess I did. Just had a strange dream. Starting to forget already. The dream was something about a red fox monster that was on fire fighting something that was a yellow fox. There seemed to be a girl in that dream as well. I really have no idea what I had seen there." Kazu said and then after he had said that, that was when Takato shook his head not really too sure what was going on and what he should be saying to that in the first place. Afterwards, Takato placed the back pack on his back and he was getting ready to head to school. Kazu slowly did the same, not wanting to be in school but wanting to get in trouble even less than he had wanted to go to school, so he was sort of forcing himself to do this.

So with that, the two of them headed out of the house. Being out of the house was sort of a strange feeling to them. There was something different about the city tonight already. They didn't really know what it was, but they could already feel the difference. Kazu turned at Takato and said "I have a feeling that today, one way or another, something is going to change." Kazu said and then after he said that, Takato nodded.

The two of them walked down and they were slowly heading towards the school. As they had been walking down on their way to the school, Kazu seemed to notice that the sky was darker than normal and Takato noticed that people were quieter than normal. "Seems like the city is holding their breath or something." Takato said and then as he was walking around, he was hearing reports and people talking about a strange light that they had seen.

"Hey, where is the light that you guys are talking about?" Takato asked and then after he had asked that, Kazu stopped and waited for the answer. The person they asked about this told them that the light was in a old abandoned part of the town about a third of a mile away. Then after that, Takato turned towards Kazu and smiled. "Want to check this place out now?"

Kazu thought that Takato would never ask. "Of course I want to check this place out. Sounds super awesome actually." Kazu said and then after he had said that, the two of them started to walk towards the abandoned part of town that they were told all about. This had better be worth all of the hype, or else they were going to not only be late for school and possibly get in trouble for that, but they were going to probably get their parents very angry at them for what they had done. But if something was there that was interesting, then they could feel like there was something that can justify what they had decided to do.

Takato and Kazu took about ten minutes to walk in the increasingly busy city streets and they had to work their way around everybody. This was such a crowded city that it was honestly impressive that neither one of them had split from each other and been separated on what was going on. But after they had eventually reached the abandoned part in town that they were told about, the two of them started to walk down the extremely awful smelling alley way that got both of their clothes a little bit wet.

They were expecting something like a broken flash light or something from what they had been hearing, but what they were not expecting to see was the first thing they had seen. They had seen a giant red dinosaur like thing. Takato gulped as he examined it and the more that he was examining it, the more that he realized that this thing was actually Guilmon. Takato slowly walked down the stairs and then he placed his hands on it. The thing was actually real, despite his confusion. Kazu was not really too sure what the hell he had just seen, but he was wondering if he can do that same thing.


	23. Rivalries Form

Chapter 22: Rivalries Form

"Guilmon. Are you... real?" Takato asked and then when he asked that question, the digimon turned around and looked at Takato wondering what the hell was going on. They placed their hand on Takato's and Takato actually felt like this thing was fucking real. Takato started to tear up a little bit when he had seen this. Even Kazu, despite the moment, and was a little tempted to laugh about it, couldn't help but feel the same way in a huge context. Just not really with the tears or anything like that.

"My name is Takato." This was when Takato had taken the chance to try and basically make Guilmon understand that he was the one that created them. "I helped bring you here. I think that we are meant to be... partners." Takato said and the very idea of having a digimon just made him so excited that he hugged the red dinosaur. Kazu was still just trying to process what he had seen so he could not even dare make fun of what he had seen as it was just so out there that he could barely comprehend this at all. He started to walk on there to see if this was actually real or just a facade.

"Takatomon? You are my friend?" Guilmon said and then Kazu gasped at that one since this did confirm once and for all that this thing was indeed real and not something that they were just imagining. Then with that they were wondering what would happen if they were caught and what they can do to hide the fact that Guilmon was real and that somebody may want to try and use it for themselves.

"Yes he is your friend. But what is he going to do to hide you from somebody in case people start to figure out that you are real? If that happens, then we will be utterly fucked and we will have no idea what to do now. We need to find a place for you to be safe." Kazu said and he was holding his hand out in annoyance to try and show his point. As much as Takato did not want to admit it, Kazu was right. They did need to take care of that before anything else.

"Yeah, we should probably find a place for Guilmon to stay at or else they will start to create a bunch of problems for everybody. First, we have to find a way for them to actually be able to get the hell out of here without having us get caught or anything like that. Since that can really just fuck everything up before we even get a chance to truly do anything of value." Takato said and then he was looking around. As he was saying this, Kazu started to look around and Guilmon was watching in confusion as Kazu thought of what he thought was a funny idea.

"What would Kenta say when he finds out about this? He is going to lose his ever loving mind. He is going to think that we are lying to him and that we are just trying to sound cool." Kazu said and then he laughed at that as if he actually thought that Kenta finding out about this and thinking that they were lying the whole time was actually somehow really funny. But maybe there was something to it that Takato did not get about it, and he was willing to admit that.

"I think maybe we should wait to reveal this to Kenta for a little while. Maybe when this has been here for a couple of weeks, and things have calmed down by a lot, then I think he might be ready to find out about the truth. That is what I think about the subject at the very least." Takato had said and then Kazu was thinking that maybe there was good point there and that if they did reveal this right away, things could go very wrong very fast. But then that was when Takato found something that they could use for Guilmon.

"I think we can perhaps use this box to keep them inside of and make sure that they do not get us in trouble that way." Takato said and then he lifted up the huge and wet box. He hated how wet this box was and that it was going to fuck things up a little bit, but there was nothing that they could really do about it at the time being. He slowly slipped the box onto Guilmon and then he placed his arms on his side and laughed over how much easier that was than he thought that it was going to be.

After Guilmon was now placed inside of the box, the three of them started to walk up the stairs. Takato was really scared that something was going to catch them for what they had been planning to do. This was going to be a very big problem coming up if they were not really careful enough at all. "If Guilmon gets caught, we will get in so much trouble and we will basically be having the police at our doors asking us about the so called alien right away." Takato was saying and he was just so scared of what could possibly happen that he was not really too sure where else to go with that, but he knew that this was just the truth even if it was horrible to admit.

"Well, I think of a place that nobody else will be able to think about looking for. I think that we should head there and give it a try first before we go on to do anything else." Kazu said and then he was looking at Takato as if wondering how long it was going to take for his friend to pick up the context of what was going on now.

"Oh my god, I think I get where you are coming from right now. I don't like it, but I think that maybe you are right. We need to go there." Takato said and deep down he knew he was talking about the cemetery in the town. Kazu was totally right. Nobody would dream of going there and nobody would think for even a second that there was something hiding there. As horrible as it had sounded, it sounded pretty fit at the same time. So with that, Kazu started to lead the way to the cemetery and Takato was just slowly behind just to make sure that Guilmon would not get any crazy ideas.

As Takato and the others were running on their way to the cemetery, Takato saw something glow in his pocket. He grabbed the thing in his pocket and remembered the thing that he totally forgot about by this point in time, and it was the digivice that had come out from the previous day. Takato wondered if that thing was sort of hinting at the fact that Guilmon would come true and this was something to really help him all figure this out at the end. Takato shook his head feeling stupid for the fact that he could not have figured out out sooner.

The three of them were running for a good forty five minutes or so and there were people wondering what the fuck they were doing but they eventually found a building in the cemetery that they thought could be safe. Takato and Kazu were totally sweaty and then they looked around for just for a few seconds it looked as if they were actually alone. So Takato took the box off of Guilmon and then he threw the box down to the ground and then he took a really deep breath. This whole thing was just crazy. Takato felt like he could be on the track team with what he had just done.

The three of them walked inside of that building and looked down at Guilmon. Kazu took his hat and wiped his face with the hate. "Seems as if we are not going to be able to hide this thing in here forever, but this could be a good place to hide them for a few days." Kazu said and then after Kazu said that, Takato agreed and then they sat down for a good few minutes to sort of ponder what the hell was going on now.

"So I guess that digimon are real after all. I don't really know what exactly to feel about that. It just seems too much for me to really comprehend. Maybe in a few days, I will be able to believe this whole thing a little bit more. But right now, this just feels totally insane." Kazu said and then Takato could not help himself but to agree with what Kazu had said there. It was just too much to really try and understand how this could have been happening at all.

"So now that we do know that all of these monsters are real, what are we going to do about that now? I don't really know if there is anything that we can do right now, or if we are just sort of fucked now." Takato said and he was staring at Guilmon and while he was very excited for this whole thing, he knew that he had to be at least something of realistic on this whole time. Takato was closing his eyes a little bit and he was almost heading on his way to sleep. The were well over a hour into the school day now. Might as well just miss it all.

"Well, as long as nobody finds out about this, I think that we will be fine for the time being." Kazu said and he was bringing his arms out and then he yawned decently loudly. He was starting to feel a little bit tired like Takato, and they were both wondering if maybe they should just take a bit of a nap or something like that. Kazu saw that Guilmon was already out and they were probably having no fucking idea what was going on and didn't give a shit whatsoever.

"One thing is for sure, if people find out about this, we will either be the most made fun of people at the school or the most popular people at school. It is going to be one or the other." Kazu said and then Takato laughed thinking about even the mere chance of them being popular. Would have made all of this stress so much more worth it, but at the same time he did think that Kazu was over thinking and giving it a little bit too much credit there. Before they could decide to take a moment to rest or anything, there was something that destroyed all possible plans of hiding them for a little bit longer.

"Hey you two, is that thing a digimon?" A boy about their age, maybe a year older, asked them and Takato looked up to see what was going on. There he saw a guy with blue ish hair or something like that. He had a orange vest on and brown pants. He had something that looked like a green rabbit next to him and Takato was able to piece it together and figure out that this thing was also a digimon as well.

"Yeah, it is. I thought this was the first one here. I guess that maybe I was wrong." Takato said under his breath and he was so excited about being the pioneer to this thing, but that was just not the case anymore. He then was trying to figure out a way that he could have a civil conversation that could get them both what they wanted. He was just worried that this guy would have one as well. "My name is Takato. He's Kazu over there. He found out about this at the exact same time that I did. Was a little too much for either one of us to really comprehend fully."

"Yeah, I don't really blame you. There are a lot of stuff that is going on here. I think that you and your friend should probably not walk around with this thing unless if it is night time. If something catches them, they will go on a town wide search and they will find Terriermon. Let's just agree to work together to make sure that nobody finds out about these." The other guy said and then he held his hands out and said "My name is Henry."

"I can't believe that so many people are skipping school right now. I think that we should be more careful about that as well, to make sure that nobody catches us doing anything right now." Takato said and then after he said that he started to walk his way out of the cemetery. "As much as I don't want to go to school today, I feel like us skipping is going to make things even worse." Takato looked back at Guilmon and told his digimon that he was going to be coming back soon and that they should just stay there.

"I never skip school. I only did it today because I saw what you guys were doing and that box. I knew right then and there that I needed to see what was going on. When I saw the small tail, I knew that a digimon was in there. I am surprised that nobody else was able to figure it out for themselves. I guess that they were just too busy trying to get to their own classes." Henry was saying and Takato wondered how his parents would feel if he skipped one day or if they would care after the so called perfect record so far.

"Yeah, Kazu doesn't go to school like once every other week. Sort of a bi weekly just relaxation day. His parents don't really seem to mind. He usually does it every other friday, so he can get a extra day on his weekend." Takato said and then Kazu laughed thinking that next friday was going to be a day off and that he only would go to school that next week four times. As they walked to school, the three of them slowly introduced each other and started to learn a little bit of their lives. Here is a short summary.

Henry said that he had a younger sister named Suzy and that she was going to be starting kindergarten very soon. Takato always thought it was strange when he heard of such a large age gap between two siblings. It wasn't too incredibly huge, but it still made him think for a moment about what his parents were probably going through in their lives that would make a age gap of something like ten years or something like that be present. Henry then went on to talk about how he had gotten Terriermon for the first time and the bonding they had.

"It was a few years ago. I was walking around town, trying to just enjoy my day off of school and I was also having some thoughts about my house and what was going on. Everything seemed to go very well. But then I saw something that worried me. I saw something that looked like a abused bunny, and I decided that I needed to try and help this bunny out. So I headed on over to the bunny and then grabbed them and after I grabbed them, I was told that I was their hero. they actually were talking to me one on one. This shocked me, but soon made me excited to think that I had a new friend. And that was when I learned about digimon and how they were all real in different ways." Henry explained as Terriermon was wondering if they were going to be given the full story or not.

"We met this very old guy. This guy was very strange and he always talked like he had known what digimon were. I still do not know who he was like and if he was telling the truth or not. But as I think about it, I think that maybe he was directly related to the creation of these beings. Either way, he was a helper in a way that he gave me advice on how to treat Terriermon. I still see him once or twice or year as a way to keep on top of what is going on with him and in reverse." Henry finished explaining and he felt like this was all that the group had really needed to know.

Soon enough, the group made it back to the front entrance of the school. By that point, the day was half way over. Henry turned towards the others and he was excited that he was going to have what he thought was a couple of new friends. "Well, I hope you guys have a great day. Maybe we can hang out later on." Henry said and headed off.

The rest of the school day was pretty normal, just them trying to figure out what to say to people if they asked them what had made them so late, and Henry knew that if his parents found out, they were going to be giving him hell and acting like he had betrayed them or something horrible like that. But then when school was over, both Jeri and Kenta walked up to Takato and Kazu as they were heading out of school to confront them and their strange behavior of that whole day.

"We will not tell on anybody if you don't want us to, but we just want to know what is making you guys so late. We feel like we deserve to know that if we are your friends." Kenta said and then after Kenta had placed it in that matter, Takato thought that it was a little bit fair. He did think that maybe they should know, but at the same time, he thought that they needed to be safe, and not reveal it to everybody. But Henry, Takato, Jeri, Kenta, and Kazu was only five people. That's not too incredibly awful.

"Well, you guys know the digimon card game?" Takato had asked and he was thinking that this was a decently easy way to shot it at first. After he had asked them this question, Jeri and Kenta nodded as if they could not believe that he had actually asked them that question. "Well, it turned out that we may have changed how logic works a little bit and that they may be a little more real than we may have ever made them out to be." Takato explained as Kenta was thinking that Takato was a little bit high when he was saying this.

"I know that it sounds insane and like he is lying to you, but I can confirm that he is telling the truth. I don't really think that he could truly make something like that up if he had wanted to. If you don't really believe us, then we can show you guys the thing." Kazu said and then he felt so dumb when he had said that since he was thinking that any chance of this being a secret was thrown out the window. They knew that people would find out eventually, but even this was a more premature than they had wanted it to be.

"I don't know if we should do this. But you may be right. If the only way for them to believe in us is to actually show them, then we might as well just show them the truth and hopefully they will actually be able to believe in us this whole time." Takato had reluctantly decided and then after he had said this, the four of them started to head to the cemetery.

"I never really understood what you guys were so into the whole digimon thing for. It never really seemed to be my type of game. But you guys seem to really enjoy this, so I think that maybe I will be willing to give it a chance if it really is as good as you guys claim it to be." Jeri said and she was starting to really consider what it would be like to actually play that game, but she was still having a somewhat hard time piecing this together to be honest. Something about this whole thing just seemed to be a little bit too much.

"It was just a decently entertaining game. That is what really got us into it. Nothing else besides that really. I don't really think that you need to play the game if it just is not really your cup of tea here." Takato said and he was sort of letting Kazu lead the way since he was wanting to just have a little bit of a conversation just with Jeri and nobody else to interrupt them.

"Well, I mean it seemed to be something that just requires so much time and effort just to understand how each of the different types of cards and digivolution levels even work. I don't really think that it would be worth all of the time and effort. No offense to you, I just want to tell the truth there." Jeri said as Takato had tried to consider that context. It was a decently good point, but he thought that there were probably things that she was into where he would feel that exact same way over and then they would have some form of debate over this.

"I guess that maybe everybody has that thing that they put way too much time and effort into on the first place. I guess that everybody just does that type of stuff." Takato said and he was wondering if this conversation was already over. He was having a hard time really trying to find some way to bring this forward or not, so he was trying very hard to think of a new conversation point. But it did not really matter what he was planning to do when there was a call that Kazu had made to them that sort of ended the conversation a little bit pre mature.

"Hey you two, we're already at the cemetery." Kazu called out and then after he had said that, Jeri and Takato stopped any hint of a real talk that they were having here, and then the four of them walked right up to the entrance of the cemetery and then they were seeing that Guilmon had indeed behaved for that time being, which made Takato think that there was some hope that Guilmon can stay here with relatively no problem in the long run.

"Oh my god, the thing really is real. You guys weren't making the thing up after all." Kenta said and he just seemed to not really be able to believe what he was seeing more than the fact that he was thinking Takato and Kazu had lied. They walked up to the digimon and Guilmon yawned really loudly and started to walk towards the four of them. Something in that very moment when they saw Guilmon for the first time, the stuff that Jeri had said started to change and they started to think different of the idea of digimon, seeing one in real life.

"'Guilmon is so amazing. I can't believe that digimon are actually real. Is Guilmon the only one out there or are there some others?" Jeri asked as she was walking towards Guilmon and she was trying to start to pet the digimon. This was something that she wanted to do now. Takato was watching and he was scared that Guilmon was going to take this the wrong way and try to attack her or something like that. Takato was also busy trying to come up with a answer to the question that she was asking. There were a few justifiable ways of looking at this she felt.

On one head, he thought that he can just tell her the truth here. But on the other hand, he did not really think that Henry would want them to know about the digimon, so he was thinking that maybe he should try and keep that secret. But then he was thinking about how if Guilmon and Terriermon were real, then there must be some other digimon out there that they just have not met before. "I think that there are some others. We just do not really know about them quite yet." Takato said as he glanced at Kazu and Kazu was able to pick up where he was coming from with this and he decided not to tell the truth about Terriermon and Henry after all.

"I really hope that there are other digimon after all. Guilmon better not be the only one, as that would be pretty sad for Guilmon to be the only one." Jeri said and then after she said that, she walked up to Takato and then she smiled. "Thank you for showing me the truth. I am really excited to see Guilmon and I hope that we can meet some others very soon." Jeri said and then she started to head out away.

"Well, I think that I should be trying to home now. I think that you guys can do whatever you guys want now." Kazu said and then he started to head out on his own. Takato had looked over at Kenta and he was thinking that they can hang out a little bit since it was just the two of them now. Kenta and Takato started to hang out and they were walking onto Kenta's house where they had a conversation of their own.

"I think that the digimon being on earth sounds like it will be awesome until we see that there will be a bunch of negative set backs to it now. I think that we really do need to be careful with the digimon or else we are going to start to really mess things up. Just trust me when I tell you that." Kenta said as Takato was having a strange feeling that maybe his friend was telling the truth. But at the same time he was thinking that maybe Kenta was just being a little bit jealous over this after all.

"Well, even if you are right, I still want to do things with this digimon as I feel like it can truly be a lot of fun to do that. I hope that nothing terrible happens like you may be thinking that they will be happening in that way." Takato told Kenta as he looked around and seeing the city sort of have people coming home from work was still a way to see the people constantly fill the streets up at the day no matter what time that it may be. "I still hope that Guilmon enjoys being on earth, since Guilmon is already making my way of looking at life a lot better than it was just a few hours ago. Now I can't wait until tomorrow to go and hang out with the thing."

"I guess that maybe I shouldn't feel so bad over this. I just have a feeling that we really need to be careful. But it will be fun while it lasts. You need to have fun don't get me wrong and I think that you will be able to make things really work out in the end." Kenta decided and he thought that maybe the debate should be over and he did just need to take it easy.

"Well, in school, do you think that it really is a priority what we do now since in reality we are probably just going to be hanging out with the digimon all the time now. I don't really care about school work right now, so I guess that maybe I can just put that to the side. I just don't want to see how annoyed my parents will get when I tell them that I don't really care all that much about my grades." Takato said and he was getting slowly more rebellious over time now.

"Yeah, maybe this is going to be more exciting than fucking school. To be honest, I am not really all that big of a fan of school. I only try hard in it because I don't want to get in trouble with my parents or anything like that. I just think that my parents will freak the fuck out if I just don't get good grades. But my grades don't really matter anymore, and I am just going to be taking it very easy now." Kenta had said and then after Kenta had said that, Takato was wondering why his parents cared so damn much over simple stuff like grades when grades do not even matter until several years from now anyways and nobody gives a shit about middle school grades.

"So how much more do you really have planned? I know that you are not going to do the personal 50K word project, but I think that we should not really think on that. I think that I will still work on it, but I am pretty sure that you don't really need to do it. It's not like we have anything crazy in our life by this point anyways. I have no imagination and I doubt that I am really going to experience any changes with that any time soon." Takato had said and then he sighed as he was thinking more about school and all of that stuff. He was just also thinking about all of the fun that he was going to have with Guilmon.

"Jeri is actually a really nice girl once I go on and give her a chance." Kenta had said and as he had said that, Takato smiled to hear that Kenta and Kazu were starting to get on board with the idea of Takato actually dating Jeri and stuff like that.

"I think that I really like her. I know that you guys will probably not want me to have a girlfriend first, but here is the way to look at it, somebody is going to have a girlfriend first. Regardless of which one it is, somebody was going to do it first no matter what. So I don't really think it is a matter of which one is more popular, although it seems Kazu will get one first and it is clear he is more popular than us." Takato had said and then after he had said this, Kenta and him reached the front entrance of Kenta's house for them to separate for the night.

"Well, I will be hanging out with you guys tomorrow. Hope you have a great night." Takato had said and then when he had said that, he walked onto his house and as he was doing so, he was thinking about all that had happened that night prior and the stuff that was still going on. He was trying his true best to truly comprehend all of the stuff that he had seen here. If there was really a lot of stuff that he could comprehend on this.

When Takato had come home, he was sitting down on his chair and he was on the verge of heading off right to sleep. Takato's parents were shocked that he didn't even as much as just say high to them. They were wondering if there was something going on that made him mad or if he was just needing to go to sleep soon. "Maybe he just had a hard day at school. Probably a ton of homework, I would not really worry too much about it honestly." Takato's mother had said and she smiled as she turned to her husband.

"Hey, I have been thinking about it a little bit, and I was wondering what it would be like if we went on and had another kid. I know that Takato is thirteen, and that he will not be ready for a younger sister. But I think that soon, Takato will be leaving and it will be sad having a total void in the house now." Takato's father was proposing and as he had said that, his wife stared at him as if he were insane and like he was high as fuck.

"I think that this is a terrible idea. We should be focused on raising Takato to be as good of a man as he can possibly be. However, you are right, there will be a void in the house in six to seven years at the most. I guess that maybe you do have a valid point." Takato's mother said as she walked to the entrance of the store and flipped the sign to 'closed.' Takato's father had a flash back to 14 years ago when she made that exact same movement towards him, and he was getting very excited since he was well aware of what was coming up. That was all that there was to it that Takato was aware of, since he started to not listen and he was hoping that they would fail on this attempt.

Takato just did not want any younger siblings, which was just something that sounded absolutely scary for him to be totally honest. He thought that maybe he could talk about the stuff the the had gone through on his last couple of days. He wrote in that notebook that the teacher gave to the students to start writing in. He spent ten to fifteen minutes on this, and while Takato did not realize it, this stuff was going to be really useful for some people to look at in the future when they started to look at stuff that the group would go through in their journey.

After that, Takato started to get really tired and he was yawning. Then when he was starting to yawn a little bit, he stood up and then he went right to his bed. Then he laid down on his bed and slowly took off his shoes and his socks and put them both on the floor. He closed his eyes and went right to sleep. There was just no real desire to do anything else right at that moment besides just sleep and just enjoy the night now. His parents both noticed how quiet the room was and they thought that he was just asleep now. They didn't really want to argue too much over this.

As that was going on, the guy who was working at the Hypno's building earlier seemed to calm down a little bit. He took out his cigar and he started to take it out. He placed his legs on his table and then he started to smoke the cigar. His worker seemed to calm down a bit since she thought that he was being more of the man that she knew of him as when she had first gotten this job for the first job. "Hey, so what will you do when digimon activity starts to increase here? Is there anything that you really plan to do about it?" The girl asked in a civil way as he turned to her.

"Well, for one thing, I need to find out where they are. I am going to start sending some people out in the city to see where they are, and once I find them, then we can bring them here to get their information on their world so we can start to wipe them out." The guy said and then he turned right back to the window to start watching as he thought about the four people that he sent out in the town to start looking.

When all of this was done being talked about, Impmon sat down on a bench and as they had sat down on the bench, they looked up at the stars in the sky. For the shortest fraction of a moment, they were getting rid of their big man hero idea and just were sort of taking in what they were actually seeing, the true beauty of the sky. The true beauty of what the world was like. Impmon was starting to think that maybe there was a fraction of hope after all, but then when they were starting to think that, something called out to them and this made Impmon get over their calming down state and they started to get into their more sort of badass state.

"You look like you need somebody here to talk with you and entertain you." The thing said and Impmon saw that it was another digimon just staring at Impmon. For a moment, Impmon was super confused, thinking that they were the only digimon here and that this was just wrong and all of that stuff. "What is making you look so scared?" The thing asked and then Impmon jumped down to the ground and they were getting ready to go on a rant.

"I am the only digimon here. There is no reason for you to be here. I don't want to lose even the only thing that can make me even the smallest bit special here. Please remember that I am the big boss here and that none of you are better than me!" Impmon screamed and then they started to run off away from here and the other digimon stared down at the ground a little sad at the outrage.

"My name is Calumon. I didn't even get to learn your name." The digimon said in a voice that made them sound like they were just a little kid. Calumon walked off wondering if they could find somebody that was nicer to them and didn't have such a need to act like they were the most awesome people on the planet. Calumon never understand the need to try and act all aggressive. They just wanted to go around and have some fun and play around.

Takato woke up the next morning and when he woke up, he was rubbing his eyes. He could not really believe that he had slept so much of the night away. He was never really one who liked to sleep, in fact he would never sleep if he could be able to prevent it most of the time. He started to walk around just to see what was going on and what he can do to just sort of relax. But then he remembered that he needed to go to school, so relaxation despite feeling tempting at that moment was just not really possible.

He grabbed his back pack and placed it on his back and slowly put his shoes on. He really did not want to do this, and he just did not really care all that much. Takato walked down the stairs and started to head on to school, just thinking about what he was going to do when he got there and when school was done with and everything. He thought that after school, he could just talk with Guilmon and see what the digimon was up to when he was gone.

When he walked out of his house, he started to look around and he was running to school as fast as possible since he did not want his parents to confront him about the whole Kazu thing since he had not talked with them about that yet and he was going to possibly get in trouble over that whole thing and he was not really quite wanting to get in trouble ever. But then again, maybe they really did not care all that much and that what they had done was not really a big deal. But then when he was reaching the entrance of school, something happened that was a lot bigger of a deal than fucking staying in Kazu's house.

The school day was barely even a day at school at all. What pretty much happened was that the first period was like the normal stuff but then during second period something must have something which had led to the entire school wanting to come out of their school class room to see what was going on. From what Takato had heard, this was basically the story of what had happened and this story had scared the shit out of Takato since he realized that he was basically fucked here.

So it was basically the principal was walking around the hallway on the way to his office when he saw a giant box in the middle of the hallway. Confused on what was going on, he walked up to the box to see if there was anything in there that he needed to bring to the office, such as a missing thing that a student has. He bent down and looked through the one small hole in there to see what was inside to give him a possible idea on what to do with it.

But when he had seen inside of the box, he was even more confused at what the hell he was looking at. He saw a giant red thing in there. Having no idea what the hell this thing was, he thought that maybe it was a person trying to dress up as a dinosaur for some sort of class event coming up or something like that. "Hey, what class are you heading towards right now? Do you need to present something to class that makes you dressed up like that?" He asked and then the thing turned around and the principal was not really confused too much since this was still supporting his possible idea of how this was just a student and maybe the student was just going to tell them the class they are heading towards.

"I need to find Takatomon. He hasn't seen me today." Guilmon said and then the principal was really confused and rightfully so at this comment. So wondering what the hell was going on and thinking maybe this wasn't just a student, they lifted up the box to see what it was. Guilmon waved at them to show their polite nature and happy spirit.

The principal screamed at the top of his lungs, scared that a monster was inside of the school. "'What the hell are you?" The principal yelled and then Guilmon started to run down the hallway to try and find Takato and soon enough, everybody else in the school was hearing a bunch of noises and eventually, they all made it to the hallway where the principal as well as the box was. "There is a monster here? I just saw them?" The principal said when everybody in the school was right there. Most people were thinking he was just joking around, but Takato was thinking that this was Guilmon. He didn't let anybody know what he was doing, so he ran away out of the school to perhaps find Guilmon there.

Soon enough, Takato found Guilmon outside just sort of sitting right in the middle of the school playground. Takato was wondering where they can go to hide Guilmon and all of that stuff. This was going to get them both in some major trouble soon enough if they didn't find some sort of spot to hide in the next couple of seconds.

"How were you able to get a digimon at all when you can barely be able to wander around without getting in trouble?" There was a voice that asked Takato a question and then Takato turned around to see who this person was. He was really worried that this was going to change how everything was going to work in his life from then on forward. He saw that the girl had red hair and she was wearing a shirt that had a giant fucking blue heart on it. There were also some dark blue pants that she was wearing, and then Takato was wondering what the hell he was going to do to get himself out of this.

"This is just a cosplayer." Takato felt like he had come up with that word on the spot. He didn't even know if that was a real world. He saw the girl sigh in annoyance as if thinking that Takato really needed a better cover if he was thinking that he was actually get away with this whole thing. if he can actually be able to get away with this whole thing at all.

"If you wanted to lie to me, you needed to know what the situation was. Guess what, I know what a digimon is. I actually have one with me right now." The girl said and then he snapped her finger. As she had snapped her finger, there was a yellow fucking fox thing that started to fade in. Takato saw as the thing was starting to walk towards Guilmon and then when this was going on, Guilmon was waving their hands around. Takato was trying to bring their hands down since Takato knew that this girl had no intent on ever being friends with Takato and Guilmon.

"You have a very important thing that I need. I need you to let me destroy your digimon so that way the data can start coming to me and I can use it." The girl said and then Takato shook his head as if thinking that this girl was insane. He was starting to ball his fists. The girl was laughing and then she said "You would not dare to hit me. You're a fucking coward." That was when Takato had enough. He walked up to the girl and then he punched her right in the face as hard as he could have been able to do it. She put her hand on her face and once she moved her hand away, she saw that it was extremely bloody. Takato actually broke her nose.

"RENAMON, KILL HIS FUCKING DIGIMON NOW!" The girl said and then Renamon walked up to Takato before Guilmon. Renamon kicked Takato right in the nuts and then Takato fell down to the ground with his knees on the ground and Takato looked up at Renamon. That was when Takato realized what people were meaning when they had said don't hit a girl, but honestly this chick deserved it.

"You don't ever do that with my master Rika." Renamon said and then they walked to Guilmon and then Guilmon held their hands up and started to wave their hands around as if trying to block Renamon and then Renamon kicked Guilmon onto the ground. Guilmon started to slide across the ground a little bit and then Renamon was now the only one who was not at least a little bit. Rika turned around and stared at Takato as if wondering how he was able to have the courage to not only hit a girl, but do it so hard that it actually caused her to break her fucking nose.

"You have some guts, I will give you that. I am going to fucking kill you next time we meet." Rika said and then Takato stood up and rolled his eyes. Takato started to walk up to Guilmon to see what he was going to be in order to save Guilmon. When Renamon was about to hit Guilmon again, Takato stood up in front of Renamon and then Renamon was wondering if one hit was enough or if they needed to try and give Todd some extra bit of discipline.

"I'm stronger than Rika. If she wanted to fight me, I will defend myself and prove that I can take her down again. But you have a better choice. You don't need to fall under my problems again." Takato said and then Renamon started to walk around Takato as if not wanting to even bother wasting their time with him. But then when Renamon was raising their arm up a little bit, they were getting ready to do some form of killing, but before they could deliver any form of final blow, Henry yelled out loud and as a result was able to save the day.

"Hey, you guys need to stop fucking fighting right the fuck now!" Henry yelled and then Terriermon was wondering why Henry had sworn right there. "I don't want you to swear Terriermon, unless if you are really angry. And I am really angry right now." Henry started to walk again and then as they were walking down the hill, Renamon and Guilmon stopped their fighting and it felt like Takato was not really hurting in his ball sack anymore. Rika was still having her hand covering his broken and bloody nose.

"Renamon, let's get the fuck out of here. We are done here. I need to now deal with moms reaction to that blue shirt boy not being able to keep his urges to himself." Rika said and she started to run on her way home and then Renamon faded away as if to get the fuck away from the place. Takato stood up and looked right at Henry and he was wondering what Henry knew about this whole thing. Henry stared at Takato and then he was smiling when he saw that Takato actually had the balls to do what he had done.

"Well, I think we need to bring Guilmon back to the cemetery. This is a little bit over kill. I am really sorry that you guys had to deal with this at all. I knew who she was, but I guess that she didn't want to leave a new tamer alone even though you just barely got this digimon at all." Henry said and then the two humans as well as the two digimon started to head down the cemetery once again. Takato was really letting this whole thing settle into his mind since it was all one big event that even he was never going to be prepared for at all.

"I just don't really think Rika knows what it is like to see digimon get in pain and suffer. I had a feeling that if Renamon and Guilmon fight each other, they would make each other hurt and I don't want to see Guilmon hurt when I had barely met them." Takato said and he knew that Guilmon just had no idea how to fight and that if they fought Guilmon would die and then Takato really did not want to deal with them dying on the second day that they had each other. It just seemed like a bit of a over kill situation and all of that stuff.

"Well, you should probably start to train Guilmon in case you do need to fight. I hate fighting and I think that you need to be careful about it. However, I do think that fighting can be used as a sort of last resort type of idea." Henry had said and then Takato thought that while Henry should not have been right and that fighting would have been awful, that Henry was trying right and that they did need to get ready in case if there was a need to fight.

"Fighting just seems like something that Guilmon would not really be ready to do at all." Takato said and then Guilmon looked at Takato with some really happy and innocent eyes. Takato knew that this was something that they had never wanted Guilmon to lose that touch and that happy face since if they did then Takato would never really been able think that Guilmon was the same as the digimon that Takato had met that one day. Henry seemed to notice that look on Takato's face and they were wondering if perhaps Takato needed to just not worry about the future.

"The cemetery is going to be a good spot for hiding Guilmon still. Probably for just another couple days, and then I have a feeling that maybe Rika will be able to catch Guilmon and that is when things will start to get a little bit over kill." Henry said as he was rubbing his chin and then as they were having this conversation, there was that one building with the Hypno's worker staring outside. As he was staring, he was wondering how the search was going to go at all but then he would get his answer semi soon enough.

"We found a digimon outside. We have brought them inside here, and we are wondering what we are going to with this digimon?" The worker said as they walked a couple of steps to the side. As they took a couple of steps to the side, that was when the guy looked down at Impmon right there standing as if they were actually scared that they were going to get really hurt. Impmon never really thought that they would get scared of anything, but this was the fucking exception now.

"The digimon seems kind of weak. I doubt that you can really see them being able to do something at all. I guess that maybe they will not really be good for anything outside of research." The guy said and then he placed his glasses down on his table as he held Impmon's face really roughing. Impmon was starting to feel a tiny bit of pain. Impmon started to move their mouth around a little bit and then after a couple of seconds when this guy was wondering what the hell was going on, Impmon took a giant loogie on him.

"What the fuck?!" The master said and then Impmon started to run down the stairs and they were trying to get out of Hypnos. As they were running down the stairs, the workers stopped and stared at him just wondering what the hell was going on. Impmon flicked their fingers a little bit and then started to shot the fire around, which made the workers worry about getting the fire out more than they were worried about Impmon escaping. Impmon was able to get outside after a few seconds, and then they started to run as far away from Hypno's as possible before that strange guy could do anything.

"I have gotten too far into my head to do anything that actually makes any fucking sense. I need to take things easy if I need to have any chance of surviving in this rough world." Impmon had said and then when Impmon had said this, that was when Impmon covered their face and then this showed one of the first moments of weakness on Impmon's part, and they had hated showing any sign of weakness, but they could not really be able to hide it on this rare case.

As Impmon was going through a moment of going through a short term crisis in their lives, that was when Henry and Takato were sitting down near a pond. "So Takato, what do you think of Rika? She seems like she could be a nice girl once you get to know her. But if you don't know her, then we already know how badly that can turn out. I guess that we should try and get to know her better. I think it would be pretty good if we get a team of digimon users together that can actually fight the monsters that are going to come here." Henry said and then Takato wondered if there was going to be a monster battle here.

"I think you might be over thinking it if you truly believe that there is going to be some big battle coming up. I doubt that there will be anything going on anytime soon that we have to worry too much about. Maybe that is me just thinking too highly of the situation. I think that the only battle that I am going to have to deal with any time soon is possibly a battle between Guilmon and Reanamon." Takato said and then Terriermon stared at Takato and Henry was sort of pondering what was going on and he was wondering if perhaps he should tell Takato what was going on, or if he should let Takato think like this for the time being.

"I was hearing something last night. I heard my dad talking last night. To some guy named like Yamaki or something. They were talking about the return of digimon or something like that. I kept Terriermon inside of my room the whole time and I was trying to keep them quiet as the guy was telling my dad how there are a bunch of digimon wandering around the town and how they needed to all be killed off. I saw that the guy had a bunch of blond hair and he was having some sort of glasses or something like that. I think that he is the runner of that Hypnos company that was recently built. I don't really think that he and us are going to get along too well." Henry said and then when he had said this, Takato stopped and then thought about what Henry had said. As terrible as it had seemed, it sounded like there could actually be a level of truth.

"If there is a battle that is going to be coming up soon, we need to do everything we possibly can to make sure that he doesn't kill all the digimon. Maybe we do need to team up with Rika after all." Takato had said and then when he said this he rolled his eyes as if he could not really fathom the fact that he had just said this.

"It seems as if you are finally starting to understand where I am coming from here. I don't want to do this, but I need to be realistic here. I think though that we need to meet this Yamaki guy first before anything else, see if he does actually have some plans like this or not." Henry said and then he was looking thousands of yards away. "How about tomorrow or sometime very soon, we go out there and perhaps see what can happen if we learn some stuff here." Henry said and then that was when he was starting to walk on home with Terriermon.

Takato watched as Henry started to head off home. Takato stared out into the distance and he was wondering just what it would be like if he did go to the Hypnos building to try and take that guy down. he was wondering if he should do this alone or with some help after all.

Soon enough, Takato started to head off home. As he was heading on home, he was getting all of these ideas in his mind about what was going on in case something like this did happen. He was just sort of figuring that he was going to have to train Guilmon very soon if he did not want to make Guilmon go through all of this, there was some stuff that he needed to do soon and there was just not enough time to fuck around. But maybe he could do a week or two or playing around before they got to serious business.

As this was going on, Kazu was sitting in the house. There was nobody else in the house at the time. He thought that this was a good time for him to go around the house and do some stuff that he knew if his parents had found out about, they would be pissed and ground him for the rest of his life. He was going to get into their stash and there was nothing that they can really do about it.

He walked to his parents cabinet. This was where they had kept their alcohol. The prohibition rule had been recently lifted and when it had been lifted, his parents bought alcohol in large droves. Kazu grabbed the bottle that was right there and then he took a glass out. He filled up the glass half way full and then he chugged the drink down. It tasted so good to do so and he felt like if people knew, everybody would think that this was the best thing ever and he would rise to fame legend among his class.

After he had drank a half cup, he walked to his parents bedroom and then he found something that he was also excited to take. He found his parents thing of cigarettes. He grabbed one of them and then he took the lighter and then he lit up the cigarette. After he started to smoke it, he took a deep breath in relief and this was when he was getting ready to hang out with Peggy and perhaps see if maybe he could get more of a thing going. He walked out of the house after putting everything away and then he didn't even tell his parents in a not or anything what he was doing. He really didn't care if there was going to be any trouble that he would get into over this whole thing. It really did not matter anymore what they thought about his personal life now.

It took about half an hour for him to walk to Peggy's house and that was him just taking the side walks that always had the least people walking on them. As he was walking, he saw a bunch of bright blue lights and he was seeing that one building, the Hypnos one, started to glow a very bright blue and when he had seen this, Kazu took a moment to stop what he was doing and stare at the building. He was tempted to go there, but he didn't do it since Peggy was more important.

When he had eventually reached the front entrance of Peggy's house, he knocked on her door and he had hoped that she did not smell the alcohol or the cigarette on him. Peggy hated him smoking and all that stuff and he knew that if she had found out, that would break the relationship instantly. When they hung out earlier that day, she found out about his habit and she told him if he didn't stop, they would end it off there but then Kazu lied about him stopping and he hoped she did not notice.

Peggy answered the door and she saw Kazu right there. "Hey, I was starting to think you would not show up at all today. That is awesome. We should go to the bridge. The bridge is one of the best places to go to when you go on a date. That is what everybody tells me. They say that the sight is great." Peggy told Kazu and then Kazu nodded in approval and then they started to head on towards the bridge.

At the same god time fucking time, there was Kenta hanging out in the living room of his house. He was just reading, not having a clue what his other friends were up to or the fact that Kazu was once again getting as high as a kite. "Hey Kenta, have you turned in your school work today?" His mother said and then Kenta felt so stupid when he did not and he was feeling so guilty over the fact that he had forgotten over this.

"Oh sorry mom, I totally forgot." Kenta said and then his mother said that it was no big deal. He did not forget very often and when it did happen, Kenta was indeed telling the truth. His mother said that as long as it did not happen over and over again, then it was not going to really be all that big of a deal. Kenta went to working on his stuff again, with the exception of that whole fifty thousand word bullshit that really made no sense. He was not going to do that no matter what people said and no matter if he was going to get an F on that whole thing. It was fucking dumb and he was protesting that thing.

Once Kenta was done with his reading, he walked outside and he was just staring at the night sky. There was something nice about staring at the sky, and for that brief moment he was thinking about what it would be like if there was another world that humans would be able to go to. If he could go to a different world, then the whole thing about what would happen would change. Kenta hoped that he could live long enough to see this as it would revolutionize the world and how it was industrialized.

As Kenta was sort of thinking about the world outside, Jeri was just sitting down on the front entrance to her house. As she was doing this, there was a bit of rain that was coming down. She did not give a shit about the rain that was going down, it always seem to happen when she was sad. "How could I have been so wrong about the idea of digimon existing? They really are something special. I felt this way when my father got married again. I thought that I would never love them and that he had betrayed me. I feel like I am wrong for ever feeling that way." Jeri thought out loud.

"My father had every right to marry again and when they had a second child I was bitter. I didn't really think that he was deserving to live. And then I got to see him, and seeing him alive for the first time ever was truly something special. I will never feel that way again, I will never feel like he doesn't belong. Is that how a digimon will be with me? Will I ever get a digimon?" As Jeri was doing this, there was a loud noise from the inside and she knew her parents wanted her inside now.

The worst one off that night was indeed Rika. She was sitting on her bed staring at her ceiling. "I feel like I will never get anybody to like me. Renamon doesn't do what I want them to do, and they have failed me over and over again. I wish that they would be more aggressive." Rika said and then she stood up and walked to her outside window. She wondered how her mother would feel when she saw this. Her grandmother was sad but not angry, she felt her mother would just be pure angry.

"Renamon, please talk with me for a bit. I want you to be honest with me here. Do you think that I need to go out there and get some more friends or do you think that I am fine now?" Rika asked and then there was moment of silence. She had no idea why she was asking Renamon this silly and stupid question, considering how little she had talked with Renamon in the first place. But for once, she did think that maybe there was something that the digimon could let her know on. Something that could maybe change her way of looking at life after all.

"Yes Rika, I do feel as if you need to go out and find some friends once again. Maybe when you make some new friends, then you can actually start to change the way that you are looking at life and everything. I know that you have basically no social life at all and you don't see any fault for what you have done, but I think that you need to change this as soon as possible, and that you seriously need to go out there and try to change how things are and everything." Renamon had said and then when Renamon told Rika that, this was when Rika stopped what she was thinking to consider what Renamon had just said now.

"Renamon, I just don't really know how to make any friends. I doubt that these guys will ever want to talk to me. I left a super bad first impression on them and I really don't blame them for basically wanting nothing to do with me at all. I really sort of shot myself in the foot when I did that stuff yesterday. Maybe I should at the very least try and talk with them. Depends on what they would be willing to do if they see me again." Rika sighed and then she was thinking about what things would be like if she did start to change her life style, if she could at all.

"Well, you seem like you will be needing some sleep soon. I will come to you tomorrow." Renamon finishes the very short conversation and then they vanished once again. Then Rika went to her bed once again and then she closed her eyes. She didn't want to deal with her mother that night, so she was just going to go to sleep and act as if this had never happened before.


	24. Gargomon's Fighting Debut

Chapter 23: Gargomon's Fighting Debut

The next day, the controversy had basically all but died away. It was like nothing really even mattered anymore and that there was nothing really to worry about with Rika or anything. Takato got right up from bed feeling more awake than he ever had in a very long time. He placed his back pack one and everything and then he started to walk out of the bedroom. He was ready for another day of hanging out with Guilmon and just having fun. He knew that the entire thing was not really going to be all that big of a deal with Rika. He was probably never even going to see Rika again, that was what he had thought about earlier.

Once Takato had reached school, he was watching Kazu sitting down on the ground in the play ground. Takato wondered what the hell was going on, and he walked forward to Kazu to see what he was looking at, and if this was even worth looking at and everything. Takato just sat down and saw that Kazu was looking at a bunch of cards. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was a bunch of digimon cards.

"What are you looking at the card over? Are you still wanting to play the game?" Takato asked and then Kazu looked up totally not even paying attention to the fact that Takato was there. Kazu then placed all the cards together as if trying to pretend that nobody had ever seen that. "What is the problem? I mean I get that you are a little sad over the fact that you are not getting a digimon of you own or anything like that, but you don't need to become some form of recluse or anything like that." Takato didn't even know if he was correct in guessing what Kazu was thinking though.

"Takato, I mean think about it. You have your own digimon. I can't believe that I am actually saying that at all. I just wish that I had one of my own. I am wondering what made it so that you got to earn one unlike me or Kenta. I mean, I thought that I was the best player at the game. I guess that the way that I play the game does not really matter at all anymore." Kazu said and then he stared at Takato and Takato held out his hand as Kazu was looking up trying to get the context of this moment.

"Well think of it this way. When you get a digimon of your own, you will be one of the best tamers in the world. Trust me, your digimon will destroy Guilmon, and there is nothing that you will ever have to worry about." Takato told Kazu and his friend seemed to consider this, thinking that Takato was just trying to make him feel better. Just then the class bell rang and then Takato and the two of them had to go to class.

The day at school was not really all that interesting at all. In fact, it was just pretty boring. The only thing that was even a little bit interesting was when Takato walked outside of school on the final class period being over. What he had seen was something that he was not expecting. Like he was used to Renamon and Guilmon and Terriermon, but this was something that confused him. He saw Calumon staring right at him. Takato realized that there was still more digimon here. He saw that nobody else was looking, so he held out his hand and then Calumon jumped onto his hand. "What are you my little friend?"

"We're friends?" Calumon asked and then when Calumon asked that Takato sort of felt like he brought himself to the corner with that but Takato replied that they were indeed friends. "I never had any friends before. I thought that Impmon would sort of be the indicator of what everybody wanted to do when they were around me. I guess that Impmon is just the old angry man of the block." Calumon started to get excited and then Takato decided to just Calumon think that they were the best of the friends.

"I am going to show you to a digimon that I think you would like." Takato had said and then when Takato said that, Calumon started to get really excited, thinking that they were going to make even more friends then before. As Takato started to walk to the cemetery, Calumon was asking a bunch of questions that were honestly starting to annoy Takato a little bit, but he was not going to admit that publicly since he knew that this would make Calumon get in a really bad mood and then they would just act like Takato was some traitor or something like that.

When Takato and Calumon had reached the front entrance of the cemetery, Takato was staring at the door and he was wondering what Guilmon was doing. He was going to pretend that Guilmon was being a good digimon and that they were not doing anything terrible and that he was going to see a very nicely behaved digimon. "Hope that you have a good impression of Guilmon. They are just as silly, if not even more silly than you are. I think that you guys have a pretty similar personality and everything." Takato told Calumon as he opened the door of the cemetery.

Guilmon was just digging something that looked like a hole. Takato already forgot if Guilmon had done that earlier or not, but seeing this hole was scaring the shit out of Takato. He could not believe the stuff that the digimon was doing. They were being horribly behaved and they were not going to have the cemetery forever, so when the digimon and everything are done, then Guilmon will have made a really huge hole that Takato was going to have to fix and everything. Takato placed Calumon on the ground as Takato stood up and considered this problem but enjoying the excitement of the digimon.

"Takato wanted me to see you Guilmon. My name is Calumon. I'm excited to see you. I want to be your friend!" Calumon said and started to hug Guilmon as Guilmon started to wonder what the hell was going on. They had nothing against hugging, but this was in the first couple of seconds of knowing the digimon. It did feel a little out of nowhere. Takato placed his hands on the back of his head and he smiled thinking about just how fun the adventure was going to be in the future, once the digimon started to calm down a bit and everything.

"Hey Calumon, it is so nice to meet you, but can you take things a little slowly first?" Guilmon said and then Calumon jumped off of the hug. Guilmon stared at Takato as if wondering if that was what it was like when there was actually a little bit too much affection going on for a moment between two people or two digimon. Takato waved his hands around as if not really worried too much about this so far and that Guilmon should take it easy.

"Well, I met this digimon right after school and I was kind of shocked to see them here. I thought that you guys would like each other a bit. So I decided to lead Calumon on over to you." Takato explained and then he turned around to sort of see if there was something coming on at that moment. He thought that he saw somebody that was going to ruin the entire cemetery idea. Takato hid to the side of the wall hoping that nobody had seen him trying to go on to the side and hide.

He had seen a bunch of guys walking around and one of them was holding something that looked like a radiation helmet and he was holding a scanner. There was the blonde hair guy standing there, and Takato was wondering what his problem was. "The digimon are probably here. The scanner is acting up right now. I bet that they are going to be found very soon." The blonde hair dude said and then Takato thought that perhaps he needed to get the digimon out of here or maybe Takato could just distract them a bit.

Thinking that there was no way to get the digimon to hide, he thought that maybe he could just distract the blonde hair guy as well as the guy with the radiation helmet and when after a minute or two of distracting them and all of that stuff, then perhaps the people just would forget about all of this stuff and then they would just head on home again. So Takato started to run down the stairs as fast as he could and he was was seeing that the guy men were stopping what they were doing, so they looked at Takato to see what was going on with Takato to make him run down so quickly.

"Hey, I heard you guys. I thought that I was the only person here right now. To be honest I thought that nobody would actually be interested in coming here." Takato said and he was telling the truth when he had said this, and then the blonde hair guy was staring at Takato. "So your name is Yamaki? I never heard a name like that before." Takato was just letting the words come out of his mouth and he figured out the whole Yamaki thing when he saw something that looked like a name tag on his shirt. Then the guy with the radiation helmet was lowering his hands.

"Yes that is my name. I wonder why a child is even here right now. You seem to have no business being up in a cemetery. I bet that it is really none of my business what you are doing here, but it is still quite strange. I don't really know if I should believe that you are not getting in trouble." Yamaki lowed himself to look directly at the eyes of Takato and Takato was actually starting to get scared when he saw that. He even gulped a little bit. "I wondered how your parents would feel if they learned about you being here, doing stuff that they probably would not approve of. I don't know what your business is, but don't get in the way of it. You stay out of my business, and I will stay out of your business. Is that far?" Yamaki held his hand out to have Takato shake it.

Takato considered it and then he decided to shake Yamaki's hand. Then he headed off hoping it would be in the way that Takato assumed it would be.

As Takato was getting further and further away from the cemetery, the more that Takato was starting to calm down and the more that he was starting to think that honestly, the more that he was taking things a little bit easy and that he thought Guilmon was smart enough not to talk to Yamaki or some guy with a fucking radiation mask and stuff. But all of that was thrown off to the side when he seen Kazu, Kenta, and a couple of Jeri's friends along with Jeri hanging out outside school at the school yard. Takato thought that maybe he could see what they were doing and if he could hang out with them for a bit.

"Hey, I was heading on home, and then I found you guys. What are you doing right now?" Takato asked and then he walked over to Kazu. Kazu was just sitting down on something that looked like a bench. But it wasn't really a bench. In fact it was actually closer to something like a tree bench. Kazu seemed to get excited when he saw Takato, and he thought that maybe Takato could help him out here.

"We were just talking about school and stuff. Not really about classes or anything like that. Fuck that I don't want to talk about that stupid stuff ever again for as long as I don't have to. However, we were actually talking about what we were going to want to do after school. I was telling them that I wanted to become a famous actor. I really like Kirk Douglas, and I think that he is a great person to be like when I grow up." Kazu said, not knowing at the time that Kirk Douglas would live to over a hundred years old, and would still not show any sign of dying.

"I was telling them that I wanted to become the first ever female president of the united states. Every time I tell my parents that, they seem to act like they support my goals and seeing them that way gets me excited that I could actually be able to pull this off. I want to be the first female president badly." Jeri said as Takato thought that if there was anybody that could even have a small chance of doing that, it would be her. Despite being something that would never even come close to happen.

"I want to become a billionaire. I think that if I become a billionaire, then I will be one of the most famous people in the world. I think that if I became a billionaire, people would want to come around and talk to me every single day. I would love to be famous." Kenta gave his super far out there idea of what he wanted to be like, but everybody knew, even Kenta, that this would never happen. Takato thought about what he wanted besides just getting the fuck out of the city. Hell he didn't even know if he had wanted that.

"I don't really know what I want to do when I grow up. I don't even think I will be growing up to be totally honest." Takato said and he indirectly gave some fore shadowing of what the future was going to be like. Jeri's friends talked about girly stuff that they wanted when they grew up, such as a fashion model and all of that shit. Little did Takato and the rest of his friends know that only one of them was going to even make it out of the adventure in the first place, which was really sad to even consider.

"I wish we were out of middle school so bad. I don't even want to be in middle school the first place. That is the only thing that I am truly looking forward to in life. Besides, I have done nothing that I think people will be too impressed by. So I am not going to do something if I knew that there was nothing that I can be able to brag about it and all of that stuff. I want to just find something that could even give me a tiny thing to brag about over just acting like I have a big future ahead of me when I really don't." Takato finished and he saw that the sun was getting a little bit dark.

"As much as I hate to do this, I need to go home now." Kenta said and that was when Takato decided that he should head home. So Kenta and Takato stood up and started to head on home. As they were heading on home, Kenta was wondering what casual conversation that they can have in like the course of two minutes.

"I guess we all have goals that we know that we will never get. I guess that the only one that might have a slight chance of happening is Kazu, since a actor really is not really all that far fetched of a idea. However, I guess that all of us have a pretty crazy idea after all." Kenta said thinking and knowing that there was no way in hell that they were going to win their dreams and desires. Even if they wanted to, there was no way that this could happen, with what would happen in the future.

Kenta headed on home and when he was at the front entrance of his house, he waved goodbye at Takato, and Takato started to head on home. But before he could make any real progress on going home, there was Henry that he saw and when he had seen Henry, he thought that he could go on and talk to his friend for a little bit. If his parents wondered what he was doing so late at night, then perhaps he can just say that he was just hanging out with friends and lost track of time. Honestly that would not even be a lie. He did not know how his parents would feel about this, but it was not a lie at all.

"I was wondering if you wanted to just hang out for a bit. I was walking around, and then Terriermon mentioned you and Guilmon. Kind of bored, I decided to see if you were able to hang out for a bit." Henry said and then when Henry had said this, Takato accepted the offer and he was so glad that he was able to actually go out and just enjoy his time of having a good time with his friends and nothing else at all. So Takato and Henry started to back to the cemetery and the entire time that he was doing so, he was sort of remembering the whole Yamaki incident from a little bit earlier.

"Do you know of this guy name Yamaki? I saw him earlier and I had seeing him, he was sort of looking for a bunch of digimon. I was scared and I just talked with him. He was indirectly making a calm threat to me, saying that he will leave me alone if and only if I leave him alone. I don't think that I should not leave him alone though, since I think that he will be responsible for the death of our digimon. I know that this is just me going to the worst idea possible, but at the same time, I am just trying to be a little bit realistic about this whole thing." Takato had said and then when he had said this, Henry thought about it and all of that stuff, and he was just not really giving a shit honestly. "I think that Guilmon will not care about Yamaki and all of that stuff."

"Honestly, none of this is really all that big of a deal. I am not really worried about a guy who has probably never met a digimon in his entire life. I think that this guy will have a big idea of what to do in his life, and that he can take down all of these digimon, but then nothing will actually happen. I think that eventually, he will just be a man that will have given us a very small amount of trouble and nothing else in his time here." Henry said and then Takato thought about that a bit, thinking Henry to be most likely right.

"I doubt that. I just have a really bad feeling about this whole thing. Please, at least consider what I am saying. I will try my best to take things casually and stuff, but I really need to be careful." Takato told Henry as Henry nodded and decided that he was going to take things calmly just for the sake of Henry. This entire time, Terriermon was just listening to them, sort of letting the two guys debate over what is honestly the most trivial thing on the planet. The walk to the cemetery took about half an hour or so and the entire time, they talked about Henry's goal to become the first person to make a one hundred foot television. Takato thought that this was impossible, but at the same time, it sounded interesting at the same time.

Once at the cemetery however, Takato slammed the door that Guilmon and Calumon were originally hiding, in fear that Yamaki had found this place and that he was going to use the digimon in some way. Calumon was nowhere to be seen, but Guilmon was. Takato assumed that maybe Calumon just headed on home and did nothing too bad. Takato sighed when he saw that Guilmon was still there, doing nothing to cause too big of a problem.

"Takatom what is worrying you so badly?" Guilmon asked and then Takato forgot about all of this honestly. He then got to his knees and sighed in relief.

Don't worry about it Guilmon. I made a misconception. I would really not worry about it too much honestly. Just remain the way that you are. If you can do that, I will be very happy." Takato said and then when he had said that, Guilmon just nodded as if nothing happened.

"Takatomon, I was never worried. You were the one that was worried. Just relax." Guilmon said and then when Guilmon had said that, Terriermon was glad that Guilmon had a lot of the same thought that they had earlier. Takato was just nodding trying his best to act the way that Guilmon was telling him to do so. Then with that, the entire group was heading onto the town bridge, thinking nothing of it at all.

When Takato and Henry was at the bridge for a little while, they seemed to be thinking about all of this stuff. This whole thing felt like it was just going at mach speed and there was nothing that they could even try and do about it. "So what did you think things would be like if you actually had a digimon or anything like that?" Henry questioned, thinking about what Takato was going to say to him. Takato never even considered how easy or hard having a digimon was actually going to be like, and he thought that none of this really mattered all that much.

"I thought that having a digimon was not really going to be all that big of a deal. I thought that things were going to be all happy and civil and stuff like that. I am not really too sure what a digimon would be like in my life, but I never thought that other people would have one or a bunch of fights that I was forced to have and all that. I thought that these battles were something that could never even possibly happen. But it is more exciting than nothing at all." Takato answered and Henry remained silent to that response.

"I think that there is a lot of things that you need to work on to get Guilmon to behave better. I think that Guilmon causing problems is the biggest thing that is a problem with your time so far. Rika will probably start to leave you alone after all of the stuff that had happened yesterday, and I doubt that they will want to even try and get into a fight with you. They know that you will not take her lightly." Henry told Takato as Takato considered this. Before Takato could even dream of this, there was a calling out behind them that made both of them stop what they were in the middle of saying or thinking.

Rika was standing there and then when they had seen her, Takato raised his digivice up and he was getting ready for a fight with Renamon. "That is how you want to play with me?"' Rika asked and she seemed more excited about this and then Takato looked at Henry and Henry was wondering how this was actually going to work out. Guilmon stared up at Takato and hoped that this would just be a short couple of minute duel and nothing too bad.

"I was thinking that maybe I can get to know you better. But since you are just doing this already, I guess that this idea is thrown out the window now. Renamon, take down these two. they want to play rough, and I am more than willing to play rough with them." Rika decided and then she pressed a button on her digivice and then Renamon started to run towards the two humans and their two digimon partners. Henry was hoping that this was not really going to turn into a real battle, but he knew that this was just simply not really going to be how it would go down.

Terriermon jumped right in front of Henry and Takato. Henry did not want Terriermon to fight and he was hoping that Terriermon would change their mind about this but he knew that it was just simply not possible when Terriermon jumped right onto Renamon and this was just making the digimon land on the ground and utterly confused over the strong power of such a small bunny. Rika looked down at the two digimon when they were playing rough and Rika was wondering why the hell the digimon was able to put up such a strong fight as a tiny bunny.

Renamon then grabbed Terriermon and then threw them onto the ground. Terrimeron was just staring at Renamon and then they spit on the digimon, which had made Renamon feel really gross and then Renamon stomped on Terriermon. It was making Henry even more pissed about this and he was wondering why the hell Rika was so demented in the first place and why Renamon wanted to get into all of these fights in the first place. Takato then picked up a rock. He stared at the rock and then threw it right at Rika and it hit her in the face. This was the second day in a row that he had used physical force to hurt Rika and he was starting to feel bad for hurting her so much but at the same time he felt like it was absolutely needed to make Rika get the big picture.

Once Rika screamed in pain, Rika placed her hand on her face and she was giving Takato a look of death, thinking that Takato had a really big problem with hurting girls. Renamon stopped what they were doing and then they walked on to Rika to see what the problem really was with her mentor.

Terriermon stood up and then Henry was just holding onto his digivice, wondering what exactly the digimon was really wanting from them. Henry was slowly starting to put his digivice away and he was hoping that Terriermon would not do anything that would be too unsafe and that could really cause any major problems. But as soon as he was starting to think this, there was a moment that changed everything.

Terriermon started to glow and as they were glowing, Henry realized that this digimon was actually digivolving and they were becoming the next form of their digital evolution line. Soon enough, Terriermon was now what their next form was and the digimon had a bunch of gun holsters and a few pieces of ammo and it looked like they had blue baggy pants. "GARGOMON!" The digimon announced their next form and then Henry was hoping that Garomon was not really going to do something that would make the whole encounter even worse. Gargomon then aimed the gun hand right at Renamon and Renamon actually got scared.

Gargomon started to fire their gun a ton and then Renamon was able to block the blows a few times but instead Gargomon started to fire at the ground and create a few holes and brought down the light poll. Takato screamed at Gargomon to stop and he was wondering what Henry can do about this now. Rika was placing her arms in front of her eyes as if trying to avoid the horror of watching the entire town around her break down. Takato stood next to Guilmon and he was hoping that Guilmon was just going to stay there and not cause any trouble at all.

Renamon was on the bridge rail and then Renamon jumped at Gargomon once again and then Gargomon fell down to the ground and fired like twenty bullets in the fire and they all landed on the ground at random spots which created miniature holes on the ground. Gargomon was punched in the face a couple of times and despite the entire situation, Takato could not help but find that to be a little bit amusing to witness. Once Gargomon was knocked out Rika ran away with Renamon and then when they were a few feet away Rika yelled at them. "You guys better get your shit together! You guys are totally insane and it is a miracle that you guys even have friends at all."

Rika then was gone and then Henry got on his knees, unable to believe the damage that Gargompn had caused and he turned at Takato to see the terror that was on his face. "Rika is right, we should not even have friends when we just cause trouble all the time." Henry said and then Takato remained quiet thinking that there needed to be something that can get the three of them to not fight. He was just trying to think of a way to bring Rika in as a friend to them but after hurting her very badly two days in a row, Takato doubted that she was willing to give him a chance.

"I just need to really understand where we are heading down in this pathway. Rika has just some very bad personal issues and I doubt that she will be able to get along with us after all of these problems that have been set up so far." Takato started to walk away and he was just very tired of all of this as Henry was wondering where the hell Takato was actually heading.

"Are you heading home? We just started to hang out. Don't you want to hang for a little bit longer?" Henry asked and then Takato held up his hands and looked at Henry as if he could not believe that Henry was actually asking him this question right now. He had no idea how Henry was even able to act like there was no good reason to head out when there was all of this stupid ass conflict going on all the time and Takato did not really want to deal with it at all.

"I am just tired of all of this conflict and I just need a god damn fucking break. I thought that you would be the one who can understand better than Rika. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow." Takato told Henry as Henry was just remaining silent. As much as he had hated to admit it, Takato had every valid reason to feel the way that he had felt over the whole thing. Henry nodded and he was walking away and while he was walking away, he called out to Takato and said something to him.

"I understand, hopefully Rika will not be so hard to deal with now. Maybe we can talk with her and maybe she will start to take things next time. Next time we see her, we should take things easy and try not to fight her. Maybe she will just want to talk, and things can possibly work better that way." Henry suggested and then as Henry was suggesting this Takato decided to think that there was a chance to that being true but at the same time, he decided that if Rika wanted to fight, he would fight, but if she did not then he would try and relax at the same time.

Guilmon had gone back to the cemetery and they went alone, knowing that Takato did not want to go around and fuck around that day and that they were just needing to think along without the influence of Guilmon just trying to act very silly and stuff like that. Takato was just thinking about Rika and he was so over fighting with Rika but at the same time he was wondering if it really was her fault or if he should just try and get to know her a little bit better before he made any crazy choice to just punch her in the face and all that stuff like he had done earlier.

Henry and Gargomon were heading on home and as he was heading home, he stopped and let Gargomon stand next to a tree and he was going to try and get Gargomon to just go back to Terriermon before they went home and stuff like that. "I can't believe that you did that, you just changed how the way this game is going to be played forever." Henry said and he seriously could not believe that he was actually calling this a game right now.

"I thought that you guys needed help and I was wanting to be the hero of the day." Gargomon explained where they were coming from and while Henry was still annoyed, he was able to understand their point of view. "I didn't know if you were going to do anything or if you would let Rika walk all over you." It was true, Rika was the main reason any of this was happening and this was her fault actually in the long run.

"I am totally annoyed with you, don't even try and think that you are off the hook here Gargomon. However, I will let you win this one on the fact that this wasn't one hundred percent your fault. I do have to be fair about this situation, as much as it does pain me to do that." Henry looked forward and when he was looking at the streets, he was getting used to being out so late. Give it a certain amount of time, and he was sure even his parents would be used to this and even they won't try and fight the whole thing as well.

"So does this mean that you are going to be hanging out with me still?" Gargomon asked and then Henry turned around at the digimon as if not being able to believe that this was a question. The answer was very obvious and Henry was thinking that Gargomon was just at the point where they were just trying a little bit too hard to get some attention there. Gargomon smiled and they knew from the look on Henry's face that the answer was yes. Henry sat down and he was thinking about Rika and what they were actually going to be doing about her, if they even could do anything about her at all.

"Rika is just a crazy girl. I have no idea what the fuck we are going to be doing about her. I can't believe that I am swearing, for any reason at all, but Rika is just one crazy girl and I guess that maybe she just demands that type of language I suppose. Gargomon, I guess that all of this is just a fact of life that we have to really deal with." Henry thought about this and he was just sort of on the edge of quitting and thinking that Rika should just stay out of their lives for good, which would not have been a terrible idea.

"Well maybe she is just in the need of getting some friends. Once you start to get to know her better, she will probably start to be easier to talk with and she will probably not be super tempted to get into a fight with you guys every single time that she sees you." Gargomon stated the perfectly obvious and then Henry raised his hand just trying to understand what people or digimon could not understand about this whole thing.

"I would like to try and get along with her, but she isn't even giving us the chance to do so. She always gets into a really large duel with us every time we even try and get to know her and she always acts like Renamon should just kill you. Why the fuck would I let a digimon that wants to kill you by your friend?" Henry said and he was seriously wanting to stop his swearing, but he was just on such a role with that he honestly didn't even care all that much.

"I just think that once she gets to see us and see how we are, then she will not really be tempted to want to kill us and act like she is the best person in town. I think that you guys just need to let her open up her cocoon for a lack of a better way of saying it. I don't really know, I guess that maybe I just have some hope that she is actually able to turn into a good person and that her partner already is a good digimon that is just following a dark path." Gargomon was starting to slowly glow again and then Henry was thinking that maybe Gargomon was turning into Terriermon again. When they turn into Terriermon again, then things would be able to go back to normal once more.

"I guess that waiting things out are better than thinking that it is going to just be hopeless." Henry said and Gargomon could tell that Henry was feeling much better, almost like his normal self once again and this did make Gargomon feel much more secure and then soon enough, they were becoming the digimon that they were so used to being at this point in time.

"Well, I guess I don't get to be angry at you anymore after all. Let's head on home, I think our parents will be waiting for us after all. They will probably be thinking that we were getting into trouble or something as silly as that." Henry said and then Terriermon jumped on his arms again and then as they did so, Henry took a giant sigh of relief that his body was slowly building up this entire time and then they were heading on their way home to hopefully get a fair greeting by their parents.

It took about twenty minutes to get home from the bridge and Henry was wondering why everybody was just returning to their houses. Henry was so used to New York never having a dead moment. The closest thing that the city would ever have to a dead moment was just like five seconds or a minute of no cars passing by. That is the idea of a quiet time in New York City, just a couple of seconds. When Henry was inside of the house, he walked inside of his room and placed Terriermon on his bed. His parents were wondering if they should question what the fuck their son was doing or if to let this one slide and give him the benefit of a doubt.

When Takato was home, his anger was all but gone and he didn't feel the need to hang with Kazu or Kenta or Jeri at all at that moment since they had hung out just literally earlier that day. None of this was Guilmon's fault but he was just annoyed to see a digimon at that moment. Takato was starting to really kind of regret the idea of wanting a digimon now since this was all happening now.

Takato was just not really sure what the hell he was supposed to do and he was wondering when the hell his parents were going to yell at him and act like he was this terrible person for doing this. Takato was starting to think that he only had a few more days left before this before his parents would basically decide that enough was enough and that he needed to start taking this more seriously and that he was going to get a good old yelling. Takato was just looking at the notebook that he was using for his school work journal that his teacher wanted to write.

He took his pen out and he started to write. He was not really too worried about what this was going to contain, and he was just going to write what came to his mind and what he was thinking he needed to work on. "Today I was hanging out with Henry, and when I was hanging out with Henry, he was worried that there was going to be a fight coming up and he seemed to be thinking that this whole thing was a giant mistake. As much as I had hated to admit it, he was probably right, and he was proven to be actually totally right in reality.

Rika showed up with Renamon. She was probably just wanting to talk to us in hindsight and I feel like I should have given her just that but at that moment I was not really too sure what the hell she was trying to pull on us. Terriermon did the same thing and then Terrimermon showed up and started to attack Renamon but to basically no avail, since they are not really not all that strong as a digimon and then I threw a rock at Rika's face, which was probably not really the best idea I could have come up with.

Terriermon and Renamon were having a little bit of a fight on the ground and it was kind of funny and scary to see it at the same time. When Rika had gotten hit in the face, the battle took a brief second pause. Renamon got up and soon enough Terriermon digivolved into Gargomon and started to shot everything up, and this was starting to scare everybody there, including themselves. Rika walked away with Renamon and soon enough I was just so over this shit I left and I went home without Guilmon coming with me.

Now I am here and I just am so tired of all of this. I think that I just need to just give up on all of the digimon stuff here. I am on the verge of just throwing this all away, and to be honest I think that I need to just start to do things that I am more used to, and not running around trying to take care of a digimon when it is very obvious that I have no clear idea what the fuck I am actually doing now.

I think that I should still hang out with Henry and all of that stuff, but I will probably start to do stuff that isn't really related to fighting and all of that stuff. I guess that maybe when there is nothing related to battles and all that stuff going on, then perhaps Rika and I can actually start to be friends ourself. I really would not mind being friends with her and stuff but at the rate we are heading everything seems to be really hard. I just don't really know, and perhaps that is something that I just need to get used to. That I am going to be forced to do all of these battles and that being friends with Rika might be the top one now.

Henry and I seem to be getting along decently fine. Even Kazu seems to start to change his ideas on life and I think that he is going to start to become a very nice person once he gets used to hanging out with people like Henry and stuff like that. I think that when Henry and Kazu start to really get to know each other and stuff, that their friendship will actually be something that is valuable.

Jeri and I are getting along pretty well I think. I hope she will feel the same way that I do feel about her. I am really starting to grow a soft spot for her, and I know that it may be dangerous to have a soft spot for something like that. That might create something like a friend zone or something like that. I think that maybe I just created a new term here and now I need to explain what in the god damn fuck a friend zone is and all that stuff.

So that is when you like somebody and they do not like you back. You try and get them to like you but then they do not really have any caring or sign of wanting to return anything like that back to you, so then you realize that they are just friends. That is the friend zone that I just created for you right now. So I guess that this going to be my great contribution in the world. Creating a term that probably nobody will ever use.

I am going to end this now, thinking that I am talking about my crush on Jeri for maybe a little bit too long." Takato finished that entry and then he placed the notebook on his table and then he was asleep right away when his bed hit the pillow. As he was starting to head to sleep, Rika was at her home and she was staring at the window in her bathroom. She was really considering what the hell she was even going to try and figure out. Renamon was watching her and she knew about this, but she honestly just did not care all that much about what her digimon was doing.

"Rika are you sure that these young men want to have anything to do with you? Do you think that it is possible that maybe you should just try and never cross paths with them ever again?" Renamon questioned her human counterpart as Rika was now forced to actually start to consider this. She did not want to force something onto her digimon master, but at the same time she did not want to see Rika constantly bruised up and getting hurt. The first time it was her fault, but this second time it was their fault and even Renamon would be able to see that as clear as day.

"I don't know. I will give them one more chance to show that they might be trust worthy. If after this next chance they still act this way then I am not going to pursue it any further. But I feel as if one final chance will not really be all that big of a huge goal to shot for. Who knows, maybe third time is the charm." Rika gave her thoughts on the matter as Rika turned around and saw that Renamon was now making themselves very visible to the public.

Rika placed her finger on Renamon's face and she was not really sure why she was doing this aside from the fact that she was being well aware of the fact that this was the only digimon that was actually goingto be there for her and to some large extent, this was indeed the only friend that she had. Even if she did not want to admit it out loud, she knew that Renamon would help her out no matter what the cause would be. "Rika, I am worried about you and I don't want you to do anything that will be considered dangerous or will get you hurt. Do you understand me?"

"I do understand you. I do get it. I just am worried that things are going to get very strange coming up and if I don't have any friends to help me out, then I think that my life will not have mattered. Renamon, when I try to talk to those boys again, do you think that maybe I should just explain my intent or maybe be friends with their friends before I try to get to know them so that way they might be willing to go in easily then?" Renamon had considered that when she asked, since those were both very good points to consider and both of them could work to some extent.

"I think if you had to choose, then perhaps you should try and get to know their friends first. If you do that, then they will have a different source telling them that you're not such a bad girl after all and then they will start to treat you fair again. Maybe try their female friend or the lesser of those two idiots they hang out with." Rika didn't know who Renamon was talking about, but she liked the idea and she trusted Renamon enough to go with it and that was enough for her.

"I really hope that you are right Renamon. If you are wrong, I would be broken by this and I think that nothing really would change the problem I would have on the social field ever again for the rest of my life." Rika said and then she slowly went back to her bedroom. Renamon faded away and they didn't want to be exposed to either Rika's mother nor her grandmother and that this was just going to be a short term problem that Rika was going to have to deal with. Once Rika was inside of her bedroom, she stared outside at the sky once more trying to really appreciate the beauty of the world, but at the same time it was hard for her to do so.

As Rika was trying her absolute best to settle down for the rest of the night, Henry was well asleep. As Henry was deeply asleep, Terriermon was just staring outside the window and they were thinking about how they can try and be good friends with Rika, thinking that this was what Rika really needed more than anything else over just a bunch of battles and treating her like a piece of shit and all of that stuff. Terriermon felt really bad for the way that they were treating Renamon and Rika that day, but at the same time it was their fault.


	25. Wiping Away One From Humanity

Chapter 24: Wiping One Away From Humanity

The next day, Henry was ready to go to school and when he was getting ready to go to school, it was like nothing that had happened the previous night even mattered to Henry anymore. He honestly placed all of that behind him and he really did not care all that much what really happened. Henry placed Terriermon on his shoulder and then Henry walked out of the house and his parents were just trying to decide if they should question what he was doing or not. They still decided in the end that they were going to let things slide this one time.

When Henry was outside and about a third of the way to school, Henry was walking by a empty piece of land. Henry knew that the place was going to be used for construction development and Henry didn't really care about this in reality. But then there was something he saw that really made him stop what he was doing. Even Terriermon started to get a little bit more serious about what was going on.

"Is that a digimon?" Terriermon asked and then Henry looked over and then he saw what Terriermon was talking about and Henry was pretty certain that they were indeed looking at a digimon. Henry was about to try and see what the digimon was but when he looked at them that was when he had stopped. He knew that this was a digimon that he had seen way back in the day when he had first gotten Terriermon. Henry started to shake and Terriermon was wondering what the hell was scaring him so bad until they saw the exact digimon as well.

"Henry, can we just walk away and just head to school?" Terriermon asked and Henry was kind of shocked to see Terriermon not even pretend to be all high in mighty about it. Probably because they knew what this digimon was exactly like and they did not want to take any risks. Henry wanted so badly to do what Terriermon was asking for him to do, but at the same time, he knew that he needed to take this fucking beast down once in for all. Henry grabbed his digivice and he sighed and walked closer to the digimon. The battle that they were going to be taking place in was a fight that Henry knew that he had to do not for only the sake of the city, but for his own personal life since he knew that he would never move forward if he never did this.

The name of this digimon was Gorillamon. The digimon was the first one that Henry had gotten into a fight with. At the time, Henry was a man who had gotten into fights all the time, and he always got into trouble despite the fact that his parents over and over again wanted him to do stuff that wasn't worthy of being in trouble. So basically the exact opposite of what Kazu was like earlier.

In his early years of school, Henry would be sent to the principals office every single week and his parents had been on the verge of just giving up on him until Henry had done something that his parents had considered to be going too far. It was in his fourth grade of school when this had happened. He was just waiting for lunch period since he had wanted to make fun of the new kid really badly. Not only was he the new kid, but there was way that he was walking down the hall way. Henry was able to figure out very fast that he was a faggot.

It was like a triple win. A new student, a faggot, and a guy who was a little bit darker skin. He wasn't black or anything, but he was a very dark white. Sort of like a deeper tan. Despite the fact that New York City had been trying to advance faggot rights, Henry was only ten years old at the time and he did not really know any better and thought that it was just funny as hell to make fun of this guy.

The name of this new student was named Jeff. He had a younger brother who was not in the school, since he was only seven and was still going to the elementary school. There was something about that whole family that made Henry feel sick honestly, but there was something about Jeff's brother that made him feel like there can be at least one exception to this whole rule and that perhaps there was still a little bit of hope for that mentally deranged hell hole. Even though he realized in hindsight that he was the one that was wrong, and not Jeff or his parents or even his brother.

Even though Henry only met the younger brother one time and the younger brother was only seven, Henry could very easily that his brother was not a faggot and was indeed a normal man. So Ken decided that he would spare the brother all the jokes. But Jeff was his target.

During lunch of Jeff's first day at the school, Henry walked up to Jeff and Jeff looked up at him. "Hey you fairy." Henry told Jeff as Jeff looked at him wondering what the hell Henry was talking about. When he made the pieces in his mind, Jeff gulped. He knew exactly what Henry was talking about and he knew that Henry was going to take any chance to expose this. Henry started to ball his fists so he could land a punch that would establish forever who the man in charge was. Jeff started to hold his hands up since he knew what Henry was going to do.

Henry didn't stop though. There was a very open small spot on Jeff's face right on his nose. Henry punched him so hard in the nose that it started to bleed and he feel down to the ground. That was when the principal was going to come on in to stop the matter. Henry knew that he had technically gone too far with it but he honestly did not really give too much of a shit. He was just so excited to prove to that guy who the better one was and he was willing to do it again if he had to. That guy had made him sick and he was not even going to pretend that he had not.

The principal looked over at Henry and he was beyond pissed off this time. "This kid has only been here for one day and you already decided to get into a duel with him. You really don't know when to stop what you have been doing to these people. At least with some of your other targets, they had been around for a few years or months. But this is much too soon. I doubt that he will even want to come to school anymore. In punishment for this you parents and I agreed that you need to do some service in town. We assign you to a older man and you need to take care of him and his family for the next twelve months as a helper to make up for what you did." The principal said and Henry publicly rolled his eyes thinking this eyes thinking that this was just a dumb ass idea.

"Fine, I will do it. If it will make you leave me alone, then I would be willing to do anything honestly." Henry said and he was telling the truth when he had said that. He was sick and tired of this dude just getting in his business all the time and he wanted to go back to tormenting students at his spare time.

"Great. Maybe you do have some hope after all. I better not get my hopes up yet, but you accepting this does make me change my mind a little bit. Okay, so you are going to start today after school and you will be going to the house of a man named Davis Smith. He is eight two years old and he needs to have somebody really watch the house down for him." The principal said and gave Henry the address of Davis. Henry ripped it out of the principals hand and before the principal could say anything, Henry was totally gone from the area and there was nothing he can do about it.

As Henry went to Davis's house that day after school, he was just doing it to get over it. He had no interest in making friends with an ancient and he was honestly thinking that the man did not deserve any help on this at all. But once he reached the address of this guy things started to take a little bit of a change in idea of how to look at things for him.

A girl who was probably the much younger wife of Davis answered the door. Much younger wife or his starting to get relatively decently aged daughter. Henry wasn't sure and honestly Henry didn't really care. When Henry saw Davis sitting in his bed, for a moment, Henry actually did feel bad for the guy and he could tell why this guy was in such bad need of help and care. But he just wanted the daily one hour over with. Henry was told he had to help Davis out from 4-5 every single day for the next twelve months and that if for each day he didn't do it, he would have to do another week extra after the initial sentence was supposed to be over, as a way to motivate him to do it every day.

"What do you want me to do now?" Henry asked and he was just ready to get this over with and when he got his answer, he was just shocked and not really sure what to say. Davis just sat up and told Henry to sit down. Not really thinking too much about it, Henry sat down as Davis asked. He sort of figured that Davis was just going to let him get like two or three minutes to relax before it officially hit four. After all, it was only 3:54, six minutes before he was technically forced to start.

"I have a lot of stuff that I wish to tell the people of the world. When we do our daily meet up, I don't really want to make you do any work. What you did really does not matter in my life in the long run. But I have a life story that I want to explain and you are the only one who has to listen to me. Hopefully you will actually take me seriously and not take me as a joke." There was something to Davis's voice that made Henry stop cold inside and want to take this very seriously.

Besides, three hundred and sixty five days of getting a one hour story from an old man who didn't give a shit what Henry did? It sounded strange but at the same time it did seem like a win deal since he didn't even have to work in these meet ups.

"I was born in June 30 1851, almost one hundred years ago now. Things were much different back then, which I am sure that you are already well aware of. But I am sure that you may not be exactly sure of how the things were actually different." Davis started his story time and when he started his story time, Henry just sat down and listened to Davis give off his one hour speech on how his life was like when he was younger starting from his birth.

The only thing that Henry had to do was write down a perfect transcript of every single meeting that had taken place since Davis said that when he died, or when the full year was finished, he wanted to publish all 365 sessions and thing that Davis said to the public and he had felt like this was going to be able to help expose everything that had come out to the world on what he did, what he didn't do, and how he was going to expect the world to be like in the near future and all that stuff.

This went on for one week before Davis thought that Henry had earned himself a award. "You have done a great job this last week Henry. You are two percent of the way through your sentence. And to celebrate you surviving a full week, trust me, that is something to be very much happy for when you are that age and you are trying to do your own thing, I will be giving you this." Davis said and handed Henry a green device. "Once you return home today, just turn it on and you see will what I have in store for you. You have truly earned it this time."

"Thank you. Can't wait to hear next session." Henry said and then he started to head on home. That was the truth. At first, Ken thought that this was going to be miserable and that this whole thing was going to be a giant waste of time. But with each session, the story that Davis had of his life got more and more exciting and the more that Henry wished to truly hear about the whole thing. With each passing day as well, there was something inside of Henry that was slowly releasing all of the anger that he had built up. Almost like he was actually changing and starting to become a decent person as well. It was something that had to be seen to be believed, but it was still just how things were playing out.

As Henry made it home that night, he took out his device thing that Davis gave him. He pressed the on button and when he did so, the last thing that he had expected to see was the one thing that he did see. He found a giant monster that was a bunny staring right at him. Henry was wondering how this came up and he was really wanting the answers right away, but at the same time he told himself that Davis would probably give him answers on a later session.

"My name is Terriermon. I am your digimon partner. That old man created me for you." Terriermon said and then jumped on Henry's lap. It was scary at first, but seeing the digimon stare at him and have such a happy look on their face got rid of all of that fear and he knew that no matter what had happened, Henry wanted to protect the digimon that Davis had given him. "We are going to be great friends."

Henry felt like he was able to get used to this and he told Terriermon that things were going to be great now that they had met each other. Henry even picked up Terriermon and threw them up in the air a little bit like what he would do when he was playing with his cat. Then he grabbed Terriermon and almost all the hate that was in Henry seemed to go away. Henry knew that no matter what happened, if he could, he would try and keep the thing safe.

Henry had to end his little flash back moment when Gorillamon raised their arm up into the air. Despite not wanting to fight Rika either time so far and despite the fact that Henry would keep against violence for a very long time still after this, he knew that this time was an exception to his personal rule. He was going to take Gorillamon down in their rematch and Henry was going to be able to use this as a way to be able to move forward in his life again.

"Terriermon, we are going to have to take this beast down!" Henry got his point across and he didn't swear while doing so. The casual Henry still seemed to be in him after all. The Henry that knew that swearing was a problem and he knew that he shouldn't do it no matter how pissed he may be. Rika was the exception on that matter. So he had faced two types of exceptions for two different types of things. Henry then went into his pocket and he was getting ready to use his supplies to take down Gorrillamon.

The thing that he found and was ready to use was a card. It was a green card that had something that said "Hyperspeed" on it and Henry took out his device. This was something he knew to do when he was on the rematch despite not doing it earlier. He swiped the card through the digivicie and then when he had done so, he saw Terriermon get really fast and chase right at Gorillamon. Despite not having any real power at all, he saw Terriermon slam right into Gorillamon and made the digimon walk backwards for a moment and Henry knew that perhaps he could really win this battle after all.

It had seemed like Henry was going to actually be able to place this behind him for the rest of his life when he can take Gorillamon down. Once Gorillamon can be destroyed, then perhaps he can start to teach Rika in the ways of what it is like to never fight. He knew that it was going to be a long shot, but he knew that he needed to get the young girl to try and see where he was coming from and what he and Takato were trying to accomplish in their friendship. But before something can really get him to think that he was making true progress on this, there was attack that Gorillamon that ruined everything that Henry had wanted.

Gorillamon threw Terriermon right down on the ground and Terriermon was looking at Henry. Henry grabbed the digimon and he was wondering what could make Gorillamon such a monster. He then started to wonder what made Gorillamon that way, and he was seriously just failing to even think of things. But this this flash backed him to something else that he had related to his past with Davis and all that. This was like a second piece of the puzzle.

It was a few weeks after Davis had given Henry Terriermon. People seemed to notice the changed attitude of Henry throughout those couple of days, wondering what exactly had happened. people started to talk with him a little bit. But Henry had one goal in mind. Something that he shouldn't be forced to do since he should have never gotten himself into the situation in the first place, but now that he was in the situation he should have tried to fix it a long time ago. He was going to try and apologize to Jeff for what he had done earlier.

Henry saw Jeff at the lunch table that was exactly the same as the one where the punch had happened. Henry decided not to remind himself of that situation and he waled up to Jeff and he was taking a breath as he was getting ready for it. "Hey Jeff, I just wanted to say something to you." Henry said and Terriermon was in his back pack, thinking that it would be fun to bring the digimon but at the same time he didn't want anybody to see the digimon either. Jeff stood up and he looked absolutely terrified.

As he saw the guy just walk away as fast as possible, Henry nodded and that was when he had known that the guy did not really trust him quite yet. Henry did not really blame the guy. After all, he probably gave the guy a really fucking bloody nose. So with that, Henry walked off and as he was walking away from the area, he thought that maybe he can start a new friendship with somebody who was not really aware of his past. As he was sitting outside, Terriermon broke their promise buy getting out of Henry's back pack and looking at him curious.

"Why did he run away from you? Does he not like you?" Terriermon asked and Henry thought about that. He realized that Terriermon never knew the truth of why he had been given to him. Henry then looked down at the digimon and thought that maybe he should know the truth after all. But it was something that he really did not want to admit to as it would open up one of the biggest flaws of his character onto the digimon and he was not really sure if the digimon actually wanted to hear that.

"Well, I hit him on the nose and he got really hurt. As a result, I was forced to do some service and the service was to talk to Davis and help him at the house all the time. But I found out Davis just wanted me to listen to his stories a ton and after a week, he gave me you. I am trying to change my public image to start to get myself away from that whole disaster that I had created, and I am honestly regretting what I had done. But it doesn't matter. He doesn't want to talk to me. I need to talk to somebody else." Henry said and then he put Terriermon back in the back pack as he saw something in the distance he wanted to see. It was lunch time, he would just come back in time for class in twenty five minutes.

"Terriermon, I think we are going to be going on a little bit of a road trip." Henry said and he was hoping that nobody noticed the fact that he was going to be ditching the place during lunch for a moment. It really wasn't all that big of a deal and it wasn't like he was going to get in trouble for not being in lunch. That was what he was telling himself at least. It was what he was thinking would be the truth after all.

Henry and Terriermon left the school grounds and walked down to the park where the thing that they saw was. Henry was sort of thinking about how dumb of a choice it was to place the school next to the park where people would be constantly tempted to leave the school grounds, but Henry figured that it had not really been all that big of a problem up to this point in time, so it was more whatever than he had tried to make it out to be in his mind.

However, once in the park Henry was a little bit more shocked at what exactly he was seeing. He thought that he was either going to see a ditching student or figure out that he was actually just imagining things and that nobody was really there at all. But what he saw was a younger version of Gorillamon. Henry placed his back pack down on the ground and unzipped it. Terriermon jumped out of the back pack and Henry was mainly doing this since he wanted to see what Terriermon would think if there was any relation that they had considering the fact that Terriermon and Gorillamon were both digimon. It seemed like a natural thing to be curious about in the ten year old mind set of Henry.

Henry was watching as Terriermon was running on towards Gorillamon and Henry was thinking about how great it was going to be that the two digimon were going to start being friends with each other. Well, that was what Henry was thinking was going to be happening at the very least. In no way was he expecting what had actually happened.

Gorillamon just stared at Terriermon a bit. As he had looked at Terriermon for what seemed like half a minute with having no fucking reaction, Gorillamon slapped Terriermon right in the face and then Terriermon just flew on right to the ground. Henry screamed when he had seen that and then he ran on his way up to Terriermon and grabbed his digimon partner before anything terrible could happen to them. He had not wanted to see Terriermon get hurt but seeing that made him lose all focus that he had.

He stared at Gorillamon and he was at a total loss of what to think. He was just holding onto his digimon and Henry was watching Gorillamon walking up to him. Henry was gulping, hoping that the digimon didn't try and hurt him any further than they had done so far. Gorillamon started to aim their gun down right towards Terriermon and then Henry stood up and started to run Terriermon out of the area, to make sure that there was still a chance for the digimon to be saved.

Henry had run for what seemed like hours even though he knew it was only a couple of minutes to get back to the school. But the fear that he had felt made it feel like it was much longer and much worse. But once he was getting down to the entrance of his school, he saw as Gorillamon was wanting to attack them there but considering just how much damage could be done if they had done so, probably thought it wise not to do that. So Gorillamon vanished away and Henry placed Terriermon back in his back pack. "When we get home, I will tend to you better." Henry said, hoping that Terriermon would forgive him for the pain that he had placed the digimon into.

Henry then zipped up the back pack and he was looking around, hoping very much that nobody had seen what exactly he was doing. He had hoped that the digimon would not get in too much more pain during that period of time. He was just very split in his focus due to the fact that he was trying very hard to focus on school but there was the fear of Gorillamon at the same time and if Terriermon was really going to be safe, so like five or six things all adding up at once.

That was when Henry was done with his flash back and he was thinking about what he was going to do about Gorillamon. He saw Terriermon was very hurt once again, and seeing the pain on the digimon was too much to bear. But at the same time, he knew damn well that destroying this digimon was more important than the pain that Terrimon had felt. He had felt bad that he had ever felt that way on a certain matter, but he was just trying to be a little bit realistic on this. He then stared at his digivice once again, thinking about all of his options.

"Terriermon, I know that this is going to be very hard, but you need to fight harder and destroy them. I will come up with something that we can do." Henry said and he was looking at more of his cards. He saw one that looked really bad but considering his situation, he was willing to take his bets. It was a card that said 'Hyperwing.'

Henry had no idea how he had even gotten this card in the first place, but he knew that this was going to help him out depending on just how well he was able to play it. He swiped the card and Terriermon grew some wings out of their back. Henry read that the affect would only last forty seconds, so he needed to try and do something with them as soon as possible to take Gorillamon down. "Terriermon, kick them in the face." Henry said quietly, hoping that the digimon they were fighting did not hear.

Terrimon flew up and then kicked Gorillamon in the face once with each foot. "Now get them in the chest." Henry gave his next order and then Terriermon flew back and he was keeping close track of all of the seconds and just how much time was left and Terriermon slammed their face into Gorillamon's chest. Gorillamon fell down for a second and then Terriermon flew back to Henry when Henry realized that the affect was going to be wearing down very soon. Terriermon didn't really want to argue with Henry considering the fact that he probably considered the timing much better. Once Terriermon landed, the wings were gone and it seemed like the battle was a victory until Gorillamon started to stand up again and was slowly heading on their way over to Henry and Terriermon. Henry knew that a digivolution had to happen.

Even if Henry wasn't totally against the idea, which he still kind of was, he just had no real idea how he could be able to get the digimon to digivolve since the whole thing behind the one the previous day was due to Renamon attacking them a bunch of times. Henry had no real choice but to sort of counter attack that stuff. Okay, he had plenty of choices, but Terriermon did not really give them those choices at all.

Henry was holding onto his digivice as tightly as possible and he was just trying to find something that can get him what he needed, but at the rate they were going, Gorillamon was going to give him a romping of biblical proportions and there was nothing that Henry was going to be able to do about it. Henry saw Terriermon standing right in front of him as if getting a fighting stance ready. Henry had to admit it was kind of funny watching Terriermon be in such a ready fighting mode, but he just wish that it never had to seriously be considered. Right when Gorillamon raised their arm up and Henry knew that they were going to try and crush the digimon henry was just wanting this to all end.

Henry ended up giving an extremely loud scream that broke the sound barrier of Gorillamon and even the majority of people walking by in the chaotic New York City morning where people were just driving or taking their buses on the way to work. It really was a good sign to show just how loud and how bad that whole scream was. As the scream was going on, Terriermon started to glow as well.

This was the sign that Terriermon was now digivolving. The body that they were turning into was not nearly as worrying the second time. In fact, it was exactly what Henry needed and he was able to respect that this time around, even if he did not want to be in a spot where that was the case. Terriermon had turned into their second form, Gargomon, after about twenty seconds of their body changing shape and looking like it was being abused.

Gargomon held their guns out and they were trying to show Gorillamon that they were not scared to get into a fight with the digimon. Gorillamon was shocked but what they had seen with Gargomon, but they still felt like they had no real reason to think that Gargomon was going to be any real threat. Henry was rubbing the dust off of his digivice and the people in the near by area started to get back to their own business, not really thinking about what had just happened and honestly not really cared. It was at this time when Henry thought about the thing that Davis told him after this whole situation had gone down the first time with Gorillamon.

It was that very day after the whole battle happened, and Henry was doing his daily service to Davis. It had only been a month or so after he had started, and considering the fact that he still had eleven months to go, he was doing his best to just not ditch out on a couple of days or something like that. Besides, he really needed the help of Davis in this case.

"Davis, do you mind if I stay for an extra ten minutes or so?" Henry asked when the daily writing and story session was over. He placed the notebook he was given for the second month down. They agreed to use one for each month, as a sort of twelve volume work. Davis said it was okay for him to stay for a little while longer if he felt the need to stay. Henry sighed and he was taking Terriermon out of the back pack and showing Davis what happened. "I found a digimon named Gorillamon. I thought it would be cool if the two digimon could get to know each other a little bit, but Gorillamon obviously did not agree with the idea. They attacked Terriermon instead and started to really hurt them before I got into the scene and brought them out of the area."

Davis considered what Henry had said, and Davis nodded. He was a little sad to hear that Gargomon had gotten hurt, but at the same time he was able to see that Henry really did not know better and that this time it was not really his fault at all. On many cases, it could have been Henry's fault, but this was not one of those cases at all.

"Henry, you thought that Terriermon should try and get some friends. You made a choice that you thought was valid. Don't beat yourself up for it. The thing that matters if what you do to mend the friendship. What will you do to make sure that Terriermon never gets hurt again? Or are you just going to use this as a chance to make them a tougher fighter?" Davis started and Henry thought about that and he was going to take the path of Terriermon safer. He did not want to see the digimon get involved in any fights after the one that had just taken place.

"I don't really know what I plan to do. I guess that maybe Terriermon and I can just stay out of the business of things that we are not related towards." Henry said and he was hoping that this was an answer that could make Davis satisfied enough. It was the best one that eh was able to come up with on that moment, and one that he wanted to hope would work out.

"Henry, in the end, you just do what you feel is right. Nobody is going to forge this path for you. I will not and I don't want anybody else to do so for you. It is your life that you need to live and as a result, you need to start to do some things that perhaps you will regret in the end. But you might not know what you will regret or what you will end up being proud of until you make these choices." Davis told Henry and Henry considered that. After all, Davis had a lot of experience on this type of stuff, and he was a very good person to speak to on all of this stuff from the stories that he had heard.

"I just don't want to ever see Terriermon ever get hurt again. If I do, I don't really think I can be able to live with that fact ever again. It seems silly, but that is just the truth." Henry said and he was looking at Davis as if to hope that Davis would understand where he was going with that. Davis nodded and then Henry sighed in relief to know that his old mentor knew how he had felt.

"Just know that no matter what and how you may feel about it, nobody can determine your own destiny for you. This is all of this stuff for you. Just focus on what you think will work out for you, and then once you make a choice that you feel like you can be comfortable with, then you go ahead and follow it." Davis told Henry and that was just how Henry was trying to look at it. "I made my own destiny, and I don't think anybody should have made it up for you on that level. This is very much how I feel on this."

As Davis has said this, Henry looked down and he was thinking a lot about what Davis was saying there. There must have been a level of truth to it, but at the same time he didn't really know how anybody else would feel about him making his own path. He would love to try and find his own path, but he felt like nobody was really going to be there for him. That sort of sounds scary for him. Henry nodded and Davis was really happy that the young man felt this way and that he was able to resonate with him on that level at least.

This was when Henry was forced to focus back on the present again. He knew what he was going to make his destiny out to be this time. He held out his left hand and this was when he was going to break his code full one just one time before he would go back to normal and head on to school as if there was nothing that ever happened. "Gargomon, I know that usually I do not act like this way and that I almost never tell you to do this, but you need to give it your all. You need to destroy that Digimon! They are a parasite to this world and destroying this thing will bring peace to me and the other digimon that they have ruined the lives of." Henry said and then he stood back and took a few steps backwards to not get caught up in the action.

Gargomon was really happy to know that Henry was giving them the approval to destroy a digimon and partake in a fight for once. Gargomon placed both of their hands together and then when they had placed both of their hands together Henry was forcing himself to watch this and not force himself out of this.

That was when Gargomon started to fire a ton of bullets all at once. Henry thought that they were firing like sixty bullets in like five seconds, it was like twelve bullets a second. Henry was amazed as he watched the digimon just in the course of six seconds totally destroy Gorillamon. That was when Gorillamon fell down to the ground and then vanished away, only having their gun even be proof of the fact they existed at all.

Henry looked over at Gargomon and he took a very long deep breath. "This was a one time deal. Don't start to think that this is going to happen all the time. Gorillamon was a one time thing that needed to be taken care of." Henry said and then when he had said that, Gargomon remained silent and Henry was hoping that he had gotten the point across and that Gargomon would accept this stuff. But then afterwards, Gargomon started to turn back to Terriermon for the fact that Henry wanted him to do that. But then when Gargomon was starting to return to Terriermon, he turned around to see what was going on in the street.

This was when Terriermon jumped on Henry's arm and then when he was jumping on Henry's arm, he started to get along his way towards school. He knew that he was going to be late and he honestly didn't even care that he was going to be late anymore. He was used to sort of getting late with all of the stuff going on. It was just sort of a fact of life and stuff like that. Henry just sort of hoped that the entire school didn't start to wonder what was wrong with him or something retarded like that over the fact that he has started to show up like a minute or two late or something like that.

The city was getting harder for Henry to really appreciate with every passing day. He just had a strange feeling that this whole thing was going to start to go down the shit hole soon. All of these battles that he had to do and the constant threat of digimon now was making Henry think that there was going to be a terrible big battle coming up or something like that. He was just in no way prepared for something like that.

Terriermon was wanting to talk with Henry and honestly if there was a place where barely anybody was around, they would not feel too bad about this whole thing. Henry didn't want people to be wondering what exactly he was doing talking to some rabbit or something like that. People would think that he was mentally retarded or insane or something like that. Henry was going to be listening to what he had wanted to be told when school was over that day if Terriermon had remembered what was going on.

Terriermon was wishing that the stuff they could tell Henry was related to Takato and Guilmon. They wanted to talk with Henry about the digimon battles and when Guilmon was actually going to digivolve or something like that. Henry was not really sure or didn't really care all that much over the fact that these digimon were going around. Henry just knew that the only thing that would really be sure was that Guilmon would actually digivolve soon and all of that stuff, he just had no real idea where and when it happened. Henry thought when Terriermon would eventually ask him that perhaps it would be a week or so away.

When Terriermon and Henry reached the school, the day had gone one like normal and all of that stuff. Henry was not really too worried about what people were thinking about him being this late and all of that stuff. Henry thought that people only cared for like two to three seconds and the people that do care so much about this stuff need to get a life now and not really wonder what was going on here.

Takato and his friends were just hanging out in their teachers class room during lunch. There was no real reason for this to be done at all. The teacher was gone and she had let them have the room for the time being and all that. Takato was sitting down on a table. "Are you guys wanting to play some rounds of the card game?" Takato had ask and then when he had asked his friends, Kazu laid back and he was placing his hands behind his head and he had smiled a bit. Takato had a good feeling what Kazu was going to say here.

"I know that if we play, I am going to win. We have been playing this game like twenty to thirty times, and you know that I am the best since I have only lost one time out of thirty times." Kazu had said and then the other friends thought about that. Takato knew that Kazu was right, despite how much he did not want to admit that. But despite the fact that Kazu was so good and Takato sort of knew that Kazu was going to win in a landslide, he was thinking that it would be cool to play in a casual way to sort of take their minds off of what was going on lately.

"I don't even have my cards with me right now." Kenta said and he was looking in his back pack and he was wondering what he could potentially find. But then he could not find anything so he just dropped his back pack down to the ground and he sighed thinking that it sucked that he could not play the game. He even wondered what happened. He could have swore that he had brought some cards from the previous days.

Before any of them could ask any questions about the cards, there was a certain girl that walked by. Takato looked up and he saw that Jeri was walking down the hallway. She was doing it in a way that she was obviously trying to find somebody. "Hey Jeri, are you wanting to talk with us?" Takato asked and then when he had asked that, Jeri turned around and she saw Takato and the other two guys. She walked into the room and Takato knew that this was what she was wanting and Takato didn't have to even look for that to be the obvious answer.

"Takato, did you notice Henry when he walked in school today? He looked like he had seen the grim reaper or something like that." Jeri said and Takato stopped what he was going to say to Kazu and Kenta right when he had heard that. He turned around to fully take in the moment when he was looking at Jeri. He genuinely had no real idea what to say to that, but he also knew that he needed to talk to Henry if what she was saying was true. That meant that Yamaki probably talked with him or something like that, and that very idea was enough to scare the shit out of him.

"Kazu and Kenta, just hang out with Jeri for a little while. I think I need to go and talk with Henry for a little while. I think I need to see what is really going on right now." Takato said and then he had left the class room and Kazu was wondering what the hell was going on. When it was pretty clear that Takato was totally out of the area, Kazu looked over at Jeri and he felt like he really needed some better answers to what the hell was going on.

"What was Henry actually like? Did he actually look like he was seeing you know what you said? Or are you just over playing it for the sake of dramatic effect?" Kazu said to Jeri and she held up her hand as if to show her surprise that Kazu was thinking that she was lying. There was no real reason for her to lie and she didn't really know why Kazu would come up with that idea. "I'm sorry, I just feel a little uptight after learning all of these things are actually real after all. It just feels a little hard to really comprehend. I don't really think that anybody can truly blame me for feeling this way."

"I guess that maybe Henry just had to do some action a little bit earlier. I would not really doubt that this is what happened. I would not really worry too much about it. The fact that he is here shows the fact that he had survived the battle and probably doesn't really need us to worry our fucking asses off about it." Kenta said and then he looked outside the window of the school and he was seriously wondering when the hell he was going to get a digimon. He wanted one so badly but he had also known that there was no real reason for him to be the one getting one.

"I guess that you are right. If he truly had a problem going on, he probably would not have shown up at all. But he seems to be having no problem getting to school. I guess I am just not really used to seeing him get late for class or anything like that. I think we can really agree with that at the very least." Jeri said and that was when Kazu nodded. He knew that Jeri was right about that. It was beyond strange to see Henry not show up to class on time. Maybe he just was sleeping in or something.

"I bet maybe he just forgot to turn on the alarm before he went to bed. I doubt that he had any battles going on. It seems too early to have a fight." Kazu said and while it sounded crazy to say, the very fact that this was New York City probably meant that none of the stuff that actually happened would keep up or matter after another hour or so. People just had crazy lives and nobody really cared about stuff that wasn't related to him. He knew that since he was truly one of those people on a lot of cases.

"Henry seems to responsible for that. Maybe Henry really did fight something before he came to school. If Jeri's right, we need to make sure that both Takato and Henry are ready at any moment. But let's not try and force the information out of him if he doesn't really want to tell us. If he feels the need to keep it away from us, then we should respect those wishes." Kenta turned around to see the two of them and he was sitting down on the floor now. Jeri was the only one who was not really sitting at all in that moment.

"Takato will probably get any needed information out of him soon enough. I think we will know the truth in about ten to fifteen minutes. If he doesn't tell us by the end of the day, chances are that it really is none of our business or Henry doesn't really trust us to know." Jeri said and the second part made her feel a little awful. She would not even be sure why she would not be trusted by him in the first place. Considering the fact that she was a friend of Henry and that there was nothing that a friend should do besides be open about all of their thoughts.

"I am more worried about that Rika bitch honestly. She seems fucking crazy. I don't know what her problem is honestly. We barely even know her and she is already trying to kill off both of the digimon that we know. Maybe we should just try and be friends with her, or something like that." Kazu said and he was scratching his chin. He was trying to remember how the hell he even remembered Rika in the first place. It was sort of like off on the side and now it was here, right in front of him and it was pretty important now.

Before the conversation could really be able to continue, a random girl showed up for a moment. They were not really too worried about the girl. It was just what she was doing that was getting them pretty interested. "The dance is on this Saturday this month? Oh shit, I totally forgot about that. The hype of everything going on the last few days has removed that from my brain. I need to go on and ask Peggy soon to join me." Kazu said and the person putting up the poster looked at him and she was wondering what Kazu was even going on about.

"I don't even know what is going on in your guys life, and honestly I don't really care to know. I was just supposed to place this thing up. Just leave me out of it please." The girl said and then she left and then Kazu was staring at the poster for the month dance.

"I just hope that Peggy hasn't been in a bad mood lately. I really don't want to lose the chance to go on a good dance with her. I don't want this relationship to be ruined." Kazu said and Kenta was still trying to get used to the fact that Kazu was even in like any form of a relationship in the first place. He just did not really seem like he could handle something like that. Although to Kazu's defense, he could handle it better than either Takato or Kenta. Which was not really saying much, but it was just the truth.

"Well, is there anything that you are doing that would seem sort of like she would not like you for it?" Jeri said and she rolled her eyes at how badly worded it was. Despite the fact that it wasn't all that well worded, Kazu knew exactly what she had meant. There was the smoking thing, which Peggy sort of vaguely knew about, although she didn't know that he was still doing it behind her back, which would have been the instant killer of their relationship. But he honestly did not really trust the others in the group to know about that.

"There might be some things. But I don't quite know yet. I should talk to her and maybe she will let me in one some of these things." Kazu said and then he headed out of the class room. He was so glad that he knew how to lie well. Anything that he said when he was lying was so well formed and said, that it was like he might as well have been telling the truth after all.

Kenta looked at Jeri, not exactly sure what to think. "Well, Kazu seems to be a little uptight. I wonder what is going on with him to make him so much like that. I bet that there actually is something he is worried about her not liking. Probably just his constant playing of that card game. She probably wants to have more personal company with him that is not really related to some game that she has no idea what the rules are like." Kenta said and Jeri nodded thinking he might be right. As that was going on, Takato and Henry were having their own conversation out in the school park and he was hoping that nobody found this to be any bit strange at school.

"Jeri was telling me how you seem to have some sort of a problem right now. I was wondering if something happened to you and I was wondering if perhaps I could do something to help you out." Takato said and then as he said that to Henry, his friend thought that he should just not get in his business. But at the same time he knew that it wasn't really his fault for being like this. After all, Jeri had mentioned the fact that Henry seemed to be off, and if it weren't for that, then Takato wouldn't have even bothered him. If he wanted to be angry at anybody at all, it should have been at Jeri. But even that was insane and he just couldn't get himself to do it.

"I just need to get things straight. I had a couple of things happen today at the start of the day and it was a little much for me to handle." Henry told Takato and then after he had said that, Takato placed his hand on his chin and he wondered what was making Henry act like this. Was there a duel that he had or was it something else entirely? Henry was going to tell him before he even needed to ask.

"Did you have to fight something this morning? Did you lose the battle?" Takato asked and that was when Henry remained silent for a bit, trying to move on with that whole thing. Takato constantly asking all of these questions was just not really able to do that for him. "Henry, if there is something going on, then you can always tell me." Takato said wondering if Henry really was in the mood to be talking with anybody right now. Henry just thought about if Davis would even want to be exposed.

"So unlike you, who found Guilmon by creating them, something that is really strange. But I was given Terriermon as a gift. And when I was given Terriermon, that was when I first found out what a digimon even was. I know that this may be a bit of a surprise for you, knowing that I didn't have Terriermon first. But the digimon was sort of a reward for me doing a lot of work for the person that gave them to me." Henry said and while Takato was interesting in knowing more and was wondering if he was going to be able to know more, he was not able to help but wondering what the point of being told this actually was, if there was even a point to this.

"When were you given the digimon and who gave it to you?" Takato asked and Henry thought that he deserved to know the truth. Besides, if he had not been told, there could be a chance later on when Davis might show up and not letting him know about the guy who created all digimon and the digital world would and Takato would probably most likely be wondering what the hell was going on the whole meeting.

"I had the digimon for about three years now. I was given the digimon by a old man named Davis. He is a very worn down man, and he needs to take a break for the rest of his life now. I was sent there since back in the day, I used to be sort of a trouble maker. I know that it may sound shocking to you to hear that I used to do some heinous things, but that is just the truth. And then soon enough, I was sent there to help him out and he gave me a digimon." Henry told Takato as Takato had looked like he was really not able to believe what was being told to him. Just something about Henry being a huge trouble maker just did not really seem all that real to him.

"What exactly did you do back in the day that would be considered making trouble?" Takato asked as Henry didn't really want to talk about it. Takato was able to see on the look of Henry's face that this was the case. "Sorry if I am getting into a touchy subject. I won't bother you any further about it if that is what you would like."

"Thank you. I don't mind talking about it, but I don't want anybody to know what I did back in the day. I am trying really hard to place that all behind me, and anything that I can do to do so, I will go out of my way to do." Henry said and Takato felt like he could get where Henry was coming from on that. "I mean I guess if you really want to know, I will let you know later. Just not right now."

Takato nodded and he felt like this was fair of a trade. "Alright, we will talk about it when you feel like you can be able to talk about it without shame." Takato said and then Henry felt like while the conversation was great, they needed to go on and go about their day once again. "We should be heading to class now. The bell is about to ring very soon. I don't want to class to class." Takato said and then he started to head back to the school.

"Thanks for talking to me. Talking to friends does help, even if not in the super obvious way." Henry said and then he began to head on his way to his class room. As they were starting to get on the way to class, Henry was thinking about the friendship that he had with Terriermon as well as Guilmon and even the other humans. He wanted to do the best to make sure that the humans would be safe. Takato and Kazu and Kenta and Jeri were all very good to him on the very times they had seen him. Even Rika won't be too bad once he gives her a chance. Well that was what Henry hoped at the end.

Speaking of Rika, she was just outside of the school after school was done for the day. She was wondering if somebody would actually go on a date with her to the school dance. That would be the one very big thing that he would really desire. Rika was just really happy that those assholes were not trying to get into a fight with her. If they tried to see her again, she will not even bother trying to fight them anymore. She would just want to try and fight somebody else instead of them. But before she could even comprehend this any more, she saw something that made her start to feel a little bit more calm and happy, just looking at this thing.

It was Calumon and they were looking at Rika with a moment of just pure joy and excitement. "Hey you, want to play with me for a little while?" Calumon asked and Rika was thinking about this and then she grabbed the digimon wondering what was going on with Calumon. Rika was wondering what change in perspective she must have been going through in the last few days for her to go from wanting to kill anything to taking at least small digimon a little bit with joy.

"What are you doing in this place right now? You seem to be too innocent to be wasting your brain away on these things. You shouldn't even be focusing on school and you should be going out there and make friends." Rika said and then Calumon was wondering if Rika did not want to talk to them or somethng like that. "Don't get me wrong, it very intriguing to see you and I hope that we can see each other later, but right you this doesn't seem like the best place to go." Rika thought about her school dance and put Calumon on the ground as she said this, starting to feel bad and sad again.

"Hey Rika, do you have a moment?" There was a voice that Rika did not know calling out to her. Rika was wondering how they even knew who Rika was, but then she had to remind herself that this was school and that people probably knew who everybody was no matter what the case may be at the very least by name or something like that. Rika turned around to see what this guy was wanting so bad with her, thinking that this guy was going to be a utter annoyance.

"My name is Kenta. I know that you are friends with Henry and Takato..." Kenta said and Rika rolled her eyes. If this guy, no matter how nice he may seem, knew what the truth was, then he would not really be calling the three of them friends. "I was wondering if maybe we can get to know each other a bit." Kenta said and then he put his hand in both of his pockets and then pulled them out and he was giving her a careful look the entire time. "As you may know, I don't have any of those monsters that you are talking with right now." Kenta said and then he was looking down at Calumon, hoping that the digimon didn't care that he was just talking about them in such a careless way.

Rika nodded and felt that this was true, and that maybe Kenta was actually heading onto something that wasn't so bad after all. "Do you have anybody that you are going to the dance with this weekend?" Kenta asked and he knew that this was really fast and that there was no way in hell Rika would say yes. They probably knew each other for less than ninety seconds and he was already dropping this nuke on her lap. "I don't have anybody who is going with me. I doubt that I am popular enough for that."

"No I am not going with anybody. Everybody I know probably wants nothing to do with me. And yes that is including my so called friends Henry and Takato. I don't know where you came up with the idea of the three off us being friends, that is nowhere even close to being the truth dude." Rika told Kenta and Kenta put both his hands in his pocket and then he started to walk a couple of steps away.

"There is no real reason to not start being friends with them now. They might actually end up really liking it much more than they are wanting to admit it. Just give it a chance. Want to walk home with me? I mean, I am not really walking home with anybody right now." Kenta said and Rika considered that. "I doubt that you want to really walk home alone either. I know that you may have a brute outside, but deep down inside you probably want some friends actually."

Rika sighed in annoyance. Despite how much she had hated to admit it and that she was admitting this to a dude that she met all of two minutes ago, but she knew that Kenta was right. If there was one thing that Kenta was, it was smart. Maybe a little bit too smart. "Fine, I don't like this, and I think that I shouldn't be doing this, but you are right. I know that I would rather be hanging out with somebody over walking home alone. So I will give you a chance to prove yourself." Rika gave in and Kenta smiled and she could not believe the smile that this dude was giving. She then started to walk with him and Calumon was just standing there not really sure what to do or say. Renamon was watching from several feet across the school to make sure that they would not get in the way unless if it was absolutely needed.

"So Kenta, how do you know Takato and Henry? Do they talk nicer with you than they do with me?" Rika was saying, trying her best to not say anything terrible about them since Kenta was their friend and she wanted to at least pretend to care and be nice about them when she was around them. But thankfully with her, Kenta did not really feel or sound like he was one of those kind of men who wanted to hear one thing or another.

"Don't be afraid to tell the truth. You're not talking about me after all. Besides, they are sometimes hard to talk with. I am not really friends with Henry all that much to be honest. I only met him a few times. Takato is the one that I really know well. He talks with me every day and we have known each other for a few years by now." Kenta told the truth and hearing that exact thing from Kenta was what Rika really needed.

"Thank you for being honest with me. To tell you the truth, I don't mind Henry all that much. He barely has said more than ten words to me. Takato is the one that I have a really bad problem with. He punched me when we first met because of my digimon and his." Rika casually admitted that she had a digimon, and she didn't care since not only Kenta was a relatively nice guy, but she just sort of assumed that he already knew about this before. Kenta just was going to play with it and act like none of this was strange, and besides he wanted to give off a good impression with her. One of honestly. Not one of corruption that Kazu was having with Peggy.

"Maybe those two guys do take the whole digimon thing a little bit too seriously. I like the card game and everything and play it but I don't really know if I would treat having a digimon like a religion or anything like that. After all, they are just some creation that humans made." Kenta said and there was a sign of what Rika was talking about in his tone, and Rika was not really too sure what to think about that now.

"If you did have a digimon, what would you be doing with them?" Rika asked a little bit curious and that was when Kenta had to sort of think about that. Despite the fact that he had wanted one really fucking badly and considered multiple times and things in which he had one, he knew that he never really considered what it would be like to own one really all that well. He just thought that it was something that he could never really have, which was a little bit of a defeatist attitude he knew, but at the same time he was just trying to be honest with the whole way of things. If he could have a digimon, like Takato, Rika and Henry, then he would have had one by now. Same thing with Kazu and Jeri.

"Honestly I am not really too sure. I mean if I had one, I guess I would be treating them better than how Takato is doing. Not really all that hard I have to say. Since he is not good at taking care of a digimon at all. I think Kazu would be the worst one though. He only cares really for the fighting and the competition of it. Besides, I think he cares too much over fighting and being the best." Kenta said and he knew that it could be a problem to be like that. Although Rika was sort of like that and she had one no problem.

"I wouldn't really say that he can't have a digimon. He just hasn't gotten the pleasure of getting one. He is basically the male counter part of me. I care a lot about winning as well." Rika said and Kenta nodded.

"At least you are willing to tell the truth. I know people who are very highly competitive and would never even dream to admit it since they know there is a bit of a negative prejudice about that whole thing, and they know better not to pay basic attention to it at all." Kenta said and Rika thought that Kenta was easy to understand and that he was a good guy.

"You know, I think that you are a decent guy. I have not really had to worry about what I have to say around you. I know that this may be a little bit fast since we only have met each other like twenty minutes ago, but do you want to go with me to the dance? You said you didn't have anybody and I don't either. Maybe we can work good with that." Rika said and Kenta was feeling like he was hitting a home run. Takato was with Jeri, or starting to get there, and then Kazu was making progress with Peggy, and Henry was probably already with somebody for all they knew. Nearly everybody was making progress on the young love field.

"Yeah, let's go to the dance." Kenta agreed and that was when Rika felt like there was a little bit of a one second butterfly in her. The idea of having somebody with her to the dance was a lot more of a nice feeling than she could have imagined that it would have been. She thought she wouldn't really care, and yet here she was, thinking that maybe Kenta wasn't a bad dude after all.

"Well, I will see you at the dance Kenta. Nice to meet you. If you see Takato and Henry again, try and get them to behave around me." Rika said and then she headed on inside when they were at her house. Kenta kept both his hands in his pocket and he felt as if there was something with them that really made sense. It was really fast, but it was something that felt right.


	26. The Dance

Chapter 25: The Dance

As Kazu was home, he heard his door knocked on. He knew he needed to stop what he was doing. He opened his window and he was hiding the fact that he was both smoking and drinking. If it was his parents, they would be pissed a thirteen year old was into that stuff. If it was Peggy, she would break up with him. So he put out the cigarette and then threw the shot glass under his bed after the window was open. There was just something about this that made him feel like he was going to be in a lot of trouble soon.

Kazu opened his bedroom door and when he had opened his bedroom door, he saw Peggy and he was hoping that he was not going to get caught with the smell. The window being open was not really a suspicion of Peggy mainly because this was the first time that she had been in his room, so she was not really used to how his room was like on a daily basis. But when she started to look around more and get to the office more often, then she would study the way the room was in a deeper context. But she would give him the benefit of a doubt this time.

"Are you going to go to the school dance coming up?" Peggy asked and Kazu nodded. He really liked the idea of going on the school dance with her, and Peggy was happy. She hugged Kazu and this was when he was really worried that she would know what he had done from the smell alone and he was just hoping that the window was going to keep off the smell a little bit. He didn't want to give up his habit just for her but at the same time he didn't want to lose Peggy.

"That is great. I was really worried that you would tell me no. But I think that maybe we should talk about what we plan on wearing for the dance." Peggy said and Kazu never thought about what he was going to wear for the dance. He didn't really care about the dance all that much. Kazu just wanted to have a good time and he wanted to not have him and Peggy break up for him smoking or anything like that. Kazu was going to give this up very soon and he sat down on his bed.

"I never really thought about it. Honestly I don't really give a shit about that stuff. I think we can just go in there casually like we normally do and not really worry about what ever everybody else is worried about. Just don't worry about the others." Kazu told Peggy as was hoping can feel that same way. He really did care and he was hoping she wouldn't be so worried over the tiny things that honestly did not matter all that much in the long run. Peggy didn't really agree with him there.

"I think that you need to get a good outfit going on. I mean I wouldn't mind personally if you are not too professional, but everybody else might be looking at you a little bit more critically than I am." Peggy said and Kazu considered that. But then again, if it was just other people who would be judging, then why the hell would he care. It is not like he is going on a date with them. If he was going on a date with them, he would care a bit more. But Peggy herself admitted she did not really care all that much here.

"But Peggy, if you yourself don't really seem to mind what I am doing so much, then you do not need to remind me what they might be thinking. They probably will just be too focused on dancing and enjoying their date that they probably won't even notice my weaker outfit during the dance." Kazu said and then he was wanting this conversation to end and Peggy seemed to kind of pick up on how annoyed he was getting with this conversation. But she decided that she wanted to say one final thing before the conversation would be dropped forever.

"Please, for my sake, can you just do it for me? I know that you personally don't really care all that much, but I do and I want you to do it for my sake. Just one time please. Next time we go to the dance or something, then you can wear whatever you want and dress the way that you desire." Peggy said and then Kazu sighed. As much as it was pissing him off to be having this conversation with her for some strange reason even he could not comprehend all that much, he decided that maybe Peggy was right.

"Fine, I will do it just this once. Don't expect me to be doing this very often. I know that you want me to do it, and while I am not really agreeing with it, I don't want to cause any conflicts here and I will just do it because you want me to." Kazu decided as Peggy smiled and Kazu looked away. All in all, he was just hoping that he would not get his smoking material caught. That was another thing that was really putting his mind set off. He was not really wanting that to change everything, but he knew that it would if he was not careful enough.

"Thank you for agreeing with me. I know that you are not really all that excited to just do stuff like this, but the fact that you are doing this for me makes me feel a lot better inside." Peggy said as Kazu remained silent. He was wondering what was going on with Peggy to make her care so much about some stupid dress up and he was trying to figure out why this was even pissing him off so much himself. Honestly, despite the fact that it was just how he was, it was just the way that he had felt about it.

"I just hope that things go nicely. I really want this dance to be good." Kazu said and he shared the same exact fear that Peggy was having on that account. She did not want something to come up and ruin everything in the end. She was thinking that it was so great that Kazu was not smoking anymore or anything like that. Just thinking about the idea of him still smoking honestly pisses her off and if she found out that he was still doing this, then she would have thought that he was just betraying her for that stuff.

"I guess that we will see how things go soon. I just hope that nothing happens soon that makes me start to wonder what our relationship really is like." Peggy said and then Kazu wrapped his arms around her shoulder and he was using his left hand to sort of move it in a way that showed he was embracing the entire idea of adventure at once. "If you were still into that stuff we were talking about earlier, than I would be very ashamed of you and I think that we would possibly have to end the things off here."

"Don't worry about it all that much Peggy. I have placed all of that stuff behind me. There is no reason for you to think that I am still into that." Kazu felt so good that he was able to make her believe in his lie about it and that he could get away with it for just a little bit longer. He wanted to get as much in before the whole battle between the two would have to come up with that stuff.

"I hope that you are telling the truth." Peggy said and then Kazu nodded and that was when he was hoping that if she found out the truth about him lying, then everything would just get even worse than it already was before. He was thinking that not only would she cut ties with him but then maybe even the other members of the group as well. He did not want that to happen. He did not want to lose the friendship he had with Takato and Kenta for something like that.

But before they could think about that for too much longer, Kazu and Peggy looked at each other for a moment. Kazu placed his hands behind his head and he was starting to really run out of material of what to talk about. He knew that they needed something that they could have in common with or else they were going to be going all over the place with this petty back and fourth dialogue. Kazu was thinking about kissing her, but at the same time he knew that it would be really fast. So he decided that he would just keep it to himself for the time being.

As things during the last few days were finally sort of becoming the norm for the group and what people in the group had been all but used to now, it was still a bit strange for there to be digimon running around and all of that stuff. Takato was thinking about what it would be like to go on the dance with Jeri. He really wanted to go on the dance with Jeri, and he was hoping that she even felt half of the way that he felt, which while he knew was probably not the case, he wanted it to be that way.

Takato was staring outside his bedroom window, wondering what exactly it would be like to ask Jeri out on the dance, and he was thinking about how great it would be if Kazu, Kenta and him all had a date for the dance. Takato had no idea about the whole Kenta thing, so he was forced to assume that the only one who had a date was actually Kazu, which at the time was actually a pretty reasonable thing to assume, and a little bit sad for Takato to assume since that meant that Kazu was the only one out of them that had any form of life in any way.

It was getting late at night, but at the same time he wanted to go out and just hang around for a bit. He decided that he was going to sneak out for the night. So with that, Takato opened up his bedroom window and then he walked out of it and closed the window to his room. He was really hoping that neither one of his parents really knew about what he was doing, since this would get him in a huge load of trouble if they knew what he had been doing. But then again, this was just his first time doing it and he doubted that anybody really would care all that much.

He walked down the fire escape as quiet as possible and him doing this was making people outside looking around and seeing what he was doing and they were wondering what the problem with him was, but they decided not to tell anybody since they figured that it was probably none of their business and despite how random what Takato was doing, due to him only being thirteen more than the act itself they decided that since it was none of their business, they would just let him get away with it and not tell his parents about it for the sake of all three of them.

Soon enough, Takato was now on the street and he was ready to walk down the street and go on and ask Jeri for the dance. He could not really believe the fact that he was doing this so late at night, but he thought that Jeri would not really care all that much. Or not enough to get him in trouble, and even if she did not want to go on the dance with him, they could still be able to hang around for a bit and that would be a great thing for him that night.

As he was walking around at night, he was thinking about the cars that he was willing to drive around when he was old enough. He thought about the digimon of the world and what things would be like in the future when they might be in society a little bit more and they have been more accepted. That was what he was hoping would be the case at the very least. The idea of digimon not being accepted into society was a little bit of a sad thought for him honestly.

Takato was wanting to live in a place that was several hundred feet long instead of some poor ass apartment room where his room was over half of the apartment. He was glad that he was given such a big space, but at the same time, he knew that it was becoming a huge problem for the operations of his family. It was not really all that big of a deal, but still there was something to it that made him feel a little bit bad for it.

Soon enough, Takato reached Jeri's house and he knocked on the door a couple of times. He was hoping that she would just answer right away and not make him be wasting his time any more. He got his wish soon enough when she just opened the house door and looked at him with horror in her eyes like she could not really fathom what he was actually doing. Takato did not really pick up on the cue, despite him being a progressively more social person lately.

"Hey Jeri, sorry for doing this so suddenly in the middle of the night, but I was thinking about it and if I didn't ask you then, then I would lose my mind and I would probably never have the balls to go on and ask you again. But will you be willing to go on the school dance with me?" Takato asked and that was when Jeri stopped what she was going to say mid sentence and she looked directly at Takato as if he was sort of falling from the fucking sky onto her lap.

"Yeah sure, I will be willing to go to the dance with you. I would be wanting to this to just sort of be a one night thing that we can really sort of take advantage of being just a one time thing." Jeri said and then when she had said that, Takakto felt a little sad and he was really wishing that she didn't say that, but at the same time he really could see her point of view and then he nodded. That was when the two of them sat down on the ground and they were just willing to talk to each other normally for a little bit longer and not really give a shit what was going on outside in the real world.

"So Jeri, what do you think of all of the digimon?" Takato asked and he was hoping that he was going to get a good answer from her that didn't involve her saying that she hated all of this and that she wanted none of the digimon to be in the whole thing. He had no idea why, but he was scared out of his mind that this was going to be her answer and that Takato would not even be able to defend himself and say that she was wrong for feeling that way. Since she had a very valid way of looking at it if that was what her answer would be. But he was very lucky that this was not really the answer.

"I really love them all so far. I thought that digimon was just some stupid card game back then." Jeri said and then when Jeri said that, Takato felt inside that he really could not blame her for feeling that way. After all, it was just a card game and she had never played it before. It was hard not to find something that you give zero shits about to be a little bit dumb.

"But seeing them for myself and how they are all, almost like they are people of their own, I am starting to think that maybe I was wrong." Jeri said as Takato looked at in the distance and they were looking at the empire state building, and just how great it had looked in the night time. But before he could enjoy his moment for too much there was a loud voice that called out to them that made them stop what they were doing.

"Jeri, you need to get home for the night. We are starting to get worried about you." Her father said and then Jeri nodded and before her father noticed that Takato was there he stood up and was starting to head out. Deep down inside, Jeri was glad that Takato was heading home. It was not that she didn't like him there. Having him there was a relatively good thing, but at the same time she did not want to get in trouble and she did not want to get Takato in trouble as well.

"See you at the dance!" Takato yelled just loud enough for her to hear but he was going out of his way to make sure that nobody else would hear it by being a little bit quiet about it. Then he started to head off and he was really happy that she had said yes to his offer. His offer was something that he had been building up all of this time, and her saying yes was just the one thing that he really needed in life. He figured that there was no better or more important thing for him to do besides just head on home since he did not want to increase the chances of him getting in trouble even more than he was probably getting himself into just by doing this encounter with Jeri.

As that was happening, Henry was thinking about the girl that he was starting to get in some form of a relationship with. He was really unsure how he was able to get one out of all people, since he was sort of worried that people would just make fun of him for being a little bit of a nerdy guy. Maybe he knew that he could not fully get away with it and that was why he was worried about how people would handle him as a result of this. But he was standing up and looking outside the window in the exact same way that Takato was when he had started to get the balls to ask Jeri out.

Henry and this girl agreed to go to the dance, and Henry thought that perhaps him going to the dance with her would sort of raise the social status of him just a little bit. He wasn't too much of a care freak on the whole social status thing, but he always did look at it as a possible nice side award if he really got himself into it.

He started to know this girl soon after the whole Terriermon incident. If Henry had to place an exact time at it, he would say it was perhaps twelve or so days later. He was heading home from school one day and he was just sort of enjoying the time that he was having with Terriermon as well as the great progress that he was making with Davis and the fact that soon enough, he was going to be done with that service. This was always something that made him happy to think about. He wanted to be liberated and the days that he was counting down until his full liberation was what was keeping him totally sane in the first place.

When he was getting close to reaching home, he found a girl that he thought was in school with him. Wondering if she was the same type of social out freak that Henry himself was, he walked up to her and he was hoping that perhaps he could get to know her a little bit better and perhaps they could become friends or something like that. It was a loose hope that he had, but it was still a hope nonetheless.

"Hey, are you heading home?" Henry started and the girl looked over at Henry wondering why he was talking to her. She had no fucking idea who this guy was and him randomly walking up to her was a little bit of a strange thing for her. But then again, she thought that perhaps there was no real harm to talking with him. After all, he looked like a harmless bloke. Which clearly showed that there was a massive change in the six weeks or so of service that Henry had given Davis, that he was almost not like the man that he used to be at all. Which was the exact goal that was given, and what was happening. "My name is Henry. I am in the fourth grade."

"My name is Amber. I think I saw you in school before. I haven't noticed you all that much before. I heard about you a couple of times, but that is it. Probably because I am in the fifth grade, a grade higher than you. I think that you might have just been a person in the hall way or you might have had a small hint of controversy around you. Nothing that I would know or honestly really care about. I mean, I barely even know you." By barely, the true word was nothing. The only thing that she knew about him was his fucking name.

"Well, if perhaps you want to hang out some time soon, I will be waiting at the front of the school and we can hang out that way." Henry said and then as he had said that, Amber considered it but she was not really too sure. Maybe she would have to see him in school a bit before she would make that choice.

"Maybe we can meet up during lunch some time. That way I will know what I really think of you. Nice to meet you Henry." Amber said and then she started to head off. Henry knew that this was the closest thing that he would get to a victory, so he decided to go with it and he began to finish the way home and not think about it all that much.

That was when his very short flash back ended, and Henry flopped down onto his bed and turned off the light. For some strange reason, he was really tired and he just needed to go on and get some real sleep. Not some half assed five hours a night, which was not so bad on short doses but doing it over and over and fucking over again was just a little bit too much even for him. As soon as he had closed his eyes and Terriermon got under the pillow, Henry was totally out and honestly had had preferred it that way. Something that he didn't have to force himself to do like he would have to do on most normal days.

As Henry was asleep, his parents were talking in the living room not even aware of the fact that he was trying to sleep. "Should we tell him? I mean, I don't really know if he will be ready to bare the news too well. I mean, this was something he never had to deal with back in the day." Henry's father said as he was touching his wives belly. He was really happy of the news and he was hoping it would be a girl to balance out, but at the same time he was just not really all that sure. After all, Henry had been the only kid for thirteen years. What would be the point in trying to change this now. As horrible as that may sound to try and act like this may have been a bad idea, but he was just trying to be real about it as well.

"We should tell him. It is just as much his business as it is ours to know that he is going to be a big brother. It is not really a matter of if we should tell him as much as when we should tell him. I doubt that we should do it soon. Maybe after his school dance when he is ready to settle down a bit and not play like a party animal." Henry's mother said and then both the parents thought about it. This was going to be a very long day when they did tell the guy.

"I think maybe after the dance might be a good time. After all, if we tell him any time differently, he would barely have any time to get ready for the kid. That might be even bigger damage than it would be if we just left it alone until the day that you go into labor." Henry's father said and that was when he was thinking that maybe he and his wife had some form of an agreement on it.

"I just hope that he takes it well. I know that he has never really expressed too big of an interest in having siblings, but at the same time he has never expressed total disdain for the idea either. Maybe we just need to let him know, and maybe he will be cool with having a sibling after all. You never really fucking know with Henry. He has so many mood swings and attitude changes that it is honestly impossible to keep on top of it all." His mother said and that was one thing that her husband can agree on. One moment Henry is a total asshole and if he were not their child, he would have been tempted to slap him up the face. Then on other moments, he is like the nicest person on the whole fucking world. It was strange.

"It's probably a matter of time honey. I am going to bed. Need to be at work early today." Henry's father said as he kissed his wife and went on to the bed room.

His wife sat down and started to think about what it was going to be like having a second child so much later in the equation. She had nothing against it in the least, but she would be blind to say that it won't be a fight every single day like it already was with Henry in the first place.

When the dance was starting up, Takato and Jeri were the first of our brave heroes to show up there. Takato had been pretty excited for the dance since he knew if she was coming with him or not. He thought that this thing could seal the two of them as this big item, and that being at this dance was going to be the best thing in the world for the two of them. So when Jeri showed up and she was having a look on her face that looked like she was ready to get right into it, Takato decided that he didn't want to keep her waiting at all. He grabbed her hand and led her down the path way to the center of the dance room. As they were together, Takato wrapped his arms around her and was thinking of what to say.

"So Takato, how good are you at dancing? I mean, like truly. Not like in the way that you just move your arms around for a bit and call that good dancing..." Jeri said and then Takato was tempted to laugh a little at that one. He was sort of a victim of that after all, and Jeri really did sort of have him in a corner there. But he never really was sure if he could live up to what she would have wanted.

"I guess good enough for me. I don't know if you would really dig it though." Takato said and he felt like he was being a little insane by saying digging it. Like really, was that the best thing he could do to get her excited to be with him. But he didn't really think that he needed to fully recoil from that, just yet. It wasn't like he said she was a ugly pig or anything like that.

"I am just glad that you asked me to do this. I would have not gone to the dance if nobody was asking me, and I was worried that nobody really liked me in that regard at all. This does make me feel a lot better about myself. Thank you for that." Jeri said and then Takato could feel the huge blush coming down his throat, and he was wondering if there was a way that he could cover this up and make it look like he was at least somewhat under cool and collected.

"I really think you might be selling yourself short. You need to give yourself more credit than you are Jeri. There are a lot of people who think that you are a talented, funny girl." Takato said and he knew he was talking about himself when he he said that, but he felt that there might be other people who felt that way, and he wanted to make sure that she felt special and not like she was just the other kid on the block like she was selling herself out to be. "One of these days, if you decide to do some comedy, you are going to make some really great material that will make people really love you and the work that you do." Takato said and he also meant every single word of that statement.

"Thank you Takato for saying that. It does make me feel like there is nothing to be too afraid of. I really respect that about you. It seems in our short friendship so far, you have really gone out of your way to show me the good parts of myself that makes me think of what I am truly worth. I think that is why Kazu and Kenta are friends with you. You never seem to not see the good in something." Jeri said and then Takato nodded. While he was sort of doing it to get her love, he was also doing it because he genuinely felt that way about this great classmate of his.

"I think that this friendship should last a long time. I don't want to lose it. I don't want anything to get in the way of our friendship. I feel like going to this dance with you will help make it even stronger, and that makes me really glad." Takato continued and he could not get over how sappy this sounded, but at the same time, he knew he was probably holding up better than Kenta was with Rika. Jesus christ, how did Kenta manage to get Rika of all people to like him? There must be something about pick up lines that Kenta knew that Takato did not.

"I would not really worry to much about it. I doubt that anything will really get in the way of it. After all, you do treat Guilmon well and that was one of the things I was worried that you were just going to sort of throw away and not really bother to do." Jeri said and Takato could sort of see where she was coming from from there. Although there was no real reason for Takato to basically not treat Guilmon well. But he was wondering if perhaps Jeri needed to just get to know Guilmon better. After all, Guilmon really liked her so it was not feeling like too terrible of an idea.

"So Jeri... when tonight is over with and all of this is done with, and the dance is gone, do you think that anything between the two of us will remain in any way the same?" Takato asked and he was wanting the honest answer from Jeri and not one that would make him feel better.

"Yeah, I think that things will mostly be the same as before. Although I do think that there might be a little bit more of a spark between us, but that is the most that I will really see it being different, for now at least." Jeri said and then Takato nodded, not really too sure where to go with that one.

Takato and Jeri just enjoyed the rest of the slow song, and they decided not to talk for the rest of the song and just to take it very slowly and had both agreed that this was the best way to take it, since it would not require too much more effort to try and act like they were destined love birds. Well, that was their silent agreement more than a vocal one to be fair. But as the song was going on, Takato was actually thinking more and more about how great it was for Jeri to like him and how great it was that they were starting to unite a bit more on tiny things such as this.

Once the slow song was over with, Takato and Jeri sat down on a couple of chairs and just looked at each other. "I don't want to get into any of the crazy all out dancing. That is not my style. I know that many people like to dance like that, and I can sort of see the appeal to it, but I guess that maybe I am not really one of those types of dudes. I hope that this doesn't really bother you though..." Takato said and then after he had said that, Jeri shook her head. There was nothing to really be bothered by over that. He wasn't an extreme dancer, and there was nothing wrong with that in any way.

"Honestly, I am not really much of a dancer either. I enjoy it, but only when I do it with myself. I don't like to do any of the dance room stuff. I like to do it in a spot where I am the only one who knows what I am doing and nobody will be able to make fun of me or judge me for it." Jeri said and then after she said that, Takato nodded as he understand that idea.

"You don't have to worry about how you dance when you are around me Jeri. Just remember that. If people don't like it, then fuck them. They need to stop judging so hard and look at themselves and see if they are really any better. Chances are that they are probably not. I mean, look at this. It's not really dancing. It's just random moves and people acting like they are the hot shit." Takato said and Jeri smiled at him trying to make her feel better.

It was true, many of the people who were dancing were just moving around and acting like donkeys and looked like they were just trying to be the most popular kid at school for one or two minutes. It was all just a huge popularity contest, nothing more, nothing less. No matter how much people tried to act like it wasn't, it simply was and they just didn't want to openly admit that they only cared about being popular, a thing many people only care about.

As Henry was talking to his date, Amber, he was wondering how well she would like him after this whole dance, or if she was going to think that it was a huge mistake trying to get to know him after all. Henry knew that he just had to take things slowly and if he didn't try to over flow stuff at her, then maybe she and him could actually be able to pull this thing off after all. "So Amber, is this the first time that somebody has gone on a dance with you to something at school?" Henry asked, and he was hoping that she would say yes to sort of give Henry a little bit of a distinction, but at the same time, if she said no, then that would mean that nobody would have liked her before hand, and that would have sucked.

"I went on a slow dance with somebody before, but it was not as a date, and the whole thing felt like it had never happened after the song was over. I think that the person probably forgot that they had ever danced with me. After all, I don't really blame them, I barely even remember the dance that I had with them, or who the person looks like. They just seem to be some sort of name less face." Amber said and Henry was thinking it would be crazy if he was the guy, but at the same time he just knew that it wasn't, so he was not even going to try and get that idea in his head, since he had never had a slow dance with anybody before.

"I never slow danced before. I think that nobody really likes or cares for me. I know that sounds sort of sad, but I have never really been able to get a person to accept me." Henry said and then he was thinking that the whole Davis thing was so long ago that he could not really even use that as the excuse as to why nobody really liked him or anything like that.

"Well, have you thought that maybe it is because you have not gone out to see them before and that you have remained a little bit too far to yourself for them to ever really get a chance to decide if they liked you or not." Amber said and then Henry shook his head. There was no way for him to really feel that way. After all, this dance was making up for it all.

"I really am enjoying the dance so far Amber, and I would not really worry about anything on that level at all. Just enjoy the slow ride, as I am doing right now." Henry said and then when Henry had said that, Amber nodded and then they started to dance for the rest of the song, and then it was as if nobody was even around to notice or care how they were the ones that enjoyed the moment so well.

As Amber and Henry were just enjoying the dance, Henry was having some thoughts on the back of his mind. Such as the fact that he really could not help but wonder how Davis would feel if he learned about the fact that Henry had a good time at a school dance with one of his class mates. He had no idea why he cared what Davis of all people would think, but it was probably due to the fact that Davis did sort of help him down the right path and he needed to sort of really thank Davis for that, even if it was sort of too late for it. Henry never really did thank Davis for what he did to help set him down the right path, and thinking more and more on that was sort of making Henry feel like he still was not all that great of a guy after all, and that he still had a while to go before he was fully a changed man.

"You seem to be sort of thinking about something..." Amber said when she picked up the facial cues that Henry had. Realizing this, Henry looked back at her and shook his head. This was his best way to try and get her to relax and not worry about it all that much. Besides, it really was none of her business how well put together or lack of being well put together Henry had been.

"It's nothing, really. Don't think about it too much." Henry said and then after he told her that, she just nodded slowly and she decided that she was just going to respect his wishes. Besides, he was right. It was really none of her business what was going on with him. She barely even knew the guy. She only went on this dance with him because she thought that they both needed something to do that night, and the idea of having a date at the dance seemed like a really good idea at the time.

With that, the silent dancing between the two returned to normal and they were going back to what they had really wanted in the first place, a casual dance where nothing else in the world mattered. After all, if they liked the dance and felt satisfied with it all, they could continue this stuff on later in a further relationship. There was no need to throw it all at each other as if they were declaring instant love. Which would have been totally asinine.

Eventually though, Henry and Amber had all but forgotten that mini conversation just a second ago and the song that was playing in the back ground was basically just drowning out that fear. Henry didn't think about Davis or Terriermon or any of the ideas that his parents were having on having a second kid, which he knew very well about and thought was a totally retarded idea. In the end though, Henry was just sort of letting himself remember that as long as things went smoothly, there would be no real problem.

As the dance was coming to a end, Henry and Amber decided that they would hang out more, but just take it outside and just roam around the city a little bit to just sort of enjoy the view. "Did you like the dance?" Henry asked Amber, hoping that the answer would be yes, but at the same time he was relatively sure that it would be. If it was going to be a no answer, then he would have wondered how much of that would have been his fault, if any of it would have been his fault. He was pretty sure that if she just flat out hated the dance, at least some of it would have been to blame on him, and he would have wanted, no needed, to know why that would have been the case.

"I enjoyed the hanging out with you part, and the fact that for four hours or so, nothing in the world mattered at all. That really made it feel even more special than it was already. Thank you for letting me come with you to the dance Henry. But as we are both probably expecting, I think that maybe this is where it will be ending for us..." Amber said and then Henry thought about that, which in a way she was right, and he was not even sure why he was trying to pretend that there could be a follow up. They had pretty much everything that they could have possibly wanted with each other at that dance, and there was no real reason to try and pursue something like this any further if there was no real genuine pay off that would have come out of it.

"Well, I guess that we could still be hanging out and stuff, just as friends and nothing else really. Maybe some time after school this week, we can go down to the park and hang out there for a while? I think that maybe it would be a cool place to hang." Henry said as Amber considered that.

"I guess nothing too wrong can come out of just enjoying some time at the park or something like that. I think that you could be onto something there Henry. How about we meet up after class on Tuesday or something and see where that takes us?" Amber asked, and Henry agreed to that offer, and he was so glad that she had just accepted him there. He was really thinking about how much he and her were already getting together perfectly.

Eventually though, Henry and Amber had to head off home and after they did so, Henry went to his house and that was when both of his parents were standing there waiting for him. "Henry, we need to tell you something." Henry's father said and the three of them sat down to have the news be given and broken to that Henry would become a older brother.

Kazu and Peggy were at the dance and they decided not to really do any dancing at all. Instead, they just resorted to just relaxing at the microphone stand and watch the others. They were sort of trying to find Takato and the others, but they decided that it was none of their business what was going on there. Despite the fact that they were just being way too casual for this for many peoples standards, they were the ones that had the most well done dress up. Kazu decided to actually take it seriously thanks to the way that Peggy was sort of hammering it down on him that he needed to really try to dress up well. "I can't believe that the school year is almost over, then we will be in eighth grade. Just seems kind of crazy to really let that sink in. It feels like just two weeks ago when we were starting the year. Feels like it went by at mach speed." Kazu looked at Peggy and smiled and he had no idea how sad it was for him to say something like that, to say that they were moving on to the eighth grade. he had no idea how dangerously close to un true that was for him, and how genuinely untrue it was for others in the group.

"Well people are right, every does go by faster than the previous one, at least in a mental idea. I mean, it doesn't really matter. Everybody no matter what the case is has the same exact amount of time every single year. It is a way we use that time and the way that it is looked for us, the younger people, to the older people, and hell even the more young than us. One year to us is like seven percent of our life, while one year to a six year old is sixteen percent of our life, while one year for a sixty year old is just slightly over one percent of our life." Peggy said and Kazu considered that for a moment.

"I guess it is true that it is more of a matter of perception than anything else really. Nothing really makes a year all that different besides our life to then." Kazu said and they both agreed.

"I don't want my life to go to waste when I grow older. I would hate that so much, it would make me feel like nothing went well." Peggy said and Kazu gulped at that idea, wondering how his life would turn out.

"As long as we don't just let people do things for us, and you try to do something yourself, this should really not be a problem at all." Kazu said and Peggy nodded in agreement on that. Kazu was a decently well put together dude, he just needed to sort of have the mold broken in on him before you would really get his true thoughts on a lot of matters. She just hoped that he would never lose sight of this out look he was able to slowly develop as she got to know him more.

"Wow, it seems like we went a little bit on the deep end during that conversation. I was not really expecting something like that to be honest." Kazu said when he was sort of bringing himself back to the moment of the dance and then he looked over at Peggy who seemed to be thinking about that exact same problem. They really did go a little bit crazy with that one just then, and there was no real context to explain why that happened in the first place. "I mean it is important to talk about these things I suppose, but we should be having fun, not talking about end of the world shit."

"Yeah, you're right. I have no idea why we even forced ourselves into something like that. Let's just enjoy the rest of the night." Peggy and Kazu laid down on the microphone stand and were just laying down for the sake to pretend like they were outside in some great and green fields. The songs that were playing the back ground were closer to Kazu's tastes than it was to Peggy, but even then it wasn't really one hundred percent his style. He had no problem with it, he just never really cared for it.

"I know this may sound a little bit of a strange question, but doing this right now is sort of making me think about it. But if I just continued to lay here, for a while, would you continue to lay with me, and in a way, just sort of forget the world? I guess that kind of goes against everything we talked about earlier, but holy shit, just thinking on this here is sort of making me really consider that a bit." Kazu saw Peggy glance at him and stare really deeply into his eyes. It was a combination of kind of odd but also a little bit romantic.

"I would say that I would not mind doing that. Although we would have a little bit of a time limit since we kind of can't really do things until past midnight here. So if you wanted to lay down here for the rest of the dance, that would not really be too big of a deal, but once the dance is over, we have to get the fuck out." Peggy said as the two of them started to hold each others hands a bit after that.

It was a nice moment, and for a thirteen year old stand point, a little bit of a romantic idea, but it could not last forever. In fact, after like ten minutes or so they were both kind of starting to regret this idea and then they decided to get up and start to do some other things. They thought that while it was in no way their taste, maybe doing a one song dance would not be too terrible of a idea, to sort of capture the point of this dance anyways.

They only did two songs before they decided that maybe doing some dances like this was not really their cup of tea, so they decided to head on out and go to Peggy's house. Kazu was thinking that he knew what she was planning on doing now, and since they had been together for a little bit, maybe it wasn't a gigantic rush to do this, but at the same time, he still was not one hundred percent sure if he should really be doing this now. But either way, the idea of it was a little bit too much for him to resist and his will power was just starting to crumble at the thought of it.

"I think that you are a good guy. I was not really too sure when I found out that you had been smoking and drinking, and that almost turned me off from you in every single way. But since you have started to change your ways on that, I don't really mind anymore." Peggy said as Kazu was sort of debating to himself if he should tell her the truth or not. But he thought that things were going so well between them, that if he told her, nothing would be able to repair anything they had, so he was just going to keep the lie up and hope that she would never catch him doing it or something. He was just glad they were not heading on over to his house, or that would have blown the whole operation.

Eventually, Peggy and Kazu reached her house and they went inside when they were sure that none of their parents were around to see what they were planning. So they closed her bedroom door and then turned off the lights and Kazu was hoping that this was going to go the way that he was thinking it would, and if it did, he would have sort of been on the fence of telling Takato and Kenta or just keeping it to himself.

Kazu and Peggy started to kiss each other and this made Kazu feel like he was on the top of the world. Sure, it was a little odd since he was terrible at it, and he felt like she was ten times better than he was at it, and that made him feel a little bit guilty that they were doing this and he was just so shitty at it, but he was telling himself that it didn't really matter all that much, as long as he enjoyed it, and he sure as hell was.

As that happened, and Kazu and Peggy were sort of escalating a little bit more, Rika was at the dance with Kenta, and for some reason seeing that guy and his dumb but also cute attitude was making her start to rethink her life, and in a way was sort of planting the early seeds of her change as a person. She didn't want to admit it, but hanging out with Kenta that day and before, she realized that as much as nobody was allowed to hear this, especially not Renamon or Kenta's friends, and even more especially not Kenta, but she had a crush on the dumb kid.

"Rika, are you a dancer at all?" Kenta asked at the start of it all, and he was having such a uncetrain sound to his voice that Rika almost felt bad for the guy. He had no idea what he was saying, and how to really talk with her, and that was certain. He kept looking down a couple of times, and it was only one sentence. Rika thought that if Kenta was trying to get her to dance, then he was doing a terrible job. But if she was trying to get her to appreciate his silly life style, then maybe he was actually succeeding at least a little bit.

"I don't really dance to often, it's not like a full on hobby of mine, but I might try it out if you are into that." Rika said as she was sort of curious how Kenta was going to take that advancement. If he was going to grab it and run with it, or fall back in fear because of it. Either way, it did sound entirely possible to her. Kenta wildly shook his head and then he was letting her knew that it would be terrible if he dances and Rika put up her hands to show she got the point.

"I could never dance to save my life. Trust me. If I tried dancing, it would make Takato look like high art in comparison." Kenta said and then Rika totally forgot about Takato. She honestly did not want to be reminded about him, but she thought that maybe Kenta didn't realize that, so she decided that she was going to let it slide this one time. "Oh sorry, I forgot that you two were like the worst enemies possible..." Kenta said when he just remembered that fact, and then he was thinking about how badly he was doing at this whole thing. He probably made Takato look like a master picker upper by comparison, which was what he had said about his god awful dancing.

"I mean, I think in a while, he will start to know how to talk to me without letting the fists do the talking. But until then, he does have a long ass way to go. Not that it is bothering me too much. At least you are nothing like him in that regard. You are actually somebody who I can talk to. Besides, I doubt that you could punch somebody. It just seems like that is not really in your personal ability." Rika said and then Kenta slowly nodded to that. She was mostly right.

"I mean, only on like life risking cases would I do it. I don't want to pick fights, and the idea of picking fights just for the sake of fighting seems so fucking insane to me, that I have no idea why anybody would do it." Kenta said as Rika was looking off to the sides, hoping he would not really pick up the context of that. Besides, most of the time it was something she had to do.

"Fighting is a bit of a subjective matter. Some people will think that it is something that you should do no matter what if something starts to go the other way, while some really try their best to work through it. I feel as if you might be the type of guy who works his way through it, and that when you are able to work your way out of it, you can show them that there is nothing wrong with just words. I mean, there is nothing wrong with fighting, but even I have to admit that diplomacy is better sometimes, and this is something from somebody who does fight relatively often." Rika said and then Kenta nodded, as if he was actually really understanding Rika and that Takato should have just given her a chance.

"I just have seen a lot of side effects that come out of fighting, and I am scared of what it would do to me if I start to follow down that path. Do you get what I mean? I think that if I began a fighting career, then eventually, that will be like my whole life, and it will be like nothing else I would be living for. So I sort of figure that I should just stay away from it. You seem like you do understand me, even if our ideas are not always one hundred percent the same. I think that there is a little bit of a middle ground with us." Kenta was saying as Rika saw the easing in that Kenta was having in this entire conversation. It really was something that she had to admire about him, and in a way that didn't really feel forced.

"I want to really see how you are more of as a person. I don't see why people have such a huge problem with you. I think that you are actually a really nice girl." Kenta said and that statement actually really put a lump inside of Rika's throat. She had no real clue where to go with that. It was one of the best things anybody ever said to her.

"Thank you Kenta... I never really thought somebody would ever tell me that. This is actually really making my day." Rika said and then Kenta started to tilt his glasses around to make them not fog up or feel like they were about to fall off of him, which he was thinking could happen if he didn't focus enough.

"Want to go outside? This dance room is really sort of making me feel like I am being spied on. Besides, I think that we would rather enjoy the nice view of the city than the view of guys getting all sweaty." Kenta said and then Rika liked that little bit of attitude that he showed for literally one second and then the two of them went outside and they were thinking about what was going on and how this really even happened at all. It was kind of just a huge escalation.

Once Kenta and Rika were sitting down and at the bench outside, Kenta looked over at Rika and he was doing his best to really try and figure out what the hell she was thinking. He thought he had probably figured her out more than anybody else, but this was still something he needed to really pin point. He felt like he was starting to really break into her tough girl mold, and that was what was making him still go through with this. It was obvious that there needed to be a lot more effort here, but it was the effort that he was willing to take to really change how Rika looked like life and everything else. So it was the time and commitment that he was willing to take, if it meant making everything between his friends and her to be much easier.

"So, how do you like Renamon? Do you view them as a friend, or just something that is used to help get you power? I honestly have no place to judge you at all for what you say, I am just curious on what you say. If I had a digimon, I would try and look at them as a friend, but I do see that in some cases, I might have to use them as just a tool to help me win a battle, and that could be a bad way of looking at things though." Kenta said and then when he had said that, Rika could understand the defeated tone in his voice, as if he could not believe that he was suggesting using something for duel.

"You just have to do what you think will work best for you. Sometimes, that may be just using diplomacy, sometimes you have t be rough with your digimon. I am glad that you don't have one. If you did, then I could not begin to imagine the crazy turmoil that would be taking you over and you would probably be wanting to never have to fight or do anything like that again after just a first time." Rika said and Kenta nodded.

"I guess I am easier to understand than you. Probably not that hard though to be honest. You are a tough cookie to break." Kenta said and then something happened that made them both stop what they were going to say next.

"Is that a digimon coming up?" Kenta asked and the fear in his voice sky rocketed at that statement, and Rika stood up and was taking a few steps forward. She was wanting to make sure before she made any decisions right then and there, but she was sure that Kenta was probably right on the dot in his theory of what it was. Rika took out her digivice, she brought with her just in case she needed it and then she pressed the on button, ready for Renamon to come and help.

Before Kenta could even fathom to ask any questions, there was a tiny white digimon with a red triangle on its face running towards them. Kenta would very soon learn that this one was named Calumon. As that was happening, there was a digimon that was small and purple running towards them, which Kenta knew was named Impmon later on down the line. So this was confusing since Kenta was wondering why Rika would feel the need to fight two things that were not even a tenth of her own size and even she could kick their ass. But then the thing that scared those digimon and made Rika more aware of what was going on showed up, and Kenta understood the whole thing then.

The digimon that had been chasing them was a giant spider digimon, one that looked like it was the size of a quarter of a soccer field. Kenta was on the verge of screaming when he saw that, but Rika decided that she would stop that from happening as she did not want to cause any form of mass hysteria or something like that. She just covered his mouth and then Kenta was slowly nodding as he was thinking he was starting to get the point she was trying to make.

"Kenta, try and keep Calumon and Impmon safe. You can stay here and watch if you want, but just make sure nothing happens to them. I need to take care of this, since they are about to trash the school if we do not be careful." Rika said and then Kenta slowly nodded and he took a couple of seconds for his mind to calm down but once it did he grabbed Calumon and Impmon didn't want to go, but even they knew that there was no way they can take this spider thing out before they got stronger, so they started to follow Kenta as well, for the sake of thinking long term.

It took like thirty seconds for Kenta to really navigate his way through this insane moment but soon enough he reached the end of the school yard and he placed Calumon on the ground and then looked at Impmon. "What the fuck is going on? Do you have any idea what is happening? I feel like I need to get in there and help out. But I have nothing to fight with..." Kenta said as he looked forward at Rika. Seeing her in any possible danger was scaring the shit out of him.

Rika got slapped in the chest by the digimon and she flew backwards onto one of the seats and then she yelped in pain when she had that happen to her. Kenta was on the verge of coming in there and doing something to help her, but there was something that stopped him. He started to see a giant yellow fox digimon, Renamon, running in their direction and Kenta took a deep breath. He figured that maybe this thing could be able to help out and safe the day after all.

Once Renamon was on the battle field, things did start to seem to let up for the good guys, Renamon picked up Rika and then ran her really quickly to Kenta where Kenta was forced to grab Rika and hold her for a minute or so, which made Kenta really wonder what he was going to do if and when Takato had found out about this. Renamon then jumped to be in front of the spider digimon once again after this was over and then when that was going on, they brought their arms together and then after a few seconds of charging, they fired a shit ton of diamonds at the spider.

As this was going on, Kenta felt like he was losing his mind a little bit, and like he was watching some form of crazy video game come into reality. It was a little bit exciting to see, but at the same time, he had no idea if this was really real and that the stuff he was seeing was what actually made sense. The spider started to move their legs around a little bit, and after a couple of seconds, Kenta was able to figure out that this thing was wanting to create some webs to trap Renamon up in.

Kenta looked down at Impmon and he was wondering if maybe the small thing could actually be able to help them out, it was a distant and sort of retarded hope Kenta had to admit, but it was still a hope that he had nonetheless. So he looked over at Impmon and then he was nodding at the digimon and that was when Impmon was seeing what Kenta was implying. He thought that Kenta was a understandable bloke after all and that maybe Kenta could actually be able to help out more on his own right.

Impmon started to run at the digimon and was shooting just a bunch of tiny fire balls. They were just doing this to distract the spider and that was doing decently well enough that it made the spider turn around and stop tying Renamon up for the time being. Kenta slowly placed Rika down on the ground, hoping that what he was doing was not a move that he would regret and then when he had done so, the spider swatted Impmon aside and really badly hurt them, but both Kenta and Impmon knew that they had truly done their job for the moment.

Renamon was getting up and they jumped behind the spiders back, which scared the spider for a moment and as this was happening, the spider was starting to fumble around and Kenta knew that he was doing the one thing that was needed to be done, and that was just distracting the spider long enough for Rika to really gain a sense of what was going on, and then the spider grabbed Renamon and threw them down to the ground in annoyance.

Seeing Renamon being abused like this was starting to trigger a wide ass range of emotions for Rika who had not come even close to wanting to see something like this. It really was hard to see her edition get beaten up like this. That plus the dance she had with Kenta, it really was like a huge eye opening experience for her and this was making her start to wonder the true merit of all of what she had done up to that point in time, and if she had made the right choice or not on any of this. As she pondered it she started to see that the answer very well be a resounding no.

Rika began to make her way to Renamon as she was hoping this moment can be able to start to bring them a little bit closer to each other which was a thing she was slowly and progressively wanting. She did not want to let Renamon down and she also did not want to let Kenta down as she knew he had some hope in her and he wanted to make that hope justified for him to have in the first place. Out of all the people in that group he hung with, he was the only one who was in any way a friend of hers and she did not to make that feel unjustified.

Kenta was amazed at how Rika had been able to handle the whole thing and seeing her run straight into like she did was truth be told a little bit hot and he enjoyed seeing it from a personal level, and her entire appearance went along with it all to make a perfect set up to Kenta having a full on, rock hard boner. It was a terrible timing to get one, but that part if him gave zero fucks at all and Kenta had done his best to make it so that Rika would never have to learn of it. As that would have made things a thousand times more uncomfortable for both him and for Rika. So he tried to keep himself a little bit busy there.

Renamon stood up and as they had done so, Rika could feel something was just about to go down, and both she and Kenta st of back to see what the digimon was going to end up doing. Even the spider was taking a couple of steps back when they saw what was about to go down.

Kenta just stood in amazement as Renamon began to glow. Knowing what went down last time, she knew exactly what was happening. Renamon wad now on their way to the second stage of life, and the evolution would be the only thing that would keep all of them alive from the spider, which was the main thing she had any true fears of. As Renamon was changing, even the other two digimon were watching in disbelief at the fucking situation.

"Kyubimon!" Was the name of the second form Renamon had as can be figured out when that was what they had yelled and then Kyubimon turned to the spider and was ready to do anything possible to save Rika or hell even Kenta to some extent. Kyubimon started to grow some fire balls which did look pretty cool even I, the heat of the spider could be able to make any webs as Kyubimon would burn them all down and soon enough Kyubimon breathed enough fire to make the spider fade away into dust. It was a bit amazing how fast the battle went after Renamon became Kyubimon, and Rika was glad her digimon was the one who got the second turn, so to speak.

"Well, that was fun." Kenta said and then he saw that Kyubimon became Renamon again. He could not blame the digimon. After all, they were in a huge battle just now. The thing just needed some rest now. Kenta saw that Rika was standing in front of Renamon, to make sure everything was alright. Kenta looked and saw that the other two digimon were gone. Probably left after all the action was gone and there was nothing left to witness so they could just call it quits.

Rika walked on to Kenta to be with him once again and to make sure that he was still totally fine with all of this. Maybe this can show Kenta why sometimes there needed to be a fight in order to try and keep the peace, as the spider would not do anything besides just try and duel them out to the death. With that, the two of them started to walk away from the scene if the fight and just sort of ponder what this all meant for the group and the digimon. Maybe Rika would have to team up with the boys after all. Maybe it won't be so bad after Kenta started to try and get through towards her. Rika looked at Kenta when the were under a tree and then she thought about what to say.

"Renamon was really impressive out there, seems like you have taught them well after all. Seems like you do know how to fight after all." Kenta was thinking maybe sooner or later he might have to retract what he said earlier, for her at the very least since damn she was a good fighter. Rika really appreciated the way Kenta treated her in this situation. Maybe he was more grown up than she thought.

"I wanted to show you my thanks for taking to to the dance tonight." Rika said and Kenta was not sure what she meant as Rika pushed Kenta to the tree. Despite the usual case and how this would be a instant red alarm, Kenta was ready. Despite this being the second time she saw him, he was already her best friend and her trusted ally. She started kissing him very deeply. Kenta took a moment to ease in but when he did be was loving every second of the kiss and he was ready for more.

Rika and Kenta kept it up for a little longer before they had felt like they needed to go back home or at the very least go somewhere else so that nobody else would follow what was going two of them were sort of trying to fully understand what was going on, and they felt as if they had sort walked in on a rough to get out of situation. Kenta never really had any interest in getting Rika to get all wet over him but since it was happening, he would go along with it gladly. If it meant the group can start to get along with her, and if it meant him getting a girlfriend, it would be a double victory.

As Kenta and Rika were walking around the area, the more that the previous battle was sort of going off their mind and it was slowly getting more and more clear that they did not really feel all that bothered about what had gone down earlier. In a strange way, it kind of was just business as usual, and Kenta and especially Rika were well aware of that being just how it was. Kenta did sort of wonder of it was even worth having a digimon if this was going to happen on a daily basis.

"Are the digimon one of the reasons that you do not mind going out and fighting all of the damn time? That would actually explain quite a bit I suppose." Kenta said as he was feeling like he was truly starting to see what the digimon were like and how it was slowly starting to form Rika's character a little bit more. At the rate it was heading it would not shock even him if be was starting to become more pro fighting and trying to do it for the sake of all humans and digimon.

"I will not say it is the full reason, but it does have some share to my idea in why fighting is not really all that bad. Even before digimon, I have had to fight a share and it does open my view to it and accept it more. Besides, your friend likes to punch me when he sees me. After the fourth time or so, I have sort of grown to expect it though. I feel like fighting, to some extent, is what sort of drives me onward with my life. You might say I should not live that way. Maybe you are right. But it is the way that I have to live for the time being." Rika was saying, as Kenta considered her strange but also valid point of view.

"While I do not want to say so as it would require me to change my mind set and all that, but maybe you could be right. I guess I don't like that idea though... I feel like maybe we should try a different topic though, and while I can not read your mind, I feel as if you might agree with me just a little bit." Kenta said and then Rika was sort of having a mental sigh of relief this topic was a little much to handle at times.

The two reached the front of her house and as they did so, Rika looked over at Kenta as if to fully get ready to part ways with the guy who was slowly winning her over. "Well I guess we will have to leave each other now." Rika said and did kind of mean it when the tone if her voice did show a faint hint of sadness. Kenta looked over at her and thought of what to say next and how he can find a way for them both to win. As he was heading back he turned at Rika and shook his head to show he was not scared anymore. Or what be thought was not scared anymore but in truth was just being retarded.

"I don't care what they say. My parents will not care what I will do. I can do whatever the hell I want. If you do not mind me asking or suggesting, but would you mind if I stayed for the night and left in the morning? Besides, it is getting a bit late maybe I really should go home now as it will be past one when I do." Kenta said as Rika thought this idea can work, and after some consideration, Rika nodded and had a huge, border line strange smile on her face. As crazy as it was to say, he was sort of her best friend and him doing this was another reason to add to the growing list of how and why that was. Even after their debates he liked her enough to stay the night at her house with little to no second thought at all.

Kenta walked inside of her house, giving little to no care if he would get in trouble with Rika's parents or not. Besides the whole time thing wad a half valid reason to do what he was doing and even they must see that.

Soon enough, the two love birds went inside of her room and unlike Peggy who just went ham wild right away and closed the door instantly, then turned every light to hide what she did, Rika only closed the door and did not turn off the lights to go along wild quite yet as she wanted it slow to an extent with Kenta.

"Welcome to my humble abode. Probably where I will live until I am in my twenties." Rika said and Kenta did not say anything to that. There was no real reason to think that quite yet so he was hoping Rika would change that way of looking at things. She needed to look at things better, and he was going to do his dann best to do so. Even if the others will not.

"How long have you really been into digimon if you don't mind me asking Rika. I am just a little bit curious to see if this has been a long term thing you gave been a part of or if it was relatively recent. I only got into digimon really for my friends, even though they like it better than me." Kenta said thinking the conversation could drag on a bit gwe before they had to resign for the night, as they would both need some sleep soon after all that went was odd staying at a girls house, as well as the house of the first girl he kissed. That was still sort if sinking in for him, as he had in no way planned it.

"I got into it because of this one guy, kind of an asshole to be honest showed me it and it looked cool. His name was Ryo and we meet one day. But we played the game for a bit and I lost. I then decided I wanted to be better so when I would fight him again I would be able to win the whole thing. He was such a fucking prick Kenta. I don't know why most men are like that. You seem to be one of the few exceptions to that." Rika said to Kenta as he was hoping he would not become the gold standard of how to be a good bloke. He was okay, but not the best.

"You really did leak my interest, but what had made Ryo such a terrible person to begin with? I think I have heard of him now that I think of it and he sounded like a relatively nice person. Was it a case of good on the outside but rotten on the inside?" Of he truly was as bad as Rika had said, then this could be a really big problem. One he would not be too sure if he could crawl himself out of. But he was telling himself he was over thinking it and that this would not really be too big of a deal.

"He just seemed like he was only doing things if it were to put him one step forward. He pretended like he cared to get people to support him as this so called nice guy but it was just a cover up. He knew what to play and how to play it out was even worse than I could even dream to be." Rika loosely explained as Kenta wondered how he could make her feel better.

"Rika, you are not a terrible person. Don't say that about yourself. You need to be more confident in yourself. It seems like you truly do lack a good look at yourself. I believe from what I can tell that is part of why you are always doing stuff you normally never would. Not because you want to, but because you feel the need to. At least I can see it that way." Kenta told Rika his opinion, hoping she would be cool with it and that she would not attack him on the whole thing. He was trying his best and he hoped she can respect that.

"After the first time with Ryo, I was just focused on training myself to be ready to fight him again. When I kept fighting, I eventually found a game I could fight in. Turned out to be a tournament, and I decided to go ahead and try my skills out to see if I was any better, and I must say I did a dann good job." As Rika told Kenta that, he could not help but so wonder of perhaps he knew what she was talking about, and off the off chance he could have actually been there.

"I easily won the tournament, only starting to struggle even a little on the final two battles, and even those were sort of easy compared to how I saw people handle the fights prior to me getting the rounds. So when I was like waiting for my time to keep on winning." Rika was slowly getting to the one part she was wanting to really get to, and she was hoping Kenta would really love.

"After the tournament was over with, I ended up being able to see Ryo once more. I wanted to defeat him in a second round. While I did take down some cards and I made him actually think his moves out, he still beat me. But trust me Kenta when I say this, third time will be the charm. Next time I will crush him and make up for all of the loss I have had to deal with just because of that cunt." Rika did not care how Kenta felt with her saying that, at least she was telling the truth.

"Are you sure it will even satisfy you to beat him now. It feels like it would not be worth it after all you have been trying to make it out to be. I just sort of fail to see where this will take you. Maybe it was one of those things I had to be there for to get, but so far I do not fully understand." Kenta said as Rika took a shirt but very deep breath. Maybe explanation and examination can help him grasp it all.

"I guess it is a thing you needed to be there to get. But trust me, if you were, none of this would even be debated. He'll, you might even be helping me out as best as you could to defeat Ryo. In a way, he is quite the illusive man in a way. I just wonder if he knows I am after him, or if he thinks I have given up on it. I will never give up until I beat him, even if it is the last thing I do." Rika finished and Kenta wanted more details, like the full extent of what exactly he had done.

"Was it really all that bad? I seriously fail to see what he might have done to you that was so terribly awful. Did he try to use you for his own gain or something?" Kenta questioned as Rika out a little bit more thought to it and why duo was so awful. She knew why for herself, but she was thinking of the way that Kenta could finally once and for all see her point. Maybe if she gave the long version of the story, maybe then he would understand.

"I don't like this, but I trust you enough to talk to you about it. So it started when I first met him, which had happened back when my mother was sort of becoming a fashion star. Ryo was there trying to help get her career going as he was doing this as a bit of community service. My mom was sort of thinking that he was a nice guy and she had started to earn his trust after helping her out for a little while. Hearing what my mom had been saying about him made me really excited to meet him, which my mom said it would be a little bit. I was so excited to see how he helped the fashion career of my mom." There was a hint in her voice that gave Kenta the clue she was sort of having some father issues at the same time, and that was a part of where she was coming from.

"Was there something going on with your father at the time? It seems like that is a piece of the puzzle I am missing, or maybe I could be wrong. It would put a couple if things in perspective." Kenta waited for the next bit of the story.

"My father is dead. He died just about a month or so before Ryo shower up for the first time. He was heading off to work and he sung me a great song. But then two days later we got news of his death. I just cried. And cried. I kept doing so for nearly three weeks. But Ryo had made me hope I could have at least a form of back up. I thought I would be able to move on and do something I knew I would enjoy. But he knew I was weak and he used that to his favor, and he did show absolutely no regret for what he had done." Rika looked like she was about damn ready to cry.

"Did he try to use you... Sexually?" Kenta said as he was feeling terrible to have that idea even come to his head. He felt like he was sort of falling to the lowest level of accusations. There was no proof Ryo did that and even if Rika hated him there was no sign that she was going to say he did that to her.

"No, it never had gone down to that. For that at the very least, I guess I should be grateful. But still, I would not be shocked if he had wanted to do something like that. He was quite the extreme dude. But he would however always talk about me behind my back and make fun of my skills and tell me that I was no good to be playing that game or to be going around and having a social life. He seemed to give zero ducks how I felt by the stuff he said. In fact, it was pretty obvious he found my reactions funny." Kenta was still listening while thinking about the whole dead father ordeal.

"It must have been truly terrible to lose your father. I am kind of curious if you guys were close or if it was one of those cases where you started to only appreciate something after it was taken away from you. I would probably be that way with my parents. I am not super close to the point of unwavering loyalty with them, but I would never dream of wanting then to die." Kenta saw Rika starting to stare outside her window and Kenta wondered if he should drop the case. For both their sakes, he was thinking that maybe he should to avoid any possible conflict.

"I was really starting to get close to him lately. When he and I would meet up, he would always have a new song for me, and seeing him sing the songs he had for me really put a huge amount of joy on my life. I know no matter what, the songs can never be replicated and his style was truly one of a kind. I remembered how my dad said one time that the greatest stars will shine brightest, but the shine will not be as long. I wonder if he was a bright star and that was why he died first. But if you like have a long life, does that mean you were a dim was light that just lasted a long ass time. It is a interesting look into perspective." Rika said and while she had no idea at the time, she was having a slight reference to Kazu's fate as compared to the rest of them.

"I wonder how you father would feel about you if he were alive. I wonder if he would approve of me talking with you at all. I wished I could have met him to know what he would have said to me in terms of general advice." Kenta was slowly feeling like he would have really needs Rika's fathers way of life now.

Rika was considering that as well as what it was like when she first met Renamon. She felt like that would be the next bit of the story she would give Kenta is this night of her life being a prequel. If Kenta even gave a shit anymore.

"Are you even interested in what I gave to say anymore? We have been talking about this for a while. I would not blame you if you are not interested in this anymore. I don't really want to bore the living shit out of you or anything like that." Rika asked Kenta, worried that she had pressed this thing so far down to the ground that it will not even be worth going on for. She figured that it was impressive he had even gone on for so long in the first place. Kenta stood up as be was walking on his way to Rika. He was doing his best to make sure that she understood that he respected her and wished to know the rest of her story, to see if she can have a fully transparent thing with him going on.

"I am interested in what you have to say. I would worry that you would keep information inside of you for too long for your own good. That seems to be another problem that you have with yourself that I have noticed. You seem to have a certain level of insecurity in you that makes you not open with others. Don't worry about what I may feel on what you tell me." Kenta was hoping soon enough she would be broken in enough to get it.

"Well in case you are curious, I had gotten Renamon soon after I had my first card battle with Ryo. I was in a truly bad place after he beat me in the card game the first time." Rika started as Kenta began to fear the worst on the stuff he was going to get told here, wondering if Renamon was just a tool for power, a idea that seemed really likely with the current context clues he had been given.

"Are you using Renamon for power? I don't know how to really feel about that honestly. Just seems like a bit of a low blow." Kenta was hoping he was wrong about that assumption and that Renamon was not just a battle slave after all. But in the current case so far, he really was just not sure at all and he had to take the extra level of caution here, to make sure he wasn't a tool either. Kenta wasn't Renamon, in fact he was not a digimon at all, but still, it was a little hard to be fully sure with stuff like this. He had hoped Rika could see his point in view though at the very least.

"Well, I would be lying if I said power was not tempting. It was tempting and it still is. But I would also be lying if I said that was all I was going off of. It really is not. In a way, I felt like I needed something to be a support for me since I was alone and I felt like I needed something there as a sort of helper for what I lost with my father. Something that made me felt like I was cared about. But instead, I treated Renamon poorly and I lost sight if that." Rika said as Kenta thought that one out. He felt it was true enough if he was her, he could have done something like this for his own gain.

"So you do see a lot of the failures that you have with Renamon, and I am sort of assuming that now you are going to do your best to change that all? I feel as if Renamon will be able to really appreciate that, and maybe it will be able to get Takato and Henry to see the good side in you after all, and that can truly be able to turn it all around I feel like. Just really five it a try and see how it all turns out." Kenta said as he saw the look on Rika's face when she turned around to see him that he was truly getting to her, and that she was probably going to turn around and start to follow down his path is slow spinning redemption.

"Maybe you are right here. Thank you for setting me down the right path. Next time I see them, I feel like things will slowly go more and more in my favor." Rika said as she slowly placed a kiss on Kenta cheek and then she went in her bed. "I will be going to sleep now. Thank you for talking with me. That was something I really needed on all honesty."

After Rika decided to go down for the night, Kenta was sort of thinking to himself and he was just not really able to understand how all of this could even play out. He was hoping this would go the way he thought it would. Plus it had seemed like Rika was placing a lot of trust on him, and there was no way in hell he was going to let this down for her.

Eventually though, Kenta laid down on the ground and as he was thinking, he was slowly letting himself go to sleep. He was just wanting this to be over. He closed his eyes and soon after wards he was just as asleep as Rika and he felt like this was the way things were sort of setting up destiny with each other now.

As they were both asleep, things went quietly for the next couple of days. It was not until Wednesday that week anything of worth went down, and when the group would slowly but surely fully establish the tamers as well as get to really know Impmon for who they really were, and start to track down the true meaning of all of these digimon and all of that stuff. In a way, the legend of the tamers was really growing here, and it only really took a couple of weeks to get there.


	27. The Power Plant

Chapter 26: The Power Plant

After a little while, the tamers were forced into the first situation of which they absolutely had to work together, which after them starting to get to know each other a little bit, did not really sound like all that terrible of an idea anymore. Unlike before, this was now a little bit feasible and they might not hate each other every second of the way. It had started soon after the school day was over and Takato was hanging out with Henry. Kazu and Kenta were there as well and when the sun started to go dark and the faint outline of a digimon was in the sky, Kenta looked at the others as he took his glasses off and then he said "we need to get Rika and Jeri now. They can help us now." He said and the other three guys knew Kenta was right, even if they were opposed to it all.

"Where do you even think they are? I don't see what we can do with them if they are not even fucking here." Kazu said, wondering what was even going on. Takato thought it was best to try and get Guilmon right away as they could maybe be able to help fight. Henry opened his back pack to slowly reveal Terriermom.

"Let's not fight right away, we should at least see our other options first. But given how things are lately, we will probably have to fight." Henry said to Terriermon and as the digimon left the pack, Takato saw something that made him really worried. He saw that the smaller digimon, the one that worked with Henry was fading in and out a little bit, which made the group think that there was something else to this whole thing, and Henry was ready to take revenge on the thing that made him try to lose his own digimon.

"I know somebody who might help us. Kazu, come with me. We will go to see that man. Takato should try and find Guilmon and Kenta can take care if finding the girls. That way we can all be doing something." Henry said, deciding he would take leader roll for that one moment. Takato did not want to be the one who was alone, but as he had no time to argue, he decided he would go along with it even if he had not wanted to. So he was running off, and Kenta decided to do the same. Kazu and Henry left on their own.

Kenta ran in the school and he was having a decently easy time finding the two found Rika down in the gym coming out of her class there, and then they looked around a little bit and saw that Jeri was about to leave the school. Kenta gave them the short version as they headed outside and saw the thing in the sky and Rika looked down at her device, wondering how her partner was and if they needed instant attending to.

"Renamon probably needs our help right now. Can we go and figure that out before we go on and help the others?" Rika asked and Kenta didn't feel like there was any real need to argue there. If all the digimon were on trouble, then they needed to take care of that before there was anything else they tried to work on. So the three of them began to head on to the house Rika lived at to try and find Renamon. If they see that Renamon is fine, then they would go right away to help the boys out on their personal quest.

As that was going on, Takato was running right to the cemetery, not wanting to waste even a minute of time and they were really scared that their digimon was going to die, and even that idea had scared him shitless. Takato was running so fast that he was sure his shoes would break from all of the pressure but he did not care all that much as there was always the idea to replace those in his head, so that was not really all the huge of a deal for him. Takato kept going faster and faster and he eventually reached the cemetery and he was wondering if Yamaki had found it or not or something like that.

Once inside the cemetery, Takato was seeing as Guilmon was fading in and out a couple of times and Takato was shaking his head. "I am here now. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. Let's go back to the group. They will be wanting to see you. We are going to hang out with you and have so much fun." Takato said and he felt bad for lying about that stuff, but he knew it was the only way to get the digimon to cone out and do what Takato wanted them to do.

As the two of them were out of the cemetery, Takato looked up and saw that they were sort of running out of time. If he wanted to save his digimon, he was going to really gave to step up his pace, and he knew that there was no way he was actually going to be able to fully justify this, but it was the one thing he needed to sacrifice in order to get the job done. Guilmon saw Takato running off and decided to just pursue him like he needed to do.

Takato had no real idea what was going on, and he felt bad for not explaining to Guilmon, and his fear of what was happening was all that he was sure in. Eventually he saw Impmon and Calumon just within a couple of blocks. He had no real idea about these digimon, but they were still digimon and needed his help, so be would do all he could to help them out as well as the digimon in the main group solve this strange fading problem.

As that was going on, Henry and Kazu were on their way to Davis's house since Henry felt Davis knew exactly what to do. Considering how Davis knew all about the digital world, Henry thought there was no way Davis did not know how to handle this, but maybe that was wishful thinking.

"Who exactly is this Davis guy anyways Henry? It's pretty clear that you have known him for a while, considering the certainty that you have of him, but I don't really get how you can be so sure that he is the hero that can tell us how to solve all of these problems." Kazu said, not trying to fight with Henry, but he just genuinely did not get the general picture. Perhaps Henry just needed to give him a little bit of context and he would understand it all. "I mean, as long as it is not really getting in the way of your business." Kazu said, thinking on how this could actually somehow be a major problem for Henry if there was something that happened to him.

"No it is not a major problem or anything, I was just never asked because quite frankly nobody really cared at all. They are just too focused on going along in their own lives that they don't stop to ask me about how I am doing and everything." Henry said and then he decided he could give a short version of the story to make Kazu get the basic details and not be really far behind or anything like that.

"So when I was younger, I was sort of a big trouble maker. My parents did not really appreciate that. So as a result, they sent me off to do some service around the town, and that was what I ended up doing for the next few months of my life. I met this guy named Davis, and for the next year I would listen to him telling me his life story every single day for an hour that would slowly lead to us being up to date. Turns out, he was the creator of the digital world where all the digimon come from, and he knows more about these things than just about anybody." Henry gave the simple version and Kazu remained silent for a few seconds, processing what happened.

"So digimon were created by humans? Does that make them artificial in a way?" Kazu felt bad for suggesting it, mainly because of Terriermon, but he genuinely could not help but ask and he was hoping Henry did not mind him saying that. But before he can get his answer and before Henry could give the answer, they were already at the front entrance to the house, and Kazu would see for himself.

As they were inside of Davis's house, Kazu looked around and saw something that he knew he should have been expecting, but was still a little bit shocked to see. He had seen a eighty five year old man laying down on his bed, obviously trying to just wait out the moments before he died. Kazu was wondering what good this guy was going to do, but he didn't want to be rude and say that out loud. Kazy sat down on one of the two chairs in the room and Henry took the other one, ready for all the questions.

"So Davis, I brought a friend over. We were wanting your help. There seems to be a really major problem going on right now, and we feel like maybe we could use you for some help here." Henry said and then when he had said that, Davis started to look up at Henry and Kazu. It took him a moment to get it, with his terrible and fading memory, but once he had done so, he smiled ready to tell him anything that the two young men wanted to know.

"Is there something that is bothering you?" Davis asked, almost in a pastor voice. But when Henry pulled Terriermon out of his back pack and Davis saw the fading in and out situation, that was when he started to get much more serious. He thought that they needed to get right to work, if anything were to be done about that. A sentiment that Henry entirely agreed with. "I never thought that we were going to see something like this. Not for another ten to fifteen years." Davis said and this was when Henry was reviewing a lot of the stuff that was going on and what he had told him about the past earlier and what he could figure out.

"The hell mouth is being opened. Probably forced to do so with that Yamaki guy I heard on the news here and there. It seems like he is going through with his plan. In case you do not know, the hell mouth is a place where a bunch of these monsters, who were originally stuck on earth, start to come out and invade the city again." Davis stated and then added in "This happens every twenty to forty years, and most of the time across multiple states in the union."

"I guess that explains what we have been seeing lately, but that does not explain why Henry's digimon is fading in and out all the time. Do you have something to tell us on that?" Kazu asked, and there was a hint of annoyance in there, but he was doing his best to hide it since he was a old man, and he realistically was probably heading there anyways. But he was just being a little bit impatient and he wanted to know all the answers right then and there.

"Well, that is the thing. A lot of digimon that were already here when a hell mouth opens are considered to be false and out dated information. This bit of false and out dated information just gives way to the new and up to date information. Which is why a lot of time, they fade away as they are considered to be a bit obsolete. If you want to break the machine that is causing this, which would not prevent the hell mouth from opening, and in a lot of cases may actually make the opening even worse, it will be able to keep your digimon safe at the very least. New and old information will learn how to integrate, and they will have to learn how to integration." Davis said and then Henry looked at Kazu. They two of them both seemed to kind of get it now.

"Do you know a way to get to the machine?" Kazu asked, hoping that there was a clear cut answer that would not be considered too far out there for them, but he was just not really sure if they were going to be given that luxury. There seemed to just be something about this whole thing that seemed very fucking off to him. Even Henry was starting to see into it a little bit, but he wasn't sure if this was on purpose or because of genuine lack of through communication.

"About a mile from here, there is a old run down power plant. Try and go there. Once you end up there, you will find a digimon in there guarding a machine. You will probably have to fight them, and then when you defeat them, and you will have to, you can destroy the machine. This will be the only way to get the machine to stop and the process of proper integration can began. Terriermon alone is not strong enough. You need to all work together, gather any digimon you know in order to even stand a chance." Davis said and then when he had said that, Kazu looked down at Terriermon, suddenly worried for his friends digimon.

"Is there anything that you can do for us to know what we are ready to be facing?" Kazu said, some of his annoyance fading away and was being replaced with concern for the general well being of these digimon.

"I don't know my friend. I really do not. Just go in there, find out what is going on, and then fight the guardian there. Once the guardian is defeated, everything will be smooth. You have until midnight to take care of this though, and from what I can tell, that is about seven hours. You should get your friends here very soon." Davis said and both Henry and Kazu knew that was going to be fucking impossible, but they also knew that they needed to try, or else judgment day would be upon them.

"I just hope that they know where we are supposed to go. Or else we are going to be fucked." Kazu said, worried about what this was going to mean for the dgimon and how this was really going to truly change the game. In fact, despite the fact that he didn't own a digimon at all, he knew the value that they presented, and as a result, this whole thing scared the shit out of him. "If they do not, then we will have no choice but to fight them all on our own, and I don't really know if we can really do something like that." Kazu said to further drive home his point, and for this time Henry was in total agreement with Kazu, as there was nothing about this situation that spelled the word good.

"I will try and get them to know where we are, but I don't really know how well that is going to go on. But it is better than nothing." Henry said, thinking about this exact same problem, and he was looking at Terriermon worried that this might be the last time that he would be able to be with his digimon, and that idea made him really kind of sad. He didn't want to lose his digimon, but at the same time he had no idea where to be going with this.

"If I was twenty years younger, I would be doing my best to help you. But I am old and weak now. I am very sorry for what you will have to do." Davis said and while the other two did have a hint of annoyance to this, they could tell that he was being sincere, and as a result, they could not get themselves to be angry at him no matter how much they may have wanted to be.

"We got this Henry. Everything will be alright. Just don't threat so much on it. Everything is meant to go the way that it is supposed to be. Fate will play out how it is designed to play out. I feel that at the very least." Kazu said, and he knew how dumb and generic it was, but he was just trying to help his friend feel better in any way possible. But instead, he was kind of making it all worse. But Henry knew Kazu had nothing to do with it, so there was no way he could get the anger out on him.

"Just stay with me on this one. You might be the only one who can be able to help me, and that is why I need you to not go anywhere." Henry said and Kazu nodded. This sounded a little odd on any given moment, but at this moment Kazu took no strangeness to it. In fact, in a way, he was able to understand it a little bit too well. He knew where Henry was coming from, and that was the worst part of it all.

As that was going on, Kenta, Jeri and Rika were inside of Rika's house and she was looking around her bedroom. "Renamon, where are you? Are you here?" Rika asked a little bit worried and the fear was coming to her more and more with each word that she was saying. Kenta was looking around, going off of loose memory on the one time that he had just been there. Maybe there was a really obvious detail that they were all missing, something that could justify this whole thing all in one swoop. But then when he saw Renamon just feet away he called Rika and Jeri out to see Renamon.

It was indeed Renamon, but the thing was that they were suffering the exact same problem that Guilmon and Terriermon were facing. Kenta was scared, Rika was devastated, and Jeri was just wrapping her mind around the mortality of these beings, something she thought were sort of undefeatable. "Renamon come here." Rika said and the way she was saying it made Kenta look down, just not really wanting to see the horror of what could be coming up. There was just something about this all that was sort of making him feel a little bit sick to his stomach.

"Rika, you came. I was worried that you would not." Renamon said, the fear in their voice genuine. Rika shook her head, trying to show that this was something she was not willing to do. Despite the past that they had and the disagreements they had, it was seeing Renamon like this and the time she had with Kenta a couple of days ago that was really making her snap out of it. Kenta was a nice guy, and she was wanting to do anything to earn his trust, but this was not about his trust. This was about the survival of a friend.

"We need to find some place for you to go to." Rika said and then she was thinking about that, and Jeri was just processing what was going on. She was wondering why this was happening to the digimon, and she was still in a way kind of in denial about the digimon even being a thing at all. Not that you can really blame her for feeling that way at all. But then Kenta was piecing it all together and he just needed a moment to remember where Henry said he was heading off to.

"Does anybody care to explain to me what is happening? I am trying to follow along, but none of this is really making any sort of sense." Jeri said, and everybody was trying to remember that by comparison, even to Kenta and Kazu, she was a rookie on this whole thing and probably was the closest to being like a natural person out of all of them. Kenta promised that he would give the short version of the story when they were heading to Davis's house, where Henry was. Renamon said they can follow Terriermon's scent to there, where they headed off and Kenta followed his promise.

"So the whole thing that is going on is that lately, by lately meaning just today, the digimon are constantly fading in and out. Never to the point where they are gone entirely for any moment of time, but enough to sort of raise the awareness of what is going on and make us all naturally very worried over what is going on. We are trying to figure out what the problem is, and we have a feeling that Henry is the only one with any damn clue what the fuck is going on." Kenta was not even aware of his swearing, but there was a part of him that told him to fear it and just to worry on the mission, which was what really was more important than him saying fuck every once in a while.

"Wow, this is kind of crazy." Jeri said and then Kenta nodded in agreement to that. It was very hard, if not impossible to argue that one. But there was still something he felt like he was missing here. He didn't know what it was, but he felt maybe Henry would know of it. After all, Kenta was not even a tamer and instead just a friend of three tamers and the potential boyfriend of one of them.

"So when this is all done and over with, what do you think is going to exactly happen?" Jeri asked, trying her best to be actively involved in this whole thing, and Kenta was forced to give her at least a little bit of credit where it was due, she was doing a better job on it than he thought she would be doing. After all, even after one to two weeks of this, it was still kind of hard to think of digimon as being real things.

"I think that once you are around us for a while, you will be able to fully understand. At least, I think that this will be the case. That is what I have to tell myself every once in a while on all of this myself. I think only Henry, RIka, and Takato are the only ones who know all of this by heart." Kenta spoke the truth, and with that, Jeri was starting to feel a little bit better about it all.

"Guys, I think we are supposed to be at our destination now." Rika said, with a hint of seriousness but also just snapping them out of it in her voice. Kenta looked up and he saw the old house and there was something about it that looked like Kenta had to have gone there before. Kenta understood and Jeri did as well, so with that Renamon, Rika, Kenta and Jeri were all inside of the house. They only showed up about twenty minutes after Henry and Kazu, and they were talking about what was going on.

"Hey, it looks like you have been here for a little while. What makes you guys so worried?" Jeri was saying quietly, and as she was doing this, she was feeling dumb by doing this. It was obvious to figure out why they were all really worried and everything, but she was just trying to make some form of small talk. "I saw what was going on with Renamon, and afterwards, all three of us started to head on over here when Renamon said that they could smell Terriermon all the way from here. I guess maybe Terriermon should probably try and wash themselves a little bit."

Terriermon looked down and as they were looking down, Henry was sort of tempted to laugh. But when he started to smell Terriermon, he was able to tell exactly what Renamon was saying. "Oh my god, they weren't joking. You really do smell bad. I was so focused on everything else, that I barely even noticed. But right now is not the time for that." Henry said and then after he had said that, Terriermon smiled and they thought that this was just about the funniest thing that they had ever seen. "But that is not important, we really need to focus on the job that is coming up now. We just need to find a way to get Guilmon and Takato over here."

"Yeah, you guys are right. We need to figure that all out right now though. If Takato can't find his way over here, then I have no idea what is going on here. I am a little bit worried about that. Takato and I have had some form of disagreements on all of this, and the way that they treat Rika, but I guess that they mean that we should just work together for the time being. Who knows, maybe he won't really be all that bad." Renamon said and that was a sign of them slowly burying the shovel as well.

"If we don't really have any idea where to find Guilmon and Takato, but we only have until midnight, then I guess that maybe we will have to either split up, or maybe Takato is just going to have to find a way to figure this whole thing out on their own." Kazu was saying and as he had said that, the others were sort of considering that but Kenta and Rika were wondering why there was only until midnight.

Even to this day, Takato was not really all that sure why the hell he had found Impmon and Calumon like in the situation that he was in. None of it really made sense, but they needed the help just as much as the others, and for that very reason, they were willing to work with the digimon and who knows, maybe they could have just enough fire power to make themselves useful in battle. Although that was a fucking long ass shot away, but Takato was willing to give them a chance.

"Okay, I think I need to go to this one house. I heard this guy named Henry telling me about it." Takato said and then he placed both of his hands on his chin, and he was just sort of feeling like there was a time clock going on, even though he was just not sure what the fuck to do, or where the fuck to go. "If either one of you guys have any idea where we are supposed to go, I am all open to the idea. You guys better be carrying your weight here when you are working with me." Takato said, and he realized that he was kind of sounding like a dick a little bit when he had said that, but he did not want this to sort of be a dead weight situation.

"I think I know which house you need to go to. I have been there a couple of times. Or at the very least at the street of this house. Every time I went there, I always felt like something was going on, and like I need to go there to get all the answers I truly need in my life." Impmon said and as Impmon told Takato that, all three of the digimon faded away for a moment. Takato knew that he better take the suggestion, even if it had turned out to be total fucking bullshit, it was better than just throwing it away entirely.

"Let's get the fucking going." Takato said, and he was trying to sound badass but as a result ended up sounding like he had made no sense at all. So with that, the four of them were heading on down to Davis's house, with Impmon leading the route since Impmon was the only one with any idea what the fuck was going on.

As they were following Impmon, Takato was trying to sort of make his mind up about the digimon, or Calumon. None of this really made sense to Takato. Like they were digimon that do not really have partners or anything, but at the same time, they were not violent to Takato or any of the other friends in any way. It was sort of like a new thing. To not only be a independent, but also have no real desire to pick a fight. Takato was not really sure where to take the change at all.

Eventually Takato and the other three digimon all made it to the entrance of Davis's house and Takato felt like a dick when he just opened the house without permission, but this was a life or death situation, and as a result, they were kind of throwing away any sense of courtesy. But then it turned out not to matter when he saw the other five members of the gang with their digimon and the old ass man there on the bed, and Takato was wondering how a old man was going to help them out, but he didn't say that.

Once Takato and the other three digimon were inside of the house, he started to walk slowly and he was just trying to figure this whole thing out, not really sure where this was going or why they were next to a really old ass dude. "I got here as fast as I could. I even brought some friends on over here, since as I was on over here, I found them. I guess they needed my help as much as I needed to get here." Takato said and then when he had said that whole thing, Takato sat down at the floor, which was more than Kenta, Rika and Jeri.

"Now that we are all here, I need to discuss what Davis told Kazu and I." Henry said and he was ready to pretty much drop the bomb on the whole situation, even though he knew that they were expecting something big was going down, they were probably not expecting the exact thing that was going to be going on. "So when we were talking with Davis, we found out about this thing called the hell mouth. Seems like we are in the New York version of the hell mouth. But that is not important right now. The thing is starting to open, and as a result there are a bunch of digimon coming out of it that would normally not do so, and because of that, we have a big fight ahead of us. We need to go to this like power plant place which is about a mile away from here and then defeat this guardian and then we can find a machine there that we can destroy which would make our digimon not fade away. That is pretty much the story that Davis told us, and now that we are up to speed, does anybody know a good direction of the power plant?" Henry said and the others looked like they were sort of trying to wrap their heads around the whole situation.

"I have idea what to do. I think I may know where the power plant is, since I think I may have walked by it once or twice, but since I don't have a digimon, I am totally useless beyond that." Kazu said, and he was clearly wishing that he had a digimon, and on this serious case, the others sort of wished the exact same thing as well.

"Well, I guess since that is about a mile away from here, and the plant will probably take a hour to deal with in terms of walking around and then dealing with the guardian, we should probably head out around ten fifteen. Which gives us about four and a half hours to get through this. Maybe we can make a plan, and I can't believe I am suggesting this since we never did this before, but maybe we can start to do some training or something like that to make the digimon stronger." Takato said and that was when the others looked at him wondering where the hell he was going on here.

"So even if we wanted to do all of this training or whatever you want to call it, I don't even know what to do. We don't have that much time to figure this all out. I wonder if we could all take the guardian on at once, but I guess that if this thing is really strong, then we probably should be taking it more seriously, so maybe your idea may not really be all that bad." Henry said, and he was thinking about all of this, and where the hell this was even heading and what the group could actually pull together there.

"Well, remember that Davis said that the guardian needed to have all of the digimon work together to take this thing out. Yes, that even means that we will need the help of Impmon and Calumon over there, although I am really not all that sure what they are going to actually do to really help out. No offense, I just barely know you two." Kazu said and then that was when Jeri wanted to step in and she thought that maybe she could come up with something.

"I don't think I can help since like Kazu said about himself, I have no digimon or anything, but do you guys think that maybe you should just sort of do a surprise attack? Maybe have one of them attack head on, and then have some others slowly come in and bring down another attack here and there, which can perhaps throw the digimon off? I think that maybe that can work." Jeri said and the others remained silent.

"Your friend seems to have a point there. Maybe we should try that out." Renamon said, finally breaking the silence for them all.

"If even Renamon is getting on board with the idea, then maybe it really is not that bad of a suggestion after all. How about we just do it? Maybe we can incorporate Takato's idea of doing some training or something like that, and then once we are done, with like a hour and a half left before the dead line, then we go down there." Rika said and then she looked at Davis, wondering what he was going to say to the idea.

"I have a training room in the basement, just in case something like this came up. Just make sure not to really mess anything up. I don't want my wife or kids taking care of your mess." Davis said and then when he had said that, he closed his eyes to go to sleep. Trying to be respectful and quiet, the group slowly went up and followed Henry down to the basement, who had gone there one time in his entire life. He forgot what it was like, but he felt like it was better than nothing.

Once they were all in the basement, Takato was looking around and he felt like there was a lot of good things that they could use here. "I guess maybe if we actually work on this, we can pull this off after all." Takato said and then he looked at Guilmon and as he looked at Guilmon they seemed to silently agree to just train on the stuffed dummy that was at the other side of the room. As that was going on, Kazu sat down next to Kenta and Jeri and he was watching the others do this. Not knowing where to go, he let Jeri start the conversation since he could tell that she wanted something to say.

"You know, I really wish that I had a digimon. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun." Jeri admitted and the other two couldn't help but agree on that, but something about the actual current situation made it feel like the fun and light hearted stuff was sort of coming to an end very soon. "I mean, think about all of the adventures that we could have with the rest of the group once we have one for each of us."

"I just would not want to get into constant fighting. As long as we can accomplish that, then I would be mostly fine with having one. Fighting is something that I can sort of see the need for, but it isn't what I would want to do." Kenta said and he and Henry were able to mostly see eye to eye on that one. Kenta however was doing it for moral reasons and Henry was doing it that way since he wanted to make sure that Terriermon was safe, but Henry was sort of seeing that maybe that was not exactly going to happen, no matter how hard he would try to get it to happen.

"I wouldn't really care if I got into a couple of fights. I would do it if it meant keeping my friends and Peggy safe." Kazu said and then Jeri looked up as she had totally forgotten about Peggy even being a thing. She felt terrible for that, but at the same time she hung out with them so little that she felt like it was still easily be able to be justified, but it seemed like Kazu didn't give a fuck, so she just kept it to herself and not getting on the defensive.

"I don't want to fight either. I hope I will be able to get a digimon that will not have to deal with fighting since they won't really be strong enough to. That would be the one that I would want to have for myself." Jeri said and Kenta was able to kind of see the merit to it, but Kazu did not really get it. However, he was in zero mood to argue with either one of them, so he forced himself to remain quiet on the issue.

"I think one thing we can all agree on is that after tonight, there is going to be a lot that this group has to really understand about each other. We can't really just meet up every few days, pretend to be friends, and then drift off as if it had never happened. It did happen and we need to embrace the fact that it did happen, even if that means that we have to start forcing ourselves to start working more and more with the other people that we might not know too well, as that is the only thing that will keep us together." Kazu said and Kenta thought he can do that.

"If I just keep Rika up on the idea that things that were brought up in the past are sort of down under now, and that nobody really cares anymore, I have a feeling that she will start to believe in me. I just have to really drive in that idea, but sooner or later, there is no reason for her to not really believe in me anymore." Kenta said, having a huge amount of sense towards pride on the friendship that he had been building up with Rika, and he was thinking that this was going to really change the whole game in a way.

"I think that Rika really does respect you, and you are probably the only one who can get her to see that Takato and Henry are very much changing men who do not feel the same way that they do about it. I can see Takato is starting to get a much more calm look and feel to him, as if he is more at peace with the roll he has, and the fact that he has seemed to be willing to embrace it more and more with each day." Jeri said and there was a hint of admiration that she was having as she was saying that, but Kazu and Kenta forced themselves to not focus on any of that, for fear of her yelling at them for being dumb boys.

"It's not Takato that worries me, it is more Henry that does. I don't really know him too well. Besides, his behavior seems to be a little bit more erratic than Takato's." Kazu gave his thoughts on the guy from the few conversations that they had with each other by that point in time.

"I think Henry just has a lot of stuff going on in his life, and he just does not want to deal with any bullshit. He kind of just has that face and posture in a way." Kenta said, as he studied Henry a little bit more, trying to figure out what really was making Henry that way, if he could be able to see through it, which in most reality, that was probably not the case, but Kenta felt like he had seen that type of person before, and that Henry was no real new case to the whole issue.

"I just wonder if this is a battle that is just going to end up in failure. I feel like that is exactly what is going to happen, call me a pessimist, but I just have that idea of what could happen." Kazu said and he looked at the others and he was thinking it was time for them to head out soon, since the time had been a little while by that point, and they should be there by about ten thirty. He knew that he, Jeri, and Kenta were useless, but they could still provide superficial support.

At ten fifteen in the night, they all agreed that it was time to head up, and they were all not really too ready for this but they knew it was the only thing they could do if they wanted a chance to save themselves if they were the digimon or their digimon if they were the human and in the case of Impmon and Calumon, just have the chance to be able to live on at all. Calumon was going to be virtually useless, since they couldn't really train at all, but the others could probably put up a little bit of a fight, even Impmon probably could if they were lucky enough, and they were the second weakest, only being stronger than Calumon. Compared to Calumon though, Impmon was basically fucking superman.

They said good bye to Davis on their way out even though he didn't even notice or care, since he was too busy just sleeping and trying to catch up on all of the hours that he had missed in his life up that point in time, just trying to sleep the last years of his life away with little to no problem. these dreams being fuel and inspiration for many of the creations and advancements of the digital world, and as a result, earth, even if nobody including Davis had known about it. The further advanced the digital world got, the more advanced that earth got as a result, but it was always a step behind the digital world.

As they were walking, they were seeing just how dark it was outside and they felt like they were walking into a really huge battlefield or something like that, something that could save their lives or end them, which to an extent they were. Jeri was remaining quiet as a result and she got a whole lot less lovey dovey.

At the entrance of the power plant, Kazu, Kenta and Jeri sat down and Kazu said they were going to help if they were requested to and then the others walked inside, with Calumon thinking that if they were forced to fight, they may as well be asking for their death, but they didn't want to say anything to not annoy the group. Kenta started to make the mouth movement that made it look like he was smoking, but unlike Kazu, he didn't really mean it.

Once the group was all in the power plant, or all of the digimon and humans that wanted to help out in the battle. As they were inside of the power plant, Henry was looking around and the sounds in there were starting to make him a little bit more scared than he had wanted to actually admit that they were. There was no real reason for this to scare him at all, but there was just the giant threat that was coming up that was scaring him more than anything. As they were walking downwards, Henry was starting to let the feeling get to him more, and this was making him start to get the idea that maybe they were actually on the correct way over there.

Henry started to take the way and as he was leading along, the group was starting to all feel it a little bit more, and they were all starting to think that maybe they were actually near the monster. Eventually though, Henry had led them down the power plant and the few path ways to get there and they found what was guarding the machine, which was the one thing they needed to take care of more than anything else.

The guard of the machine was a giant blue bird. Henry nor the others were really expecting a bird to be watching something in the power plant, for the reason of them getting shocked down or something like that. But they were not really allowed to think about that as the bird was yelling really fucking loudly and it hurt Henry's ears so much he needed a moment to process the whole thing. He was looking at his digivice and he was wondering if there was going to be any information on this thing, or if they had actually walked into something that did not even exist.

"This is a unnamed digimon. I guess we are the first ones to ever see it." Rika said as she and Takato were also looking down at their digivices, also realizing that there was nothing else going on on their devices that indicated they knew what this was. "Well, I guess we don't have any idea what to do, and we are just going to have to go into this sort of blind after all." Rika said a little bit annoyed and then there was a little bit of her that was getting excited for this.

Right away Terriermon and Renamon had their digivolutions and Takato was a little bit jealous that they did not have Guilmon get a digivolution going on. Takato was wondering if this was going to be his great moment, but either way he was going to have to go on with it. Then Takato pulled out one of his cards and saw it. "Digimodify!" Takato got started, and he was continuing with "HyperStrength activate!" This made Guilmon fifty percent stronger than they were for the next thirty minutes, so the power of seventy five percent of Kyubimon and Gargomon. With that, the three digimon were ready and Impmon brought out their fire ball, ready to help out as they can now.

Gargomon got in the front and was starting to fire a bunch of bullets all over the place and as they were firing bullets, Henry was looking down and he was seeing if he could use any cards to help him out. He only had hyperspeed activate, which was the exact one that he started to use and then after he had done so, Gargomon was going at fifty percent their normal speed on top of their actual speed in the first place. The bird guardian took nearly forty seconds to start to show how hurt they were, but after the forty second mark, they were screaming a little bit and then that was when the group knew that they were starting to do a little bit to help.

Impmon used this chance to do a couple of things in order to help out. They shot two fire balls at the leg of the bird guardian and then while that did not do anything to do damage to the thing, the guardian bird looked down and when they kicked Impmon off in the different direction and then Renamon jumped up and started to charge up a bit and then they shot a bunch of diamonds all over the monster, which was pretty good.

Guilmon started to breath about fifteen seconds or so of breathing fire on the guardian and it didn't really damage the thing at all, but it was still enough for Gargomon to keep going on this whole thing. Calumon was just watching at all, thinking about how these things, even Impmon of all of them were so much stronger than them, that this was just amazing to witness. It was something that they were a little bit interested in pursuing. But a second after that thought, they started to snap back to reality and the way that they normally would.

Takato was holding his fist forward and then he moved it forward while he was yelling "Keep this up!" Takato was yelling and then Guilmon started to breath a little bit more, and their fire breath was doing just enough to damage the thing in order to keep Gargomon and Kyubimon going at this for a little bit longer.

Gargomon and Kyubimon were firing their weapons a little bit faster and as they were firing faster and faster, the guardian was eventually at the point where they were defeated and they were starting to glow and after they had glowed for a little while, they had blown up. But while they were blowing up, that was what Davis was talking about this thing being so hyped up. The place was starting to shake and the group had at best three minutes to get the hell out of there and that was what made it hard. Not the battle, but the after math of the battle and being able to survive this whole thing.

After this was going on, Impmon flicked their finger forward and set the machine on fire, and for that reason, they were the hero of the day and then as that was going on, there was a giant rumbling going on in the area and then that was when they knew that they needed to run around and get the hell out of here. "I think I will be able to help out." Kybuimon was saying when they finally started to get things together, and then Kyubimon grabbed all of the members of the group.

Kyubimon did their vanishing in and out over and over again and they actually managed to make this thing work out a little bit and when they were doing this, Kazu was looking forward and he was sort of unable to believe that they had won so handily. They were expecting this to be a somewhat close battle, and there was going to be some other things like injuries with at least one of them. The place was empty right when the place was crumbling back down to the ground, and that all of them were out of the area.

"Impmon, you really were the hero today. What do you think about that?" Takato said and then Impmon looked back up at them and remained quiet. "If you had not started those fire balls on the foot of that digimon, then Kyubimon would not have gotten the chance to attack the digimon on their side line with their diamonds. That was actually really smart." Takato was thinking that maybe Impmon would be seen as a valuable friend and a helper, and that any ideas of what they thought beforehand were sort of fading away as a result of all of this.

"Well yeah, I was only doing it because I needed to save myself. I wasn't doing it for you guys. Now if you don't mind, I am going to head on out now." Impmon said and then they were heading off, and as they were doing this, the entire group was looking over at the digimon that they were trying to be friends with but was just forcing them away. It was a little bit annoying but maybe Impmon was better just telling the truth than just being a digimon that was just pretending to be a friend or something like that, because Impmon would not really be able to hide it all that well.

"I guess that is my cue to head on off as well." Calumon said and then they were heading on out as well, since they didn't want to create any conflict there and they were thinking that Impmon was still closer to them, even if that was a little bit of a not saying much type of situation. Afterwards, the six of them all started to head on home. Kazu went with Jeri, Henry went with Kenta, and Takato went off with Rika, despite neither one wanting to.

As Kazu and Jeri were walking home, Kazu was thinking of something to say. He did not really know how to have a normal conversation with just Jeri without anything related to digimon or anything like that. Then again, that was sort of how everybody else was at this point in time, even if they had not wanted to admit it. "So Jeri, what do you think of Takato? Do you think that you have a chance with him?" Kazu said, trying his best buy failing very badly at being a wing man for her, and there was just no real reason for them to keep on being separated if it was just how fate was meant to be, them being together.

"I guess that he is alright. I mean, when we had that dance together, it felt like there was something between us, but we have not spoken to each other since. At least, not in a way that is related to the digimon and all of that stuff. He is just so focused on that it seems like he doesn't even care about me anymore." Jeri said and then Kazu shook his head. He knew that there was no way that this was actually going to really work out in his favor. But he needed to convince Jeri that Takato still thought she was special, which he did, but he didn't know how how personally could get her to see that.

"Trust me, Takato thinks that you are a wonderful girl. Please, no matter what happens, just treat him well and he will act like you are the greatest princess ever to have lived. Trust me, Takato will do everything to make sure that you have a good friendship with him." Kazu said and then Jeri was thinking about it, and it was clear that she was just trying to believe him on what he was saying, but she also knew that Kazu was just his friend.

"I will believe it when he tells me. But thanks for trying to make me feel better. You aren't a bad guy after all." Jeri had said and then after she had said that, Kazu felt a little bit guilty as she was doing this, he was hoping that she had not really meant it. Kazu was easily the worst member out of the group so far, and he had a long ass way to go before he was not able to be seen as that way.

"Well, I just am able to pick up some pretty obvious social cues. It is one of my very few talents." Kazu said, and he decided that he was going to leave it at that. "I am better at it than doing my school work. I am one of the worst school students ever, and the work that I do end up doing always fails." Kazu was trying his best to poke some light fun at what he was like, but he knew that this was not really going to go too well in his favor, as Jeri was finding a way to try and do something to change that.

"I think that school is not all that bad. I mean I am not a star student, but I can do my homework without wanting to hate my life while doing so. I can see why people would not really be a huge fan of those though." Jeri had said and then when she had said that, Kazu still couldn't wrap his mind around Kenta and all of that stuff. That guy was a homework machine, even when he tried not to be, he would always be that way.

"Kenta just does homework all the time, and I don't really know what the hell makes him want to do that all the time. It just feels fucking insane to hear something like that. I mean, I guess that there is some sort of benefit of being the star student of the school. After all, the teachers will not hate your guts and will just give you any sort of break you need, but honestly that does not really seem like it would be worth it." Kazu said and then after he had said that, Jeri sighed at that.

"I guess that maybe being the star student would not really be all that bad of an idea after all." Jeri said, but Kazu was wondering how much longer this walk was going to be. "I am just trying to go through all of the stuff going through with my family, and that is just something that I is making me not really give a darn about the school work or any of that. I am not able to really focus." Jeri said and then after she had said that, Kazu wanted to ask her what was going.

"I am a little bit curious, what is going on with your family that is making you so worried?" Kazu said and then when he had said that, Jeri was sort of silent. Not really too sure what to tell him or if she had trusted him or not, she knew that there was nothing else to do and that maybe Kazu was the only one who she could trust telling him about this for the time being. "I mean, if it is too much for you, I entirely understand and you can pretend that I never asked you, but if that is not what you want to do, then I will, I mean I need to just shut the fuck up."

Jeri was sort of pausing there, taking in a moment to process that brief few seconds of thought that Kazu was putting to his words, which regardless of her opinion of each other, it was rare for him to feel that way. "Well, I am just not used to my new family. My new family is just something that I don't really want to try and get attached to. My mother died, my father remarried and had a second child with his second wife and his second wife pretends like I don't even exist sometimes." Jeri said and Kazu instantly understood.

"I guess that makes a lot of sense. Your family is much more important than your fucking school work to be totally honest. Don't let anybody else tell you that. If they start to tell you that, then you must legit only must care a little bit about the grades that you had." Kazu said and Jeri looked up at Kazu and she had a quick smile as he had said that. "If my parents had died there, then I would not really give a shit about my school life, I would make my present day self look like the most dedicated student ever." Kazu finished up there.

"Are you just saying this just to agree with me?" Jeri asked and then Kazu shook his head. There was no real reason to even assume that. He had never really been that type of person who had just said something just for the sake of agreeing with them. "I am just hoping that my new step mother will just start to give me more attention here. If she is able to start doing that, I might as well be able to actually start to get more dedicated here?"

"I guess we are getting near your house now." Kazu said and when he had said that, he looked at the house entrance that Jeri had and then he turned around to see her. "I am going to head on home now. I had a good time talking with you. Just worry about your family and don't worry about school. If your parents are worried about you, just tell them the truth."

"I will see you later Kazu. Thank you for just letting me talk with you. I can see Takato and Kenta are friends with you. After all, you are the man who really seems to get what people are doing and what their lives are like. I think you will have a good relationship with Peggy in the long run." Jeri said and then she walked inside of her house and Kazu stayed there for about another forty seconds or so before he started to walk on home, hoping that she can work this whole thing out.

With that, Kazu was just trying to figure this whole situation out. First there was the digimon, then there was the Jeri life, then there was his friends, then there was Peggy. For a thirteen year old, he had a lot of shit to juggle. As Kazu was reaching his home, he went inside and just tried to go to bed right away, with various levels of success. As this was going on, Kenta and Henry were talking a bit themselves as they were both heading on home, since they were trying to get to know each other a little bit better.

"Rika is a really nice girl honestly. Once you get to know you a little bit better, I think you will be able to see what is so appealing about her. I can understand what can be a bit off putting about her back in the day, but trust me once you start to give her a chance, you will really understand the whole thing. Please, just give her a honest chance and don't try to be too bias about the whole thing." Kenta said and Henry was trying to decide if he should be able to believe in Kenta or not. There was no real reason for him not to believe him, but it was just hard after all of the stuff that they have seen with her so far.

"I just hope that I you are right. She was okay this one time, I just hope that she can keep up with this for the time being." Henry said and he was just trying his best to place his hope on what Kenta was saying, if that was even possible. "I guess that I may have to give her a real chance, which is not really the worst thing ever. Maybe if I actually understand her more, I can see why she just has such a desire to a bunch of fighting." Henry finished and then Kenta raised his hands up.

"I spent a ton of time with you Rika after the day of the dance. It really opened me up to her, and honest I am a really big fan of how Rika just is sort of such a nice girl. She just told me the truth, and didn't tell me anything that was wrong, so I felt like the two of us were able to probably become at such a level where I might be her very best friend." Kenta said and Henry could not really be able to argue the whole thing.

"Yeah, you probably are her best friend. I don't really know if that is saying so much though, no offense to that though." Henry said and then Kenta didn't take any offense to it. After all, he was the one who had said it first, so he was well aware of that problem. Henry and Kenta decided to drop the Rika subject and Kenta brought up the one thing that was on his mind with Henry earlier when they were at Davis's house.

"I noticed that you seemed really focused on something else. Would you mind telling me what was going on in your mind when the battle was starting? I think that it is something related to your home life which is pretty easy to figure out now." Kenta said and then when Kenta had said that, Henry took a deep breath and then he decided that he was going to tell Kenta the truth about the idea of his parents having a child and everything. Which was a huge deal for Henry after the fact he was a single child all this time before hand.

"My parents are going to have a second child now. I am really shocked over that. Like why wait like almost a decade and a half for the idea of having another child? I feel like they should have done it mush sooner if they wanted another child on their own. I just feel like this is a fucking waste of time." Henry confessed as Kenta considered that. "I just wish that they had asked me what I thought of the idea before they just jumped right onto this idea. But now, I am here just forced to go along with their plan, and basically being the guy who is riding at the back of the truck in a way." Henry finished his thought set on that and then when he had said that, Kenta just kept listening and he was wondering what else to say there.

"I don't really know what to say to that, I guess that maybe they could have been a little bit more clear on this whole thing, but I guess that there is really nothing to do about it now. I think that you should just focus on being ready for when the child does come along so that way when she or he is born, you can be ready to be the best brother that you can possible be able to be." Kenta tried to tell Henry as Henry was sort of rolling his eyes. He understood that point, but there was just something that he felt like was to be desired out of the whole thing.

"I don't think you will ever really be able to understand. Maybe if you were in the exact same spot as I am right now, you would be able to understand it much more. But I guess that if you don't really get another sibling, then I am the only one who is able to really get the whole point behind this whole." Henry told Kenta and Kenta knew that this was a subject that Henry did not want to talk about, with the way that he was taking this whole thing.

"It is pretty obvious that this subject is just something that is not really for you. So I am going to respect your wishes and drop the subject now." Kenta said and then Henry sighed in excitement to see that at least one person respected him there.

"Thank you for picking up on something that anybody else could have figured out earlier Kenta. Just don't try and make me change my thoughts on all of this, and maybe I will actually be able to have more excitement when I start to talk to you." Henry said and then Kenta was wondering when they could be at one of their houses so that way he could force himself out of this stupid conversation. Kenta was tired of being treated like a second hand friend just because he asked a couple of questions about the sibling issue.

"Sorry for being a jerk about this. I just feel like this is too much of a subject to really tackle so soon after I heard the news. I got the news after the dance, so only a couple of days ago." Henry apologized soon after, even he was kind of starting to see the kind of asshole he was kind of being and he was starting to calm down a little bit, which was like heaven for Kenta to not deal with Henry being a total dick anymore.

"I guess that maybe you are right, I should have been there to get the news for myself, and then maybe I could have been able to kind of get it myself." Kenta said and then after he had said that, Henry nodded and then the two of them sort of were going at a little bit of a loose term of common respect there for a second. But soon enough, Kenta was starting to see Henry's house coming up and it was nice for him to not have to deal with pretending like he was their friends.

"Well, I guess I should be heading inside now. I think that maybe I just need to get some sleep, and then maybe we can talk a little bit more when I am not so tired anymore. Either way, I am going to have to get used to this in the course of the next nine months, or less by now, probably only like eight or seven months by now." Henry said and then he walked inside of the house and then Kenta started heading out right away, not even waiting like the fucking Kazu incident just at around that same time at this night.

Kenta was trying to head on their way over to their house and Kenta sort of forgot about the whole debate after like a few minutes not really thinking too much on it anymore, not that there would have been anything good that would have come out of thinking about this whole thing. Kenta was inside of his house and after he had gone inside of his house, he sat down and he was sort of taking a bit of a break, just sort of not really sure what to think and he was just trying to relax before he would sleep for that night.

As that was going on, Takato and Rika were sort of having their own conversation for that night, trying to sort of make amends over everything that had happened before, and act like it wasn't really all that big of a deal. In reality, it was a big deal, but they were just going to pretend that it actually wasn't for the sake of their sanity. Besides, Rika did help him out once, so this wasn't really all that much of a new bonding that they were forced to be making now.

"So I guess that maybe Henry was right about showing us that Davis guy. While he didn't teach us a damn thing, and it felt like a waste of time dealing with him here, I think it was worth it since Henry did know exactly what he was talking about, and it did sort of work out a little bit in our favor at the end of it all, even if it was something that we should have never been forced to deal with on our own time." Takato said and he was realizing that Guilmon and Renamon were not there anymore. He realized that they had probably headed on home, since they were worried that they would get attacked by a digimon or something like that. They were left alone and as they were left alone, Takato was trying to figure out what was going on with Rika.

"Just because we helped each other once doesn't mean that we are friends. Guess what, we are not friends. We just were not enemies for that time being. Trust me, I didn't want to work with you, and doing so was sort of making me feel a little bit disgusting, but I was only doing it because I needed to do this for Renamon." Rika told Takato and Takato realized that there was no real reason to try and get this to be argued at all.

"I am just so tired of this rivalry. I mean, you guys are not wanting to be friends with us, and that is something I am not even going to bother with this anymore, but I am just sort of wanting to know that we are going to be able to work together in case something like this comes on up." Takato said and then he just added in another point that said "Besides, I am getting kind of tired of hitting you all the time."

Rika laughed as she was saying that and as he had said that, she thought that there may have been a small valid point coming on here. "Okay maybe you do have a little bit of merit going on here after all. I guess maybe we are not going to be friends, but I don't really think being rivals is the thing that will really benefit us in the long run. How about we just agree to not want to kill each other every time we see each other and work together even if we don't want to." Rika said and then when she had told Takato this, Takato held his hand out. The two of them shook each other hands.

"Well, it seems as if we can agree on that. If you don't mind me asking, how do you think of the situation that we are in? I mean, with all of the digimon battles and everything." Takato said and then he had made it simple enough for Rika to give a answer to his question that would just be enough for him to shut the fuck up.

"Well I think that is is something that is being interfered with out of our will. I feel like there is a human or digimon, not that old ass dude from earlier, going out of their way to try and mess up our daily lives by giving us a bunch of battles that we are going to have to battle." Rika had said and then when he had said that, Takato thought about that.

"I think that maybe there is something here. I guess we will never know. I mean, I have met that Yamaki guy a couple of times. It seems like he is able to get in the way of our lives a few times with the fact that he constantly questioning all of the stuff that we are doing, and I think he might know where Guilmon lived and everything. I need to probably find a different place that is not the cemetery after all." Takato mentioned Yamaki, thinking this was all coming together.

"If you think that this guy might have something to do with this, maybe as much as I would hate to admit it, but maybe we would have to start to look at him and what he is doing. Maybe we would have to start to do a little bit of breaking the law to get the info we need, like breaking and entering if we can." Rika had said and then after Rika had said that, Takato was starting to think that this was a terrible albeit somewhat true idea.

"I don't think that this insane for you to do this. But I don't really know if we should do this or not. I guess that maybe if there is nothing else we can do, then maybe we can actually try that out." Takato had said and then after he had said that, Rika thought that maybe there was more merit to this than she thought he would have.

"Maybe you are smarter than I thought. Maybe I will actually be able to work with you after all. That is if you don't prove yourself to be a total idiot now." Rika said and then after Rika had said that, Takato thought that maybe he could get away with asking the question that was on his mind.

"Maybe we should hang out some time. You never really know what can be so bad about it until you start to try it out yourself." Takato said and as he had said that, Rika remained quiet a little bit as if she really was thinking about that idea and she was trying to think of a way to turn Takato down on the offer, and he was getting a little annoyed with the way that Rika was treating him, but at the same time, he was just in the mood to not really argue this whole thing, even if arguing was something that he could do with Rika all night with out trying too hard to do, and Rika knew that as well.

"Well, here is the thing. We are not going to hang out as friends or something like that. This is not happening, so don't even try to pretend that this is going to happen. However, I do think that is there is some certain issues related to the digimon that is coming up, and maybe once we done a few missions together, I would have been able to earn your trust enough to go at this a second time. So I am not going to accept your offer yet, but I don't want to tell you off. Mainly because I know that sooner or later, you can prove yourself." Rika answered and Takato knew that this was the best that he could get of an answer.

"I am going to give you a chance Takato. Take that as it is. If you go with it, then that will be great for you, but I guess that it is something for you to do." Rika had said and then after she had said that, Takato decided that he was in no real desire to just try and argue with her on this.

"I wish that we met before we had digimon, maybe we would have gotten along better had we actually done so." Takato said and he was being wishful, but there was nothing wrong with being wishful as they were at Rika's house and she just headed off, not even trying to talk about this with Takato anymore.

With that, Takato headed on home and as he was heading on home, Takato was just sort of thinking this whole thing out and he knew that them being friends would never happen, but it was something that he wanted, no, he needed to try and figure out, even if it meant his death. As this went on, Takato would get his next digivolution soon.


	28. The Rampage

Chapter 27: The Rampage

After the next couple of days had passed, Takato was trying hard to tell himself not to worry about what had happened earlier. That fight was crazy, but he was telling himself that it was just a one time thing to have all of them work together at once. Like two or three of them working together would not have been all that shocking, but every single tamer and the friends of every single tamer just seemed to be way too much, and something that should have never really happened again. Takato did not want Kazu, Kenta or Jeri to get involved with a battle like that, since if they did so, then the entire group would be put at risk because of three people with no digimon.

But he was not allowed to think about that all too much when he saw Kenta sit down next to him. "What was Rika like when you talked with her?" Kenta asked, hoping that Takato had a decent time with Rika, and that they might not be forced to do any more of this fighting, since he felt like them fighting would have been something that would cause more controversies than should even be remotely needed. Takato thought on how he should break it to Kenta, not knowing how he really could.

"It was okay. We seem to be kind of getting along. At least better than we had been earlier. Although I am not really sure if that is saying too much though. I think that give it a couple of weeks, and I might be able to pull something off with this girl. But it seems like you really like her, and that you think she is really special, so I am going to keep trying just for your sake, even if I don't really see the point of it. Or how it could possibly work at all." Takato answered and then he put the book he was trying to pretend like he was reading back in his back pack, thanking god he didn't have to pretend anymore.

"Well, thanks for trying to get through to her. She really is something special Takato. You would be able to understand that once you really give her a chance. She is one of the best people that I have ever gotten to know, and once you start to get to know her, you will see what I mean." Kenta had said and then Takato placed the back pack behind his back and they headed out of the classroom.

"I am still amazed in a way how out of all of us, you were the one who was able to try and break through to her. I thought if anybody, it would have been Henry. Hell, even Kazu would not have been as shocking. Maybe I should take you a little bit more seriously before I just act like you have no chance of being able to get somebody to like you. I guess if anybody, I should be taking your advice on how to do things and maybe you are the one who has a clear cut goal on this dating thing." Takato said after they were out of the classroom.

"Well, maybe it is because I don't really have any sort of baggage tied onto Rika, unlike you or Henry who had that fight at the start of it all, and as a result, I was able to get to her much easier. That is what I think it probably was. I think that when I met her, since there was virtually nothing going on, she was able to trust me much easier than the others." Kenta had said and Takato felt like there was not really a way that he could argue that point. It was true enough, and that could be a possible weakness in the future. If Kenta was not careful, and the more that he knew her, the more that he was going to slowly gather some baggage onto her.

"Just be careful not to get too close to her. I have a feeling that if you do so, then she might use some of that against you onto her favor. I am not really too sure. I just have a feeling that she might have might use this and then you will eventually be the one who will feel like they were being used." Takato told Kenta but before they can continue this conversation, that was when they had found Kazu talking with Peggy.

"You want me to be there at six in the evening? I will tell my friends that I can't hang out with them too late tonight. I am sure that they would understand instantly." Kazu had said and then after he said that, Peggy nodded and then she had hugged him. Takato smiled when he saw that Kazu really did have a light side to him, and that he was able to actually not only show that, but bring it out to a girl that he was able to really grow to trust.

"See you at six." Peggy said and then she walked off and then Kazu turned around and saw the other two. He walked up to them and Takato and Kenta were not even thinking about Rika, as they were more interested in the whole bond that Kazu was developing with Peggy. The bond that Kenta and Rika were having was still sort of starting, so anything can ruin it. But the bond that Kazu and Peggy were starting up was a much bigger and more real bond that was starting, and Takato felt that nothing really could be able to ruin it in the end.

"Wow, I wish that Jeri was able to be that way with me. I don't think she really trusts me enough to talk to me that way." Takato had said and then he decided to drop Jeri, since no matter how much he liked her, knowing that they would not be together was something that made him sad and he didn't really want to think about it too much, since it was something that he wanted but he knew that no matter how much he tried, he would not really win her over.

"I can't believe that action that we had a couple of days ago. It really is something that I doubt any one of us were really predicting. I don't really feel like we were all thinking that we were going to be working with Rika or Jeri." Kazu said and he was thinking a little bit more, and he was really worried about how this was going to start working out in the future with the digimon, and any possible future battles coming up. Takato looked around and he was wondering if anybody was listening to what they were saying about digimon, hoping that nobody really knew what was going on, thinking that if anybody found out, the government would be at the front steps to their houses. Well, anybody who wasn't in the group or knew what digimon were in the first place.

"I bet that there is going to be another battle coming right up. I just have a feeling that there is a dark feeling coming up here soon. Maybe even tonight. I need to get Guilmon ready, as I feel like they might be having their turn to digivolve coming right up soon. And if that is the truth, I need to prepare them for that, and I need to get them to understand what truly is at skate. I doubt that anybody would really understand what digivolution is like, until they are the ones who are going to be digivolving." Takato said and he was staring up at the sky. Just the incident two days ago was really starting to bring him up to be much more worried than he probably should have been.

"Now that you say it, and I sort of think about it, I think that maybe you actually are right. I think that we should go on and get Guilmon as soon as possible." Kenta had said and then Kenta was starting to get a little bit more shaken up.

"Guys, don't you want to hang out for a little bit first? If you guys are right, and an attack happens tonight, we still have a couple of hours to relax. For all we know, it could be our last chance to relax for the next few days." Kazu had said and then after he had said that, Takato and Kenta had both considered that for a short moment and while they did not want to admit it, he was totally right.

"Yeah sure, let's go to the park first. Maybe stay there for like half an hour or so, maybe an hour. I don't know, but then we need to find Guilmon right afterwards with no distraction." Takato ended up agreeing with him, and they were starting to slowly head on down towards the park, and Takato was starting to try and get himself to calm down and not worry about the battle, and for all he knew, there might not even a battle at all. He might be just sort of over thinking the whole issue.

After they were brought on over to the park, Kazu sat down on the bench and then Takato was just standing up, having his hand right up to his chin and then Kenta was sitting down as well. "So Takato, how are you and Jeri doing? Are you guys doing very well so far?" Kazu had asked, thinking that he needed to try his best to get Takato to not being so worried, and Takato was still standing up but then when Kazu had asked him that question, it did make Takato start to think and change the subject a little bit.

"I think that Jeri and I are making slow spinning progress. I think that after I brought her into the whole digimon thing, she has been really excited to hang out with me to know more about the whole thing, but then I think that on the other hand, she didn't really care to hang out with me personally and that she was just sort of using me to get to know more about the digimon. Now I am not really so sure at all. I think there is a part of her that does want to know more about me, but she is still very focused on the digimon at the same time." Takato said and he was trying to be very honest with himself, but the honesty he was having was making him feel a little sad over it.

"At least you are slowly getting somewhere with her. Jeri is quite the funny girl. I like her a bit. I think that you and her are going to be a decently good pairing. Just make sure that when you are with her, no matter how hard it may be and how tempting it may be to sort of lie to her, always tell her the truth of the matter. Trust me, telling her the truth is going to be the one thing that she will always respect and will always keep her with you." Kazu said and the statement that he made was making Takato wonder if there was something going on with him and Peggy, but he decided not to ask. After all, it really was none of her business.

"Thank you for those words. I am going to try and remember them when I am telling myself that I have no hope on getting her to like me. I think that what you are saying is true enough, but I just need to sort of convince myself more than anything else." Takato said, since he was still not really sure if they would be a working pair or not.

"I think that you and Peggy are a pretty interesting item. I never would have guessed that you would have been getting into that type of relationship. Hell, I was not really thinking you would be in a relationship at all, no offense when I say that." Kenta said and Kazu was sort of thinking to himself that he was not really able to argue with that too much.

"I never really was interested in going on to date anybody before, but something about Peggy when I met her told me that she was different. I never really was sure why I had that feeling with her, but that feeling me feel like I actually had somebody who can support me. I knew that I needed to really take care of making her feel special. Something I feel like I did a pretty decent job on. Yes, it is a little bit hard to break some of those habits that I have built up in my life time, but I am willing to try if it makes her feel happy." Kazu said and then Takato was curious.

Kenta and Takato were both wondering what habits Kazu was talking about, but they knew that if they started to ask him, just from the look on his face, that he was not going to be happy about it. He didn't want to lose any respect that he had from his friends, even if that meant that he had to lie to them, which was going against what he told them earlier. But he was trying to get them to not be like him, which he felt was one of the more noble things he had tried to do in his friendship with them.

"I don't really have any real plans after this. I think that after this battle is over, I am going to just go and hang out with Rika. Hell, I might not even do that. I might just settle down and go on and take a nice long nap. I haven't taken a nice long nap for a little while, and I feel like I am a little bit ready for something like that." Kenta said and Takato had to agree that the idea of having a nap was a little bit tempting.

"I think that a date is nice. I need to set up a date with Peggy though. I have not had one in too long. I think that maybe she is a little bit wanting one. Maybe this weekend." Kazu said and then as he was saying that, on cue, he was seeing Peggy walking by and then Kazu rolled his eyes. This was a terrible timing, but it was better than nothing. "I will be back when you guys leave the park. I have to talk to her." Kazu said and he started to head on his way over there.

"I got to give him credit for one thing, he does not give up when it comes to that chick. I think that is another thing that maybe I should start to focus on a little bit more. I think that if I want Jeri to like me, I should be willing to stop what I am doing at any moment to sort of be ready to serve her and work with her on what she will need." Takato said and then after he had said that, Kenta was smiling at this. He never would have once thought the three of them could talk about relationships all at once.

"Kazu is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. One some hands, he is really great and he knows exactly what he is talking about. But then he does some things that make me think that he is a guy who is totally full of shit. As horrible as that may sound for me to say. But I don't really think that you can really argue with me all that much on that level." Takato said and then Kenta had agreed with that assessment.

"I think that he just has some faults like any normal person. I would not really think too much on it. He just does what he feels is right. Can't really talk crap about him when he does that, since he is just having normal human emotions there." Kenta said and then after he said that, Takato was just deciding to remain silent a little bit longer. Takato was just watching Kazu talk with Peggy a little bit, and they were smart enough not to be loud about it. But from what he could see, Takato could tell that they were having a fun time.

"I hope that if Rika and I start to get more together, like a real thing, that maybe we can be able to talk this openly, without anybody worrying about what we were talking about and nobody asking what we were doing or judging us. I would love to do that. Just be happy in public, and have everybody see that we are in the place that we want to be at." Kenta sighed as he was saying that to Takato, and Takato did think about what it would have been like if Jeri was like that with him.

"I guess I can see where you are coming from. I think that it would be pretty great if I had something like that." Takato said quietly, placing both of his hands behind his head and he was taking a deep breath and he closed his eyes for about ten seconds, thinking about Jeri and letting the idea of them being a item sink in, just like he would dream of every couple of nights.

Soon enough, Kazu walked on over to Takato and Kenta and said that he was ready to go on now to get Guilmon. Kazu looked like he was decently happy, so Takato decided not to question it, thinking that this was just something that should remain between Kazu and Peggy. They started to head on down to find Guilmon and get Guilmon ready for the battle coming up, if there even was a battle at all. The conversation that was had between Kazu and Peggy were as follows:

Kazu had walked right up to Peggy and then when Kazu was right in front of Peggy, he was gulping down a little bit. He was not really sure how he was going to talk to her, and how he was going to explain how busy he had been. On most cases he knew she wouldn't care. But he hadn't talked to her in such a long time, and with all of the battles going on, he was trying to figure out how much of this was actually real or if he was just kind of imagining this whole thing.

"Hey Peggy, sorry for not talking to you for a while. Just sort of lost track of some time." Kazu said, and what he was saying there was true enough. he was just hoping that she would be willing to believe him there. There was no real reason for her to not believe him, but he was just trying hard not to fear what would come along if she had decided not to believe the story that he was telling her. "Trust me, if you saw some of the things that I had been seeing lately, you would understand why I am losing so much track of time lately. Not really trying to justify the bad behavior that I have been showing." Kazu was looking down after he said that, feeling bad for this.

"It's okay Kazu. I have been pretty busy lately. I would not worry about it right now. I am going to let it slide for the time being. Besides, it is so great to see you that I am not really too worried about it. It would only be if you started to actively ignore me over and over again that it would start to piss me off. But since you are not doing that, or at least I don't think you are doing that, then we are all good for now." Peggy said and then after she told Kazu that, he took a sigh of relief knowing that no matter what happened, perhaps Peggy was always the one with the better form of reasoning compared to him.

"Thanks for getting me. Thanks for not trying to get too deep into what I am doing, since if I was, you would probably not even believe the majority of the news. I was worried that maybe you would not really fully understand what I am going at." Kazu said and he hugged Peggy, thinking about how nice she was.

Peggy was happy for the hug, and she was thinking about how nice Kazu was. He really has changed since she met him. She was not too terribly sure what it was, but it was still there. The change was one of the things that had made her respect him so much. The fact that he was willing to genuinely try and change how he was had been one of the few things that had given her some hope in him, that he wasn't as bad as some would say that he was.

"Kazu, what is making you so touchy feely right now?" Peggy asked, and she felt a little bit silly for asking it that way, but she was just trying to make sense of the entire situation. She was just trying to understand why Kazu was trying so hard to convince her that he was in love with her. She was able to believe him already, she didn't need him to go so far out of his way to do this. But it was still nice for him to just sort of act like she was the top of the world.

"I just feel happy when I am around you. When I am around you, I sort of remember all of the good things in the world. As if I actually have a few friends beyond just my normal group. I feel as if I can actually have somebody who I can trust. Somebody who can leave me on the ground, telling me that there is something of a normal life here, that hasn't been taken over by pure insanity." Kazu had said and then Peggy smiled, and under most cases being told she was normal would have been a little sad, but on this case, hearing the tone that Kazu was using at the moment, she knew that normal was something that he really needed, and she was able to help provide normal if that was the thing the he had wanted.

"Kazu, I never realized that you had that much of a crazy life, that just being plain and old normal is something that you needed. I thought that you would have been the normal one, aside from all of that stuff that I told you to quit, but it seems as if you have done so, and as a result I can't really even hold that against you." Peggy decided and Kazu was so glad that she was not angry at him, and glad that she was not asking all of the details of the case. Which was the last thing he really needed, and he felt like Peggy could see that on the look on his face.

"I want you to just stay the way that you are. You are perfect, and nothing will change that. Please, understand that nothing will be a problem as long as you are just the way they are. I will tell you everything when the whole thing is said and done with. You have my word on that." Kazu said and Peggy was so tempted to ask, that not doing so was sort of being a pain in the ass there.

"You better hold your end to the promise. I don't want to think about the idea of you running around and getting yourself killed. I don't want to just get the news that you had not been careful enough to actually know what you are doing." Peggy had said and then Kazu smiled over that and then afterwards, they thought about that and then Kazu came up with an idea.

"I think tomorrow, we should just go down to the movies and watch a couple of films. I think that this is a good plan. Just take things casually. Not really worry about anything too much. I think that you and I have earned the right to just relax a little bit." Kazu said and Peggy was thinking about that, thinking that the idea of just watching a movie and pretending like nothing was happening was something that would be very good for both of them. She decided that maybe she should accept the offer that he had made.

"No matter what we do, I will be happy to know that the two of us are going to just take things easy, as if nothing really is important. You need to do that. I think that maybe when we relax a little bit, that it shows a little bit of your own personal weakness. I find the idea of you showing your personal weakness might be a little bit sexy." Peggy said and she was rubbing Kazu's chest a little bit and no matter how hard Kazu was trying to hide this, he could really not be able to hide the fact that this was actually a really nice moment in his opinion. Something that he felt like could make his heart melt in a way.

"I think I need to go back to my friends. They are probably wondering what is taking me so long. I think that they are starting to get a little bit impatient." Kazu had said and then afterwards, he was starting to head on away. But as he was starting to head on away, Peggy decided that she was going to take a short moment to give him one final moment of affection.

"Before you go, I need to show you something." Peggy said and then she walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the mouth. After the kiss was over she said "Good luck whatever you are doing, I think that you are going to really need that soon." After Peggy told him that, Kazy nodded and he felt like he was willing to get on board with this and then he started to walk on closer to Takato and Kenta, trying to stay with the Guilmon plan.

After Kazu was there, the two of his friends were sort of shocked over the kiss but they decided to pretend as if they had not seen that. The three of them began to head on their way over to the cemetery to grab Guilmon and then once that was done, he would not really be sure what Takato was planning. Then again, he was basically sure that Takato had no real idea what was going on, and what he was doing, although he knew that Henry was probably part of the plan.

As they were at the cemetery, Takato was holding the door and he was thinking about the problem that was coming up, and he was thinking more about what Guilmon was going to think about the idea of another battle. Kazu and Kenta were a little bit behind him, since they didn't want to pretend like they were the ones that knew what Guilmon was like, and Guilmon was just so busy sleeping that they felt like it would sort of a little bit of a invasion of their privacy watching them sleep and all of that stuff, so for that reason they were just going to be waiting for things.

Takato was sitting on his knees and he was holding his hands out. Guilmon was twitching their nose a little bit, which was their way of showing that they were well aware of where Takato was. Guilmon stood right up and then the digimon started to walk right up to Takato. As Guilmon was getting closer and closer to them, Kenta and Kazu were willing to get more closer to the digimon as well. Takato was thinking about what he was going to tell Guilmon, to try and get them to be even remotely excited for the idea of yet another battle, which after so many lately, Guilmon was not really even sure if they wanted to do these fights now.

"Guilmon, I know that you probably don't want to be fighting any time soon, but I have a feeling. I have a feeling that there is a battle coming up soon. Just come with me and we can fight this monster, and then once this battle is over with, then maybe we can go back to bed and I will give you a lot of bread in return. I know how much you love bread. I know that bread is one of your favorite foods, and once this battle is done, I will give you as much as you want." Takato said and Guilmon was slowly getting more excited when he had mentioned bread.

"Yay, bread! I will fight for bread!" Guilmon said in a very childish and innocent way. Takato was really happy when he saw Guilmon not only agree to help him fight, but the fact that they were so happy to do so. Seeing Guilmon just happy at all made Takato get a little bit more happy. Then Takato and Guilmon had walked out of the cemetery and then Kazu and Kenta were both wondering what to do now.

"So what are we going to do now?" Kazu asked and then Takato just looked over at him. Takato was pretty sure Kazu knew who was going to be next, and Takato just needed to get there in a fast enough time to actually make it worth it. "Oh, we are going to get Henry. Do you know where he lives? It really would not be worth trying to find him if you don't even know where he live." Kazu said and what he said was basically the truth.

"I think I remember Henry telling me where he lived. If he did not, then I guess I will just have to look around for a little bit. But regardless, I think that he and I will be able to work together and fight the monster, if there is one coming up. Kenta, you know where Rika lives, I think that you need to find her, and convince her to join us. If anybody is able to, then I am pretty sure that you will. Kazu, you can just come with me if you want, but I don't really know what you want to do here." Takato said and then Kazu decided that he couldn't really argue this, and he started to head on with Takato and then Kenta rolled his eyes.

Kenta started to run off and as he was running off, he was thinking about how he was going to get Rika to believe in him, how he was going to get her to actually jump on board with the idea of helping the guys out, considering their past and how much they argued and everything. Kenta was thinking about how Rika was probably not really wanting to talk with Takato realistically, but he knew that this was what needed to be done. Kenta knew that he was going to have to do something for Rika in return for all of this, knowing that he had gotten a lot of favors out of her, and that he needed to do something for her.

But then right before Kenta left, he remembered that he had hung out with Henry a little bit earlier on the way home. "Hey guys, in order to get to Henry's house, you need to go to the Seventh street apartments and make it to the fifth floor. First room on the right. Can't really miss it. If you don't find him, his parents will probably know exactly where he is at." Then with that, Kenta really did head off for real.

As Kazu and Takato were looking around for Henry, Kazu then snapped his fingers and then he felt a little bit and he was thinking about Jeri, but then before he even could try and get Takato to jump on board with the idea of finding her, Takato was just saying that there was no time that they could waste. Despite thinking that maybe he could get some help from her, he knew that Takato was right.

Eventually, Kazu and Takato walked for a couple of minutes until they reached seventh street and it took about five minutes or so for them to get up the first few floors until they reached the place that Kenta had said Henry had lived. Takato knocked on their door, and then Henry's father answered the door and was confused for a moment. He was not really too used to seeing Henry having some friends over, but the fact that Henry was having some friends at all, was something that made him feel like there was some hope in reality after all.

"Do you know where Henry is?" Takato asked and he was looking behind Henry's father, feeling a little bit bad that he was basically forcing his dad into this idea of not really mattering at all, but he was not really wanting to make huge friends with Henry's dad, since he knew he was probably never going to hang out with them ever again after this small conversation on which trying to figure out where the hell Henry was. Kazu was just standing back, holding his hands to the back of his head.

"Yeah, Henry just came home from school. He said he wasn't really expecting anybody to come on and hang out with him today. I guess I will just get him to know that he is here." Henry's dad said and then he started to head back in the house and Takato looked at Kazu. He was just sort of waiting for Henry to come along, but Takato really didn't have to wait too long as about forty seconds later he was seeing Henry walk out of his bedroom and looking at Takato and Kazu. Guilmon wasn't really there since t hey were told to wait in the alleyway when they were in there, and once they were back, they would gather them up.

Terriermon was being carried by Henry and his parents decided not to even bother asking him why he was bringing the stuffed animal, or that was what they had thought it was, with him. They were thinking that maybe the whole bringing him to be a nice and calmer student was something that was working a little bit too well, and that he was instead becoming a incredibly soft soul. Henry looked at Takato and Kazu and then he said "Is there something coming up right now? I am having Terriermon with me, just in case that is what you are here for."

"Yeah, that is what we are here for. Takato said that something in the sky was making him think that there was a monster attack coming up that we need to worry about." Kazu said and then he was rubbing his mouth, and he was not really sure why this waiting was making him feel tired all of a sudden, but once the duels would come up, he would probably lose all the fatigue that he would have.

"Well, I guess we better not waste any time. I think we need to get Rika." Henry said and then Takato said that Kenta was actually on his way to getting her, and that was by his idea. Henry thought that it was a good idea to make Kenta take care of that, but he was not too sure how well it would be. "I guess we should not keep the two waiting. The longer we do so, the more that he will have to deal with Rika on his own. I don't think even he can last that long against just her." Henry said, and then he was tempted to laugh at that.

As they were heading on their way towards Rika, Kenta was heading on his way over to Rika, trying to get there before Kazu and Takato since that way he could be able to try and convince her about this, and not have her think that he was being forced into this whole thing by Takato, which Kenta was thinking to himself was actually a pretty realistic thing that could be going on. He knew that there could have been a relatively fair chance that Takato could have just forced him into this, and that was why he was doing this. To some extent it was turn, but Kenta didn't want to make it super obvious.

Kenta was about half way to Rika's house when he looked up at the sky again. The sky was starting to get darker, and as it was getting darker, the more that Kenta was able to see why Takato was insisting so much on this whole finding her thing and the possible chance of a battle coming up. He knew that this would only get this dark when there was a battle coming up. He started to get faster and faster, and he was trying to reach Rika's house as fast as possible.

Soon enough, Kenta was getting within the same neighborhood of Rika and he was thinking that he can slow down a little bit, thinking that he didn't have to get super fast anymore. Kenta was just placing both of his hands in his pocket, ready to just pretty much tell her how much they needed her to do, and how much she was basically going to be forced to fight for them. The more he thought about it, the more that he was thinking that it was kind of shitty and they were sort of making her out to be like some form of slave.

Kenta eventually reached Rika's house and he was taking a deep breath. He then put out his left arm, and despite not even being left handed, he just went with that out of some loose amount of thought. Then he knocked on the door a couple of times and then when he was done, he waited for a few seconds.

Then Rika opened the door and then Rika clearly showed some amount of happiness when she had seen him. She was wondering what Kenta was doing there, but either way, there was something that excited her so much about him being there, that she didn't even care what he was there for. She was going to do something for him, and she didn't even really care what he was needing her for, figuring that either way, even if it was about a battle, then they could be able to get a few minutes with him just to talk with him about the stuff that actually mattered before the battle would begin.

"I was wanting to talk with you a bit. We are going to be heading on towards Takato and Henry, but I think we still have some time just between the two of us." Kenta had said and then when he had said that, Rika smiled and then when he was thinking that he and Rika really were sort of turning into a strange case of beauty and the beast. He had no idea why any of this was happening, and why he of all people was the one to really break to her that he was a nice guy, but Rika trusted him and the fact that she trusted him made him think that maybe he had found the only purpose that he truly had in this group, which was terrible for him to really admit.

"I am guessing that Takato wants to fight another digimon. Fine, I guess I will do just that. But you will be able to find a way to make this not feel so bad, I would believe." Rika said and then she started to hold his hand a little bit and Kenta was starting to blush as she had done so, and then they began to walk towards Takato, and Kenta was going to make it very firm with Takato that he was not going to just keep using her for battle and that she needed some space. Kenta was also thinking that honestly, Rika doesn't want to fight with them and that if she was going to fight at all, which Takato knew that she was into the idea of fighting, then she wanted to do it a little bit more independently.

As Rika and Kenta were heading on towards the other members of the group, Kenta was thinking about what to say. "So Rika, do you want to talk to me about what you were doing when I came by?" Kenta had asked and then after he had asked her that question, Rika was thinking that she didn't want him to get into that stuff, but that perhaps he has earned the right to know.

"I was just looking at pictures of my mom. Such a fucking role model, she tries to make herself out to be. She doesn't really seem to understand that I don't want to be in fashion, but she is trying so hard to make me a fashion star, that it honestly kind of pisses me off now. I don't want to be a fashion star, and I am tired of it." Rika said and Kenta had remained silent there.

"That kind of sucks. I feel like you need to just really have a heart to heart conversation with her about the fact that you have no desire for this. I get that she is a fashion star, and that this is sort of passing down what she is doing, but she needs to understand that you are your own person. You can and should do what you want. You can wear whatever you want. If you want to wear holes in your clothes or shoes go ahead. Fuck her opinion. You are your own person." Kenta said and Rika was liking his attitude that he had when it was about her mom.

"I don't really think that she will be able to go with that. I totally agree with you, and I know that you are right, and that she is totally insane for this whole thing, but I feel like sooner or later when I grow a little bit older, I think that she and I will be able to get some form of agreement going on here. But I don't really know if I want to really wait all of these years, and I really hate the fact that I am basically going to have to play the waiting game." Rika told Kenta and Kenta knew that there was nothing that he could do to help besides just listen to her rant about this, and while that could be a good venting device, that was not all she wanted and easily not all she had needed.

"Maybe talk to your grandmother about this. I don't really think that she will really be able to help all that much, but she could be good in the way that perhaps she could provide you with some context of the whole situation." Kenta told her, and then Rika considered that a little bit.

"I guess that maybe she could be a good person to jump to now that you mention it. I think that maybe I can learn more about my mother that I don't get at all. Like before I even was born, before she even met my dad when I can understand why her life went down hill. Maybe she can give me the full story." Rika had said and then Kenta had thought that perhaps this would have been the one thing that she could use to get herself a advantage.

"I would perhaps suggest even pretending to go along with the fashion idea. Make her think that you are really are into the idea, and then once you pretend for a while, she might be ask you if you are lying or not about this and sooner or later, she will start to talk to you about it, and then you tell her the truth and she might feel bad over it now." Kenta told Rika as she was able to see the merit there.

"I guess that maybe you are right. Maybe I can do this for a little while, and soon enough she will understand what I am like." Rika had said and before they were able to continue this conversation, they found Takato, Terriermon, Guilmon, and Henry and Kazu. Kenta knew that this was when the conversation would have to end, even if he wanted to keep this up for a while longer.

"So now that Rika is here, we should probably try to find where the digimon are going to attack." Kenta had said and as he had said that, the more that he was thinking that despite the fact that they didn't want to search for a bunch of stuff, they knew that he was right and they knew that there was no point in trying to fight him over this. As he was saying that, he was looking around at the other places in town and he was thinking about what one place he could be able to find the digimon at. There were a lot of places in the town that he could go to, but it was kind of hard to get the others to agree with him. It was times like this when he was thinking that it was annoying to deal with what people wanted him to do.

"I think that maybe there is a small chance that it could be at the bridge. It seems like the bridge is a somewhat popular choice to have a bunch of fights happen at. I don't know why, but I sort of understand that we should at the very least check it out before we try any other places." Rika said and then after she had said that, Takato considered that and he forced himself to agree with her, even if he was thinking about better alternatives.

"Yeah, I suppose that the bridge can be a good place to check out." Takato had said and then the group started to slowly head on towards the bridge, thinking about what they were going to have to fight. Takato was thinking that this was going to be a scary fight. Mainly because he knew that realistically, it was probably going to be tonight when Guilmon would digivolve. He was excited for it at the start of the day, and now he was scared of it. He knew that no matter what happened, Guilmon was going to change their body and they were probably going to forget what they were even like, and that fact scared him to even ponder.

"The sky keeps getting darker the more time that passes. I wonder if that is a sign of the battle that is going to be coming." Kenta was saying quietly, wondering what the digimon was going to be. Takato was also wondering if that Yamaki guy was going to be there waiting for them, and if he was going to try and stop them from fighting that digimon, if he was going to try and use them.

"Well, I think that we probably have an hour at the very best. Either way, we need to not worry about what we might have to deal with and we need to just prepare for the fight. Last time, we were doing it for ourselves. This time, we are doing it for the town. If we don't defeat this thing, the monster will come around and probably destroy the city, something I would not even want to consider." Takato said, scared of the idea of what could happen now.

"It is really strange to see how you are changing so far. I guess you are just more willing to accept the fact that you need to be responsible here. I have a feeling that this is going to be really important later on, when some bigger battles might take place." Henry said and he was being quiet about the whole thing, and he was not really wanting to get into a conversation about it, but he just felt like he needed to make that statement. Takato had not even cared enough to pay attention or try to mention that he was aware of what Henry had said, since honestly he had not cared and he didn't really want to make himself start to care.

As they were walking along, they were getting relatively close to the bridge and Kazu was starting to feel colder. There was something about the area around him, not really the area, the moment that was coming up actually, that was starting to get him really worried. He felt like he needed to take care of something before he could help them, but he was not really sure what it was, and he was thinking that perhaps he was just over thinking the whole thing. He turned around and as he was turning around he saw across the street he saw Impmon for a moment. But then they headed off.

"Kazu, did you see something? We're already almost on the bridge." Rika said when she saw that Kazu was now several feet away from him. Kazu turned to her and she could see from the look on his face that Impmon was what was making him so confused, so worried about what he was going to do. Even if Impmon had nothing to do with the final choice, he felt like he was going to be making a choice soon that would determine the fate of what happened to his friends.

"Sorry, I was just thinking for a moment. I'm coming." Kazu said and the way he was saying it was showing that he was feeling cold about what was coming up. Rika knew that he couldn't understand what was happening, and while she didn't care for him at all, she knew that he was having a hard time with that cold feeling. She didn't want to admit it, but she felt it to. A different day and at a different time and a different place, but she still had it.

Soon enough, they reached the stairs of the bridge and then when they were on the stairs of the bridge, Takato was waiting for Rika and Kazu since they were a little bit behind them. Rika was annoyed and she was just glad that Kazu was getting over it. Eventually, Takato was thinking that maybe he could ask them about it later, but she was going to remain quiet over it for the time being. Takato thought that Kazu was starting to have a couple of things that could change the puzzle, but no matter how much he was trying to tell himself that was silly, he could not really do that.

"Okay guys, are you guys ready for the battle?" Takato had asked and he was looking up and the sky was getting even darker. He saw that there was something like thunder getting ready to come along, due to the clouds that were coming up and everything. No matter how hard he tried to stay calm and tell himself that it was okay and that it was just a casual battle, there was something about it that was really worrying him. He was thinking that maybe this would not be the right battle to not want to have a digivolution.

"Takatomon, I am ready for this. I want some bread. That is all that I want right now." Guilmon said and he was rubbing their chest, and they were so hungry that Takato was thinking that maybe he should have grabbed something for Guilmon to eat before the battle had started, but on the other hand he knew that it was much too late for him to do anything about it. He was telling himself that he needed to start Guilmon pre duel food in the future from then on forward.

"Alright, well just tell yourself that this is just going to be another simple day of the tamers. I doubt that we are really going to be facing anything all that out of the normal. Maybe a little bit stronger than usual, but nothing that we can't take on. But that's not really important, I think what is up there is more important right now." Henry said and then he was looking up at the sky and he was holding his hand out, just with his index finger standing out there.

The group was able to see what Henry was talking about. There was something like a giant arm coming out of the sky, and Henry thought that there was no way in the world that the people in New York can just walk by and pretend as if they had not seen a single thing. They were pretty certain that any normal person was going to freak the fuck out when they had seen this. Takato felt like he was going to go on and piss his pants there.

The group forced themselves to walk up the stairs to the bridge. They wanted to talk about stuff for a little bit longer, but they knew that the longer that they kept this up, the longer that they were going to let the digimon there start to destroy the city. And that was something that everybody wanted to not do. Even Yamaki, the one that was beyond dark and cynical, he knew that he was still doing it in what he was thinking to be the best, even if it was terrible.

The digimon had come out of the sky and was now on top of the building that was directly on the other side of the bridge and Takato was scared of what this was going to exactly entail. He looked down at Guilmon, and he was wondering if his digimon could in any way be ready for the fight coming up. He was thinking of what he was going to try and make his digimon do, and he was not sure what he was going to say to himself in justification in case something bad happened to Guilmon, but on the other hand, deep down he knew there was no other choice.

Terriermon and Renamon started to digivolve into their forms Gargomon and Kyubimon respectively. Kazu and Kenta were looking along and then he was thinking about that cold feeling once again. "Kenta, tell me how the fight goes. I need to check something out." Kazu said and then when he had said that, he started to head off. Kenta was wondering what the hell Kazu was doing and why he was thinking checking some random thing out was more important than this battle coming up. There was a slight bit of annoyance in Kazu's voice, which made Kenta realize that it wasn't entirely on his own choice.

Kenta was just staring right at the battle, and he was hoping that whatever the hell Kazu was doing, that it wasn't going to be as big of a deal as what they would be dealing with. He was grabbing both of his hands together to make a ball with his hands, and he was sort of feeling the sweat coming down his face, and it coming onto his eyes, which made him feel a little bit gross though. Kenta was really wishing he had a digimon, as a way to help out in the battles, but he knew that it was too good to wish for.

Rika took out her digivice and when she took it out, she saw the name of what they were going to be going up against. "Devidramon." Rika had said and then she saw that the digimon was starting to make holes on the bridge just by the steps that they were taking. Which was a sign that there was going to be a lot of damage repair. But it was making them walk slowly, and Rika was thinking that could give them some time to perhaps get some hits in on them.

Devidramon swatted their arm and it made Kyubimon fly and they barely grabbed the light post in order to not fall down to the ground which would have broken every single bone in their body. Gargomon started to fire a bunch of bullets and Devidramon was not even taking the time to take knowledge to the bullets that were being sent at them, as it did barely any damage. These two digimon were no challenge, and them fighting the digimon at all was just being a waste of time in a way.

Kyubimon got themselves up and then they created a fire ball with their tail and then they sent the fire ball at Devidramon, which just hit them and didn't really seem to actually hurt them that much at all. Devidramon just seemed to ignore the fire balls and then they threw both Gargomon and Kybubimon away and both of them started to fall down to the ground below the bridge and when they landed on the ground, the digimon started to feel like they were not able to battle anymore due to some injuries that they had started to gather up. Gargomon was starting to get themselves up and then they felt that their left arm was basically useless. Gargomon had a terrible feeling that it was broken. Kyubimon was getting up and both of their back legs, where they landed on, could not really move all that well, which probably hinted at them being broken as well. They were barely able to walk with their front legs.

Takato had looked down and when he was looking down, he was thinking that he was utterly fucked right now. That there was no feasible way he was going to get their help in any way. he was going to have to destroy this thing on his own with only Guilmon being able to help.

Kenta was placing his right hand on the glasses he was wearing just to make sure they didn't fall off and then he was feeling the gulp in his throat as he was just to prevent it from coming out, but he was thinking that it was going to be virtually impossible for him to keep it in much longer. He was thinking that Guilmon had no chance of beating this thing, and even if they digivolved, they could not have been able to defeat it. Kenta thought that this was useless.

Guilmon was shooting a few fire balls at Devidramon. The fire balls were not able to really do even a small hint of damage towards the thing, but it was enough for them to look around and see what Guilmon was doing. Devidramon was thinking about how this was going to be a useless reward for all of their work, but those two digimon were not really good at fighting, so this was going to have to do for the time being. Devidramon raised their arm up and Takato was looking at digivice he had. If there was a tiny to show the glow of digivolution, now would be the time to do that.

Guilmon was walking backwards, thinking of how they were not going to be getting the bread that Takato had promised, and that made them even more hungry than before. They just wanted some bread so badly, and this was going to basically prevent any sort of them eating. But then they were angry at the lack of eating they were going to have, and that made them really angry. Takato was also worried. They needed to make Takato see that things were fine. With that, the digivice started to glow, and they were getting ready to digivolve.

As they were starting to glow a bit, Takato was seeing Guilmon grow larger and larger. As they had been growing larger, Rika and Henry were not really prepared for how big this thing was getting. It was bigger than the combined size of Kyubimon and Gargomon, and then it was still growing on top of that. Devidramon even took a second to stop and watch how big the thing was starting to get. But then when they stopped thinking about that, Devidramon started to just attack Guilmon again but then as they tried to hit Guilmon, the hit was not doing any damage.

Eventually the digivolution was over, and they were the size of a really large dinosaur. Takato was taking his digivice out and then he saw that the device said "Growlmon" and Takato was wondering if they actually had a chance to take out this thing after all. Considering how big this thing was, even if Growlmon wasn't all that strong, their size could probably be enough to take Devidramon on all on their own.

Devidramon grabbed Growlmon but then Growlmon kicked the digimon backwards and then Growlmon started to breath some fire on the digimon. The fire was actually starting to show their raw skin and Takato was starting to thinking about what he could do now. The fire was just creating a bunch of red lights, and it was really hard for Takato to actually keep himself watching the battle since the lights were so blinding. Even Rika and Henry were having a hard time with the watching. Kenta was okay since he was such a far amount of distance back, and they were just amazed at the huge digivolution that he had witnessed.

Growlmon started to slash and claw at Devidramon and then they breathed even more fire at the digimon once again and then soon enough, Devidramon was starting to turn into dust. As they had turned into dust, Growlmon saw the huge bridge that had been been destroyed, the millions of dollars that would have to be placed into repairing that stuff. But then what happened next was what scared Takato even more. Not the fact that the digimon wouldn't come back to their base form, since Gargomon and Kybuimon did so as well.

It was the fact that Growlmon not only didn't turn back into their normal form, but they were just walking down the street, and then they found the building at the end of the bridge. They then grabbed the building and then started to walk up the building and then once at the top of the building, they started to growl really loudly. They were making something like a huge battle cry. Takato was wondering what had come into Guilmon, and what the hell they were going to do to get the digimon back to normal and how much money or time was going to be put to saving the bridge.

Takato was just standing in fear as this was happening, wondering what had become of the digimon. As this was happening, Kazu was now inside of a really large building. He didn't know it at the time, and he never thought that it would even be a problem, but he was now inside of the halls where Yamaki was and he was going to be the first member of the gang to have to deal with the confrontation of this man, and he knew that he was in no way ready for this. As he was inside, the coldness was fading away into a feeling of dread.

Kazu found a small set of stairs and he was walking up the pair of stairs, he was feeling like with each step that he was taking, that he was coming closer to his true destiny. He was not really sure what he was going to do if something like a battle would be coming up and everything. He would have had no digimon with him, so there was no way that he would have been able to fight the digimon off at all. But when he was on the top of the stairs, he saw that there was nothing he needed to worry about. As he was thinking that he was fine, he needed to figure out what was going on.

There was Yamaki and he was talking with somebody who was wearing a small purple jacket. Kazu didn't get it at the time, and honestly he would not have been able to get it until years later when the guy would show up once again, but Yamaki was talking to the guy in the purple jacket at that moment. Kazu didn't get it, but he had a feeling that he needed to hide desperately, so he took a few steps down and then he sat down.

"The plan is working just like you said it would. I don't really know if that is a good sign or not. I guess I should say that at the very least, you are not a liar. I wasn't too sure if you would really be able to keep your word up. But now that I see that you are indeed able to keep to your word, I need to figure out what your next part if the plan is. If you do not have something that you can provide me that can show that you are still willing to work with me, then I will have to release you." The man in the purple jacket said and then Yamaki was trying to explain his plan, but he wasn't sure if he really could.

"Well, I plan to take over one of the digimon and study how they are made. I feel like when I am able to do that, I can give you some information regarding the digimon and what they are really planning on figuring out. I feel as if I am very close to figuring this out. Just give me two more weeks. When I am done finding the information, I will let you know all of it." Yamaki had said and then after Yamaki said that, the man in the purple jacket remained silent and thought of it.

"I think that your plan is going to be the last thing that you will be able to actually pull through on. If you succeed, this will bring you down in history as a war hero and the person that everybody needs to look forward to. However if you fail, then you will be the one who will have a knife stabbed inside of his chest." The man in the purple jacket was saying and he was holding something inside of his pocket, and this was scaring Yamaki and even he could not start to fathom what would happen to him.

"Yes, my lord. I will not fail." Yamaki said and then after he had said that, the man in the purple started to fade away and he was going to be going to his main base. As this was happening, Kazu was starting to really try and figure out what was going on. So Yamaki had nothing to do with what was going on. Well, maybe that is a little bit too much of a big statement. He was a big part of this, but there was something that was even above him.

As the man in the purple jacket was gone, Kazu was thinking that he needed to tell the others about this as soon as possible. He needed to make sure that they understood that this guy was not really the biggest problem of what was going on. He started to walk down the stairs, and then as he was walking down the stairs, Yamaki was starting to talk to a lady and at the bottom of the stairs, there was a box Kazu saw that he could hide behind. he sat down behind the box and was taking it very carefully, not wanting to make any sort of loud noise.

"Prepare the machine. As much as I hate to admit it, that is the only thing that is going to do what my boss wants. Alert Roosevelt to prepare for my arrival." Yamaki said and then the girl who was standing next to him was wondering what this guy was meaning. Roosevelt had no time for Hypnos, and Kazu was scared that the president was involved with all of this stuff.

"But boss, Roosevelt will not want to talk to you unless if you have results. I can tell the others to get the program ready, which will probably take a week or so to get ready, but Roosevelt will not have it until you catch at least one giant digimon." The girl had said and then when the girl had said that, Yamaki was looking right at her. Despite not being there, or at least being there, Kazu could tell that he was staring at her enough to scare the shit out of her.

"I told you to do this. Don't argue with me. I get that you are worried about me. But if the digimon come here and attack us, we will all be dead anyways. At least when I contact Roosevelt, I will be able to have a chance to possibly get him to see my plan. I think that by doing so, he might be able to add to the budget that we are needing in order to make this plan work out. Either way, I gave you some orders and you need to go with them." Yamaki said and then the girl, Ryley, was nodding. She hated the idea, but deep down she knew that there was no way she was going to change the plan of her boss.

Kazu decided that he was going to stay there for a little bit longer, to try and see what was happening and if it was actually the Roosevelt he had been fearing it was. Yamaki was sitting down and he was watching a giant screen turn on and then as the screen was turning on, it was showing the image of a guy inside of a wheel chair. This was when Kazu had knew that Yamaki had been right. That it indeed was actually Roosevelt.

"Yamaki, I sure hope that you have some good news for me. I have given you enough chances. I don't want to hear what you have to say if it is not relating to destroying these digimon before the next hell mouth opens." Roosevelt said and then Yamaki gulped. he shook his head but then he told himself deep down inside that he can't focus on that and then he started to explain everything towards his boss. Even to this day, it was amazing that his boss was the president. Or at least one of his bosses.

"I do not have any digimon in the base. So I failed you on that regard. But before you get mad, I do have one plan. I created this machine that I said that I would only use as a last result. Now I feel like it is time to use that machine. The machine that will destroy the digimon and close off the hell mouth before it even happens. If the machine works. I want to make some final arrangements to it. All I want is one final payment of money. About five million dollars would do." Yamaki said and Roosevelt was thinking about this. He hated the idea, but he thought that maybe Yamaki was slightly off to something. "It will only take one week to set off. And then we are great."

"I will give you one million. I want you to turn on the program in seven days. Once you turn it on, and see how well it works, if it has any sort of success, I will give you the other four million you desire." Roosevelt said and then the man in the purple said and then after he had said that, Yamaki nodded knowing it was the best he could go for. Kazu saw the door open and then he ran out as fast as he could, to tell his friends what happened.

As Kazu was running extremely fast, he was not daring to look back since he was having absolutely no balls to see if anybody noticed that he was there. When he was doing this, the entire world felt like it was starting to fall down around him. He was thinking that if anybody was going to ruin Kazu's life, it was going to be that Yamaki guy. Despite that, there was totally no cold feeling that he was having at that point in time.

He did not stop running for several minutes, and as he was running, he was starting to feel a little bit more at safeness with each block that he had made. After about eight or nine blocks of just running, he decided to bring it down to fast walking and after another further four blocks, it was just walking with a lot of sweat going on. Despite the fact that Kazu was gone for about twenty minutes or so, the only one who was there that knew what Kazu did was Kenta.

Once Kazu was back to the others, he was wondering how everybody was doing. He saw that the entire group was doing something else, probably related to the battle. The only one who was not helping in the battle at all was just Kenta, and Kazu was well aware of why that was going on. He knew that the only reason that Kenta was not helping was because of the fact that he had no digimon and could not fight. Even Impmon, as terrible as they were, would have done more than Kenta. Although to be honest, Kenta would have had a better chance than Calumon, but that was not saying much.

"What were you doing this whole time?" Kenta asked Kazu and then after he had asked Kazu that, he was thinking that Kazu was not wanting anything to do with it, so he was thinking that he should just drop the subject. That being said, Kazu did surprise him when he had actually answered his question, albeit it very tired and like he had run a marathon, which he probably did a small fraction of in all reality.

"I was checking out this cold feeling I had. Turns out there is this old man that might be responsible for everything going on with all of these digimon attacks. He plans on starting this machine in about a week or so, and from what I can tell, we probably have no chance of actually stopping this guy. He has a plan, and I am totally convinced that he is going to be going through with this plan." Kazu had said and then when he had said that, Kenta thought that maybe he should tell the others this, once the Growlmon thing was over with.

"Still probably not as bad as the stuff that we have to deal with right now. Look at what they are dealing with right now." Kenta said and he was pointing up and then when he had pointed up, he saw Growlmon on the building and the other three humans and the two digimon which barely were able to make it to the bridge on their own once again. Kazu was watching in utter shock, not really too sure of what he was witnessing and he was not really too sure if he wanted to know what he was witnessing, but at the same time, he knew that this was the reality and that he probably needed to try and help out in some way, if that was even possible.

"Well, I think that one way or another, we are going to be looked at as very much responsible for the idea of property repair." Kazu was saying, trying to make it sound funny, and trying to put a little bit of humor to it. But he was well aware of the fact that there was nothing funny about this, and that the entire situation was nothing but scary. But it was what he wanted to do, and it was the best that he could do.

Eventually, Growlmon had reached the ground again after they were done screaming, which they had been doing so for nearly twenty seconds. As Growlmon was on the ground again, Takato could tell that Growlmon was trying very hard not to stomp on anything and not to destroy anything. Which they knew was going to be the hardest factor of this digivolution. Takato fell down on his knees and seeing Takato like this was making Kazu wonder if he should even talk anymore, but at the same time, he was wondering if there was even a slight help he could be. That was when he was realizing that he was not really able to help out all that much anymore. If he even could help out at all.

"Growlmon, we are going to help you out. We are going to fix this right up." Takato said and then he turned around at the others. He hated what he was going to suggest, but he knew that it was something that he needed to do. He was holding the digivice as he was doing this.

"Guys, I need to do this alone. I think you guys should go home, have some good sleep. Pretend that none of this ever happened." Takato said and as much as the others were tempted to argue, when they saw the injuries of their digimon, how tired they suddenly were, and the fact that Kenta and Kazu were totally useless, the decided to respect Takato's wish on him trying to take care of this all alone. With that, there was four different directions that the group went while Takato was just staring at Growlmon hopelessly.

As Henry was slowly heading on home, he and Gargomon were just silent for a moment. He was not really sure what was going on. "Gargomon, I am sorry for throwing you into that battle. I never really considered what would be done if I sent you into a battle that was too much for you." Henry had said and then after he had said that, Terriermon was wondering why they didn't really reference the fact that they had turned back into their normal form. But Terriermon decided that he was not going to point that out, thinking that Henry had enough stuff to talk about and it was enough for Henry to be saying this for Terriermon to just shut the fuck up for the time being.

"You didn't really know any better. I can't get too angry with you for what you did. Just make sure that you don't do it again. I don't want to be forced to be wearing a arm and leg cast and everything. I want to have at least a couple of days to recover from that whole thing." Terriermon said and then Henry thought that it was a fair request to be asking for that.

"Yeah, I will give you some time to recover. I can guarantee you that at the very least. Besides, even if we were to fight again, taking at least a few days to recover is probably the best thing for you. I think that if Rika really does have a heart after all, she will be doing that with her digimon. Besides, I think that maybe Rika is starting to show a little bit more humanity than she had wanted to show earlier. Probably because she knew that no matter how long she had wanted to act like nothing in the world mattered, that she was going to have to accept Renamon sooner or later. Even if she only cares for the fighting, she needs Renamon in order to keep fighting, so she is going to have to keep Renamon in good shape for that very reason." Henry was saying and Terriermon had considered that, thinking that Henry was not wrong. In fact, Henry could not be any more right.

"I think that maybe you have thought about Rika more than you would want to admit. Would you actually consider her to be a friend after all?" Terriermon asked and then Henry thought about that. He said that while he did not consider Rika to be a friend, he knew that they were helpers, and that he was going to at least have to pretend like he liked her for the time being.

Soon enough, Henry and Terriermon entered their house and then Henry went right to bed and Terriermon went on the bed. Henry just needed a good night sleep. He knew that Terriermon was useless for the next few days, and he was telling Terriermon that no mattered what happened, they were going to just stay here for at least the next two days. Terriermon didn't even bother to argue that. This was one of the few times that Terriermon realized that there was no point in arguing at all.


	29. Rebuild, Renew

Chapter 28: Rebuild, Renew (1963)  
The second generation of digidestined had been a part of a really great and huge frontier to help the digital world recover from its near destruction one certain monster had put upon it. These digidestined never had their own partners, and had to do the work on their own, but the spirits who helped protect the digital world back in the day gave them their blessings, and helped them out saving the digital world in easiest the hardest situation to fix that any of the digidestined have ever had to deal with. This had happened in June of 1966, one month after the prom incident, but one month before Ken was forced into the digital world, which can help explain why many places of the digital world were still in something of a wasteland.

The event started one dark night when there was a huge ceremony. The ceremony was being watched and created by a digimon named Mercurymon. The digimon was trying to bring back one of the oldest digimon that had died a long time ago, and the were doing it as a way to try and bring power to them so that way they can destroy the digital world and recreate it to fit their own version of what was going to be considered the perfect world.

As Mercurymon was watching the ritual, several digimon were doing a giant dance in front of a giant hole that was glowing purple, and the hole was getting more and more brightly glowing with each minute. Mercurymon was having their right knee on the ground and their look on their face was one of absolute amazement. Any digimon that was there to see how Mercurymon was taking the whole thing would only have one emotion to call how Mercurymon was being at that moment, just sinister.

The ritual had gone on for about eight or so minutes, and when the ritual was over, the digimon brought their arm out of the ground and then Merucrymon stood up and they laughed a little bit. Their idea of taking over the world was going to be very close to coming to reality, and they were ready to show them that their ideas of how to create a good world was better than the world that they had been given from a false creator, a false god. Mercurymon was going to be the true over lord of the digital world once they were done with Cherubimon and once their world had been created in their vision of something perfect.

Cherubimon was out of the ground and they were just pure dark purple with a couple of yellow lines up and down the digimon. Mercurymon was walking down the ritual line, and as he was walking down the ritual line, they held up both of their hands and the much larger and more powerful digimon were annoyed at what they were doing. But there was something about the sight of Mercurymon that made them think that there was some form of seniority that they had to have with this digimon.

"I am Mercurymon, I brought you back from the dead. I am going to be your master now." Mercurymon said and then Cherubimon just remained silent. After a few seconds, Cherubimon held their hand out forward and then Mercurymon realized what they were wanting Mercurymon to do. The digimon just walked up onto the hand of Cherubimon. "I know what I want you to do first. I want you to destroy the digital world. I want you to leave nothing left. Once you do that, we will work on how to make this world a truly better place." Mercurymon said and then Cherubimon started to float in the air a little bit.

Cherubimon placed their finger forward and started to charge their finger a little bit and then after they charged up the attack, they fired down onto the ground and killed every single digimon in the area that were a part of the ritual and then the ground was just filed with cracks and fire. Mercurymon knew that they had made the right choice by bringing the digimon back, and that Cherubimon was actually truly to bring forward what they had wanted. After that, Cherubimon started to fly around the digital world just destroying every piece of it that they possibly could.

It was at that moment that Takuya had woken up, and he was wondering what the hell he had actually seen. Takuya looked down on the ground and saw that the bed was just covered in sweat, and then he felt a little bit gross seeing that thing of sheets. Takauya started to get himself off of the bed and then he was looking at himself in the mirror. He was looking pretty rough, as if he had just gone through a wild forest. He just moved his hair down and he was trying to make himself look at least tolerable.

Once he walked out of the bedroom, his mom seemed like she was a little bit annoyed. "Takuya, it's one thirty in the afternoon. Did you forget what day it is?" His mother asked and Takuya was used to sleeping in like this in the weekend, but then obviously he shouldn't have been doing it that day for reasons that had sort of escaped him. Then he thought about it, and then things started to come back to him and he was not so focused on the silly stuff that had happened back when he was asleep, which was just a fantasy world he was telling himself. There was no real reason to get worked up over this when obviously none of it happened.

"It's Shinya's birthday today." Takuya said and then he was wondering if he was supposed to help get ready for it, or if it really didn't matter anymore. His younger brother had turned 10 today, and it was one of the bigger birthdays of anybodys life up until that point in time, you know, hitting the double digits. Takuya felt like that since then, he only had one more birthday that was still somewhat more special than this, and that was thirteen, which was a year or so ago.

"He is currently out right now. Just at the park or so. Expect him to be back in an hour or so. You might have been a little bit lucky there, since if he was here right now he probably would have been making fun of you endlessly over it." His mother had said and then Takuya felt like he could not really argue that so much. He just was thinking about what to do right now, and he was still thinking about the dream he had. He was not really sure why, but he was thinking about the dream a lot, and he was thinking for some reason that it had actually happened and he had witnessed some real events.

Throughout that next hour or so, Takuya just helped out his mother on whatever she had asked him to do. It wasn't all that much, since she had mostly done the work on her own anyways, to her own annoyance, but then when Shinya had returned, that was when the cake was getting brought out of the kitchen and she was getting ready to serve it to Shinya for his birthday.

"Are you going to bring any of your friends over right now?" Takuya had asked, not really trying to rub in the lack of friendship on Shinya's part in his face, but he was just so desperate to make any form of conversation that he was willing to say anything. Besides, as long as it made him not think about that dream, which he was getting very focused on, then he would be thinking about something that had actually mattered more than this loose thing that honestly did not matter at all. Shinya mattered more than what had happened in some dream that he had.

"All of my friends are just busy right now. I don't think they would ever really be able to show up for my party. Kind of a shame. Will just be stuck with you and mom, yet again for another year in a row." Shinya said and there was something to the way that he had said that which made Takauya feel a little bit sad himself. After all, he was sort of in the same spot as Shinya, and he couldn't really make any fun of that either. All of a sudden, there was a really loud call and since Takuya was closest to the phone, he was the one that was going to take care of that.

Takuya picked up the phone and then he listened a little bit. "Takuya Kanbara, your call of destiny is coming up soon. Go to the train station at 5:30 pm and go to the bottom floor. The train will not wait for you in case you are late." The phone said and then when they said that the phone added in "Would you rather live out a boring life in the house doing nothing all day, or live a life where you are actually choosing the fate of the world with each day?"

The phone somehow had him beat there. He really did not want to stay here any longer, and they were pretty on point with the fact that he had nothing really going on that day. But he was not really sure how he was going to explain it to his mom. He thought that maybe he could just say that he was going to take a walk, but then he was leaving Shinya alone now. "Mom, how much longer will it be until the food is ready?" Takuya asked and his mother said that it would be all ready in about twenty minutes. Takuya said that he was going to take a walk during the wait.

Then he placed on his shoes and went out, not even waiting for his mom to tell him off and he was a little bit worried that his mom was going to tell him not to do it if he waited. But he was already gone, and his mother would have to wait on the whole yelling him out until much later. But he was running towards something, and he knew that if the call was right, then it would be his destiny.

When he was walking on towards his destiny, or his destiny as the phone had described it, he left his apartment and he was thinking about how long he was going to be grounded if this turned into a several hour ordeal, and he was thinking on if he was actually going to be returning home any time soon, which was making him really think that he should have thought about this whole thing out even more.

Once he was outside, he began to turn right since he knew that the train was going to be in his right direction. He was probably having a little while to walk before he was actually at the train station, but even then they were giving him a really long time to get there. He had like four to five hours, and he was thinking that he really did not need all that much time to get there, but he was thinking that maybe there would be some other people going to the train station and that the phone was just sort of giving them some time to get there in case the journey would take a while. He didn't really fully get it, but he was not going to question the whole thing since there was probably a second motive to the issue.

As he was walking, the sun was starting to make him sweat a little bit and he was thinking about how gross he was going to feel when he was actually at the train station. He had hoped a little bit that most of these people who were at the train station would be dude since if there were any girls there, than basically any chance of him picking them up would be thrown away. He could not really understand to himself why he was actually thinking about the girls that he was going to pick up when he was supposed to sort of be heading onto his destiny, as the phone said he was.

The walk was a little bit annoying, not just because of the sun, which did not really help at all, but because of the fact that there were a ton of people around him constantly getting in his way, and he was just sort of having to make careful navigation, and he was sort of wondering if the thing making the call sort of knew about that going into it, and that was why they had given him so much time.

Eventually, Takuya had made it to the kind of front entrance of the train station and he was wondering what he was supposed to do now. He thought that he needed to get a ticket, but when he looked inside of his pockets, he only had three dollars on him and he was wishing that he went inside his wallet a little bit before he left but either way, he still went up to the ticket center to see if maybe he could get in for a cheap price, or if he was sort of over blowing the price in his mind.

He was at the ticket station and he was thinking about what he was possibly going to say to make the cashier more understanding of his situation and then he pounded his head on the wall when he had seen that there was actually nobody there, which was making the situation even worse for him. "Why can't anything ever go well for me?" Takuya asked a little bit pissed off and then after he had asked that, he had pounded his head a second time for good measure but doing that seemed to work out a little bit better for him than he had expected it would have.

He saw something come out of the ticket machine. He only really noticed because there was a loud noise that gave off the notification needed to let him know that it had happened and then he saw that there was a slightly glowing light. He saw that the thing had produced a ticket for him to go down to the bottom floor. He even pulled it out to make sure that he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing, since he was not really sure if his mind was fucking with him or not. Either way, he was excited to know that this whole destiny thing was now back on track once more.

Takuya could not believe that he had gotten the ticket after all, and that he had managed to do it due to pounding his head against the wall. In fact, there was something a little bit funny to it, but it was still annoying. Then after this, he started to head off in the actual station and he was thinking that there was nothing that could stop him now from what he was planning to do.

As he was walking along, he reached the elevator to bring him down to the bottom floor of the train station, but as he had gone inside the elevator, he saw that the elevator started to bring him down right away. "You are one step closer to coming to your destiny Takuya Kanbara. You are supposed to fix the mess that had just been created, as you are the only one who can." The voice said and then Takuya was thinking that he knew exactly what 'mess' the thing talked about, and he was both excited and scared at that idea.

Eventually, the door opened and then Takuya was left to see that there was no way this had ever been public knowledge to most people. He saw that he was the only one there, and he was wondering if he was the one who was supposed to take care of this destiny all by himself or something like that. Either way, he was walking carefully and then he reached the black train since he knew that he was supposed to go there first and then he saw the door open and he walked inside.

As he had gone inside of the black train, he was wondering how he was going to safe this entire world. He had thought that this world, or any world in general, was just such a broad ass idea that saving it all in one go, just on his own, was something that was beyond retarded. Especially with the fact that he was supposed to do this all on his own, he was not really sure in any sort of way how he can pull it off. he was just hoping that it wasn't as bad as his dream had showed it out to be.

He thought that since there was a while of waiting, that he could just go to sleep for the time being, and that was indeed what he had done. He laid down on the seat he was on in the train and then he closed his eyes and then he started to sleep a bit. He hated the idea of sleeping and having some random person walking along and wondering what he was doing here, but he had nothing to do for the time being, and he was not wanting to think about how much trouble he was going to be with his family, that he was just sort of willing to brush it all off as much as he could.

As he was sleeping, nothing really of big magnitude happened in the train station. In fact, it was so quiet that Takuya, if he was awake, would have been worried that he was in the wrong place and he would have had to miss the whole thing and tell his mom about what he did and hope that she was not going to get too pissed at him over it, and he was just always going back to that.

But as he was sleeping, his dream was just another sort of vision of what Mercurymon was doing. The monster was sitting down in a sort of giant throne room, and they were having their hand on their chin and they were sort of thinking about what they did, and what their next step to the plan was. "We need to figure out which places we have left undestroyed and then go to them and destroy every single one of those places. I will send a scouting group out to see what has been left untouched." Mercurymon said and then snapped their fingers, and there was a few monsters that showed up and they were waiting for what Mercurymon had wanted.

"I want you to go to every place in the digital world that has not been destroyed, and I want you to steal those pockets of land and take them over, or destroy them. Once you are done, I will come along and use those places to spread my influence. I want an update every night from all of you." Mercurymon said, and all of the monsters started to head off out of the castle, to do their masters bidding, who knew of what Mercurymon had been planning this whole time.

There was a loud rumbling and then Takuya woke up to see that the train was setting off. He got himself up and was placing his hands on the windows of the train and then he was watching the train leave behind the station more and more. No matter what happened, and no matter if he should have done this or not, it was too late, and he was now officially into the mission, and he was not going to get himself out of the mission until he had finished the whole thing.

It took about two minutes, but any sign of the train station was gone, and Takauya was now one step closer to finding what the destiny he was supposed to be fulfilling would have been. He sat down on the chair again, understanding that he was the only one in the train and that no matter what happened, he was going to be all alone and that he was not going to get any help, no matter how much he had wanted it.

The ride had lasted a couple of hours, and he was starting to see the sun setting a little bit, and as he was seeing the sun set a little bit, and as he was watching the sun set a little bit, Takuya was thinking about what he was going to be missing out on in his family life, but he was also just hoping that none of his family would really be wondering what he was doing. He was wondering how Shinya had enjoyed the party, and if anything if Shinya actually liked it more without Takuya in the area, which he was thinking perhaps would not really be all that out there.

Takuya saw the train door leaving and he was getting ready to get the hell out of the train. He knew that this was something he had chosen to do, and he had forced himself into this whole quest and that the quest was something he should just finish now. As he was outside of the train, the train set off and Takuya literally had no choice at all. He gulped and then he started to take a few steps along, thinking about the area that was around him, and what he was sort of going to try to fix in this quest.

He saw that there was barely anything around him, and he was seeing that this was actually the world he had seen in his dreams. Takuya was not really sure which one was more crazy. The fact that the world was real, or the fact that he had actually seen the thing get destroyed and that he was going to be the only one who can stop the destruction of the entire digital world. He was not even sure what the hell the digital world was, and how the digital world had decided that he was supposed to be the only one who can actually pull off this idea of saving the day. He thought that whatever came up with this idea was fucking insane.

Takuya wandered around for a while and he saw that there was a huge worn down subway like station, and he was wondering if the station had been one of the places that was got beaten up, but not exactly destroyed, as a result of the digital world being basically destroyed. He then saw that a bunch of the trash cans in the destroyed station were thrown down and it looked like there was like a tsunami that had come along and just decided this would be a great place to bring down.

Eventually, before he could think about things too long, he heard the pounding of foot steps starting to come towards him, and Takuya had gotten even more scared when he heard what was going on, and he was thinking that there was nothing he could do to defeat this monster if they were actually going to attack him, and he was thinking that he was going to die literally in a different world and he would go down in history as a forever missing fourteen year old where his family would never get the final answer.

But then Takuya saw that the thing that was there really was not really all that scary at all. They were just two of these monsters, and that there was one that looked like a small white monk, and the other one was a really tall yellow almost human like thing expect for the fact that they were pure yellow and they were just having really pointy ears and they were having red pants on them. Takuya started to calm down a lot when he had seen that mainly because he knew that if he was going to have to fight them, he could easily own both of them with little to no trouble.

"The signal came through. That makes me feel a lot better. That makes me think that maybe I actually have some hope in what might happen after all. I will tell you the full story of this soon, but I need to know if you came here from a call or message telling you that your destiny lays with being here." The white monster said and then Takuya was not sure if he should answer this, but he thought that the thing was so harmless he could probably tell them the truth just fine.

"Yes I did get the message. I was having a strange dream last night about this giant purple monster destroying your world, and then the very next day I get a phone call telling me to come here. I don't really understand it, and I am not really pretending I get it. Maybe you can explain this a little bit. Just give me like the very short version before I decide what I need to do." Takuya said and the way he was looking at this was what he thought was probably the most level headed way of looking at this without acting like the world was going to fucking end or something like that.

"Well, you got the basic idea right. There was this digimon named Cherubimon that decided to destroy the majority of our world, and I told my friend that I wanted to help fix it. I knew that your world, earth, is related to helping a lot of things in this digital world, so I helped send a message to you, and now that you are here, I am glad." The digimon, as Takuya thought it was, said and then they said "My name is Bokomon, and you are going to be the first helper I have to help save this world."

"Mesa called Neemon. Mesa your humble servant." The other digimon said and then Bokomon explained that every creature in this world was a digimon, and that Takuya was the first human here in decades and that he was going to hopefully change the shape of the fate of this world and then when they said that, there was another digimon coming right at Takuya, that he had to take fight off somehow since the digimon had the intention of fighting and killing him.

"That digimon is Cerberumon, they are very powerful, you should be very careful when trying to fight this." Bokomon said and then Takuya felt very unassure with this detail, thinking that Bokomon really misplaced their trust in Takuya this whole time, but since he was forced to do this job, he was going to have to pretend that he was on top of this. Takuya picked up something that looked like a giant metal stick. He figured that he could use it for the time being.

Cerberumon charged at Takuya and then he swung the stick right down at the digimon and then the digimon flew right to the side a little bit, and Bokomon was thinking that maybe Takuya actually had a small chance of taking care of this thing, but he was not getting their hopes up for the young guy quite yet, as they were well aware of the fact that he had no battle skills, and that he had probably picked a wrong kid to do this. But then again, almost every digimon had not been in any way qualified to do this.

The digimon then got up and then ran right at Takuya once again and then Takuya got hit right in the chest and then Takuya yelped at that, thinking that he had suffered a fate that he was in no way deserving to face, at least that he was thinking of. But then Takuya was on the ground and then both Bokomon and Neemon were standing at the side, thinking that Takuya was going to probably bite the dust sooner than either one of them thought, before his first battle there in the world was even done with.

Takuya was then pushed over this ledge and he hit the ground and that somehow did not really kill him, and that surprised both Bokomon and Neemon. Both of them were very much expecting that the fifteen foot fall would have killed Takuya, but considering what he had dealt with on Cerberumon, this probably was not really the worst thing that he can have to deal with. But then Takuya saw something that for some strange reason he thought could have helped him. He started to run right towards the glowing light.

As Takuya was running right towards the glowing light, he saw that the digimon jumped down in order to try and keep fighting him. With that, he picked up his pace and then he eventually was within inches of reaching the glowing light. He then jumped at the last moment and he was ready to suffer whatever fate the glowing light would give him. Either way, it was probably going to be better than getting killed over what Cerberumon was probably going to kill him by. Better to die by a glowing light than by being eaten or by a fire, Takuya decided.

As he was now inside of the glowing light, he was starting to feel like he was actually getting a course of power running through him. That very feeling alone made him feel like he had actually gotten what he had needed his entire life. He was feeling his body change, and as he was feeling his body change, he was starting to what he was thinking was becoming quite the new man. Then when he was through all of this changing his body, he saw that he was literally not only looking different, but he was almost like a digimon himself, expect like a human form.

"AGUNIMON!" Takuya had yelled, and he was not really sure where the name came from, but something made him know exactly that this was the name of the digimon that he had become. He moved both of his hands around and as he was moving both of his hands around, he saw that he was having a bunch of fire coming out of his hands, and he was thinking that he was going to be a fire user. Which felt a little bit un needed when he was going against Cerberumon, but there was nothing that he can do about it.

He swiped his hand a couple of times and with each swipe, there was more fire coming right at Cerberumon and he thought that the digimon actually had a look of fear on their eye, and that Takuya realized that he had actually gotten on the upper hand by doing this. The battle was now going to be in his favor, and there was no way that he was going to be allowed to mess up this perfect chance that he had to defeat the enemy. As the fire balls hit Cerberumon, he saw that the monster was getting a little bit disoriented at what he had done.

Eventually, Agunimon jumped up, which he saw was another advantage that he had over the digimon and then he brought both of his hand together to create a huge fire beam in a strange way to describe it right down at Cerberumon and he was seeing that the digimon was on the verge of defeat. He then jumped back up to the ledge he fell off of in front of Bokomon and Neemon and both of the digimon were shocked at what they had seen, realizing that Takuya was now the legendary warrior that they had heard about in the stories.

Cerberumon jumped up and then they were trying to take out Agunimon as well but when they were ready to destroy Agunimon, all he did in response was swipe several fire balls at the digimon and then after like four or five, the digimon started to fade away and then turn into something like data. The data started to spread out and was starting to make the train station look less destroyed, and Takuya realized what he had done as he became himself again.

"That must have been something that Cherubimon created. I think that each digimon he created has a little piece of the digital world in them, as their life force to be able to have created them. Each time you destroy them, you have restored a small bit of the digital world back to their former self. I think we may have just found the key to how you are going to really restore the digital world. Young man, you might actually be the hero of this story after all. We need to make sure that you have as much training done as possible, and that you defeat as many of Cherubimon's servants as you can." Bokomon said and despite how crazy it sounded, Takuya thought that perhaps they were actually right on this one.

"Well, either way, I think that we shouldn't wait here for too much longer. I think that maybe the digital world is really badly needing our help. Sitting here debating it won't matter, as I need to save a world. If you want to come with me, great. If not, I will do this alone." Takuya said and then as he said that, a small device showed up to help him turn into Agunimon or back to Takuya, as well as store data from the enemies Takuya defeated. Bokomon and Neemon joined Takuya and Bokomon said they would lead Takuya down a road to where one of the few non destroyed areas were in the digital world.

This entire journey had barely started and this whole thing was just feeling really strange and unrealistic. Takuya felt like this was something that he would hear about in some terrible fantasy book, and to be honest he was not really sure why he was still the one chosen. There was a huge thing about this that he felt like was not told to him, he felt like he needed some answers, and he was just never going to get these answers. But until he got these answers, if he was ever going to get these answers, he was just going to have to pretend that this whole thing was totally normal.

"Neemon and I were not really sure if anybody was going to be coming here, and we were not convinced if anybody would really want to help us. The fact that you are here, and the fact that you are helping us gives us hope that maybe we might not have to live in a world that is destroyed forever. When you defeated Cerberumon and restored that train station, I thought that it could be possible that you would be the only one who was needed for the job. To be real, there are probably others who should come and help us out, but as of yet, you are the only one who showed up, which makes me think that perhaps either you will be the only one in the journey at all, or perhaps there are others who will show up much later and will not nearly have as good battle experience when they do show up as you do." Bokomon said and then after he said that, Takuya was worried about doing the whole job on his own.

"I don't really think that I want to do all of this on my own. But it seems as if I will have no real choice but to do just that. When a new member of the group joins, I bet I am going to have to stop and train them up for a long time, which I think will be rather annoying." Takuya said and he did not want to deal with the problems of training a new recruit on his own.

"It seems that either way, you are going to be in a tough spot. Either you will have to train new recruits all on your own, or you will have to do entire journey on your own. Either way, it sounds like a pain." Bokomon realized Takuya was just going to have to deal with the punches as they come to him.

"Mesa hoping that thesa town is willing to helps yousa out." Neemon said to Takuya and our young hero was wondering why exactly Neemon had talked like that, and why Bokmon would decide to hang out with this digimon. It was not really all that annoying, but he was still not really sure what they were saying with all of the sa's at the end of some of the words and them just fucking up a couple of the words all together.

As they were walking up a giant hill to reach the city, Takuya was just trying to piece everything together. He was wondering why Bokomon and Neemon wanted to stay with him so bad. Yes, they did bring him to the digital world and he was a part of this journey now, but they had done the one thing that they had really needed to do, and after this point, they can kind of do whatever they wanted. They did not need to force themselves into some really hard situation, which this quest was probably going to risk them losing their life.

Takuya figured that he was probably going to go sleep once he did reach this city, since it was starting to get pretty late at night, and he needed to just rest up a little bit before the quest started up. He figured that a night or so of sleeping would get him more ready to take on whatever monsters he was going to have to fight in the morning, and then he was wondering at the same time when he was thinking this if Mercurymon already knew of him being there, and if he was going to have to fight Mercurymon anytime soon, which he was thinking if that was going to happen, he needed to tell Bokomon and Neemon about that to make sure that they were ready for whatever came up next.

"When you go to where we are leading you, it might be a little bit disappointing. After all, there is only one house there. It is pretty boring to be here right now. But I think that you will actually restore the village soon enough. After all, you did restore an entire train station when you had just defeated Cerberumon, and that was not even that huge of a portion of the digital world at all. If one digimon can do that much, I think that you can slowly have the whole thing taken care of after just a couple thousand of Cherubimon's servants." Bokomon said and then they realized what they just said.

"A couple thousand is a ton. Like literally, that is a ton. You expect me to take on a ton of Cherubimon's servants at a minimum in order to save the digital world entirely. That is really a huge bar that you are asking me to cross." Takuya said and then Bokomon seemed to consider what they had just said, and that it did sound a lot more of a huge deal than they had meant it to.

Eventually, Takuya had reached the top of the hill and then when he was at the top of the hill, he saw what Bokomon was talking about on a relatively quiet and kind of underwhelming town. Takuya really was wondering if this entire world was like this, and he was thinking that it was probably going to take a lot more than just a couple of thousand servants to fix the whole thing.

Takuya took a couple of moments to look around the destroyed and non existent city to see what it was even like anymore. There was literally just one house there Bokomon said, and the one house was a fucking yellow one. Takuya never got why people liked yellow houses, and he was wondering why a digimon would think it was a great idea to have their house painted like this. He just walked on over to the center of the town and then Bokomon was looking at Takuya. "How do you really feel about this whole thing?"

"I think that I need to really get right to work if I want any chance of saving this town. To think that this is just one town, and that I am going to have to do this to an entire world, makes me think that there is no real way that I can actually do this at all. But I have a strange feeling that I will not really be able to leave this world until I actually have this taken care of, which means that I will probably be here for a year or two." Takuya said as he was thinking about the idea of being stuck with Bokomon and Neemon until he was sixteen years old, which was annoying to imagine.

"Well, I think you should probably try and talk with the owner of that house first. They probably are going to be so excited to see somebody here who is able to help us out that they will actually go out of their way to give you any information that you desire. Try them out first before you go inside that dungeon over there. I have no idea why that dungeon is even there to begin there." Bokomon said and then pointed to a really large gate, and then Takuya was wondering how he did not notice that earlier.

"I guess I need to go to that place eventually. Probably has a bunch of Cherubimon's servants in there. But I don't really think I have the courage to go in there yet to be totally honest. Yeah, I think I might go and check out that house first. You're probably right, they are probably willing to help me out just due to the idea of there being at least some hope in the future." Takuya said, ready to make his first move.

As Takuya was walking on his way to the house, he was wondering what Bokomon and Neemon actually knew about the digimon there, if they even met at all, or if it was just them getting their hopes up that made them say that they would help Takuya out. Either way, Takuya was going to figure out the truth in a moment. He reached the front entrance of the house, he knocked on the door three times and he waited for a moment until he heard some locks on the door being moved to the side and then the digimon inside yelling at him to come inside the house and Takuya opened the door with Bokomon and Neemon right next to him.

Once Takuya was inside of this house, he was seeing a digimon just sitting down on a couch while they were off smoking a little bit of a bong. Takuya was thinking it was a little bit funny, but he was thinking that he needed to get right to the actual point and not really get too far distracted.

"Who the hell are you? Are you going to take something from me? I don't even care anymore. I won't even fight it. The world is destroyed anyways, so I might as well be put out of my misery since that is all I am going to be dealing with for the rest of the time I am in this world." The digimon said and then they had said "The world is pretty much over now. I can't believe that I was going to end up living to the day that the world was going to end." Takuya was wondering why they had thought that he was the bad guy this whole time, which was something he wanted to get all cleared up with.

"I have no desire to destroy the digital world. In fact, I want to do the exact opposite. I want to save the digital world, and I really hope that you might actually have some ways to help me out with that." Takuya said and then when he had said that, the digimon was watching him a little bit to make sure in their mind if Takuya was actually telling the truth or not, which was something that they felt terrible for doing, but they just could not really help it.

"If you are being sincere with what you are saying, I have a small key that can open up the dungeon and when you are in that dungeon, you might actually find some things in there that can help you out. If you are lying, and you are just going to release the monsters out, I guess it really does not matter at all, since I am on the only one left in the village and everything." The digimon told him and then Takuya was looking out the window.

"Would you really mind if I stay in your house for the night?" Takuya asked and then after he had asked that question, the digimon just considered that for a moment and then they just nodded. Takuya sat down on the couch and then as he was sitting down on the couch he was wondering what the digital world was like before he had come there. "So if it turns out that I am telling the truth, and that I am not wanting to destroy the digital world, then will you do something for me in return?"

"I guess that if it turns out that you actually helped the digital world, then I will let you have one thing in the house. Any one thing you want in the house, and I will give it to you. But that will only be if you manage to actually restore the entire village, with digimon back to how they once were, the houses back to how they once were, and the setting in general. Once you do that, and prove me fully wrong, I will truly give you anything in this house on your wish." The digimon said and then after the digimon had told him that, Takuya considered what they had said there, and then Takuya was laying down on the couch.

"Alright, I will be willing to take that bet. I will be going to be going to bed now." Takuya had said and then after he had said that, he put the hat on top of his face and then Bokomon and Neemon were going to get ready for sleep as well. Afterwards, the digimon just turned off the lights to the house and they were wondering what Takuya even was doing now, and if they were actually going to save the world. They thought that Takuya was either their only hope, or their death in front of their eyes.

Takuya was just sleeping the night away, and as he was sleeping the night away, he was watching Mercurymon in the castle once again. This time, there was something about the dream that actually not only confused Takuya but also just scared the shit out of him. Mainly because this dream had shown that Mercurymon was well aware of the fact that Takuya had actually existed, which was something that showed that Takuya was going to be in danger every single minute that he is inside of the digital world, even when he was asleep.

"A young teenage male has shown up to the digital world earlier today. He defeated the scout that you sent over to the train station, Cerberumon. I was honestly not expecting him to be this strong. Not only was he really strong, but he unlocked the power of the fire spirit. What do you want us to do about him being here now?" A digimon, looking like a blue merwoman, had asked Mercurymon and then the digimon who was ruling the destruction of the world looked like they had the worst news in the world ever given to them.

"Cherubimon is training right now. I don't want them to do anything else for the time being. They are great for what they did, but I have a feeling that in a battle they might not last too long due to the idea of being easily tired. I want you to go to the water temple and I want you to grab the water spirit. Do not hold up, do not waste your time, go right there and get the spirit before anybody else comes here and threatens the idea of us taking it. One spirit is bad enough, and I don't want to lose any other ones." Mercurymon said and then the digimon they were talking said nodded while having a face to show that there was something about their master that had scared the shit out of her, which Takuya could not blame them for.

"I will get right to it master." The digimon said and then after they said that, they just left the castle to go to the so called water temple. Mercurymon then stood up and then they walked on to a window where they were watching Cherubimon at the ground through the window.

"One young man I can handle, but more than one I would start to think that my luck has run out. I am going to be very ready for them. Cherubimon should go out and send another attack soon. They still have about ten percent or so of the world that they need to destroy after all." Mercurymon said and then they sat down and then put their hand on their face, thinking about all of their plans that were slowly starting to fall down because of the news they had just earned.

Takuya woke up afterwards and when he had woke up that day, he was scared about this and the digimon who had owned the house seemed to be as oblivious as ever. They seemed to not understand the fact that they might get attacked at any moment by a digimon named Mercurymon in that digimon's way to try and kill them. Which was something that was insane, and made Takuya feel even worse for something that he even knew wasn't really even his fault at all. But the situation was just him thinking of all of the worst possible outcomes that could by possibly coming out of this as well.

The digimon that owned the house saw that Takuya was finally awake and then they knew that it was time for them to fulfill their end of the deal. "Here is the key to the dungeon. Go ahead and do whatever it is that you plan on doing. It is really your choice of doing what you want. Nothing I can really do about it." The digimon just gave Takuya the key and there was something about the way that they had said it that made Takuya think that they needed to talk with the digimon a little bit longer.

"You know, if you wanted to, you can be able to help me take down the monsters of the dungeon. I could use it if I am able to restore the digital world." Takuya said and then he was thinking that the offer was easy enough as was, and he was thinking of how he could get the digimon to think that he was actually a perfectly chill guy after all, but he was thinking that maybe he was too far out there now.

"Well, if you are lying to me and you want to kill everything, I am going to stay here as long as I can to defend myself against the swarm. If you are telling the truth, and that you actually do not want to kill me and that you want to safe the digital world, I need to stay here for the town when it gets repaired and make sure that we have something that we can defend ourselves with. I would almost be forced to be the mayor of the town in these times of need for that very reason." The digimon told Takuya and then Takuya thought that this was a simple enough reason.

"Guess I can't really argue with either one of those points. I am going to head out now. Bokomon, Neemon, it is time for us to go." Takuya said and then after he said that, he placed the key in his pocket and then Bokomon and Neemon left the house and then Takuya was just looking at the empty town once again when he was outside, actually having somewhat forgot about the entire destruction of the place, which was kind of shocking he kind of somehow almost forgot about it all.

"What really even made that digimon think it was a great idea to just destroy the entire digital world in the first place? I don't understand what can just be so awful about the place that just wishing to destroy it and working from the ground up once again would actually have been a great idea?" Takuya said and he saw that there was just a small light house looking thing. He walked up to it and he was rubbing it, and then Bokmon and Neemon had been considering that exact same thing.

"I think that there was just something about some imperfection that may have ruined it for them. I don't understand why they would just want to fix imperfection. There is nothing perfect. Everything has some flaws. It is more of a matter of living through some of these flaws that can really determine who you are." Bokomon had said and Takuya was just wondering if he was the one for the job or if he really had been mis placed. He took out his digivice and he was just staring at it a little bit.

"I wonder how I got this fire spirit thing in the first place. I don't understand how I was able to become a digimon, or something like that, in the first place. The whole thing just is really hard for me to understand. Do you have any idea how I actually was the one who had gotten it and nobody else? Why couldn't it have been a real digimon to get the real spirit form? That would make way more sense to me than some random teenager from a world that is totally un related to the one that we are in." Takuya felt like he had so many questions that were just not going to get answered, and that no matter what happened, he was not going to get the answers that he felt like he had earned.

"I think that they choose you because there may be something in you that has a level of dedication that the digital world needs. Something that many digimon lack when they are just at their homes, just willing to let the death come in. You saw how that one digomon was. They seemed to just accept their death and not want to do anything about it. You seem like somebody who would be willing to actually try and make a difference. And that is probably why you were chosen." Bokomon said to Takuya as Neemon was just watching away.

"Whens yousa goings in the dungeon? Wesa don't haves a tons of time to waste outs here." Neemon said and then Takuya had thought that maybe this was true, and then he was slowly standing up and he was taking a extra moment to really try and comprehend this whole situation, but no matter how hard he tried he was just not able to do it.

"I guess I might as well just get it over with now. There is no reason to put off something too much longer." Takuya said and then he stood up slightly annoyed and he was starting to head on over to the entrance of the dungeon. "I think that there isn't even enough material here for me to just milk staying out here all day on anyways." Takuya said, and despite how much he had not wanted to say that, due to him not wanting to fight a bunch of monsters and put his life in danger on the first day of his adventure, he knew that there could only be enough time he could put off fate and besides, it's better to just do this now so he could at least move himself a little bit closer to getting the hell out of there.

"I think that as long as you turn into Agunimon, then you would be able to defeat whatever comes in there. I don't think that there will be anything in there that will be too strong for your evolved form to take on." Bokomon said and Takuya was thinking to himself on how he would not really be so sure on the matter, but since Bokomon had told him that, and they had been more aware of the digital world than Takuya, they decided that maybe Bokmon was right about this and that Takuya should just go along with it.

Takuya is now at the entrance of the dungeon, and then he pulled out the key to the dungeon. "Alright, I would not really blame you if you guys don't want to come with me to the dungeon. If you guys want to stay out here and talk with that digimon, or just relax, then go ahead. I think that for your safety, it would be better for you to do that anyways." Takuya said and then Bokmon and Neemon just looked at each other.

"Wesa knows that its will be better for usa to stays out here, but yousa needs some motivations to keeps on goings." Neemon said and then Takuya was staying quiet for a little bit. He was thinking on how despite the fact that it was annoying, it was the truth that he needed that extra bit of motivation going on. He put the key inside of the hole and then the dungeon door slowly started to open and then after a few seconds, Takuya and the digimon went inside of the cave.

Takuya ran down the stairs to the first floor of the dungeon. Once he was inside of the dungeon, he pulled out his digivice and then he started to turn himself into Agunimon again. Even if he couldn't survive as Agunimon, he knew that he had a slightly higher chance of surviving while being Agunimon than he would if he just went in as Takuya. Then Bokmon and Neemon went on both of his shoulders and Agunimon was ready to go through the dungeon now.

On the first floor of the dungeon, Agunimon was running all the way down the path way of the floor. As they were running, there was a couple of small digimon that were the size of Shinya and just were holding something like wooden swords. Takuya thought that he could easily take these things on, and every time they saw him Takuya just shot a couple of fire balls at the digimon and made them fall down and die. When each one was destroyed, a tint light went from their body all the way to Takuya's digivice. Each one containing a very tiny piece of the digital world that he would have to release to the digital world once he was going to take a small break from the action.

He had taken out about four digimon or so in his first minute or so of being in the dungeon, and there was a large bar on the digivice that Takuya suddenly saw on there and Takuya saw with each digimon he defeated, that the bar was starting to get a little bit more filled up and then after a while, Takuya would realize that he would have to leave the dungeon in order to bring the stuff out onto the digital world so that way the bar would go down to being totally empty.

Takuya reached a huge room filled with a bunch of digimon that were all ready to seemingly swarm him around. Agunimon just fired a ton of fire balls all around the area and then the digimon each gave off more energy to the digivice and Takuya felt like he was actually getting the hang of it. After like the tenth or eleventh digimon that he destroyed, he saw a small key fall down to the ground and then Takuya went up and grabbed the key.

Agunimon realized that the key was probably what was needed to bring him down to the second floor of the dungeon, and he was ready to continue the dungeon floor since while he wanted to move on, there was Bokomon that said "Hey, I think you should probably go around and defeat all the digimon in this floor, in order to get all of the digital world pieces in there." Bokomon told Agunimon and then while the digimon did not like it too much, they thought that Bokomon was probably right.

Then with that, Takuya just did a small run down of every single part of the room and took out every single digimon he found and with each one, a tiny piece of hope returned to his digivice and there was the increasingly hopeful chance in his eyes that he was able to actually do this all. One floor of one dungeon wasn't a lot, but it was more than nothing and maybe even if he did fail, this could be a start at the very least. Once he went to the door to the second floor, he saw that the bar was about one third full and he felt like he would have three floors to go through before he would have to go back to land and then he placed the key inside of the hole and went down to the second floor.

Once on the second floor of the dungeon, Takuya was looking around to a bunch of the digimon that he was going to have to fight. He was looking around the room, and he realized that he was going to have to find a key to go down to the next floor. He was kind of getting that in his mind, thinking that the keys were a good idea. Bokmon and Neemon were not talking at all, sort of just letting Takuya run the show, and letting him sort of defeat the monsters since they knew that if he was fighting, then there was no way that they were going to win this fight since they had no battle experience at all.

Takuya saw a few digimon going right at him and before they really got a chance to fight him, he just shot a few fire balls at them and got their data right away. The data was barely anything and Takuya saw that the bar was barely filling up at all, but he was just going right at it and each digimon slowly added up to mean something in the long run. Bokomon and Neemon wondered if Takuya had actually wanted to get some allies, and they were wondering if there were any humans that had also gotten the message since if Takuya had died, then they would have lost any amount of progress at all and whatever he would do, the digivice would have to just release the energy and then the stuff that was in there would be all that they would have restored, and then they would have to basically rebuild an entire society with just a few digimon and hopefully some houses and everything.

Eventually, Takuya had found a digimon that looked like a giant stone statue and then the statue started to shot a bunch of rocks at Agunimon and Agunimon didn't get a single rock hitting them, with Agunimon shooting about five or six fire balls at the thing just to be able to destroy them but once the statue was destroyed, there was a small key that was on the ground. Agunimon then went down to the ground and grabbed the key to go on to the next floor.

Takuya started to run around after the key and he was shooting every single digimon down as fast as he could so that way he would not run out of energy and not risk the chance of getting hit at all, although that was not working super well since by the end of the second floor he was getting a little bit tired and he was feeling that even if the bar was not filled at the end of the third floor, he would probably leave just to take a break for a bit.

He found the gate to the third floor and then he opened the door with the key and then he moved on down to third floor and he was ready to take on the next floor to fill up the rest of the energy bar on the digivice, and Bokomon wondered if Takuya had taken a bunch of sporting classes to not run out of energy yet.

On the third of the dungeon, Takuya saw that there really were not as many monsters in the third floor of the dungeon, and he was thinking that in return most of these monsters were just going to be a lot harder to take out. Which meant that Takuya was thinking that maybe the monsters would actually give him a little bit more energy for the bar, and Takuya was just thinking about that as he took down both of the skeleton guards on the third floor, not even taking a moment to hesitate on what he was doing.

He saw two of those giant rock statues from the second floor coming towards him, and then Agunimon did the exact same thing with the first of those two, taking out one of them. Then with the second one the monster started to shot a bunch of rocks up at Takuya and to be ready, Takuya ran as fast as he could to be several inches away and with each rotation around the monster, he would shoot another fire ball at the monster to the point he had destroyed the rock statue.

He saw a giant flock or like eight or nine of the skeleton guards coming right at him. Agunimon was wondering if with each progressing floor if perhaps the digimon were becoming more aware of his battle styles and with each floor, the monsters would get more of a challenge to try and kill him. Which Agunimon was just telling himself to be ready for as he shot down a few of the monsters with his fire balls, one for each one of them and then when he had taken out the ninth one, he found the key to the fourth floor of the dungeon.

The few monsters that were left on the floor started to attack him and Takuya just saw that he was getting circled around him and then he just started shooting a bunch of fire balls as fast as possible and then once he had taken them all out, he was now ready to move on and place the key to the fourth floor of the dungeon. Although he wasn't sure if he had to do all the floors or if he actually could get himself out when he damn well pleased.

Eventually, Takuya reached the entrance to the fourth floor and then he inserted the key and then the gate opened. That way he can go right down when he did return. He saw on his digivice that there was a leave dungeon button, which only showed up when the entire bar was full. He pressed the button and then when he had pressed the button, he left the dungeon and then once he was outside, he was Takuya again and he placed Bokomon and Neemon on the ground. Strange, when he was in the dungeon, he turned right to Agunimon. When he was outside though, he went right to Takuya though.

Takuya looked at the digivice before him and then he pressed the button that was going to release the entire energy bar that had been set up over the course of the first three floors. He was just hoping that it was going to be a relatively decent amount. As he had pressed the button, he was just watching as a bunch of light was coming out of the digivice, and Bokomon and Neemon were both watching in excitement to see at least some of the digital world coming back to normal.

There was a couple of houses that had been created out of the blue. One was right next to the one single house that had remained there. As this was going down, the digimon that had been in that house and had assumed that Takuya was just evil was watching in amazement, realizing that they were the ones who were wrong about what had happened. Takuya really was there to help restore the digital world, despite what they had assumed, and now as they had seen this, they really were sort of wishing him luck on the inside of the future, knowing that he was the only one who could save them all.

As the blue house next to them was fully placed on the ground, there was a brown house right across the town that had started to form. Then with that, there was a couple of digimon that had come out. These digimon were the ones that had owned the house that were restored. These digimon wondering what had happened, and if they were just out for a extremely long sleep. Or if anything really happened at all. They just saw that the town was mostly empty and that was the main thing that made them think anything happened in the first place.

Then after that, there was a wind mill that had been made and the wind mill was just probably fifty feet or so, and the wind mill was nearly at the edge of the town, and Takuya was watching as the wind mill was starting to move around with the small amount of wind, and Takuya was already feeling like he was watching a bit more of this world was actually feeling like a place Takuya would be able to live at himself.

Takuya saw the final thing of this amount getting created. It was a small pond at the center of town and then when Takuya saw that small pond get created, he realized that there were two digimon he could talk with, two houses he can learn about, a wind mill he could admire and a small pond. Takuya thought that there would probably be like fifteen or so houses in all, which he was thinking he should check all of them once they are brought up.


	30. The Servant of Cherubimon

Chapter 29: The Servant of Cherubimon

At first, Takuya decided that he was going to talk to the digimon from the brown house, since they were closer. He thought that maybe this digimon would be able to just give him a small detailed run down of how their life was like before Cherubimon had decided to fuck it all up. Which he was wondering if they were even willing to do this at all, but he could not help but wonder if the digimon would be able to indulge with him even for just a couple of minutes. Once he explained what he did, they might be willing to.

"Hey, are you the guy that brought us back from that dungeon?" The digimon asked when they had started to piece it all together. Takuya had nodded when they had asked him this question, and then when he had confirmed that to the digimon, the digimon was thinking of what to say to them to show their thanks, if they were really able to thank him at all. The digimon looked down at Bokomon and Neemon, knowing who both of them were and they wondered how those two were safe from the destruction, and Takuya wondered if the digimon would tell them how they knew Bokomon and Neemon.

"I guess I will be willing to talk with you for a little while. Let's go inside my house." The digimon said and then when they had said that, and then Takuya walked inside of the house with Bokomon and Neemon at their side and he was probably going to get his first real conversation after all of this time.

"I do want to thank you for all that you did. You might just be able to make a difference if you try hard enough. I am a little bit curious though, what made you decide that you were going to do this? You can just tell me the truth." The digimon looked straight at Takuya as they were saying this, as if they could tell if he was telling the truth or not.

"To be honest, I am sort of mainly doing it so I can return home once I am all done here. That is mainly the reason. Though after seeing how destroyed this place is, a part of me does want to help." Takuya told the digimon, as the two remained silent for a moment. Takuya was taking a moment to let how great the house had smelled sink in as he had done this.

"How long do you plan to stay here though?" After that was asked, Takuya had to take a moment to thank about it. He wasn't sure and he didn't know how much of the job he would do alone, if much at all.

"Until either the job is done, or until I get a chance to go home. Whichever solution comes to me first." Takuya responded, and then the two felt it was time to get more personal with each other.

"What do you want to do with your life once this is all over with? I can't imagine that you would want to be like this forever. Fighting to save a world that is not yours." The digimon sounded a little bit wistful, as if they were not allowed to leave at all.

"Probably just go back to playing soccer. That is one of my favorite things to do in my spare time. Trying to get more friends if mine to do it though." Takuya thought about how lonely the soccer field could sometimes be.

"I have never played this game that you call soccer. What us it like to play soccer?" The digimon sounded so innocent that Takuya was not sure how he can explain it.

"It is a game that you try to win by getting a ball into a net the most. Maybe once I am done rebuilding this town, we can do one game for fun." Takuya suggested as all three digimon wondered how it would go.

"That might be fun. Let me ask you something. Do you have any wishes in your life?" The digimon suddenly asked and Takuya was taken back at the sudden and out of nowhere question he needed a second to respond.

"I guess I do have a couple if wishes. I sort if wish that people can be able to come together to really talk about the issues to help understand what it is that we all seek." Takuya said, thinking if how awesome it would be.

"So you have a bit of an idealist nature." The digimon said and it was odd for a fourteen year old to consider this, but he supposed that he did.

"I guess I do. I just sort of want to create a open world for us all. I don't see what that should be too much to ask for." Takuya explained, thinking of that type of utopia.

"That sucks because no matter how hard you shot for it, you know it will never come up. You will be fighting a already failed fight." The digimon just said the truth about it, and Takuya knew they were right.

"I know that in a real world manner, you are right. But I can always try at least." Takuya was saying, thinking about the loose battle he would be getting himself into based on this alone.

"I think that one if these days, if you try really hard, you could maybe find what you look for. But you will truly have to try first. It is no sure thing." The digimon decided to really pound that point in again to Takuya to make him understand.

"I feel as if I will have to look to the point it is not even worth it anymore though. Humans are focused on daily life, not others. I am not too sure how digimon are though." Takuya explained his uncertainty to the digimon he conversed with as he thought about leaving relatively soon.

"I get how some are like that, but you should just try and go forward and not be blinded by how some digimon mofgt act to you." The digimon explained their perspective to Takuya as the young man was still not all that sure.

"Tell me the truth, do you feel as if I can actually pull this quest off or not?" Takuya awaited the worst possible answer, sort of knowing what it will be.

"I would give your chances of winning probably about ten percent if you beat this dungeon, only about a one or two percent if you don't." The digimon gave Takuya something to think about as he was slowly heading to the door of the house again.

"Those are risks that you will be willing to have to take if you truly do want to make a difference. The truth question is would you take the risk and show everybody the answer we are unsure of?" The digimon finished as Takuya thought about being home. It has already been a day, but he was already starting to kind of miss it.

"I don't know if I want to riso my life, and I certainly don't like the idea. But if push comes to shove, I will indeed do it even if I have no desire to." Takuya answered and the digimon just looked at him carefully to detect if he was telling the truth or not.

"We will see if what you are saying is true. But for now, you should go back to checking everybody else's house out." That suddenly brought Takuya back to reality and then he thought about that other house to talk to.

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me. I might see you again later." Takuya said and then he turned his back on the digimon and left the house.

Once Takuya was far enough away from the house, he decided it was time to go right to the other digimons house, hopefully they would not like super soundly reject him of me talk odd.

It took Takuya about fifteen or so minutes to reach the other house that was up, as Bokomon and Neemon were doing their best just to keep up with him.

At the destination house, Takuya knocked at their door and he waited several seconds for any kind of an answer, but once it was given Takuya saw this digimon was not as unsure of the human as the others had been.

As a result, he was quickly let in the house on the one small chair open for them and the other digimon started to get some food ready for him since he was their guest.

"It is not that often I get any sort if visitors here. I do wonder why you would come here now of all times." The digimon seemed so polite about it Takuya did his best not to get annoyed at the repetitive questions.

"Sent here on a quest. Told that same story to the other digimon I just chated with earlier. These two found me, and I guess they are helping me out on the journey." Takuya saw the other digimon get a small glimmer of hope there.

"A quest might be what we need right now. Do you think you need anything from me on the journey?" Now that Takuya thought of it, he was a bit hungry right then and there.

"I haven't eaten once since I got here. I really could eat something right now. I don't even care what it is." Takuya was telling the truth there on the eating anything.

"I will get you something. You seem like somebody who can eat a lot, given your age. So I will make a large meal for you." The digimon said and Takuya felt really good about getting a large meal now that it was offered to him.

"Thank you for the offer. I am wondering, what do you do at this village?" Takuya was ready to make some small talk with the digimon while be was waiting for the food to come out.

"I am one of the farmers at the village. I pretty much just take care of all the crops on a daily basis. Not really an exciting life I know, but it is one that has to be done for this village to still develop fully." The digimon was explaining as Takuya saw that his two companions were very focused on the art on the walls.

"Yes my wife was a great artist. She died about two years ago. That would be the one consolation if I died, is to join her. She and I never had children, I failed her on that regard." Takuya suddenly felt sorry for them. He knew what it was like.

"I get it. My biological mother died when I was only seven months old. About a year later, my father started dating a woman and married her, and they had my younger brother. I never knew my real mother, so I consider my step mom to be more my mom. My father loved her, something you can see when he talks about it." Takuya was not sure why he told this to a digimon, but he felt fine doing so.

"Maybe you and him should talk about it and maybe he can tell you some stories about her." As the digimon suggested this, Takuya didn't really feel the need to object.

"I think it would be wise. Could let me know more about him as a man as well. Might even bring us closer with each other." Takuya liked the idea of him and his father getting along actually.

"The food is ready now. I will bring it out." The digimon said as they made a big plate for Takuya, a medium sized plate for themselves, and a smaller plate for Bokomon and Neemon as they were probably hungry as well.

"Do you believe on ghosts? Have you seen your wife since she left?" Takuya asked as he had never seen his mother and as a result was starting to think ghosts were not really real at all.

"I would not say I as much believe in ghosts as much as a afterlife. The night my wife died, I saw her waking up and talking with me. I went to the room later when she went back to sleep and it turns out she had been dead for about 5 hours or so. I feel like she was saying goodbye in a sense." The digimon said to Takuya and that made Takuya wonder if his father had a similar experience with his mother.

"Is there anything you wish you did with her?" Takuya was now very interested in this conversation now. He wanted to know as many details as he could about the digimon.

"There are a few trips we wanted to take but never did take. We wanted to go to Queens, heard that was a great place. But here we are, never having that desire." The digimon said as they were eating and Takuya was half way into his meal and he was enjoying the food as well as the divine smell of it.

"If I ever find all the places you wanted to go with your wife, I will buy a small token for each of them as proof that I went there, and that can maybe help a little." Takuya offered this digimon, feeling as if they deserved a little bit of closure on this whole case.

"I don't know how much it will help. But I might as well give you a chance. So here you go. I got a list of them all. The places that are not crossed off are the places you can go to." The digimon went to the small drawer in their coffee table and handed Takuya a list with seven items on it.

"I don't know how much I can help, but I will probably find at least a couple for you. Hopefully it will provide some form of resolution at the end of it all." Takuya was thinking about if he even would remember this type of side quest.

"I will probably just live the rest of my days farming, not doing anything. I don't really even have a desire to try and do any different. I feel as if that is the worst part of it all honestly." The digimon was looking at the empty crop fields, realizing they needed to restart and then Takuya placed his hand behind his head.

"Trust me, this quest will be taking a long time, chances are I will see these places at least once or twice." Takuya did a short read of it before thinking about how to change the subject.

"I feel as if I am finally kind of getting the peace I desire all this time with talking to you. I'm glad you haven't just done the work in the dungeon and nothing else. Then you would have probably just left when you're done." The digimon finished their meal and put it down as they looked at Takuya.

"I will not lie, it does kind of seem a bit tempting to do that. But I have a job, and I need to do my best to complete it. There is only so long that I can put it off before I talk to somebody at least." Takuya told the digimon as they thought about how boring it would have been for him just doing the quest.

"I hope that you do find some assistance while you are on the road. I don't really think that just three can save the whole world on their own though." Takuya did realize they were telling the truth with that comment, even if it did sound a tad off putting.

"As much as I would like to stay here, I really should get going now." Takuya said as he stood up. He finished the last couple of bites while Bokomon and Neemon were already long done. "Do you want me to clean this up?"

"No I am good. I can wash on my ow. Consider it payment for what you are doing here." The digimon told Takuya as he and his two partners left the house and then Takuya considered what to do next. He could try talking to the earlier digimon again, or be could go to that first yellow house. He didn't want to fight anymore, so that was not an option.

Takuya got to the house as fast as he could, as there was basically nothing else to do that day since there were only two houses as of yet.

Once he was inside of the house, he saw the original digimon getting something ready for that day. Takuya seemed to notice that this digimon was far less annoyed at him than they were originally.

"You proved me wrong I have to admit. I didn't think you truly had the best intentions, but that has proven me wrong now. I do wonder though why you didn't do more than you already did earlier. You seem like you could have had it done by now." The digimon questioned Takuya and the young man said nothing about it.

"I guess it wasn't all your thing after all. I just hoped this town is repaired before too long though. Don't want to see it just sort of only get minimal repairs." The digimon said as Takuya nodded in understanding.

"I get it. I would be glad this place has a chance to be restored at all if I were you. This seems like a once in a life time chance for you to get this at all." Takuya decided to remind him of the opportunity coming up and as he said that, the digimon really could not argue with him there.

"Sorry if I am sounding like I am annoyed with you. I am just trying to get used to the fact that I have some allies here in these times of need. I am just being realistic on the way that all of this seems like something that would just be what I would run into on a level of just sheer luck. Please, forgive my rudeness if that is bothering you too much." The guy who was talking with Takuya had said, and then after he had said this to Takuya, the two of them were wondering what the digimon can do with Takuya at the moment. "Well, I guess I might tell you a little bit more about the history of this town now that I feel like you have earned it a little bit."

"I am very interested in what you have to tell me here." Takuya said and then after he said this, the digimon seemed a bit proud of the fact that Takuya had told him that, and decided that he was going to take advantage of the fact that Takuya seemed excited and then they decided to give a moderately decent lengthed history lesson. It was interesting to see such a young guy take such a interest to the matter at hand, and that Takuya wasn't just using all of this to try and prove that they should get more than they have been given already.

"Well, this town was built here twelve years ago. Before you ask, I am talking about the full on establishment here. There have been other things such as a couple of digimon living here, but nothing like a full blown town. Of course, the dungeon has been here longer than anybody can really remember, probably because nobody was quite expecting there to be such a large following here." The digimon started and Takuya was confused as hell.

"Wait a second, you are saying that this town is actually younger than me? That doesn't really seem all that likely. I am not calling you a liar or anything, it is just strange to really think about." Takuya said and then after he had said that, the digimon felt like they did see the confusion of Takuya, but they were indeed telling the truth, and they were glad that at the very least Takuya was not saying that they were full on lying to him.

"There were three digimon that decided to help make this a little bit of a full on settlement. The digimon living here did not seem to like it at first, but they clearly got over it soon enough and decided that they would help us out on creating the advancement of the settlement. The three digimon, one of them being me, decided to get right to work and one of us work on publicity, one of us worked on building and house culture, and one of us worked on the general town such as farming." The digimon explained and Takuya was intrigued by how odd this was.

"How did you manage to get all of that together with just three digimon? I mean, I bet that the town doesn't even have all that many digimon to begin with?" Takuya asked and then the digimon raised up their right hand as if they were glad that he was saying this, and that they were glad that he was indeed indulging them, and not exactly saying that they were just doing this as a way to promote themselves. But then the digimon sighed and then they started to continue the story for the young man to listen to.

"It was all due to work that we were able to put this together. A few days after we started working, a house was kind of close to being at least somewhat livable. The farm was getting somewhere and the promotion was going good. Plus the digimon that was there originally did decide that they would help provide for food for the newer digimon that would come along. One was going along on his travels, and he saw this place and decided to stay there in the slowly working place and once they slept there a couple of nights, seeing how much of the town was getting closer to being done, they decided that they would start living there. So now there was five of us, and they started to help with the house creations." The digimon told Takuya, and Takuya thought that with more helpers, more would get done.

"I think I am starting to get this now. I think that this is not as crazy to believe as I thought it would have been. Would you be willing to continue telling me a little bit more about all of this?" Takuya questioned and the digimon did indeed continue their talks.

"Well, once things started to build up, we were working in the town and moving along its progress with twelve hour work days. Every week to ten days, a digimon would come along and stay for a couple of nights. Some would stay, but many would decide that they would want to live here, and once they did decide to start living here, then things start to slowly progress with the promotion. After about three years or so, we had enough digimon here to be considered a full on settlement, about a hundred and fifty or so and most of the places were built, and shall a digimon want to come, we agreed that we would build yet another house for them." The digimon explained and then Takuya nodded.

"Has there been plenty of things that happened here that can already make this town have a very interesting life to it?" Takuya pondered out loud and this entire thing was just such a interesting and complex working that every detail he could learn was legitimately interesting for him to learn about. This worlds history was more intriguing than normal history books in his eyes.

"Not really. We tried to figure out what is in the dungeon, but the digimon who first went in there because they had a key and they were here just to examine some ruins, barely came out with their life, and they told us to never come in and they said that they would give us the key. They said that the key should not be used in any means and that if possible, to destroy it. The digimon stayed for a few nights. But I have no real clue if they are still here, as crazy as that may be for you to hear. They just have been very quiet, so even if they are here, they might as well not be here at all." The digimon told Takuya as Takuya was wondering if they were even alive anymore.

"Have any digimon here died since the creation of the town? I feel like that after twelve years, there might be one who might have by this point." Takuya was sounding like a dick to himself when he asked that, but he could not help himself but wonder about that. The digimon he was talking to felt a little odd about that but decided that he didn't meany anything about it and that it was just a piece of casual trivia.

"Well, one family came here. A young girl and her father. Things were normal for about eight months or so, and then when they were here for about eight months or so, her father died and left the young girl to pretty much own the house on their own. I guess that she was expecting this, as she did not really seem that terribly sad over it. As terrible as it sounds. She probably got all of her crying done before she even had her father die, now that I think on it I feel a little bit bad for her." The digimon said and Takuya had nodded as he was understanding exactly why he felt like that.

"As much as I hate to do this, I think I am going to be crashing for the night. Thanks for talking with me. I will head to the dungeon once I wake up tomorrow." Takuya said and then after he said that, he started to lay himself down on the couch and the digimon who owned the house said nothing and thought that it would be a good idea for him to sleep, since all of this work really must be more tiring than they must have been thinking.

Takuya closed his eyes and then as he was asleep, he had another dream about Mercurymon and Cherubimon that night. Mercurymon didn't seem to get the news about Takuya clearing the first three floors. They must have been thinking that they were still in the lead. "Cherubimon has destroyed the dark train path." Mercurymon said and then when they said that, Takuya finally got it. They were not worried about the restored part since Mercurymon must have destroyed as much as Takuya had recovered, if not even more than how much, which made the progress feel like nothing.

Takuya then woke up that morning, and when he was awake that morning, he figured he would go right to the dungeon. Bokomon and Neemon were seeming to be ready as well, not really wanting to stop Takuya for any sort of like exposition dump or anything like that. They walked out and didn't even get something to eat and Takuya figured he would clear the next three floors of the dungeon to make more progress.

As Takuya was ready to make more progress on the dungeon, he opened the door to the dungeon and he went right to the fourth floor, which he was ready to take on more monsters when he was on the fourth floor of the dungeon, and Bokomon went on Agunimon's left shoulder while Neemon went on his right shoulder and then he was wondering just how long this dungeon would be, and if he was actually going to be here for like a couple of weeks or something like that. Well, maybe not a couple of weeks or something, but easily a week at the rate he was going at.

Once in the actual fourth floor, he started to see that a few of the rock guard monsters were coming right at him and then Takuya just shot down all of them with his fire balls, and the monsters were easily destroyed. Takuya was really feeling good for with himself being able to take on all of these so fast, as it was showing that he had gotten a lot stronger over just the last day or so. As the monsters that were heading on towards him had been destroyed, he started to walk further along on the fourth floor of the dungeon, ready for a couple of those rock giants that were a few feet away from him.

Takuya started to play around with both of his hands a few seconds and made a really huge fire ball that he just sent right towards the giant rock statue, and that rock statue actually gave him a ton of energy that was restored and Takuya was wondering how Cherubimon had even created some of these digimon in the first place, and why he didn't make them any stronger than they already were, or why they made these digimon in the first place.

Agunimon was running down a few hall ways and as he was running down the hall ways, he was quickly shooting down several of the weaker monsters that he felt like were not even worth his time bothering with since he had taken these things on so many times that in a way they were just a bigger distraction than they were actually a challenge. He was just tired of fighting all of them and he was waiting more for the bigger monsters of the floor that can give him the key to the fifth floor.

He saw that there was about twelve or so of the small skeletons, two of the rock statues, one of the giants and then something that looked like a small rock snake, which was really strange for Takuya to look at but he was telling himself not to get too distracted by this whole thing and that he needed to take this set of monsters out. He started to spin around as fast he could and he was pretty much creating a giant tornado like thing of fire that slowly started to engulf the entire group up and then afterwards, he found the key to the next floor and then he went right down to the next floor of the dungeon.

At the fifth floor of the dungeon, Takuya was checking his device again and saw that the bar was decently filled and everything, but he felt like he was still only able to probably get two to three floors out each day. He was running around and he was feeling like he was getting a good amount of tack practice for what he was doing, even though he never even played track before.

Those rock giants were starting to become slowly more common as he was doing this, and he was able to take them out with like four fire balls and as he was doing this, he saw that there were three paths he can go down, and he figured that he should go down all of them to not only get the energy, but to actually find the key and then get the door to the next floor, so he could not really just leave one section off entirely. First he went down the straight forward path and saw like thirty of the small skeletons.

As he saw the skeletons, he was using a giant wave of fire at the monsters, and then he was able to destroy them all after a few moments of the fire spinning and it looked like soon enough, that they were all destroyed and while it was exciting that he did that, he saw that it ultimately didn't matter all that much when he saw that there was nothing this led into, so he just had to leave the area alone and move onto one of the other two directions. There was a fifty fifty chance that each section was now the correct section to go down.

Then when he was done with that room, he turned to the right and then after he went to the right, he saw that there was another one of this rock snakes from the ground, and Takuya was more ready to take this one out. The fire tornado worked out the first time, so he made himself charge up the tornado as fast as he could and then he started to destroy the fire snake and when he destroyed the fire snake, there was the key to the sixth floor of the dungeon and then he started to run down the pathway in order to get to the left side of the room, which obviously was the one for the key.

At the left section of the room there was something that looked like a big rock rhino thing. Takuya saw it charge at him and it did hit Takuya at the legs a little bit which hurt him but then he just used a large amount of fire at the rock rhino thing and then he destroyed it that way and then after he had done this, he started to go to the sixth floor of the dungeon and he went right down.

On the sixth floor of the dungeon, he saw that it was a relatively large room, but not so much so when compared to the fourth and fifth floors of the dungeon. He was ready to see where he needed to go but when he was walking around, he saw two of the rock rhino digimon coming right towards Takuya. He saw that they were both coming right towards him on each side and then he started to shot a few seconds worth of fire at the first one and then when that was done, they destroyed that rhino and then he went to the second rhino and started to do a bunch of fire charging up and then he was done with those two and that first part of the sixth floor was done with.

Afterwards, he started to continue walking down more and more and then there was a few of the rock statues coming at him. It was basically kind of getting to that point to where he might not have any of the skeletons coming along to fight him anymore. They were so weak that he thought that fighting them was kind of a waste anyways. maybe they might show up later, but at least for right now it was looking like they were not a problem, and he felt when they did show up, it would probably be in large flocks. As he was thinking this, he destroyed the three rock statues with relative ease.

Eventually, he was ready to keep going forward, and as he was going forward, he saw that two of the rock snakes were in his way, and he knew that he had to defeat them all in order to get more progress done, and he was wondering why so few monsters were even on this floor in the first place.

Takuya started up his fire tornado and then when he was starting up the fire tornado, he swept one of them up and one of them was starting to get ready to bite him and they managed to get the bottom of his foot which made Takuya break his grove and then after his grove had been broken, he shot a couple of small balls at the face of the snake and then he went down the rest of the path and when the key was given to him.

Then with that, he went to the door of the seventh floor and then afterwards, he went back up to the normal town when he saw that the bar was probably ninety percent or so filled up, meaning that the next floor would probably have too much energy for him to actually fit into the device, making it not really even worth it. Once he was outside again, Bokomon and Neemon got off of him and then he turned right back to Takuya, and he was tired again but needed to do this part of the job first.

He took out his device and it showed his bar that was showing the recharge rate. Takuya pressed the button and then after he had pressed the button, there was a bunch of energy that was going out of the device, and it was starting to restore more of the houses of the town and everything as well as the people in the town. There was a small cart with a digimon in front of it, and Takuya had seen that there was now ton of stuff on the cart which made it look like it was actually a store for the town. Takuya thought that he might have to check that out before he makes too much more progress in the future. The digimon there looked like theyr had a huge beard and a large pipe out of their mouth and Takuya can already see the smoke out of it.

There was another house that was about fifty or so feet in front of Takuya, and the house was a worn down dark blue one, and Takuya can see that it had needed a lot of work. There were vines and weeds in front of it and there were a couple of holes in the place, which made it obvious that if anybody owned it, they had not taken care of the house in a very long time.

Another house that was about a fifth of a mile away from the yellow house on the left side was placed there. It was obviously a one floor house and the house was obviously just only able to fit one digimon to live there. If there were guests, there was no way in hell that anybody could actually stay there, meaning that if Takuya did decide to visit there, he would only have a mere few minutes to actually stay there and visit.

It looked like all of the roads in the town were built right up, which gave Takuya some form of impression of how many houses were up, which ones needed to come back, and where he needed to go if he wanted to walk on any sort of proper paths. But Takuya felt like it had not really mattered, so he decided not to really worry all that much about it at least for the time being until more houses were built up or more small like stores or whatever else was in this town, which Takuya was not even sure how many houses would be coming up now.

There was one more house. It was a house that was next to the small light house thing and then as the house was brought there, Takuya could see from the very large distance away that it was a darker green house and that it was large enough for it to be a two to three floor place, with probably ten to twelve digimon that can stay there. Takuya realized that this must have been a large house. But Takuya saw that there was nothing else next to the place and that it was just a generic house next to the lighthouse thing.

Once the houses were all done being set up, Takuya was not really too sure where else to go to next. He was thinking he could perhaps head on over to the worn down house and he was heading in that small direction but when he got right in front of it, he was staring at the house and Bokomon just stared at it as well. "I have never seen a house this worn down before. Not even when I saw a digimon get arrested and they were not at their homes for months on end have I seen somebody give up their house just this badly." Bokomon said and for some reason the idea of digimon getting arrested was beyond absurd for Takuya.

"What the hell did the digimon do to get arrested? I don't know why, but for some reason just the very idea of a digimon getting arrested just seems very out there for me. I guess they must have really done something terrible." Takuya said and then after he had said that, Bokomon also wasn't really all that sure why they had been arrested, but they remembered it was a big event.

"I think it was related to some form of assassination subplot. I know that it sounds strange to say that, and I bet you never thought that digimon would be doing stuff like that, which I guess does make sense since that was the first time I ever heard of something like an assassination attempt in the digital world before. What was the most recent event of something like that happening in your world?" Bokomon asked and they were genuinely curious and Takuya decided he would give the short version of what happened.

"About three years or so ago, my president was killed. His name was John Kennedy. His vice president, Lyndon Johnson, took over and won in a huge landslide. He is in the middle of serving his term right now. When Kennedy died, the entire world was going crazy over it like it was the end of the entire world." Takuya said and Bokomon was not really sure if they could understand how one dumb ass death could make it sound like there was nothing that can save the world from ending, unless if it was somebody like Takuya.

"I wonder how big of a deal he really was to make people react like that. What do you think we should do about this house right now?" Bokomon questioned and Takuya walked up to the bushes. He was wondering how much physical labor would have to be taken in order to make anybody be able to just walk inside of this house at all. He wanted to see what was in there, but he also knew that there was probably no purpose to doing so, since there was probably nothing there he could use.

"Would it even be worth it to go in there?" Bokomon asked in a honest tone, and as Takuya was thinking about it, he was considering the point that Bokomon had. There seemed to not really be a huge point in doing this, but at the same time, he felt like he could not really turn down such a perfect chance to do this. Not that he could actually really get much done here, but Takuya grabbed a couple of the bushes, and thanked god that it was not one of those really spikey ones, and slowly pushed it all to the ground. He kept on doing this for a few minutes, and after he had done that for a little while, Bokomon and Neemon were kind of impressed with how fast Takuya could actually do this type of work and then they decided just to remain quiet about it the whole time.

"Well, I guess we have our answer. I was not really thinking that you would move all that stuff to the side so fast. But we might as well go in now." Bokomon said and then after they had said this, Takuya and the two digimon went right inside of the building. Takuya felt like he was doing the biggest kind of breaking and entering in the entire world when he was doing this. Not that he was going to go in there to rape or kill anything, but it was still a little bit unsafe for him to do this.

Once inside of the house, he was seeing that there was just a bunch of random things scattered all around the house. Such as books, some really dirty dishes, and then a few other like house momentos that some people or digimon might have but in reality have been horribly mistreated. Bokomon and Neemon were walking around the house and they were grabbing some of the things that seemed to be a little bit interesting to them.

"It seems as if the digimon who has been here went all around the digital world. Looks like they even went to the memorial for one of the original creators of the digital world. She was gone before the digital world could really make too much progress, but if it weren't for her, there would have not really been all that much of a digital world." Bokomon gave Takuya the quick like ten second history lesson version of it.

"How many people had helped create digital world? It seems like something that more than just a couple of people would really be able to accomplish. Just seems like something that would be a little bit out of my imagination." Takuya said and then as he was saying this, there was a voice up above that made him stop any sort of concentration that he was having and he was wondering what the digimon even wanted to tell him, even though Takuya could tell that he was going to get in trouble.

"There were two people that helped in the original creation of the digital world. One of them died, but even though there were only two at the start, the imaginations of plenty of children and sometimes even some teenagers have expanded the digital world much more beyond the original vision that these two creators had come up with before." The digimon who was living in the house said as they were walking down the stairs and then they told Takuya to just sit down and just listen to what they were going to tell him. Takuya felt like there was no real point in arguing with them, and as a result he sat down anyways.

"My young man, I have been aware of the many time periods of the digital world as I am one of the oldest living digimon ever. I was not the first one created, and I was not there when the digital world began, but I was there during the first great invasion of your world, and I was there to see how many of the things in your world had been changed exactly as a result of this world being here." The digimon said and then Takuya now was into the questions.

"How were you here since the start? You do not really look to be that old at all." Takuya said and he was wondering how the digimon would take that statement, he was just saying the truth on how he felt. The digimon had fully walked down the stairs and then they sat down and just then looked right at Takuya just to see what the young man was thinking. Compared to them, he was just sort of a starting chicken, but he was a staring chicken that looked like he had a lot of potential, and he was a starting chicken that looked like he would be hungry for the knowledge of the digital world.

"My name is Shoutmon. I was the first ever digimon to have helped a group of humans while they were riding off the first ever great invasion brought to you upon us. Yes, that is the truth, there are invasions that have happened before here, you are not the first human to be partaking in something related to our affairs. I understand how that may be a bit hard to handle but I think that when you hear my story, you would be able to believe me." The digimon sounded like they were a old man and Takuya was starting to see it through at least on the voice.

"It seems like you are telling the truth. I can hear from your voice, and just something about the way that you are telling it makes me think that you are indeed telling me the truth." Takuya said and then the digimon, Shoutmon smiled that they knew Takuya was able to actually see through what seemed impossible and they were seeing what was actually in the works.

"Well, it was about a hundred years ago when the whole journey the great creator started. Although I met him about 99 years ago, and it seemed like I was actually just created for the purpose of helping this group out, as sad as that may actually sound for me to say. But when I met him, and when the final battle happened, there were about eleven humans there. It was like we had created a mini army to save the two worlds. But that was long ago, and I have no idea how related all of that was really to what is going on right now. If they are even related at all right now." Shoutmon told Takuya, and then Takuya was curious how the two could even be related at all, it just seemed impossible.

"How would the two cases from then to now be related in any way? You just said that was like a hundred years ago. The fact that you are alive is crazy. There is probably nobody else from that time period who is even still alive anymore right now. I don't even think that it should be worth comparing and contrasting right now." Takuya had said and then after he had said that, Shoutmon remain quiet as it did seem like there were a couple of more things that Takuya indeed could be able to learn.

"Digimon have a different way of living than humans do. They have a bit of a more dedicated life style. They do not give up so easily when it seems like they are just about to die. I am not saying that to be rude, I am just pointing out something I noticed on my time in earth, and from the stories I heard about fellow digidestined." Shoutmon told Takuya as Takuya was more interested in what digidestined was.

"What exactly are digidestined anyways? I think I have heard about them before but I seem to still not really understand it all that well. Would you really mind telling me more about that type of stuff, or would that be a little bit too far out there for you?" Takuya could smell the old dustiness and barely washed odor of the house, and Takuya could tell that Shoutmon did not in any way whatsoever care for their odor and Takuya was kind of suffering as a result of it.

"A digidestined is pretty much a person who is supposed to help both earth and the digital world once every few decades, and that is pretty much the main purpose of you guys being around. You are meant to fight the fights that no matter how much we may want to do it, and hell may even be able to do it on our own, we are just not able to do it. We need you to do it for us. You are the heroes of legend, and you need to live up to your legend." Shoutmon said and then Takuya thought that there was no way he could do that.

"So if I am a digidestined, and I can kind of figure out that I am, will I be the only one who is able to save the digital world this time? Will there be more people who will help me here? I want to be able to actually save this world, but I have no idea what I can really do all on my own. If you are willing to help me out on all of this, then I feel like I can have a easier time taking on this whole thing. I get tired after just doing three floors on these places. That is nowhere near enough for me to call it any real sort of accomplishment." Takuya had said and then Shoutmon felt like Takuya was just going to be on his own for a large part of all of this.

"I understand your annoyance. I understand that you want to have somebody help you. I will give you some directions after you save this town, but until then you are going to be alone. You were given this job, it is time for you to go on and live this job up the way that you should be doing it. I have faith in you, and you should always remember that, but there must come a time when you must go on and prove yourself." Shoutmon told Takuya which made Takuya feel more pressure on this.

"I do want to know more about this whole puzzle of this world? Do you feel like you would be able to give me at the very least that?" Takuya had said and then Shoutmon thought about that for a moment, but decided not to say anything as they felt nothing they would tell Takuya could make any of this better.

"I will only be able to give you a small piece of the puzzle. In order to get the full puzzle, you need to talk with every digimon you possibly can and understand the history of this place. In order to defeat your enemy, you need to know and understand your enemy." Shoutmon told Takuya as he was not really sure how much he could agree with them, but thinking that since they were so old, that maybe there was a historical example that they were going off of there.

"I will consider what you tell me here. I am going to head out now. Maybe I can talk to some others while I am here tonight and before I head in tomorrow morning." Takuya said and then after he had said that, he got up and then he started to head out of the house. Out of the house, he thought about the small house near the yellow one and he thought that he could make a little bit of a short stop there. Figuring that maybe the digimon there would not mind the fact that he was going to try and get in their small ass house.

After a couple of minutes, Takuya reached the front entrance of the house and then he knocked on the door. After he knocked on the door, the digimon there answered there and he was watching Takuya and they wondered the strange combination of Takuya, with Bokomon and Neemon. It was such a strange combination they needed a moment to process the whole thing.

The digimon that owned the house, which was basically a small gnome, just looked directly at Takuya and the others for a couple of seconds longer before letting the three of them inside of the house. As they were inside of the house, Takuya pretty much had to be crouching the entire time while Bokomon and Neemon were perfectly fine in the situation that they were in and Neemon thought it was kind of funny watching Takuya in that type of position. "Yousa looks so funny when yousa is duckings." Neemon even said and then Takuya groaned and moaned as he just decided to sit down on the floor and he took up nearly thirty percent of the ground.

"Well, I didn't even notice that there was anything that happened in the village until I saw my house randomly come back here and I saw that most of the place wasn't even still around when my house showed up again. This was just strange, and now that you are here, can you explain what exactly even happened to this village that all of our houses go away?" The digimon questioned Takuya and then Takuya just gave them the ten second version of the story and the digimon thought it was a odd story.

"Well it seems like in a few days this village will be back to normal anyways and at that point I might as well not even make a big deal about the situation that this town is in." The digimon told Takuya and despite how passive and not give a shit the whole thing was, Takuya was thinking that maybe there was a level of truth to what they were saying, so he decided not to pursue that subject any further. Now he was thinking more about the digimons house and how insanely small the house was.

"Did you not really consider the idea of having guests over when you were making this house? It is really hard to sit around here?" Takuya asked and the digimon conceded that they did not indeed think that thing out, and they were apologizing to Takuya for any annoyance that this may be causing. "I won't be here for more than a few minutes anyways, so don't worry too much about the whole thing. I am just more interesting in your house and what your life has been like living in this village."

"Honestly, my life in this village is not nearly as exciting as you may think it is. Nothing too much has happened here, I mean there are the every once in a while events of people coming along and sometimes those create a crazy night or two, but probably nothing that you would want to hear me tell you to be totally honest. Besides, some of them might not really be all that child friendly, and you might not really be able to appreciate how insane they were just because of the fact that they are not super child friendly." Takuya was not more interested than ever in it.

"Now that you said I should probably not hear it makes me want to hear it now. Want to just give me the short version of the story? To be honest, I will probably not even remember most of it in the future. So you do not have to worry all that much about telling me about it." Takuya said and he was half telling the truth, half lying about the not remembering it when he had said that. He had just said that as his way to get the digimon to not feel too terrible in telling the story. He saw from the look on their face that it was relatively successful what he was doing.

"Fine, you seem like you might be mature enough to hear it anyways. I will tell you what the story since you are saying that you think you will take it well. Anyways, so it started about two years ago when a small group of digimon came along. This whole event was just more weird than not appropriate. The digimon came into the town, and it was a small group of digimon who liked to party all the time. It was one of the biggest things that they liked to do. They went to the bar of the town, which we have but it has not been rebuilt quite yet." The digimon who started to tell the story said as Takuya wondered if he could get in the bar now.

"When they went to the bar, they ordered a bunch of drinks and got totally loosely goosey. They were very drunk. Almost to the point where it was a all out riot. But I doubt that you really want to hear all that much about that. Anyways, once they had gotten drunk, they decided that it would be a lot of fun to have a huge party in town." As the digimon said that, Takuya could not help but smile there for a moment.

"'One of the digimon while they were partying around went to their so called party cart and then they put on something like a party prom dress. Like a full on suit, which was weird since there was nothing that they were doing that was even remotely related to prom, and the whole thing looked more like a strange bachelor party, but with no bachelor." Takuya wondered how there could be a bachelor party but with no bachelor.

"If you don't mind me asking, but how exactly was it a bachelor party when there was no bachelor in it? Wouldn't it just be a party?" Takuya asked and when he asked that, there was a part of him feeling like he was just an idiot for asking that, but he could not really help it all that much. The digimon stared at Takuya, thinking that he was just asking him a question to pull his leg, but when they saw the look on his face to show he indeed was not, they started to get less smug and more serious.

"Well, I don't really know if it was a bachelors party or not. That has nothing to really do with the story. What is more important to this story is the fact that the digimon who were here were so wild that they knocked over several shops that were around, and broke a couple of houses on the outside. We couldn't do anything about it but we were able to get them to instead focus the mayhem and destruction on just things like the farm, which the digimon who owns the farm suggested the idea knowing that they can just rebuild it sooner or later. What happened next was a little bit more interesting.

The digimon started to speak about all of their past lovers, and who they all had sex with which was really disturbing to hear at first, but after a while the idea of it was just so interesting to hear that we decided to actually let them keep going in the story, mainly just to see where they were actually going to go with the story and if the stories they were telling were actually true, which was a lot easier than expected to tell the truth.

Suddenly we started to actually party with them a little bit, and as we were starting to party with them a little bit, the digimon were talking more about the fact that this place seemed like it would be a great place to have a annual party and everything. Which many of us hated the idea of it, but we thought that if we were more ready for it, then we could be able to have a annual summer party where they join us and everything, and we eventually grew to somewhat accept that idea.

The digimon just passed out in the outside area which was really funny to see and when it was early morning, they all left the area and that was the start to a interesting tradition. Now every year, the digimon come along and party with us. This year will be the third annual summer blow out party. I think that as time goes on, this will be a tradition that will invite many digimon and have it be more of a piece of our lives than anything else." The digimon explained as Takuya was now just remaining silent until they were done, which it seemed like they were now.

"I think that it is quite a endearing fact that there is such a tradition that has grown to stick around now. All because of something that came off as really annoying at first, and the fact that you guys have not stopped it just to make them learn their lesson. Do you think that you will keep up at it this year? Like you personally. Or do you think that this will be a year that you will sit out on?" Takuya was wondering if they were the party type, and this could help them see if they were or not.

"I think I will be there. At first I will probably try and reject the idea of going to the party, but I think that I will be so interested in seeing what it will have to offer that I will see myself just unable to keep away from it for more than about twenty minutes or so. I just hope that the digimon don't try to get into my house or try to destroy it, since that will be quite the pain in the ass." The digimon said and Bokmon decided to chime on in then.

"I used to live in a place that does yearly parties. I lived there for about eight years or so, and every single one of them in late November, after Thanksgiving but before Christmas, the digimon there would celebrate for the weekend in order to bring everybody together in some form of fashion. I will not act like I really get all of the logic behind it, but it was very fun to be at the parties while they lasted." Bokomon said as the digimon pointed at Takuya.

"I don't really have any crazy things like that where I live. I live on earth, and on earth aside from like new years, there is nothing that is even remotely an event that brings the people together. I don't mind, since I don't want to force myself into a town wide party every year. I will probably not be here for the party this year, do I won't be able to attend, but that still sounds like it would be a lot of fun to go there." Takuya had said and then after he said that, the digimon decided that they would remain silent at that for the time being.

"Yeah that will be a shame. The hero of this town not being able to see an event that could be able to build it all back up now. I think that maybe you should come by there just for a quick hour or so when the party is going on. Hell though, you might not even be on this world anymore, so even if you had wanted to you might not be able to do it." The digimon said and Takuya felt sad at that for a bit since he thought it would have been interesting to see what the hype around it would have been like.

"Just remember what I did in the digital world and how I was able to really help out this town when I am gone. If you are able to do that, then maybe I will feel like this was all worth it. Wow, that kind of makes me sound a bit more entitled than I would have liked for myself to sound like. I just don't want to be forgotten in history." Takuya said as he was thinking about how likely he would be to be forgotten when he had left the city and digital world.

"You will not be entirely forgotten in history. At the very least I hope that you are not forgotten in history. You do not deserve to be forgotten in history. You have done something nearly nobody else has ever attempted to do before, and you are one of the biggest heroes that we have had in a very long time." The digimon had said and Takuya was wondering if he was even alive for the previous time that a disaster in the digital world had happened, and if there was something he can learn from it.

"I just need to get my goals set straight. Once I have some of my goals set straight, I am just going to get right to work. That is one of the main things that I need to remember doing. That I have a job that I do need to get right to work on. When you have a job that you feel like you need to take care of, there is no need to fuck around, and you shouldn't really be doing any of that. You have a job ahead of you, and you need to get to work on it before anybody else just throws you off to the sideline. You can't let somebody else do the job for you, or else before you know it, there may be nobody doing the job at all." Takuya said, and he was mainly just thinking about what his father had been saying beforehand when he was going on that.

"I think that when the celebration happens, I will try to get the town to at the very least for a life size statue of you built. That way there can be the symbol of your existence embedded onto the town. I think that at the very least you deserve that." The digimon said and Takuya was shocked they would even want to try and do that.

"If you are able to do that, I would be a bit shocked but I would also be very grateful and I will humbly accept any offer that comes up of that. However, if it becomes too much of a hassle to do so, then I would not worry too much about it. Only do it if you feel like it can fit right in the schedule." Takuya tried to make the other digimon understand it was fine, but they did not seem too convinced on it.

"You seem to be showing a side of you that is kind of more open to the idea of doing this for the greater good and not for fame than I ever thought that you would have been. But you need to be very firm on the fact that you deserve some of that credit, and when somebody offers you, every once in a while you need to accept it." Bokomon tried to tell his human partner and Takuya did know that Bokomon was kind of right on it.

"I guess that I should get at least some credit for this, but I am not going to force myself to make myself have a huge amount of publicity, and I will keep up that position until the day this quest is done. Do you not really understand the fact that if I do this, then people will start acting like I am just doing this for the publicity? That is the worst type of thing that I can really be able to do." Takuya had said and then after he had said that, the digimon decided to not keep up that subject.

"In all reality, you will probably just be more focused on the job than anything else. Thank you for recovering my house. I will make everybody very aware of the contributions that you have added to the city. I think that maybe in a day or two, if you are still here, I might ask you to help me out a little bit in my own house. I know that it sounds a little bit selfish saying that, but since you are here, there is no real reason for me to turn it down." The digimon said as Takuya had thought about that a little bit.

"I will see what I can do. I will neither confirm nor deny doing anything like that. I will try my best to help you out, but if I find myself in a position that this doesn't happen, I would not act too surprised over that. If anything, you should probably be expecting that. Maybe though, you should try and find something that can be relatively easy for me to take care of. I would be willing to help you, but the task would have to be a small one." Takuya said and the digimon Takuya spent the last several minutes talking with figured that this was fair enough.

"Alright, I think that this is good enough for me. Although in all reality, you should probably be heading out now, since you probably don't want to get too lost in talking with me. Thank you for taking your time to stop by here and have any discussion with me at all." The digimon talking with Takuya said and then afterwards, Takuya walked out of the house and Bokomon and Neemon were following him, and Takuya figured he would go to the house near the light house to see what that would have to offer.

With that as Takuya was heading along that way, the small trio were starting to get a little bit sweaty, and Takuya was starting to feel a little bit gross with all of the sweat that was on him, but he knew that there was no real reason to bitch all about that. After all, sweat was better than going around fighting a bunch of monsters that were going to possibly kill him.

With that, he knocked on the house of the digimon and thankfully when he entered he did not have to duck down and he was able to just stay in the house normally for that period of time. Takuya was taking some time to just look around the house for a little bit, just to see what the digimon who owned it was like just with their possessions alone.

"I have a lot of stuff that I need to do now. I am trying to run a business right now. Every minute that you are here is going to be costing me fifteen dollars for my corporation. I will be keeping on track of it for the entire time that you guys are here. So you better make these conversations worth it." The digimon that owned this house said as Takuya was just realizing that this was going to be this type of conversation, and he was trying to make himself not show utter annoyance, even though he could tell that he was not really doing all that great of a job at it all.

"Look, I get that you may think I have all of the time in the world to just mess with you and talk with you, but when you are working a job that is not really what one can do. That being said, I will not kick you out since I don't want too ruin my reputation as a cruel business owner just because of the fact that you have no sense of leaving me alone." The digimon continued and then Takuya decided that he was going to shut this thing up before they were going to trash talk him even more.

"Shut the fuck up right now. I am the only reason that you are here right now. I am the only reason that you are going to be able to continue running this business in the first place so if you know what is good for you, you will just stay here and talk with me in appreciation. I will not keep too much time on your hands. Besides, work harder and earn more money per minute if you want to make up for what you are saying you have just lost." Takuya said and then the digimon just was looking like they were wanting to make Takuya's life a living hell, but they decided not to make anything of it for now.

"Fine, well what are you going to be here talking to me about? If you are going to be here, you might as well make it worth my time and not like I feel like I just wasted all the extra money on some guy who claims to have saved me." The digimon said and then Takuya was just ignoring the incredibly rude behavior, and he was deciding he was just going to keep going forward.

"Well, I notice that you are running quite the business. If you don't mind me telling you about it, would you mind letting me know what this business is like?" Takuya asked and then as he asked that, the digimon was just thinking about this and they decided that they would give Takuya a short version of it since maybe when Takuya goes on, they can promote their company and when the company grows big, then maybe Takuya can tell them that they knew all about them.

"The business is just for weapon and armor creation. There are a lot of digimon who are just fighting all the time, and the digimon need to be safe when they are out there, and I am making these weapons for the digimon who needs these weapons and armor. It is a small business, but it gets a lot of buyers, and as a result I am going to keep going at it as my full time job. I think that honestly anything beyond that is not really any of your business, and you just needs to focus on the fact that you need to stay out of my business." The digimon said and Takuya was really getting tired of their over the top annoying presence.

"All I am doing is just making a few questions. You don't need to be an ass about them. Who knows, I might need some of these weapons if I am supposed to save this world. I might not need the weapons for my own personal use, but I might need it for my partners right now next to me. They could maybe fight a little." Takuya said and then after he had said that, the digimon decided not to really say anything on that as there could have maybe been a little bit of a valid point on that in all honesty.

"I need to make some weapons right now. I am running out of stock right now, and I am the one who is doing all the work on creating these weapons, so if you want them you not only need a relatively decent amount of money to pay for it, but you do need to give me a couple of days to make the weapon. I am saying that you should give me two days before the weapon might be ready. From the look of your two digimon, I think that the price will be about five hundred in total. Two hundred for Neemon to have one, and three hundred for Bokomon to have one." The digimon trying to make a vague business with Takuya said and then Takuya had his mouth drop at that.

"That is a ton of money. Are you sure you're not willing to give me even half off for the fact that I have saved this town and everything?" Takuya asked and the the digimon smiled and then they shook their head as Takuya was wondering if he led himself down this path.

"You told me that if I want to make up for my lost money, I need to start working harder on the business. Originally it was just going to be a hundred and seventy five for Neemon and two hundred fifty for Bokomon, but I am charging you seventy five extra for having this conversation with me. If you want these things, you need to somehow come up with five hundred. If not, then somebody else can use these weapons anyways." The digimon said as Takuya hated himself for his stupidity.

"I guess I should blame myself for that one. If I had not said something like that, this probably would not have happened. I don't know if I am going to be able to pay for these things, but I will not say that it won't be happening quite yet. I might come by sooner or later. Do you think that these weapons could be something that Bokomon and Neemon can fight with?" Takuya had questioned and after he had questioned that, the digimon thought that Takuya was just simply not giving them enough credit for what they can be able to do, and what they have been forced to do throughout all of their lives.

"My parents were very set on creating weapons, and I was taught how to create them as well. Trust me, I know what I am doing right now. Just come by in a couple of days if you have the money. If you do not have the money, then just let me get back to work." The digimon said and Takuya was still wondering when they were going to stop all of that annoying attitude that they had been presenting him with there.

"You can't be willing to spare just a few more minutes to keep talking with me?" Takuya had questioned, and then when he had asked the digimon that, the two of them were sort of getting some tension set around them, and Takuya was wondering if there was something that the digimon just needed from him to make them like him a little bit more than before. Or if this was just going to be one of those hard ass digimon that was just going to hate on him no matter what the case may be.

"I wouldn't mind talking to you if it weren't for the fact that I have a all day schedule. I only take a break when I am sleeping and when I have somebody coming along and buying stuff from me. Then once that is over, I have to get right back to work since I am losing valuable time and money by staying here talking with you. I am talking from the business perspective, and the business perspective is the perspective that you really need to look at when you are talking to some of your own clients." The digimon told Takuya and then he felt like the digimon could have been annoying, but that there could have been a point to it all.

"I get that there is time that you can be making a profit out of, but I am also able to make more progress on the dungeon more, but I am choosing to stay here and talk to you all, since I want to know more about this place. I don't have to do this and there is no reason for you to be getting on my case on all of this. If I can put aside some of my time, then you can as well." Takuya said as the digimon started to move to the back of the room to get some work done during the talk.

"I know that I can make a little bit of a profit out of this stuff. That being said, I want to actually make it feel like it is worth it, and that I am not just slacking off the entire job. I want to just make the weapons that actually would feel like they were actually out to good use." The digimon had told Takuya as they were starting to bring out some of the ingots needed to make more of these weapons.

"Do you want to do anything else besides just work in the weapon creation field? I feel like that is kind of really boring. I think you should go out there and just start to do some other things in your life. Like maybe go out and do those yearly parties. Those parties that the town has seemed like they would be a lot of fun. Besides nothing would be too wrong with taking a night or two off. When you came back, you are going to have several days or maybe even weeks worth of work on the rest of the digital world who hasn't been built up. The world still has like ninety nine percent of its creation to go, and you will not even need to go all out on all of this work since you will be so far ahead that it will almost be unfair. Are you sure you want competition that is not even fair?" Takuya asked and he was hoping it would work, but he could see after a couple of minutes, that it did not work.

"You do not get it. I would like a little bit of competition, but I don't want the competition to actually feel like it is going to beat me. I want a genuine chance of being able to beat everybody else on the field. You seem to lack the understanding of this." The digimon explained as Takuya knew that they were right, and that Takuya did indeed not get it.

"I guess I would only understand if I was actually working in a business. I don't really know if that is my type of life style that I would really want to live though." Takuya said and then after he had said that, the digimon just decided that it was a to each of their own situation.

"Besides, you are too busy fighting off a bunch of digimon and saving the world anyways. You have your own job, and you need to focus on that job. You can't mess around too much and still imagine the idea of having the job all done. I think that I will need to work more on the weapons, and you work more on the caves. That way we are all even. I don't like these conversations, but I can stomach it knowing that it is a mutual waste of progress for us both." The digimon said it in such a down tone it was like Takuya was being criticized for it.

"I have restored what looks like half of this town or so. Seems like I am making decently alright progress. Or maybe that is me just trying to act like I am actually doing something better than anybody else could have done it. Do you really have any idea what I can do further on in the dungeon? I am sort of running out of energy after every few floors, and when I fight some of these monsters I am just kind of getting tired right away. I want to keep it up for a bit longer, and I don't want to just sort of give up before I even have any real chance to make a lot of progress." Takuya had said and the digimon actually seemed to consider that.

"Well maybe if you are running out of energy so fast, first thing you should try is maybe instead of going seven to eight hours or sleep, maybe shot for ten. If that doesn't work after like three to four days, maybe I would suggest that you get into some running. Like doing a lap or two around town every night before you go to sleep. that might build some endurance for when you are running." The digimon said and it was the most generic pieces of advice ever, but Takuya knew that it was probably the best he could shot for at the time.

"What if these couple of changes don't really work? Should I work on maybe extending the energy bar on this digivice to make it so that I can go a couple of floors longer before getting tired?" Takuya suggested as he was looking at his digivice. He was wondering if the simple act of changing forms was already tiring enough.

"I think just the idea of you going around fighting is already tiring enough in the first place. If you want to get less tired, then that is probably not going to really happen with the fact that you are doing all of these transformations. Just keep doing the job the way that you are doing it and then when you get tired, just get up. You can't go into a battlefield feeling like you need to go to sleep. That is one of the worst, if not the worst, mistakes that you can make while doing what you are doing." The digimon said to Takuya and then after this, Takuya felt like he needed to leave.

"I might do that. I am not going to take any more of your time and money and I am going to be heading out. I might be back in a couple of days if I have money for business. Then I will leave right away for your sake." Takuya said and then he and his digimon left the house and that was when Takuya was wondering what the hell he was going to do next, since he was running out of options again.

There was the store front, and Takuya was thinking about going on and checking that out. So not really having any idea where else to go, he started to walk in the direction of the store and Takuya was feeling like he was really running out of ideas if he was starting to think that the store was the best option of what to do next. Bokomon and Neemon were wondering what Takuya liked about literally doing everything, or if perhaps he was just doing it to relieve boredom. Which since he got tired and he already did his daily work, maybe it would be best to do that to relieve some boredom.

As he was at the store, he was looking as the digimon was just doing some work around the store and they did not really seem to notice the fact that Takuya was there for a good moment or two. Takuya made a couple of grunting noises to get the digimon to notice him and when they did they apologized for the fact that they had not really paid attention to him earlier and then they started to focus more on Takuya.

"Well, I was just preparing the store again. I have to get right back to work for the next people that are coming by. Seems like you are going to be my first customer since the store came back." The digimon said as Takuya was wondering if perhaps he could get something for Bokomon and Neemon, or if that just seemed to be a little bit strange for him to do.

"Well I would be if I actually had some real money on me, but since I don't that option isn't really on the table for the time being, sorry for that." Takuya said trying to be as polite as possible about the whole thing.

"I guess that makes sense. I just thought that I would make the offer for you just in case it all came up." The digimon said as Bokomon looked at all the stuff for sale, and it made them sad to see how little they could use anyway.

"What is the rate of customers at this place anyways?" Takuya asked and he was more interested to know if the business was gone when without him or if they really could have used the extra support after all.

"I get about six customers a week. Depends on the season. In summer it is as high as thirty or forty, in winter it's only like two. Not that it really matters to me." The digimon said as they tried to keep a little busy.

"I guess me being a customer really would make a big difference after all. Now I kind of feel bad for not giving you some. But there is nothing I can do about it." Takuya said as he was telling the truth that it was out if his power there.

"It really is not all that large of a deal. I just get what I am given and nothing else. Best way to do it." The digimon said more at a careless tone than Takuya thought they would.

"Do you wish you had more customers though?" Takuya thought there was no way they were perfectly fine with all their service at that point in time.

"Of course I do but what can I say besides the fact it is not how it will work." The digimon kept it simple but Takuya decided he need not pursue this too much.

"I should head out soon. Can't stay here forever after all." Takuya said still doing his best to be calm on it all and not compromise his chill and accepting nature to the digimon.

"Yeah I guess that makes sense. Can't just stay here forever after all, but it was nice for you to spend so much time talking to me and letting me know the man who had saved me and brought back some business." As the digimon said it, Takuya was ready to check out some other parts of town.

"I will probably come back sometime soon. I am just going to continue looking around for a bit." Takuya said and then with that, he started to head out on his own to just check out all the places he had yet to see.

He walked around for a while, trying not to get too bored with everything going on. Eventually, he found a small hill he could relax on so he sat on it as be stared put at the town with Bokomon and Neemon. Even in just the last couple of days, everything had changed so much.

Takuya was kind of thinking about how he was basically responsible for all of this and how in a strange way, this product was his own creation, something he did all on his own with only mere pieces of help.

Bokomon saw that Takuya must have been thinking about that exact same thing, and they were sort of curious to know how proud he was of this or of Takuya actually did not really care all that much what he was doing in terms of piecing it all together.

"How did you guys get yo this section of the digital world in the first place? I bet it was not just because of me." Takuya thought he would be able to start to earn that type of information by now.

"Well we were kind of on a business trip but then you know the destruction happened and all business was put to a halt for the time being at least. We can wait on that until the world is saved. We have to wait." Bokomon said and then Takuya thought of that for a little bit before he continued.

"If you don't mind me asking what was the business trip over?" Takuya was feeling it was a simple enough question to which he could probably learn of the truth there. Bokomon thought about it for a moment.

"I was just picking up some shipments for a few of my personal projects. Nothing too impressive, but I don't feel like it would really be all that exciting to tell you on. Maybe I will tell you later." Bokomon said and Takuya decided to drop it.

"This is quite a beautiful place to look at, I feel like this really should be what my city should go for, since our place is a disaster." Takuya said as he took off his hat and smiled at the sight that was in front of him.

"I don't know, maybe you can change it all with some serious effort. After all you are doing that for this town. Surely you can do that for here." Bokomon said as Takuya shook his head.

"There is no way people will listen to a fourteen year old. They will think I am just trying to be smart and deep. It would never work." Takuya said the dad truth as Bokomon thought Takuya was being harsh on himself.

"I think it will be just fine." Bokomon said as Takuya could not really see how the digimon can feel that way when there was no evidence to be able to show that.

"Your world is basically dead and you are saying everything will be alright? I think you are fucking insane for suggesting such a thing." Takuya said and there was a hint of hope in his voice, hoping and wondering if Bokomon was right.

"You see, I look at the bigger picture. I see things for how they really are. Try to do the same one day and you can see how right I actually am." Bokomon said as he could tell Takuya could not in any way see into the bigger picture and more short term.

"The only reason you feel that way is since you have not gone to earth lately, I think you should give it a go, see if you like it." Takuya said as he could not believe he told that to a digimon he barely knew, and it could not he more from the truth.

"I always heard about earth. In fact, I thought it had never existed and that it was just a piece of legend told to us as a piece of myth." Bokomon said something Takuya could understand, even if it seemed a little more on the far out there side.

"I wonder just how many digimon have indeed been to earth. Maybe when this is all over you should do it." Takuya said as Bokomon thought the offer was great. There was no way they can turn down thus type of offer so in front of them.

"If you can find a way to do that for me, then that would be great. It would be like a favor for a favor." Bokomon decided and they shook Takuya's hand. It was a loose way of dealing a deal there.

"Yousa shouldsa takes a breaksa and not worries." Neemon tried to tell Takuya as Takuya could not fail to laugh at their way of talking even after all of these days since it was just so strange it failed to not be at least a little bit funny.

"I guess I can check out the light house there for a bit, but I highly doubt I will get any information there at all, so in all reality it might not be worth it." Takuya considered out loud and then he stood up looking at his digimon.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep now since you said you were tired?" Bokomon spoke their concern for Takuya but the young man didn't seem to consider it not did he really care all that much about sleep. He would sleep when he was ready and awaken when be was ready to get working.

"Don't think too hard on it yet. I still need to check done things out anyways." Takuya said as he brushed some dirt off him and put his hat back on.

"If you say so, I guess I can't argue with you too much over it." Bokomon said as they thought it would be best for him to get at least some sleep, but they saw Takuya was still active enough to make their mind stop.

With that, Takuya and the two digimon slowly jogged their way to the light house and hung out there for a little while, getting to know some digimon there as well. Mainly the one who was keeping watch over the town to keep it safe.

"I saw you running by here earlier. Would you like to talk with me a little bit since you are here now?" The digimon asked and Takuya nodded as the digimon pressed some kind of button for them.

"I could use some company right now. Come on up, and don't worry about over staying your welcome. I have nobody to talk to." The digimon said and Takuya opened the door and he let himself inside. Bokomon and Neemon were right behind him and Takuya went up the first few steps.

There were about three hundred steps to go up, and after number forty or so Takuya did not even bother to count it, just sort of going until he reaches the top and then he would see what to do then.

After about ten minutes, he was at the top and he was quite tired. He sat down on a small spot with Bokomon and Neemon right behind him not really able to sit at all. Takuya looked around and saw there was a small table there as well.

On the table was seven small books, nothing too special. He however was wondering why those were there in the first place, but he was more focused on talking to the digimon there.

"Do you read those books to kill some time when you are just watching over the town up here?" Takuya asked the digimon trying to make a tiny amount of small talk, but nothing that would be considered really annoying or anything like that. The digimon just remained silent to that question for a moment not sure what exactly to say. They never really expected to be talking with just some random human, but they felt that Takuya was going to be a relatively respectful person as was.

"Even a simple guard has to do something like have a hobby. Trust me, it is better than just staying here for hours on end anyways." The digimon said and then after that, Takuya thought about how it was better to have something to do when you wait for stuff, so he understood their point of view. He always had something when there was like a hour or so wait between school and soccer practice, such as him talking with his friends or sometimes running around the track for a few laps. Just something simple like that. Nothing that people would consider too out there for a younger teenager.

"Would you mind if I went on and read a couple of these books tonight? I promise that I will bring them back tomorrow when before I go on and fight the monsters in the dungeon." Takuya questioned as the digimon saw no real problem with the idea, so they decided that it was a decent enough idea for the time being. He was going to be bored that night anyways, and he needed something to do anyways, so he figured that he might as well go for that. It was either that, or talking with that one digimon for the third night in a row, which he hated to admit, was getting a little bit boring.

"Hell, you might learn a thing or two by reading that. Go ahead. I have read most of these enough times anyways to know what they are all about." The digimon said and then after they had said that, Takuya just grabbed one that had a red cover and then he placed it down in front of his lap. He was not really wanting to put it in a place where the wind could just catch it and then make it fly away, and then he would have to just try and make up for all of that.

"I guess that digimon like to write books as well. I never really thought about it one way or another, but now I feel kind of silly for thinking that they would not." Takuya said and then he smiled and laughed a little bit at his own stupidity over the whole situation going on. He was able to see the comedic value of what was going on, even if it was openly admitting to his own stupidity, if he was really even being stupid in the first place.

"Well, it was more common back in the day, when digimon couldn't really access a lot of technology, but here we are, and we are able to just tell a story by recording, and there is slowly the need to no longer just write it anymore. The only time we would need to write it anymore is juts when we are truly creating a whole new world, and a new story line." The digimon said and then after the digimon had said that, Takuya was thinking of if he was going to make a full story of this when he was done, and if he did, how he was going to get some to believe in what he was saying, and not make them think that he was lying.

"Look, when I am done with this adventure, I am going to have a lot of stuff to go with. I have a lot of stuff to tell. I have a lot of stuff that I feel like can really change the world. But I don't really think people will believe me. They will think that I am just creating high fiction. They will just call me insane. And I don't really think that I can handle being called insane when everything that is happening is just the truth." Takuya said, and as he had pointed out one of his personal problems, the digimon remained silent on that.

"If you are uncertain how they are going to believe you, I think that maybe you should just not do it. They will just yell at you and make fun of you for the rest of your life. Do you really think that it is going to be worth that?" The digimon asked as Takuya was left to genuinely consider that. he was not really sure if it was worth it, and he was not even sure if he could be able to pretend like it was worth it. Since in all reality, in the end of the day, it was not really worth it.

"I guess I just wanted people to know of my side of the coin. The side that will be tainted, and will just grow progressively more and more dirty with each passing week as I slowly forget more and more of it." Takuya said and he was trying not to sound deep since he knew fourteen year olds were bad at it, but he was also trying to make his point very across at the same time.

"Do you really think that the coin would be found at all by many people? They would probably just pick it up and look at it for a moment before throwing it away and just acting like it was just yet another coin in the lot." The digimon said as Takuya was not wanting to keep this whole thing up any longer. Takuya thought that he was going to just go to the house and read up on some of these books that the digimon had.

"Yeah, I guess that you are right. I am going to to head on out now. I think that I will just read some of this for couple of hours before I go to bed." Takuya said and then after he had said that, he stood up and then he was heading out and away from the light house.

"I will come by tomorrow, and maybe we can talk a little bit longer, if you are fine with that." Takuya said and then after he had said that, he began his long descent down into the normal town where he was going to just head on towards the yellow house.

"Just remember to keep your end of the promise. I would want to know more about you when you get the chance to." The digimon had said and then when they had said that, Takuya nodded and he was assuring them that he did indeed plan on keeping his own side of the promise.

"Do you really want to just leave them alone, or are you just forcing yourself out of there?" Bokomon asked and then after Bokomon had asked that question, Takuya was just not going to respond to that. In all reality, his fatigue really was just getting to him and he just simply needed to go to sleep.

It took him several minutes to get to the house, but once he was at the house, he opened up the door and then he went right to the bed and he was getting ready to do the reading that he had promised he said he was going to do. Even though the digimon there was curious what he was doing they decided to remain silent over it for the time being.

Takuya opened up the book to a random page and after he did so, he started to take in the contents of what it was telling him, to see more perspectives in the digital world. He thought it could help him understand things a bit more.

"Day one of operation. I found of a drug named heaven star, and I took it to feel the buzz. I felt many of the buzzes and as I did so, things began to open up more. I realized my ultimate imagination and I decided to go along with it.

I decided to work on what I wanted to do in my life, which was a giant rocket to go to space. It seemed like a crazy idea but I knew I needed to go with it or else I would lose the motivation to do it.

So while I was still on heaven star, I began to work on it. I spent a hour or so on it and drew a loose outline of it, which looks terrible now that I am sober. But it was enough for me to want to keep up at it later on." Takuya wondered how well the project would have gone after this.

The digimon in the house looked at Takuya and what he was reading, and as they did so they started to think on what the book was and they began to get a couple of the pieces together on what the book was and why it mattered so much in the first place.

"Do you like book so far, or is it not all that great?" The digimon who owned the house asked Takuya and then he looked over at the digimon and he was sort of not really in the right mindset to be talking with them. Not because they disliked the digimon or thought that they did not get along, but more because of the fact that he was not sure what they would think of the material as Takuya started reading a couple of the pages coming on up. But either way, he still placed the book down in just enough of a fashion that it was probably a safe bet that the digimon owning the house didn't even see it.

"I think it is fine. Maybe a little too person for some to really enjoy. I think that I am just going to see what else the thing has to offer. I will probably be heading to bed soon, as I am getting pretty tired." Takuya said and then after he had that response, the two of them had stared at each other for a moment. "Do you want to talk for a little bit before I go to sleep though, since I am probably going to still stay up for another few minutes?"

"No, I have no real desire to talk with you right now. I think that the book is something I should check out. I want to see what the book is about." The digimon said and then when the digimon said that, Takuya was putting the book further and further under him and then the two of them were starting to grow a little bit of a bad feeling over what they were getting themselves into. "You know, you seem like you don't want to see my side of the argument, but I guess I can't fight you over this."

"You know, I think that this book is quite the deep material. Surely you must understand the fact that this is not really for everybody. Takuya said and then he laid himself down on the bed as he was taking the light off and then he did his best to sleep. After about fifteen to twenty minutes of uneasiness, he was well into the state of sleeping. When he was asleep, he was sort of thinking that the whole thing was sort of set and done as if there was no real threat and that he was over thinking it to the maximum extreme.

There was about an hour or so that passed in the evening before he opened his eyes for a moment and saw a digimon that looked like a shadow walking by and then Takuya thought it was scary, but then he thought that maybe it was just all the fights he went through coming through to him and then he closed hie eyes again and then about a hour or two later, he felt like there was a little bit of weight under him coming down, and then he didn't think too much of it aside from opening his eyes for a moment and then heading right back to sleep.

Eventually when I had woke up for good that morning, I was ready for what was coming next. I had a feeling that the digimon who owned the house was going to be expecting much more of a fight from me. But then the whole lighter weight made some sense and then there was that digimon over there, reading a book and then Bokomon and Neemon were nowhere to be seen. "What the fuck did you do? What is so important about you finding this book?" Takuya asked as the digimon finished the page and then placed it down and then looked right at Takuya and smiled.

"I said that I wanted the information, and I was getting exactly the information that I had wanted. You should have come along and just given it to me in the first place. Maybe you should have never gotten the book at all and then things could have maybe worked better for you. But since you are here, I think that things are just fine the way that they are." The digimon said and then Takuya looked outside and saw that Bokomon and Neemon were still fine, just doing some work on the yard. "I don't want them going anywhere. I want them to witness you getting punished for you being way too in my business."

"Your business? What the fuck are you talking about?" Takuya asked and then after he had asked that question, the digimon started to walk forward and he was starting to show a little bit more of their cynicism, and Takuya was ready to fight this thing shall they wanted to do that, and he was not wanting to take any risks.

"I own this town. You are rebuilding the town for me, and I appreciate that. But I feel like you are getting too deeply inside the whole thing. I feel like you are taking too much advantage for the digimon who live here, and I do not respect the fact that you using them. I will make sure that once you are done rebuilding this place, then the path you are taking will come to an end. You will not be allowed to make any more progress here, and you will be as good as dead." The digimon said and then Takuya looked up and saw a glowing thing in the corner of the wall.

"You know man, I think you are sort of just telling me this just to get me worried. I doubt that you are actually telling the truth. But I guess that you are just trying to bluff me into this whole thing. You know that if you fight me, I can kick your ass." Takuya said and then after he had said that, the digimon was just smiling at Takuya wondering how long it would take for Takuya to start to piece it all.

"I think I am starting to kind of get it now. You have been working on the town becoming more like a religious group. You are trying to get them to start to follow in your path, and then once you do that, then you are going to use them for your sake. Then once they are converted to trusting in your ways, then you are going to abuse them and throw them away, and then you are going to do that for the next generation." Takuya said and then after he had said that, he started to walk slowly towards the glowing thing in the room, if there was actually something there at all, but he was starting to think that it was better to check and be proven wrong than to not try at all.

"Yes, you are finally starting to piece it all together. These digimon are just going to be used as my servants. I don't care at all for their fate, and I don't really think you should either. I am going to try and bring you to the cult. You know, maybe once I start to show what it was like to you, then you would be more willing to accept it and then if you wanted to, I could make you a true and worthy second in command." The digimon said and then after they had said that, Takuya shook his head as he was not going to let this digimon abuse him for their own power.

"I am not going to let you use the digimon just to work for you. That is what the book must have shown. It must have shown some signs of what you were planning on doing, and that is what you have been trying to hide from me this whole time. That is why you wanted the book so bad." Takuya said and then after he had said that, the digimon started to get closer to the glowing thing as well.

"Well you see, I have been worried that people would go on and catch on to what I am doing. That is why I am starting to work harder on keeping records of this away, as I don't want anybody to actually start to see what I have been doing. That is why when we are done talking I am going to kill you next and then I will have gotten one less thing worrying about what I will do." The digimon said and then afterwards, Takuya put his hand on the glowing thing.

He started to move it up and then it was revealed to be a sword and then he was holding it with both hilts and then he was ready to fight this thing now. He knew that this digimon had truly some of the craziest and most evil plans of a digimon he had seen so far, and that he needed to take this thing down for the sake of the town.

Takuya was holding the sword and then as he was holding the sword, the digimon took out something from their pockets. It was something like a eight inch or so cutting knife. Takuya was ready to have a ho down show down with the digimon. The digimon started to run at Takuya and then Takuya kicked them in the chest which made the digimon start to slide back and then after they slid back, Takuya started to run a little bit but then as he was doing that, he was starting to kind of get the hope that they could end the battle right away but then the digimon snapped their fingers and like a fucking magician, was behind Takuya and they looked like they were thinking that this was the funniest thing in the history of the world.

Takuya was not really seeing the humor of this, and he went a couple of steps closer and then he swung the sword right at the digimon and then instead of hitting the digimon, he sliced the table in half and there was some part that was getting broken. Takuya then jumped on the couch as it was still mostly there and then there was the digimon that started to get more ready for their next move.

The digimon had something like a fire ball coming out of their finger and then after they threw the fire ball right onto Takuya, the young guy jumped up and then he swung the sword again and broke a couple of the things that were on the night stand and then the digimon kicked Takuya right in the leg and then Takuya fell down and hit the ground and then he groaned a few seconds, really hating the fact that this had happened.

Takuya stood up and then he was holding the sword and the digimon just stared at him and then after they stared at each other for a moment or two, Takuya started to run right at the digimon and then the digimon pushed them back with something like a force push and then Takuya hit the wall and then a canvas of a painting fell down right on Takuya and then the painting hit Takuya right on the chest and then Takuya groaned in pain for a moment then and then he grabbed it and then threw it to the side of the room.

Afterwards, he ran towards the digimon with the sword and then he swung the sword one more time and then he saw that the digimon had been sliced in half. Before they had their bodies fall down there was the digimon that said a short thing to Takuya, as they were barely able to keep their body together before they fell down on the ground just dead. "You have passed the first test, there will be more that come up." After they said that, Takuya dropped the sword and the door opened, which made Takuya forget about some things for a moment.

Bokomon and Neemon were standing there and they were smiling. "It seems as if you saw through the test that was set up. Last night, the digimon who lived in this house and us talked about setting up a test to see how well you would be able to fight. We thought it would be a interesting wake up exercise. I hope that you are fine. The digimon who owns the house really didn't die, that was a duplicate version of themselves that they used for the test." Bokomon said and then Takuya was not really all that sure what to think of this, but despite the utter confusion that he had, he was not really angry. He was just trying to piece the stuff together.

"So I didn't really have to deal with a power hungry digimon or anything like that?" Takuya asked and he was trying to figure out if he was more confused or annoyed over what was going on, but then he decided to just sort of take it easily, and sort of to let it go as the thing was not really the worst thing that could be possible out there.

"Well, technically you are with Cherubimon. I mean I don't think you are dealing with that here, so I would not really think all that much about it at the time being. If you want to know why that was all done, we were just making things be all accounted for. I hope that you don't really mind it all." Bokomon apologized again and then after they had apologized for it again Takuya rolled his eyes and he was just doing that to show that he got it and that they didn't need to beat the dead horse on this whole thing.

"Do you know what the next step of the plan is?" Takuya asked and he was now finally over the subject for good, and then when he was over the whole thing, Bokomon thought of it and the digimon who had indeed owned the house came out of it and then they shook Takuya'a hand as a way to compliment them for a job well done, and then they said that despite the whole test thing from earlier, they needed to have some things that needed to discuss, and this time not in a test way, just on a natural one to one man type thing. Takuya accepted, just not too sure where the hell this was going.

"Well I was just wanting to talk to you about the material of the book. That part of it all was true, and I wasn't lying to you about that. Yeah sure it is not related to some crazy cult. That is a lie, but the contents and the general need to let you know it all is still standing, and we need to get right to it if you want to have enough time today to work on the dungeon." The digimon said and then Takuya nodded and then he sat down and then the two of them were getting ready for the next conversation.

"I think that you do not fully understand what is happening all in this town. I do not think that I am setting up something like a religious belief, but I think there is something else in this town that is helping that set up in some sort of fashion. I think that it is something that needs to be acknowledged, and the digimon that is responsible for this whole thing still has not come back, but when they do come back, there is something that I want you to do. I feel like that is another thing you will have to do for the protection of the town." The digimon said and then Takuya was wondering inside why they didn't just tell him this earlier, but they decided not to point that out quite yet.

"So when you come back from the dungeon today, chances are likely that a red house is coming back. When the house comes back, I want you to go there at some point today, and then when you come back to their house, I need you to start investigating all of this stuff, and learn as much about the digimon, their lives, and what their plans are if they have any when you see them." the digimon said and then Takuya thought this was odd, but he felt like he didn't need to say he would have done it anyways.

"I am going to do this anyways. I will just tell you what I learn after I am all done with the general routine that I have today there, alright?" Takuya said and then he felt like he was able to drop the subject now.

"I get that you were going to do this anyways, that is why I am stressing the need for you to do this so much. That is why I am wanting you to take this much more seriously, as I am really worried about where this group is going to take things in the town, and I am also very worried that nobody is going to actually take me seriously, and then as a result the digimon here are going to get blindsided in the long run, and then nobody would really feel as if I had tried to help them, and they will start to act like I had failed them, and that is something I do not want them to start saying about me." The digimon told Takuya as the guy started to think more about what this digimon was saying, and was thinking more about what people would say to them shall something bad happen.

"Fine you win, I will check it out and I will see what I am going to do about this though. I don't really know what else I can say about this, but I will try and if I can't find anything else to it, just drop the subject and accept the fact that either you are wrong, or that you are right and that you need to do the job on your own, but until then I will see what I can find. I can tell from how you are talking, that you are very heated on this subject and now I am going to respect your wishes." Takuya said and then Bokomon and Neemon looked at their human out of curiosity.

"Well, it seems like you are needing to get right to work again. Seems like you can't go a few minutes without doing something when you are awake. Sorry that you are forced to be doing all of this stuff, but I guess that this is all a part of the giant job." Bokomon said and then after they had said that, the two digimon who traveled with Takuya wondered if he had even wanted to do too much more of this stuff for the digimon who owned the place.

"Yousa ares the bigg chances of savings the towns. Yousas needs to helps us." Neemon tried to say and then they said "Buts yousa needs to partys mores." Neemon made Takuya chuckled a little bit at that one, thinking that Neemon did not really have that big of a priority of what he actually needed to do, after all they were suggesting that partying was the biggest thing he needed to focus on.

"I am probably going to head out now. I need to take care of my daily round of the dungeon anyways, so I feel like I need to get right to that now." Takuya said and then after he had said that, he got up and then he walked out of the house with Bokomon and Neemon right at their side and then the three of them walked out of the house and were going to the dungeon to do the next three or so floors, to keep up with his daily tradition.

Takuya opened the door to the seventh floor of the dungeon after he was able to slowly go through the first six empty floors of the dungeon, and then once he was on the seventh floor, he was wondering just how much of this he was going to have to deal with in the future. The seventh floor was a bit easier than normal, just fighting off the same digimon as usual, with just larger amounts of them and Takuya was starting to think that what he was going to see from now on were just going to be the same ones that he had been seeing the whole time.

At the eighth floor of the dungeon, Takuya had taken out about twenty five or so digimon down and they were pretty easy to destroy, and then Takuya was wondering if this speed of him going through the dungeon was more of him actually getting better or him just sort of getting tired of all of the bullshit that was going on around here.

The ninth floor of the dungeon was when Takuya was starting to think that there was more to this than he was really thinking about earlier. At the ninth floor of the dungeon, he saw that there was a digimon standing there, just waiting for him to show up and discuss some of these things with him to make him see a little bit more of their side of things. Bokomon and Neemon got off of his soldiers and then they started to walk to the door of the floor, and they were making Takuya going to be here alone, which Takuya was trying to figure out what he had thought about the whole thing.

"You have gone too far, and you shall have your path end here." The digimon had said and then this was the first time that a digimon had been talking to him since he started to actually go inside of these dungeons, and Takuya was just curious why they were doing this now of all times, when Takuya was already most of the way through his first dungeon in this digimon. "I have been aware of all you have done the last few days, and I want to end your path now."

The digimon was one that looked a bit like a human. They were all black, with a brown face that looked like there was a fair share of scars all over their face, and that they had a red sword, and just looking at them Takuya could tell that this thing was a thousand times more powerful than him, and that Takuya needed to be much more careful of what was going to be happening in the future. "I have already gone this far. I don't want to quit this journey now because you are acting like you are a thousand times scarier than me." Takuya said as he brought both his fists out and then he was not really doing a good job hiding his fear as he did so.

"You may have gone this far on your own, but there is going to be a point where you run out of luck. Give me your digivice, let me do the rest of the job, and you can keep the work that you have done to this point in time. I will not take away from you what you have gotten so far, but you need to give me something for the sake of this world." The digimon said and then they held their sword right at Takuya's direction, and then Takuya started to make a couple of fire balls out of their hands.

"I am going to keep going at this until I die or until the job is done." Takuya said and then after he had said that, the digimon just looked at him and they were looking like they had been rather amused by the way that Takuya was treating the subject and then they put both of their hands on the blade and was holding it very tightly.

"Your road of luck is not going to end anyways. You need to understand that I have a job I need to do, and you doing this is getting in the way of my job." The digimon said and as they had said this, Takuya was staring to see the red eyes that they had starting to glow a little bit and then Takuya was taking a couple of deep breaths, and he was getting ready for some form of fight with this thing given the context of it to this point.

"The two of us can work together, maybe the two of us can make all of this work out better than you may be thinking it would be earlier." Takuya had said and then when he had said that, the digimon just stared at him as if not wanting to say a single world. "There is no need to do all of this just on your own. I would be more than willing to help you out, and then if you help me out, then the two of us can really work off of each other." Takuya tried one more time and with the moment of silence, they realized that this was not going to work.

"I will not work with you. If you are not going to give me what I want, I am going to take it with force." The digimon said and then that was when the two of them were fully ready for a fight. The two of them jumped at each other and when the first jump was made, the battle was fully starting and there was no real plan on the fight ending until at least one of them was dead.

The fight lasted for a few seconds, and as the fight was going down, Takuya now in Agunimon's state was firing a few balls to try and hit the digimon while they were running around the room, as the digimon was just able to deflect ninety five percent of the hits and the few hits that did make it seemed to barely phase the digimon at all, which was making Takuya feel like he was pretty weak and feel like he had a long ass way to go in order to actually defeat this thing.

The digimon that fought Takuya swung the sword right at Takuya and as they swung the sword, it hit the digimon right at the leg and made a huge gash at it, pretty much making it so that when Takuya was going to have to fight next time, he was going to be pretty weak. He thought that maybe he was going to take the rest of this day off and then take maybe even the next day off in order to fully recover from this. Takuya kept his left hand right at the leg as he shot more fire at the digimon with his right hand, barely even thinking about the fight at all, and he was more focused on just defeating this thing.

The digimon kicked Takuya right in the chest after two of the fire balls hit them in their face, which made the digimon not in pain but really annoyed for a few seconds and then they grabbed Takuya by their neck and then they started to punch Takuya a few times and then Takuya was thrown at the ground and this was making Takuya think as much as he could, trying to think of a way he can defeat this digimon before they would have another chance to abuse Takuya even more than they already had.

Takuya stood up and then as they stood up, they were screaming as loud as they could and they hated doing that, but it was the only way he could easily show his annoyance at what was going on and then the digimon swung the sword again, hitting Takuya's right arm but Takuya was beyond the point of paying attention and when he was done screaming, which lasted nearly twelve seconds, and made Bokomon and Neemon actually a little bit annoyed, Takuya was now starting to be totally covered in fire.

The fire covered Takuya flew right at the digimon who had been fighting him and then hit the digimon several times in the face and then the digimon fell down on the ground and then yelped in pain and then Takuya flew back and then landed right on the ground and then they were standing up as the digimon was shocked that Takuya managed to damage him very well and they stood up and then they held a couple of fingers out at Takuya as if trying their best to actually speak at that moment.

"You know, you have more power to you than I have ever expected you to have. But I do not have the time for this anymore. I need to get stronger, and soon enough you will see me again and I will be able to defeat you that time." The digimon said and then after they had said that, they decided that they would give him a little bit of exposition on what was going on, and what Takuya was going to be forced to expect in the future, which in all reality he was not really too sure if he wanted that or not.

"My name is Duskmon. I am a digimon who works for Cherubimon and I was considered to be one of the best choices for them to send out to defeat you. I won't be able to do my job quite yet, given how much you have gotten stronger the last few days, but here I am now, and since you have defeated me this time, I am going to tell you that when you die, I am going to take your digivice and destroy it, not allowing for any more progress to be made. I will let you keep the progress that you have made so far, in order to be proud of what you have done, but that is all you are getting. It would barely be able to make any difference in the long run anyways.

Cherubimon and the others would not be nearly as forgiving and willing to let you keep your progress as I am. They would probably go to all of the villages in the digital world that you have saved, and most likely will destroy every single one of them all. When you and I fight again I will not be able to place behind my uncertainty to everything else in the digital world, everything else that has gone on in my life and I am going to have to focus more on what is going to be ahead of me, and to prevent any more of these incidents from happening again. You have done everything you possibly can, and there is no way that I will not be able to figure out your strategies now.

You may not believe me now, and I would not blame you for thinking that I am lying, but Cherubimon will not let that happen. They would not be happy if they find out that I let you slide this time. But they might give me more power.

That power will be especially useful for destroying you, and then when I destroy you, I will become the third in command and Cherubimon will know that the power they gave me would have been worth it all in the end." Duskmon had said and then when they had said that, Duskmon vanished away and then after this, Takuya saw that suddenly, the energy bar filled up entirely and then Takuya got the key to the tenth floor, which Takuya opened and then went all the way back to the outside of the dungeon.


	31. The Secrets of a Benign Town

Chapter 30: The Secrets of a Benign Town

Once Takuya was outside of the dungeon, he was looking at his digivice again and then after he stared at it for a moment, he pressed the button once more and then the digivice started to release every single thing that Takuya had gathered up in the dungeon floors that day, which was quite a bit of material. Such as the red building that Takuya knew he had to if he wanted to have the digimon who owned the yellow house not nearly as pissed off with him as they obviously were. Takuya was sort of dreading that moment, but he was forcing himself not to think about that too much.

The were then two other houses that had shown up, one that was very dark blue and it looked like it was a newer house, due to the fact that it was very well kept on top of and it was probably a house that the original creator of there really had a lot of pride in. Takuya thought that he was not going to try and critique anything there since he knew that if he did, he was going to upset a bunch of digimon there, and he thought that he would start to be seen as the bad guy.

The second house that also came along was one that was a darker white, and there was just a drive in garage, which was really strange for Takuya to think about the fucking car, and he was wondering who drove around there and everything, and then there was the fence around the house and then Takuya thought that there was probably only a couple digimon who lived there, and that Takuya was thinking it was sort of a retired house.

Then there was the car that was brought there, and that seemed like it was a part of the restored bits of the digital world, just that car alone and then Takuya was thinking that maybe there was more to that car if it was just a part of the restoring part of the town alone, and then he thought about if he was going to have the chance to drive it around, which was something he was thinking more and more about wanting to try out, and the fact that he would not would make him feel a little bit sad.

The last thing that showed up was a one hundred foot or so tree and then the tree was right at the side of the dungeon entrance, and Takuya saw how much the tree really covered up the dungeon entrance with the shade and made Takuya feel like there was more of a relaxation place he had can when he was just leaving the dungeon on his daily dungeon session. But when that was done, Takuya groaned as he remembered both his right arm and his left leg.

Takuya started to get annoyed at that, and then afterwards, he started to walk towards the digimon's house that he was told to go to. He was going to go there first, and once he was going there, he was going to really see the truth about the digimon and see what the hype against them was, and if they were really just as scary as they had been hyped up to be. Takuya then opened the house door and then once he was in there, he was ready to talk with them as they seemed to be working on something, and then as they were working they turned around to see Takuya just for a second to see who the hell this guy was, before starting to get right back to work.

As that was happening Takuya said "So you are getting right back to work after losing a few days of work?" Takuya asked and he was just meaning it in a casual enough way, not really trying to make too much out of it. He wanted to give off the impression that at least at first, there was nothing on with it. The digimon almost seemed to believe it at first and then Bokomon and Neemon sat down right next to Takuya as if they were preparing themselves for what was going to be coming up next.

"Yes, I have a lot of work to do. I think that you might understand. After all, you are the guy who saved me, and you are the guy who seems to understand the importance of work. So if you don't mind, can I get what you want to talk to me about and then once you are done, then I can just finish this all up?" The digimon asked and then after they had asked him that question Takuya was nodding and he felt like this digimon was sort of capturing more what he was thinking.

"Yeah, I will try to keep myself at least relatively short. But I do have a couple of questions that I want to ask you, and see what you may think of it." Takuya had said and then after he had said that, the digimon groaned and then they rolled their hand as if to tell him just to get the whole thing over with, and then once that was hinted at him, Takuya decided to ask all of the questions as fast as possible as he could tell he was really over doing this.

"I am wondering what quite you are working on. Would you mind really explaining to me what it is all?" Takuya has asked and then after he had asked them this question, the digimon stared at Takuya and then they thought that Takuya was kind of seeing through them, but they thought that there was enough innocence to him that maybe they could just get away with the vanilla answers and they were thinking they would win at the game of smarts now.

"I am just working on something that I am going to present to a meeting with my friends tonight. Once I have the meeting with my friends, I think that will be very accepting of meeting you. I think it would be interesting to see you give them a chance, but I can see how perhaps it is not really your thing right now." The digimon said and then Takuya was already feeling like he was going to be treading on thin ice on this debate, but then he was holding something that was in his pocket, which he was thinking on why it was there, and then he was starting to get the point.

Takuya realized that it was a recorder and there was a empty tape in there, about two to two and a half hours long, and Takuya was wondering if he was needing to record them to see what they can find out about the digimon. "You know, I have been very interested in learning more about what you digimon strive for when you are at these meetings. I am interested in learning the story behind that." Takuya said and then after he had said that, the digimon looked right at Takuya and then the digimon was wondering where Takuya was really going with this whole thing.

"I am not really thinking you would get why this group of people are so special, but if you really want to learn more about it all, I guess I am going to give you what you want." The digimon said and then after he had said that, Takuya was having a fake smile on his face and then he was trying to keep the best fake surprise look on his face, and it was doing relatively successful at the whole thing.

"I think that I would not really understand what is so important about this group myself. I need to learn about this from you, and once I learn about this from you, perhaps I will even be more willing to help you on your course." Takuya had said and then when he told the digimon that, there was a moment of silence and Bokomon was starting to get a little bit sweaty there, and they were starting to think that Takuya was making a big risk, and that he was going to be exposed. But Takuya was doing his best to just remain quiet and calm and not make it obvious.

"Fine, if you are so sure that you can take what I am going to tell you, I will give you a chance here. I will tell you a shorter version of it. I don't have a lot of time to work, so please just let me talk and just listen and don't say anything at all. Maybe once I am done here, you can leave the house and then never see me again. I have no real interest in talking to you further after this." The digimon decided as Takuya thought about where this would go, and if he was going to die now if he wasn't more careful.

"Well, I had started to get to know these people that I will be meeting up with when I was a younger man, only maybe a year or two older than you, and I was not really one of the first members of the town, but I was around maybe a year or so after the town started, and I have started to get to know these people for about a decade or so. I think that if you met us at the same time that I have done so, then maybe you would have started to get it more than you think you have by now.

The entire time that I started to get to know these digimon, they seemed like they were sort of the rowdy and trouble making kinds of digimon. It all started off with a prank, and I guess I might explain to you what the prank is as you are probably already lost, and I guess I can see how you would already be so lost as of yet, but I don't think you really understand all of the things that led to the prank.

One of the digimon who was there that I had just met, a digimon named Francomon, told me that it would be really funny if I could scare a digimon into thinking that their lives would be over. I thought that it would be kind of funny, so I decided that I would try it out. I wrote a quick and lazy note that wasn't really a note as much as a picture. The picture was something off of a digimon with a dying face. I didn't really put too much effort into it and I thought it can be fine as a relatively okay scare, and then I thought that would have just been that and nothing else.

I placed the face on the wall of a random house in the town in the middle of the night, and there was no real reason to why I had picked that place, and then when I was done, I went back to the digimon in the group and then I said "I got the job done, do you like that?"

After that, there was a moment of silence as Francomon was really kind of trying to understand how I could have had the courage to do that. "You seemed like you would have been the one who would have run away scared and cried home to your parents for what you were told to do. Maybe you are ready to take on some bigger tasks." Francomon said and then that was all they said to me that night and the next couple of days, I noticed that there was a little bit of a scare of what was going on now, and the note actually really scared that digimon who got it, and there was more to it than just that." The digimon started their explanation, and then took a ten second break to get a small cup to shot down and then continued as they felt a little bit more refreshed.

"The digimon of the village were starting to hype it up as this crazy mass hysteria. I thought it was the funniest thing every for about a week or two, but then afterwards, it was starting to get a little bit worrisome and then that was when the digimon I was hanging out with decided that they wanted this to go to the next step higher, and I was not really wanting to do this at first, but I wanted to still be friends with them, so I had to go along with it. But once they were starting to give me the next pieces of their plans, I was almost starting to go along with it again.

When the digimon met with me again, they grabbed a bunch of clothing gear, and the gear looked a lot like the stuff that I had drawn on the paper, and then I started to realize that they wanted the entire group to be dressing up in that gear. They said that if we were going to pretend as if we were a group of people, and that if we were planning to spread propaganda, then we might as well actually go with it. I got the first outfit, and the others put theirs on soon as well, and we were ready to start to scare the living shit out of the people again now.

We started walking around the city and we were doing it every night for about three weeks or so. We were doing nothing besides just doing this walking around, and the first two days or so people just thought we were on nightly walks or something, but then after a few days the digimon who were working around were starting to get more worried about what we were doing. These walks were starting to spread around town as rumors and it was obvious that people were scared out of this, and despite the fact that this all started out as one big prank, it was slowly turning into something bigger, and it was turning into something that people feared but also strangely respected at the exact same time.

But this was getting a little bit too much for me, and I was telling the digimon who was leading all of this "I don't really feel like I can keep this up anymore. I know that I started this, but I don't really think I can keep up at it either. Would you continue all of this without me?" And I knew that I made a huge mistake when I saw them looking right at me.

He looked like I was asking for him to kill me. "No I can't let anybody leave my gospel. We have spread fear. We have made people respect us. If you want to leave, you will be no better than them. We will not allow you to leave us." The digimon said to me and then I gulped as he forced the clothes onto my arms and told me to suit up or else I might as well be dead.

I then thought about it and I said to the digimon who gave that to me "I don't really think you understand what we are doing to everybody else. Everybody is starting to get scared over what we are doing. I think we need to stop doing this before people find out what we are doing, and then we would get in trouble for what we are doing. At the lowest, we are going to get prison time, but we might be getting much worse." After I said that the digimon who led us looked back at me one final time and then pointed right at me.

He forced the helmet piece on me and then after he did so he was saying "If you don't stop this right now, I am going to throw you off to the side, and then you might as well be as good as dead. I am giving you two minutes to get the clothes on, and you better not be taking any more chances to piss me off." The digimon had said and then after they had said that, I reluctantly put the clothes on and I was really starting to regret everything that I had done on this to this point in time.

After I placed the clothes on, we started to walk along and the more that we were walking along, the more I was thinking that maybe the digimon was right and that I was just thinking too much into it and then after I was starting to think a little bit like that, we started to go to a couple of digimon and we saw them starting to look at us. Not just glancing as they were passing by or anything like that, but as if they were planning to see us this entire time and that this was exactly what they were thinking would happen.

The first one that we had run into started off by saying "You have been getting all of us paranoid to even be outside during the night time. Now we are through this, and we are going to stop you from doing anything else to us now." The digimon had said and then after they had said that, one of them took out a gun. I didn't have too much time to think about this at the moment, but I saw that this was the digimon who owned the yellow house.

As they had said that, the digimon who was leading us said "I think that you need to consider some things better before you decide to start attacking us. I think we should try the more diplomatic piece of this. We are just wandering around and exercising our rights." And then after they tried to use that form of reasoning, the digimon with the gun fired a few bullets and it hit the digimon who led us, and they fell down to the ground dead and then I was shocked at what happened, knowing that this was what was going to happen if we were not careful enough.

After that had happened, I started to grab the body of our leader mainly because I did not want to create exposure, and then I was running them back to where our base was originally, and the other digimon who were with us started to follow us. As we were doing this, the digimon who were in the town started to shot at us and took down another two members of the cult, but there were still five or six that were left with us once it was all said and done.

Once we were inside of the house in which we were hiding our affairs, I took the clothes off of the digimon that had led us. I then looked at the other digimon and said "I wish that they would have listened to me. They didn't believe me when I said that this was going to lead to some trouble. They kept acting like they were on top of the world and look at where this had brought us. Now we have three of the digimon that we hung out with dead, and then there is nothing that we can do about it." I said as the others looked at each other, and thought exactly about that and felt stupid for not taking the warnings seriously.

After that had happened, the digimon all looked around realized exactly the situation we were in and then one of them put off their clothes and said "I want to quit here. Maybe you can replace somebody. This is getting too much for me. I don't want to die. I think you would understand." The digimon had said and then after they had said that, the digimon walked out of the house as silent as possible to avoid getting attacked by anything else.

I don't blame them, not only was this whole thing very dangerous, but the digimon was quite young looking as well and I think they realized just how insane this was and that they wanted to just have a chance of living at all. There were only a few digimon left in the area, and they were all looking at me as if I was the one with some great answers that was going to save us all.

One of them asked me "What do you really think we should do? You're the leader now. You brought us that note and handed it around town, and made everybody fear us. You were the only one who understood the risks going in. Anybody who has any objections to you leading us now can just walk out for all I care." The digimon gave their plans and then afterwards there was nobody who had left, meaning nobody who had rejected my leadership. Now I realized what I needed to do, and how much harder this whole thing was already going to become for me now.

This was really hard to really handle since it was just so much to process. There was a couple of digimon that just died in the course of mere minutes, and then here we are, trying to take over the city, or at the very least trying to scare the city. But now that we lost nearly half of the members of the group, I was not really wanting to do this anymore either, and I was thinking about just abolishing the group and just letting us move on with our life. I thought it was a good idea, but I was really having some trouble trying to get any form of composure, and I could tell that the other digimon in the group were thinking about my weak composure.

After I was seeing that they had needed me, and that I was the only thing keeping any sort of gluing on the situation, I decided to get right to business. "You know what, I know that it would be smart to just give up and move on with our lives. But then if we give up on all of this, then people would start to get really suspicious and wondering what had happened, and they would start to probably make some connections. Then we will lose any cover that we have." I said to the group and then I knew that it was sort of a dumb thing to point out, but I was just in the middle of trying to figure out where to go now.

One of the other digimon who were silent up until this point looked up and said "Well, if for nothing else, it seems like you actually are trying to keep some common sense to this all. It seems like the previous digimon who was leading us didn't really care at all." The digimon was standing up and then I thought that I would be a better leader than the last one, but that at the same time, this was not really saying much at all, if it was saying anything in all reality.

I then thought about what to do now, and where this was going. I then decided that this was just something we needed to think on. "I think we need to just go to bed tonight. We should probably not meet up for a couple of days, until I start to make another choice on what to do next." I said and then after I had said that, the others seemed fine with that.

The other digimon started to head out and then after they were gone, I laid down on the bed for the first time in a while in my house and then I closed my eyes to start to go to sleep, and I was trying to tell myself that everything will be alright, and that I was over thinking any of the problems that was going on around us and that this could have just been a really bad dream.

As I was sleeping, I was just having a couple of really bad dreams, and I was thinking about the entire situation that we were in, and how much this was really pissing me off. I felt terrible for putting up the note to that one house, and now there was three digimon and their deaths being thrown at me, and it was all my fault for happening. I really should not have done that, and now that there were digimon who had died from me, I was starting to think about how it was probably not fair that I was the one who had actually managed to live, and that these digimon had deserved it more than me, even though to some extent, it was the fault of the leader.

The dream was filled with the leader of the cult going around and still leading the town as a dead digimon, and as they were doing this, it looked like they were tempted to eat away the souls of the digimon who had killed them, and it was sort of really scary to witness that because I was watching something that I felt like was actually going to be a real problem but I was knowing that this was just a dream, a really fucking bad dream, but it was a dream nonetheless and that I needed to just take it easy.

There was the yellow house, and the digimon walked into that one and then after they had gone inside of that house, they saw that the digimon was sleeping and then due to them hearing a break in and such, they started to wake up and everything just to see what the noise all was and then they looked up and saw the digimon who they had killed staring right at them. They looked like they were really hungry for revenge, and then the digimon who killed our leader was starting to shake in fear.

Then the digimon who owned that house jumped up and then the leader of our group held out their hand and threw them against the wall and then as they did so, made all of the public display china fall down on the ground and then the digimon opened their mouth and made it looked like a giant sucking hole, which would really look like they were sucking away the soul of the digimon who had owned the yellow house.

When that happened, the digimon who was originally my leader, Francomon, sorry for forgetting their name for a moment in the moment that I was stuck in, same to the other one. "It is time for you to sleep forever. I will not tolerate anything else from you." Francomon said and then started to suck out a bit of the life force of the digimon in the yellow house but it ended when the digimon who owned the yellow house hit their body with a pot and then in pain Francomon stopped comprehending what happened as the one who owned the house ran away and then the dream ended there.

Once I woke up that night though, I felt like something was going on, and it seemed like I was kind of seeing something from the past coming back to actually haunt me. I turned around and saw the digimon that was once called Francomon coming right towards me, and they were doing the exact same thing I saw from the dream. I was starting to think that maybe I wasn't really imagining this all along, and that maybe my life was about to end now.

Francomon said to me "You didn't warn me enough. You lied to me." And then after they had said that, they held their hand out and I started to feel weaker just by the second. But before that happened, there was a giant gun shot on the outside and I knew that Francomon was getting worried over that and then ran away, or I guess I should say flew away and then afterwards, I was left there to wonder what to do now. I then tried to go back to sleep, wondering what was going to come up next." When the digimon Takuya had talked with finished up the next bit, they were looking at Takuya and then they were trying to see what the young human was thinking about this.

Takuya was just not really too sure if he could really form words at all of this, and he was just trying to remain quiet and then afterwards, the digimon who was telling the story decided to continue without letting Takuya get any words out of his mouth.

"So now that this had happened, I started to think that maybe I was going to be at risk of dying at any moment. I started to take things a little bit more seriously. I was trying to get to know the digimon there more, in order to make up for what happened, and most digimon were wondering why poor old Missourimon was getting to know all of these digimon more with no context before that point to possibly indicate that I wanted to do something like that. They had not known that I was in the group, and I was planning to keep it that way, not having a single person know who I was and what my involvement was. Although I did talk about the group and act like this was all shocking to me, in order to try and remove a little bit of the sense of confusion that some might have to me.

Every week, I would have a meeting with the few digimon that were in the group and we would talk once a week on what we were going to do next. We decided that we were going to instead of do stuff once a day, that we would do it every week. We would pull the name of a date out of a hat every day to decide what the day was, to make it not so fucking obvious.

The first week that we met up on and decided to do something was Saturday. The thing we did that day was just a silly bit silly, and not at all to the point where anybody thought of us as suspicious, not even the people who originally looked over at us and tried to stop it all. We were just sitting in some circle and we were making some stupid chants, and nothing really beyond that point.

On the second week that we had been doing this, we met up on a Tuesday. That week when we met up, we decided that we would stand in front of houses for ten minutes a piece, to every single house in the town to make it not seem obvious who we were. As we were standing, we were just standing and doing nothing. Eventually, after the ten minutes a piece, we would go to the next house and do the ten minutes there. Then when it was all done, we went right back to the meeting house, which was a house so far away that nobody noticed and people thought that we were going down to the underground.

At the third week of it all, we met up on Thursday and on that week, we decided to go to random houses in the town and vandalize some of them. We threw rocks in the windows of some, broke some tree branches on some others, and then we were kicking in the doors on some other and I think we had hit up on like six or seven houses before we gave up and with that week over, I think the town people were getting more pissed at us now.

It was the fourth week of this stuff that people were just way too fed up over what was happening. Once we were heading down into town at the fourth week of this whole thing, we saw a bunch of digimon starting to guard their houses and they were just yelling at us to get away every single time we were heading towards them. I think that once I was doing this, the idea of getting inside of even more trouble seemed to be very intriguing for me.

I walked up to one of the houses and then I started pounding at it and the more that I was pounding at it, there was a couple of these digimon standing in front of the window and they were screaming at the top of their lungs. I was really enjoying doing this, and I wanted to see what they were going to do on fighting us, but it seemed as if they were not even going to try at that. It seemed like we were finally winning and then we kept doing this for like an hour or so on every single house that was inside of the town, to the point where it felt like we were sort of owning the town.

After a hour or so of this, one digimon got out of their house and then they were holding a shot gun. "You better get the fuck out of here, before I blow all of your fucking heads off!" The digimon screamed at us, and then I turned around at the digimon and there was something about me that felt excited to do something to them. I started to laugh as I was heading on towards them and then when I was walking towards them slowly, the guy was firing their gun, and I was slowly walking to the side and just avoiding their gun shots since they were doing so bad at firing them due to the fear they had.

I was right in front of them and I was ready to make fun of them for how they were. "Do you want to mess with us? I think you are kind of an idiot for doing this. But I guess you won't be around long enough to see it." I said and then I was in front of them and then I pushed them right down to the ground and then grabbed their gun. I saw that there was one single bullet left in there.

I laughed very loudly as I said the following "If you wanted to get me, you should have had better aim!" I yelled and then I fired the gun right at their face, and then their head was just basically a pool of blood and then I looked at the other digimon in the group and then I threw the gun at the ground and that moment was fucking glorious to do.

After that was all said and done, I knew that I had transformed. I felt like I was starting to become the man that I was supposed to become all of these days ago. I knew that this was why Francomon was wanting me to lead them so badly, and why they were so much pushing me to do all of this stuff. It felt exciting to do this stuff, and I knew that maybe I should do this more often, and not hide behind the law, since to me the law should not even be a factor in what we should be allowed to do.

We were walking along and then as we were walking along, I decided that I was going to go around to the base that we were going to probably have to deal with a lecture from a digimon who no longer approved on all of this, and to be honest I was not really wanting to deal with it. I was just hoping that the lecture would at the very least be short. The whole path of getting to the base was about twenty minutes or so and I think most digimon had given up on pursuing us by that point.

Once at the base, I was taking off a lot of my outfit and I was sitting down and just thinking about the exciting moment that I had just gone through. I looked up at the digimon there around me and I was laughing for a very long time. Most of the digimon there were wondering what the hell I was doing and if I had truly gone insane. "Wasn't that the funniest thing that you guys have ever seen? They were looking like they were about to piss themselves when I was about to shoot them." Then after I said that, I relaxed and was looking outside the really pitch black night.

After I was sort of in my high for a bit there was one of the digimon that decided to get me back into reality "You probably should be more careful about doing stuff like that if you want to go around killing digimon. That was a really risky move that you did there. Do you really feel like we should be allowed to go around and take these risks?" The digimon asked and then I laughed at them for being this silly about the whole thing.

I looked at them right in the eyes. "Look, they had a moment of weakness, and I decided that I was going to take advantage of it. If something like that happens again, I will be glad to do it. They better realize that we are at the head of this town, and that if they oppose us, they might as well be as good as having their body be on the ground rotting." When I had finished saying that, the other digimon decided that I was truly off the rail.

As they were kind of getting to the point in which they were not having any desire to fight with me, one of them decided to just get a little bit to a slightly different topic. "So what are we going to start doing next week when we hang out?" One of the digimon asked and they were trying to be innocent enough as they were asking this, but there was that moment of fear that they had in their mind that was telling themselves that they should in no way get any deeper into this whole thing.

I then thought about it and then I said "We are going to drive this thing down even further. We are going to make all the digimon here regret messing with us, and prove them them that we have no tolerance for them. If they stay in their house and don't do anything to us, we are going to be cool with them and I am not going to try and get in their business over this. But once they come along to us and start to act like they can be able to take us, then I will fight them, and I will make them regret ever thinking that we have no right to be here." I said and I was starting to think about the next thing that I was going to kill if they started to not be careful around us.

After that, there were just a bunch of digimon that were looking around just trying to figure out with themselves what the hell they were going to do now. "I think we are going to be heading out now. I don't really have the motivation to stay here now. See you guys next week." One of the digimon there said and then after they had said that, they left the house and then I was thinking about how funny it was seeing these people lose their mind over this.

Eventually, all of the digimon had left the house and I was the only one who was left in my house and then I laid back and I was thinking about my first killing, thinking about how glorious it was and how much I really wanted to do it again. But then after that happened, I felt like it was pretty good for me to sleep now, and that this should be my chance to just catch some sleep.

That is one of the first things I really did that I am proud of as I was in that cult. It started off as a prank, and I got in my first kill eventually and I have gotten even more afterwards. I really feel like you should probably try it out and see if you enjoy it. Can't say no if you don't try it all out." The digimon who was telling the story to Takuya said as they were getting ready for the next part of the story.

"You know, it is quite easy to make people in the town think that you are one of the innocent ones. All you have to do is just present yourself as somebody who is there for the citizens, and as somebody who seems as if they don't know what is all wrong about everything, and then soon enough, things will start to believe in what you are saying, and then you are going to come off as a average citizen. And then I decided that I was going to take the normal citizen thing a little bit further, and try to make them even further believe that there was nothing wrong with me, and that in fact it was the exact opposite of all that.

I decided that I was going to start getting involved in town events. I started to go around and go to town dances, I was going to parties, and going on dates with a couple of digimon in the town, making them all thing that I was just a digimon who was now comfortable in the town, and then was able to give off the impression that sooner or later, I would be able to serve as a political digimon and run for office.

I found out about the town mayor elections that were coming up soon, and then as I was learning about all of those, I figured that with the newer reputation that I am starting to get, that maybe the digimon would actually want me to run for office, and that was what I was going to be able to use for my own benefit, which was just mainly to keep going with the whole town cult. But as that was going on, another three weeks or so had passed, and as the town reputation for the cult had gotten worse, the town reputation for me had started to get better and better.

After a few days of this all, there were some digimon that started to meet up with me and try to learn more about what my plans were, and when they started to know more and more about me, I felt as if I would be able to let them know what I was doing, and then eventually, I would show some of them the outfits to the cult, and they would start to learn that I was leading the cult since the death of the first leader, and that I was just going to try and make the digimon see that we were not all that bad.

Some of the digimon who were showed this decided that they would join us here, and then there were some others that thought we were traitors and were going to report us for treason, and on those cases, we will just say that sometimes the trash can was too small to fit the garbage that week. And that nobody had ever heard of those digimon again, which I was really ashamed over because that means that I lost a vote, but I would just have to work harder to get the town to like me.

It worked enough to the point where we were in the double digits on who was with us. I think that digimon were just sort of shocked that I was here, and that I was doing such a good job making the digimon in the town start to follow our path. Despite the fact that nobody really thought the cult was actually good for the town, the time in which we had about double digits there, digimon in the group had about a third or so of the town in there, so I thought that we were growing a huge following there.

Every week, the digimon there were getting more and more shocked over the fact that we were now such a large portion of the town, and I feel like they were starting to really get more worried about us and they were starting to take the idea of taking over more serious. We were no longer just a small group of digimon just running around and scaring everybody else, we were a group that started to have a clear mandate, and the digimon here were probably starting to really get worried about that and I could tell that this was really showing in their reactions every week when we would show up.

All of the digimon in the town that wasn't a part of the group would run back inside of their houses every single time when we would show up, and they were just sitting in their houses and not letting any protests come out to stop us, since they knew full well that we would have something to say if they did try to stop us.

We would burn down some of the crops in the town, which made the digimon who was farming grab all of the farm supplies and then brought it inside of their house. That way at least some of the damage would be smaller. Then there was the small lighthouse that we had earlier, and then when we found out what we can do with it, I set off a torch and then threw the torch right at the lighthouse thing and then I started to set the whole thing on fire. The digimon who owned the lighthouse had to grab all their stuff and then they started to run down the lighthouse in time for them to still be alive, although since I knew that they were going to spend so much time rebuilding and it was funny watching their horrified face, I decided to let them be.

Afterwards, we were walking along and then one of the digimon who was in the group told me about this plan they had. They were a new member, and I decided that I would give them a chance to try out what they wanted to do and then they held their hands up and then there was something that came out of the sky. The digimon created our symbol in the sky and the whole thing was probably the scariest thing the town had ever seen and then we went back to our base.

As that had happened, I was starting to go more in the long picture of it all. I was thinking more on what we can do to the entire city, just in case we were able to have more of a command on everybody else in the town, and I was talking about how great the symbol over the sky was going to be, and then I was thinking about what we were going to do once the town would fear us even more than they had already feared us to this point in time, if it was even possible for them to fear us more.

I looked at the digimon that created the symbol in the sky and just asked the simple question of "How in the hell did you actually make that symbol in the sky?" And then after I had asked that question, the digimon thought that it was great that I had asked them that question, and they looked like they actually had a pretty simple reason behind the whole damn thing.

They just said that "It was a thing that one of my older family members taught me. How to create something in the sky with the will of your mind. I thought it would be pretty cool if I used it there, to try and get the digimon there to be even more scared of us and to hate us even more. I thought that it was the one thing that I would have been able to really bring forward during the run about." Then after they had said that to me, I decided to just drop the subject and then I was thinking about how I can use that in the future, but I didn't want to tell anybody my plans on that due to them feeling like they were even more used than they had been by this point.

That was when the group all headed home for the day and I was left on my own again. I was left alone to where I was just thinking about what was going to be given to us in the long run. I just wanted to make it so that the digimon in the town realized that there was a clear mandate behind us, and that this way they would no longer try and fight us anymore.

I was going to sleep and as I was going to sleep, the voice that I had heard all these weeks ago started to talk to me again by saying "Now you see your purpose in the whole thing, and you see the value of using everybody as tools." Francomon and their voice was saying and I thought that maybe they had been right this whole time, as much as I hated to admit it and to admit that this was not all my own doing.

I then stood up and I was walking down to the basement of my house and as I was doing so, I was trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my former boss was making fun of me for this whole thing, and I was wondering why they were even doing this to me. I thought that I needed to get this digimon away from me forever, and then I can go back to leading the group in the way that I wanted to lead it, and not in the way that they wanted to force me to do it.

Once in the basement of the house, I saw Francomon coming towards me and they were something of a ghost. I had no idea why they were in the basement of all places, but I thought that this was going to be when I can finally get rid of them once in for all. I then looked around the basement and I was looking around for something that I can use to defend myself as Francomon saw what I was doing "You must be thinking that we are going to fight, and you must be thinking that I have nothing else to my afterlife besides making you feel miserable." When they had said that, I thought on how true that was and the fact that I wanted them to just go away forever.

I then started to take another few steps and then I said "You must realize that you are gone, and that this is my gang now. You need to accept the fact that nobody likes you anymore and that you did a terrible job leading us. I am making the group great again and you are just as useless as you were before. You were a terrible leader, and I don't want to ever see you again." I said and then I started to walk out of the basement and then Francomon called out at me again.

What they had said made me slightly worried about what was going to happen in the future. "The downfall of this gang is going to come soon if you are not careful enough, and it will be nobody's fault besides your own. I will be watching you to make see what choice you will make, but I am almost certain that you are going to make the wrong choice, and there is nothing that you can do to stop me." Francomon said and I closed the door.

Once I was inside of my living room again, I thought about this all and then I was wondering if I would be able to get them away from me if I had proved them wrong. I needed to find a way to prove them wrong, but I was just not really too sure how I could do it, if I even could at all.

It all sort of was starting to become a me versus him type of thing. I was wanting to do a one up on Francomon, and it was like they were my ultimate rival, which was to say about my former boss as well as the fact that I was saying this about just some ghost. But this ghost was thinking that they can run my group better than me, even though I know for a fact that they can't, as I saw them do it much worse than I could have, and I am going to try my absolute hardest to prove to them that they are totally full of shit and that I am the true leader of this group." Missourimon was continuing their story and Takuya was wondering why they were giving him all of this information and if they were actually aware of the fucking recorder the whole time.

"But it was very hard to do all of that stuff, trying to make some digimon not think I was insane for the fact that I was admitting to talking to a ghost, and I would think that anybody would just be thinking that I am totally insane for this, and they were probably going to try and get me to think that I needed a bit of a break from life, and a little bit of a reality check. I know that they think I am insane, and I know for a fact that they thought that I was insane even if they don't anymore, but I had a goal and the goal was the only thing that was still keeping me going at this whole thing.

It was as the days were going by, and my campaign for mayor was getting bigger and bigger, and after a while, some more digimon were wondering more about us, and we would let them in the gang when they wanted to, and on the ones that thought and realized what we were doing, I would just say that we needed to throw out the thrash and those digimon were part of the trash when they said they would go around and expose us.

Eventually, about fifty three percent or so of the town, around 23 out of the forty one or so digimon in the village at the time decided that they would vote for me during the election. By that point I had a very clear mandate, and I got to become the mayor even though not a single digimon that was not in the gang voted for me, but that didn't matter since I had so many more votes than the opponent.

As I had now started to get a very clear mandate against the enemy I was now starting to rule the town with a slowly increasing iron fist. Some of the digimon that found out about what I had been doing had accused me of cheating and that the election was not proper, and I didn't really care since they were not finding out about the gang, they just found out me convincing some of my voters to vote for me. I simply explained that this was just politics, and that I knew how to play the game naturally.

Everything seemed to go fine for a while, when the digimon had accepted the lost election results. It had felt like I was leading the town just fine, and I don't really think anybody was trying to expose me as a traitor or something stupid like that anymore, and that was probably because some digimon have just simply moved on in their life. But it was only that way for a little while, and there was a conflict that was slowly coming up after that.

One of the digimon, the one who owned the yellow house said that they needed to make an appointment with me, and since I was the mayor I decided that I could not really turn it down if I wanted to not increase any sort of chance of exposure to my goals and then I let them in and then they decided to sit down. "I needed to talk with you, since I feel like I have some form of evidence on the whole case with the digimon who have been terrorizing this town." They said and there was a smile on their face, as if they knew that they had gotten me in trouble. There was a picture that they handed me, and I knew how they had the feeling of confidence about this possible exposure.

The picture was showing a bunch of digimon that were walking down to my house, and the digimon were wearing the clothes that we used when we were out there fucking around the town. I could see that one of the digimon had my vague eyes on there, and I was staring at them and handed the picture back to them carefully.

The digimon smiled still with them knowing what they had done and then they said "I think you should be more careful what you are doing at the night time. I think you should not have done some things if you were not one hundred percent sure if you can get rid of the evidence that is attached to it." The digimon said and then they put the picture back in their pocket and then I stood up and I was ready to strangle this asshole.

As I was getting up, to try and make myself seem like the bigger man, I pointed my finger right at their chest, and I was actually touching them. "You better not show anybody this. You have no business what I am doing at the night time. I am just going around and having a fun time." I said and then as I had said that, the digimon who had been talking with me seemed to think that everything I was saying was just a giant ass load of bullshit and that was making things kind of hard to stay on focus.

The digimon seemed as if this was really funny to see and that thought the bigger man mentality I was trying hard to show as just more of a funny moment than something actually scary. "I think that you are just scared to have your little secret revealed. If people find out the truth of what you are doing I don't think anybody will ever want to talk to you again and you might even lose your spot on being mayor of the city." The digimon said and then I knew that they were right, but that was only a tiny piece of what I was finding really annoying about them, and there could have been many more things if I actually thought of it.

This whole thing was just seeming like it was a small detour that I had to go through, and that all I had to do was simply either convince them to be quiet, or maybe to just throw them away, and then I can act like this never happened and that this digimon had just gone away for the time being. "I don't really think you want to mess with my group. You have no idea what I can do, and you being here is just getting in my way. I own the town, I won the election, and you have no place in trying to get in my way now." I said and then I pointed right at the door to my office. The digimon just looked at it for a moment.

Then before they left, they had just said something really simple but it did just do enough to make them obviously show how they had felt about me. "Even the mayor had to follow the law here, and there is nothing that you are doing that even slightly suggests that you are doing just that." The digimon said and then I pounded at the door to add some extra emphasis that I wanted them out of the fucking area as soon as possible.

I then said "If you do not get out, I will make this very personal between the two of us, and I don't think you really want me to do that." I said and then as the digimon left the house, they were telling me that this was already very personal, and that I didn't need to make anything like that. And then the digimon just left me alone and then I was standing there in annoyance and then I sat down and started panting in utter annoyance for a moment.

I was sitting down and I was trying to figure out what I needed to do now, if there was anything that I can do about this guy acting like they were owning me, and there was a part of me that was thinking that if they did reveal that stuff to the public, that they indeed would have actually been owning me. I just wanted them to know once in for all that they did not own me, and that I was their boss and if anything, they needed to fucking make my responsibility a bit more obvious.

Eventually, I was stood up and then I was staring outside the window, and as I was standing outside of the window, I was thinking about what could possibly happen and the more that I was there, the more that I was thinking that maybe there could be something that would come out of this if I was not really careful about this, but I was scared about the whole thing. I then took a long sigh as I placed the cup I was drinking my gin down and then I left the cup totally empty with a little bit of the smell still all over me.

I then went right down the lower floor of my mayor house and then I was going right to the outfit of the gang, and I was sort of not really having enough time to do these activities after I got the job. I was starting to think that maybe the digimon who joined me assumed that I would stop when I got the election, for a couple of days I was thinking that maybe there was a level of truth to it. But then I grabbed the outfit and I was just staring at it, trying to wrap my mind around what I was going to do, which was reviving the gang full on once and for all.

I then looked around the rest of the basement and I was thinking about what was going on in there as I heard Francomon once again and they said "It seems as if you can't escape this forever. No matter how hard you try to place all that behind you, things come back and haunt you and then you realize that you will never be able to become a normal person no matter if you act like things are all in the past. I will haunting you and making it so that nothing you ever try to do will go your way, and that is the way that things are supposed to be." After Francomon had said that, I then placed the outfit down and I was getting so tired of this digimon trying to get in my way on every single thing there was about my life.

I screamed as loud as I was able to "I did not do this to have you getting in my way! I did this because I was trying to get my own power! But now that I have it, you won't leave me alone and admit that I did a better job at becoming the town power house than you. This whole thing is just really hard for you to admit, and the idea of admitting it just hurts you." I said and then I grabbed a thing from the wall. It was a propped and not at all sharp sword that I had been given in my campaign and then I was holding the sword right in front of Francomon. Or at least the ghost of Francomon.

Francomon had laughed the loudest they had ever laughed in my time knowing them after I grabbed the sword and they were saying "You really think that this is going to scare me? I know that you barely ever used that weapon before, and that it is a weak one that barely has any power to it." I was walking further towards them now.

I thought that if there was another way that I could defeat them, I would take advantage of it, but in all reality, I don't really think I can get it. I think that this was just going to end up in failure on finding another one and that there was just simply no way I was going to find another one.

As I was doing this, Francomon had said "Well it seems like you are not going to give up on this, and as a result, I am going to have to just show you the power that I have been keeping inside all of this time." Francomon did not make me scared as they were saying this, as I knew that this was all just one big act.

I then brought both of my hands to the blade and then I moved my arms backwards and then pointed it and the blade had a few inches past my face to keep my posture and I said "I will not let you throw away my job because you will not stop haunting me and get over the fact that I was a better mayor than you had been." After this, Francomon and I remained quiet for just a couple of seconds longer.

The last thing that was said before the fight I had with them was Francomon saying "This is going to be pretty exciting, I am going to give you that much." And then after they stated how exciting this was going to be, which in all reality the answer was going to be that it was not going to be exciting at all, the ghost started to advance towards me and then they pushed me back and I was just holding the sword as tightly as I could, knowing while it was a terrible weapon, it was better than no weapon at all.

I was holding the weapon still as tightly as I could as I was standing up, and I was thinking that this was going to be the worst way that somebody can possibly die in the history of the world. I then swung the sword a couple of times around at the digimon that had ruined my life, and the digimon faded through the sword blade a couple of times, and I felt dumb for fighting this like the situation that I was in, but I was just desperate to get this whole thing over with. I then saw Francomon coming right at me, and I hid under the table that was near by as I did so, and while it was a terrible shelter, it was still at least some shelter nonetheless and that was all I needed to do at that moment.

There seemed to be one or two seconds of calm or quiet as Francomon got right on top of the table and then broke the table somehow as I moved through and then I saw them bringing their hand down right on top of me, and then I swung the hand down and then the hand hit the ground, and I saw that this was a sort of silver blade and one that can go through ghosts and while it was still very frail, it was better than nothing at all and it was able to actually do some damage to Francomon, which was something I very much needed.

I was feeling like I was actually going to win this thing when I had actually cut off their hand and I thought that this was going to be the only way that I would be able to save myself, which was a scary thing for me to imagine but what the hell else was I was going to do and then I went right to a trash can and I saw Francomon floating towards me and using their gone hand to still do some form of force movement at me and I was being slammed down left and right and I was feeling the blood coming right down from me, and I was barely able to handle it.

I then grabbed the trash can and then threw the can right at the digimon and then Francomon groaned a little bit at the heavy weight can hitting them and then after I had done that, I began walking towards the digimon and knew the only way I can make Francomon leave me alone was to not have any form of arm at all. I then went up to the right arm and I swung the blade and cut off the entire arm and then there was still the second arm that they could hit me with.

Francomon grabbed the arm that was cut off and then used it to make me fall right down to the ground when the threw the arm at me and then I gasped as I realized that the bit of the arm that was quite open hit me right in the chest and then I started to feel the blood coming right out of my chest as well as everything else in the body, and I was feeling like I was going to be in hell right now for all that was happening, and that this was some form of sick punishment for leading the cult, and that there was no way around it.

I started to pull the arm out of my chest and I was feeling extremely gross doing this, knowing that I was actually feeling anatomy on me and that this was like I was getting punished for something that should have never been happening to me. I then grabbed the arm after it was on the ground for a couple of seconds and then I started to run at the digimon who had been fighting me and then I rammed it right in the center of their chest making one single blood drip coming out of their mouth and I could feel that they were about to cry at that sudden burst in pain.

As Francomon had to take a moment to comprehend what had been happening I saw them grabbing me by the neck and I was feeling the choking sensation coming at me and then I was starting to moan and groan over how much this was starting to make me lose my breath.

I was now starting to resist, and I was not going to die without a fight, since that was the only thing that was making me have any understanding of what was going on, I needed to fight until it was done, and then only then can I be able to leave the basement, and I needed to finish this job first.

I kicked Francomon right in their ghost nuts and then that made me drop down to the ground and then I grabbed the sword again and then i sliced it and cut a decent gash on both of their legs and I could tell that doing this was making them in more pain than they had originally planned to be in and then I was thinking that for once I was actually having a chance to be in the lead this time as opposed to Francomon. I was tired of this digimon being in the lead, and this was going to be the only way that I can make it so that they were not.

Francomon pushed me a couple of times and then I felt a little bit of my ribs crack and then I was starting to gasp in pain and I knew that just doing these gaps were too much, and that I needed to stop doing this if I actually wanted to survive. Francomon was coming right at me and then I started swinging my sword several times, not doing anything otherwise since I knew that they were coming at me and I was just ready to get this whole thing over with and behind me.

Afterwards, Francmon started to be cut into several parts and then I saw them go down in a few pieces, and that not only were they dead in real life, but their ghost was dead was well and that was when I was done with it all. Francomon would never talk with me again and that was all that I needed to place that behind me forever. I placed the sword right on the standing spot after I cleaned it up a little bit and then I walked up the stairs to go back to the top floor, and I was getting ready to go to sleep.

I got right on my bed and then I turned off the lights and went right to sleep. I knew that there was not all that much that I needed to do, and that I had already proven myself as a fighter when I had dealt with Francomon there. I slept into the night and well into the afternoon of the next day, meaning that I was down for about seventeen hours and when I had woke up, I was starting to feel a little bit better. Not enough to feel like I can actually function properly, but enough for me to feel like I was not about to just die anymore.

I was back inside of the front room and when I was there I saw a giant basket full of medical supplies and then the basket had a note on it that said "I know who you are. I know what you did. I know what you are trying to keep from the public. I am giving you this just to show how impressed I am. But don't come back and do this again. I will have to fight you if you do this again." The note finished and then I placed the note in the trash can, not thinking much of it and then I started to give myself some medicine and giving myself the arm cast stuff that I needed, as well as the chest cast stuff since I needed to not do too much vigorous activity for the time being.

I then started to go back to normal for the time being and for the next couple of weeks, I have given up on the whole gang thing and it seemed like even to the members of it that I was over it. But then I decided that I wanted to change my mind soon enough.

I then went down to the basement and then I put on the suit of the gang and then I walked out of it and then I went outside of the building and afterwards, I started to go on and bring back the fear of the gang, and I was no longer feared anymore and I was in good health again. And now I was ready to prove that there was nothing that can stop me." The digimon talking to Takuya continued and then wondered how much more Takuya was wanting to know, if anything at all.

"I'm sorry, this is really interesting information and everything, but I need to get out of here right now. I think I need to go around and go to other houses and do some stuff right now." Takuya said and then after he had said that, he was pressing the pause button on the recorder and then when he was standing up, Missourimon was coming right out to Takuya and then there was something he was doing that made Takuya ruin every bit of idea that he had about him being all quiet and secretive, and then it kind of made him feel like a total idiot.

"Next time you go and talk with somebody, you should make sure that if you have anything in your pocket, that the bulge is not obvious to notice. Just a piece of advice. I think you might be expecting a visit from somebody tonight." Missourimon said and then Takuya gulped as he decided to ask as he decided he needed to know something else, so he asked the question that made him think he was really going to make a big mistake and that if he wasn't leaving soon, he was going to get himself in even more trouble than he was already in by this point in time.

"Why did you stop being mayor of the town?" Takuya asked and then after he had asked Mirrourimon that question, the digimon just looked right at Takuya and they were smiling. Takuya knew the moment that he had seen that face that he was going to regret ever having asked that question to the digimon at all. Bokomon and Neemon were wondering just how much in the ground Takuya had dug himself when he had asked that question, as Missourimon gave him the answer he was wishing he was not going to hear.

"I am not the mayor anymore because I don't have to deal with what people want me to do. I can just become a living citizen, and therefore I can do anything I want and nobody can really do anything to stop me at all. It is a better spot for me, and therefore the people who follow me will be able to get what they desire more. In the end of the day, I am going to be the one who wins at it all." Missourimon had said and then Takuya decided not to say anything else to that and he was having his hand at the door knob.

"I better be leaving. I can't stay here for too much longer." Takuya had said and then he opened the door and then he was outside of the house. Once he was outside of the house and a few feet away, Takuya saw Missourimon staring right at him to see what he was doing next. Takuya went down and looked at Bokomon and Neemon next. "Damn it, I wish I was more careful about what I was doing now. Guess that we are going to be in the home stretch." Takuya said and went right to the yellow house.

Once Takuya was inside of the yellow house, he closed the door right away and then he sat down and looked right at the digimon who had owned the house. "I believe that we are going to have a visitor coming along very soon. I was talking with them, and here is your damn evidence. But I guess that perhaps that the digimon who I was talking with was aware of the recording this whole time, and now we are going to have to be careful for the rest of the day." Takuya said and then he was thinking about what was going to be happening next, and he was just looking out the window and then he had closed the curtain once again.

"I think that it was amazing that you were able to get them to talk for as long as you were able to." The digimon who owned the yellow house said as they were slowly zooming through the recorder, just to see how many minutes there was that was recorded and then Takuya was nodding, thinking that this was all a part of some big plan, and that he shouldn't be taking this too big of a blessing with the fact that he was sort of surviving this whole thing relatively narrowly.

"Maybe this evidence will get more people to be aware of what Missourimon is doing, and then they will be forced to go away in disgrace." Takuya said and then he was excited to think about what the digimon was going to have to do when they were going to be exposed, and how they were going to try and defend themselves in any moment coming up. But he was thinking about what the hell he was going to do now.

"Trust me young man, if they found out what he had been doing this whole time, there would be more than just a banning from them. The digimon might actually get sent up at the cross." The digimon said as they were placing the tape recorder very carefully under their couch and then looked right at Takuya. "Now that you are here, what are we going to do now? Do you plan on going right into the dungeon again, or are you going to wait a little bit longer?"

"I will go right at it again tomorrow. But right now, I am more worried about this coming up. If I stay down here for too much longer, I think Missourimon might attack me. If I stay here, and they attack me, then I am the only one who might have a chance of being able to defeat them. You know that I am right, and that I need to be more careful about what I am doing now. When they attack me, I am going to have to fight them. Then when I fight them, I am going to have to kill them. That is the only way that the city can be safe from any attack coming up." Takuya said as the digimon in the house was thinking that there was a level of truth to what he was saying, and that they needed to be ready for the battle now.

After this, Takuya was starting to lay down on the couch and then he said "I think they will be coming at us tonight. That will give me a few hours. I am going to take a bit of a short rest. if somebody comes along, check and see who they are, and I would suggest you do not let them in no matter what the case may be, unless if it is a digimon that you know for a fact that you can be able to trust." Takuya started to close his eyes and he was getting ready to sleep a bit.

As Takuya was closing his eyes a little bit, the more that the digimon who owned the house was thinking about the fights that were going to be coming up at any moment. Missourimon was a digimon that probably seeked more power than anything they had ever met before. At least Cherubimon was honest about it. This guy was able to hide what they were doing, enough to make them seem like they were actually the good guy at least for a little while.

When Takuya was having his rest, he was having a dream about Cherubimon. The digimon who was his main enemy didn't really have any thing that they were doing right at this moment. "I am very bored now. I want to destroy something else." Cherubimon said and then Mercurymon was thinking about how this was going to get really annoying with the fact that they had been saying this all the damn time.

"The world is destroyed. We need to rebuild it. That was the point of what I wanted to do. I wanted to destroy this world, and then after I destroyed it, I wanted to build it once again to fit the vision that I had built up." Mercurymon said and they were getting tired of saying this, and they were thinking about how exactly they were going to be able to rebuild this digital world and not get Cherubimon to destroy it right away. As he was thinking this stuff, the more that he was thinking that in all reality, this Takuya man was actually doing the right thing by building the digital world back up again. If anything, they might have actually been doing the right thing by making it even better. In a way, he was doing what they had wanted to do anyways.

"I want to take over the world. I don't want to stay here anymore." Cherubimon said and that was when Mercurymon was wondering if Cherubimon was going to start to become a rival in order to make sure nothing was going to make them want to take over the world to themselves.

"Well, once that young man finishes saving the world and rebuilding it, then I can take it over, and then I will reign supreme across the entire digital world." Mercurymon said and then Cherubimon was getting more and more feeling betrayed at their master for them thinking that Cherubimon should not have any place on anything that was going on. Cherubimon felt as if they should be allowed to go along and take over the world for themselves, since they were the ones that had destroyed it. As a result, this was slowly starting what would slowly become a rivalry between the two that would last the rest of the journey. One that made Takuya unsure who even the main villain was of this whole thing.

Takuya had woke up and after he woke up, he was seeing Bokomon and Neemon terrified, as if they had seen a ghost or something. "What the hell is going on?" Takuya had asked and Bokomon was looking right at Takuya to make sure they were aware of the fact that this was going to be a matter that was going to get a bit more serious than they had been thinking it would originally.

"Missourimon is trying to get inside of the house right now. Do you have any idea what you are going to do to defend us?" Bokomon asked and there was something about the way they asked this that made Takuya start to think that perhaps there was more to this than they would have wanted to admit. More to this than Takuya had been exposed to a few hours ago, when they were just talking with them in a relatively civilized tone. This was making Takuya a little bit more worried that there was something coming along and then Takuya started to look at the digivice.

"I think I might have to digivolve if this turns out to be as bad as you are making this sound to be." Takuya said and then as he had said that, he was looking at Neemon staring at the door and there was a bunch of loud thuds on the door that made Takuya a little bit more scared about what was coming up, if that was even possible for them to possibly get more scared over what is going on now.

"Oh my god, what is going on with Neemon right now?" Takuya had asked as Bokomon was looking at Takuya and then as he was looking at Takuya, they were watch the guy take out their digivice and then he was staring right at the glowing screen. As he was watching the glowing screen come along, he was watching himself slowly get ready for the digivolution that by this point in time, he was much too used to. As he was starting to feel the change in his body occur, this was when Takuya was thinking if there was anything Bokomon and Neemon can do about this.

Eventually, when he was back to being Agunimon, he was ready to become the defender of the city as well as probably go into the dungeon once this was all said and done. At this point, it felt like there was no real need for Takuya to continue sleeping more and more, and that he might as well just go right back into the dungeon to do his daily dose of the dungeon. Also mainly doing it as a sort of just getting it the fuck over with and everything. That was when the door had broken down and there was a digimon that was covered up in a bunch of black clothes and they were holding some form of torch as they were heading on inside of the house. Takuya was wondering how he was going to keep this house from burning down, since he knew very well that this was something he was going to have to focus on as well.

Agunimon grabbed Neemon and they were running Neemon outside of the house once again just for a brief moment since he did not want Neemon to get in any danger. Bokomon was able to run out on their own. "Yousa justs saved mesa from monsters." Neemon said and Takuya thought that this was probably the closest the digimon had to having a fully proper grammar sentence.

Once that was done, Takuya ran back inside of the house one more and time and then he was looking at the digimon who was holding the torch. The digimon threw the torch right at Agunimon and this was hard for them to focused and he forced himself outside to do the stop drop and roll routine that he heard from the movies. As Agunimon was rolling around, the digimon started to get the torch and was ready to set the rest of the house on fire as Agunimon stood up and then he was no longer covered up in fire. Then he started to shot a couple of fire balls at the digimon who was trying to destroy the house.

As the digimon he was forced to have a short fight with was starting to set the house on fire, the digimon came at Takuya once again and then afterwards, they were starting to get in a little bit of a physical fight as Agunimon punched them in the chest and the digimon punched Takuya right in the cheek. On one hand, the house was no longer on fire, but on the other hand, there was the fact that he was having to basically get in a retarded fist fight now.

As they were having the fist fight, Neemon saw that the torch was starting to get closer to the house. Neemon started to run towards the house to grab the torch and then once he grabbed the torch, they were running down the rest of the town and then brought it right to the pond, where they threw the torch into the water. Bokomon was amazed at the courage that Neemon showed for once in their life.

That was when Takuya was ready to continue the fight that he was having, knowing that any chance that the house to be burned down was fully gone once in for all. He started to punch the digimon a bunch of times in their back and their face, a kick at their neck and then one at their chest once again. The digimon was starting to walk back a little bit as they were groaning a bit, trying to figure out how they had been having their asses handed to them so badly, and how to make sure that they can be able to walk normally once again.

Takuya jumped back and then they shot a surge of fire right at the digimon who was trying to fight them off and then they shot the fire ball right at the ground and the digimon had their foot hit by the fire. Takuya then landed on the ground as the digimon they were fighting held out their hand forward. "So it seems like the spirit of Agunimon had chosen you. In a way, I didn't really believe the legends. But here you are, using the spirit of Agunimon to fight me. It still seems though as if you do not know how to process your powers fully, which is a bloody shame as you should have figured out how to use your powers by this point in time."

Agunimon was tired of this banter and then Agunimon started to shot their hand a bunch of times and started to set the digimon on fire a couple of times. The digimon was barely putting up a fight, and Agunimon was wondering if this was on purpose. It was so ridiculous that Agunimon was telling themselves that this had just been a really large set up this entire time.

The digimon was standing up and they were covered in fire and as they were covered in fire, their body was starting to fall off of them. They were seeing their skin pretty much leave the bones, and soon enough all that was left was the bones of the digimon that he was fighting, and Agunimon was kind of disturbed at seeing the digimon become this, and then after that Takuya was starting to see that maybe this whole thing was not a set up and in fact, Takuya had just made a huge mistake.

Agunimon watched as the digimon jumped right at Takuya and they had picked up their speed and started to go like a thousand times faster than they had been able to earlier. Takuya was amazed at how fast this thing was as the digimon landed on Takuya, making the young man fall down to the ground and the digimon started to grab Agunimon's face and they were trying to grab his face off of his body. Takuya had a feeling that if they had really wanted to, they might have been able to do it. Agunimon was doing their best to force them off of himself, even if it was impossible to do so.

As Takuya was having a fight with the giant skeleton, he was wondering how the hell he had led up to this whole thing. He was not really sure what he had done in his life that had forced him to actually go along and deal with fighting skeletons and everything. This was making him feel like he had fucked up everything in his life, and that he had deserved this whole thing after all, which was making him think of the terrible things he did by this point in his life.

But then eventually, Takuya grabbed the digimon and then threw them right onto the ground and then started to set up a huge fire ball that he threw right at the digimon and then the digimon started to scream as they were now turning themselves into ash, which Takuya was thinking was his way of knowing that this entire thing was over with for good, and then after he was done, he saw the pile of ashes on the ground. Then Takuya started to walk back to the house and he was ready to get himself back to sleep.

Bokomon and Neemon were starting to walk next to Takuya and then they thought that this was just a bit of a strange detour and once he was back in the house, the digimon who owned the yellow house was just watching the humanoid digimon walking inside of the house. Agunimon started to sit down on the couch again and then Bokomon and Neemon were sitting next to him. For the first few seconds, Agunimon couldn't do anything and their mind was running at a million miles per hour. Eventually, Agunimon started to turn back into Takuya and then he looked right at the digimon who owned the house again. "That was ridiculous. I have no reason why that just randomly happened. I think that perhaps Missourimon wanted to have something take me out, but then that idea failed miserably." Takuya said and then he was wondering what the digimon was thinking there.

"Do you have any idea what to do now? Are you going back and doing something else today?" Missourimon asked and then after he had been asked that question, Takuya was a little bit unsure what to say to that now. He was not really sure if he wanted to do anything else, but at the same time, he was not really sure if he wanted to go to sleep.

"I'm not really tired, but at the same time I have no desire to go around and go to the dungeon or anything. Maybe I just need to get a little bit more rest or something, and then I would be perfectly fine." Takuya said as he was just doing a little bit more of wishful thinking when he was saying that. He was fucking sick and tired of fighting, but in all reality, he knew that fighting was the only way he was going to save the digital world.

"I think that perhaps you just need to get some rest for the night. I think that sleep is probably the best thing you can do for yourself when you are going on and fighting the monsters that are going to go on and save the world. The world needs you, and in order for you to perform good, you need to be at your best shape which means that you should go on and get some good sleep every night." The digimon had said and then Takuya was nodding, and as he was getting himself ready to go on and sleep, he looked right down at Neemon thinking about what had just happened.

"I am really impressed at how you were able to handle that torch. I didn't think you were able to handle yourself. I guess that everybody can be a hero every once in a while." Takuya said and then after he had said that, Neemon was feeling a little bit better knowing that they had finally done something good for once. Neemon just knew that something had to be done, and that was why they needed to do the job.

"I guess that maybe Neemon did have some courage after all." Bokomon said and then that was when Takuya was laying down on the couch and then he was placing his hand on his face and he was getting himself ready to go to sleep. The digimon who owned the house was watching as Takuya was slowly getting himself ready to go to sleep. But then they were wondering if Takuya would have actually been able to sleep at all.

"I think we all really appreciate what you have been doing here. I get that you probably are missing home right now. I think that everybody would be missing home if they were forced to deal with this whole situation. I remember the first time that I left home, and I was actually starting to miss my house and everything, and although I missed that place a lot, I never went back to where I originally lived for the rest of my life. I never really had any real reason to go back there at all." The digimon who owned the house said and then Takuya was getting ready to go to sleep.

Eventually, Takuya was starting to head on to sleep. As he was starting to sleep, everything was getting along pretty well. The dreams that he had that night were actually pretty nice, at least first although he was thinking that these were dreams that were never going to come true in real life. There were only a couple that he remembered, but it was still something he was able to take with him for the rest of his life.

The dream started off with Takuya running down a hallway. As he was running down the hallway, there was a couple of noises in the back behind him. He was trying his best to escape away from... something. He didn't really know what he was escaping from, but whatever it was had made him think that there was going to be something that was going to fight him, and then he was going to have to try and kill this thing when the monster came up to him eventually. But then soon enough, he ran to the room that close by and then he slammed the door as fast as he could and then he was taking a deep breath.

Takuya sat down and then he was noticing in this dream that Bokomon and Neemon were not there with him. He was not really sure why that was bothering him so much, but there was something about that which really scared him. He looked forward and then he was staring right in front of him. He was staring at a giant blue box that was thirty feet away. Not sure what to think of this, Takuya stood up and then he started to walk on closer to the box and then he was slowly forgetting about what was chasing after him at that moment. But then soon enough he grabbed the box and was considering what could be in the contents of it.

Before he was able to even try and examine the contents, there was a quiet voice that was making him stop what was going on. He knew that this voice was showing even more fear than Takuya had been showing. He turned around and saw that it was a younger girl, probably around eight years old or so. He got on his knees and he was looking right in the eyes of this young girl, seeing what he can do to help make her feel better.

"That monster is scaring me." The girl said and she was starting to have some tears coming down her face. Takuya was thinking about that and while he didn't initially care about this lady at first, seeing her on the verge of crying and everything, Takuya shook his head to himself and then he told the girl to come closer to him. She was unsure of this at first, and then she started to come closer to him and then Takuya knew what he was going to have to do next.

"I am going to destroy this monster for you. I will not let this monster get to you." Takuya said and then he was patting her back. As he had been patting her back, she actually started to believe that perhaps Takuya was actually telling the truth. There was something about the way that he was saying this that made her think he was going to be the one who was going to save her at the end of the day. Takuya had totally forgot about the box he had been searching for all of this time.

"I want to believe you, but I can't right now." The girl said and then she was still crying and then as she was saying this, Takuya was patting her on the back and then he was starting to try and get her to calm down as much as humanly possible. He was not really sure how well he was going to be able to calm her down, but he was making a honest effort to make her understand that this whole thing was not really all that scary.

"Where do you live? I will take you home now." Takuya asked and then he grabbed her and was holding her. She was hugging Takuya and then she was placing her head on his shoulder and then Takuya said "I think that your parents are probably really worried about where you are right now." Takuya said and she seemed to believe him well enough. But she was not really all that sure where she was going to go with this. She had thought that he needed to go back to what he was doing at first.

"I don't want to get you in danger. Please leave me alone." The girl said and then Takuya was patting his pocket once again just to make sure that the box was in there and then once he was well aware of the fact that the box was in there, he shook his head and then he stared right at her in the eyes. He wanted to make it very clear to her that everything was going to be fine, and that he was not going to force her to be alone when she was in a lot of danger. But he was looking forward at the door up ahead, as he was thinking about what he was going to do when the door was opened, and if he was going to be able to destroy the monster. All he had was a pocket knife, and there was no way that was going to help him in the long run.

"Nothing I am doing really matters right now. I can't leave this place with clear conscious without knowing that you are fine. You are going to be safe. I am going to make sure that you are going to be safe." Takuya told the girl and he was starting to walk closer to the door and eventually, he was mentally ready for what was going to be coming up at any second.

"Please, stop that monster." The girl said and Takuya fully agree with that statement. He was going to destroy that monster, and that was going to be the one thing he was going to do if it meant that nothing else was going to be fulfilled. Takuya kicked the door down and he was ready for what was going to be happening at any second now, which was going to be a fight for his life, as well as the girls life.

Once he was outside of the room, he took out his pocket knife right away and he was holding it right in front of him and he was trying his best to be mentally at least ready for whatever the hell was going to be happening next. There was a short silence before there was a black shape from up above jumping down right down upon Takuya and the girl. Takuya was holding her with his left arm, and he was doing his utter best to make sure that she was not scared over what was happening, which was really hard since he was also really worried about this himself.

The monster started charging right at Takuya and the young man jumped backwards to hit the wall and then he stabbed the monster in the fucking face. As he stabbed the monster right in the face, he saw the monster start to crawl backwards a little bit and then Takuya was glad that this monster was starting to see that he was not a force to be fucked with. Despite being a normal human, he was meaning serious business and he was ready to give it his all if it had meant that he was going to be safe with the girl.

There had been a couple of seconds where neither one of them were doing anything, and then the monster started coming right at Takuya once again and then after they went at him, Takuya started to stab at the monster and he got their chest a little bit after a few tries and him going around, making it so that he was not stabbed or that the girl was not stabbed either. He was going to keep her safe, and there was nothing that was going to be done about that.

The monster grabbed Takuya in the face for a moment and for those few seconds, Takuya had a short lived knowledge of what fear was actually like, feeling like his face was going to be ripped off. But then he grabbed the monster in the face as well. He was still holding onto the girl with his life and she was crying really loudly as she was witnessing all of this happening. Not that he could have really blamed her for this, after all she was dealing with the worst thing she had probably ever seen in her entire life, and it was mere inches away from them.

Takuya then stabbed the monster right in the neck with his knife and he was holding down as strong as possible, watching as the black blood was coming out of the neck. The smell was terrible, as if it was just a pool of acid coming down. Takuya was feeling like if he had to fight this thing again, he should be more aware of the acid blood just in case if it was actual acid, to not increase the risk of death anymore.

Takuya watched the monster land on the ground and then start to turn into some ashes once again. Takuya walked out of the room to make sure the girl was fine with her being carried, but once they had been out of the room, he started to place her down and then he looked right at her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and he was making sure that she was still relatively fine, and that she didn't feel like something about the world was going to end. "We are all going to die." The girl said and then Takuya was just remaining silent. He wanted to make her feel better, but he was not sure how he could have been able to do it in order to have her believe him.

"Everything will be alright. Don't worry about the end of this. I believe that everything will be alright. We just need to get out of here. It is not like we are living in the apocalypse or anything." Takuya said and then he was standing up, and he was rubbing his knifes blood off with his shirt and he was staring forward at the vast and empty field that they were going to have to travel through out.

"Do you know where you are heading?" The girl asked and then Takuya shook his head no. He didn't want to make her feel terrible, but at the same time, he felt the need to be honest with her. He then put the pocket knife right inside of his pocket and he was getting ready to start this path, to figure out where he was going, if that was something he was going to be able to do with just a couple of days of travel.

"Is it alright if I come along with you?" The girl asked and then Takuya looked right down at her again. He knew that she needed to be protected, and he was thinking he was the only one who can do it. He knew that there was nobody else for her besides him. But at the same time, he was not even sure if he was going to be safe himself, and as a result of that he was not really sure if he wanted her to go through any of that. But then he was thinking about what would happen if she was alone. She might die if she was with him. She will defiantly die if she was not with him.

"Well, I'm leaving very soon. If you want to come with me, we're going to be leaving right away. I also don't envision that we are going to be anywhere for more than a few days at a time. My name is Takuya Kanbara." The older man said to the young girl, and then the girl said that her name was Miku. Takuya thought that this was a strange name, but he decided not to make fun of her for it. Not like Takuya was much better.

"So Miku, do you know any place where can can get some information figured out?" Takuya asked, just trying to keep himself all calm and collected about what was happening. The more that he was thinking about this, the more that he was thinking that in all reality, this little girl was probably going to be his guide throughout the entire adventure. Miku and Takuya were walking down the streets and as they were walking down the streets, Takuya was feeling like he was walking down a road that he should have never even come close to travelling. He was wondering why he was even here in this dream, and he was wondering why this Miku girl was inside of the dream with him. None of this had made any sense at all.

"There is a town near by. I don't feel too safe there. The people there are scary." Miku said and then Takuya was wondering why she had said that, and he was thinking that maybe they needed to just go there for a little and then she would see that these people in that town were not all that bad after all. But then he was thinking that he was not really sure what to say here, since he had not seen them and for all he knew, these people were actually the ones who were totally right this whole time.

"I will try that place out. Maybe there is something pretty nice about these people. I don't know, anything has to be better than this place right now." Takuya said and then after he had said that, Miku was agreeing to just tell Takuya which directions he was going to have to go, and as he was heading on over there, that was when Takuya was thinking about when he was going to go home, if that was even possible to happen at all anymore, and for all he knew, he might not be able to return home anymore, which was what was scaring him even more.

"Takuya, where is your family?" Miku asked after they had been silently walking for a couple of minutes and Takuya was thinking about that. He knew nothing about where his family was, and in this dream, he was not even sure if he even had a family at all. He felt like this was placing him at a bit of a disadvantage when talking to her, but at the same time he had no real desire to lie to her either.

"Honestly, I don't even know if I have a family." Takuya said and then he was looking up at the dirty sky. This was proof that something recently must have happened that was able to do a relatively good job destroying a bunch of things in the city at the very least. But then he said "If I have a family, I will find them eventually, but for now that is not really what I am caring all that much about right now."

Eventually, Takuya and Miku reached the houses of the town that Miku had been telling him about earlier. When they were there, Takuya sat down and he was rubbing his face. Honestly, this whole walk was just really hot and he was building up a ton of sweat from the walking. Then he was sitting down and he was looking at Miku. "I am not used to this type of environment." Takuya said and he was just having the conversation be simple enough with that and then he coughed up a little bit. Miku was looking around, and she was trying to see where the people in the town were, and she was seeing that they near some form of a bar.

"I think that you will get used to it." Miku said and then she sat down next to Takuya. "Where will you go?" Miku asked and Takuya was grabbing the box that was inside of his pocket and then he was starting to slowly put it out of his pocket. When he was looking at the box, he was refusing to open it up, but at the same time there was something about it that Takuya knew was going to be a big deal. He thought that he was probably not going to get too much out of it, and that he was probably just going to have to give it to something or somebody.

"You know, I am going to probably keep going until I figure out what I am going to have to do with this box." Takuya said and then he was just leaving it at that. He did not want to bring the girl to this, and he was thinking that she did not really deserve to be forced into anything that he is doing. He had a path that he needed to go down, and that was the one thing that he was totally sure of.

Eventually, there was a person from inside the inn like place opening the door. "Are you guys going to come in? People are watching you right now, and they are wondering what you are doing." The guy said and then Takuya thought that as long as they didn't get into the alcohol, that perhaps they can actually stay in there for a while. So he stood up and he waved at Miku to go inside of the bar with him.

Once inside of the bar, he walked up to the first table in the bar and then Miku sat down next to him. They were looking around to see if anybody was watching them. Once they saw that nobody was obviously watching them, they started to focus on themselves a little bit and then Takuya placed the box down on the table and then he thought that he can slightly open it just to see what was in there. "Is there a reason you got that box?" Miku asked as Takuya was thinking about how he was still unsure on that as well.

"I was sent on a mission to grab the box. I was just fulfilling my task. There is nothing more to it than that." Takuya said and then he was starting to slowly remember what he was sent there to do, and as he was remembering all of that stuff, he was thinking about how much he was going to need to show Miku what exactly he was talking about, even though he was not really one hundred percent sure how he was going to be able to convince her of this.

"What is your job?" Miku asked and then Takuya was putting the box inside of his pocket, and the more that he was talking with her, the more that he was talking with anybody about this, the more that he was sure that he really should not be talking with anybody about this at all. As he was thinking that, Takuya was pretty sure that there was a lot of people in the room looking right at them, and this was making Takuya feel like he was probably going to need to be a lot more safe about what he was talking about, and then he looked right at Miku.

"I don't really wish to talk about my job right now. I think we need to stop talking about this right now." Takuya said and as he was saying this, the more that Miku was thinking that this guy was weird. But she was seeing from the look on his face that she was not to be fucking around with him then. Takuya was then sighing and then he said "If you really want to know, we can talk about it when we leave the town in the morning." Takuya said, not even sure how he was going to pay for them to have a room that night, or that perhaps he was going to have to steal a room that night, which was going to put a bounty on his head mere hours after he had started this travelling with Miku.

"Why do you not want to talk about it?" Miku asked and as she was asking this question, there was a guy who was walking towards him and Miku. That was when Takuya was staring right at the guy, and his fear was growing more and more with each step that they were heading on towards him. Takuya thought that as long as he survived this, he would star to talk with her more about his contract.

"I just bought you guys a room. You guys looked like you would really need it. I will be coming by the room tonight. I will be heading out now. The room you should go to is room nine." The guy said and then he gave Takuya a single dollar and then he said "Buy me a drink with that before you sleep tonight." Then with that, he headed off and then Takuya and Miku were wondering what the hell that was, and where they should go now.

"I have a bad feeling that this guy is going to try and use us to get that box. I don't want that to happen. But at the same time, there is no other place where we can be for the time being, so let's go up there for the night. I want you to sleep, I will watch the room and make sure that the guy has nothing to do with the box." Takuya said and then he grabbed the dollar and then he was thinking about ripping it up, but he felt the need to give this guy a chance before he did anything with what this guy had given him.

The two of them started to walk up to the bedroom, and as he was walking up to the bedroom, Miku was just thinking that there was something strange about Takuya but also was thinking that he was just a over reactor and that there was nothing wrong with what was going on. She was also thinking that there was something about the box that was needing to be told to her since if there was going to be fights they would have to get into over this box, then she needed to know every single thing possible about it.

Inside that bedroom Takuya closed the door and then he was sitting at the chair right next to the door and then he was looking right at Miku, thinking about how he was going to keep the girl safe from all of this. "I think that there is something that guy wants. There is literally no reason for somebody to just give us some money and a room if there is not something they want in return for it. Trust me, I am telling the truth there." Takuya said and then Miku was getting some heavy eyes, and while she didn't understand Takuya, she had no real desire to argue with him either.

"I miss home. I want to go home so badly." Miku said and that was the one thing she was really thinking about this whole time as she was slowly heading off to sleep. Takuya was slowly starting to feel that way, but the more that he was there, the more that he was feeling as if he was not really going to get that and that he was just going to have to accept the fact that no matter how hard he had fucking tried, he was not going to be able to get his family back. But he sure as hell was going to do it for Miku.

"If we make it out of tonight I will tell you all about the contract and you better tell me all about your family." Takuya said and then Miku seemed to agree with this and then she was asleep. Takuya felt good that she was sleeping and he was hoping that she would get a lot more it coming up and then the two of them were sort of wondering when the guy was going to be coming back.

"I don't think my family will like you very much." Miku said and then after Miku said that, Takuya was just telling himself not to get bothered by that, which was extremely hard as he was basically being told to get rejected by a girl who he had only known for like a day or so. Then he was watching as Miku was starting to see what his feelings about the situation were, and then after she was seeing how he was feeling, just from the angered look on his face, she decided to remain quiet and she was thinking that she was just going to keep this to herself.

"I am not really worried about who likes me or doesn't. That is none of my fucking business. All of the stuff that is my business if making sure that you and I are safe. If it comes to keeping you safe, or it comes to having just some random people to like me, you sure as hell can bet that I am going to pick the saving you route, end of story." Takuya had said and then Miku was shaking her head, as if trying to get Takuya to see what was wrong about what he was saying.

"You do not want to mess with my family. They are actually very powerful. They are much more powerful than you can dream of them to be." Miku had said and then after she had said that, Takuya was wondering what could have been so bad about her family, and why he was going to have to be so careful around her and everything. He just simply thought that she was over doing it. He thought that there was no way her family was going to be harder for him to handle than some of the things that he has been fighting all of this time.

"Please, I get that you are worried about me right now, but go to sleep right this instant. I need you to sleep. I don't want you to be up at night with no real clue what is going on. I don't want you to lose your patience over anything going on." Takuya said and then after he had said that, Miku was seeing that the more she tried to fight him with this, the more that she was just going to lose this fight, so she decided to just resign and accept the fact that she had lost this whole thing.

"I am going to respect your wishes just because you seem to be really nice to me so far. Just don't worry about watching the door too much right now." Miku said and then after she had said that, she got on her bed and then she started to get off in a doze, and then after she had said that, Takuya felt glad that she was giving up on this, and that Takuya can finally go back to just watching her and making her feel safe by the way he was watching her and everything.

As he was watching her for a while, he was thinking about how much he was going to miss her already when she was leaving him and everything. He knew for a fact that they were going to be stuck with each other for a very long time, and that he was going to probably have to change his entire life style the moment that they separated each other. Takuya kicked his feet on the table and then he was thinking more and more about the contract that he had been given, and what he was supposed to be doing as he took the box out of the pocket again and he was thinking about looking at it once more. But for some reason, no matter how much he had wanted to, there was nothing he can do to get himself to want to look in there.

He was thinking about when he left his house. He was told that he needed to pursue his destiny by a phone call. He had decided that he was going to follow the call and see what was offered. He remembered that very clearly, since he thought that this was going to be what can start up his new life. He didn't need to be reminded on any of that stuff, since that was something that was still fairly recent. He was also thinking about when he started to head to the train station.

There was something that he was seeing thought that he did not really remember. He was seeing when he was walking along, and then he was staring up at the sky and then as he was staring up at the sky, it seemed like the sky was black for a moment, and Takuya did not understand it, and he was not even going to pretend that he understood it.

But then that was when he stopped thinking about it and then he was hearing something that got him extra worried. There was a bunch of loud noises on the door. Takuya got up and then he was staring right at the door, ready to take on whatever was going to come through that door. He knew they would come along eventually, but at the same time he was thinking that they would have come along in a while, not within half an hour of them getting the room.

There was his pocket knife that he was holding as he placed his box right in the pocket and then he was looking back at Miku for just a couple of seconds, not wanting or daring to remove the glance from the door for too long. Then he started to walk closer to Miku but he was walking back wards, with each step being the most careful that he could possibly place it. Miku did not hear a damn thing, which made Takuya think that either she was an extremely heavy sleeper or she was way more exhausted than she had wanted to admit to Takuya that she was.

Suddenly as the door was opening, Takuya was forcing himself to be ready for any fight that was coming up, and then after he had done that, there was the man who had told him about the room opening the door. As the door was open, the guy was holding a gun in his hands, and he was smiling as he was holding the gun. "Seems as if you had figured it out right away. I guess that can mean we can spare us pretending like we are friends, and then having me betray you and everything. I really want that box. I will save you if you give me the box. You had no idea what was in it, so you don't deserve what I would have to do otherwise. But if you don't then I guess my offer doesn't really matter all that much." The guy had said and then Takuya was thinking about that, and he was thinking of how he was going to break what he was saying.

"What will you be doing with the girl if I give you the box? She was already in the room when I was given the contract." Takuya was saying and he was thinking about it a bit more. This family that she had must have been the one that giving the contract to him. Well, not Miku exactly as much as the people who had been considered her parents and everything. Takuya was watching as the guy was thinking about that. Both him and Takuya must have been picking that detail up throughout the way and everything. But then when the details kicked in, the guy was starting to give his answer to the question that Takuya had asked him.

"Well, I think that when I am done with you and I am given your box, I am going to take her with me. I think that she will give me a lot of places I can go to. I can become the richest person ever. Then when I bring her back to her family, plus the things I have found along the way, then perhaps I will become the most rich person in the world." The guy said and then Takuya started to walk closer.

"You don't really seem to understand what you are saying. I think you are insane for thinking that I am going to let this happen the way that you are planning it to happen." Takuya had said and then after he had said that, the guy was not really starting to budge at any of this.

Takuya then saw the guy walking closer to Miku and then as he was walking to Miku, Takuya was not going to have any of this. Takuya kicked the guy on the ground and he was holding the knife right at the guy, and he was ready to stab him and get his revenge on the guy for thinking he can just use them for his own benefit.

The guy who was ready to attack Takuya looked at him for a moment and then they grabbed Takuya's leg and was starting to try and pull him down and then he flopped on down to the ground and then Takuya was screaming at the really loud thud on the head that it had created, and Takuya was thinking that he must have fractured his skull there. He knew that this was silly for him to think, but it was still the first thought that would come to him every single time this would have happened.

Miku was starting to move around, and Takuya realized that all of this was finally starting to make her wake up a little bit, and then Takuya was thinking about that. Takuya grabbed the guy who was having the struggle with him as he was holding out his hand and trying to grab her. Takuya then pushed him down back on to the ground and then Takuya punched him right in the face four times in the eye, and was starting to give him a bit of a black eye.

The guy was screaming with each punch and then afterwards, the guy was starting to grab the knife that Takuya had and then when they were gabbing his knife, they were ready to stab Takuya and make him bleed, and make the guy start to suffer for actually trying to stop his plans. Takuya then started to grab him by the throat, and Takuya had known that as long as he managed to hold on for a few seconds, he can just keep the guy from killing him, and then everything would go his favor for once in his life.

As this was starting to go in Takuya's favor a bit more, the guy did grab his hand and then they stabbed Takuya's arm and everything and made the cut so deep that it actually reached his arms and then he was starting to push down the blade and then Takuya was thinking more about the pain as Takuya started to push down a little bit harder and then harder on top of that and then he started to choke the guy even harder than before. The choking had lasted about ten to fifteen seconds without anything going on, and than Takuya was starting to hold on as hard as he could to make it work like a fucking charm.

Eventually, Takuya had killed the man by strangulation and then his lifeless body was just staring right up at Takuya as he grabbed the pocket knife again. Then he started to wrap himself up a bit and then he looked right at Miku, and he was thinking about what to tell Miku when she would wake up. He then grabbed the guys shirt in order to wrap his arm up, to give himself a short term cast and then he was watching Miku again, but this time knowing that this guy was gone, he can start to relax a bit more and then he started to go to sleep, but first he closed the door so that way nobody would know what would happen.

When he was waking up again, he saw that Miku was still asleep and then as a result he realized he needed to take care of the guy he had choked. He grabbed the man and then after he had grabbed the man, he started to walk on for a little while and then he looked down and saw that nobody was there to see what he was doing and then he started to bring the guy all the way down to the outside and then once he was there, he was going to take care of the disposing.

Eventually, Takuya was able to drag the guy out and then when they were outside, Takuya saw that there was a pond near by. He just dragged the guy to the pond as slowly and quietly as possible, not wanting to make any sort of risk for people to know what he was doing. He was really starting to commit more crimes than he should have, and he was knowing that this was really coming up to potentially get him in tons of trouble the moment he stopped being careful.

Then he was at the pond and then he threw the guy into the pond, and then the guy started to fall down to the bottom of the ground and then Takuya watched for a couple of seconds and then afterwards, Takuya started to go back to the inn and then he was wondering if Miku was going to ask him some questions relating to the event, and then when Takuya was thinking about when Miku would wake up.

After a while, Takuya was inside of the room that he and Miku were inside of, and then they closed the door and then he was getting ready to sleep once again. Then Takuya was thinking about what he was going to tell Miku when she would wake up. He was going to lie to her, and he was going to tell her that nothing happened, and hopefully she would actually believe what he was saying and then after he would tell her this, then she was going move on and they can leave the damn place.

After several hours, Takuya woke up and then Miku had said that she had only been up for about half an hour. She said that she almost woke up because of some noises earlier that night, but then she decided against it and then Takuya was thinking that he was going to get away with this for the time being. Then Takuya and Miku were getting to go out and leave the inn. Then Takuya can just place this all behind him and then afterwards, Takuya was going to have to hold his promise of telling her the truth.

Takuya and Miku were leaving the inn as this was happening, and Takuya was wondering where this was all going to go. As they were heading out of the town, Miku was wondering if she was going to be able to help Takuya change how he was, and if they were going to see if Takuya was actually going to make any real difference in her life. What she didn't know at the moment was the fact that he had actually saved her life this time around, and that he had already done it once before then up until that point in time. She did feel a little bit grateful for this.

As they were walking all of those hours, Takuya started to get into the idea of talking with Miku again a bit more. "Please tell me about your family." Takuya had said and then after he had said that, Miku thought about it and she was thinking on what he was going to probably force her to tell him. She was going to be forced to tell him about why she had left, and then that was going to lead to him basically being able to use her since he would now have so much information on her by then.

"I have one of the richest families in the city. They have so much money that they can probably buy the entire city in the blink of an eye. But they just use the fact that they don't as a way to try and get the people in the town to believe that they are some of these upstanding citizens. I don't want to be returned to them since they are scary, and I know that they are going to use me. But then when I was seeing just how they truly treated the people of the city, the way that they use them to their own gain, the more I realized that I wanted nothing to do them." Miku said and then Takuya thought about that for a small fraction of a second before she asked him "Can you please tell me about your contract?"

"I was tole to go and steal something and give it back to them. I have no idea what they even wanted me to steal. But the thing, whatever it is, is worth thousands of dollars and they said that when I returned the box to them, they would give me money that was equal to a quarter of what the material is worth. So pretty much even though I wasn't getting much in the scheme of things, I was still getting hundreds of dollars at the very least." Takuya said and then Miku thought about that and she then was starting to confirm the theory Takuya had earlier.

"Do you know what they looked like? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't think either one of us should see my family. I have a feeling they were the ones who gave you this contract." Miku said and then Takuya started to get more serious with this.

That was when Takuya had finally woke up again and then he was looking around, wondering what the hell was going on at that moment. "I can't believe that you are still not done with the dungeon yet. I never thought that the dungeon would have actually been as big as it actually is right now. I thought that this place would be a little bit big, but I thought that perhaps that the thing would have been over with in just a couple of days. I guess that I just over estimated the entire thing. But it seems like you need to be here for a little while longer anyways, considering all of the people you have to deal with right now." Bokomon said and then after they had said that, Takuya rolled his eyes and as he was thinking about this, there was something about the dream that was really bothering him. Not the fact that he had it, but the fact that it was so real, that he felt like this had actually happened.

"Bokomon, please tell me the truth here. Do you know any other humans who have come to this world before? I have a strange feeling that they have been here before, and that I need to find some of them." Takuya had said and then after he had said that, Bokomon stopped and thought about that for a bit, since they were not really sure what to say to what Takuya was saying, and if Takuya was actually lying to them or not.

"In all honesty, I am pretty sure that they have been here before, but I have no illusion that it has been any time recently. I think that you are the first human who has been here recently, and in a way, I am feeling better that this is the case. If you were not, I would not really be sure what to think of it. I think that none of them would really be nearly as willing to do something good as you are." Bokomon said and Takuya felt glad that the digimon was seeing how much Takuya had meant his wish to help out.

"I think we need to find somebody. I just have a feeling about it. There was a dream I had about the event, and now seeing this in a dream, I have a feeling that we need to really see if I am right or not." Takuya said and as he was saying this, both Bokomon and Neemon were looking at Takuya as if not sure what to think of what he was saying.

"I want to go and talk to the other house that we have restored." Takuya had said and then after he said that he put his hat back on and then he opened the house door and then the other two digimon started to follow him, as if not really sure what to think of any of this. They thought that perhaps he was going crazy now.

Eventually, Takuya walked along and as he was walking along, he went to the house as Bokomon and Neemon were just sort of wondering what they were going to do now. They were worried that Takuya was going to start adding even more to the list of things that he needed to do and make most of the things that he wanted to do just totally unneeded, and they had a feeling that most of the stuff that he was going to try and do was stuff they were doing for no reason reason. At least when it came to the cult and the stuff like the humans.

The three of them reached the house and then Takuya knocked on the door a couple of times and they had waited for a couple of minutes and then the door opened and then the digimon that was on the other side of the door had a bunch of weird glasses on and Takuya was tempted to laugh as they had seen that, but they saw how they were totally not even focused on Takuya and that there was something else they were focusing on, and then Takuya decided not to say anything about it and then the digimon got back to focusing on Takuya again and then they let Takuya inside of the house.

As the three of them were inside of the house, Takuya decided that he was just going to stand on this one. He was looking at the small digimon and they were making a couple of snorting noises with their nose and then Takuya thought that this digimon was going to be really hard to talk with, and then Takuya was wondering how they were going to be able to have this conversation at all without having it sort of go off in a bunch of levels of utter insanity.

"Sorry that I didn't pay too much attention to you when you first showed up. I am just so unused to visitors that this was shocking for me to process. Do you have any real reason for talking to me?" The digimon asked and then Takuya was not really sure what to say, and he was thinking on what the digimon would actually be willing to talk to him about, if they were willing to talk with him at all. But then Takuya just held his hand out and then the two shook each others hands.

"I was just wanting to talk. Do you have a couple of moments just to talk with me?" Takuya asked and then the digimon was thinking about that question, and they were not too sure how to answer the question. They then shrugged and then Takuya thought that perhaps they can just talk about anything they wanted, so Takuya was thinking of just a couple of random topics that he can come up with that would make the digimon actually have a desire to talk with him.

"I think that you might be able to work with me for a little while. I have a few things that I am working on right now, and I think that you might be the perfect one to help me out here." The digimon had said and then Takuya was following the digimon down to a desk and the desk was having a bunch of things like small trinkets all over the table. Takuya was wondering what the hell they were actually working on until the digimon said "I am working on creating a power plant for this city. Once this is all built, then I think that I will be able to make the town much more advanced than before, and even more digimon are going to come along and live in the town now."

"How long have you been working on the power plant now? Are you sure that you should just give up on this idea if you have been working on this for so long." Takuya said and then he sat down and opened a box and then he saw that the box was actually showing a small core that looked like it had actually been making a decent amount of progress. "Besides, how are you actually going to build the power plant before you can bring the stuff that you are building inside of it?"

"I am having a few digimon come over once every night to help build a building right next to the dungeon which will be where the plant is going to be. I think that when you are done with repairing stuff from that dungeon that I think you will see the building come up, and then I think you see what the progress of the power plant will be and then you will stop making fun of my progress and actually see that it is more realistic than you are giving it credit to be." The digimon had said and then Takuya was thinking about that for a little bit and then he asked one more question that he felt like was a silly question but still a relatively valid one.

"Do you think that the power plant is going to be the final thing in the town that I need to restore?" Takuya had asked and then after he asked that question, the digimon was thinking about that for a little bit, and then they nodded.

"Yes, that is the last thing that you need to restore here. But since there is still a lot of things that need to come up in that power plant, I think that you need to just finish building the power plant and then help me bring the stuff inside. Then when that is done, I think that the town will finally be fully restored." The digimon said and then Takuya was wondering how he was going to defeat a fucking cult, restore a town, defeat a dungeon, and then build a power plant all at the same time.

"I will see what I can do about it when the place comes up. I don't really think I will be able to restore the whole thing too well, but in all reality I think that perhaps it will turn out decently well without me. I think that you sort of over estimate my abilities of how I am going to be able to help out this city and the restoration of it." Takuya had said and then after he had said that, the digimon patted Takuya on the shoulder and then they laughed as they sat down on the desk and then Bokomon was wondering what Neemon was doing when they were just touching every single thing in the room.

"You don't know how well you can do something until you actually try and do it. I think that you will be able to restore the power plant as long as there are decent instructions as to what you need to do. But don't really worry about it all that much, I just think that perhaps you need to give it a chance before you just say no to it. I mean come on, you are a human being, and there are a lot of things that you can do to make it work out. You are stronger than any one of us, and we can really use your strength when working on things like building the power plant." The digimon said and then after they said that, Takuya was not too sure what to think, and then he was thinking that to them the logic did make sense, probably because this digimo has not really met any real humans.

"I think that you need to actually meet some more humans before you make that type of judgment. But since I said that I was going to do what I can to help out the digimon in the city, I will do what you ask me to do, and see if perhaps I am actually going to make this work out." Takuya said and then after he said that the digimon seemed very happy to hear that and then they jumped back down again.

"I knew you were going to say that. You seem like somebody who would never be able to turn out the chance of helping out somebody when they offer it to you. Now I am going to show you what I want you to do." The digimon said and then Takuya got down again and then he started to follow this digimon around as he was watching the digimon lay down a blue print.

"This is how the power plant is going to look when it is all done being built. Most of the outside is built by now, so it is now really a matter of how we are going to attach the inside of it. But I think you already understand that though, so I won't go too in detail with that." The digimon said and then Takuya started to examine the blue prints.

"I think that this entire idea can be a really flawed one, and I think that you should be really careful about how you handle this to be perfectly honest with you. I know that you think this is a brilliant idea and has no flaws at all, but in all reality you need to actually be able to look into everything in the town more. In all reality, if you are not careful, there could be some monsters of the dungeon coming out and attacking you." Takuya said and then he was thinking about how troublesome that would have been if there was any monster that would come out and attack them.

"I get that there are safety risks that we are taking by having this place here. But I think that in all reality, this is the best place to put the power plant. The one that is near the light house is starting to get worn down and I have no real feeling that this is going to function in another five years or so. As a result of this, we need to build a second one. Besides I think that the plant that has been made already can now be open as a sort of tourist attraction, which would give another form of appeal to the place." The digimon was thinking about all of the possibilities that can be made out of these things in the town.

"I guess that there is a few smart reasons to do this. But I am just worried about how safe the town is going to be with this. But if you think that the risks are worth taking, then I guess that there is nothing that I am going to do about it. Besides, I think that if you are so busy in building this thing, and it has already made as much progress as it has, there is no reason to stop the progress you have already made." Takuya had said and then afterwards, he was looking at the power plant again.

"How much of the outside has actually been built by this point in time?" Takuya had asked and then the digimon thought about it and then they were trying to remember all of the progress that has been made, and then when they did remember, they told Takuya how much progress that they have made and everything.

"Most of the lower floor, and the door has been outlined and been mostly built and everything. We have the entire building outlined and we are about two third of the way through the whole height of the power plant. Then once the thing is built, we are going to bring all of the items inside of the plant, and there is one empty hole in the center that goes down about a foot or so and then we will put the main generator core in there and that will be where the main functions of the plant will be handling everything." The digimon said and then Takuya was sort of picturing all of this in his mind.

"Is there going to be any other things in there, or is it just going to be that one generator core right in the center of it all?" Takuya asked and then after he asked this, the digimon started to point at a bunch of other things in the room and was showing Takuya what other things that was going to placed in there to help increase the production of the power in the plant.

"There are a bunch of machines in there that are just giving off energy and light. There are going to be cords all over the town that go around to the power plant and that is where the energy production is going to be giving off their energy." The digimon gave a simple explanation and then after he said that, Takuya was starting to get a little bit bored of this and then he stood up and he was waiting to get back in the dungeon once more in order to restore more of the town and then Takuya turned around and said to the digimon the following thing:

"I promise that when I have the chance, I will see what I can do to help you build this thing up. I don't really know what else to say to it besides that. But I guess that this is the most that I am going to do. I better be heading on out now, since I don't really want to waste any time just fucking around and everything." Takuya had said and then Bokomon and Neemon both got on his shoulder and then the digimon was just looking right back at his blue prints and everything.

"I will just be working on the plant while you take care of that." The digimon had said and then Takuya walked to the front door of where the digimon had lived and then after they did so, Takuya opened up the door and then he closed the house door. As he was ready to go inside of the dungeon, he was taking a few steps in that way until Takuya heard a couple of noises that made him stop and then he turned around and Bokomon and Neemon both heard the same noises and were wondering where this was going to go now.

"I guess that you are going to be going back in there. I guess that perhaps you don't really care about what I am planning on doing anymore. That is a damn shame. I thought that perhaps you were going to be my next rival." Takuya saw that this was Missourimon looking at them and then Takuya was wondering what this digimon really wanted so badly, and then he was holding onto his digivice on the off chance that he was going to have to fight this thing now.

"I think that I just have a bigger thing to worry about over you just acting really fucking cryptic and acting as if you can take me off. But I guess that you just want me to act like you are the biggest threat that I have to deal with." Takuya had said and then after he had said that, Missourimon was holding their hand up and they were making a bunch of ticking sounds and it was getting really annoying that they were acting like this. Takuya was looking right at Bokomon and then he brought Bokomon and then Neemon down to the ground. Missourimon then started to talk to Takuya and started to tell him a bunch of information.

"You may go into the dungeon right now, and act as if there is nothing wrong with what you are doing. Or you can place it off for another while longer, and possibly risk the monsters getting even stronger than before, and stop the bombing from happening." Missourimon had said and then after the digimon had said that, Takuya was then starting to get much more serious and he was wondering what they had meant by the bombing and Takuya was wondering if there was even a way that he can stop them from doing this.

"What do you mean by the bombing?" Takuya had asked and then Missourimon laughed and then they were ready to tell Takuya everything and do it in a mostly condescending way to rub in the fact that they were much more powerful than him. Takuya was not going to let them have the pleasure of acting like this to him, and when they were going to start to rub it in this badly, then Takuya would take it out upon them, but before Takuya could say anything Missourimon started to talk and they were explaining the next biggest plan that they had.

"I have placed a bomb in the basement of every single house in the town. I think that you may know where this is going to go. I challenge you to set off every single one of the bombs, and you have three hours to do so. If you do not set them off by that point in time, then each house that you had not stopped the bomb of will go off and destroy the entire house. However, that being said, I have a alternate solution, but one that is much more dangerous. You can go to my house, and go through the basement there and be tested on your strength. If you can pass all of these tests, then the bombs will be deactivated." Missourimon said and then Takuya was wondering how the digimon had this much time to do this.

"What did you put in as the tests?" Takuya asked calmly and then Missourimon just decided to give a very short version of the answer, and then after they gave that answer, Takuya was starting to wondering what he was actually dealing with, and if he should be taking this even more seriously than the dungeon.

"The tests in the basement are going to consist of different members of the cult. I think that you should start soon, or else you are going to lose some of your important time to take out the digimon that work with me. You spent several minutes just to take one of them out, and I don't really think that you can do much better given that in mind." Missourimon had said and then Takuya nodded and then he decided that he was going to try the Missourimon house route since that seemed to be less of a trouble and then he grabbed Bokomon and Neemon and he was running as fast as he could. Missourimon watched as they placed their hand on the chin and they were wondering just how much Takuya could actually manage. In their fairness, with each member of the cult that he took out, one of the houses would be safe as a result of that.


	32. The Fake Life

Chapter 31: The Fake Life

Takuya then reached the front entrance of the house and then he kicked it right down and then he started to go to the bottom floor of the house and he was inside of the basement. Once he was inside of the basement, about ten minutes of the three hours had passed and then he placed the two digimon down. Takuya realized that there was no rules against him digivolving, so he took his digivice out and then he became the digimon Agunimon once more.

Then after he had digivolved into Agunimon, he went right to the first part of the basement where the first test would have to take place at. The digimon there was one holding something like a necklace in their hands. Takuya shot a couple of fire balls at the digimon before they could even have a chance to take Takuya down and then Takuya felt like he was having a good chance to win this whole thing.

The digimon finally brought their hand forward and started to shot a bunch of light at Takuya which made him fall to the wall once again and then he felt a large surge of pain rush through him as he had hit the wall. Then Takuya got up once again and then he started to move his hands a couple of times to make something like a fire tornado to destroy this monster.

As the digimon was keeping the necklace in Takuya's direction, making him stuck relatively in one place, Takuya then shot the fire balls right at the digimon and then he was using a progressively larger amountg of force with each time and then soon enough, he had defeated the digimon and they turned into ashes. That had meant that one of the bombs had been deactivated when Takuya saw that the necklace was the key to the bomb and then Takuya shot a fire ball right at it and that was now taken care of.

The more that he was going down this basement, Takuya was wondering just how big this basement actually was, and he was wondering how the digimon who had created the house actually had this time to actually make this much of a pathway. The second digimon in the basement had a staff in their hand and then the staff was strange and Takuya was wondering if there was actually magic in the digital world, and Takuya thought that this was kind of a rigged set up, but he didn't really get too much time to think too much about it due to the fact that the digimon brought the staff right on Takuya's face and then Takuya felt a surge of pain on his face and he groaned to show the pain that he had felt there.

Bokomon grabbed a box and then they threw the box right at the digimon that had been fighting Takuya and under any other moment Takuya would have thought it was funny, but under this moment when Takuya was actually trying to save the town and Bokomon was just trying to help at all, Takuya was just going to keep it to himself for the time being.

Takuya then walked up to the digimon for a moment and then he started to shot a few small fire balls on the digimon over the course of a few seconds, and then afterwards Takuya had thought that this monster was just a small fraction of a problem compared to what they had been fighting in the dungeon lately, so he decided not to really think too much about the difficulty over this whole thing. Then the digimon hit Takuya once in the neck with the staff and then Takuya felt like his neck was about to break and then Takuya was feeling a small amount of blood come out of his neck and then he placed his left hand on his neck and then he brought down his right hand as it was charging up a fire ball.

After he charged up the fire ball for a while, he then brought it to the face of the digimon and then when he did so, the digimon set on fire and then the staff hit the ground and bounced down a couple of times and then as that was happening, Takuya thought that maybe he was just not really going to be able to do a good job fighting monsters with staffs.

The digimon had their staff showing up on the ground and then Takuya saw that there was something like a small diamond there. Takuya shot a fire ball on the staff and then as a result, he destroyed the staff and the second house was now safe and Takuya was feeling better knowing that no matter what would have happened, at least some of the digimon in the village was going to be safe from death.

As that was another one of the members of the cult taken care of, Agunimon knew that they had no time to waste at all. "Thanks for the help Bokomon." Takuya had said and then when they had said that, Agunimon started to run faster through the basement and Bokomon felt like a true hero when they had been given their thanks by Takuya and they thought that they wanted to help out even more to make them the greatest hero they could possibly be. But then Takuya was forced to stop his running when he saw a giant digimon standing in front of a door with a giant axe. Takuya knew for a fact that this was going to be a little bit of an annoying fight, but Takuya thought that perhaps this digimon was just going to be one that showed the extreme end of size vs actual power.

The digimon brought down their axe and Agunimon jumped up and then they shot a fire ball right at the axe, and then after they did that the tip of the axe had burned off and then Takuya started to land on the ground as the digimon punched Takuya right in the chest and then Takuya felt like he had been hit in the nuts. The idea of size vs actual power was not what he was actually thinking it would have been, and Takuya was thinking that perhaps he should take this monster a bit more seriously than he had been by that point in time.

The digimon swung their axe up and then Takuya ducked down and it barely missed him and Takuya had thought that this digimon needed to get something much smaller, and Takuya started to run right towards the digimon and then he punched them a few times in the face, with each progressing punch getting harder and starting to send off a little bit of a fire ball in their face, and their face had a decent bunch of burns on their face.

The digimon swung their axe once again and then Takuya shot a large wave of fire once again out and then burned the axe right down to nothing, and then Takuya was thinking that this was going to be where the fight was going to be on the final stretch. The digimon saw that when the axe was destroyed the bomb to a house had been deactivated, but Takuya still had to defeat the thing in order to get to the next room.

Takuya had to go around and block a bunch of punches and then eventually, he started to run up the arms of the digimon and then with each step, he was shooting a tiny ass fire ball and then after a while, Takuya made the entire digimon fully on fire and then Takuya jumped back when he was done and then he saw the burning digimon fall down to the ground so he and Bokomon and Neemon were able to run to the next room without too much problem.

Takuya then took a deep breath for a couple of seconds later, and he was walking along a while and he was just thinking that this was actually not going to be all that bad. Bokomon and Neemon were getting a little bit worried about Takuya, since they were seeing that even if he wasn't willing to admit it, that he was getting very tired, and he needed to get some sleep. It seemed with each of these fights, Takuya needed to go on and get some sleep, but Takuya was not wanting to admit the idea of him needing sleep since in all reality, he was not really sure if he wanted to have those dreams with Miku again. He had no idea why, but there was something about Miku that made him feel like a much more responsible adult and like he needed to really protect her more than anything else.

The next digimon was something that looked like a giant snake. The snake was lashing out their toungue and they were going right at Takuya and then Takuya shot a few simple fire balls and then the snake was able to move around a lot, and they were able to deflect pretty much every single one of the fire balls that were going at them.

Takuya was wondering if this cult was actually bigger than the digimon in the town had made it out to be, since Takuya was pretty certain that no snake digimon lived in this town before, and he was thinking that perhaps he recruited a few of them on a larger and grander scale. He didn't really fully understand why he was feeling this way so much, but he was just trying to justify the fact that the most random digimon possible were all of a sudden in the house where he was going to have to fight all of the digimon that he was basically going to have to consider his rival in some way.

Each second against this snake was a moment where he was going to have to consider each move out, since they were so much faster than him and he knew that these monsters were going to probably start to be more powerful than him if he did not start to take more in a training exercise manner. He knew that in hindsight he probably should have gone to the dungeon and did his daily round there to get a little bit stronger, but there was nothing he could do about it then.

The snake was lashing out at Takuya and they were ready to bite Takuya and make their neck bleed and everything but then Takuya just shot a fire ball right in the face of the snake and then they started to turn into ashes and then after the ashes were made, there was a few teeth. Takuya felt like this was the deactivation piece and then Takuya shot another small fire ball on it, and then he knew that this was the next piece of the bombs all deactivated.

After he was walking forward a bit, Takuya was wondering what the next test he was going to have to face would be. He thought that in all reality, Takuya was going to be able to destroy the monster and that everything he was going to fight was just going to make him even more powerful than he was in each of the previous fights, which made him think that each fight would have made the earlier ones look easier by comparison to the one that he is going to have to currently fight in.

The next fight was just something like a lizard with a spear and then Takuya was trying to remember if he seen something like this before, but he was telling himself not to think too much about it as he started jumping to different spots in the room the more that the lizard was swinging right down on Takuya and then Takuya fired a ball at them but they blocked it right off with the spear, which was making Takuya think that this lizard thing was probably a little bit smarter than the previous monsters that he had fought, as they had been able to actually deflect a couple of the attacks that Takuya had made.

The spear started to swing right at Takuya and then the spear cut Takuya's arm a little bit and then Takuya screamed a little bit and then Bokomon and Neemon grabbed a couple of cans and then threw it right at the monster and then it was better for Takuya that they had done this as it had been able to distract the lizard monster just a couple of seconds and then the monster had a couple of fire balls thrown right at them and the chest was getting burned from the attacks given to them.

When this was happening, Takuya grabbed the spear and then he snapped the spear in half and then he threw the spear at the ground and then the lizard started to try and strangle Takuya a bit and then Takuya grabbed the legs of the monster for a couple of seconds and then he started to split the legs up and then he set the legs on fire, which was making the fire quickly spread up the entire body and then they were now on fire and then Takuya let go and let the monster walk back a little bit and then they fell down on the ground and then they were starting to turn into ashes.

When the monster was gone, there was a moment where Takuya looked at the spear and then he destroyed the spear and then afterwards, Bokomon and Neemon and him started to walk down and then they found a room where Missourimon was just watching a screen and they turned around to see the three of them.

"I guess I underestimated how powerful you actually are once again. I seem to think that perhaps you would have been a great asset to the cult if you had joined me, but I guess that there is nothing that I can do about it now. I really wanted to show you what I can offer you, but you have shown time and time again that you do not really want to help me out. I guess that I am the only one that is going to be able to take care of you, and make sure that you will never be able to ruin what Cherubimon is actually working towards." Missourimon had said and then when he had said that, Takuya was wondering why Cherubimon was actually working with them this whole time.

"I will not let you continue to spread this even more than you have spread this out already." Takuya said and then he shot a few fire balls right at the screen and then the screen went out and then Missourimon had stood up and then they threw the chair right down on the ground. They grabbed a gun and then Takuya was wondering what the hell he was going to do with a gun. Bokomon and Neemon looked at Takuya to see what he was going to do now.

Takuya then ran up to Missourimon and then they grabbed the arm and then threw the arm right down to the ground and then the gun went off and then hit a light and then Takuya was seeing something that looked like a large blue button that literally said 'deactivating all bombs' right below it and then Takuya had rolled his eyes over how obvious that was and then Missourimon was jumping on Takuya and then they were trying to get to the gun as well at the same time.

Missourimon managed to grab the gun as Agunimon pushed the button as fast as he could, knowing that he had actually taken care of the bombs once and for all and the main thing that was left was to take out the digimon who had been a rival of sorts to him for the last few days. Takuya turned right around at Missourimon and they fired the gun and then the gun hit Takuya right at the left arm and then Takuya screamed as he punched Missourimon right in the face and then Missourimon was having their teeth coming right out of their mouth and then they fell down to the ground.

Takuya then saw that the gun was on the ground again and then he went right down and then he grabbed the gun and then he pointed the gun right at the monster and he was ready to fire the thing at the digimon to kill them and then afterwards, they can be able to move on with their life once and for all. As he was about to fire the bullet Missourimon went on a really annoying timed monologue and then explained some things to Takuya that made him think just a little bit more than usual.

"You do not really see the full purpose of this plan. You do not see what this world has become. Cherubimon really does understand what it is like to actually rebuild the entire world when there are a bunch of mistakes. These mistakes need to be taken care of, and restarting the entire world is the only way to do it. I know that you will never be able to understand where I am coming from, but I want you to at least look at things and consider all points of view, and perhaps you will be able to finally understand where I am coming from.

I know that you have the power to change the final fate when you are given the final choice. I know that you can just fully restore the world back to what it was, give up the job to let Cherubimon do what they want, or hell you may even just be able to make the world better than where it was before and then you would truly have been the hero that many would be hoping that you are going to actually be.

Please do try and look at everything, do try and actually not just bring the world back to what it was, actually be able to bring the world to being better than what it was before. I know this may be hard for you to actually try and do, but I have a feeling that you can be able to do so. I know that you are able to make the world better. I wanted to make the world better, and that was one of the reasons I still led along this cult. You may not get it, and I am sad that you don't get it, but perhaps you are just too young for it all.

You had beaten me, and that was all that there is to it. I know that you have one goal right now, and just take it. But in the future, just remember what you are going to do, and remember what you are actually going to face in the future. Remember what I tell you, and then perhaps I can go down knowing that I did make some right choices, and that somebody was finally able to listen to me for what my words are." Missourimon said and then Takuya thought about the gun for a moment and then he took a deep breath, knowing he still had to do it.

Takuya fired the gun and then he finally turned back down to his human form and then Takuya dropped the gun and he felt like he wanted to throw up as he saw the body of Missourimon and then he sat down and then he knew he can take a break knowing that there was no more time limit. Bokomon and Neemon sat down next to Takuya and then Takuya felt tempted to just fall asleep on the spot.

"I guess that we should go onto the dungeon now. I feel like we shouldn't drag this off too long." Takuya said and then he stood up and then he and Bokomon and Neemon started to head on to the dungeon. Takuya was just thinking that this was going to be better than just staying inside of this dead digimon's basement for too long. Once the three of them were outside of the house, Takuya felt like he had been liberated and then he realized that he needed to get something for his arm and then the three of them started to head out towards the dungeon and once inside of the dungeon, they had gone down to the tenth floor of it.

Once of the tenth floor of the dungeon, Takuya saw that there was just a few monsters walking around and despite not wanting to go back to being Agunimon again already, they did so and Takuya had become Agunimon. Then afterwards, Takuya started to run down the room and he shot a bunch of fire balls at the digimon who were close by and they were just too distracted to notice the fire balls coming at them and then destroying them. It was like clock work and he never even had to worry about the struggle that they might be forced to handle if they actually did fight back.

The giant rhino digimon that Agunimon had felt like they had not seen in a million years and then the digimon started to run right at Takuya and then Takuya was able to have just enough time to get away from the rhino and then a bunch of fire waves had been shot right at them and then the rhino digimon was destroyed. After the rhino digimon was destroyed, Agunimon felt excited about this, thinking that they had finally been getting good at this and that all of these fights had given them a boost in power.

Afterwards, Takuya had started to run down further and then there had been a bunch of rock giants right in his direction. The digimon started to bring up their arms and then they would move their arms and then Agunimon would just blast those rocks down and then Agunimon would shot a small ball of fire at each of them every single time that he had destroy those rocks that were being thrown at them and then eventually after a while, he was able to destroy all of the rock giants and then Takuya grabbed the key that was out on the ground.

Then when he grabbed the keys, he walked his way to the door of the next floor. But before he did so, he felt like he needed to go around the rest of the floor to get the energy from the remaining digimon and then after he had gotten all of the energy of the rest of the the floor, he then went on down to the eleventh floor of the dungeon. He was ready to take one what was going to be presented there.

Once inside the eleventh floor of the dungeon, Takuya felt more ready than ever. He had taken on the tenth floor very easily, and he was thinking that he didn't even have to worry about the monsters all that much since they were all so much weaker than they had been before. Such as when one of the rock snakes came right at him, Agunimon had been able to take them down just by bringing a couple of fire balls right at them and then they started to continue heading on down to the next section of the floor.

There was a few small rock skeletons that came right towards Agunimon and then the digimon had destroyed them in the course of a few seconds. Then Agunimon just rubbed his face a little bit and then he decided that the quick break was over and that he was just simply getting tired after all of these fights, and then he continued fighting at all of these monsters and then Agunimon started to see that there were a few of those rock giants that Agunimon just took right out and then Agunimon felt like these monsters were getting a little bit boring and he felt like there should have been more of a challenge to these monsters.

Agunimon had just been going around and taking out all of these monsters, and he was just wondering what the hell he was going to do in order to make sure that these monsters would not really get any chance to injure him, but eventually Takuya had destroyed every one of those monsters and then got the key to the next floor of the dungeon. Which was getting much easier than it had been earlier and then he started to head on down to the next floor.

Once Takuya had defeated the monsters fast enough, Takuya sat down on the door next to the twelfth floor of the dungeon he looked over at Bokomon and Neemon, and then he said "I am getting pretty tired. I am going to take a short nap. Wake me up after twenty minutes. I just can't take this anymore." Then afterwards, Agunimon closed their eyes and they were actually able to have a nice nap this time. Bokomon and Neemon were just a bit worried about Takuya taking this nap suddenly, and then they thought that they can just protect Takuya for the time being.

Eventually, Takuya had woken up and then when he was awake once more, he walked right down to the twelfth floor of the dungeon and he was ready to just do this floor and come on back to the surface. Although he knew that since there was so much of this floor that he had taken care of already, that there was no way in hell he wasn't at least close to finishing the dungeon by this point in time.

Takuya just looked around at the early parts of the floor of the dungeon and then he was ready to continue this, and he was walking around a little bit. The monsters that were around him were much of the same, but this time he was just able to destroy them at a pretty easy rate. All of them were very easy to take out and Takuya was wondering if they can be a little bit harder, and then as this was happening, there was one that came along that was indeed a little bit harder than the ones that had come up by that point in time.

There was something that looked like a rock goliath. Takuya was shocked as he had seen this and then the monster raised their arm up and then they brought their arm down and then Takuya jumped on top of their fist and then they shot down a few fire balls on the arm and there was barely any damage that was getting done to them. Takuya felt like this was a waste of time so he jumped down and then he started to shot a bunch of fire right at the center of this monster and he was thinking on how hard this was starting to get and the fact that he had been able to take these things out in just one or two hits, but now he had gone on for like ten to twelve hits and made no real progress.

The digimon started to hit the walls of the floor and then Takuya saw that the rocks of the wall were falling down to the ground and then Takuya was shooting as much fire as he possibly could to destroy the monster, and it took what seemed like hundreds of fire balls and a dozen or so waves before the digimon actually had any real amount of damage that was being done to them.

It was really hard to comprehend the whole thing, and then Agunimon was just spinning around a couple of more tornado like fire pieces at the monster and those were barely enough to be able to subdue the monster and it took a while, but they were eventually able to fall down to the ground and then just become a bunch of giant rock pieces. In the whole rubble of things, Takuya grabbed the key and then he held it for a few seconds and then he started to walk to the next floor of the dungeon.

Once he had gotten to the next floor of the dungeon, he opened the key and then he was ready to go to the thirteenth floor of the dungeon but then he decided that he was going to take a break, with that huge digimon totally filling up any small amount of the energy bar that was still left over. Then once he was outside of the dungeon, Takuya was ready to release the energy and then once he was done releasing the energy, then he would be able to go to sleep for the rest of the night, and hopefully have no dreams that were related to Miku in any way.

After he started to release the energy of the monsters that he had defeated there, Takuya saw the pieces of the power plant coming right there next to the dungeon on the right side, and he saw that the thing looked to be about seventy feet long or so, and Takuya saw that the digimon was correct when they said the outside was mostly built, but pretty much nothing in the power plant was actually placed in there, so it was kind of a failure. Takuya then saw that there were just a couple of small things in the city that were being placed there, and there was only one more house that showed up, and as Takuya would find out this was indeed the final house of the entire town being built. The house was just a simple green up and that was it.

Takuya then turned back to their human form and then he looked at Bokomon and Neemon. "I guess that we are supposed to restore the rest of the power plant now. I will do that tomorrow. I wonder what the final building is like right now." Takuya said and then he was starting to head on down to the yellow house.

The yellow house was still relatively worn down from everything that happened and then Takuya sat down on the couch and then gave them the news. "I think that tomorrow might be my last day here. I just have a feeling about that. Then you can start living here alone again and not have to deal with any more threats getting here and almost destroying the town." Takuya said and then after he had said that, the digimon turned around at Takuya and then sat down.

"That does make me feel a lot better. I feel better knowing that I can go back to some form of peace soon enough. As much as I am glad that you pretty much restored this town, and took out that stupid fucking cult, I need some space and I think everybody might be able to attest to that." The digimon said and then Takuya nodded, feeling the exact same way to that.

"Yeah, no offense, but the tourist feel has kind of lost its appeal. I am going to go to sleep and when I wake up, I guess I might do some final things in the town and then I feel like I might have to take on the final floors of that dungeon." Takuya said and then he laid down on the couch and then he closed his eyes to go to sleep.

His story with Miku had picked up right where the dream had left off earlier, and Takuya was looking right at Miku and he said "I had a terrible feeling that this was going to be the case. I didn't really want to believe it at the time, but looking back at it, I don't really think that there is any possible way that I will be able to actually deny it anymore. Do you really know they were the ones that gave me the contract?" Takuya was letting the fear of this entire situation really sink in, and he was thinking that he needed to solve all of these problems as soon as humanly possible.

"They are some of the richest people here, and they are the only ones who can be able to give these types of contracts. They must have been seeing that you were either needing the money, or you were ready to get yourself killed for some living situation, but then here you are, doing this contract for them. I think that they are some of the worst people that you would be able to meet. They run this entire operation, and you need to be as ready as humanly possible when you are dealing with these monsters. In fact, you might have a real chance of getting yourself killed if you are not careful enough." Miku was telling Takuya, and then he was thinking that perhaps this situation was going to be what would really drive Miku and Takuya together.

"If you think that I shouldn't really return to them, then what do you think that I should be doing now? Do you have any clue of how I am going to survive this whole crazy fucking getting away from your parents thing at all?" Takuya was just trying to find a way to not die, and the fear of these power bosses finding a way to kill him.

As Takuya had been saying this, Miku was looking right at Takuya and he was just not really all that comfortable with the idea of Miku looking at him this way. "There is no way that you can defeat my parents. If you succeed in their contract, they will just keep using you until you die and are unable to do contracts anymore or if you try and defect from them, then they will find a way to kill you, most likely by another contract. It is a never ending loop at all. My parents are monsters, and you are going to be hunted down. Either you do their contract and keep working with them until you die. Or you defect from them and you keep running until you die. Everybody who tries to get away from them are usually dead in a week." Miku said and then she seemed like she was about to cry.

"If there is no way that I can save myself, then there is probably no way in hell that I can be able to even fight them. But I will do it for your sake. So that way you have a chance to keep living. I will try and save you." Takuya said and then Takuya was not really wanting to have Miku lose her life, and even if he died, then perhaps he can keep her alive.

"You really don't have to do this. Please don't worry about saving me." Miku said and then Takuya was shaking his head as he was hearing her say this, and he was refusing to let her act like this when he was the one who had found her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, andhe was going to try his best to get her to accept the fact that she was indeed a valuable asset to his journey so far, and if she was right, perhaps he can be able to use her to take out her parents, or use her as a bargaining chip to keep his life safe. He didn't want to say that, but he was going to keep that up as a possibility.

"I do have to do this. Nobody else is going to be there for you, and I am here right now. I am going to have to find a way to keep her safe, and I didn't really care how I was going to do that, even if I am going to give up my life for this." Takuya said and then Miku was just giving up on this, she decided that she was no longer going to try and fight him on this anymore.

"If you do want to stay here with me, do you know any places where we can actually be safe?" Miku asked and then he was thinking about that. The more time that passed, the more that he was really sure that he was actually going to be safe at one place. At least for a couple of days.

"I have one place that we can be at for a little bit. I don't really think anybody will know where we are for the time being." Takuya said and the certainty of my voice was making Miku look at me and she was thinking for a short moment that perhaps he was actually telling the truth, and that there was indeed one place that I can go to that could pull this whole idea of having a place to hide off.

"It's better than staying out here and letting everybody come along and kill us. Go ahead, show me where this place is. I am going to trust you." Miku said and then after she said this, he decided that we were going to have one place to set as our early destination. As they were walking along in this empty road, with each passing minute, the road was getting less and less empty and he was getting more ready to show Miku that there was indeed one single place where we would be safe for now.

Eventually, the place was no longer an empty road at all and we were actually finally in a really town for the first time in a while. Like a established place that you could find anywhere on your map. Takuya was looking around, and he eventually found the place that he was looking for. It was a small tree house at the far edge of town. He was walking on towards the tree house, and while Miku didn't get it at first, she did decide that she was going to trust me, and she started to follow me up there. Once inside of the tree house, he was looking around at Miku and then he said "This is going to be our home for the time being."

"How exactly do you know about this place?" Miku asked and then she was looking at him, and then Takuya was forced to tell her the truth, something he had no real desire to tell her, but since she was actually asking me about this, he decided that he was going to explain the short version of the story to her. She was being nice about it, and he saw no real reason to keep any of this hidden from her.

"Fine, my friends and I went here a lot when I was a kid. We played here every single day after school, and then we had started to make a ton of memories here that I am really going to start to miss out on." Takuya said and they had been saying this, he was thinking about it a little bit more. "I lost touch with most of my friends. That is all that there really was to it. I miss many of them. But I still remember this place. A part of me still wishes that I can indeed find my friends again, but if I can't then I will just have to accept that fact after all." Then afterwards, Takuya was just making sure the small tree house windows were closed and then he looked right at Miku again.

"Most of the time, I am not going to be super strict on keeping you safe, but for the time being, I really want you to just stay in this house. I will be scouting the town around for a little bit, and when I come back, I will tell you if this place is actually safe or not. If it is not, we are leaving tonight. If it is, then we will stay here until things are proven otherwise." Takuya said and then he went right to the door of the tree house, but he looked back at Miku to make sure that she was going to listen to him.

"Don't worry, I won't go anywhere right now. I will stay here. I made you a promise, and I better keep it." Miku said and Takuya was wondering what the promise was, but at the same time he was just glad that he was going to keep her safe, and that she would agree with him for the time being that he felt a bit better about leaving her alone then.

As Takuya was outside of the house, he was going right down the ladder and he was going to help right away figure out a way that he was going to help out Miku actually be safe in this place. As he was walking around, he was looking and seeing that nobody was any the wiser to what was happening, and Takuya had thought that things had been so far so smooth and that he was actually having a small chance on saving Miku.

Takuya walked up to a store and he realized that all of a sudden, he had forty dollars in his pocket. He was thinking that maybe Miku must have snuck in the money inside of his pocket when he was asleep the previous night. He went to the store and as he was inside of the store, he bought a couple of things to help defend him and Miku in case something were to happen. He bought a handgun and sixteen bullets, and with that there was only five dollars left in his pocket. Then he placed his hand in his left pocket and then he still felt a knife in there that he can use. Then he bought himself a pack of cigarettes and placed it in his pocket. Then afterwards, he was out of the store.

As he was outside of the store, he placed the gun right in his pocket and then he was looking around to see people were glancing at him for the slightest of a moment. They probably saw the fact that he was either fourteen and smoking, or the fact that he was fourteen and buying a gun. Either one did not really seem like they would give off too big of a impression to the average person.

Eventually, there was a girl who walked up to Takuya, and then she started to speak to him about this. "I need to talk to you for a moment. It's about the job that you are having here right now." She said to Takuya and then this was when Takuya was not really sure what to say about this, and then she said "I am one of the only ones who you can actually trust right now."

"Fine, I will meet with you, but I want the two of us to do it at a place nowhere near where I am hiding. I don't want you following me either. I will meet you in two hours. Oh and by the way, I just spent all my money here, so you will have to buy the stuff for me." I said and then I took out the first cigarette in the pack and started it. This was the first time I ever done so, and afterwards, I realized what people meant by this being an addiction. Once you start, you can't stop. Before I knew it, I was half way through my pack by the first day alone. This girl seemed to agree with me and then she said that she was going to meet me at the McDonalds of the town in two hours. It was a strange meeting spot, but I agreed to it.

Takuya was walking to the house, and as he was looking around he was just wanting to make sure what the hell was going on. He knew that if somebody was there with him, then they would be able to expose what he was doing. He walked up the stairs, making sure that nobody would be able to see him at all.

Once inside of the house, Takuya sat down and he was looking right at Miku who was keeping away from the windows. "So I am going to be meeting with somebody today in two hours. She says that she knows about this whole thing, and she says that she claims to be one of the only good ones. I don't know if I should trust her or not. That is why I am going to go alone, and I don't want you to come with me." Takuya said and then Miku was looking shocked at this.

"You don't want to expose us to any one of us. Are you sure that you want to do this?" Miku asked and then Takuya placed out his pocket knife and then placed it down to the ground. Takuya was looking right at Miku and he was not really too sure where this was going to go now. "If you talk to her, you are going to increase the chances of exposing us to everybody else."

"I am well aware of that. I am not tell her where we are. If she follows me, without my permission, I will shoot and kill her. If she follows me with my permission, I will be fine. I will give her a chance to explain herself, and depending on what she says, I will see what I will do then. If I start to get any bad impressions, I will also shoot and kill her without even giving her a chance to go to the house. However, if I trust her, I will then bring her home and trust her as an ally for the time being." Takuya was telling Miku and then Miku was looking like she had hated this idea, but decided not to argue with it either.

"I don't want you to kill anybody. Are you sure that there is no other way to do this besides killing her?" Miku asked and then she was starting to wonder if Takuya had actually killed that one man from the inn earlier, and then Takuya was standing up and doing his best not to give her a guilty face, wishing that she would not figure out what his crime had actually been. Then Takuya started to smoke the second cigarette in the pack and then Miku was not really sure where to go with this.

"You really have no idea what I am doing anymore right now. I need to do this for the sake of making sure that we can be safe for even just a little bit longer. I get that none of this is anything you want me to do. But I have a feeling that this girl is going to actually be able to help us out. If I am proven wrong, I am very sorry, but for the time being, I want to believe that this is actually the case." Takuya said and then he started to head out and away. Then Miku was just remaining silent as Takuya was taking in a long deep breath and then exhaling to make the ring shape.

"Fine, if you think that this is what you should actually be doing for us, then go ahead and talk to her. You might actually be right about this after all, and then I will be the one who should be ashamed of myself for making condemning you." Miku said as Takuya was just thinking about this, and he was wondering if this really was actually going to be a good idea or not.

"Honestly, I have a good feeling that this girl is going to be a good ally. She seems like she has a good heart. I really think it is worth giving her a chance. I know that I may be totally wrong, but I just can't help but shake the feeling that if anybody actually going to help us, she might be one of the people, if not the only people who can do this for us." Takuya said as he was getting near the end of his second cigarette. Not even aware that he was killing Miku indirectly by second hand smoke.

"Just be sure that you actually fully understand what she is like before you kill her or invite her over to the house. Please make sure that either choice you are making is actually justified." Miku said and then before Takuya was leaving the house, he was finishing the cig and then he turned around to Miku and then he was thinking about the knife that he gave her, and he was thinking about just giving her a generic response on what to do with it in emergency.

"You know, in case somebody comes by the house that isn't me, or me and her together, then you better use that knife to defend yourself. Even if I were to allow her in the house, if she is not with me, then you have my permission to kill her anyways. If she is with me, then she is fine. If I am alone, don't think about it. If any man at all besides me come along, kill them. Don't even give them a chance to explain." Takuya said and then he walked out of the house and then he was going down the ladder and he was going down to reach the McDonalds to meet this girl.

As Takuya had walked on over to the McDonalds, he realized why the girl was giving him two hours to get there. Walking to the McDonalds took nearly forty minutes to do so. As he was doing this walk, nobody was really paying much attention to him, as he smoked another three cigarettes on the way back to the fast food restaurant. While he was walking there, he was trying really hard to understand why she was so familiar to him, and he was wondering if she had actually knew him back in the day. For some reason, he had really felt like he had met her back in the day, and that they could have even possibly been friends as well.

This doesn't really matter as he had reached the restaurant, and then when he was there, he saw that the girl was already waiting for him and she was looking through some files. There was like five or six other people there, and Takuya was not really thinking much about her and then he sat down right in front of her and then she was the one that started the conversation. "I ordered both you and the girl two double quarter pounders. I ordered myself a Big Mac. Even if you don't work with me, you can just bring the girl those double quarter pounders, and she will be full for a while. You guys really need to eat something, so I am letting this one be given to you without any charge. But if we continue to work together, I might want something in return from then forward." The girl said and then Takuya was nodding, thinking that these were rather odd terms, but that he was not going to try and argue with her.

"Look, so you know about me and the girl. I guess there is no point in trying to lie to you about this anymore. However, I really want to know some more information before I agree with you on anything. So please actually tell me everything." Takuya said and then as he was saying this, the girl was nodding and she was thinking about how she was wanting to get right to work as well.

"We really do not have any time to waste right now. You are right, we need to get right to business. There is barely any time that we have to waste on this." The girl said and then she held out her hand. "My name is Nicole."

Takuya was thinking about it and then that was how he remembered her. She was one of the two people he hung out with back in the day. He felt so happy to see her that he shook her hand right away. "It really is great to see you. But what are you doing here right now, and what exactly do you know about the girl?" Takuya felt strange acting like he was running a high case operation when he was only fourteen. He was hoping that she didn't know about the box that he had gotten earlier.

"I know that she is related to some really rich people. I found out about your contract, and that is the reason that they told me to find you. They told me that you were previously given a contract, and they said that you might not be doing your part of your contract, and that they had wanted me to come along and see that you were actually doing your part of the deal, and that they had actually placed their duties in the right place." Nicole said and then the food was placed and Takuya realized just how hungry he actually was.

"Thank you for the fucking food. I am starving." Takuya said and then he opened the first of his double quarter pounders and ate half of the thing before he even realized that he was still talking with the girl and then he stopped and wiped his chin up a little bit. "Sorry for that performance. It is a little bit a an embarrassment to do that in front of a lady. But I don't really know what to do with the contract. I don't know if I want to remain their life long servants." Takuya said and he was saying this really quietly not wanting to get in trouble by anybody else in the area.

"You will get really rich if you do their contracts. All you have to do is just keep working with them. But I understand if you just want to keep the girl said. I want to hear your side of the perspective before I take any sides." Nicole said and then Takuya was thinking about this as he was slightly holding his gun, thinking that there was a chance he was going to have to sadly use that coming up soon.

"I did get the contract item and I was on the way to returning it to them, when I met the girl. Then she started to be nice to me and she told me all about what her parents do, and there is no way I am going to return there if it means that she will have to be given back to her parents. Even if this does increase my risk of dying myself. I am just going to be on the road until things turn out to be safe for her. She is a girl for Christ sake." Takuya finished the first of his double quarter pounders, and then Nicole was just not sure what to say.

"You realize that there is probably another person out there on a contract to find her? No matter what happens, you are going to be fighting those with contracts." Nicole had said and then Takuya nodded, and he was ready to do this if it was just how things had to be. Then Takuya was just ready to give off the statement that would make him seem really high and mighty at the moment but in the future would probably see just how insane it actually was to say this.

"There is no way that there is not a contract that is related to finding her. I don't really care about that though. I have a job to do, and I am going to do it. Why don't you come to the house with me tonight and perhaps you will see her and see why I am feeling this way." Takuya told Nicole and then Nicole was just remaining silent, not really sure what to say, and she was thinking that this was a terrible idea and that Takuya had gone off the deep end.

"I don't really think that this is a good idea. I will just act like I never seen you if you do not give me the item of your contract or if you do not continue your contract. I will give you three days to leave here and then get somewhere safe. But then I would be back to going after you once again. But before we turn into any form of enemies, how about we just spend the next couple of hours just catching up and seeing if we are still friends after all." Nicole said and then Takuya was really hating this idea, but he was just not wanting to fight her, so he was going to go with this.

"I am totally cool with that idea. How long have you still hung out with Josh after we started to go our own separate ways?" Takuya asked and then Nicole was thinking about that, and it was feeling as if she was not really wanting to talk about that. But then she thought that since they were still friends for just a little longer, that she would do it.

"He's doing fine right now. He is just off focusing on school. He is out dating girls a lot, you know, acting like a normal teenager. I don't really blame him. After all, I would have acted like a normal teenager if I was just given the chance to do this." Nicole said and then Takuya was just quiet there, and then he thought about why he should have done that and why he didn't do that. That was when Takuya started to get a little bit nostalgic.

"Remember back in the days when I would hang out with you every weekend? Just when we would go up to the tree house every weekend and play for hours on end, and then during the summers, we would act like the summer was ours and that we didn't have to worry about a single damn thing going on. I really do miss those days. Back when things were a thousand times easier." Takuya said and he was wondering if he even wanted to eat the second double quarter pounder as Nicole had finished her Big Mac and she gave her piece of thought to the conversation.

"I do miss those days. I miss the days in which I didn't have to fight for only my survival. I guess that those days are never going to come back now. Do you wish that those days were back? In a way, I really do wish that those days were back actually. I guess that there are just things that people are going to wish for no matter what happens next." Nicole had said and then Takuya was wondering if this was actually going to end up going the way that he was worrying it would turn out.

"I think that I might try to find Josh before I leave town. I was only going to be here for a few days anyways. Meeting you just sort of makes that even more of the solid plan. But I think that I should visit him one last time. Hang out with him one final time." Takuya said and Nicole thought about that as she was thinking that perhaps this wasn't such a terrible idea after all, and that maybe seeing both of her former friends one last time could have actually been a good idea after all.

"Honestly, I never thought for a moment that I would see the day in which you were going to become one of my rivals. I thought that if that would have happened, or if somebody had told us that this would happen, that they were lying to us just for the sake of creating controversy." Nicole said and then Takuya was doing something he knew was going to really increase the risk of him getting in trouble with her. He places his hands on her own and then Takuya was blushing as he said the following little bit.

"You are a really nice girl. I don't want anything to happen to you. Please just leave us alone, and try to change your identity, and create something new for yourself. You might be able to save yourself. I remember the last day that we saw each other, and we were under the tree and the sun was setting. When you and I were standing there, and we had actually kissed each other. I felt a moment of young love between the two of us. Do you get what I am saying?" Takuya asked and then Nicole smiled as she had nodded. She did feel it as well as he did.

"I do know what you are talking about. I felt it too. I guess that those days are just not going to come back to us though. I wish that you and I would have had the promise of love actually come along to us. But now I don't think I can love you. I don't really even think that I would want to love you. I remember some of the things you used to do back in the day." Nicole said and then there was a moment of dread coming along as Takuya was thinking about what to say next.

"I remember the one time when I lied to you about not talking to your mother that one day. I don't really remember any time that I had lied to you. I didn't want your mother to feel even more disdain for me than she had already felt to me at that point in time. She didn't like me, and I was just not wanting to make her hate me or anything. That was why I was trying to talk to her to see how I can get to know her better, while also making it seem like I was not talking with you at the same time. Do you not get that?" Takuya asked and then that was when the moment of friendship was seeming to die right then and there.

"But you are supposed to be a friend. You are not supposed to just decide what is best for us without even telling me what you are doing. You lied to me, and you acted like it was totally fine. Lying should not be fine under ninety five percent of cases, unless if it is life or death. I can get if my life was on the line, or with the girl right now, but you did it under a random and normal case. Now you are here, acting like this was actually fine or you to do. You should have let me know what you were doing, that way I would have known what you were actually doing." Nicole said and then Takuya nodded as if he had to own up to that mistake as well.

"You are right. I made a mistake. I am not going to deny that. But there is nothing that I can fucking do about it Nicole. I made a mistake all those years ago. That was three years ago, and you are still on about this. You are the one who has a problem if you are still on about it. We were fucking eleven at the time." Takuya said and then that was when people were looking around and seeing what was happening.

"Takuya, I don't know if you have changed at all though. You are supposed to actually tell the truth to people when you feel like they might have been hurt if they had not done so. Then you are here, lying to me and acting like it was fine. I want to give you another chance, but I don't know if you have changed yet or not. You were supposed to be my friend, not somebody who blindsided me." Nicole said and then Takuya said something very simple to this.

"If you do not known if I have changed or not, give me a second chance. I will prove myself that I have changed. Just give me another go at it to show it. If you do not believe in me then, you can go and then we can leave each other. But I am talking to Josh either way." Takuya said and then he was staring right at Nicole and he was thinking about what she was going to say.

"I want to give you another chance. I don't know if I want to deal with the idea of my friend just not being the man that I had known him to be. I want to believe that you are actually going to change. But I want to actually have some proof that you will be able to change." Nicole said and then Takuya was placing his hand on her hers once again, taking the major risk this time, and he knew that perhaps he was really pulling it heavy by doing it this time. But he knew that it was the only way to get her to see that he had meant every single word of it.

"Just give me one more chance. I want to honestly let you see that I am a new man. If you do not give me a new chance, I will be very broken. If you give me another chance, and say after two or three days of not liking me, then I will let you be my rival and we can hate each other as much as our destiny is probably forcing us to do so. But until then, I want you to let me have a genuine chance." Takuya said and then Nicole was thinking about this and she was holding her head down to her free fist and then she thought about it a bit.

"Fine, you win. I will give you three days to prove yourself." Nicole said and then Takuya decided that he would eat his second double quarter pounder and then he would give Miku the cold food, hoping that she did not really mind cold food, feeling bad that he was doing this. The two stood up and then Takuya decided to give the thanks she should have been given all those minutes ago.

"Thank you for the burger. It really filled me up. I really needed that." Takuya said and then he threw the empty stuff away, including the stuff she had and then the two of them were outside of the place as Takuya took out his cigarette and then he was starting to smoke it and then Miku was looking right at him. She was wondering how a fourteen year old was able to get into smoking, but she was not going to get too much in his business about it.

"Tomorrow, we should go and hang out with Josh. Maybe he might actually have some stuff to tell us." Nicole said and then the two of them were starting to walk on back to the tree house, and during so, Takuya was thinking about what he was going to talk to her about for the next forty minutes, thinking that this was the best way to try and change the odds they had with each other.

"You know, I do enjoy talking with you again. I do miss you right now. I was honestly thinking that I was never going to see you again. You know, that thought really started to sink in and I was trying my best to accept the fact that I was probably never going to see you ever again, and that was becoming a lot harder to really accept than I would have ever thought that it could have possibly been." Takuya was saying and he was feeling better being honest with his friend about it, and he was hoping that she would have a bit more respect the fact that he was telling her the truth on this regard.

"I think that it is nice to see you again. I am glad that you seem to be caring about the safety of Miku enough to actually lay down your own life for keeping her safe. As much as this may be forced to divide us, there is no way that I am not able to respect that at all. I am forced to respect that at least a little bit." Nicole had said and then the two of them were thinking about this a little bit, and Takuya was getting a little bit less sad and more disappointed over the fact that this was the case of what was going on.

"I do think that once Josh sees us again, it is going to be great to catch that group dynamic a little bit longer. I think that this is going to make us feel like we are kids all over again. I think that we need that. I remember the last time all three of us had hung out together all at once. That was truly a great experience, and I think that us not really talking with each other anymore is sort of ruining the image that this is giving me of that final event." Takuya thought about that and then Nicole continued.

"I think that Josh is going to be really excited to see you again. He thought it was a true shame that the two of you never really talked to each other anymore. He thought that there was something that he had done wrong to have that made you guys not want to hang out anymore, and he feels like he might want to make up with that to you. Just expect that the next time that you see him, as he might be doing his best to make up with something that honestly might not really be all that big of a deal." Nicole said and then Takuya was thinking about it a little bit.

"I doubt that he did anything that would really justify us not talking to each other anymore, I think that perhaps maybe I had done something and as a result he just wished to see the younger me again. Sort of like how you are. I think that if this is a case, that perhaps I might really have to change how I am in order to recapture some of the older friendship that we have with each other." Takuya was now feeling terrible for thinking that this was all his fault.

"I think that you might be a little rough on yourself. I know that anything you have done with lying has mad me mad and not really trust you all that much, but that doesn't mean that Josh doesn't really trust you either. For all I know, he might actually really trust you, and you just need to reach out to him a little bit more. I think that once you talk to him again, things might at the very least rebound between the two of you if for nothing else." Nicole said and Takuya was just not really sure if he was going to really go along with that idea, but since she was saying this, he was going to just act like he was actually on the right path to this.

"I just don't really know. I just have a terrible feeling that I might have burned some bridges, and that I have a lot of work to do in order to make everything all fine and good between you and him. But what can I do about it besides what I am saying? I have to actually take some actions, not just say I want to do something." Takuya said and he was totally right that the only way to truly change things was to actually take the change by the tail.

"If I am willing to give you another chance, then I am pretty sure that Josh will be giving you another chance as well. I will not really think too much about it right now." Nicole tried to make Takuya feel a little bit, and as she was saying this, Takuya thought that maybe she was right and that he needed to just relax a little bit more than usual.

As the two were walking more, Takuya took out another cigarette and they were most of the way back to the house. Takuya was shocked at how much time was flying by and then Takuya said "Miku really has a lot of trust issues. I don't really know if she will actually want to trust you on first moments. I think that she might look at you and act like you might be some form of a traitor." Takuya said and as much as he hated to admit it, he was thinking that there was a slight chance that she was indeed a traitor.

"I am not going to deny that I might bring her in. But I don't want to make any real judgments right here and right now. I just want to see her a little bit before I really make any final choice. I don't really think that there is anything too wrong with me choosing that route." Nicole said and Takuya was just not really too sure if he was super excited to hear her suggesting that she might try to kill or turn in Miku, since he knew he was going to have to kill her if that happened.

"I really hope that you don't bring her in. She deserves to have a normal life. If you do not know her all that well, then you do not really understand what it is like to have your personal freedom to be taken away. I sort of get what that is like." Takuya said and he was sadly telling the truth, due to the fact that he was dealing with the fact that he had pretty much been a man on the run for the rest of his life due to the fact that he was a dumbass and accepted this type of contract. Then he was looking at Nicole, wondering if she was actually going to be able to pick up on it this time.

"Yeah, I guess that this does make some sense. I never really thought about what it was like to have your own personal freedom taken away. But now that I think about it, the more that I think that you are kind of fitting that bill. But to be totally honest, I think you just need to start a new life. If that is even possible with the fact that you are on the run as much as you are and everything." Nicole said and Takuya was glad that even with all of their personal differences that they were in now, that she was able to see where Takuya was at during this point in time.

"I am very sorry about the fact that you just have way more personal freedom than I do. You will never be able to get what exactly this whole problem is for me. You might not really ever be able to get the fact that I have a new life style that this is going to be the one that I would have to adapt to. That is another reason why I am protecting Miku so much, since I want at least one person to be there at my side." Takuya said and then Nicole thought about that for just a brief moment.

"Do you want to know something? I really do miss the days when we would go out every day during the summer and we would play in the school yard, or the beaches, just pretty much everywhere. I really do miss the times when we would act like the entire world was to us. Those days were so much better than what we are going to be dealing with now." Nicole said and then Takuya was thinking about those beach visits.

"The beach really was a great place to go to. I am so glad that we are able to agree on how nice it was to go to the beach all of the time. I would remember when we would talk about all of the possible monsters that would be under the water, and what was going to grab us if we went too deep into the water. Those days remind me of when I was so much more innocent than I am now." Takuya said and the two of them really were going to regret the fact that they were going to possibly fight to the death soon.

"I was scared to go to the beach for a while with all of the conversations that we had, and even more with the ones that Josh had come up with. He really seemed to go out of him scaring every person possible just to see what their reaction would have been. I don't really get the whole appeal that he had to it, but at the same time, I guess that entertainment is a bit more subjective than I would ever really thought that it would have been, as this could have been able to prove." Nicole said and then Takuya could not really help but agree with what she was saying to this.

"Yeah, I think Josh was trying just a little bit too hard with all of that terror that he tried to spread to us. I guess there could have been worse things that he could have tried to do with us, but at the same time, some of these things could have been a little bit less annoying than they already were. But I doubt that he was really trying to be annoying. He probably thought that he was really funny." Takuya said and then he said "I guess that Josh will probably not really be into all of that stuff too much anymore though."

"Do you really know how many stories that Josh had made in the crazy horror category? I mean he probably has made at least ten or fifteen with the amount of times that we went to the beach. I remember the one that he had about the giant octopus that was slowly rising out of the water to invade the world. Despite hoe crazy it sounded, there is a part of it that makes it sound just a little bit real." Takuya had really missed those stories of Josh, even if they were kind of annoying at times.

"I think that Josh might grow up to be a horror writer at the rate he was keeping up with. If you talk to him again, that should be the first thing that you guys talk about, seeing if he is still into that stuff." Nicole said, as if he was hinting at the idea that she was not going to be there with Takuya, and then Takuya was thinking that there was a chance of this being the truth.

"I will make sure to do just that." Takuya said as they were now under the tree house. Takuya was thinking about the last time they saw each other and he said "Want to kiss?" He felt dumb asking this, but he just felt like he was able to finally have the courage to ask her to do this a second time. The two of them looked at each other for a moment and they decided to have one kiss before one way or another, their life would be changing forever.

Takuya placed his lips on hers and then as they were having this kiss, he was remembering just how great it was the first time that they had done it, and he was thinking about how much he did not want something to happen to her. He wished that she would not turn on him, that they would be able to continue this journey together and be able to team up on keeping Miku safe. Nicole can escape with him, and as they escape, then maybe Takuya and her and Miku can sort of form a three against the world type team. Hell, it could be the first to a whole crew of people joining their side.

The kiss lasted quite a few seconds, which was much more than Takuya ever really thought that it would have lasted. There was no way that he was regretting this. He was loving the kiss too much for him to possibly even think about the idea of what it would have been like for him to regret it. He just wished that it could have lasted forever as the two were moving their tongues around in a playful manner, and Takuya was now having a fully raging boner as he was thinking about this.

Eventually though the kiss had to end and after it had ended, Takuya took out another cigarette and then he started to smoke it. "That was really fucking awesome. I forgot just how great of a kisser you actually were. God damn, I hope that we might have the chance to do that again someday." Takuya was saying as he was knowing deep down that this was not happening, but there was nothing wrong with him just hoping that something like that could happen.

"Let's get up to the tree house. I don't want anybody wondering what we are doing." Nicole said and then afterwards, the three of them started to go up the ladder and then once they were inside of the tree house, Takuya gave Miku her two double quarter pounders as he the cigarette was mostly over and then he snubbed it on the table and then he was looking right at Miku. He was going to try and find the most innocent way of telling her that Nicole was safe after all.

"There is nothing for us to really worry about Miku. She looks like she is a friend." Takuya said and then after he was saying that, Miku was still remaining sort of silent, not really sure if she was still wanting to give her a chance yet or not. She was wanting to make sure that Nicole was still a good guy and she wanted to talk to her a little bit before she would make the choice on if she was going to trust Nicole or not. Takuya was trusting far too easily.

Miku started eating the meal and as she was eating the meal she was looking up at Nicole. She was starting to think about how strange it was to have her be so nice to give them this meal if she didn't want something out of it. She did not really believe for a second that Takuya could have been so stupid that he couldn't see through this. Takuya was putting his hand in the pocket, since while he still wanted to think that she was a good woman, there was a part of her that did sort of recognize that something can come up at any minute. And something came up it did.

"Thank you for the kiss. I really appreciate it. But to be honest, I don't love you. I was just coming to this house to lure you to a insecure place. I care more about the money of the contract than I care about some old lost friendship." Nicole said and then she took out a gun of her own. Takuya was then pulling out his own gun and then the two of them were looking at each other for a moment and then Takuya was smiling.

"Good thing I was sort of predicting your betrayal this entire time. I thought that you would have been too good to pass up. I guess that I have to do what I have been preparing myself for this entire time." Takuya said and before he even was able to get a chance to do anything she shot him right in the hand and the gun fell down. Then Miku threw the switchblade at him and then he managed to grab it and look right at Nicole as he was thinking about the pain that she had literally caused him by shooting him right in the fucking hand.

"You should have cut the chatter and actually shot if you wanted a chance of beating me. I guess you are just as dumb as ever Takuya." Nicole said and then she added in something "And by the way, I lied to you before you even lied to me. I never loved you. I just wanted to get the attention." After this, Takuya was starting to think of the pain that he had been given of not only getting shot but also being told his first love was a lie. He switched his blade to his left hand and then he threw it.

The blade hit Nicole right in the neck and she fell down on the ground. Takuya walked up to Nicole and she just gave him one simple request. She told him to respect Josh and try and make it so that at least one of the three of them would have been safe. Takuya then said he would keep Miku safe and for the last second, she actually smiled knowing he would and she closed her eyes, embracing her death. Takuya then looked at Miku and then Miku said "I told you so." Afterwards, Takuya would be ready to bury Nicole as a friend and out of respect, and then they would still remain here for another couple of days to get the most out of this as possible as Miku went back to finish her meal.

Takuya woke up and then he walked out of the house, ready to start his final day of being in the village and he was looking around. he decided that he was going to go and check out the yellow house, wondering what the digimon who lived there were like. So he was feeling like he was going to check that place out first. The more that he was walking on over there, the more that he was thinking about how this house was going to be the last one that he would ever see in this city. He knocked on the door and then after the door was answered, the digimon there looked like a humanoid woman and she let them inside of the house.

"Thank you for repairing this town for us. You really are a hero for doing that for us. If you had not done this, then I would be dead right now. You gave me a second chance to live, and for that I am really grateful for you." The digimon told Takuya and he could see that she was actually being truthful to what she was saying. She really was glad that he had come along and helped them out, and Takuya was feeling better doing this knowing that these digimon were starting to progressively feel better.

"I was just wanting to do the right thing. You guys should be glad, since this was practically the first place that I have restored ever since I have come here, and you guys get to have a normal life for the longest period of time. This must be really hard for the digimon who will have their town restored later to fully accept." Takuya said and then afterwards, he was just looking around the house that looked like it had been there for the entire time that the village had been around, or at the very least close to that amount of time.

"Yeah, this house is pretty native to the start of this town. I am proud to have been one of the first digimon to have been living in this town. I know all about every single one of the festivals. I think that when the festival this year comes along, you might actually be the one who is able to really going to be celebrated by the town for what you have done. In fact, not celebrating you is probably going to be the worst thing that we could have done honestly." The digimon said and Takuya was just waving his hand around, and he was not really caring all that much about what they do for the celebration of their own fucking town, since it was their choice what they did.

"I am just here to do a job. You have no real need to actually do anything for me. If you guys want to do something for me, then that will be great, but you do not have to. In fact, I would really not care if you guys do. Just do what you guys want to do, and don't worry about getting my approval for it." Takuya said and he was honestly feeling that way, and he was not wanting to say that to be modest. He said that because he had felt that way.

"I remember when the festivals were around, and most of them never really had any real point in what they were like. Just different things that were different to that year. I wonder if this year is going to start a long term trend from now, or if this is going to be the thing that we celebrate for this year, and then we never go around to celebrate it again. I guess it is not really all that shocking that this could be the case. I think that I and every other digimon who lives here might be able to remember you for who you are." The digimon told Takuya and then he was thinking about when he was going to leave the city and when he was going to pretty much continue his legacy to other parts of the digital world, and how sooner or later he might be able to become a bit of a living legend.

"I guess that when I leave here, everything I will do there will be remembered. I doubt that I will ever really be forgotten for what I do. I don't really know if this is a good thing, or if this is a terrible thing for me to hear. I just really don't know how I am going to feel about the idea of going down some form of living legend." Takuya said and he was thinking all about that stuff.

"Well, there is going to be nothing better to go down as a hero and nobody better to do it than you. You already are a damn hero in my books, and you are going to be the only one that really has a chance to fulfill this." The digimon had said and then Takuya started to walk on away.

"I guess I will try and see what it will be like to actually earn the idea of being a hero. I want to actually make a difference, and I am glad that you appreciate me. I am glad that you actually like me and I want you to actually go and live a life. Don't fear. Just go on and do it." Takuya said and then he walked off and then the digimon was staring at Takuya as Bokomon and Neemon were walking away with Takuya.

As they walked off, Takuya was getting ready to go to the power plant, and he was ready to see what he was exactly going to do about saving the power plant. He was watching as all of the digimon who worked there were standing there and they were waiting for Takuya to actually show up, and then Takuya was just ready to get right to work. He was looking at his digivice and he was wondering what he was going to do about this.

"Hey, thanks for showing up. We were thinking that you might not show up after all. But since you are here, I think that you are going to just put the pieces of the house together, and that will be what I want you to do. Will you be willing to do that?" The digimon that Takuya had talked with the previous day said and then after they had asked Takuya if they were fine with this, Takuya nodded and then he was getting ready to do the job that they had been asked to do.

Takuya grabbed the first piece of wood that was going to be containing the creation of the outline of the building and then he placed it on the first empty spot that was still open on the power plant and then there was a hammer that he grabbed and then he started pounding the hammer down on some nails that the digimon would just give to him here and there and then he continued doing this for a little while longer. After he was doing this, Takuya thought on how that took like fifteen minutes for him to do and then the digimon there thought that this was going to take a lot longer than expected. So he just used the digivice and then turned into Agunimon.

Then after this had happened, Agunimon started to continue working on this and then he kept grabbing as much as two or three pieces of wood as he was just starting to bring the power plant slowly to higher completion and it was taking forever for him to do, but since he had a bigger resolve than he had earlier, he was able to do this much faster than he would have ever expected to be. The digimon were just watching as Takuya was getting the pieces of wood and then Agunimon would just pound the nails down in just a matter of a couple of seconds.

As this was going on, after about half an hour or so, Takuya had the front side taken care of, and then he was going to start on the right side of it all and then he was grabbing a bunch of pieces of wood and he was pounding those down as fast as he could and then after about another hour or so he had done that with the left side of the house, then the right side of the plant taking another hour, and then the back taking another hour and a half or so due to the fact that had less pieces done. Then Agunimon walked back to the group.

Agunimon sighed and he took out his digivice and he turned back into Takuya and then he was wondering what the digimon that was controlling him would want him to do next, and if there was really anything that there was that they wanted him to do next, and if Takuya even needed to do anything more afterwards.

"Alright, do I have anything else that you want me to do right now?" Takuya asked and he was just not really sure where this was going to go, and in a way he was hoping that he didn't really have all that much to do, since he needed to get to the dungeon and then the digimon was looking around and they were trying to decide if they wanted Takuya to do other stuff, but then they shook their head and then they looked right at Takuya, as if they were actually glad for the fact that Takuya had even done as much to help them out as they had done, and then they started to vocally speak their approval to let Takuya go.

"Yeah, you have done good my young man. I have nothing else that I want you to do right now." The digimon said and then after they told Takuya this stuff, Takuya was thinking about what else to do now that this digimon was letting him go. Takuya was thinking about just going to the yellow house that he had spent so much time at in order to get the key that would bring him right down to the next couple of floors of the dungeon and everything.

"I hope that you guys make more progress on this stuff. I will check one more time here just to make sure that you guys are making progress here since I have a feeling that you might need a little bit more help on this." Takuya had said and then after he said that, Bokomon and Neemon went right on his shoulders and then Takuya placed the digivice in his pocket and then he was walking right towards the yellow house and right before he was gone entirely, he heard one of the digimon yell out to him just to make him hear what they were wanting to tell him.

"We are really going to miss you after you leave. You really have done a lot of stuff to help us out here. I just hope that you come by every once in a while just to see what your progress is outside of here. Or maybe we can show you the progress that we have been making here." The digimon had said and then when this was done, Takuya nodded and then he was walking right back to the yellow house just to actually get the key since he did not want to delay that anymore.

Once at the front of the yellow house, Takuya looked right at Bokomon and Neemon. "I guess that we are truly in on the final piece of stretch now. Are you prepared for what you are possibly going to have to face." Takuya had said and then afterwards, Bokomon and Neemon nodded and then they walked right in the house and Takuya was looking at the digimon who had been letting them live in their house for the last five days just sitting on their desk, thinking about what they were wanting to do now. Thinking about if they wanted to find some form of excuse of making Takuya stay there even longer.

"Hey, we are here to report you that we have fully restored the houses and stuff of the town now. We need the key to get to the end of the dungeon. We have to finally get moving along now." Takuya said and then afterwards, the digimon was looking right at Takuya and then they nodded, and then they were opening up the drawer to the final floor of the dungeon. They felt bad about trying to force Takuya there, but they did feel glad that Takuya was actually going to help restore more places in this world.

"If you were able to help us in the way that you have, then I am pretty sure that everything will be alright. I think that the digital world will be a safe place for us all after all. But I do want you to promise that the effort that you have made to restore this place is going to be the same amount of effort that you are going to make to actually restore the rest of this digital world. They deserve this effort just as much as we do, and some of the bigger cities maybe even more, and I don't want to make this the only place in which you actually put in any real effort to restoring." The digimon said and then afterwards, Takuya nodded and then he was watching as the digimon was walking towards him to grab the key.

"You know, I am really going to give the effort to every other place as this, since I might be the only one who is going to be here to help out. And since I might be the only one who can do this, I will be kind of the only one who can actually do any of this. I just wish that I had some allies with me." Takuya said and then he grabbed the key and then Bokomon added something in.

"Honestly Takuya, you don't really need anybody else to help you out. It might be nice if they were around to help you out, but you don't really need it all that much. I think that even if you wanted to have somebody else help you out, the effort of getting them to take the job as seriously as you might not even making this worth it." Bokomon said and then Takuya was thinking about that, and he was thinking that this was a relatively decent point, even though he had hated to admit that.

"I think that they will get in the hang of it pretty quickly. Yeah they might not be taking it seriously too much at first, but maybe once they see just how bad this world is, the sheer magnitude of what needs to be done, then perhaps they will actually want to take this seriously. I will just give them the benefit of a doubt." Takuya said and then he was thinking about what was going to happen next.

"I wonder what would happen if I died during this quest. I wonder if there is going to be another hero that will come along and help rebuild this digital world, or if the job will just be over forever. I doubt that you will die here, but you were getting kind of close with the whole Missourimon thing, which was giving you a pretty good run for your money." Bokomon said and then Takuya was starting to get to the door to the yellow and then he was getting ready to finally move on and leave this place behind for the rest of his entire life.

"So Takuya, do you really think that digimon can live in earth and be able to actually have a good life there? Or do you think that this is just not able to happen? I am curious as to what you think is going to happen." The digimon who lived in this house asked and then Takuya was wondering how he was going to answer this question, and if there was even a valid way that he could answer this question and then he shook his head, even though he knew that the digimon would not want to hear that.

"Humans are not as accepting of you as you guys are of us. When you guys show up here to earth, they will probably be thinking that you guys are monsters. Trust me, the way that they treat monsters are a good piece of hinting that they would not really be super accepting of you. It is just how people quite are to be totally honest. I can't really say anything else to it besides that. I think that perhaps you would be able to change things up after all." Takuya said and then the digimon thought about that and then they had asked a question that Takuya knew was impossible but he was going to have to pretend had a chance of being real just to make them feel better.

"Do you think that you will be able to come along every once in a while after you return to earth, to give us an update of how earth is like, just to let us hear the stories of how your world is progressing?" The digimon asked and then Takuya was thinking about that and then he nodded, knowing that it would not work.

"Yeah, I think that this is going to happen just fine." Takuya said and then they walked out of the house with Bokomon and Neemon, just not wanting to admit the fault of them lying and then afterwards, he started to head on towards the dungeon and he was ready to take that thing on, just to get the whole thing over with once and for all.

Once Takuya was inside of the dungeon, he was going right to the thirteenth floor of the dungeon, and he was able to go down the first twelve floors with no hitch at all, and he was now down in the thirteenth floor and then he was looking around a little bit just to see what he was able to do on the floor. Then he was seeing a couple of monsters getting closer to him and then he turned right into Agunimon and then he was seeing the monsters starting to point their spears right towards Agunimon and then Agunimon was just firing the fire balls right at the skeletons and brought them down. He was used to these, and he was like a veteran at this regard, and he was thinking that he was going to just take this thing out as fast as possible.

Then afterwards, he was running along and starting to see a few monsters getting closer to Agunimon and then he was just taking them right down before they even had a chance to fight them and then he was looking for the key that can bring down the monsters to the fourteenth floor of the dungeon. The entire thing was just a breeze for Takuya and he was thinking about how the energy bar was not really filling up at all. He just thought that whatever little bits were left were just a couple of things such as aesthetics of the town and everything to actually make it worth going to as the sights would be a more pretty thing to see.

The more that this was happening, the more convinced that Takuya was getting that he was going to be able to defeat whatever was at the end of this dungeon easily, and that there was nothing he really had to worry about. Takuya was taking out a bunch of monsters inside of the dungeon and he was just simply counting each one of them in his head, as Bokomon and Neemon were just curious to see what Takuya was going to do in order to actually not get tired and how this was making him not tired but simple other fights were making him get totally out of it after just a couple of minutes.

Eventually as this was going on, Takuya had been fighting the urges to just keep up this even more, and he found a couple of the other monsters which looked a little bit like goliath beings and Takuya destroyed both of them with relative ease, and then he saw the key to the next floor of the dungeon was open and he just grabbed the key and he was ready to go down.

He was just running on over to the door to the next floor of the dungeon and then he placed the key right inside of the hole and then he opened the door and then he was ready to go along to the next floor. Bokomon and Neemon were just watching as Takuya had been taking care of this and they thought that Takuya was going to be a little bit too confident in this whole thing, and that he needed to stop and actually consider what he was doing.

When Takuya was now on the fourteenth floor of the dungeon, he was looking around and he was checking around to see another couple of monsters and they were just the same run of the mill stuff and he was just blasting them down without any effort at all with his fire blasts and then he was looking around to find what he was going to do in order to prepare for what was coming next, and he was seeing that the energy bar was now about one third or the way through.

Bokomon and Neemon were just wondering when Takuya was going to be able to get all of these monsters done since while they were a relatively easy thing to take out, they were increasing in amounts on how much he was having to fight before he was able to go down onto the next floor of the dungeon, and Takuya was starting to pick that up as well. He originally went from fighting like four or five per floor and now he was fighting like nearly twenty on a single floor.

Eventually, there was another swarm of monsters that were like ten to fifteen of them just going right around them and then Takuya was just blowing a bunch of fire balls right at them and then eventually afterwards, Takuya saw that there was a key that went right down on the ground and then Takuya started to walk towards the key of the floor of the dungeon and then he grabbed it and then he was ready to move on.

Those were the last of the monsters that he had destroyed, so there was no real need to continue going along and then Takuya opened the door to the next floor of the dungeon, and Takuya knew right then and there that this was the final floor of the dungeon, and that he was going to fight whatever monster was going to come along and then be able to restore just enough of the energy bar and then he would finally be able to move onto the next town in the digital world that he was going to have to actually restore.

As he was walking around in the final floor of the dungeon, he was seeing that there was nothing around him at all and then he was thinking that maybe there really was nothing going on in this final floor and that he had done all of this for virtually nothing at all. Takuya was now starting to feel a little bit pissed over this, and he was thinking that Bokomon and Neemon were probably going to feel just as cheated over this as well as him, but then before anything could make him have any more of these thoughts, there was a loud noise that came along and Takuya looked up and there was a thing that was breaking the ceiling.

As he was hearing the noises coming down, there was a giant red dragon that was breaking the ceiling, and he saw the dragon was starting to fall down towards Agunimon and then Agunimon was just watching what was going on as the monster was starting to breath some fire around the floor, and Agunimon realized that this was going to be a battle between the two fire users, and Takuya was really not sure about his odds of actually winning this thing. Bokomon and Neemon were watching Takuya as he was creating two fire balls with both of his hands and then Bokomon said "Takuya, look for a spot where the scales are not shown, and then shoot right for those." Bokomon said and then Takuya was keeping that in his mind as he was watching the monster landing right on the ground.

The dragon started to breath a bunch of fire right at them and then fires were basically covering the entire floor of the room and Agunimon was jumping up and then Agunimon was looking for spots with no scales. But then Takuya was thinking that perhaps if he just shot a bunch of fire on the scales, he can weaken the scales and then he could be able to get those weak spots and then there was a bunch of fire balls shot right down on the scales, and then there was a bunch of the scales which were starting to get a little bit weaker, and Takuya thought that Bokomon was a genius for telling them this, and that there was finally a chance that he had to defeat this thing after all.

Agunimon landed on one of the few spots that were not covered in fire and the dragon swung their tail around, and Takuya saw as the trail was raising to try to kill Takuya again but then Takuya fired a few fire balls right on the open parts of the tail that were not covered with any scales at all, and each one of these fire balls were making the digimon start to feel pain and scream a bit. As this was happening.

The dragon slammed their left foot right into the ground and the ground started to break a bit and Takuya was thinking that this was actually going to make things quite a bit harder and he was thinking that perhaps he was actually going to die when he barely made it out of dying with the ground that was starting to get covered in holes.

Then Agunimon was seeing that the foot had no scales at all, so he was firing a ton of fire right on those feet and he was seeing as the dragon was screaming and the dragon swiped their upper right foot right at Takuya and then he hot the wall and he was barely not hitting a fire on the ground and then he was standing up and he fired a few balls at the neck of the monster, and that was making the dragon feel more pain to this as well.

Agunimon was thinking that the monster was going to be a lot easier than he ever really thought that it would have been, and Takuya was starting to see that Bokomon and Neemon were watching impressed, thinking that Takuya was actually going to destroy the monster, and neither one of them were actually thinking he could have done it. Then he started to shoot more fire balls right at the open parts of the dragon and the more that he was doing this, the more that he was thinking he actually was getting to the dragon, as the dragon was yelping in pain more and more the entire time.

Eventually, the battle was starting to sort of get to a end as the dragon started to breath fire at Takuya and he was just jumping up a couple of times and then he was going right under the dragon and he was shooting as many fire balls as he possibly could when he was watching the dragon breath more fire all over the place and he was getting ready to keep up this fight, wanting the dragon to die as fast as he could.

The battle ended when Takuya ran across the entire dragon and was shooting as much fire as humanly possible right across the dragon and then he was going around and destroying as many other parts of the non scale main body of the dragon and then Takuya was watching as the dragon was starting to fade away and then Takuya was starting to realize that he had indeed beaten the monster this time.

Then afterwards, Takuya looked right at Bokomon and Neemon and then there was a small blue spot on the ground and Takuya was thinking that perhaps he might have been able to get out of the dungeon right this way. He was holding the digivice and then Bokomon said "Wow, you are now a dragon slayer. You are really starting to change my perception of you more with every single day that passes by." After Bokomon had said that, Takuya was nodding, thinking that it was indeed strange that this did happen.

"It is time for us to get the fuck out here." Takuya said and then he was walking to the hole and Bokomon and Neemon was joining him, and they were thinking about where this was going to go next. Then the three of them were out of the dungeon, and then afterwards, he would get ready to move onto the next part of the digital world and then he would finally be able put this place behind him, thinking that they were ready to continue their lives normally and then he didn't really even care if people talked about him more or not after this.

Takuya was looking right at Bokomon and Neemon. "That was one hell of a fight. I think that it is time of us to go." Takuya said and then he was holding out his digivice. As he was holding out his digivice, he was watching the energy create some roads that they would have to walk along in order to reach the next town. The creation of these roads seemed like they were going on for like what was nearly a hundred miles and Takuya thought that they were going to have to walk for a while.

"I guess we know where are going to go now. Let's get the hell out of here. I like this place, but this is going to take a while and we need to get along now." Takuya was walking along and Bokomon and Neemon were following him as the town was all getting along and leaving the house just to see Takuya as he was on his way off. They were wanting to see their hero off onto his next great adventure. It was nice for Takuya to go along this pathway and he was thinking for the first time in the entire time that he was inside of the digital world, that he was actually starting to really become the hero this whole thing.

"So Takuya, how do you think this is all going to go now? Do you feel like you are actually well aware of the expectations that you are going to have now?" Bokomon had asked and then Takuya nodded. He knew exactly what he needed to do now, and now that he knew what to do, there was nothing about this that was actually feeling all that strange to Takuya anymore.

"Yeah, this is going to be a bit easier to get used to than I would have really thought that it would have been. So I am not really going to try too hard about keeping myself aware of what was going along now." Takuya said and then afterwards, they were out of sight of the town and the point of no return was official. It was just a man named Takuya Kanbara and two digimon named Bokomon and Neemon who were supposed to restore the digital world. Soon enough another would join, but that was nothing they would have thought about at the time.

As they had been gone for a while and they had made about three or so miles of progress, there was another train that pulled up right at the exact same train station in which they were forced to start their next adventure. The train stopped and then there was one single person who walked out of the train and he was looking up. A slightly older than Takuya boy named J.P. who was so over weight that he was desperately needing to lose the weight again. He was just barely walking along and he was only going at about two miles or so an hour as compared to Takuya who can go about four or five so miles per hour, meaning that Takuya only really needed to walk one day or so before it was at the next destination, two or three if he took breaks, while J.P. would have to take six days or so if he took breaks, and about three days if he did not.

The two teenage boys didn't know it at the time, but they were going to have to work together as much as possible in order to save the digital world, and to have even a slight chance in making it back home once the digital world was restored. He started his journey right away, and he was wondering what was going on, and it was making a lot of sense why he was so confused when he saw the village that Takuya had restored as he was walking for nearly two or three hours long.

As J.P. was reaching the village in which Takuya had just restored, Takuya was taking his break for the night since he had been walking for so long and had been fighting so many monsters that was just tired. He sat down and then he was looking at Bokomon and Neemon. "I am glad that you guys have been joining me. That way I have at least a little bit of sanity given to me right now." Takuya said and then Neemon was being just as nice as possible to them again.

"Yousa makes us verys hoopesful for whats you ares doings." Neemon said and then Takuya was glad as he had heard that and he was placing the hat on his face and that was his way of trying to cover his face while he was getting ready to sleep.

"That is great. I think that I need to head to sleep now. Don't bother waking me up. I will head out when I wake up, however far in the future that is." Takuya said and then he was closing his eyes to get ready for the next journey he would have to take the next day.

As he was asleep, he was just starting to get back to those dreams. Takuya decided right then and there that once he would wake up that day, he was going to ask them what the hell was the point of those dreams. They were just so strange to him that he was no longer able to just put them off anymore and he was just needing to figure out the truth sooner or later, and perhaps he would be able to actually understand what was going on from then forward. But the dream that he had was interesting enough that he didn't force himself up for the time being, just to see what was going on. And the sleep was getting more and more like the usual stuff one would expect.


	33. The Creek

Chapter 32: The Creek

I woke up and when I woke up, I grabbed my skateboard and then I grabbed my back pack. I was thinking about what I was going to do now, and I was wondering how people would react if I ditched a second day of school. I was thinking that it would start to create little bit of a rough reputation with me and the school, but at the same time I knew that it was none of their business and if they think that it is in any way their business, then they need to start focusing on their own things. But at the same time, I would be worried about what the others would say, like my friends, and they would probably be wondering if something had happened to me.

I was standing at the front of the yard and I was thinking about what to do. My parents were probably not at all aware of what I was doing, and even then I feel like they probably wouldn't really care all that much. After all, I haven't spoken to them even once this entire school year, and they might be slowly starting to forget that I even existed. But then I placed my skateboard on the ground, and then afterwards I started to skate around and I figured that I was going to find out what I was going to do later on, when fate sort of figured it all out for me.

I skated on my way to the school, and I was wondering what the teacher would say to me. I never really cared for the teacher, but I felt like if I started to just sort of throw away school enough times, then they would probably write up my parents and then that would force my parents to talk with me, and I was not really sure if I wanted that. I think in a way, I wanted to see how many days I could possibly go without speaking to my parents. It was a sort of really odd game that I was playing with myself.

The more that I was skating, the more that I was figuring that even if I wanted to skip a day or so, then maybe I should actually go to school and just deal with it. Then afterwards, I would see about maybe going to the creek or something. I felt like the creek was something I needed to figure out. At least to figure out if it was something related to the monsters, or if it was really just a lucky idea that nobody had found it.

I reached the school and then when I was at the school, I brought the board back to my left arm and then I sighed afterwards. I walked inside of the school and I was ready to just go through the school day, just to get it over with and I can see what the forest would be able to really show me. I wondered if there was more to the creek than I had seen.

I went up the stairs, thinking about how much I did not want to go to school, and how much the idea of going to school just simply fucking sucked. I did not really like going to the school at all, and honestly the only thing that I liked about going to school was the fact that I can meet with some of my friends, but those would only be for a few minutes here and there, and then when I was done with that, I would have to go to class and I would have to do this multiple times now.

As I was in class, the first part of school was just the teacher stating false facts about science and acting like everything that she said was true. I was sitting there, pretending like I was actually learning something, but the stuff was so false and so insane that I could not try to point out all of the things that she had gotten wrong. But then again, even if I had wanted to try and tell her everything that she had gotten wrong, then she would give me a write up and honestly I was not really in the mood for that.

After the first part of school was over, when I was in lunch, I talked with Dana and Kevin about what happened. Dana seemed to try and forget it all and Kevin was more focused on the whole Jenny thing. Dana and I just seemed to talk about the fact that I was sleeping at her house for the night, which I had to admit was the one part that I really enjoyed more than anything else. I was not really going to mention the other stuff since I knew for a fucking fact that I should not mention that to her, since she would get really worried and start acting like I needed to start picking up different habits.

When lunch was over, I was talking to Maurecia about when we were going to hang out. I was really excited to hang out with her tomorrow, and I told her that the only reason I could not really do it today was because of the fact that I needed to check something out after school. Either way, the promise of me hanging out with her after school tomorrow was still good enough for her. The idea of her just needing to wait another twenty four hours was a sacrifice she would be willing to make.

I went up to the top of the school and then I just listened to the teacher talking about math and giving off insane square cubed roots and stuff like that. I was honestly just thinking about the creek as I was staring outside of the window. I was not really going to give her the satisfaction of my time. I liked the teacher as a girl, and she was a nice person, but she was just sort of annoying to deal with in terms of school.

Once the school day was over, I was getting ready to head on towards the forest to check the creek and everything. But as I was heading out, I heard the teacher saying something to me, and I was really curious what was going on and why she was calling out to me at all. I was annoyed but I was thinking that maybe I was about to get into trouble soon, so I walked up to the teacher just to get this over over with.

"Todd, I wanted to talk to you about your school performance lately. It is a little bit worrying. You have not really been keeping up on top of school lately. I am worried that you are having some things going on in your life, things that make you think that my lessons are not really important at all." The teacher had told me and after she had told me this, I was wondering why she was starting to tell me this in the first place. I knew about my grades and I did not really need to be watched over at that moment.

"I know that I haven't been keeping up on school lately. That is my choice. Don't worry too much about it now. I am making some choices and I am going to have to deal with the affects of my choices later, but I am not going to get into a huge debate with you over this." I said and then after I said that the teacher was remaining quiet for a moment. I was wondering what lecture she was going to give me over this whole thing, and I was just preparing myself over it. I was thinking that as long as I didn't get expelled, then things would have been good.

"Todd, I don't want to see my students fail. But you are really testing that idea right now. You are one of the first students that are really starting to show that you might actually fail my class. If you fail my class, I am going to have to live with that fact for the rest of my life and I am going to look at you as the one student who I could not have done a good job taking care of when he was in my class." My teacher said as I considered that for a second.

"I am sorry about that. I get that a student failing a class is one of the things that people don't want to see when they teach a class, but that is something that you should not even have to worry all that much about in the long run. I will talk to you about this later." I said and then after I had said that, I walked out of the class room and I was just ready to explore the creek.

As I was walking outside of the school, I placed the skateboard down on the ground and then when I was starting to skate right towards the forest. I was wanting to get right to work, and then when I would be done with all of that stuff, I would just go right home and then I would start to study the whole forest thing. I was thinking about the forest patterns and everything, and I want to get right to working on figuring out the pattern. I know that there was no normal forest, and that there was a bunch of shifts and patterns and everything. I needed to get all of the details figured out to make sure that none of this was something that I passed up on.

I reached the front of the entrance of the forest and then when I had reached the forest entrance, I got off of the board once again which was what I usually did when I was done travelling around and everything. I was wondering if I would even be able to find the creek once again, and I was thinking that maybe if I couldn't find the creek again after about ninety minutes or so of wandering around, I would just perhaps look for something else in the forest that would show me something related to the monsters, like related to the mansion or something like that.

I was wandering around the forest, thinking about the entrance of the creek as well as the mansion. I hated the idea of the mansion in general since being in there had started to give me nightmares, but I knew that I was probably going to have to go in there once again, and I wondered if and when I would go in there. And if I went in there once again, what I would find in there and if somebody had actually gone in there before.

I was sitting down for a couple of minutes, and I was thinking about the creek entrance. I think that the creek entrance was going to be the hardest part of the forest to find, since there would be a bunch of sewer entrances and everything. I saw that there was a small hole in the ground. I stood up and then I walked forward to it and then I brought my knees down to the ground and then I was placing my hand inside of the hole.

When I was placing my hand in the hole, I was moving my hand around and then I grabbed onto something. As I was moving my hand around, I pulled the thing out of the hole and then I was seeing what was in the hole and what I had pulled out. I was wondering what it was when I saw that it was just a small box. I opened the box and saw that it was like a sort of small time capsule that was buried and that I pulled it out eventually.

As I was looking through the box, I was just checking it all out and everything. There were a bunch of cards, a couple of things that looked like cassette tapes, and I saw something that looked like a pocket journal. I pulled out one of the cards and when I pulled out the card, I saw that the card was a bunch of people. Probably like a group of nine or ten. I smiled as I looked at that. I know that it was a really sad picture since while the picture was in general really light hearted, the date itself made me realized that there was nothing about this that could have spelled good news. The year on the bottom was '1917'.

I then placed the pictures inside of the box and then I pulled out the cassette tapes. Even with the huge advancements of technology, I felt like this was a really strange thing that made no sense for something in 1917, which was almost fifty years ago. I then placed the cassette tapes inside of my pocket and then I did the pocket journal as well. I was not really sure what to do with the pictures, and I was thinking about what to do with them. I then slowly placed the pictures inside of the pocket journal and then I left the empty box out in the open.

I realized that I had a lot of stuff that I had taken from my adventures out in wayside during the school year. I decided that when I got home, before I started the forest study, I would probably take all of the pictures and everything and maybe place them on the wall so that way I can be able to study them all. Then with that, I was ready to start to continue going and I would start to actually look for the creek which was the main thing that I needed to figure out in the first place.

I was walking around, and then when I was travelling around the forest I was slowly walking around and I was seeing that I was in places that I totally would not really understand and all of that stuff. But this was really hard since every single time I went inside of the forest, I saw stuff that really made no fucking sense.

I eventually saw a giant sewer entrance and that was when I was aware of the creek that I needed to go to. I was walking there as I was feeling the place starting to get colder and everything. But soon enough when I was out of the path way, I looked up and I was seeing the one house that was in the creek. I knew that this was going to be really annoying for Jason, but I needed to get more information from him, and I wondered what he was going to tell me when I asked him to give me more information on the creek and everything.

I started to go up the tree ladder which led up to Jason's house, and then when I was getting up there, I was starting to get really worried. I was worried about what Jason would be telling me when I was up there, and if he would actually be willing to work with me at all. I was just really worried that he was not going to help me at all and that he was going to just tell me to go away and that the monsters would start to attack the creek. It was valid, but I needed to talk to him. He was the only who knew about the monsters, and that was enough to make him trust me.

I then opened the house door and I was watching Jason filling in that black journal, and then when he saw the door open he placed it down and then he looked over at me. "I was honestly expecting you to show up here sooner or later. But I was not really expecting you to do it the next day. But now that you are here, I am pretty sure what you are going to ask me for. So let's get right down to business." Jason had said and then when he said that, I sat down on the bed and I was wondering if he was fine with that or not.

"Yeah, I was honestly not expecting to find the creek again. I have a ton of questions, and I am wondering if you would be willing to help me out now." I said and Jason had thought about that for a moment. "First, I need to know more about this mansion that I found. Then I need to find out more about the creek. I need to find out more about the forest and how it changes every day. I don't really know what else to say. I have so many things that I want to talk to you about, but I am scared to talk to you about this. Do you know anything that you can tell me?" I asked and then when I had asked him that Jason remained silent.

"I am worried that I do know a lot about this. But I think that if you really want to know more, I guess that I can help you. I don't know about the forest. I have a couple of things I want to tell you about the creek though, that I know, since I feel like that is the biggest priority." Jason said and then I was scared at that.

"I think that you should start from the top." I said and then Jason closed the blinds of the house and then he finally closed the door. Then Jason looked at me and he was ready to tell me everything that he felt like there was the need to tell me.

"I think that the creek actually does have a barrier to it that keeps it so that the monsters can't come into the creek. I was studying it a little bit after you left just out of being interested, and when I was doing so, I am pretty sure that I found out the information that can really compliment that idea. As long as you are here, I think that you will be safe. I think that we should look for more people who have some problems with their family, some people who might not have a home, or some people who may have some confrontations with monsters, and perhaps I think that we should go on and try and get them recruited to staying here." Jason said and I was thinking about this honestly, trying to think of somebody that might need the help of the creek.

"I am going to maybe start to show some people what the actual creek is like. I think there are some people in town who have seen monsters, like my friend Dana, who introduced me to the whole monster thing in the first place, and I think that maybe I can look into the book a bit more and then once I read the book, I can find some people, where they live, and get some questions about the whole thing. Maybe once they have started to trust me a little bit more, I will start to suggest them the creek where they can stay safe for the time being at the very least." I said, and as I explained that, Jason considered this whole plan.

"I think that the creek is something we need to be careful with. Bring too many people here, and I think that maybe there will be a bunch of people who will abuse the powers of the creek and throw then eventually maybe we will stop being safe here as somebody might expose it." Jason said and then I was wondering how exactly things are safe here.

"What exactly really makes it safe to be in here? Like the monsters don't come in here? They don't see us? I just don't really understand." I said and then after I said that, Jason was holding one of his pens and he had the pen in between two of his fingers. Almost like the pen was a cigarette, which was strange since I didn't know if he was eighteen or not, which to be honest it was not really my business how old he was.

"No, the monsters when they try to come in here, they are not able to do so. Like there is actually a giant barrier that guards the creek. I don't get it, and it makes no sense at all, but as long as you are inside of the gateway to get inside of the sewer, and actually inside of the creek, you can be able to rest." Jason said and then I was starting to get a small amount of anticipation at the whole thing.

"Are you sure that you are going to be fine with all of the people just randomly showing up and starting to live here? Do you really want to have people stay here after all? I think that this can be a little bit over kill in the long run. Not that I am going to stop you from this, I am just thinking about pointing that whole thing." I said and Jason was shaking his head. He was not really understanding why I was thinking this was a problem, probably because he was a much more open and progressive man than me.

"As long as they are willing to help contribute to the advancement to the creek, then I will allow it. If they are able to help out, like help build a bunch of houses for the creek, help provide for the food, and stuff like that, then there is no reason to not stay here. But none of that really matters right now. I think that they just need to show the fact that they are wanting to help out, and that will make me very much willing and welcome to them staying here." Jason said and then I thought that maybe this could be a good way of looking at it.

"I guess if there were people who might start to live with me, I would have been more rough and on the standards of what I would want them to be doing. I do hope that the people who are going to stay here will actually do a good job helping you out and they will not take advantage of everything that you are going to give them." I said and Jason started to think about something. He was thinking about what to say now, since we have made that whole point pretty clear by this point in time, and he was open about the fact that he was going to be more progressive with people staying here than I would ever dream of being.

"I see that there is something inside of your pocket. Did you find it in the forest? Would you mind showing me what you had found?" Jason questioned and I was really confused why he would ask me that in the first place. But he was being nice about it and I assumed that maybe there was a slight chance that this could be used in our favor, so I decided that I would show it to him like he was wishing.

"Yeah, I don't like it, but here you go." I said and then I pulled the stuff out of my pocket and handed it to Jason, I was thinking that maybe he might actually know what to make of these better than me. Jason was taking a moment to stare intently on the pictures and I was not really too sure why he was caring so much on the pictures, but maybe he knew more about the lore of the town than I did. Which was not shocking since I had only been at Wayside for a month or so.

"I think those are a picture of the monster makers. They were a group of people that were around in the early century from what I was researching. I am not really too sure what they were doing or anything. I don't even know if the name is actually like what they claim to be, as I don't really know if they actually were the creator of these monsters, but I can't really say about that right now." Jason said and then I looked at the picture again when he handed it towards me.

"These people look so nice and innocent, I would not really imagine what they were doing that could even slightly hint at the idea of them being evil. I don't even know if I should be calling them evil at all, but I don't really have any other context to go off of here. But I am wondering what is on the tape, and what is in that small journal." I said and then Jason considered that and then he started to place the cassette tape down.

"I actually have a player, so I think that maybe I should take that player since I can listen to it when I am studying tonight. I am going to be looking at the forest patterns tonight, so that will be great back ground noise." I said and then Jason thought that this was a good and fair idea. he threw the tape right at me and I caught it with ease. I then placed the cassette tape inside of my pocket. "I will tell you about the tape when we see each other again, if we ever see each other again."

"I am going to be reading this out loud. I hope that you don't mind that this is probably going to take about two hours or so." Jason said and then I was rolling my hand forward as a way to show that I was aware of this and that I didn't want him to be wasting my time there just telling me what he was going to be doing. Jason was looking around and he saw that there was about a hundred pages on this thing, and that all of them were filled to the brim, so this was actually going to take a good amount of time to do so.

"Wow, I wonder if this is really even going to be worth it." Jason was saying to himself more than he was saying to me, and I was getting a little bit annoyed with the amount of time that he was wasting here. Then he went back to the first page and brushed off all of the dirt covering the journal and then he was actually ready to get into it. "Okay, sorry for getting distracted here. Now I actually am going to be reading this for real now. I just hope that it provides the answers that we actually want now."

"Page 1: My name is Bill, I am here right now trying to process everything that happened in the last few days again. I was told that I should go through the events of what happened one or two more times. I have no real clue why any of this happened to me, and I am a little bit worried that if I tell anybody what happened when I was forced to help these people out, since if I do so I am pretty sure that they will get in danger. So I am doing this by writing it in here.

Page 2: It started about three months ago, in November of 1917. The events that happened were covered up by the media as just a terrorist attack, but I am well aware of the truth. I guess I might as well go into a small detail on what this is all about. So there is something called the hell mouth, something that opens up every few decades and releases a bunch of monsters. I was living in Montana at the time, and I was trying to go along with my college education when I was in Montana, figuring that a nice and quiet college would be the thing that I really needed. A lot of people would be confused with me, a thirty year old college student who moved from Kansas to Montana just to learn about law.

Page 3: It was about the end of my first term, when I found a couple of friends. I made a friend named Drake, and he was a really nice guy and he had a interest in film and was planning to go into film making when he is done with school. After the events that had transpired, I had not talked with him anymore. When we were hanging out, the two of us would go down to the basement of the college a couple of times after hours when nobody saw what we were doing. It was the third time we went there when we found the thing that changed our lives.

Page 4: We found a wall that had a giant 'D' written on it and it was in blue. I thought that it was something that a former student put on there, and Drake was sort of thinking about the same thing. We were confused and we just rubbed it a little bit to how deeply drawn in the D was and then after I did the rubbing, the wall glowed into something like a blue gate and we were sucked on inside of it.

Page 5: Once we were inside of the blue gate, we were brought out to the other side and then we were inside something that looked like a relatively tropical forest like city. Drake and I were walking along and we were looking around and we saw a bunch of monsters around in the city. The city might be wrong for me to say that, since the city was probably only having like three or hundred monsters in there, which was more making it like a rural town.

Page 6: We walked inside the biggest town in the city and when we had walked inside of there, I saw that there was a monster wearing something like a black helmet and they had a robotic voice. They explained that we had walked inside of a place that was called the digital world. The digital world is something where all of these monsters were born in and I asked if there was a way out of the digital world and we can go back to earth, after they explained the digital world was sort of like the alternate version of earth.

Page 7: The monster, which called themselves Shepmon, said that we needed to go back to the original gate that we came out of and we would then find the gate that would bring us back to earth. They said that once every year, the digital world would have one more gate open up somewhere in earth, and since the world had been created in the late 1850's, there would be about sixty gates around, and we had found one of them. After we learned of this, we headed out and went back to earth once again.

Page 8: Once we had left the digital world the first time I found a guy who was wearing a purple jacket right in the basement and he was having a staring look at us. He told us that he knew exactly what we were doing, and that he was wanting us to tell him everything that we had seen. Once we explained it due to him locking the door and saying he would not let us out until we did it, he said that knew about the digital world and he explained what the hell hole was to us. You know, what I had briefly mentioned at the very start to this explanation.

Page 9: Two days went by before we were confronted by the man in the purple jacket again and he told us that there were a few other people who knew about the digital world, and that we needed to get a small team together so that way we can help stop the hell mouth invasion. I thought he was insane, but when he explained that the end of the world was at stake, and for some reason when he had said that, there was a urgency in his voice that I don't really think he was just placing on to us.

Page 10: So with that, there was the three of us that were starting this group. We first found a girl named Charlotte, and she was on her second term at the college, since she had started during the summer term. She said that she had seen the digital world herself when she went through that same blue gate, but she explained that she had actually went down into a island in the middle of a ocean instead of a the tropical forest. That made me realize that while the gates were static and never changed locations, that none of the places we would end up being sent to would always be the same, which means that we can have more diverse places we could end up when we would enter through the gate again.

Page 11: For some reason, the idea of all of this was actually getting me a little bit excited, I actually thought that there would be something about this adventure that could be fun. I wrote a note to my girlfriend, who I had been talking long distance with when I started to move on to Montana and explained her that destiny was calling me, and that I was going to be gone for a while, and that I had found something beyond school that can keep me going on here.

Page 12: The man in the purple jacket, Drake, Charlotte, and I went into the digital world the first time again as a group that evening and once we had done that, we ended up in a sort of city that looked like a more worn down and war decimated version of Chicago. As we were going around, we found a couple of monsters fighting each other and after one of the monsters had died, they found us and started to charge at us. The man in the purple jacket killed the monster by using a ray gun that he had created in this world a long time ago and that was when he had explained that he had been aware of this digital world for about thirty or so years, first learning of it back in 1886. He then went to the pocket of one of these monsters and pulled out a black card. With that, we left the digital world again and he said right after we returned that he had something that he needed to do some research.

Page 13: I hung out with Charlotte that night and she said that she was thinking this would be quite the adventure, and I agreed with her, and we ended up staying the night together.

Page 14: Drake and I hung out early that moment and Drake said he found a new person that had been in the digital world, which was his room mate Garrett, and after the three of us talked for a little bit, he agreed to join the group and we introduced him to the man in the purple jacket, who had said that he knew what the meaning of the black card was and he was calling a meeting for us all.

Page 15: The man in the purple jacket explained that the monster that had sent those monsters to attack us was a dead one named Daemon. They explained that they had their physical body destroyed fifty or so years ago, then about thirty or so years ago in 1886, they nearly got a second body but that was destroyed and their plan failed. Then about twenty one years ago, they didn't try to get a body again, but they used their forced in the 1896 hell mouth opening. This hell mouth opening, the man in the purple jacket explained they they were probably going to try to return again. He said we should return to the digital world again to learn of what their plans were.

Page 16: The man in the purple jacket seemed very focused on this for the night and when he talked to us about this, he had told us that he had not slept once that night, and that he was just working on this for the whole night. Once he told us this, he said that Daemon was planning on sending down several hundred of these monsters. The man in the purple jacket said that Daemon was going to send the monsters out to earth in the next few days and Daemon was probably going to use the weak situation of America as a chance to truly take over the country this time.

Page 17: Charlotte, Garrett, and I were talking that day and as we were talking with each other that day, we were talking a lot about the plans the man in the purple jacket had, and we were wondering if maybe he was lying about all of this and that he was just using us for his own personal use now. I did not really think that he was a great guy or anything, and I felt like there was a ton of details that he was leaving out on this and everything, but I said that he had a plan and we needed to just accept that fact and everything.

Page 18: Drake and I had no real clue what we were going to do now and we decided to go back to the digital world that night and when we had agreed with that, we went inside the digital world and when we were in there, I saw that there was a island that we were stranded on and the island was really lowly populated and only had about twenty or so monsters there. I talked with the monsters there a little bit and when I talked with them, none of them seemed really happy to talk to us, but they thought that we were safe to talk to.

Page 19: The monsters told us about an attack that happened just a couple of days ago and that there was going to be another attack soon and they asked us to stay there at least until the attack was taken care of before we went back to earth, in order to protect the monsters from any of those attacks coming up. We reluctantly agreed with that and when we waited, we were given a couple of weapons to defend ourselves and fight the monsters with. I was given a mini sword, and Drake was given a ray gun.

Page 20: The attack took place soon after this, and it took a lot of time and effort to destroy this thing, but we destroyed the monsters that were attacking us. After we defeated about the monsters that attacked the town, their leader gave us a green necklace and said that the necklace was going to be part of the key to saving the digital world and we returned to earth afterwards.

Page 21: Once we returned to earth, we showed this necklace to the other members of the group and the man in the purple jacket said that there were four necklaces in the digital world that will open the gate to the temple that they felt like Daemon was trying to get into. One that was blue, one that was red, one that was green, and one that was yellow. He said that as long as we had one of them, this green one, we would be fine and Daemon would therefore not be able to take over the world to the extent that they would wish, since they could not access the temple, but he suggested we should try to get the other three as well so that way we would have the true advantage.

Page 22: Charlotte and I hung out again that night and as we were talking, I told her the truth about my life and she told me the truth about her life, and I eventually started to get closer and closer to her throughout the night conversation. Then I did something I should have never been proud of. I slept with her that night, while I was still with my other girlfriend and the worst part is I never told her the truth of what I did.

Page 23: Early that next morning, a girl named Gwen found our group and after begging to tell us, and referencing some nightmares that she was having, we decided to tell her and she said that she knew about the monsters as well, and as a result joined the group as the sixth member. After we had her join the group, we were talking about splitting into two groups of three that night when we were going to be looking into the digital world and the man in the purple jacket said that night he was going to be making some meetings with people in the higher ups. When we asked him what he meant, he told us we didn't need to know about this yet.

Page 24: Throughout the day, I was getting ready for the next journal into the digital world. I was behind on school, so I finished up on that real half assed like and then I got my sword that I was given and Drake got his gun and before we went down there, I heard conversation that the man in the purple jacket was having with somebody, and despite how crazy it sounds saying this, he was talking with president Wilson by phone call, and it seems they were in on this all the way.

Page 25: The man in the purple jacket explained how he was creating a league for the digital world and how he was planning on stopping Daemon this time with the league he was making and that they had six members of the league by now. Wilson explained that he was wishing that this guy would get us to be the best fighters in the world or else the digital world was going to destroy everything. Wilson said that this was going to be a league of justice and the man in the purple jacket said that this was going to be a good squad and that Wilson did not need to worry too much about it, to which Wilson didn't say anything and the call ended with Wilson telling him not to fail.

Page 26: The six of us left to the digital world and as we were leaving, we went in on two groups of three. Drake, Charlotte and I went in first and we were taken to a very strange wasteland looking place. As we were walking around the wasteland looking place, we found nothing but a old monster meditating and they said that they were trying to make amends for all the crimes they caused, all of which were murder. They said that they felt bad for the deaths they caused. They gave us the advice that there was a shrine in the desert about thirty miles away and they said that the shrine has something strong in there, and we should check it out soon. He said telling us about this will be his redemption.

Page 27: We returned to the earth soon after the other three did. Gwen explained that when they were gone, they were given advice of this snow castle north of a north pole like city with only like thirty monsters there, and they said that they should check that castle out soon.

Page 28: I went to my bedroom that night and I was looking at some pictures that I had back in the day when I was in Kansas. As I was looking at these pictures, I was wondering if I ever seen these monsters before, and I was wondering if maybe these monsters were as bad as the man in the purple jacket said they were. The ones I talked with seemed nice, and the man in the purple jacket seemed so focused on the Daemon ones they would not give the others a chance now, which I was worried about.

Page 29: I wrote a page to my lover that night, and in the note I wrote to her I explained that I had a huge goal that I needed to focus on and that was worried about what was happening, and I said that I wondered what it was like to being a normal. If aliens in a way could feel the same way, even if they do not have the same looks as us.

Page 30: While I was sleeping that night, I was having a dream about some monsters that were running across the field of Montana. I really enjoyed this dream, and this dream made me think of some things that I had missed out on. I was not really too sure why this made me feel like I had missed out on something, it just gave me that strange feeling. I was wondering if I should even be doing this job in the first place.

Page 31: That morning, I met with a guy named Louis and he said that he wanted to join the group. He explained that he heard all of the stuff going on, and that he wasn't fooled, and as a result, we reluctantly agreed to let him in as the seventh member of the group. He would be the third to last member of the group and he said that he was the janitor of the school, and that was how he knew about what we were doing, since he heard and saw a lot of it on his cleaning sessions.

Page 32: When the man in the purple jacket met us that day, he told us that those places we were told to go and check out would probably be the places where the next two necklaces would be, since he was looking into it a little bit on his own. I was wondering if Daemon had perhaps actually gone on getting one or two of them on their own, which I felt like was actually a bit realistic. I actually brought up that point and Louis said that he didn't know much on how to fight, but he felt like Daemon probably is wanting us to get all of the necklaces on our own before he steals them from us at the final battle, a good point.

Page 33: After this discussion point, I was wondering if perhaps we could bring ourselves in the digital world close to where those buildings were and the man in the purple jacket said that he thought he could move things around a little bit around to move it in our favor and bring us relatively close to being there, although he said he didn't think we would actually be able to go directly there though. I felt like it was something worth trying to ask about, but I should have known better about.

Page 34: We decided to go right inside of the digital world again and I decided to bring Gwen, Drake, and Louis with me. I didn't really think I could bring Charlotte with me as I was worried about how we were going to take our friendship in the future after what we had done the last couple of nights, and I was worried that the person that I was dating was going to hate me forever if she had found out what I had been doing, which would have been a valid thing to be feeling towards me.

Page 35: As we were brought inside of the digital world, we were brought somewhat close to one of the places that was mentioned earlier, but it was not the one that we were at earlier. We were brought closer to the snowy one. I asked a couple of monsters what the castle was like and the monsters explained that none of them had gone in there in several years since it was invested by a bunch of shadow like beings, and that those shadows being in there are so powerful that if you tried to fight them, none of the monsters that even tried would have ever come out again and they were most likely joined in as one of the shadows or had died.

Page 36: We said that we needed to go there, and the monsters told us that it was our funeral that we were setting up, and that they were not going to stop us from what we were planning on doing, even if they did not agree with our plans. We then headed off and went on to the snow castle, where Louis said that he knew how to make a fire so when we were in need that night, he could create a fire for us all.

Page 37: We went inside of the castle and we were attacked by shadows and we had to keep going inside of different rooms in order to not be attacked by the monsters, since the entrance to a different room was sort of like a strange barrier that the shadows would not be able to go through. So as long as we would make it through those rooms, then we would be safe and we kept doing so until we finally made it to a room with no shadows and there was just a few random books all over the place.

Page 38: Louis grabbed a couple of the books and he said that since nobody comes by here anymore, that he was going to use these books to start a fire. He then took out a stick and a rock that he had brought when he was getting ready to come here and then he placed the stick on a couple of books. Once we were there, we just talked about our lives for a little bit.

Page 39: Louis talked about his life and how he had become a school janitor when he had lost all of his money and how he was going to try and get some money here to provide for a living with him and his wife. He said that his wife was pregnant at the moment and they said that if they had a son, they would probably name the kid after him. Gwen talked about how she had moved away to this college to get as far away from her family as possible, as she never really got along with them before and she didn't want to be with them anymore. Drake said that his family lived in the area and that while they get along decently well, he doesn't see them until term breaks since he didn't want to get distracted, so he still only sees them once every few months. I just told them the same stuff I said earlier in this journal. We slept there for probably two hours or so.

Page 40: After our quick sleep we took there, we then left the room and continued until we found the throne room, where we found a monster that was having this strange aura around them. I had no idea why they had this aura around them, but it had actually scared me and made me think for the first time since I came to this digital world, I could have died. Long story short, the monster, or ruler of the castle, was defeated and we ended up getting the blue necklace and once it was destroyed, we left the castle and the shadows were released.

Page 41: After we returned to the village again, we told them that the shadows were gone and that they could actually go inside of the castle again and use it if they choose to, and the monsters actually looked like they were grateful for that fact.

Page 42: We then returned to earth afterwards and the other group returned about ten minutes later and they explained that they went through the dessert place which was like a old house that a person had back from like the 1100's, and the house was no longer being lived in and instead of fighting monsters or shadows, the pretty much had to go through a bunch of life or death obstacles and they eventually reached the end of the place.

Page 43: Once at the end of the strange house like place, they were faced by a giant stone giant and after destroying it, they had gotten the yellow necklace, which meant that they only had the red one to get. I was thinking about what Louis had said and that maybe Daemon was just allowing us to get all of this so that way they could steal it from us or they are just letting us do the work for them, and I was thinking that we needed to be very careful of that in the future.

Page 44: Afterwards, when it was over with, I went to my bedroom and then Charlotte decided to help go to my room with me, not to sleep with me or anything like that, but to just help me figure out some of this stuff. I allowed her to stay, thinking that while she was probably not too right about this whole thing, I did just need somebody there with me, and as a result I figured she could stay for a couple of hours.

Page 45: We talked for a little while about all of the stuff going on and we were slowly agreeing that the man in the purple jacket was using us for his own benefit, but I was telling her the main reason I was still going along with this ride was entirely due to the fact that I was really interested in what the final result would be, and that adventure was more excited than just being bored in school sitting down doing nothing but school work every single day. Charlotte was doing this because she felt like there was something about the journey that would answer some questions she had about life when she was a kid, and I told her that was a decent enough of a reason.

Page 46: After we talked for a couple of hours, Charlotte headed off and went to her room and I went to sleep, thinking about the journey and as I was sleeping, I saw a giant monster with red robes or something and I was wondering what this was, and I was thinking that perhaps it was Daemon, although I had no real idea why my mind was just jumping to that conclusion.

Page 47: That next morning, a girl named Ruby said that she wanted to help out the cause after she went into the basement on her own and found out that she had actually gone inside the digital world, and she said that she was wondering what was going on there and decided that she wanted to help us with our stuff. We decided to let her in, and we are now at the second to last person to have joined the group now. After this, the man in the purple jacket started to look like he was getting much more serious and that he was starting to focus more and more on the bigger job ahead rather than just a couple of things that happened back in the past.

Page 48: I was wondering what was going to happen later on, and I just ended up talking with Drake a bit that day and we were talking about how so much has happened in the last three days, that all of this felt a little sudden. He explained how he was still not really sure where to be taking all of this, and I agreed with him on what he was saying. Back even just a few days ago, this felt just like a fun little journey we could have, and then all of a sudden we are trying to so called safe the world and stuff, it felt a little odd.

Page 49: I sat down and decided to spend a couple of hours working on my school work and I started to do that until it was about seven or so in the evening, and I started around four, and I was just trying to make it so that I wouldn't be too far behind. I gave the work I have done to my teachers that way I could still be somewhat on top of the work that was being handed to me, even if there was a part of me that was not really feeling the motivation to do it anymore.

Page 50: Everything that the man in the purple jacket has been doing this entire journey is really starting to make me think that we are just being used for his own gain, and I am thinking that he is going to throw us away once we have defeated Daemon, and he is going to pretend as if we had never even existed. I was thinking that this was mainly a fear at the time, and I didn't really think that I was actually going to be right on that whole prediction, I thought that it would be a last resort that he would do this, but then when that happened, I realized that we truly were just being there and disposable for what he wanted.

Page 51: I decided to talk with the man in the purple jacket that night, and when I talked with him, he and I were talking with each other about what was going to happen once we found all of the necklaces. When I asked him what we were going to do, the man in the purple jacket said that we were going to find that one temple that he had been looking into and then once we went there, he would lead us to the final room of the temple where we can place the four necklaces on some rock statues, and then once we were done, we would probably have to either fight Daemon's ghostly form, or the necklaces will just ban the ghostly monster from coming back at least until the next time that the hell mouth opens.

Page 52: Afterwards, we went inside of the digital world once again and once we were in the digital world once again, we were sent right into something like a city from a fantasy world. The city was seriously the spitting image of what you would find in a fantasy book, but there was something like a giant fire pit in there, instead of a well, and I didn't really get the whole purpose behind the whole thing.

Page 53: Once we were going to the castle of that city, we were talking with the king of the castle, the king was telling us about how there is something like a electric power plant near by being run by a bunch of these monsters that had been forced to work into something of a life style that made the monsters resistant to electricity so as a result, they would not get killed if they were shocked by some lightning or something like that. He said that he wanted us to go in there to investigate what is going on in there after there was a power outage and he said that those monsters are what is able to give them power. They said that once we were done with that, they would give us some clues on that

Page 54: We went right to that place that they had told us about and once we were in there, we saw that one of the giant outlet machines were destroyed, and that was why there was a power outage. After looking around, I started to make the sort of assumption that Daemon had gone in there and that the castle we were at earlier probably had some idea on where that necklace was, or maybe the necklace was actually where they lived, like down under in the dungeons. We went to their castle afterwards to get some information from them.

Page 55: Once we went to talk to the king of the city, we started to talk to them and they told us to follow them down stairs if we wanted to see something related to Daemon. They said that while Daemon had not come there, that they knew some associates of Daemon and that they were actually being watched once we went to their main bedroom.

Page 56: We asked if there was anything we can do about the fact that they were being watched, and they explained that the only way that it could possibly happen is if they start to actually kill all of the guards in the castle and start an all out riot. The king said that they would not stop us from doing something like they, but they also said that they would not support us on this and that they were only going to let fate decide the final outcome of this whole event. Either way, this event sounded like it would be fucking insane.

Page 57: Despite the fact that all of us hated this idea, we decided that we would go with it, and we went down and started to attack the guards in the castle as well as the different rooms and floors of the castle in order to remove any influence that Daemon had on the place. I am honestly amazed that nobody had died throughout the whole thing, although Garrett got really injured and broke his arm as a result of the event.

Page 58: Once we were in the lower ends of the dungeon, there was a monster that was guarding the yellow necklace and the monster revealed that they were the castle steward, and that they had been working for Daemon this whole time, and that they were sort of watching over the events of the castle in order to make sure that the king did not rebel. They explained that it was no matter, and that we had served our purpose by having the three other necklaces and that once they had killed us, they would take them and bring them back to Daemon.

Page 59: We fought the steward for a while and while we did win the battle and destroyed the monster, they told us that the final battle with Daemon was going to be a lot more rough and that there was nothing we can do against Daemon's shadow form, which was starting to form into a human being, and they told us that their bidding was done, since we now had all four necklaces like Daemon had planned for us to do.

Page 60: Once we returned back to earth, we were left with wondering what exactly the truth was being told about the steward of the castle. If we were sort of just setting ourselves up for failure no matter what happened, or if it was just something that was being told to us in order to get us worried about a possible battle that could be coming up, although one that will probably not be coming up.

Page 61: As I was thinking about giving up on this whole thing, and as we were all starting to think that this was a situation in which the bad guys were going to win no matter what, there was a strange moment that made me start to get some form of hope for the final battle. I was watching a guy walking into the room and he looked like he was a relatively old man, early sixties or so. I had no idea what was seeing, but he revealed that his name was Davis. He explained that he knew about the digital world, and that he was one of the first people who had to deal with it in some form of capacity, and that he was ready to help take care of the problem that was being set up for him.

Page 62: There was something about Davis that made me believe that he was telling the truth about what he was saying, and that his help was actually going to be what we really needed in all of this right now. We accepted him as the final member of the group and he said that since he was leading the operation, he was going to help teach all of us how to fight for the final battle coming up.

Page 63: Once Davis started to train us vigorously for a day or so, making sure knew exactly how to fight and making sure we were as strong as humanly possible, we asked him what had made him aware of the situation going on, and he was wondering how exactly he was aware of the digital world this whole time, and if he was actually telling the truth or not, and he figured that it had made sense to tell us the truth, since he was going to need our help now.

Page 64: He told us that he knew about this because of some news that he had been getting from these monsters whenever he would travel the digital world on his own, which he does once a day or so, and he was saying he was more shocked that he had never seen us before. But he said that he knew about all of this stuff so much because he was the creator of the digital world, and that he knew everything about it because he wanted to make sure his digital world would not conflict the digital world from earth.

Page 65: Despite how crazy it had sounded, I realized that he was actually telling the truth, just in the way that he was saying this. Once I realized that he was telling the truth, I figured that since we had the creator of the digital world working for us, that there was no way that we could fail on this final battle, and that was the thing that was starting to finally give me hope once again. I could tell with the way that the others were looking and feeling, that they had felt the exact same way as I did.

Page 66: Davis said that the final battle was going to be starting very soon, and that we had at most until that night before the final battle started up. I decided that I was going to talk to all of the people in the group one final time before the final battle, to try and get to know them a little bit more on what was realistically my final chance. I figured that Davis was probably wanting us to do this anyways, and he was thinking that a stronger bond between us would actually make the final battle much easier.

Page 67: As I was having some final conversations with them, I went to Drake first. I was talking about what college career he was going for, and he was saying that once this was over with, college was going to probably be his main priority again and he was hoping that his parents would not really notice that his grades would be slightly lower than normal as a result of all of these battles and side quests in the digital world. I never really realized just how young this guy was. He was at most early twenties. I said nobody really needed to worry about my school work besides just really me. I thanked him for trying to be a friend with me, and he said that it seems as if that won't matter anymore.

Page 68: Afterwards I talked with the man in the purple jacket and he seemed much less excited about the idea of having Davis in the group than we were. He said that this guy was able to sort of ruin every single thing that he had ever worked up. I was wondering if the had a past, and he said that what happened back then was between just him and Davis and that it was none of my business. I said that as long as it doesn't affect the mission, we would be fine, and he told me that it would not affect the mission and that I needed to leave him alone.

Page 69: I talked with Charlotte and we were going a little bit more in detail about what we were going to do once we were done with the whole mission, and I was telling her, and she agreed with me, that it was probably best that we just leave it off once this was done and just acted like this was a short term thing. I thought for the sake of my relationship I should do just that.

Page 70: I talked with Garrett and he was saying that he was thinking he was probably not going to be helping out in the final battle, since his arm was injured and everything. I figured that this was probably for the best for him, since if he did help out, or tried to help out, he was probably going to get in the way. So we agreed that in the end, he should just sort of stay in the real world just to watch the gate in case there was an attack going onto earth and everything and he could provide for some thin defenses.

Page 71: When I talked with Gwen a little bit, she was saying that she was not really too sure where her spot on this whole thing was, and she was not really sure if she could be that good of a help and everything. I told her that it was better to have her around so that way at least somebody could help us in the final battle, and that any amount of help would be better than nothing at all. So with that, and me telling her that this is a part of the greater plan of life, and that she needed to be here, she decided that she was going to stay here for the time being.

Page 72: I ended up talking with Louis a little bit and he was saying that once he and his wife had their child, that he was going to stay here because whole he hated working as a janitor, that he needed to do it for the family, and I was thinking about what it was going to be like when I have a child, if I ever had one at all. I think that Louis actually is such a chill bro that it would be terrible if something happened to him, and I told him that I was going to do my best to help keep him safe just for the sake of making sure that his family would be safe.

Page 73: When I talked with Ruby, I said sorry for not talking with her much at all and that it was kind of bad for me to do that to her. She said that it was really not all that big of a deal, and that she was just sort of in this for the ride. I told her that once this was over, if she ever wanted to talk to me at all, then she can just come into my dorm room and talk with me then, as if none of this had ever happened.

Page 74: I ended up talking with Davis last and he said that this was probably going to be the final bit of help he was going to put into the digital world, he said that there was not much he can do since he was getting old. I asked him why he even came back at all and he said that he was doing this in order to have a mentor roll and that the next time the hell mouth opened, if he was even alive, he was going to help by just giving advice but not helping in the battles at all this time.

Page 75: Once I was done talking with everybody I realized that I might die tonight, so I wrote one final letter to my girlfriend just telling her not to worry about anything and that everything will be alright and that everything that happens is just all a part of the great plan of life, like what I told Gwen, and that she was just going to have to think about what to do shall something happen to me up in Montana. I said that I loved her and that shall everything be good, I would go and see her down in Kansas during my term break.

Page 76: Once I had made that letter, everybody was ready to go on for the final battle, and everybody besides Garrett went inside of the gate. We were not really going to worry about where this was going to bring us, and I was thinking that perhaps if we were lucky, it was going to bring us near the entrance of the temple that Daemon and their forces was going to be.

Page 77: We landed on something that looked like a land of darkness. Like nothing around us could easily be seen. I thought that we were going to have to go through a really tough path in order to get to the destination we were supposed to be at. But it seemed like there was a giant castle of darkness about three miles or so away from the place we landed on, so we started to head on there in order to see if that was where we were supposed to be headed, which I was pretty sure that it was.

Page 78: We spent about an hour or so going on towards the castle, just trying to make it there as fast as possible. None of us had any conversations, and I could tell that we were just trying to get this over with. But at the same time, I am pretty sure we were all thinking about the fact that we were all risking death, and we were thinking on the idea on how at least one of us was going to die coming up.

Page 79: We eventually reached the entrance of the castle and then walked on inside. As I was looking around, I saw that there was like hundreds of rooms all over the place, and after we had been inside for about two minutes or so, I looked up and saw something like a shadow. I was thinking more and more about this, and I started to piece it together that this monster that we were probably going to have to fight soon was Daemon and then the shadow jumped down and then they started to give us a long exposition dump that kind of made no sense to have right before the final battle.

Page 80: Daemon explained how their plans were almost upon us, and that they were already sending a legion of monsters out into earth and that they were in fact almost there right now. Daemon said that while we were going to be too busy fighting them, we were going to let the monsters basically invade earth. But then the man in the purple jacket suggested something that I never would have thought he would have suggested.

Page 81: They told us to get out of there as soon as possible and that we needed to get there before it was too late. The man in the purple jacket said that they were going to fight Daemon and try to keep him on bay at least for a few minutes, while we can go through the blue gate that was on the top of the castle near by and then we can be at the college or somewhere else depending on where this gate took us and then we can fight the monster invasion off while he fends Daemon off. I didn't like this idea, and most of the members of the group thought that this was a terrible idea, but it was Davis who convinced us to go through with this, and we reluctantly agreed to this idea.

Page 82: We then went through the gate with Daemon barely fighting us off but once we went through the gate, I looked down for a short moment and saw the man in the purple jacket holding his hands out and then they got into a very short fight with Daemon that ended with them pushing him down to the ground and then holding their hands up for something that looked like a blasting. I then went inside as he looked at me and was telling me with his facial expressions to just go. Before we left, we gave him the four necklaces saying that he should take care of it, not even realizing how dumb that idea was.

Page 83: After we went through the gate, we were right in earth again and I could see that there was a bunch of fires in the are and that the place was like half destroyed. Garrett was nowhere to be seen, and I was starting to think of the worst after this. But I told myself that I could not really focus on that and that the invasion was more important.

Page 84: Soon enough, we eventually were outside after fighting out a few monsters in the area. After we were outside, everybody went in different directions and started to fight off monsters and saving some people that were not killed during the attack or had not already escaped. I was left in the courtyard of the college, just fighting off all of the monsters in the courtyard to make sure at the very least they were not spreading any further. This was the great battle that I was honestly amazed that I even survived at all.

Page 85: After all of the monsters were seemingly destroyed and gone from the area, I saw a giant blue gate opening and the man in the purple jacket coming out of the gate in the court yard, saying that the invasion was over and that there was nothing we needed to worry about. That Daemon was defeated and that he just needed to get in the groove in the battle. Then afterwards, he said that he needed to leave and that he was heading on to different area of the digital world to make sure he knew of all of the possible entrances there in the future. He said that we were probably never going to see each other again and that he was thankful for what we did.

Page 86: Davis said that he was going to be leaving soon though as well, but that he said he was pretty sure the man in the purple jacket had lied about what he did. Davis said that he feared he had been indoctrinated, which meant that Daemon actually took him over. He said that he was going to worry about that though and that he was wanting us to just live out our life as best as can. He said that the digital world was going to consider us heroes and then he headed off. Then with that, there was seven of us left and we were all left to do everything just on our own.

Page 87: I said goodbye to Drake as he was heading off to go back to his home for the break once the college term was over. He said that he was glad that the whole threat was over and that in hindsight, he was really glad that he was not killed off since there was no way that he should have been able to survive that whole thing normally. I told him I am not really too sure if I am going to pursue college anymore and I said that if I saw him again, we can hang out further. It was really sad to sort of see us separate now, but I knew that it was probably for the best.

Page 88: I hung out with Charlotte again and we talked one final time the night before the term was over, before finals. I said that I was probably going to move back to Kansas after this, realizing that school was not my thing and that I was probably going to return to police work. She and I decided to make love one final time that night and she said that we will probably never see each other again, and that as a result I thought we can sort of have whatever we wanted that one final night.

Page 89: When I saw Garrett again, he was no longer having a arm cast on his arm anymore, and he said that he was tired of wearing that and that he probably never wanted to wear something like that again. I figured that it made sense to feel that way and we took a couple of shots together as a result of this, just to celebrate the fact that he was fine now and that the battles were over with, and this was one of the few drinks I had before the whole moving to Kansas thing.

Page 90: The last time I saw Gwen I had told her that I was not wrong about the whole fate choosing things in the end of the day. Gwen and I were talking about what this was going to do with our lives, and I was saying that it helped me realized that I wanted to go back to fight crime once again, and that I was getting tired of just sitting down every day for college and stuff like that. I said that crime fighting was just the thing I feel like was sort of what my fate was supposed to be, and Gwen said she was not too sure what her fate should be, but that she was probably getting closer to knowing it.

Page 91: Eventually, I went to Louis and wished him luck on his new family and the fact that he was probably going to have to live in this college for the rest of his life. I was saying that Louis was just such a chill guy that he should let that sort of personality go on towards his child and everything. I told him that when I had a kid, I was probably going to follow his ways of just focusing on the raising of the kid and everything.

Page 92: When Ruby and I talked for the final time, I told her that I was glad that she decided to fight the monsters that were in the library, as the library was where a ton of the monsters were, and that she chose a really good spot as a result of that. She and I talked for a bit and it was interesting for the both of us to be from Kansas, and she told me that I should come by her family and tell them that she is safe. She gave me a few letters to send to her family, and I said that I promised I would take care of that for her, since she would not see them in a very long time from now.

Page 93: When all of these goodbyes were all taken care of, I started on my path to leave for Kansas. I got on the train and then I began to head onto my home state, and I was just sleeping and thinking about much of the trip on my way home, but I was just not really sure what exactly to think.

Page 94: Eventually, my train went back to Kansas and once the train was out, I pulled out a note that explained where Ruby's parents were. I decided that I was going to take care of that before I went off to see my girlfriend. As I was heading off to Ruby's house, I was thinking about what to tell her parents once she saw me, since they were probably going to be beyond confused about the fact that I was going to give them a few letters Ruby wrote, but I would just say that I was somebody she knew and then I could call it good with that.

Page 95: I eventually reached the place where Ruby's parents had lived and then once I was at their house, I saw them answer the door and they were confused to see me like I expected and I just gave them the note saying that it was the wish of their daughter and then they thanked me and said that if I wanted to come by later, I could, but I said that I needed to return to my home now and I left them alone, and in a way as a result left behind that section of my life. Which I think in the long run was probably better.

Page 96: Once I had reached the house where me and my girlfriend lived, I opened up the door and then I saw that she was just doing her general day to day stuff and she was shocked to see me. But when I came home, it seemed like I had made her day since she explained to me that she was really worried that I was dead now after all of those letters I sent her and I said that it was nothing she had to worry about anymore, and we ended up having the most meaningful night talk and making love night of my life, and I never felt more alive than I did that night.

Page 97: I was back to my normal life for the most part, and I had done my best to place that all behind me for the rest of my life like I tried. The more I looked back on that thing, the more scary it got and the more that it really started to mess with my life and everything. I told my girlfriend about everything and for some reason she didn't argue me. She said that she probably knew I was telling the truth after all of the letters I sent her, and that she was just so glad that I was alive that this was her biggest relieve, but then she said that I should do something about this problem.

Page 98: Knowing that she was right, I went out and bought some stuff to store all of this stuff in. I bought this small pocket journal I am holding her, a small box, and some cassette tapes.

Page 99: I recorded the tapes first just explaining everything that I forgot here, just to tie up some loose ends, and then I placed every single photo in that box and then I have written all of this stuff now. I just feel like this is actually one of the best things I can do to my sanity, and I think that I can finally go to rest now, knowing that I explained everything one final time.

Page 100: Thank you for reading all of this stuff, and thank you for not telling anybody the information exposed in this journal and tapes, as I do not any future life or family to be forced to deal with this. I will bury this in a place I am sure nobody will find, and I am sure will not be related to the rest of my life. I think I can go to Minnesota, and then I can go back to Kansas. I will do that for my 1918 vacation that I take once every summer. Hopefully my girlfriend will be with me. I plan to propose to her. God I love her."


	34. The Sunny Cult

Chapter 33: The Sunny Cult

Then with that, Jason was done with the reading and then he threw the journal down to the table and stared at me. "I guess his plans of not having anybody find this did not really turn out as well as he had expected. I wonder if he is even still alive, or those people mentioned earlier. I am pretty sure that guy in the purple jacket is, just something about it makes me certain that he is." I said to Jason and then I was looking out the window once again.

"It seems like if he had a larger version of that journal, we would have gotten to know things much more, but it seems that we are going to have to deal with that shorter version. Do you think that perhaps it should be time for you to go now?" Jason asked and I was thinking about that very problem, not really too sure how much longer I should push my luck on staying here. "You know, if you feel like you need to stay a little bit longer, you can just do that, and I wouldn't really judge you for doing so."

"I don't really know what to do now. I don't think that I need to stay here any longer. I do not feel like I am in any sort of danger, but I don't want to risk it any further, so maybe I should just stay here for a little while longer, just to be extra one hundred percent safe." I said and then after I had said that, Jason had the face that he understood. "I just think that I am starting to remember the whole Bill thing more. Like I actually know somebody with that name. I just can't really think of who it is. But either way, I need to probably find that person and try and get the whole truth off of them." I said and then I sat down once again.

"I am more confused as to why he picked this place of all the places in the country. I am starting to think that maybe he knew about the forest, and how it changes all the time. I wonder if that is one of the details he left out in the cassette, or if perhaps he had gone there when he was a kid and is suddenly remembering the whole thing now." Jason said and I understand what he was saying perfectly, and I was considering that problem.

"I am more interested in the whole indoctrination thing. I wonder if perhaps that Davis guy had seen something like that before. I wonder if the theory is something that I have to worry about now, or if perhaps this entire thing is just not related to the monsters now. Which that part I am pretty sure is false, but these monsters scare me."

"The monsters are just a part of some bigger scheme, which now that I think about that being an idea of the future, I am certain that I am right. You really need to be careful on how you handle things in the future. I have a strong feeling that while you are off fighting monsters, the true threat of what is coming up will come along and take you by surprise. Please, just whatever you do, don't rule out all of the options. I don't want to fight, and even if I did, I would be of no help, so please just do everything that you can that would make sure nobody would fail." Jason said and I thought about it. I was thinking on how right he could actually be with this whole thing, and the even remote idea of him being right was just scaring me. That there was more to this than some silly monsters.

"Jason, if it turns out that the monsters are just a cover up, and that there is more to this than we expect, what do you think I should do about it?" I asked Jason, thinking that while he was ruling out the idea of fighting and stuff, which to be honest I did not really blame him for doing, I still wanted his sort of guidance on the whole thing, and in a way I was telling myself that I needed the guidance, even if I didn't want to say that directly to him. But I am sure that he knew it either way.

"I don't really know, but I have a feeling that the man in the purple jacket will be the answer to any of the problems that come up shall something happen that makes this more than just a simple run in and run out case with some monsters. I don't want to rule the idea of that happening, but to say that he won't be involved would also be a be a bit naive." Jason said and I agreed entirely to that.

"I just hope that when I tell the others about this, that they don't freak out and act like we are the near the end of the world. Which we know we very well could be, but I wouldn't want to actively think about that either." I was saying out loud, thinking of the possible battles that we would be setting ourselves up for.

"You really should be careful Todd. I know that you think you got this all handled because you got a few monsters taken care of, but imagine how bad it will be when there are swarms of them attacking, imagine how bad it would be when there are so many that you will not be able to fight them. Then guess what, you won't win. I know that sounds harsh, but it is the truth." Jason said and I knew he was right, but I refused to give up under any case.

"I understand that I need to be careful in the future, and I am not going to act like that isn't the truth. But I need to focus on the city, and I need to focus on what the monsters might do to us if I don't even try and keep it safe. If I don't even try and fight them off. You realize that if I don't even try, then the monsters are going to win no matter what. At least if I tried, even if I lose, there can at least be some form of a difference that I can make here." I said and then after I told Jason this, he seemed to give up on the idea of fighting me over this.

"I can't really argue you on that. I guess I need to let you go off and do what you think if important. I just wish you the best of luck, and that no matter what happens, you might be able to bring some sanity back to the city. I know that it is a loose hope, but I think that if there is anybody that can do it, then you might be the one who can do it." Jason told me, and I was having no real clue how to feel about what he was telling me, and if this was adding pressure to me or not.

"I will try to come by here every once in a while. Just to make sure that everything is kept on top of and that all goes well. Just make sure that the creek is taken care of, and when somebody comes along here and says that they need to stay here for the time being, let them stay. You might need somebody to be with you at the creek, after all, I would not want to know what it is like being bored out of my mind all the time." I said and then I was opening up the door. I was getting ready to head out, but I wasn't really rushing to do it either.

"Todd, thank you for this. Regardless of how I feel about the risk that you are taking, it is a noble risk, and I will support you while you are taking this risk along the way. I believe that you are able to do it. I will root for you, as I hope that you can bring some safety to the city. I will do as you suggested, and if somebody comes along, I will let them in the city and they can rest here." Jason said and he was pointing his finger out as he had said that, and I could feel like the area was getting a little more red around here. Like there was a red ish sun set that was going on right now.

"I think I better be heading out soon. I had a nice time talking with you. I will listen to that tape again and if I come along, I will let you know what I find here." I said and then I begin to head on my way out of the creek, probably having enough of it to last me a life time.

I then exited the house and started to head on down the ladder and I was looking back once more when I was about to leave the creek, just to take a short moment to look at it. I was not really sure how many more times I was going to see this place, and honestly I really did not mind the fact that I was not going to see this that many more times. I knew that there was somebody about this place that made me feel like I was not really fully welcome about being here. Then I headed off and began my track home.

As I was heading home, I was not really paying attention to most things. I was thinking that for the sake of faster travel, I would just get on the skateboard once I was out of the forest to start my faster journey home. But then when I was getting about fifty feet away from the forest, I heard a loud noise behind me and I turned around to see something like a mummified monster. Like the one wrapped up in cloths. I was not really sure what to think of this but I placed the skateboard down and then I pulled the sword out of my back pack.

I seriously had no idea how I was not getting expelled for that yet. It was clearly a hazard. How did nobody even notice it? If people noticed it, I guess that would be the moment when I would get in so much trouble that even my parents would get involved with it.

The mummy monster started to charge at me and then when they were charging at me, I was holding my sword and then once they got a few inches away from me, I swung my blade right down the chest and then the monster stopped when they realized what I had done, ending the battle before it really even started. I was getting kind of tired of all of these battles, and I was thinking about how I was not really wanting to fight anymore, and how I wanted to just have one big battle a week instead of a bunch of random small battles.

Then I placed the sword inside of my back pack and then I zipped it up and then I grabbed the skateboard and started to skate on my way home and get there as fast as possible. I needed to get to my house as soon as possible so I can start working on studying those things that I picked up on in my time here, as well as listen to that tape that I honestly had very little interest in, but I made a promise to Jason, so I was feeling sort of forced to do it now.

I was just skating along my way home as I was seeing the sort of red sunset around me, and I was thinking about how nice the setting was, but I was telling myself not to get too wrapped up in the setting of what is around me. I was pushing being home this late to begin with, and there was nothing that I really should be doing right now, and I know that I was losing critical time right now. I was really wanting to get ready to hang out with Maurecia as well. I didn't like her in the romantic sense, but that one moment with her was really nice on the beach, and I did like her as a friend, even if I was telling myself not to get too romantically involved with her.

The skating took a lot longer than I thought that it would have. I was not really ready to spend nearly fifteen minutes doing all of the skating, but when I reached my house, I jumped off of my board and grabbed it and then went inside of my house and then went right to my bedroom. I didn't even think about getting something to eat. I noticed that the wheels on the skateboard were starting to get a little bit damaged, and I was thinking of how I needed to get some new wheels soon.

After I sat down for a couple of minutes, I thought that maybe it would be better if I did get something to eat. I stood up and then went to the kitchen. I just grabbed a thing of cup noodles and then I figured that it would be enough for the next two hours or so, and then if I started to get hungry again before I went to sleep, I can just take care of it then. I cooked the noodles and went inside my bedroom to get ready for the night ahead.

I closed the bedroom and then I saw a bunch of photos in the area and then I took out the photos as well as the two tapes, and the tapes that I still needed to fill up for Joy, and the book that Dana gave me. I had a lot of stuff that I needed to catch up on, and I was not really sure where to begin. I needed to record the last couple of days for Joy, I needed to make the wall of photos, I needed to read Dana's thing, and I needed to listen to that tape. I was really not sure where to start here.

I figured that the photos were probably going to be the easiest one to take care of first, so I figured that this would be what I would look at first. I realized that I had something like twenty or thirty photos to line up, and when I was done, it would look like I was in a murder case when people would see this, but that was not really something I was thinking about when I was doing it, and only when I was done with the whole thing.

The photos when they were all lined up really made no sense. I am pretty sure that if somebody had come into my room to see what my room was like, they would probably think that I was just totally insane and they would probably think that I just got released from a prison or something like that. I was just thinking about what the pictures were like, and if I actually could be able to figure them all out. The one with Bill and his friends did make some sense now, after I listened to Jason reading that journal and everything. I was kind of surprised that the friends he put in the book was such a huge list. I thought that maybe one person or two of them were probably just there for the sake of being in a picture, not related to the fucking digital world experience.

I was really not sure at all why the hell this digital world was. It still made no sense to me, and I was still trying to figure out why there were two different worlds in the first place. These two worlds was just an idea that I don't really think I would have been able to wrap my brain around, since it just felt like something that I would hear in a terrible science fiction book or something like that.

I was then pulling out the cassette tape that I was going to give to Joy and then I pressed the record button. I figured that I can take care of that second, not really having the desire to listen to any of the insanity that Bill had for the time being, and I was more interested in Dana'a book than I was listening to those tapes. "Hey Joy, I am kind of going through a couple of really crazy things right now, and I am not really too sure if it is just me being insane and imagining all of these things, or if these things are actually real."

"I was hanging out with Kevin and Dana yesterday, and while we were hanging out, we went inside of a forest and once we were in the forest, we found something that looked like a giant creek. We went into the one house in the creek and then we found some guy named Jason. He said that he had lived there a while and that all of the monsters that had forced him to leave where he lived originally, and I was wondering if he was actually telling the truth. Regardless, the creek is supposed to be some really safe place for the people who go in there can just relax in and make it so that they don't have to worry about any battles at all.

Eventually, we left the forest and when we left the forest, I found a store that was looked like it had not been open since before Dana was even born, and I was shocked when I found out that Dana had actually gone in there when it closed down to see what it was like, and I was telling her my worries about that and that I shouldn't want her to go in there in case there would be the risk of her getting hurt and everything. She didn't really seem too excited about me saying that, still probably thinking about all the monsters and the fact that I am going around fighting them and me thinking that was the biggest worry was probably pissing her off a bit.

Kevin really wants to get Jenny to like him, and as horrible as that is, I just know that it won't really be able to happen and he is probably going to have to live with the fact that Jenny is probably not going to like him back, and that is something I do feel a little bit bad for. I know he likes her, but what can I do about it?

After I was hanging out with them for the night, I realized that I went to sleep in Dana's room for several hours and I left the house at like one in the morning, which makes me feel like I did something that was a little bit risky. Like I would not want to know how her parents would have reacted if they saw me there, but the fact that they didn't makes me feel like I can be safe for now. Something that I should not really abuse, but I am going to be happy for now.

I saw Jason again today after school and the two of us were talking about the monsters and how much I needed to be safe when I go and fight some of them. I was also told that the creek was safe and that as long as people are in there, no monsters will be able to attack them, which makes me think that I should try to lead some people there sooner, when they are in danger of getting attacked.

I then handed him some things I found in the forest, which was a box with some things in it, and he read this journal he found in there, that just explained a little bit more of the back story of these monsters, but I still have so many questions that I doubt they will ever be answered. But I will just focus on the monsters now.

Eventually, I went home and I fought a monster real quick that I defeated in just mere seconds. Now I am here, looking at some things in my room and I placed a bunch of photos on my wall, and I am going to listen to some tapes from the box. I am going to put an end to this session, so I can listen to those for the time being while finally looking at Dana's book. I have a lot of research to do now." I said and then I hit the pause button.

I slowly pulled out the tape, seeing that with how much I have now put on, that it actually was slowly becoming more valuable. Then I took out the two tapes from the guys box. Might as well do both tonight. I placed the first one in and pressed the play button as I was ready to listen.

"I know many people will never even come to learn this box or my materials or that even I exist. But I have a few things I wanted to say. In my journal, I described my recent journey. Read that for a vague out line what happened. Here I will be talking about my life before then, as I need to confess myself." The tape started as I opened up the first cover of Dana's master work, seeing a map of the forest.

"I am thirty years old now, and I am from Kansas. When I was a young kid, about ten years old or so, there was one monster attack that I am slowly remembering the big pieces off. My name is Bill, and I was the second of six sons from my parents. Having large families was and still is common, it is more shocking they never had a daughter." Bill said as I pondered having five brothers and I cringed. I saw the eight forest entrance points, one less than three blocks away from wayside.

"Things had been pretty nice with my family. They were always busy and around age ten at the time, no wait now that I think of it I was nine, I was still old enough to explore some. I would do so every day until sun down." Bill said as I started reading the points on the map such as 'safety shack' and several others.

"When I was out by a pond at the time, my next oldest sibling was with me. He wanted to see how far he can jump into the pond from where we were at, about fifty feet up. It sounded a little bit scary, but I jumped to show him it was fine. He seemed excited then, and be himself did it." As the map was studied, no point of the creek was made, no shock, or the mansion, which was odd.

"As we were both in the water, we saw a small opening to what looked like a cave and a large open walkway. I decided to go in the cave, telling my brother to hang at the walkway, saying I would be back soon. So with that, I went inside not too sure if my fate going in." I noticed as I looked with Bill and his soothing tape playing, that the spot on which the mansion would be was not near any entrance, meaning either more was created recently or the mansion just came along recently.

"Once I was in the cave, I was taking it easy, not wanting to go too over board. I was walking for what seemed two minutes or so until I found a wolf like creature with a torn up white shirt and they looked at me as if they wanted to eat me.I ran out right away and got to my brother as fast as I could." That not interested me some but I put a white sheet of paper on the map to try something out.

"I found that he was looking at me worried. Mostly due to how I looked. He said I was gone for nearly an hour, even though it was mere minutes to me. I rejected but soon dropped it, deciding one of us was wrong." As I was slowly getting more interested, I started drawing lines where I began noticing strange things. Such as two of one thing.

"We walked down the path, wondering how to explain the case to our parents of us being wet. We played two rounds of hide and seek for fun. But afterwards, we went home and we were ready for any outcome." I had nearly six hundred lines drawn by the end of it all, and I began taking notes trying to see a pattern.

"As we were almost home, we heard rustles in the back ground and upon looking I saw the same monster as earlier and we ran back as fast as possible to be safe. As we ran, we didn't think about anything else at all." With each note I took, I started coloring the lines to see if I can make any consistent connections and I had nearly twenty colors.

"Once home my parents wondered why we I were wet and I said we took a five and I stared out the window, seeing that thing watching me way too intently for my preference." At this moment the lines made no sense besides the blue one, which was the idea of a worn down tire swing being in seven spots, one for each day.

"About four days or so later, I was starting to think it was just a one time thing and not really all that strange after all. I decided to just go out and roam around the barren area with barely any people to talk with." I wondered what it would be like to have no social life and I hated that idea.

"I wish that I had stayed home that day. As I was going around, I was having a strange and foreboding feeling as I wandered around trying to hang out with and I was not wanting to do it with one of my brothers." I was just confused as to why he decided to place that there at all, but I didn't care all that much at the end.

"Eventually, I saw a small shack in the distance, and I knew what the shack was since I had gone there before. I decided to go there to see if anybody changed what was there. Since that happens every once in a while. Once there I was a bit disappointed." As he said the word shack, I noticed something I never saw before. I put my hand on it.

"There was nothing there at all. I was looking around in front of me and saw the wolf thing there as well. They looked so happy to see me as if I was their best friend, which scared me. But what was there scared me more." He said that as I saw a shack on the upper left part of the forest and every single line was connected to it somehow.

"The wolf was holding a head in their hand, and the head was covered in blood. The head was obviously of a younger girl, probably twelve or so. I was scared as the wolf left me alone and I ran back home right away." I felt almost sick as they said that in the tape.

"As I was home, I can see a lady talking to my parents, asking where their daughter was, and I felt terrible hearing that, knowing that it was the girl I saw that was dead and then I didn't want to day it in fear of being accused of killing her." I sort of got what they meant but it still felt odd.

"I tried to keep it to myself, but I decided to set up a investigation I knew would fail to justify myself. I went to the family of the girl." I was really trying to like what he was doing, but I felt like he was a terrible person for that alone.

"I talked with the mother for a bit and she said she would let me investigate what happened and she asked me why I would do this and I said I was trying to be a nice person. She said her name was Rebecca. Hee twin brother, Nate would help me out." I was feeling bad for her brother, hoping. He would not have to find out the truth of it all.

"We looked around for a bit, and we found a giant hole to go down, and I suggested going down, but he said he would do it since he was older and he needed to find his sister. I met him do so and two minutes later he called me down." I hated crying, but I felt ever so tempted to do so in order to show how bad I felt for Nate on it all.

"I went down and I was looking around, and found Nate. He said we should look about a bit just to see if we could find other stuff, not to save Rebecca but to stop it from killing another person and we wandered for like ten minutes until we found a stair case." I was hoping they didn't go up the stairs but I knew they would.

"We went up the stairs to see what to do, and we were inside what looked to be a abandoned house. Once we understood what happened, Nate saw a news paper article, and held it up. I will never forget what he did afterwards." I willed myself to hear this as I wondered how to go to this shack of the forest.

"It showed Rebecca had been found dead and that there was also a seven year old boy who died as well, which I saw was my oldest younger brother. We were both totally feeling destroyed at that." After that, I just focused only on the story now and listened, just too interested in this now.

"We saw that the article was published six days after we went in the hole and what I found our scared me more. I saw this was a new paper in Idaho. We were several states up, and were gone for six days. This was insane.

We realized what we had to do. We had to return to Kansas while ending the deaths if all the kids while showing we were also not dead. But we were hungry and ate what little was there to slightly fill us up.

We decided to get to know each other more and Nate talked to me about how Rebecca was and I talked about my brother and afterwards, I felt like we began to know each other more which I felt was very important for us now. We left the house and spend twenty minutes in Idaho and went onto another hole to return to Kansas." As he said this, I knew they were in a labyrinth now, which worries me now.

"We went around for a while as well, and once we left the hole this time by a stairway, we were. Confused about this, we walked around this huge city and then we found the wolf again and we saw them eating another kid, a small ten year old boy and we tried to stop them.

We three a rock at the wolf and it started to charge at us and almost killed us and then the monster only stopped when there was a gun shot. The monster ran off and then I saw a older man and he took us to the police station.

Once in the station, we saw we were in Chicago and the officer gave us a day, and then when he did, I was shocked. Ten days had passed now and then I was freaking out there now. We had been gone for sixteen days now.

We told them all what happened about the wolf, being from Kansas, and our siblings and he believed us. He took us in for the night to arrange free tickets for us to take a train for Kansas. We went to his house and then we knew we had to find a way to defeat the wolf, which I doubt could happen.

We hung for a bit and then we talked about how any of this was happening at all, and we decided to just talk about the stuff we planned to do in the future, which helped us for a while. After a hour or so, we gave up and went to sleep. Later, we heard the noises of the officer dying, it was the wolf again and since we had no tickets, we ran out to another hole and went inside. Time to get lost again." As I heard this, the pattern of the forest began to make sense, and I started to get right to work on it. I began writing all details and five minutes later I got it all.

"Nate and I were sort of starting to think that we were forced into all of this stuff and that we would live the rest of our lives doing this, which had made me think that we were going to need to accept it and move on for good. But once we left again, I was more confused once again.

We were in a county with only about one hundred people there, and we saw it was called Loving County, which was in Texas. As we looked, it had been seven days since we were gone, which meant the quest had been twenty three days by then. We saw two kids being eaten by the wolf and as we did so, we tried to fight it as well.

The fight lasted for a little while, and we managed to cut some blood on it with a sharp ass rock and as we did some damage, I thought we could stand a chance to defeat it at the end of the day.

After we gave the funeral to the two kids, we now had five kids who had died to this eating wolf. When we went to the town hub, the owner saw how hungry we were and gave us a ton of food and we genuinely feasted over the whole thing with offered food. The news was exposed two hours later.

Nate and I talked for a while at a camp fire what our life was like and how we wanted to defeat the wolf and how we could, but I felt like there was no way we could do it. Despite this, we needed to at least try for all the kids. We were the people who can be heroes, and we needed to show the effort that was needed to save the day. We slept and went to the hole the next day." As he said that, I knew each thing in the forest had seven spots it could be at, one for each day and then I found out we can see which day it was all at. The shack always stayed and each thing led to it somehow, and the forest entrances were all the same, so I can use the pattern and figure where to go every day.

"I can tell that this whole trip was really having a toll on us and I can feel as if we were really not into doing this anymore. I knew that despite how much we hated this idea, that we were forced to go on this journey and we were going to just mainly do it more for the sake of the kids even than the sake of the family that in many ways, we had left behind. It had been a month or so. I am almost certain even at the time that the members of my family had registered me as their second dead son and that Nate's family could call him the second dead sibling, meaning that both siblings were doing, with Nate only living to be mere days older than his sister Rebecca ever would live to be.

I am starting to think, or sorry I should say was, starting to think that Nate and I were actually slowly becoming friends over this whole thing and not just people who were forced into a job that we had no desire to fulfill at all. Nate and I had been forced to discuss what we were going to do once we returned, how we were going to explain any of this to our families if they were even willing to believe that we were alive at all. Which was a terrible thing for me to imagine, and I didn't even want to imagine that, but it was something I was forced to imagine sadly.

Eventually, Nate and I were outside of the path again and this time, we ended up in Oregon. As we were looking around in Oregon, we saw another young girl, probably eleven or so this time, that was getting eaten and this time when we fought it, we actually started to get a couple of real ass cuts on the thing, and it started to look as if we had actually stood at least a small chance, which was slowly giving me at the very least some hope.

Once Nate and I talked afterwards, we were hiding behind a trash bin and I could see that Nate was desperate for some form of comfort, as can be seen when I saw him find a packet of nearly full cigarettes, missing only four or so and he started to smoke it. He offered me one, but I rejected. As we were smoking, he gave me some information I would have never guessed he would have given me.

He said that he was well aware of how the labyrinth had actually been a thing, and that in a strange way he had been the one who was responsible for it. He apologized to me and I was just so confused that I just decided to let him continue to explain not knowing if I should believe in him at all. That being said, there was something in the way he was talking that made me think he was indeed actually telling the truth, which scared me even more.

I asked him what he meant, and while taking puffs of his cigarettes with each box, starting his new addiction that he unfortunately would never get over, starting at age twelve, he was explaining how he and his twin sister Rebecca were trying to go on a bet to see who can be more creative, and could create the best scary story setting, and that he was into this right away and that he was trying so hard to try and beat his sister. They were six years old, so they had no idea how the side effects would really change everything in the long run, but he said that he and her worked on it for about two or so days before she had conceded defeat over it." I realized that Nate was sort of a monster, even if he meant not to be.

'Well, he was telling me about how he was creating the idea of a giant underground maze, and how the underground maze was going to be the one thing that he felt like he could be proud of, thinking that it was just fiction. She talked about a forest that would make people go lost, would change around all the time, and then sooner or later, would have hundreds of things in it that would sort of capture the lost memories of anybody that had gone in there. Nate explained how this sounded like it could be scary on paper, but in reality, the idea of a giant underground maze that continues to grow, and the underground maze that can take you anywhere at all, was just even more scary in every way on even just paper. As a result, Nate had eventually won the bet and he was proud of the bet that he had won, thinking that it was nothing more than sibling rivalry at the time.

But now here we were, and he was starting to sort of realize that the world that he had created was actually a true underground maze, and that he had created something that was a huge problem. Nate was also wondering if Rebecca and her forest was true as well, and that they had gotten themselves into something of them creating a different piece of land just because they were trying to be the winners of a bet.

Nate sees in hindsight that this was a terrible mistake, but that there was nothing he can do about it. By this point, he had smoked four cigarettes, and I didn't even bother to tell him to stop and then he was asking me if I was willing to forgive him, or if I was going to judge him over this for the rest of his life. I was honestly not sure at the end of the time, but I can confirm that by the end of it all, I did actually indeed forgive them.

The two of us went to sleep, I was sleeping first despite the fact that Nate looked like he was totally beyond fatigue, and I decided that he was just sort of needing to do this for his own personal gain, and I just enjoyed the sleep despite the fact that the person who was almost my friend was the exact reason that we were in something like this to begin with, but he did seem like he regretted it, and as a result, if he is able to try and redeem himself, I would be willing to give him the chance to be able to redeem himself.

The next morning, as soon as the sun had come up, we went right back into the maze and I think that we were just trying to get through the maze and stop what was coming up, and that no matter what happened along the way, in the end, we just needed to get the job done.

As we were back in the maze, Nate was now trying his best to find a way to navigate through the whole thing, saying that he thinks he may have a slight chance of finding it. By it, meaning a clue on how to break the pattern. Eventually, we left another entrance and reached California, and we saw that between the last two times we went in and out, that 16 days had passed, which meant that the quest had now been thirty nine days. A ten year old boy was the guy we saw get killed this time and his look on his face was one of utter desperation, pleading for us to keep him safe, but knowing it didn't matter. It hurt me to watch this.

The wolf got a huge stab right in the center of their chest when Nate grabbed a giant rock and stabbed them right in the chest. The wolf started to bleed a bit and it looked like we were actually kind of getting to a point we might actually take the thing out for good. The wolf left, but this time it still gave us some home for the future.

Eventually, we talked for a bit and I was telling him on how I was going to try and help him make sure that nothing about the maze would affect people too much in the future, and that since it seemed like he was actually being a bit sincere with the way he was trying to change his legacy, and the legacy that he had made was just not one of death and war, but one of actually seeing the mistakes that he had made and changing every mistake that he had made to try and make it better at the end, and I said that this was something I would do my best to help out with here.

Nate stole another pack of cigarettes after his previous pack was gone, this time the pack being fully ready for him right from the start. I stole a bunch of food at a store as well, and we just feasted in order to get ourselves going after not eating for 19 days. This was at the point where we had to get rid of all morality and we needed to just survive, no matter what we were doing now, regardless of what people would think of us for it.

Afterwards, we talked on what Kansas was like, and how life there was just the life that we really needed to revisit, but we were probably never really going to get the chance to revisit it at the rate we went. We realized that as much as it sucked to say, we were probably not going to actually going to return home in either several months, or as much as it was painful to say, maybe even ever. But we slept under a couple of empty boxes and then when we woke up, we went back to the hole to continue our journey, Nate wanting something desperately to find us a way home.

Eventually, we were just wandering around enough for us to just figure out that we were sort of in a position that we were probably not going to end up at Kansas, and that when we were coming out once again, we can just try and prevent the wolf from taking out yet another child by possibly killing it, if that is even possible, even though there was a part of me knew that I was just being overly optimistic. I feel as though there is nothing really wrong with being a optimist though, and that there is something to take out of it.

When we were out of the hole again with Nate, we found out that we were in the more rural areas of New York, and that there was barely anybody who was talking with us, but I started to feel as if we were not going to get super nice reception every time we went somewhere, and when I saw what day it was, we were down underground for twenty three days, which meant that we had been gone for over two months. The wolf was eating a eight year old boy once again and then Nate and I were fighting it in some form of factory, or at least that is what it had seemed we were inside of.

As we fought the monster, we were hit around and beaten up and it looked like we were going to die, but then I saw that there was some form of a lava pit, and I thought that the lava pit could be what can take the monster out for all. I told Nate to get up on the working shelves and then he did so as the wolf joined him. I started to call out and lead him all the way to the lava pit, where Nate and the wolf battled for a while.

As the battle went on for a while, Nate went behind the wolf and then once he was behind the wolf, he kicked the wolf right into the fucking lava and then the wolf started to melt and as I got up on the shelve, we watched the wolf as they were dying and that we just needed to get out of there to return to Kansas once again, wondering if that can happen.

The two of us talked for a while on that shelf, and we were just sort of talking about what this had meant and the children that we had avenged no by stopping this thing and while it was tragic that these kids were dead, at least nobody else would die from this monster, and that we were just going to take it for what it was. We sat there and talked for about an hour or so before we left the factory and started to go to the hole for one final journey, or what we were thinking was one final journey back into Kansas.

As we traveled around, we eventually made it back to Kansas and once we had returned to Kansas, we both went to our homes which made both our families really happy that we were not dead after all, and that we had found our way back. Our families were both broken by the deaths, but us being back seemed to have almost made up for it. I can tell that Nate's parents especially were extra happy to have him, their only other child back to safety and it seemed like we slowly stopped talking after that.

After this, I had started to repress it down, trying to tell myself I had not had five siblings and only four, that Nate never happened, that the wolf never happened, and that I was just sort of going crazy. It had worked for a while, but eventually I am starting to see what I can't put off anymore. And I think that it does add a great deal of depth to what my life was like back in the day and why I was the one who helped out this time." The guy continued as I wondered how there would still be more material now.

"I don't really think I can act like I can understand the motivation to why Nate no longer talked to me after the whole trip, but in a way I am glad that he had done so, since the more that I think about it, the more that it really feels like he had truly been using me for his own benefit. I have no real reason to feel that way, but he was using me to fix his problem that in all reality, he probably should have just been doing it on his own. In a way, it was his fault his sister and all those other people died, since they would not have died if he had never made that bet and started to create that forest.

I feel bad for saying that about him and his sister, but that is just sort of how I was starting to think about it. I think that maybe he will start to see upon further and further reflection that this is the truth, and while I feel like he did change enough, that plus the extra smoking habits that he had started to get into, makes me think that we would have been a terrible combination even if we did start to continue talking with each other and all that.

I was glad that I was talking with my family again at the least. I feel as if that sort of had really made up for everything that had happened, and that when we were back together, for the first couple of weeks or so, my family pampered me and acted like I was a blessing, to which I guess considering the situation I really was, but sometimes it really is hard to imagine. I guess that I have more stuff I can talk about that makes me think that there can be more in my life that insinuates to this whole digital world.

Nothing really related to monsters, but more of what I have been told and what I may have seen here and there in my life. Such as when I started to talk to my first ever girlfriend, when I was nineteen. I feel as if when I talked with her, and I learned more about her life, that perhaps she had a problem of that sort to begin with. I will talk about the conversation on a relatively short version of it, to avoid getting too much detail in on a smaller event.

I talked with her one night, and when we were talking she was telling me that she had always been more of a introvert mainly because of some events that she had seen in her past, and while I started to think that maybe she was hinting at abuse, she said that when she was just ten years old, she had met a thing that seemed like a middle aged guy, which was already a problem since she knew she wasn't allowed to talk to strangers, and anybody who doesn't get that idea is kind of a fucking idiot.

She said that she didn't talk to him and that she did mind her business and remember what her parents had told her like a good girl. But the guy there would not really seem to leave her alone no matter how much time had passed. He asked her to talk with him, and the worst part was that he seemed to know her name right away, which scared the shit out of her. She said that she had thought he didn't know where she lived, thinking that no matter who it was there was a certain boundary that would not even be remotely crossed.

But despite this, there was one night near the end of her summer vacation where she was just trying her best to sleep and somebody had knocked on her door. Nothing seemed that strange about it and she said she was going to sleep soon enough. She turned off the light in her bedroom and went to her bed, trying very hard to sleep. Despite this, the man did not seem to give up there and walked into her bedroom while she was asleep, and he stared right at her for hours on end with her not even knowing that this was happening.

When she woke up, she was talking with her parents on if they were really tired that night and that was why they knocked on her door to tell her to go to sleep. Both of her parents looked at her confused, thinking that she was just pulling their leg and they told her that nothing like that ever happened. She was saying that she was certain that something like that happened, and they told her that she must have been dreaming.

That very night, she thought she was going to try and see if she had been imagining that or not. So she went right to sleep and then she put the blanket over her, thinking she would keep one eye open. The thing came in again and started to stare at her for hours on end, and she said that with each hour that passed, the thing started to look progressively less human to the point where it looked like a old worn down molded zombie. Which in a way was even more scary to see than just a normal zombie she said she envisioned.

When she was up the next day, she told her parents that she saw somebody in her room that night staring at it and that it scared her. At first they laughed at it and when they started to see she was more serious, she told her not to think about it and that she was just probably getting weak sleep lately, and she was starting to think that maybe they needed more proof to make them know that she was telling the truth. So with that, she placed a giant pot in her room to make it cause a lot of noise when it broke.

It was a terrible idea, and I sort of wonder if she really had thought about that at all, but I can tell that she clearly did not when she just placed it down a little bit carelessly. When the monster came into the room, it did create a big breaking noise and the monster did yell and when that happened, she woke up and both her parents ran into the bedroom to see what was going on, and they saw that something indeed was there, and that she had actually been telling the truth this whole time. The monster ran off by just jumping through her window space that was left open and both her parents just looked at her.

After learning of the monster being real, her father put some wood at the window and then he started to hammer in some nails, and he thought that this would work, but it would turn out to not really work all that well given the fact that the monster never entered in the forest, but they thought that it would just work better that way, and that was why they had even tried it that way in the first place.

That night it turned out to not mean anything when the monster broke into the house for a fourth night in a row but this time both her parents stayed up just in case something like this happened. Her father had a gun out ready just in case something like this happened and the monster just shot them with his gun a few times, trying to see if they would lose focus in the girl. It didn't work out entirely as the monster just walked in anyways with only mere second long pauses. Eventually the monster moved away again when they were shot them in the face.

Her father started to work on something that can kill this monster, and as a result he created a large knife that can probably be able to fight the monster up close, since he felt that maybe guns would not be able to damage the monster at all. My girlfriend was starting to lose a bit of sleep after this, just staying up longer than usual to make sure that it would delay when the monster would show up again as much as possible, even then no matter how long you put it off, they are going to show up again sooner or later.

When she was asleep, her father was ready right away and the monster came to the house again and then before they could do anything, her father killed the monster and then as a result, this whole situation had given her some nightmares for a month or two. But after a while, she went back to her normal life and it was like she had never had that situation happen to her at all, or she was trying to pretend that this happened, and until I talked with her when we started dating, it seemed like it had almost kind of worked.

I kind of feel bad for her telling me all of this stuff, but me never telling her any of the stuff that I went through, as if acting like none of this was actually worth her knowing and that it was worth acting like she was the only one to ever have a terrible experience was more worth it than just telling the truth of what I did back in the day. But probably because I had done such a good job at the idea of just keeping that stuff so far back that it was like it had never happened.

We didn't really keep together all that long. Probably for about two or so years, which I guess for some people is like an eon, but at the same time, I felt like we were truly going to settle down and get married at some point, but since that never happened, there is still a small part of me that wonders if I will ever get married, which I know is a bit silly for saying that since I am with somebody right now, but still...

I know that I am kind of getting off the main point of what I am trying to talk about, the monsters and everything, but I guess that I just am trying to point all of the pieces of my life together, and this is what we are stuck here with. I do remember a few other things, so I am going to go on with those things and not talk about more on what I missed out on with a girl that I don't even know if they are alive at all anymore. I have not talked with her since we broke off, which was about fourteen or so months after she told me this stuff.

I guess that there is something that my father told me one night with my brothers at the time, about a year or so after the Nate story, and I think most of us had accepted my brothers death, and the story is quite the interesting one. So I will go on that." As the recording went on, I was getting ready to learn of how I was going to reach the hole in the center of the town.

I was starting to see how much time was left on the original tape, and I was starting to see that probably after the story that he was going to tell next, this tape would be over and the next one would be starting, which is not really all that shocking since this one had gone on for a while. I just figured that this would have been a little bit longer than what it would have been. I guess my expectations would not always be the truth though.

"My father was telling me about his life when he was back in Minnesota, and he was telling me how he had never believed in anything like monsters and he always just felt like they were scary stories just meant to basically make kids behave more and everything. He was telling me he lived there, he would always love the out door life such as going into a forest and everything. As he went into the forest all of the time, he thought that it would be a great adventure with each day that he went in there, and that was the only reason he had really do it in the first place.

He had a couple of friends, one who was a guy, and one who was a girl, and they were both around his age at the time, which was around thirteen or so, and they always hung out every single day. Since they all had the very great honor of being the only children of their own families as is, it means that they can pretty much be just what they want to do on basically any given moment. Both of them pretty much liked going out doors every single day of the week.

One of the crazy things that he told me about, was this story of a few buildings that he saw in the forest. Such as a mansion, and I am confused as to why it was considered a great idea to bring a mansion in a forest, but since I don't have a mansion in the first place, I guess I can't really talk about my preferences all that much. The mansion that they found sort of really changed a lot of their ideas of how extra life beyond humans and just simple animals forever, to the point where my dad had sort of became a huge monster believer.

Inside of the mansion, there were several rooms across the mansion and all three of them decided to stay with each other, in order to make sure that nobody would really come along and take all of us at once and kill us. If they decided to attack us, we could be able to defend ourselves in a three to one battle, or at least we were thinking that this would be the better idea. But when they went inside the mansion and looked in all of the rooms, it looked like it had been abandoned just a few days ago, and that they had been the first people to come in to the clearly deserted but not for long enough to make it worn down to the bone, and it made them even more interested in what they were going to find.

The people realized that it was a mostly well put together place with barely any things taken out of the house, and there was a television there in one of the rooms. The three of them walked inside of the bedroom and then turned on the television to see what they would find in there.

Once the television started there was a person who was sitting there. He looked like he was wearing a black jacket, and the person that he was talking with seemed to be a middle aged guy with a loose beard, and he was very scared of the man in the purple jacket, as can be seen on his face but only when he was looking away from the guy owning the house, every time they were looking directly at each other he started to get himself back into normal mode, just trying to keep it relatively hidden the whole time.

The guy was talking to him about how the man in the purple jacket wanted to get a team going on in a large battle coming up. He was wondering if the guy who was owning the house wanted to let them use their children to be a part of team, and then the guy who owned the house turned him down, saying that he respects the lives of his children way too much to have that happen. The man in the purple jacket sat down on his knees and stared right at the guy who owned the house at their eyes.

The guy was talking to the man in the purple jacket telling him on how children were much too valuable to throw away for a battle that he was not even sure was actually going to be happening and then the man in the purple jacket flicked his finger and then there was a loud noise in the house and the guy who owned it took a large gulp of fear when he saw that there was something that looked like a walking human but with two large ass arms that were the size of knives, walking down the hall way.

The man in the purple jacket told this guy that he was going to make him regret saying no to this offer and then there were a bunch of screams, and then the guy who owned the house had a terrible feeling that his family was getting killed. He kicked the man in the purple jacket right in the chest and made him fall back. This made the guy look so livid that he thought he was going to set the whole mansion on fire.

The man in the purple jacket grabbed a knife and stabbed him several times in the chest and then after he stabbed them in the chest, he walked out of the house while carrying all the children who died, the wife who died, and then the guy who owned the house outside and then he buried them. Once he had buried them, he saw that there was something of a monster army and then he started to walk off, with them following him. That is what my dad was telling me earlier about what he had seen earlier." After I heard that, I saw the tape end and then I put the second one right in there to start it all up.

"Now that I have explained a bit more about the monsters that I have had to deal with earlier in my life, I think that the point has been pretty well made and I can move right on with our lives. I am going to just talk more about the personal stuff of my life. I want to talk to you all more about the goals that I have in my life, and where I am trying to get this all when I am a old man. What I want to be able to tell my children of what I accomplished, and what I have missed out on, which I feel like I wish would be virtually nothing.

I am thinking that I will not tell my kids about the monsters that I fought, as I feel like I should just let that all be a thing in the past. If I was smart, I think that this can be one of the only ways that I can actually be able to keep them safe. I think that if I have some sons, I might be a little bit more open about telling them all of the stuff that happened, but if I have any daughters, there is no way in hell that I am going to throw this into their laps since I don't want any daughters to deal with something like that. Call that generic, and call that sexist but I am just doing my best with what I have.

When I have some kids, I think I might move them up to Minnesota. My father seemed to like this place, even with the forest incident that he says makes him believe in monsters, but everything about the place just sounded so great that I am not going to let some bad experiences that I had, terrible I might say, and one bad experience with him change what I feel like would be a good place to let my kids be at. I think that I can have a chance to have them get exactly what they want, and I will do just that.

I think it is insane that I am almost thirty years old, and I still don't have any kids. I think that I have placed it off much too long, and that I need to just have some sooner or later. I want to be able to have them young enough to which they feel like they can have a father that is actually there from start to finish, like what my dad did with my brothers.

I think that my girlfriend seems to be very mixed on the idea of having a kid or even more than just one kid. I think she would want a kid, maybe two, but I think that if I start to suggest having like three or four or more, they might just shoot me down and say that this is taking it too far, which I guess would make some sense.

I am not going to talk harshly on my girlfriend, she has had a hard life. I think that she is just trying her best to make do with what had been happening to her, and I am going to be fully supportive of the fact that she needs to have some space, and the fact that she just doesn't really know what she fully wants with her life. I just want to be there for her, and make her feel like she is loved. I know that everybody I hang out with gets strange with me when hey find out that my girlfriend is only nineteen years old, and that we started dating on the back hand when she was fifteen.

It started when I saw her and just saw how attractive that she was, and I was just not able to resist her. I started to talk to her, and she was starting to talk to me as well. When she started to talk to me again, I think that the two of us were feeling like we had truly found what we needed in our lives. I even was the man who had the honor of taking her virginity when she had turned sixteen years old, about nine weeks after we had first met and she told me she wanted to give it to somebody who really respects her.

It was about a month or so later when I asked her if she wanted to be my girlfriend, and she agreed to it. Although we had to keep it low to the public until I left to go to school, due to our age difference and I was just trying to keep it a little bit safe with the crazy act that I was also committing at the same time.

We would meet up every night when her parents were out on their jobs, and I would leave when there was ten minutes before they would be back from work. We would talk about her school life, and my police life, and my desires to go to college to eventually maybe get a better job than being a police officer, and every time when her parents would be gone for the night, or for the weekend, which was about once every month to five weeks, we would have sex and each session got better than the last with her getting better at it, and our love growing.

I feel like I am a grown man giving out his darkest secrets to people that I will never meet in my life, but at the same time, when you guys get this, it will be so far in the future that I don't even feel like it will matter all that much what I have done. In fact, it might be so far in the future that people may not have a chance to get this in full due to how worn down it may be as a result of the age.

She seems to understand where I want to head in my life, and I really do understand what her life is like, and the stuff that she is going through. When I talked with her parents at first, I think they were very against the idea of me dating her, mainly because of how long it had already been going on as well as the age different between the two of us. But eventually, after a few times that we have talked with each other, I am starting to think that her parents actually slowly started to like me a bit, and that I had done right by getting them to respect me.

I have not really talked to them all that much though, even though I know I have earned a bit of their respect. I think that it is fine that this is the case. I don't really think we have personalities that would really decide that we would get along all that well, so I think just them accepting me at all is a big step up, and I am just going to have to accept what they have given me on that regard. I just hope that they will be accepting when I plan to marry her.

I think that I will talk to them when we get married, and maybe once every year or so when we have to deal with the Christmas visit, but that is the extent of what I want to talk to them with. I want this to be a relationship between my girlfriend and I, not one between my girlfriends parents and I. But I need to drop the subject now and talk about some things, such as my life of being a cop, since I think that it is one of the biggest choices I ever made.

When I was a young man, I thought about the incidents of people dying, and I figured that I didn't want that to happen. I didn't think that people dying with little to no justice system should have ever been something that we should let happen, so I decided that one of the things that I was going to do was just go out and try and put a end to all of the crime before the crime even had a chance to start up, if that makes sense for that to be a motivation, even if it was and still is a little bit idealistic.

I then decided to grow up learning how to use things such as a gun and a knife, just to be ready for when I might have to use that to fight off some criminals, which I was almost certain that I was going to get into eventually. After I had reached a relatively decent age, I decided that I was going to go right into the police academy and it was kind of long and hard to go through that, but when I was done with the academy, I went on and started my new life, and I was early twenties by that point.

I had a few cases that I had actually been able to solve in my earlier career as a police officer. Nothing too crazy like me breaking in and breaking down the entire crime group in our city or something like that. Nothing even remotely close to something like that. I mean that I have been able to stop maybe one or two drug operations and stuff like that. The first of which was when I was in the force for about two months or so, and was considered to be the rookie of the police force, although in a week or two somebody else would join the force and I would no longer be the rookie.

I had my partner sitting down with me in the car that we had, just talking about what it was like to be in the force and what I was to expect while I was taking down some crimes. He was telling me what I should be prepared for and what I should be ready to stop right away before there is even a chance of it expanding. He was pretty much getting me all used to what things should be like in the future.

After he had pretty much given me this huge break down of what to do, I saw that there were two people doing negotiations on weapon trades and everything. Like they were making some plans on who was going to get which guns and everything. My partner, who had been one of the longer serving officers there, and I were listening in and listening to what they were going to be doing with these weapons.

They were talking how they were going to break into a bank and how anybody who was going to be trying to stop them from robbing the bank, they would just kill that person and throw their corpse away as if it had never happened. Then once they got their money, they would leave the scene as fast as possible in order to risk not getting caught right away. They said that they were planning on going to southern Texas so that way nobody would know where they had gotten the money. Obviously this was going to be my chance to stop some of the obvious crime that was going to be coming up at any moment, and I was not going to take down this chance.

So my partner gave me a very short break down of what I needed to do and was pretty much just breaking down the standards for me again, which I would admit was a tad annoying but I was still able to see why he was doing this. After all, he did not want me to fuck up my first case, so I figured that I would let him give me the thirty second lecture and then once we were over that, we were ready to take down a operation." The guy kept going and I was totally aware of every single tiny fact of the forest and I was ready to tell Maurecia and others what was going on.

"We went out of our car and we had a couple of guns with us, one for each of us and we were walking up to the people who had been talking about the bank robberies. Once we went up to them and made the fact that we were there known to them, I saw that the two of them looked scared to see two police officers. This was proving without any shadow of a doubt that these people were guilty, and that if they were not guilty they would have in no way whatsoever tried so hard to hide what they were doing. We asked them a couple of questions, and they seemed to get really uncomfortable with each question.

As they were questioned a few times, one of them said that they needed to go away and do something for work, and we saw that they were starting to walk away and my partner yelled at them to stop what they were doing and to pay closer attention to what we were trying to tell them. The people looked at us a little bit annoyed and then I saw that one of them had a gun right in their pocket and they were holding it slightly just in case a battle would start.

I was holding the gun right at them and my hands were shaking a bit, which was clearly showing that I was a bit of a rookie and that I had not actually been in any real battle with people, and I could see that the people saw that weakness I was showing and then he took out their gun and fired the gun right at me. I was ready for what was going to happen and then I ran behind a trash can. My police partner took his gun at point and aimed it right at the guy with the gun and fired the bullet right at their chest, not killing him but injuring him and needing to take him to the hospital.

The other guy who we were talking with took out their gun and they were getting ready to fight me. I then was told by my partner that firing the gun was fine as long as it was self defense and this would qualify as that. As I heard that, I decided that he was right and then I fired the gun at him and then shot them right in the hand, and then I shot his other hand, making it virtually impossible for him to use the guns at all.

Afterwards, my partner thanked me for taking out the second guy and we brought both of the criminals to the hospital for them to get treated and when we brought them there, we told the doctors to let us know when they would be released, so that way we can arrest them then. The doctor promised us to do this and then we went back to the car and my partner decided that he was wanting to talk with me for a little bit one to one.

My partner was telling me that under most cases, we should never go on and fight the people who are committing crimes. He did however say that when they start to attack us first and when it is looking like there is a need to fight in order for self defense, then it is totally fine to fight back. He said that it won't happen all that often, and not nearly as much as I would assume that it would happen, but it would happen every once in a while and that when it does happen, don't worry about it and just go ahead and do it if I am one hundred percent certain that there is no other way around it. I hated the thought of it, but I had a feeling that he was right when he was saying this to me, so I remembered this.

I told him that I was going into this job thinking that I was going to be doing it for the good of other people, and when I was doing this, I thought that people would be able to actually benefit from everything I did. But then my partner said that if I wanted to make some true changes, I would have to keep going at this for several years, and that I can't change things after such a short period of time.

Eventually, we just agreed that we were not going to talk about this situation too much and that since this was my first case, that this was just going to be the sort of me getting used to how the big crime scenes are, and I thought that my partner really was going to be the one who was going to be here for me when I needed somebody, and I thanked him just for that. He said that I was his partner, so he needed to treat me with respect no matter what the case is, and I said that regardless, I was glad he was doing this for me.

Nothing really came up for about another month or so, and we only helped out in one case, but we were not the one who had led the case. We brought those criminals from the hospital to the prison four days after they were put in there and they had been there since. At this time, my partner was starting to show some signs of trusting me, and I thought that maybe I was going to be able to start breaking in with him.

When the next case was coming up, we were supposed to investigate the murder of a twenty five year old woman, and it was strange for me to investigate the murder of a woman older than me, and we went right to the case and my partner said that he had no idea who she was, and that since I did as well, there was no need to get sentimental over this case. I knew he was right when he had said that to me.

We visited her house and as we had visited her house, we found out that her family no longer talked with her, she didn't have any children, and most people forgot that she even lived there at all. It was terrible to hear that about her, and I sort of felt bad that it was basically like she had lived a life that nobody knew or even cared about. I was wondering how it must have felt to have that be a part of life.

As we looked around her house a little bit, I found a small piece of paper. I showed it to my partner and when I showed it to my partner, he seemed to consider what he was reading and he told me that we needed to bring this to the office right away. I didn't know why he was feeling this way, but I decided not to argue with him since I could tell on the look on his face that he was not wanting me to fuck with him. Then with that, we left the house right away and brought the paper to the chief of the station, which only have like twelve police officers in the first place.

Once we showed the note to the chief of the station, he told me to leave the room and then he talked with my partner for about an hour or so before he left and he told me to follow him down to the warehouse in town and I decided not to argue with him about what he was wanting me to do. He clearly had a reason for wanting me to just stay quiet about this, and I decided that I was going to just let him explain everything on the way there or after the case was done.

We eventually made it to the warehouse and once we were at the warehouse, we saw that there were about six or seven people all in there and my partner had something like a small recorder as a piece of recording a confession or something like that. As we were inside of the warehouse and starting to question the people there, I was starting to figure out some of the details for myself, and I was wondering why I was not allowed in on these details.

He started the recording and the confession came out that they killed her and that they emptied part of her blood in order to use it for some form of sacrifice, they also confessed to killing about three other people so far and then that we were going to be next since we walked right into their layer. But then my partner started hand cuffing them all before they even knew what was happening and then started to bring them to the police station, and once the case was over, he explained to me what was going on and why the note mattered so much.

He said that the note was going to help expose this secret cult that is in the city that has been around for ten to fifteen years. He told me that the police force has been trying to track down the cult after news of it was originally just a prank but eventually it stopped being a prank at all and the whole issue was actually genuine. This was something that was the police chiefs top goal on the side line, and he was going to not stop until all of that is truly taken care of.

My police partner explained how the cult has been responsible for things like murder, things like huge robberies, and other things such as child sex rings. This guy explained how in a strange way, he is starting to feel like every single crime that is related of the cult in some way. I thought that it sounded fucking insane, but he told me that if he wanted me to be proven right, he was going to show me some files of previous cases. I then decided that he should give me a chance to prove all of this to be true.

He brought me right towards his house and then he showed me a stack of about forty to fifty files, including the case that we done about a month or so ago. He told me that I had the permission to check every single file if I wanted, and truth be told I didn't want to, I felt like I just simply needed to. So I grabbed the first one and basically started right on my homework, if you want to call it that. I guess I was able to understand it all when I did read the stuff.

I read the files for about seven hours or so and went on until like four in the morning, and I was kind of annoyed with the idea of reading all of these files, and my partner was staring at me not saying a single word the entire time that I was reading the files. Eventually when I was done I looked at my police partner and I was thinking of what to say. I decided to tell him what I truly thought of the situation, was a thought I never considered admitting.

I said that while the early files did seem a little bit like a coincidence, that the later ones really started to drive home the fact that this all seemed like it could be connected, and he told me that he was glad that I was starting to understand it. He said that it was time for us to really work together, and that it was time for us to bury any possible differences that we had, and it was time to really drive through the idea of working together, and I started to also get down to business because I felt like I needed to, just as he had said.

Once we started to work together, he started to tell me all of the major places where these crimes took place in, and once it was around seven in the morning, he called up the chief and said he wanted to give us both the day off, and the chief agreed. We took a quick sleep and after the sleep, we went back to the topic of where each of these crimes took place in and each connection that can be made." I was wondering what cult he was talking about, and if the cult was one I have heard about.

"Eventually, after the cult discussions were all done with, my police partner and I started to head out right down to the police station and things started to go by for a little while without a single incident and no case. Just my partner and I talking for a while and getting to know each other, and it seemed as if after a while, as if nothing had really happened and that this was just going to be a short phase to go through. I almost had forgotten about the cult after a week or two, and everything was just sort of business as per usual.

When about six to seven weeks after the previous case came by, I started to think about why I even joined the police force to begin with and if I was just sort of wasting my time doing this. But that was when the next case had come up, and this one was even worse than the cases that I had gotten earlier in my life. The case was about a small family that died, a father a mother, and two sons. It was a little bit sad, but I think that this was to be expected. I was just shocked when two of the three cases that we had in my life was just a bunch of killings and everything.

We went to their house and while we found nothing like notes or anything, we found a giant entrance to the basement, and then we went inside the basement and this was kind of interesting because the murder aspect of the case was solved right when we went down there, but it was more of what she was working for that made this a bit more of a interesting case than I could have even imagined.

We were inside the basement and there was a small journal by the mother. She explained how she joined the Sunny Cult, which my police partner was already more than we have made any progress on, and she had been told that if she wanted to be considered a full on member, she had to kill people she loved the most. At first she was going to kill her husband, since he was the love of her life, but then her sons caught her doing this and then she killed both of them and then when she had realized what she had done, she started to break down and see that the entire murder and cult was terrible. She said that after she wrote this, she would be dead from suicide and the last bit was written in blood, probably of her sons, saying that nobody should join the Sunny cult. Afterwards, she slit her throat, killing herself.

We took the journal and then when we handed it to the police chief, he said he would look in the contents and he said if there was more stuff in there, he would let us know the next day. I invited my partner to my house that night and we talked more about our lives, and he told me all of his back story.

The guy was telling me that he married when he was very young, even younger than I was at the time, and he was telling me that he thought it was a very good choice at the time, not at all considering what could have happened in the future, and he said that for a couple of years, everything had seemed perfectly fine. I was wondering if he was going to tell me about some random family that he had, and what the family was like and that the family was gone.

It turns out that my prediction was correct, and that when he had married, he had one son with her and that when he raised his son, that everything was great and that he and his wife were very proud of the man that he was growing up to be. He said that he was kind of rough as a small kid, but as he was growing older, he had become a really great man and that he would have grown up to probably be a successful politician if he wanted, but that in the goal that he wanted to go, which was craft, that he would have excelled at.

He said when his son had turned eighteen was when things started to go down. He started to act strange, and he was really not like the kid that they had raised earlier, that he was probably starting to get into things that were going to be considered dangerous. My police partner said that he didn't bother trying to get him to stop since he thought that it was a brief phase that he had been going through, and even if it wasn't, he was still old enough to just go on his own right on his life.

Then eventually there was something that ruined everything. There was something like a group of people who would come to their house to meet with their son every week, and when he was almost nineteen years old, there was a note that they found in his bedroom that just said "Sunny Cult" and then that was when my police partner knew that he had to get into his business, since he did not want his son to become a giant freak.

My father found a small group of people in the middle of a abandoned section of town. When my partner confronted his son he turned around to see his father and said that he was finding his purpose in life, and that his purpose in life was to bring back the great god and then he said that anybody who got in his way would be forced to be killed. Even if it was somebody in his family. With that, my partner took out his gun at his son and it hurt him to do this and he shot and killed every single member of the cult at the time, including his own son. He buried all of them later and then when he was done with that, he joined the police force telling of a cult. Or the start of a cult at the very least.

I was shocked when I found out this, and I thought that he should get sent to prison for the fact that he had killed these people, but I remember what he was saying about self defense, and I was thinking that maybe he was just thinking that maybe there really was not any sort of way out of this one. I decided that I was just going to be quiet for that one, since I thought that everything he said was just a big part of what he was telling me here.

I asked him if the police chief ever found out about what he had done, and he said that he did not know, or at the very least did not publicly state the fact that he knew what had happened, which had meant that to him, he had a chance of getting out of this for good, and that everything he did was more justifiable than people would say that it was. I then asked him, what he did with his wife after the death of his son, and if she had found out he had been responsible for their death?

He had said that he had never told his wife that he was responsible for their sons death, but when she found out her son had died, she just said that she sort of knew it was going to happen when he started to change how he was acting, and she said that even though she was sad her son was dead, she was not going to cry about it and act like it was the most unexpected thing that she had heard of.

I asked him if he regrets killing his son, and he said that while he did not regret killing his son, and felt like he deserved his death, he did regret not going to his grave more often, to sort of pay respects for his son. After all, when his son was still a nice young man, he was remembering his son for that reason. Although he knew that his son was not really responsible for what happened, and that he was forced to do this.

After this was told to me, I asked him if I was a good police partner, and what he said changed me forever. He said that he was there for me and he picked me as his partner because I reminded him of what he thought his son would be like if he never died, and if he stayed the good man that he was originally before. I then felt bad knowing that, pretty much knowing that I was kind of like a back up son for him for the one that he should have had.

It was after this when the next case, and the third to last one related to the Sunny Cult went down, and I did not really believe what had happened. There was two more case after this for the cult, but this was the one that made me really see what they were actually capable of, and that is actually really scary, knowing what they could actually do with people now." I then was wondering why everybody who knew Bill was such a terrible person, and if Bill was just the one who had any sort of sanity on this whole thing.

"The next case that we had was about the police chief himself. He said that this case was off the books and that he will not charge us for anything we might do, and that this is going to be one case where we are allowed to use any methods we wish, even if it meant that we were breaking the law as well. He said that his daughter, who was fourteen years old, was found having committed suicide from hanging. He explained that she had died that previous night but when he saw what was on her, he saw that there was a note saying that the Sunny Cult had decided to give his family a visit and how it was a shame nobody else was there to witness their great torture session.

He said we were the only ones for the job and that he wanted to avenge his daughter in any way he could. We reluctantly agreed to this and decided that we better look around the entire city first. If there were no rules, then we can do whatever we wanted. This was a mere three weeks after the previous case, and not nearly long enough for me to even be able to pretend that I forgot all about it.

We found a house that had a giant sign of the Sunny Cult on it and we walked right in with our guns pointed up and as we were looking around, we saw that there was barely anybody there but that there was a sign telling us to go to the other side of town and that we only had forty five minutes since when we found the house. We ran out and when we were fifteen feet away, we saw the house blow up and we started to run as fast as we could to the other side of town, not caring what we broke along the way there, just trying to put an end to all of the crime going on.

We eventually had made it all the way to the other side of town where fifteen or sixteen members of the cult were doing something that looked like a blood sacrifice. Three or four of the other officers were being offered up as part of the service and then when they saw us, they gave us a small talk on what their plans were. They said that they wanted to bring the great Daemon back, and that Daemon was the one who was going to enlighten the entire world. We were told that Daemon needed a physical host, and that we could be the ones for it.

Then they took out a bunch of things like ninja stars and threw them with such great accuracy that I thought we were going to actually get killed by doing so. We killed all but one of them, and brought them to the police chiefs office to let him talk to the guy that we brought in, since he seemed the least mentally insane out of a fucking insane group.

When we brought him to the office, the chief started to question the guy while we stood there. At first he seemed like he was actually giving the guy a chance, but after five minutes he started to raise his voice and the people said that every death that happened, from those kids a long time ago, to the people they were killing now, and everybody that had died from the cult, was just slowly giving Daemon more power and that no matter how long they tried to fight it, they would only prolong when Daemon came back.

We were curious what this Daemon was obviously but before we could get even anywhere close to getting that information, he decided to blow his own brains out and then after he did that the police chief told us to leave him alone and he needed to set up his daughters funeral arrangements. We did as he asked and we went to my partners house, where we started to devise the biggest plan of all. Destroying the mother fucking Sunny Cult. This would have been my major break out as a cop, and the one thing that I knew was going to actually change everything.

I could tell that my partner was feeling terrible over this whole thing, as if his death was soon and he was saying that he was just getting himself ready for that, to see his son, to see his now dead as well wife, who died four years ago, and to see that this could be his biggest case yet. He told me that I was a good cop and that I came a long way and that this was going to be the thing that would make me go down in history. This would also start the second to last Sunny Cult case.

My police partner was telling me that he was just really worried that I was going to die, and he told me that he didn't want that to happen to me before I really had the chance to actually prove myself at the police force. After he had said that to me, I told him that I was going to try my best to be careful with this whole thing, and I was telling him that I was going to do my best to be careful here, and he said that he was really happy that I was going to at the very least try to be careful here.

We started our case when a few days had passed, and the police chief said that he was ready to get right into business now that the funeral was over, and that he didn't want to get distracted and everything, and he was telling us about this house a little bit of town, and he was telling us that the gang lived there, and that we should go there to see if they were having any other plans coming up. My partner and I decided that we should just do this to make our boss feel like his daughters death was worth it.

We left the police station and we slowly headed on our way to the house that we were told to go to, and the people who were around us were not even bothering to talk to us, since to them it was very obvious that we had a lot of stuff going on, and that them distracting us was going to just make things even worse. Some people did wish us good luck, and left it as simple as that and at the end of the day, we were out of town and we had another hour or so to get there fully.

We went through the final hour or so to get to the house that the police chief had told us we needed to get to and once we were there, one of the guys who was there said that this was the abode of the Sunny Cult and that they were willing to let anybody join them if they wished to, saying that they needed to pick up new members after several of them had died, and they asked us if we wanted to join and we decided that in order to get some more information, we would indeed join.

Once we went inside of the building, we saw that there was about six or seven members of the Sunny Cult, and the leader that there was over a hundred members of the cult, and once we said that we wanted to join the cult, they looked at us strangely and then let us join and the leader said that they have a job for all of us to do.

The leader of the cult said that we were going to try a raid on the town, and that we were to steal everybody over the age of thirteen who hasn't fully gotten 'into reality' as they said, meaning all the people who either weren't married or didn't have a job, something neither one of us met and we were really hoping that nobody would find out about us. My partner and I put on the clothes of the cult and we were going to really just keep the ruse up for a little bit longer to make it so that there would not even be the risk of being exposed.

We left the house of the cult and every single member of the cult started to head on the way back to the town after the leader let us have a one hour long nap in order to make sure that we weren't too tired for the job and once we were inside of the town, it started to look like people were getting right into the job of catching people and killing all those who refused to join the cult, and after a few minutes of this, my police partner looked directly at me and he was giving me the look that we needed to get right to stopping the people before they could grab or kill too many of the people in the town.

We started to fight off every member of the cult who was in a house, and we managed to take on seven or eight and it was starting to get pretty obvious that we were the ones taking on the members of the Sunny Cult and then in order to hide from getting killed ourselves, we hid behind a giant crate and took on another two members of the cult who were pursuing us obviously trying to kill us for killing their fellow comrades.

We waited there like cowards as the rest of the operation was done, and most likely by the end of it all the cult had doubled and probably about forty had died, and there seemed to only be like nine or ten members left of the town. Like four males and about five or so females, not including my partner and I. Then my partner and I walked out of the hidden part of town and the leader of the cult saw us and yelled at us that we were traitors and the guy took out a gun and shot my partner and killed him, but before he died he told me to go to his house and find something in his house that would explain everything.

The guy took his gun right at me and then he shot me and he probably thought I died when he walked away and I was bleeding out to the point of near death. I was brought to the hospital where two days later I woke up and was told the truth that my partner was dead and that the police chief wanted to see me to discuss some issues.

I went to the police station and when I was at the chiefs office, I came to the realization that I was the only one left in the towns force, aside from him. As a result, I had been appointed commissioner of the police station by total default, even though I really did not want the job, but I decided that I was not going to fight him over this. With that over with though, he told me that there were some other things that we needed to discuss, such as the final way to take down the Sunny Cult.

He said that these people did not deserve another chance, and that they have abused the rights of being allowed to live on now. The police chief said that he wanted me to go to the factory, and kill every single member of the cult. He told me no charges will be pressed, and that I am to use any methods possible. He told me that he does not want me to leave a single one alive that way they would try to repopulate the cult. I hated what he was saying, but I knew he was right.

While he talked, he said that once this is all taken care of, things will go back to business as usual and that this is not something that I should be getting too used to, being allowed to kill at any free will. I said that I was totally fine with that and that I didn't want to kill too many people for the time being. Then he said that he had one more thing that he wanted to tell me, and that this was going to be the last chance we might ever have to do this, so I stuck around just to listen to him on what he wanted to tell me.

The chief said that he wanted me to go to my partners house and take anything I wanted, and that he wanted me to avenge his life since he had been there longer than anybody else there. He said that my partner really respected me and he truly thought I had become a better man. Afterwards, the chief just said that he hoped we can populate the town again after this and that should be the instant focus of the town once this is over, and I knew he was strangely right.

I left the police station and head right towards my police partners house and I was going to figure out his house, trying to really make sense of all that had happened, and understand why he wanted me to go there, and if there was something that would really help me out figure what could take down the cult, if it was even possible for me to actually take down this cult and if this was actually a suicide mission that I was going through or not.

Once I was inside of my partners house, I was ready to get right to work and I opened up a small box. This was the box I needed to go to as it literally said 'For Bill' on this. Once I opened it up the box had a two page letter telling me that he was giving me his entire inheritance and that everything in this house was officially mine now and that he was proud of me, and that I was his best police partner that he had ever had.

Then afterwards, I smiled in a very shamed way as I went through the other stuff in there and saw a giant set of stuff that I was going to use to destroy the cult. The box had a bunch of weapons such as knives, a few guns, and then a bunch of small sword which I was confused by, and a few grenades that I knew I might have to use and that there was one mine in there that I knew that I was probably going to need to use in case things got rough, which I had a feeling that they would given my luck.

I placed all the weapons in my pocket and on my pants and then I had the knives either in my pocket or hidden under my sleeves and I had the sword right inside of a sheave and then the blade was placed on my upper pants. I was ready to avenge the town, and avenge my friend, and then I was ready to possibly help populate the town with the girls there, which was something I knew I needed to do, as sad as that may be to say there.

As that was done, I started to head out of the house and then I looked at the house once more and had a couple of tears on my eyes, knowing that everything I did in the last few months had been put to waste and then I decided that this was going to be the one good thing that I would do, and that this was going to be what my legacy would be if I died now, or at least a part of what my legacy would be if I did live on here, and then I was ready to go on forward." After that, I saw that there was mere minutes left of the tape left and I was ready for the finale.

"I went right into the house of the cult and I decided that I was not going to let this go until I am all done with this. I had a bunch of guns in both of my hands and then I kicked the door down and when I kicked the door down, I saw that there was about a hundred or so people in there, and then I shocked by all of this. They were growing by the tons, and the second in command looked at me and then he smiled and said that he was ready to kill the traitor, and that everybody in the cult was authorized to kill me at the spot.

I saw that there were about eight bullets or so in both of my guns and then I started to fire both of them as fast as I can, and I shot and hit about twelve people out of the sixteen bullets, and all twelve of them were dead on the ground, and I saw that I had about a tenth or so of my job done. Then another one came along and then I put one gun down and then grabbed the sword in the hilt and then stabbed about four people or so and killed all four of them, including the second in command who had wanted to kill me.

As this was going down, I reloaded the gun and then I was ready to kill all of them, killing another eight as fast as I can, and then there was about nine or ten people up above me in a staircase and then I threw one of the grenades up above on the people there and killed all ten of them. I then placed the mine down and set a timer for two minutes at the side of the building, which would blow up the entire side of the building, and that would kill another several of them.

There was another door on the ground floor and then after I opened up in there, I killed about fifteen of the members there. Eight of them by a reloading I had, and another seven by the sword, which I was shocked by how much I had been using that, which was to say way more than I had even dreamed that I would have been using. I saw that there were sixteen bullets left and right away I used all sixteen of them to kill another eleven were coming at me, and I picked up the final bullet on the ground and then I just went to using the sword.

The leading in command came to me and then I fought them for about seven seconds or so before I slashed them right through the chest, and killed him and then I saw that there was mere seconds left in the time for the mine and then I ran out of there while throwing the final couple of grenades in there, and that blew up the entire base, killing all of the final members of the base and as a result ending the Sunny Cult.

After I was done, I went back to the town and then after I went back to town, I went to the bar, and one of the nine final people in the town were the bar tender and then I ordered two shots, both of which I drank right away. Then I saw a pack of cigarettes, I bought them both and then I headed out of the bar and when I was out in the bar, I went to the police station to just talk with my boss again on what I did.

Once I was in front of the police station, I put the cigarette in my mouth all lit up and then I had the gun in my left hand and then the sword in my right hand, with some hair over my left eye and then my black shirt had no sleeves, and my blue shirt was basically destroyed and I also had a arm bandage from the bar covering my bleeding left arm. There was a girl who saw this, and from what I can tell drew a quick drawing of that and she went to her house. I decided not to tell her against this, figuring this would be used as a way to make me go down in history for the town.

I went back to the police chief and he told me that it was time for us to start rebuilding the town and repopulating it. I agreed, and I said I would get to work that next day after a day of rest, and he said he was proud of me and that I was the best police officer he ever met. I headed out and I was ready to be the man people thought I was. I had unsafe sex that night with a girl I knew liked me, hoping I can get her pregnant. When our son was born nine months later, Mal, there was about sixteen people there and one other police man, and he was my partner and let me tell you, he reminds me of Clide, my first partner and the best." After the tape was over, I closed the book Dana gave me, I ended the tape and then I went to bed for school later.


	35. The Cave

Chapter 34: The Cave

Once I was outside of the house, I looked back at it one final time and I was hoping that she would not get in trouble for the noises made, as well as the games that we played, and the fact that I had done that with their daughter. Before I can give the thoughts too much of a bearing, I ran away and started to run down the streets all the way over to my house.

As I was inside of the house, I started to go on and head to sleep, thinking more on all of this stuff, that I was going to have to deal with in case my parents noticed me and wanted to give me a lecture. I think that they didn't notice or care as when I was inside of the house, they didn't notice me or say anything to me as they thought that I was probably home this whole time, or if I wasn't, they must have not cared. I was glad that they had this type of huge don't give a shit attitude, and that way I can just get away with doing anything that I really wanted.

Then I started to go on and head to sleep, and as I was going asleep, I was thinking of what happened the last few days and I was getting all of this stuff to sink in. I felt like I was finally over a huge obstacle, as the fact that the series was about forty to fifty hours of game play, which was quite the huge amount and then the moment that I had with Maurecia was really tiring despite how awesome it was and despite how awesome it was, it was honestly much too short for my personal preference.

The more that I was sleeping and the more that the night was sort of passing away, the more that it was like nothing ever happened and the more it was like just a small piece of the over all story. I felt like Maurecia and I having that moment was a great moment, and that was probably why I started to think that we were in love, and the whole idea that we should have gotten together and everything.

As the morning had started, I woke up and then I was thinking about where this was going to take Maurecia and I as well as where this was going to take Dana and I, but as I was thinking about it I was telling myself that as long as she had just never found out, then everything will still be alright. I then grabbed my back pack, my skateboard, and all the monster supplies and began to head my way to school, to see what the day was really going to entail. 

But as the school day was passing by, the more that I was starting to feel like something was wrong. I was done with the day and found out on the calendar that it was Friday, and that according to all of Wayside, only one day had passed when it was actually like three. Either I was dreaming or there was a curse that the monsters of the town laid down upon us for the fact that we had done that. I knew that it was strange, but maybe I can explain it to Jenny when I hang out with them next.

As the school day was all over with and everything, I was walking right up to Jenny. I was ready for some normalcy after all of this stuff was done with. I was so tired of a bunch of bullshit happening, that I just needed to go back to reality for a moment. I could tell from the look on her face that Jenny was really happy to see me, and I could tell that this was going to be the one great thing we would be doing. I honestly was so glad to see Jenny that there was a part of me that wondered if there was something between the two of us, and if we were going to try and discuss that for a little bit soon.

"Are you ready to hang?" Jenny asked and then I nodded and after I had nodded, Jenny and I started to walk out and as we were walking out, the two of us were just looking around and making sure that nobody was thinking about what we were doing at all and while I knew that Dana had kind of given up on all of this, I was still really into Dana in a large way. Dana was a great woman, and there was no way that I was going to act like she wasn't but at the same time there were other girls that I really liked and I was feeling like I was allowed to show that affection that I had with them as well. 

"So Jenny, I was hanging out with Maurecia a little bit, and I was not really wanting to talk to anybody else about this at all, but there was something so strange about what had happened that I feel like I need to let it out right now." I said and then after I said that I could tell that Jenny was getting a little bit more serious, and when she was getting more serious, I was getting pretty into the mindset that I can get all of this information onto her.

"Are you really sure that you should be telling me this? If Dana finds out about what you are doing, she is going to freak the fuck out over this and I really hope that she doesn't find out about this since I feel like there will be a big fight if you tell her you did what I think you are going to tell me." Jenny said and then I nodded and I told her everything.

"Well, I did hang out with her, and I played a few games with her, and it was in this series called Halo. It was strange since I never heard of this and I feel like this game did not have the right powers to be around at this point in time, but I was not really thinking all that much over it. What was happening next was that after we went through the series, we banged for a little bit and then after we banged, I went home and went to sleep. I went to school thinking it would be Monday since we were in there all weekend it turns out that it is only Friday and Maurecia denies any of this ever happening. I feel like I may have imagined the whole thing." I said and then after I had said that, Jenny was feeling disgusted with me but she also thought it was kind of hot imagining the action I would have with her eventually as well as confused to the whole time thing.

"So Todd, you think that you have broken something related to time?" Jenny asked not really too sure where to process this, and she was thinking about what I was doing to get these types of crazy imaginations.

"I don't really know, and I am not even pretending like I get it. The whole thing is just too scary for me to really imagine. I am so confused at the fact that technically it was only one day, but I am not really sure if maybe I was dreaming. The whole thing felt so real." I said and then I was trying to remember if I really did hang out with Maurecia or not and I was trying to figure out if the dream was the weekend or if the dream was right now.

"Well, I would not really worry all that much about it. I think you need to just relax for a little bit and just not think about the whole big picture. You and I are hanging out right now, and I know that this is real, so don't worry about all that stuff." Jenny said and then after this, I was trying to get myself to think that she was right, and then I decided to drop the subject since I was trying to convince myself that she was right all along.

"So Jenny, now that we have discussed that and you have made it clear that you want to drop the subject, what do you really want to talk about now? Where do you think we should be heading now?" I asked and then as I asked her that question, Jenny thought for a moment and then she said something that I hated to think about, but probably knew she was right about.

"We need to go down and prepare for the monster fight coming up soon. You know the next monster fight is coming up in mere hours, and I want you to be ready for that. I don't want you to die because you were trying to not be prepared for something." Jenny said and then I knew that she was right and then after that, the two of us began to head on our way over to an empty part of town, and we were just trying to keep all of the stuff that we were doing just outside of the range of people doing their own thing since I did not want them to think that we were just insane.

Once we were in this empty part of town, I pulled out the blade that Dana gave me and I was sort of forgetting that I had been given this blade earlier, and I was just looking right down at it and then I was looking right at Jenny and there was feeling like there was a moment of full understanding what was going on. She knew that I was just going to have to use the trees around us and everything, which was going to probably give me a huge charge of crime of vandalism, but who the fuck cares when you have that type of problem coming up at any second.

I kept up this silly hacking and slashing for about ten to fifteen minutes or so with Jenny just watching trying to figure out what she was thinking of me and then I sat down next to her and then I said "Okay I am done with that. It was kind of annoying. I know that you want me to be ready, but that was really fucking boring." I said and then I placed the blade down and then saw all the loose tree branches fall down on the ground and it was a pretty cool effect to see, even though it was not really an effect, but whatever.

"So, when you are done with the monsters for the day, what do you think you would want to do next?" Jenny asked and she was just being casual enough about it and she was not trying to start anything up about it, but she truly was curious to see how far this was going to go. But before we could really discuss that, another person was walking to us and I had all fear go away when I saw who it was.

It was Kevin, and he was looking so happy when he was walking by that I did not have any worried expressions and I was in fact really happy to see him there. I honestly thought that Kevin being there to hang out with us was probably the best part of this whole thing and then he sat down next to the two of us and then he saw the sweat on my face as well as the blade and then he said "It seems like you are getting ready for monster battles now."

"Yeah, that is exactly what is going down right now. That is something Jenny suggested I do, and I wasn't really too excited about doing this at first, but I eventually realized that she was right about this so I decided to do it in order to make sure that she feels better, and in order to be ready for any fights that are coming up just in case if she is right and if it does come up in the next couple days." I said and then after I had said that, Kevin nodded and the three of us seemed like casual friends for a moment.

"I know you are hanging out right now, so if you want me to leave and let you guys continue to just hang and have fun, I will leave right now and not make a fuss about it." Kevin said after we had our unplanned ten seconds or so of silence that was going to be able to be put up on some drawings people would have of us. Then after he had said that, he was starting to get up and he was getting ready to walk away but then Jenny called out to him to have him get himself to see that there was nothing too unwelcome about him being there, so he just came back and decided to hang around.

I was surprised that it was Jenny of all people would be the one to offer him to hang out with us, but I was thinking that maybe she was just trying to be nice to him and not make him start to go even more crazy than he had already been getting by that point in time, which was a really nice thing for her to do in all reality. As Kevin sat down again, I was thinking of what to do now. "So when the monster is defeated, do you think we are going to get any more clues on what is going on with the monster attacks and if we can be able to get more connections as a result of these hints?" I asked, and then I was thinking that the monsters were going to be a little bit funny to make fun of them in a way.

"I think that the monsters will just come back once again, and we are probably not going to get any real hints about where they are, as annoying as it is for that to sort of be the reality of it all." Kevin said and I was thinking that Kevin needed to look at it in a better light, and not think that this was just going to be a giant bust.

"When you come back from the fight this week, I think we should do something like go out to the movies. I think that might be a little bit fun to do." Kevin said and then when he said that, I decided that there would be a little bit of a merit to that, since it would have been a light and innocent enough of an idea to go on with it.

"That would hint that you guys are not going to be there at the fight come back, which makes me feel a lot better, knowing that I am going to be all alone on this." I said and I was feeling a little bit more scared of that, and I was just hoping Kevin had said and that he didn't mean it that way, but at the same time I was just not really sure if he was joking or if he was being serious. 

"Don't worry about it Todd. I was just saying that, since I didn't know when the fights were going to be and all of that. I wasn't just trying to say that you don't need to do it with us. But if you feel like you need us at your side, we will be at your side and we will help you out as best as we will." Kevin said and then when he had said that, I nodded and I was just trying to get myself to believe that he was saying this, but I was not really all that sure if he was saying it out of meaning it, or if he was just saying that not to become sort of douche.

"Either way, we are here now, and there is nothing that we need to do about that. Let's get out of here. You have done enough of that boring hacking and slashing for one day." Kevin said and then after he had said that he stood up and then the three of us were just standing around, and we were looking ahead of us. I think just the three of us had a small doubt about the fact that we were not going to have all of these battles. We just probably had a feeling that the next battle was going to be coming up very soon, and we needed to defeat them whenever the chance had come along.

We started to walk down the pathway, and I was thinking more of what was going to happen shall there not be any monsters at all. If there was no monsters at all, I think we would have probably given up on the whole thing after an hour or so and then we would have probably just done the movie plan that Kevin had come up with earlier anyways. I then thought about what movie we would have watched if we did do that, or if we were really going to be watching the movie at all and not just being bored and fucking around.

"If there are any monsters that you have to fight, I think they will just try and make you distracted enough for them to kill you. I think by after the first several monsters you have fought, maybe the monsters would get the idea that just attacking you head on is something that is not really going to work." Kevin said and he was trying his best to make me sound like I was this great big guy who can take down anything that tried to fight me, since in all reality I didn't really get it all. 

Eventually, Jenny was a couple feet ahead of us and she was looking at us at a combination of wanting to laugh as well as being really annoyed, she had wanted us to catch up with her and we decided that if we did not please her enough, she was going to get even more annoyed at us so we started to go there a little bit faster and she had seemed like she was getting a little bit more accepting of the fact that we had taken that short detour that in all reality wasn't really all that short.

Eventually, when we were all together again, the two of us found a soda can and I kicked the can. Kevin and Jenny were wondering why I thought that the idea of kicking the can was so exciting but after the first couple of kicks, they decided that they were going to give it a try, so Kevin kicked one of the cans and after he kicked the can, he let Jenny had a turn at kicking the can, and it seemed like after a while of them doing this, they were able to understand why I was doing this and why I was able to enjoy it as much as I had.

We had been kicking the can around for several minutes and it was like we were totally entranced by the can and were acting like this was one of the most fun activities that we had participated in for a very long time. The three of us had been keeping this up for like ten to fifteen minutes, and the more that the cans were kicked around, the more that people were coming along just to see what we were doing, and I think they were just confused when they saw the whole kicking thing, but they decided that they would not really question it.

Sooner or later, the whole kicking thing had to end off when we were seeing that there was something only about two hundred or so yards away from us, and I was well aware of the fact that what Jenny and Kevin had been hyping up was going to be coming along soon. "I really wished that this thing would have shown up much later than it did." I said in utter annoyance and then after I had said that, the three of us saw that the thing didn't realize where we were until they saw us and then the thing started to slowly fly towards us. I turned at Jenny and Kevin to see what to do now, and as I would know later, this monster was named BlackGarudamon.

The monster was totally black, and they had wings that were pretty much their fucking arms, and that they were looking like they were in a really tired mood, which was a little bit funny on any other case, but in the case that we were in, I was not able to find anything to laugh at and if anything, I was just desperately grabbing my skateboard as well as the sword and everything in my back pack. Jenny and Kevin looked like they were not really ready to have this be the way they would be taken down.

I got right on the board and then I yelled at Kevin and Jenny to get away from here as soon as possible, and they did not really have any desire to argue with me as they were just running away as fast as they could, and I could tell that their mind was running at like a million miles per hour.

I think they were just trying to figure out where they can take this monster and what they were able to do to help destroy this thing, if they even would have been able to help destroy the thing at all, which as much as the two of them had hated to admit it, the thing was probably the truth. There was probably no real feasible way that they could have destroyed the monster or even helped to destroy the thing. But then I had led the monster all the way down to a smaller area that looked like a fucking skating ditch. I thought that this was extremely awesome, and I told myself when I was going to come back here after this was defeated, I was going to practice my awesome skating skills and I would end up being the best skater in all of town after this.

The monster was standing above them and then the monster was holding up their hand they slashed at me and I just barely managed to dodge backwards and then I took a gasping moment just to comprehend the fact that this thing had almost killed me. I was not really sure why this was so shocking for me, probably because I wasn't really thinking that this thing would nearly kill me.

When I only had a few seconds of gasping and breathing, I saw the monster lower their hand for a moment and then I stabbed the sword right through the hand and then the monster started to scream out loud afterwards for a moment, I kicked them backwards and then I pulled the sword right out of there and then I saw that the bleeding sword was just a piece to show the fact that I had actually put some damage on this whole thing and then I smiled as the monster started to come to me once more.

Jenny and Kevin were looking around, wanting to help and they were coming up with things here and there that they thought would have been a slight help to me if I actually had the attention and ability to use their advice, but I didn't really think it was all that possible for this to happen. Kevin threw me a couple of the soda cans that we were kicking around and I was annoyed that he was doing this now, but I was thinking that there was a slight chance that I could have used this in the future, so I was remembering it in the future.

I started to take a few steps back and then when I had done so, I was hiding under a tree and then when I saw the monster coming towards me, I threw the cans right in their direction and then after I threw the cans at then this was enough to distract them just for a moment and then I stood up when the monster was looking around and I was walking as quietly as possible to make sure that the monster would not be able to see me no matter what the case was.

It seemed like I was getting a little bit of luck on the whole running away thing, but it also seemed like I was not really all that smart when I started to speed walk in their direction and then the monster saw me and then punched me right in the chest and then I groaned the loudest groan of my life and started to walk backwards afterwards and then I fell down on my ass, which I saw the monster was looking really annoyed at the whole soda can thing, which I thought made some sense. After all if people threw cans at me I would be pissed. But there was no way I was going to get myself to be too distracted over that when my life was kind of on the line.

I then stabbed their foot and then after I stabbed their foot, the sword came up and this thing was totally covered in blood and then the monster started to breath some fire on me and I just had to jump back at that and just not let the fire hit me. I barely escaped the fire and then I was breathing super hard and then I threw the sword right up at their chest which made then start to bleed a bit more afterwards, knowing that for once I had actually done some real damage to the whole thing.

As the monster had been bleeding and holding the sword for a moment, I grabbed the sword and then pulled it out and then I saw the monster slap me and when they had slapped me, my fucking face was covered with just a bright red image and I was so glad that I was not really bleeding over the whole thing and I was just wondering when Kevin and Jenny were going to give me the next piece of help at any moment now, which was what I really wanted.

Kevin threw me a tree branch and I saw that the tree branch was really sharp and then I decided that I was going to take advantage of that thing now. I threw the stick right at the monster again and then the monster had their eye covered by a tree branch and I saw the blood going around and covering the whole ground around them, and I thanked Kevin for that part.

I saw the monster pull the branch right outside of their eye and then throw it right down at the ground and then they started to punch me about three to four times, and I was wondering after the third one how the hell I was not really dead, and while I was glad I was not dead, it still did make absolutely no sense that I wasn't given the beating that I was given and everything. But then I saw Jenny looked around and she saw that my skateboard was on the ground. She was running down and she picked it up and then she ran up the hill again. I knew that the monster did not really pay attention as they thought she was just a random girl.

I was wondering why Jenny was more worried about the skateboard than she was about me, but I was really hoping that she had a plan to this, as I was really needing a miracle at any moment. Then I grabbed the sword again which I realized I had dropped when I was not really paying attention and was more focused on the whole Jenny thing.

The monster thought that the whole me not having a sword thing was really great since they were able to scare me with them shooting a bunch of fire balls around the area and I had to pretty much dodge all of the fucking fire balls and then I was so much in the getting in the safe zone from those that I didn't pay any attention to what Kevin or Jenny were doing and I was just thinking that they were just standing there still and that they were just watching us wondering what was going on.

Before I could think about all of this stuff any further, I saw that Jenny just riding down the hill with he skateboard and then as she rode down that hill, she hit the monster right in their face and then the monster fell down onto the ground. I then held onto the sword as tight as I could to make sure that I could not drop it and then I reached the monster and started stabbing them five or six times and I was just not thinking about it as I was stabbing them, just because I was wanting this to be taken care of as soon as possible.

Soon enough, the monster vanished away and then we had won the battle, I placed the sword inside of the back pack and put it back on. Jenny gave me the skateboard back and she was saying she was able to see why I had liked it so much. Kevin went down the hill and then he was looking at me and he was just trying to wrap his mind around how awesome this whole thing. I was kind of thinking that maybe it was kind of awesome and under any other moment, if I was watching, I thought it would have been extremely exciting.

"Well, I guess that we can put that behind us now. I think we can probably started to head on home now." I said and then both Kevin and Jenny were thinking about what we can do to possibly make this whole thing last a little bit longer, and I would have liked it to last longer, but I was just not really too sure if I could keep it up given what was happening.

I was thinking about what had exactly happened, and I was just trying to understand why these monsters had even existed in the first place. "I think that the monsters should just go to a different town, and just leave it all alone. I think that would be awesome if they would just leave us alone." I said and then as I was saying that, I knew that this was a really silly way for me to act as I knew for a fact that there was no way the monsters would leave, but I just needed to state in an indirect way my fatigue of monster starting to come along and attack us and everything like that.

"The next time that the monsters come along, I think that we should try and find a way to make everybody in our group help us out in fighting them. I know that it is very unlikely that this would be able to happen, but I am perfectly allowed to state my annoyance here. I mean, I am kind of just annoyed of these monsters attacking us, and I really feel like I could use a lot of help on this as soon as possible since each one is getting a little bit harder than the previous one." I had said and then Jenny and Kevin seemed to think about it.

"Do you really have any sort of idea what the monsters even want to do with you?" Jenny was asking and she and I were already well aware of the whole hell mouth thing that we had found earlier at the class room, I think there was either something about it that was making her in denial which I would not blame her for, and there was probably something about the whole thing that made me start to think that maybe me being the one who had to do this whole thing that started to make me think that maybe there was something that the monsters had wanted about me specifically. Which was still something that was a little bit beyond the realism stand point for me.

"In all reality, I think I was just the first person that decided that I wanted to fight these things off, and now I am sort of responsible for what is going on now." I said and I was feeling like I did not really want to do this, and that it was a bit forced upon me, which was quite a bit annoying here. I did not really want to be the one who was forced to do this, but I was not going to let somebody else take responsibility to me just because nobody else would.

"How many of those type of monsters are you going to have to fight with? I mean those monsters that you fight once every weekend or so, are totally different from the ones that you might be finding every single day and everything. I think that maybe you should look into that stuff. You have dealt with three of those, and I think that there might only be a few of them left to go through." Kevin said and then after he pointed that one, I thought about it and I was wondering if I was near the end.

"I want to kill them all and just get this stuff over with, and then when they are done being killed off, then perhaps I am able to move on and not have to deal with these monster ever again. I know that it is a bit unrealistic for me to think that I am not going to defeat these monsters monsters and everything, but I just am kind of sick and tired of it all." I said and then I was kind of shocked of how annoyed and tired that I am getting out of all of this.

"Do you think that if you do eventually kill them all, if you can actually be in a place where you do not have to deal with them anymore? Or if you are actually going to be fucked and then there will be more of these things that are going to attack you, and then you will just start to have to go through that same pattern over and over again." Jenny said and then after this was said, I was starting to think about how terrible that would have been, and how much I wanted to not have that be the truth behind the act.

"If we had been dealing with all of this as some form of loop, then I would really kind of want to die from that. I feel like I would rather die than deal with all of that stuff. I know that I might be over stating this stuff a little bit, but I am just feeling like that would be where I am with a longer term of all of this." I said and then I was thinking about how many of these monsters I would have to defeat for them to kind of get the memo that I would not want to do any more of these fights and all that but I guess that I am just going to have to be glad that I was still alive at all. 

One of these things were making us a little bit quiet, and I was kind of wanting to think about something else, hell I would even think more about the whole Halo like incident that I had to deal with with Maurecia, because at least that was fun at the moment and only had a really strange after effect.

"So Todd, I can tell you are kind of thinking about something else. Would you mind me asking what that would be?" Kevin asked and then I looked at Kevin. I thought about what he had asked me, and then after he asked me this, I nodded and then I decided to talk to them about Dana and Maurecia, to see what him and Jenny would say about that stuff. I knew that Jenny was not really a huge fan of that stuff, but I was just wondering what Kevin would say about it all. 

"Well I am thinking about Maurecia and Dana. I am just wondering if the two of them would be able to get along with each other when they start to talk to each other again. I am just worried that when I start talking with them both in the same room, then they might start to argue with each other on which one I like better and all that stuff. I know it is silly, but that is something that I really have no desire to deal with." I said and then after I had said that, Kevin laughed for a second at how much lighter this subject was than the last one, but he thought that this can be a little bit fun to talk about, which I guess it kind of would have been.

"I think that since you are dating Dana, the answer is kind of obvious which one of the two of them you like more. I think even Maurecia can see that, and that if she tries to say otherwise, I think that maybe she would just be a little bit more in denial over the fact that you are choosing them than anything else." Kevin said and despite how obvious that could and should have been, I was just not really too sure about it.

"I just wish that if Dana and Maurecia wanted to argue about this, that they need to keep it away from me, as I would not really want to get involved with their silly drama." I said and I was feeling terrible for calling this all silly drama, but at the same time I was starting to think that maybe it was not really all that silly and that there was a level of validity to the whole thing.

"I think that Dana and Maurecia should probably just talk and start to become friends again. They are going to be friends once they realize that this is just all a little bit of a small controversy, but the whole thing is not really all that big of a deal. Maurecia and Dana just need to understand that you made a choice, and that it is time to move on." Kevin said and Jenny was trying hard not to hate on me over the whole thing.

"Well one of these days, I will try to get them both to talk to each other, and see how well the whole thing could have worked out. I know that the more that they talk with each other, the more they will place this all behind, and I think that eventually when that happens, then all of us can be able to hang out again. I just need to show them that they can trust me being with them alone." I said as Jenny decided to be quiet about it.

As we were walking along for a little while, I was starting to wonder what the hell was going on, as there was barely any real point in what we were doing now. Since the monster was defeated, that was basically the main thing that we were trying to do, and now that this was taken care of, we were just sort of left with nothing else to do now besides just sort of relax and mess around. "Do you really think that there is any sort of chance that we are going to be fighting any more monsters here than the one that we had fought tonight? As much as I would hate to admit that we could have to deal with that, I would be dumb to deny that there is at the very least the chance to the idea of it." Kevin had said and then after he had said that, I was thinking that it was terrifying to admit that, but I needed to sort of admit that even when it was hard to do so.

"I do think that these monsters are mostly going to be a one a day thing. I mean, that can change and it can be that this was just a small thing so far, but as I don't think that there would really be any changes to that pattern at the very least for the time being. I could be wrong though, and I will just say that I hope that I am indeed wrong there." I said and I was really just telling myself that there was no way that there was going to be any more monsters that can come up. At the very least not today, since if there was, we were going to die here.

"If I have to fight any more monsters at all, I am going to hate everything that life would have to offer to me. I think that these fights are going to be responsible for my death if there are several that we are going to have to fight in just a single day alone. But then again, I don't really think that the monsters would have any trace of sanity and keeping me at least having a chance to make it out alive." I finished and Jenny was wondering if there was a fear that I had here, and I would openly admit that maybe there was a fear, but none that I would admit that it would have been.

"You know, I think that you just need to take it easy. Monsters are not really all that strong. Even the strongest one that you had to fight wasn't really all that strong. You still managed to beat them with a little bit of a relative ease." Jenny said and I was so tempted to laugh at that if I had done so, it would make me look like I was the biggest dick in the world. But I didn't want to come off as the biggest dicks in the world when I was talking to a friend.

"You know, if I ever have to deal with more of these problems, then I think I am going to lose my mind here. I don't really care though, as anybody who cares so much about what I am doing with my friends, they need to get the fuck over this and just start to hang out with their own friends." I said and I was thinking more about the monster fighting than anything else.

"Now you are starting to sound like me when I am talking about my brother Sam, considering how much I hate it when he starts to get all up in my business and everything. But I guess that perhaps once you start to do some things around here more, the more that you start to speak like the people who had lived here." Kevin said and he was thinking it was a little bit funny and while I was not really sure how he could really find it funny, I guess I did find it interesting how the things got to be connected.

"I guess that I am starting to see why you don't like your brother so much now. But if you don't like your brother, and he is not the only person in the town who is like that, then I think that he should not meet the others. I don't want him to meet my teacher, or I don't want my parents to start acting like that when I get to them to know what happened, which I am still nearly convinced that this is going to happen sometime soon." I said, thinking about how terrible that would be.

"I am pretty sure that your parents do care and that is why they would really get in your business if you have them find out the truth. I don't really think that you need to worry all that much about it. They care, just give them a chance to show that they care." Jenny said and then after she said that, I decided that she was just seeing the bigger picture and the better side of reality.

"Well either way, I am going to just try my best to have them not know about this. The longer I can go without them knowing about this, the better that it would be. I just want to know more about you now. I mean, I am wondering what you think about Dana and Maurecia and how they are going to take the whole thing." I said, and while I was bringing up that older subject, I was just more interested with what Jenny would say about it.

"Well, I think that eventually you are going to have to just start to make it clear that you prefer one or the other. They might not like the choice, and in fact I am pretty sure that they will hate the choice that you are going to make, but I do think you need to really think about it and consider the values of the two options and then once you do so, I think then you need to tell them the choice. If you choose Dana, tell Maurecia and let her know that you two getting together is not really going to happen. She will get it. If you choose Maurecia, break the fuck up with Dana and tell her that you are sorry for this and that in the end you prefer her. She will be broken over it, but that will all fade away eventually as after a while, they will appreciate the fact you told the truth. Then afterwards, give it a few weeks and you can start to get to know them again and then you will start to be friends once more." Jenny said and I was surprised at how much she had to say on it now.

"I guess that you are right. I will think about it, and when I am done, I will tell them the choice." I said and that ended up never happening, but that did not really need to happen as there were a few more things that came up that we will get into later. I will just say it makes sense.

"Thank you for understanding why I am saying this. I like you Todd as a friend, but I want you to start to be real on this whole thing." Jenny finished that thing and then I nodded a bit. 

"I think as much as it is fun to start to hang with them both, I will talk with Dana more and everything. I will still hang out with them both, but with her a bit more since she still is the one that I am currently dating." I said making some form of loose choice, and then Jenny had a face that started to show that she was thinking I was making the right choice.

"I am sorry that I started to make you feel off when I was talking with you about wanting to date you. I just thought that it would be pretty exciting and everything. But you seem to not really be interested in that." Kevin said and then after he said that, Jenny looked at him and she looked like she was able to appreciate this if for nothing else.

"Thank you for the apology. I am glad that you are seeing my point of view. I do think that in some time, if the guy I like does not make any effort towards me, I might come back and give you a chance though." Jenny said to Kevin and then I was feeling terrible for that, knowing that Kevin had to wait for me to not talk with her anymore, and that I had to do that to help my friend, but that was sounding a little bit too fucking insane.

As we were all getting to the point where we all seemed to have put any animosity behind us, things were actually pretty good for a little while afterwards. I was thinking more about the whole Dana incident, as well as all that Jenny had told me. I realized that if I really wanted to be a great person, I should probably taking what she said much more seriously. But unfortunately, as sad as it is to admit, it was something I had such a long way to go on, it seemed like no changes would come up any point soon.

I had been kind of thinking about it, and I was wondering if I had treated Joy with the same respect, that a woman really does deserve. I wonder if that could have been why she was so strict on me, thinking so down upon me, and why it took her so long for her to finally accept me for who I was. With her only really doing so after the incident with the robbers and I had to save the day. Well I didn't really have to save the day I just happened to be the one that did. It really was kind of starting to make me think that I could have made some improvements here and there. You know what I mean? I guess I am kind of just rambling on at this point, but in a way it seems like I've been doing that this entire recording.

Jenny was looking at me as I was thinking about all of this stuff. She seemed to pick up right away what exactly I was thinking about. It seemed to give her some mixed emotions. On one hand she was really glad that I was seen her point of view for the way that it was, and me finally starting to open up to some of these very big inherent flaws of how I looked at all of this stuff. But on the other hand she did look like she just kind of wanted to see me relax just a little bit from all of this stuff that was plaguing my mind.

I was kind of thinking about how I can make her realize that I was not really too worried about all of this, but in reality I was not really too sure how I could. Mostly because there was a part of me that still was worried about it. Maybe it was sort of showing me how I was trying to kinda understand that a little bit of this Playboy attitude that I had been building up really was kind of more shity than I thought it would have been.

So instead of trying to make her feel better and coming up with this big false grand illusion, I had decided taken in for what it really was, and have her understand that this was a genuine thoughts at that I was having and that indeed was not something that I was going to put off her too much longer. Maybe this could burn me some more respect on her part, even though I seems like she does like me a little bit anyways.

The whole time that this walk was happening, I was still thinking about how even with all the other things going on, and all the thoughts that Jenny must have been getting about me, as well as her regret towards her crush on me, it was still a much better experience than it would have been if I did it on my own I would have died if it was on my own.

I mean, when that monster attacked, I just simply didn't think it had that type of power in it. I thought that it could have been able to give me a little bit of a fight, but now I feel like if I really don't start taking this more seriously, I might not make it. I know for a fact I should have been taking this much more seriously from the start, but the whole thing just seems like such an absurd idea, that I didn't really think it needed to be taken that serious. I thought it was something that you would see in like the material of a dream. I had no Illusion that this was actually for real.

But now here we were, a moment of time where I had to accept the reality of this whole thing. I needed a lot of help, but they don't have the resources to really keep something maintained with me. This was a fight that I was put in and it was a fight I had to do on my own, but in a way I was now doing it more for my friends and I was doing it for anything else. I wasn't doing it for fame I wasn't doing it for the satisfaction and I sure as hell wasn't doing it to be as this great big wonderful man. I did it because no one else could and because I just simply was the best person to do the job. Since I had been doing it so much.

I really hoped and still do hope that none of my friends would die as a result of any of this. Do you not know what it would be like if that did happen do you not know what I'd be like if somebody you read build up so much of a friendship with so much of a chemistry with was just gone?

I know I've been through this a few times and everything but there just seemed to be something about the soldier that keeps coming back during this whole recording. I was just more beginning to realize that no matter how much I needed the help or wanted the help, I was in this relatively alone. But there was something about the challenge that they still seeing at least a little bit intriguing to me. And maybe that was another reason why I was still doing it.

"Hey Todd, we have been looking around like you requested, and here some things that we found. We have found out that these things have been the outlines of weapons, and that these weapons will probably be used by the monsters that we are going to be fighting in here. I think that these monsters are going to have more power up their sleeves than we will even be able to begin to comprehend. I don't think we would be able to go through a tenth of this stuff before we can get caught by the monsters, and we are going to just have to just take something and call it good." Jenny said and then I was thinking about it and the more that I hated to admit it as it would sort of be admitting defeat, there was a part of me that knew he was totally right.

"I will need to work on this more. I don't really know what we are going to be doing now. I think we may just have to come back here once every day or so, and if that doesn't work, I guess we are just going to have to destroy the cave and then make it so that none of the weapons that we could possibly get would be able to be used by them, so at least we would be losing mutual ground both." I said and then after I had said that, both Kevin and Jenny were looking at each other. 

"I guess that this is going to be the best that we are going to get. Well, we are going to leave you alone for now again." Jenny said and then after she had said that, the two of them had left the room where I was working at, and I was really just wanting to get the armor done with. 

When I was doing this, I saw that there was a spray paint thing, and then I grabbed it and then I started to spray it on the table, and saw that it created this golden hue, and then I was ready to keep going. I aimed it right at the helmet of the armor, and then I was spraying on the helmet, and then I had made the entire helmet golden and then I figured that at the rate that I was going, I might as well make this a thing of golden armor. Which was a very odd idea, but I was just thinking that if the armor was not going to be very good, that the armor could at the very least be interesting to look at.

I kept working on the armor for several minutes, and I was starting to work a little bit on the hand pieces which I feel like would be a way to make the arm pieces of the armor slowly connect and everything, I was just thinking about one thing and only one thing. Which was completing the project, and I could just get at least a bit of protection in the fighting field, even if it did mean that I was going to be really slow, but it was a set back I had to be fine with.

I was making the armor and there was nothing that was holding me back, since I did not want to lose the one chance I had for some sort of protection against in battle, I needed to do it if I wanted even a slight chance of being safe. I was working on the arms, and the arms were both easily done, although I had to do a bit of modifications and that took about an hour or so for me to do each one, and then another ten minutes or so each arm for me to do the golden spray.

That was when I was getting a bit sweaty, and at that point, I was losing a little bit of my stamina, and then when I was starting to lose a bit of a stamina, I was feeling like Jenny and Kevin were not really able to understand what was so good about this idea, and I honestly never really cared if they got it or not. I needed to get something done, and then when the armor was done, I would go on and blow this place to kingdom come.

I was now working on the legs of the armor, and I felt like the legs of this armor was going to be a hard piece to do since the extra weight on my legs was going to make me really slow, and I didn't really want to deal with the pain of the leg, but it was still going to be very important in order for me to walk around and then at the very least slightly decrease the risk of my leg getting hit when I was in a fight and everything.

The feet of the armor took me about thirty five minutes or so to create on both pieces and I was getting ready to make more of this before I was hearing a bunch of noises coming towards me, and that was making me way more scared than I honestly should have been, but there was just something about the monsters being here that I knew that I had to start getting way more serious about this than I had originally envisioned that I would have to be.

Both Jenny and Kevin looked up at me and when they were up to me, I dropped the armor that I was working on and I was seeing from the look on their face that they were thinking that they were watching something terrible. "You need to stop working on that right now. We have some company coming right up now, and they are not very happy that we decided to work in their factory." Jenny said and while it was kind of funny to imagine the image in hindsight, at the moment it was one of the scariest things that I had ever seen in my life and I respected her wishes.

What we had saw was a bunch of monsters charging right towards us. There was a part of me that didn't even believe that this was happening. But I force myself to get out of that State of Mind relatively quickly because if I did not then I probably would have been the first human that they would Feast on in a very long time. I looked over at Jenny and Kevin as a part of me was starting to wonder if I really had pushed it too far this time. But instead of starting to feel bad for myself and for them, I was just looking at what the charge was going to be as well as how there would be even a slight chance that I can overcome it.

As that had happened, the first monster that came towards me was a decently easy want to take out. All that I had to do was just a bit a couple times and it fell down and started going down the stairs. In a way I kind of feel good. Kevin and Jenny on the other have seemed much less excited over this one tiny victory that I had just scored. They must have seen the other monsters that were within inches of me. I was aware of them being there, but I also knew that I could focus too much on them, and that it was better just to take it one at a time so that way I can slightly increase my chances of being able to be focused on the current battle.

The second one which had charged me took a couple seconds to take out. I talked once or twice and they almost got to hit on me but in the end I got the final stab and I exploded and that one was all done with. The next one which came at me I just jumped up and as I was a few inches in the air Iced Out the monster in the face and they also exploded as I laid it on the ground or both of my feet and felt like I was on a super high adrenaline rush.

It took a few seconds for the super high adrenaline rush to even kinda fade off as the next couple had went at me and I was on so a high alert at those ones that they went down just as fast as the ones that had come before it, and by that point I had probably taken out maybe 9 or 10. But as I was seeing, it was like there was going to be hundreds upon hundreds of more coming at me, so it looks like my victory, if I even had dared wanted to call it that, was going to be a very short-lived one.

The next one's which door to charge at me or able to do a little bit more to me because by then I had been much more worn down and I had a feeling that the monsters knew that they would be able to take advantage of that. It was kind of annoying, but when you are in a life-or-death situation annoying really is not the thing that you should be too incredibly worried about.

One of the monsters start a crab on my shirt and almost had ripped it off, which would have been really embarrassing because while I was stronger than some of the people in my grade, I was no Muscle Man magazine cover guy either. But the most or without relatively easily when I moved my arm to their back and I stab them in the back and pulled up blade in as I saw them explode I look forward and saw the next one just kind of lunge right at me.

This one was a much more serious one and I could tell that it wasn't going to be nearly as much of a walk in the park as some of the other ones would be. Right when it was about to get ready to attack me I had to run to the table and I put on the helmet piece of the armor just to make sure at least one part of my body was protected as this thing was about to attack me. Surely enough, the first thing that the muster went work was actually my face. The monster was trying to scratch at it, and I could see sparked of the steel get destroyed, and I was just thankful that it was not my face that they were attacking as I would have asked are there for the rest of my life if it was. Eventually I managed to stab it in the neck, and by doing so the monster was defeated.

I had taken them on my chest be grateful for the fact that I was even alive at all. I mean when you have that close of a life-or-death situation right in front of your face, being able to escape at all is nothing short of a miracle.

Jenny was really impressed with the fact that I was even alive. Kevin seem to be running around the room that we were in earlier. It seems like you was really trying his best to find something that can help me. It seems as if he was relatively successful to some extent, as he found some in that looks a little bit like a flamethrower. Kevin pointed it right at some of the monsters and he turns the trigger on, and as he does so there's a couple of monsters that gets set on fire and eventually get defeated that way. It was not quite the way I was expecting, but I guess since it worked I wasn't going to complain about it too much.

I saw one that was going right towards Jenny and she was like she was about to scream and run for her life, now that I would really be able to blame her given the situation that was going on.

But I knew right away this was going to be the next Target that I was going to try to take out. I got there as fast as I could, and it was working for the most part and I did get there in time to save her life as I slashed the thing down is the monster fell down to the ground and they exploded. However as they were falling down to the ground before they exploded, they managed to grab a really large piece of the Jenny's hair, and they just yanked it off. I truly was one of the grossest things that I ever had to see in my entire life.

I was just glad to see that she was fine. I could tell that she needed a little bit of time to comprehend what I just happened though, so for her sake, I decided not to say anything and just focus on the final like few monsters that were still around. That way she can have some time to be alone and think about what happened in the event that she was going to have to grow out her hair again after what had just happened.

One of them was a bit harder than the others to defeat. Mainly because right away when they saw me they punched me right in the leg. My body toppled down for a moment as I was wincing in pain, and the monster was about to get my other leg, and I don't want that to happen obviously so right when they're about to punch the other leg that was when I was able to take the chance and just stabbed them right in the face after I had sent them they also blew up and I had defeated them. I was watching as Kevin was taking another one on and it was looking like it was going at a decently successful rate, or so I personally had decided that I wasn't going to worry about it too much. I thought that he had that one under control, and Jenny was kind of hiding under a table, and I was thinking that it was probably the best thing that she could do at that moment.

A little one had come by but after the last one which had at least a little bit of a challenge, this one was pretty easy as they were just trying to attack me but I just made a couple of slashes and they fell down and exploded and it was over with.

After it was over, I just sat down and I took a deep breath. I was just so glad that it was over with even if it was just for the moment, that I just wanted to take a moment to just celebrate it. Jenny was coming out of her hiding spot and Kevin dropped the flamethrower and then we just processed the whole thing.

"Okay, I know you two are going to hate this, and I hate suggesting this just as much as you guys would hate hearing this, but I feel as if we need to admit it. But I feel like we are going to have to fight more. There must be more to this cave, and we need to check it out right now in order to make sure all of the monsters are defeated and to make sure that there is nothing future monsters can use." I said, and as I had said that, I was thinking about the armor that I might lose, but if I took the blue print I think then perhaps I would be able to make the armor work, but I understand that this was nowhere near the thing that I had to think about at the moment, but I really couldn't care less.

Jenny looked at Kevin and then she stood up, having her hand placed over the scalp of her face that was now public and then she had nodded. "Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, we need to get the hell through this place and blow absolutely all of it to kingdom come. I know that these monsters are going to keep coming, and what they will be coming with will be much more advanced than anything else we have, we let's just get it over with." Jenny said and then after she had said that, Kevin was thinking about how much he hated the idea, but then he stood up and then he was staring at the ground the entire time he was standing up initially, as if he had hated to admit that they were right.

"Yeah, I guess we need to destroy this cave. I guess that while there are some valuable resources there, we need to make sure that none of them can be something that the enemy uses." Kevin said and then after he had said that, he was walking towards the forbidden staircase and I was thinking that if he was ready to get it over with, then we should be as well.

We started to walk towards the stairs and as we were at the top of the stairs, I was looking down them and seeing them made everything feel so much more sinister, as if I was not really ready for what was going to be coming up, and I was telling myself that I needed to be ready and I needed to destroy what was in there, and that if I did not, then perhaps I was going to be more of a coward than I would want to admit.

As we were trying to get ourselves ready to go down there, I looked at Kevin and Jenny one more time. "If you guys do not want to come with me, then just go and keep yourselves safe. I would not blame you at all if you feel that way but do what you think is right." I said and then after I had said that, Kevin and Jenny looked at each other for a moment.

As we were walking down the stairs, I was getting a bit worried about what was going on, and after about a minute or two, I was starting to wonder where the noises were coming from. These noises were really scary, and I was wondering what the hell those noises were being caused by, but the fact that they were happening was honestly much more scary than the fact that I didn't really know where they were coming from, since I would have maybe been able to get used to that whole fact.

The noises were something like a knocking for the first few seconds. Nothing too crazy, and I honestly thought that maybe Kevin and Jenny were playing with the walls at first, so I thought that there was no need to reference it at all. However, the fact that it was keeping up, and that there was more to the noises after that which made me start to get more and more on the idea that they were not really what was responsible for the noises that were being made as well.

The next noises beyond the knocking was something like a person trying to tell us something. It seems like they were being civil with the talking at first, and I was thinking that maybe there was a little bit of the voices that were familiar and I was starting to think that maybe I was hearing something of a younger version of our principal here, which was starting to make me think that maybe I should ask him some questions the next day at school, just to see if there were any answers that he would have to my questions.

Afterwards, the noises were getting louder and they were talking about how they had lost their chance of getting a life that they wanted, and how they wanted us to get dragged in there to lose the chance that we still had, and that we deserved it. Honestly, at first I didn't really think anything of it but the more that it was going on, the more that I was thinking that the thing that was causing these noises were more scary than some of the monsters that we had been fighting with so far, which was making me wonder just how much this stuff was just going to keep getting worse and worse, if it was even possible at this point in time anymore.

At the bottom of the stairs, the noises had been full on screams and these screams were making me think that whatever was in the cave was actually making me think that there was a genuine chance that whatever was coming up next would actually make me think that we were going to lose our souls, and as funny as that may sound in theory, once you are there, it is terrifying. It doesn't sound so bad until you are there.

This was when we were at the bottom of the stairs, and when we were at the bottom of the stairs, I could see that there was something standing there just staring right at us. I was wondering why they were staring at us so innocently, and it was strange to say innocently considering the fact that they looked like they were dead for a really long period of time. I was thinking that their face was a little bit melted and everything, and I was seeing that just talking at all was making their face melt really badly.

I then saw that Jenny and Kevin were just trying hard not to say anything although I could clearly tell that they were super disgusted as if they were not really sure if they could even comprehend what they had seen. I then was staring right at the monster and then the monster said "I have been waiting here for so long, and there has never been a person who accepted the offer that I have made. I feel as if I am going to have a great time with you." The monster started to take just a couple of steps.

"What have you been waiting for this whole time?" I had asked and then after I had asked her that question, I saw that she was looking right at me and then she was holding her right hand up about half a inch below her face, and then her other hand maybe another half foot and then I was thinking that they were about to scream.

I knew that there was going to be yet another battle coming up soon, and as I was thinking that this was going to come along, I tried asking even more questions to make them stop what they were doing "I think that you need to just accept the fact that nobody is ever really going to give you what you actually want. I think you will just need to accept the fact that you are just simply a dead skeleton by this point in time." I said and then after I had said that, the monster was telling me something that I was kind of expecting them to tell me, but I just simply was not really ready for the way that they were saying that or the tone of the way that they had said it. 

The glowing monster was opening their mouth and there was something golden coming out of their mouth. "I will not let you go. I will not let another person refuse my offer. I need to be set free. You will rot here for the rest of time." The monster said and then after they had said that, they started to come towards me and then I brought out the sword and then as much as I did not want to be ready for this, I was indeed ready for the battle that was coming up.

What I was expecting to be a big duel was not nearly as much of a big duel as I would have imagined it would have been. The monster started to grab me and as they were grabbing me, they were starting to bring their glowing light onto me and then I was starting to feel like my arm was on fire, which was really strange since I was seeing that nothing was too wrong with my clothes, but my arms were still feeling terrible and then after about a minute or so, I was on the verge of screaming over how much the pain was getting to me.

I then kicked the monster in the nuts and there was a part of me that thought it was kind of funny and the monster was starting to go on and then they were feeling like they were setting on fire. The monster was holding their hands on the ground and as they were holding their hands on the ground, the monster was setting the entire ground on fire and then I stabbed the monster at the hand and then it seemed like everything went like it was going to come my way.

The monster didn't seem to mind the stabbing too much as they were pulling their hand out of the sword and then the sword had dropped onto the ground. I then grabbed the sword and then Kevin and Jenny were looking around to see how to stop the fire, which was what they were more worried about as they were kind of thinking that the entire monster thing was going to eventually go in my favor, I just needed to be a little bit careful about the fighting style from this point in time. I then I was having more of a head on this monster than I had looked like I did since the monsters were a little bit easier than normally, and there was a bit of me thinking that I had the monsters were sort of a bit of my specialty.

The monster head butted me which was really hard to imagine, I struggled for a few seconds and I was feeling like my body was on fire and as I was feeling like my body was on fire, I was seeing the monster thinking they were now the ones who had the lead, which I guess was mutual thing that was switching back and forth.

I then jumped at the monster and stabbed them right in the back and then I was thinking that I had started to win the battle, the monster was starting to gurgle a little bit and then I was looking at them and saw that there was light coming out of their mouth and it looked like it was some form of ooze, and I was just trying to figure out what the hell the ooze was actually, if it was really even any form of ooze at all.

Despite this, I was figuring that I needed to take it much more seriously than I had been taking it up to that point in time, not wanting to make any real risks. I then kicked the monster right in the face and then I was feeling like I was on top of the world for getting that thing a good old burst of pain. I then stabbed the monster right in the face, which made the monster yelp in pain and then I was thinking that it was odd that the monster was able to feel such emotion when they were the ones who had wanted to kill me, and I was telling myself that they didn't deserve any pity for what they had been doing to me.

Despite the stab in the face, I don't really think that the monster was really showing all that much pain and then Kevin and Jenny were still just trying to put out the fire, which they had been doing a relatively good job at, and I was thinking that soon enough, that would not really be any problem anymore. Kevin was making the fire go down a little bit, and then the monster did another snap and then now the entire room was on fire and now Kevin and Jenny had to work twice, maybe even three times, as hard as they had been, just to make it so that the putting out the fire thing was even remotely possible.

I was feeling like this was all over when I was seeing more of the room starting to come down due to the fire and everything. Kevin and Jenny were looking as if they were having terrible amounts of sweat and then I then saw the monster float upwards and then the ooze was just coming out at a more rapid rate, and then I pulled the blade right out of the face and then I slashed it right across the chest and then the monster was starting to topple down a little bit.

The monster had been looking like they were giving up the fight for good. Kevin and Jenny saw that there was a small opening up for them to run up through. I knew that this was probably going to be my only chance to get the hell out of there, so I decided to just run up as fast as possible. The fire was probably going to make the monster lose their life anyway, that was what I was thinking.

I ran to the bottom of the stairs and as fast as I could ran up them and once I was out of the stairway, I was not listening to the voices at all and I was just trying to get away from this. I then looked right down and saw that thee fire was not really going up the stairs, and I was curious why that was the case and then the monster screamed and then I was thinking that we were possibly safe for the time being.

"Okay, I thought that we were going to die there for a moment to be honest. I am so glad that we made it out of there." I said and then after I had said that, I was getting ready for what was going to be coming up next that I knew we needed to get out of the cave. The whole thing here was totally poison and the whole fact that I was forced to go through that cave as much as I have, then I think that this place needed to be destroyed. That monster made me realize how much that cave needed to be destroyed. I walked up and grabbed the blue print and rolled it up and then put it right in my pocket. I then looked at Kevin and Jenny as I was getting ready to give them the order they were probably expecting me to give.

"We need to bring this whole place down to the ground. I want none of the things in here to make it out." I said and then after I had said that, Kevin grabbed the flamethrower and he was using his previous weapon to destroy the cave as that was probably the best tool that he was going to be able to use.

Jenny and I were outside of the cave as Kevin was doing his job and we were just glad that this was all behind us for good. I didn't want to see those monsters again, and I had a feeling that destroying that place was a bit of a good method to destroy a bunch of the monsters here. Then when that was happening, I was thinking about what we were losing out on just by watching these things get burned down and I was wondering what we could have used in our favor. I then saw Kevin walk out of the cave and then it seemed like he was ready to run off again.

The three of us were walking along and as we were walking along, I was thinking about what we were going to do now, if we were going to do anything at all, and I was thinking about where this was going to go. I was thinking on if some of the monsters that I was supposed to face in the future were in there, meaning that I could have gotten those ones taken care of for good and everything.

After walking around for about ten to twenty minutes, we sat down on the bench that was nearby and I was still amazed at how little my clothes had been destroyed, and I was thinking that a lot of the pain I was feeling really was starting to get worn down. I was placing my hand on Jenny's shoulder, trying to make sure that she was still fine with what had happened, trying to make her feel better.

"I can get why you would never want to talk to me again after all that stuff that happened." I said and I was mainly saying that about both Kevin and Jenny, and as I had said that she was just looking at me and she was trying the hardest in that moment to not show how she felt like I had ruined everything. I was just remaining silent, and then I was thinking that maybe Kevin can be able to help me out on this whole thing, thinking that maybe he can get Jenny to see that none of this was fully my fault, and while I might have to admit that some of it could have been my fault, I didn't really think that I should have bee given the entire blame on this issue. 

"Look Jenny, I am very sorry about the hair." I said and then I was feeling like this was just getting worse and worse the more I was doing this, but then as I told her that, Jenny nodded and she was looking like she was just trying her best to hide the feelings that she had been having. I felt terrible for what had happened, and I didn't really know how I was going to be able to best show that, if I really could have been able to at all. 

"I know that it is not really your fault. I know that you have been doing your best. It is just a lot of stuff to deal with is all." Jenny said and I was able to fully understand where she was coming from there, knowing how much it would have been terrible to have something like that be in your life. "I am glad that you are even trying at all to make things right, and that alone should make me give you more of a pass." 

"It seems like we just have so much more to go. It seems like these monsters are more in depth than I thought that would. I am going to try and find the guy at the creek again, maybe he and I can discuss things there a little bit. I think that maybe when he tries to talk to me, he and I can see if there are more entrances to the creek or anywhere else here that the monsters have probably been using in some form or fashion." I said and then afterwards, Jenny looked at Kevin and I again. 

"Let's try to find something nice to talk about. Are you guys excited for the Halloween Party that is coming up soon?" Jenny asked and then as she had asked us that, I smiled and then nodded as fast as possible. I really liked Halloween, and I was going to have a great chance to show everybody what I was into on horror stuff. But then I thought that as stupid as it would be, that there might not really be a chance that people might be dressing up for Halloween.

"I really hope that the teacher knows how to throw a good party. If she does, I will have so much more respect for my teacher than I would have at this point in time. I doubt that she would really have a party that I would consider to be worthy of being one of the best that I had in my life." I said and I kind of feel a little bit like a dick when I say that about my teacher and the Halloween party and everything. "Although I think it might be pretty cool to have a party with some of my best friends." I said and that part was true, and I was trying to sound a little bit more positive than I had been sounding up until that point in time.

"I have a lot of hype for the party. The school events that we have here are really great, and I think that you will love it. Besides, it will be a good day or so to take a bit of a break over what is happening. Just think about it that way, and I think you will be very excited for what you will be doing that day. Think of it this as well, Halloween and the trick or treating will be a day where we can sort of just act like normal kids." Jenny said and then I was glad to see that she was starting to slightly be in a better mood than she had been by this point in time.

"I only go to parties when it is at the school. I do not feel like I am nearly popular enough to throw my own parties, and I also do not feel nearly popular enough that I think people might throw a party that they would invite me to. So I guess that I am just going to be the one guy who is never going to go out and have a good time, even though I would be really excited to have a good time with my fellow school mates." Kevin said and then thought about parties and how much I had loved to go to parties and when I was going to get a invite to a party soon.

"I miss the parties at my old town. I went to a couple of them, and they were pretty exciting. I think we should throw a party." I said and I was thinking that the other two seemed to at least sort of like that idea.

"If we throw a party, we are probably going to invite a lot of people. That way it can be as big as possible. We also need to get some stuff to make the party even more exciting. I want to make the party something that people would publish on the news and would go down in the history of Wayside for the rest of our lives." Kevin was glorifying the entire thing, thinking that it would be exciting if he threw the party himself.

"I think that we probably shouldn't go on and invite the teachers or something like that. If we did, then they would probably try their best to stop us from doing anything else." I said and then I was mainly just not in the mood of dealing with my teacher getting in my business of not only what I am doing inside of school, but once the school day was over with as well. I think that if they wanted to get in my business of what I did after school, they were the ones who needed to go on and get a fucking life and do something that would actually make it feel like it was put to a good use.

"I think that the teachers are probably trying to be with their families anyways, so don't really worry all that much about it. I think that the teachers probably don't even know where we all live in the first place. I would be more worried about the police getting in our way than anything else." Kevin told me and while I was thinking he was probably right, I still did not want to deal with the chances of what it would be like if the teachers got there. I would honestly be more worried about if one of my teachers found me doing something like this than just some random police officer I know I will never meet again.

"The police don't know what they are talking about. They just act like they are the big man on the whole thing, but I know that they are not. I will be able to defeat them on any moment." I said and then I was feeling like I was on the top of the world when I was saying that, saying that the police sucked and that I was doing a better job running the city. At least I was fighting the monsters, at least I was taking on these things for the sake of the city and possibly risking my life while I was doing so. They never did so, and I think that they were just using it for the sake of power.

I think that it would not really be all that shocking if it had turned out that I was going to find out that the police were one of the enemies in the whole thing. I think that if I had to fight one, taking care of them would be a great pleasure of mine.

"You know, I think that maybe you should try and make them see what is going on. I think that you are the only one who can get the police to see what the problem is. I feel as if you need to at the very least try to do this." Kevin said and I thought about it.

I knew that no matter what I would try, there was no way in hell that the police were going to believe anything that I had said. They were just too stubborn, and in all reality, there was a pretty decent chance that they might have been part of the system that we were trying to take down. There was no way I would trust them unless if I was literally going to die. In all reality, there may have been one or two in there that I would have been able to trust, but in the grand scheme of the entire police force, there was no way that I would be able to trust all of them. Hell, I probably wouldn't be able to trust the majority of them.

I was thinking about that a little bit, and after I had come to that decision, I was thinking about how to tell Kevin that it just simply was not going to work. But I could tell from the look on his face, that he can already tell what I was about to say. As a result, and I seem like he kind of would be just dropping the subject. I wished I would have been able to trust them, but I had to play the realistic game, which means that I had to play the long-term game as well. I had hoped that Kevin would be able to understand the point of view that I coming from.

But when I saw the look on his face, I could tell that the subject was kind of hitting home a little bit for him. I was trying to think why he wanted the place to be on their side so much, but when I was starting to kind of put the pieces together I remembered something that head kind of been a part of my memory for the last few weeks but mostly escaped me. If I had remembered correctly, Kevin mentioned very vaguely one time when we were hanging out all long time ago, that his father was police officer. If that was a case and I did remember correctly, then maybe I could trust Kevin's dad on the whole thing, but it would be a little bit of a forced trusts. I think Kevin would be able to understand where I was coming from.

That being said though, I was well aware of the fact that any sort of allies on our side would have been better than absolutely nothing at all. I thought that if we were able to get at least a few people on the inside to sort of support us, then maybe we can have a little bit of head on a subject.

I didn't really know though. Jenny seems like she was getting in a little bit of a better mood. I think she was just really excited for the idea of the Halloween party. I was wondering if it was like one of her favorite parts of the year. If it was, then I would probably do my best to try to make sure that she really enjoyed it. I didn't want what could have been her favorite part of the school year, hell maybe even the year in general, to be a miserable nightmare, just because of the fact that there were some annoying things going on.

I look right at Jenny. Just seen her insecure face well it's kind of hard for me to do. I really don't want her to feel like she was being forced to do something she didn't want to do. I was kind of wondering if her being in this friend group was forcing her into that type of deal. If it was, I wasn't sure if I would be able to really forgive myself. Then I would have done anything to make up for the fact that this was forced, and then try to show her that I would be at her side even if she didn't want to hang out anyone else in this group. She was a friend of mine after all, or at least I would assume that she was, and I take my friendships very seriously.

I was wondering what I was going to dress up as for Halloween. I mean I didn't put at on the thought of it and last few days or so. That being said, it was becoming a relatively close event. So I felt like it was a decent time to really kind of start to evaluate it all over again.

I think later, I might go and hang out with Jenny a little bit. When I would do so, I might go run and get a little bit information off her about what she was going to do. Besides, it would be kind of fun to do a little bit of compare and contrast between the two of us. I thought that there would be a few big enough differences that it would actually be pretty fun at the end of the day to do it.

Besides, there was a little bit of me that did like the slightly more competitive side of it. I always felt like there was nothing wrong with having a bit of competition and everything, as long as the other competitor would have been fine with it. I just hope that Jenny wouldn't be too annoyed with the whole idea of having a little bit of competition to the whole thing. Heck, if I was lucky, she might be to better herself.

It was really Kevin that I was not so sure about. I mean there was a part of me that did thank you like a little bit of the competition to it, but I did feel like he might be a little bit tired of it all with the fact that his brother was that way as well. But I was just kind of thinking that as long as his brother didn't get involved in any of it, that Kevin wouldn't find anything about it that he would be too bothered by.

I was just more worried about Steven now that I thought about it. I mean, he was always dressing up as an elf and doing all that stuff on just the normal daily basis, I wouldn't even want to know what he did on Halloween.

I mean, I just had a feeling, that when the competition was going to start, he would probably going to kick our asses at it. He would probably do such a good job at it that he would probably make the rest of us look like a total dumbass by comparison.

It wasn't too long after that when we all stood up and was kind of deciding that we should probably head on home. I mean, as much as I enjoyed hanging out with the two of them, I was almost certain that we would all need to get a little bit of rest. I mean I probably needed it quite a bit, but it honestly look like it they might need it even more than I did. They did about as much as me and they weren't as experience in this whole fight as I was, but since I have been dealing with this so long, I was kind of immune to it, and I was thinking that there was no way that they were as ready for any of this that I was.

We had gone to Kevin's house first, and that was mainly because his was the closer one of the three. When we were at his house, he just looked at the two of us, and as he slowly nodded he walked away. I looked at Jenny and it seems like we were slowly getting on the feather terms again. That was making me feel a thousand times better.

The two of us kept walking and about 25 minutes later or so, when we had been so wrapped up in her Halloween conversation, we were at her house, and I was really happy to see that she wasn't really angry at me. I think she had just kind of starting to realize that it really wasn't my fault. She wasn't really know who to blame, then again we may never be too sure, but she knew that she could have been me. She then gave me a second kiss, and I was very happy to have her do that. I told her that we would see each other again, and on less shaky grounds and she walked on inside.

When that was over with, I knew that it was my turn to be home. I was walking along, thinking that I might do a little bit of the armor work, but I decided that I should probably get a little bit of sleep before hand. I knew that today's victory was just going to be a small step in the overall battle against these monsters, and I needed as much rest as I could get.


	36. Sheriff Garrett

Chapter 35: Sheriff Garrett

Eventually, I found myself hanging out with Myron, and when I was hanging out with the guy, the experience that we were dealing with this day was able to bring me a lot closer to him and being able to appreciate him a lot more than I had been able to up until this point in time. In all reality, Myron had proved himself that he was a truly valuable asset with what he had done with me that day. Anyways, I think it is time to actually start telling the story right now, as it started right when I had pretty much woken up that day.

 

Well, Myron kind of woke me up since he was knocking right at my door and I was really annoyed and I was rolling the sleep out of my eyes and then I walked all the way down to the house door and then opened the door up and I was seeing Myron standing right there looking really worried for some reason. "Look, could you have waited until I was fully awake before you decided to just randomly knock on my door?" I was asking and there was a little bit of my annoyance coming through, but I was able to keep it in pretty well given the situation I would think.

 

"No I really could not have waited that long. You really need to see what I have seen lately." Myron said and then he was snapping his fingers a bit and then I rolled my eyes and made no effort in hiding it and then I walked all the way up to my bedroom and then grabbed my skateboard and then I walked on down to Myron and then I was giving him a look that made it very clear that I wanted this to actually be worth it. I have a feeling that this was going to be a waste of time, and I was really not wanting him to test my patience.

 

I closed the house door and then we were walking down for a while. "I saw the creek that I have heard about earlier. I think you might really want to see it for yourself." Myron had said and then when he had said that, I stopped and looked right at him. I was wondering how he had found out about the creek, and where this was actually going to go. "I think that what you will find at the creek might be very different from what you are used to by now." Afterwards, I started to get a little bit more serious and then we were walking down and I really wanted to know what Myron had known about the creek that he thinks I did not know of.

 

As we were heading on down to the creek, I said "I only have been there twice, so you might be as much as a novice there as I am to be honest. If you have only been there once." I said and I was scared of what I would see, and I was worried that this was going to result in us seeing Jason dead there or something like that.

 

"Trust me, this is really important." Myron kept saying as he was making more progress and as we were making progress down to the creek. I was thinking that this better be worth the distraction and time that he was taking out of my time. I felt like if Dana and Kevin or somebody else wanted to talk to me, that that they were going to have to wait just because of what Myron was wanting to show me about a place I already had known about. 

 

Eventually, we had reached what was close to the front entrance of the creek and then as we were getting inside of the creek, I was thinking that what Myron was showing me actually probably did have some purpose after all. This situation that we were in was actually a lot more scary than I would have thought that it could have possibly been. There was Jason and about three other kids there, none of which I have seen, and they seemed to have been fighting some sort of monsters and stuff.

 

The monsters were really building up on the kids and I was not really sure what to do at that moment. I was thinking that the only thing I can use was a bunch of rocks or something like that. I grabbed the biggest stone I can hold and throw and then I threw the stone at one of the monsters and then the monster had hit the ground and there was blood coming right out of their neck. There was a couple of monsters that were still around, but perhaps I can go along better saying that I did do my part of the job at the very least. Jason had something that looked like a gun and I could not believe that he had a gun, but I thought that if there was a good time to use it, now would be that time more than ever.

 

Jason shot down the monster that was right in front of him and then the monster fell down on the ground and they were dead as well. There was one more monster that needed to be defeated. The monster grabbed a younger teenage male, probably fourteen or so. They bit his neck and he fell down and he stabbed the monster as he went down to the ground. The blood was so bad that I knew right then and there that there was no way he was going to make it.

 

Myron ran and grabbed the knife and then threw it right at the kid who was closest to the monster and then the kid stabbed the monster several times. They were destroyed, and then everybody looked around and then Jason looked at Myron and I and went up to us glad to see us and glad to see that we did our part in helping out.

 

"If you didn't come and help us at that moment, then we probably would have all died. I guess the creek really is not as safe as I really thought it would have been. I thought that this creek is the safest place in the entire city, but I guess that is no longer the truth." Jason said and then he walked up to the body of the fallen comrade. "Tristan seemed like he had potential. I guess that his knife was useful after all." Jason said as he was looking at Myron, doing his best to have at least some form of comedy to the whole sad moment and then he rubbed his eyes saying "I am just glad that he has left his family behind, so that way they wouldn't have to know what the hell just happened." Jason then grabbed Tristan's body and then I started to follow him for a bit.

 

"When did Myron find the creek for the first time?" I was asking and I know that it was a bad time to be asking all of these questions considering the fact that the guy who was leading the creek was basically burying a dead boy, but at the same time I just needed to know this for myself.

 

"He found the creek last night. He said he lost something and then he found this place by mistake. I don't really know how to help him find what he lost, but I guess that doesn't really matter as much anymore right now." Jason said and then Myron was thinking about how pointless it would be to even try and find his missing object anymore, and he was not really even going to try and argue the fact that there was virtually no point to it anymore.

 

Jason then placed Tristan down on the ground, and then he looked at the ground that he was going to have to dig up. Thankfully there was some random shovel in the area and then he grabbed the shovel and then he started to dig up the ground and I was just watching as the guy was ready to place him inside of the ground. I never even knew the guy, and I still felt sad for the fact that he had died in such a brutal and sudden way. 

 

Then Jason dug up enough for the ground to place Tristan in there, and then he put him in the ground and then he placed the dirt on top of him again and then afterwards he looked at the group and he was ready to do a funeral service for the guy, and I decided that I was going to be respectful about it and not say anything until the funeral was over, and that I was going to let Jason and the others do the job for me, since I knew nothing about him.

 

"I only knew this young man for a few days, and I was really sure that he was actually going to do a great job helping out the creek and get it all going up and running again. But now he is here, and everything that I thought he could have done is now in the past once more again. I am going to make sure his death wasn't invain, and that he actually lost his life for a good purpose. He tried to fight the monsters, and we are going to make sure that these monsters are going to die and never come along to the creek again. We need to bring back the creek, and make it our territory again." Jason said and then he grabbed a stick and then he stabbed the stick right to the ground and then he was doing this as a way to have at least some form of memorial for Tristan, and I just remained silent as much as possible.

 

"This may be the first casualty in making the creek great again, and I will do my damn best to make sure that he is the last one that we will have to face. He did not deserve what had happened to him, and none of the others who might die deserve it as well. None of you deserve it, and the creek does not deserve it. We are going to make the monsters see that the creek is the best place in all of Wayside and we are going to make this place safe for people to come by and we are going to make the monsters feel like they are the ones who need to fear something rather than the humans being the ones who need to fear." Jason said and then after he was saying this, he balled his fist up a bit and then he was looking right at us and he was wondering what we had thought of what he was saying.

 

Jason looked down at the grave and he was thinking about what he was going to say next, and then he looked right back up at us and he was ready to continue once more.

 

"The monsters feel like they own Wayside, and I can assure you that they indeed do not own Wayside. We own the city, and they are going to regret ever thinking for a minute that they own it. If the monsters don't return to where they are from, we are just going to kill them." Jason said and then he was done and he was starting to walk off and I looked at Myron.

 

"This is one hell of a way to start a day off. It is strange, but it is still more exciting than staying home I guess." I said and then I started to get ready to see what I can do in order to help out the creek, and if I can fight more monsters yet again.

 

"Myron, what the hell are we going to do now?" I asked and I was just really wishing that I was finally able to get one fucking day without monsters coming along, and here I was, having to fight them all over again. In all reality, fighting monsters were getting a little bit old by this point in time. "I just wish that these monsters would finally be able to leave me alone for once. I was trying to sleep in and then you decided that I needed to fight more monsters yet again." I said and then Myron looked right at me and then he seemed like he was thinking about that, how these monsters were already out of his league and he had only been doing this for like a couple of minutes.

 

"I think we are just going to wait around and see what perhaps Jason wants us to do. I have nothing else to suggest." Then Myron sat down and I sat down next to him as we were looking forward and then I laid myself back and then Myron laid back as well. "Hey Todd, do you actually know what there is that we can do right now?" Myron asked and then I shrugged and then I placed my hands behind my back.

 

It was a little nice just talking with Myron that had nothing to do with him trying to be class president. I wonder if all of this monster stuff got him back into reality just for a little bit, but then I was thinking that in a day or two from now, we were going to have to start listening to him talking over and over and over again about him being class president, but I was just taking it in for a moment as some form of blessing that he was not going all over the place about it.

 

"I am just a little bit unsure why these monsters want anything to do with the creek right now. The creek just seems like the strangest place to attack, in my personal opinion. There was nothing really strange about the creek, and I don't really understand if there is any real purpose to any of this now." I said and then I was thinking about what Myron was going to do if the monsters came up. I was not really sure if Myron was going to be able to actually fight these monsters after all, and I was thinking it would be a terrible idea for him to.

 

"You need to fight the monsters off for me. I don't really think that I would really have the courage to fight these monsters. The whole thing is still pretty strange to me, and in all honesty monsters are just really scary." Myron said and then when he had said that, I was looking around at Jason and the other two people wandering around, and they took no time to actually talk to us at all, and I was honestly kind of fine that they were doing this.

 

"I understand that these monsters are probably really scary. I do not really blame you for feeling that way at all. But in case if I don't know how to defeat these monsters, then you need to help step up a bit and you need to be a person who is able to help fight the monsters just in case. I don't think that you absolutely need to fight, but I think that you should be ready just in case something like that does happen." I said and then after I told Myron that, I was hoping that he didn't think too much about what I was saying. In all reality, I was just wanting him to help me, and I was thinking that he was the only one who hasn't been too affected by the monsters so far, and that was why I wanted him to help out more than ever.

 

"Yeah, I guess that does make enough sense right now. I just don't really want to fight any monsters, and while I don't want to fight them, I do understand that I might have to fight them. But who really cares right now? I am just going to focus on the right now, and that is all I can say I will be able to do at this moment." Myron said and then the two of us remained quiet for a little bit and then he stood up and then I stood up as well.

 

"What are you planning on doing right now?" I asked and then after I asked that, Myron looked at me and he was saying that he was thinking that he was seeing something that he needed to check out. I was wondering if this was related to any of the monsters or the thing he had lost, so I was going to follow along and see if perhaps this actually was something he was seeing or if he was going insane.

 

We walked outside of the entrance of the creek and as I was looking around, I felt a little bit of a sinister feeling. I was not really sure why I was feeling the sinister feeling. But there was a part of me that realized that this had nothing to do with monsters. I felt like this was entirely related to the people in the city, and that there was just something evil about them. 

 

"Myron, I have a feeling that we need to check something out right now." I said and then I was holding the skateboard and then Myron was wondering what the hell I was talking about, but at the same time he was seeing from the look on my face that this was actually something I was one hundred percent meaning and then we started to go along and we eventually left the forest. I placed the board on the ground and I was skating lightly so Myron can keep up.

 

Eventually, I had made it to the police station where Myron was wondering what exactly I was actually doing at that moment. As I was at the front of the police station, I looked right at Myron and I was ready to start to give him the plan that I was going to go through. "First, we are going to tell the police sheriff about the monsters. I hate the fact that I am doing this right now, but I feel like it is better to have somebody at my side. Maybe they're just as corrupt as I fear they would be, but I am going to give them a chance ti proof themselves." I said as Myron was staring and he was thinking that this was going to be a really dangerous idea. Then we walked on inside of the police station and then I started to walk into one of the rooms.

 

The guy in the station was sitting down and he was looking like he was in the middle of a really lit nap. I sat down and Myron was sitting down as well and he was really just wanting to remain silent and let me take care of this whole thing. After a while, the guy looked up and he was trying to get back to being fully awake. "Bro, you could have knocked before you came in. Do you just barge into every room that you go into?" The police officer asked and I was examining him a bit. He was looking like he was only like twenty one or something like that, and that he had only been in the job for a couple of weeks. I could tell from the smell that he probably forgot to have a shower that day.

 

"I was just wanting to talk to you about some things that have been going on in town lately. There have been a lot of events lately that make me think that this town is unsafe." I said and then after I said that, the guy rubbed his eyes a bit and then he looked at me a bit nonchalant.

 

"What is it that makes you think that this town is not safe anymore?" The guy asked and he was in a combination of showing he didn't give a shit and trying to pretend like he gave a shit since this was his job, and then afterwards, I started to take the risk since I thought that there maybe could have been like a ten percent chance that he would have taken me seriously.

 

"By the way, there's monsters. They have been in this town for a really long time. I have been fighting these things for like since I have shown up at Wayside. I am getting really sick and tired of fighting these all, and I feel like I just need some help right now. I don't think you are probably going to believe me or not, but I want you to give me a chance to show that I am telling the truth." I said and then I saw as the guy was just trying hard not to laugh at me for what I was saying.

 

"I am only going to take your compliant since I have to. What evidence do you guys have of these monsters being around here at all?" The guy asked and then I told him about some of the things that I saw at the creek as well as all of the monsters and attacks that have been going around in town. As I had been telling him this, he seemed to be taking me a little bit more serious the more that he heard me. As if this was actually starting to make some form of sense.

 

"Do you know where this creek actually is?" He asked me and then I nodded. Myron was wondering why I was telling him this, and he was thinking that it was a terrible idea for me to show him all of this stuff. He then stood up and then he was placing the walkie talkie on his belt and then he was placing a gun in his holster and his knife in his pocket. Then he put in a pack of cigarettes inside of his pocket and then we all walked outside of the room. 

 

We were outside and we both went inside of his back seat and then he was driving to the forest and once we were outside of the car, we went to the forest. The three of us were walking along and then after a while, we were down to the entrance of the creek. "There are a few people here, just going around. There might be a couple of monsters there, with their bodies on the ground, just in case if you don't believe us right away." I said and then he looked at me as if trying to decide if he was going to call this a huge fraud or not. 

 

Once inside of the creek, the guy was looking around and at first it seemed like I was actually lying to him. There was just a few people wandering around and trying to get themselves to be a relatively positive attitude over what had just happened, which they knew that it was impossible to get in a good mood, but they were just trying to pretend as if they were. 

 

Then there was something that started to give away the looks of the monsters that were here. The three of us started to walk closer to there and then the police officer grabbed the claw that was on the ground and then he held up the claw. He was staring at it for a moment and then he looked right at Myron and I. "Let's go back to the office. I think that you might be telling the truth. I think that you should be given a chance to talk to the sheriff and perhaps they will listen to you." He said and then the three of us left the creek with the claw inside of the officers hand.

 

The three of us were driving on towards the police station. "I still don't know what to think about what you are telling me. These monsters just seem really strange to me. I mean I can't really deny what you have shown me, as there is literal evidence of these monsters being real. But I guess that I just want to get some more information right now." The police officer said as he would glance at the claw once every ten seconds or so and then he would grab the claw and then he placed the claw right in the coffee holster. Then he was smoking one of his cigarettes and as we were driving along, I was thinking about what to say.

 

"I know that this must be really hard to believe. I didn't really believe or understand it all at first when I first saw this, but these things are indeed real. I can't deny that the monsters are real with how much we have been fighting them lately. I want to get some help with fighting them. I doubt that just one police officer will really change everything, but I just need to have some assistance on this whole thing." I said and then I was just wondering if I was going to be able to get more people to help me out here, or if I was just destined to only do this with some of my friends.

 

I was also thinking about how terrible I must have looked when I was inside of a car with Myron at that moment. I was thinking that if anybody who went to school with us saw us, they would probably think that we had killed somebody or something like that. I was thinking that I needed to try and justify myself soon since I was probably going to get talked to by all the students the next day at school, as there will probably be rumors about me as well.

 

"I don't want you to be fighting any more of these monsters. I want you to go home. I want you to just pretend that none of this had ever happened and I want you guys to try and pretend that you have a normal life." The police officer said and I was not sure if I can really handle this at all, and I was thinking that he knew I couldn't really do this.

 

"I don't really think that this is going to be possible. Trust me, I have tried really hard to live a normal life. I can't really do it, because I won't really ever get the chance to do so. I get like one day or maybe two if I was lucky, and then I would have to fight them all over again. It is kind of annoying, but that is just how my life has become." I said and then the police officer pulled up at the station and then he looked right at me as he stubbed the cigarette on the window of the car and the look on his face was almost scarier than the look on any monster.

 

"I am giving you a fucking order boy. You do not defy me. I and the others are going to take care of these monsters. Go home once this interview is over, and just pretend like this never fucking happened. I am not going to fuck with you anymore." He said and I was realizing that this guy can mess with my life even more than the monsters can. Monsters were just creatures, and I can never get in trouble from those. This was a human being. He had more methods, and if something happened to him, I sure as hell bet I would get in trouble with the law for it.

 

"Fine, I will do as you want. I will try to." I said and I was just not really sure if I can not fight these monsters since these monsters are just everywhere and I am going to probably fight them all over and over again. There was no way that I can go more than a couple of days without fighting them.

 

"You better hold to your end of the promise, and if you don't, I will tell your parents about every fucking thing that you have ever done." The police officer said and then he grabbed the claw as hard as possible. He went out of the car and slammed the door shut and then I looked at Myron. I was starting to think that this was a fucking mistake as I went outside of the car and then I closed the door in a less forced way than the officer sand then I made sure I was having my board before I did so and then Myron went out of the car as well.

 

We were inside of the station and then we were walking right towards the sheriffs office. As we were doing so, I could tell that the other officers were getting a little bit worried over what was going on, as if they knew that things were starting to get much more serious and then we went right inside of the sheriffs office and then we were all inside of his room as I looked at the totally covered tables with one glass of whiskey on there.

 

"These two have something that they have to show you." The officer said and then he slammed the claw right down onto the table as he showed his hands out to show how annoyed he was. Then he walked to the door of the room and then he started to get a bit more of a smug look on his face. I then looked at the sheriff as well and then he was looking at the claw. Then he stared at me and Myron as if we had destroyed the world.

 

"Tell me every single thing that you know about this. I need you to be totally honest with me, and I don't want you to hold back on a single detail. If I am to understand what you are showing me, I need the honesty, and I will give you whatever I can to make sure that everything will be alright." The police sheriff said and then I was thinking about where to start this, and the young man who was standing behind us was giving us a glare that was showing he was still expecting us to follow through with our promise on not continuing the monster hunt once we leave this place.

 

"Well, there are these things called monsters. They have been around town for a while, and I have been basically fighting them the entire time that I have been in this town. I have no idea what the hell I am supposed to do against these monsters, but I have just been fighting them as much as I can to try and keep the town safe. You know, I am just trying to be at least a fighter in order to help make this city safe for all of us." I said and there was a little bit of a attitude that I placed in there, to show that I was annoyed that they have not been doing this now. Why I have been doing more to help the world than anybody else.

 

"I thank you for helping out. But I need to know more about these monsters. I also want to know that you can promise me that nothing we are talking about here will be leaving this room. The four of us should be the only ones who learn of this conversation, and that if you tell anybody else about what we are discussing, then things are going to be far less pleasant for you." The police sheriff said and I nodded sort of believing him, but I felt like my friends did need to know a little bit.

 

"These monsters are really powerful, and I have been almost killed by them every single time that I have fought them. But there is nobody who is really helping me out, so I have nothing to do besides just fight them and hope that eventually, I can get somebody to help me out." I said and then I was starting to feel a little bit more secure talking to this guy, albeit not by much.

 

"If you are able to fight these monsters, I want to know how you can actually do so. I need you to let me know how this is something you can do. So that way we can be able to fight them off ourselves." The police sheriff said and then I nodded and I was thinking about it. I really did not have any idea how I was able to do all of this, as it was mostly sheer and blind luck more than anything else, but I didn't want to say that.

 

"To be honest with you, the fact that I am alive is more of a miracle than out of anything else. There is no real reason that I should even be alive at all right now. But I guess that I just have to be thankful for the fact that I am not dead, but at the same time I can't really explain to you how it has all been done. I just have been skating a lot lately, and every time I skate, I get faster and I just simply use whatever is in the area in order to fight the monsters." I said and then I was hoping that the police sheriff was going to be fine with that answer.

 

"God damn it, I would have really wished that you would have had a better answer for me, but if you are honestly thinking that you don't have one, I guess I can't get too rough with you about this. I just wish that I knew what I was going to be heading into before I actually did something." The police sheriff said and then he was rubbing his eyes a bit and then he looked right at me and then he just had a really short glance with Myron. He must have known that Myron was mostly innocent on this whole thing, so he was not even going to bother with him for the time being.

 

"Look, I think that you just need to fight the monsters with whatever you have and soon enough you will be able to actually have a chance on killing these things. That is all I can really say to it." I said and then I was placing my head on the desk as the young officer was taking out another cigarette and he was smoking it, without the sheriff even giving it a second look as he opened the window and did nothing else to fight the smell in any way.

 

"I was sort of forced to be like this chosen one, and I have been just fighting the monsters as much as I am able to. That is all I can really say about the matter. You know what it is like for me to just be told that there are monsters and then I am forced to pretty much fight them all? It is really fucking annoying. I'm sorry if you don't like me using any language, but I don't care. I am just tired of it all." I said and then I was really letting out the anger in my voice.

 

"I am sorry kid, but you seem to have more experience than me on this. I don't want you fighting the monsters anymore, but while you are here, I want you to give me clues on how to fight them so I can take over the battle for you. What monsters have you seen?" The police sheriff questioned as he was thinking of ways he can use the monsters for power in his favor.

 

"They have been all over the place. Some of which looked like a werewolf or something like that, and some others were just stuff like snakes. There is nothing even remotely showing something that would be considered consistency. I understand that monsters are like really confusing to accept, I should know since I am having a hard time getting used to them as well, but they are what I have to deal with from here on out. Besides, I am just trying to be calm with you right now. There are probably monsters out at the creek right now, and probably fighting some people down at the creek, and there is nothing that I can do about it as long as you are asking me all of these questions." I said and then I was tired of this interview, and then the police sheriff got closer to looking right at me and he was wondering what I was meaning by the creek.

 

"It is in this place inside of the town forest, and it is covered by place that looks like a sewer entrance. I had been there a couple of times, and I showed your other police officer this creek. He was only in there for about a minute or so before he found this claw, and decided to bring it to this office for you to see. I don't really understand the creek all that much, but what can I really say to it besides that." I said and then I placed my hands on the table and then Myron was wondering if I was pushing my luck or not.

 

"I guess that if you don't really know how it all works, then I guess that I will just have to go down there. We will go there right away. I think that we should bring you home soon, but I am also wondering on if you are actually going to keep your promise of not fighting any more of these monsters." After the police sheriff had said that, I was thinking about that for a few seconds.

 

"I am not going to pursue them actively. But if the monsters come to me, and I will fight them myself. But that is only when they come right at my direction. That is the best that I am going to be able to promise you. Nothing more, but hopefully nothing really less as well." I said and then I saw the young officer just standing there, trying to see if I was still going along with the truth or not.

 

"I guess that this is the best that I am going to go with for now. I mean, if the monsters attack you, then you have every right to actually fight back then. But until then, just try and live a normal life. I know that this might be hard, so I am just wanting you to at the very least try to do this." The police sheriff said and then he was placing the claw inside of a cupboard and then he was getting more focused on me once again.

 

"Are you going to tell the public about this, or are you going to be lying about this to make them thing that things are still just normal?" I asked, hoping that it was both answers. I hoped that he was going to tell me that he would tell the people the truth so that way they would actually be prepared for what would happen in the future, but at the same time I had wanted him to talk to them like nothing was wrong to give them a false sense of hope. I wanted both ends of the coin so badly that I was not really even sure which one I wanted more out of the two.

 

"I think that depending on how big this whole thing gets, I might eventually tell the truth. But for the time being, I am going to keep this closed. I don't want them to get too worried about is going on. I think you might be able to understand why I am feeling that way. But I just don't really know what to do, when I have just barely found out about this as well." The sheriff said and then before I can argue with him, I was about to try and say something, but then I was forced to resign myself and recognize that he was indeed right about this.

 

"I guess I can see where you are coming from. In all honesty, I was fine with either answer, and I would not really even be sure myself which one I would have wanted you to give me more. I just am terribly sad that this is even the debate that we are having." I was saying and then the police sheriff said as he was saying the simple reply.

 

"I will give you one thing, you do seem really mature for your age. I am guessing that this is a response to everything that you have been exposed to lately. I don't want to know what you think about me, and honestly I don't really care all that much. I have a job to do, and I just need to get to know more about these monsters. Please, try and tell me every single thing that you know about this." The police sheriff said and then Myron said the first thing in the entire interview.

 

"I found a tree about two miles away from where the town exit is, and I didn't really see too much about it, but I do think that there was a bunch of carvings on the tree that might be able to give out some details on what the monsters are like. I never thought about it until just now." Myron said and then the police sheriff thought about that for a moment and then he stood up as he was thinking about what to go with and he was thinking that perhaps Myron was onto something there.

 

"I think we should drive there and see what is etched onto the tree." The police sheriff said and then all of us were now standing, as the young officer was raising his hand and he was thinking that now it was finally time for him to raise his opposition to what has been happening, and he was mainly doing it as a way to get us out of the area for good. "What are you wanting to say?" The police sheriff asked and he was trying to not get annoyed, but he was not really doing all that good of a job at it.

 

"I don't really think that we should bring these kids with us. They might get us in trouble. I think that they just don't really have a clue what they are doing, and that they should just remain at home and just try to live a normal life. I mean, they have already given us enough information. They shouldn't be forced to continue this whole investigation anymore." The younger officer said as he was holding his left hand forward, and that was when I saw for the first time the hand cast that he had. He must have fucked up his hand at some point, and refused to take any recovery time to make it better. The police sheriff looked right at the younger officer and then all four of us could tell that he was trying to find a way to not get annoyed at the young man talking back to him.

 

"They are the ones who told us about the tree. They have all right to see what the tree is like. Once we find the tree, then we might bring them back home. But until then, they are going to be with us, and you are not going to argue with me about this anymore." The police sheriff said and then the younger officer looked at us with malice in his eyes as he placed his hands inside of his pocket, and I was starting to think that perhaps he was going to be a bigger threat to us than even the monsters would have been.

 

Afterwards, we walked on out of the room and then we left the station. When all four of us were walking out of the station, I could see all of the officers looking at us and I could tell that they were really confused at what was happening, trying to figure out what we were going to be investigating.

 

Then we went inside of the car and the police sheriff started the car and then he was slowly driving off as the younger officer put in yet another cigarette, to make it the third one that we had been seeing him smoke just within the course of about forty minutes or so, and I was wondering how the feeling did not get him sick yet, but I decided to remain quiet, to not piss him off anymore. Then eventually, we were well on the track down to the tree.

 

As we were driving down to the tree, the police sheriff did not say a single word nor did the younger officer. I looked at Myron and I was wondering what I can say to him without having one of the two officers, if not both of them, at our ass trying to get to know what we were talking about. It was not really anything that I was wanting to deal with, but there was just me trying to be realistic with this whole thing. "So Myron, how exactly did you figure out everything with the tree? I saw the tree when I was finally getting inside of the town, but at the same time I never really thought about it and I thought that it was just a tree that was alone." I said and then I felt dumb describing it this way, but then I didn't get a real chance to beat myself up over it as Myron just explained it to me in a real simple way.

 

"Well I was just thinking about places in town that were really strange, and that was the first thing that came up to me. I hope that you don't really make all that big of a deal about it. I was just trying to help. Besides, I think that you have already done enough to help out everybody. I felt like I just needed to do something to make up for the fact that I haven't done all that much." Myron said and then afterwards, I just remained quiet to think about that for a few seconds.

 

I felt like I have indeed contributed enough to justify my spot in the group, but at the same time I was not really sure if I should have done even more but then before that was able to really be my next thought set, the car was sounding like it was ready to park.

 

After the car had parked, all four of us got out nearly at the same time, just within a couple of seconds of each other as the cigarette was finished and the younger officer stomped it on the ground and then I saw that we were only about ten yard away from the tree. I realized that this was closest I have gone to leaving Wayside ever since I had arrived at this school district and then we started to go closer to the tree.

 

While we were standing there and waiting for the two officers to finally finish their investigation, I was looking right at Myron and then I said "So how many people do you think might know about us getting sent to deal with the police? I think that we might get some rumors about this for us for the next few days." I then wondered how Myron might react to that.

 

"Well maybe people might think it is cool enough that they might finally let me get voted in for class president." Myron said and then I wanted to punch the asshole in the face for bringing that up. I thought he had finally dropped that subject for good, and then there he was bringing this up again. He could see from the look on my face that I was not really pleased with the fact that he had brought that up and then he decided that he needed to retract for a bit and then he said "Well, I meant to say that they might be asking us what we are doing, and they might be thinking that we might be like these rebels." Then when he said that, I was still looking at him but I decided to drop the subject and then I was looking right at the two officers again.

 

As we were watching, I could see the two officers talking for a while and then I could see that the younger one was using his arm movements to show his expression and how tired he was of this bullshit while the sheriff was able to keep his composure but I can hear from the tone of his voice that he was clearly trying to keep his calm as well, and I was watching the entrance or exit of the town and saw that barely anybody was either entering or leaving, and that was when I was starting to realize that I barely ever really say anybody go inside or outside of the town the entire time that I had been here, which made me wonder how there could have been so many people who lived in the town.

 

Then when they had been done talking with each other, the younger officer pounded his fist against the tree a couple of times, and I was wondering why he did that as there was a small creaking noise coming out from the tree. Then he pulled out his walkie talkie and then he started to speak into it. 

 

"We need to get more officers here. It seems like there may be something under here." Then after he said that, he was looking at the two of us and then that was when I was thinking about what the heck was going on, and if I found some form of a fake tree. Then I brought up what I forgot to mention earlier.

 

"I mentioned the forest earlier, but I also saw a cave in the town as well. I also think that you should also look into the android creation facility. I think that there are a few things that you might need to look into once you check them out. Those will probably be really important for any investigation going on." I said and then both of the officers considered these two points, as if they couldn't believe they had not pieced it together quite yet.

 

"I was originally going to try and destroy the cave, but then I just ran out of there after another monster attack and I totally forgot about it. You need to destroy that thing, before anything else can use it." I said, forgetting about the armor that I had started to create, but I was also thinking that maybe it didn't really need to be made anymore, as much as I had hated to admit that. The sheriff was thinking about that and then he nodded as he turned around to the younger officer and this time they were not really trying to hide what the hell the were saying anymore.

 

"We need to bring the dynamite inside of that cave and destroy it. I want to have a piece placed at each possibly part of the cave so that way the cave can be destroyed." The sheriff said and then he looked right up at Myron and I again and then he was thinking about what we should be doing again. "Thank you for the information you have given to us." The sheriff just left it at that and the the two officers were starting to get closer to the car again and then I looked at Myron. 

 

"No wonder why you keep missing school all the time. You have to deal with all of the crazy stuff that nobody should even be getting close to dealing with." Myron said and then I thought about that. In all reality, I really didn't need to deal with all of this stuff, but at the same time, I was thinking that there might be more to it than just that. "Do you think that you might be going to school more often now that you have promised to not continue all of this monster fighting now?" Myron asked and then I nodded.

 

"Yeah, there is no real need for me to skip anymore. I just hope that these monsters can actually be easily defeated by the police. Either way, I am kind of wanting to get back into a normal life, so I guess that perhaps this is something I should have done earlier. But when I go back to school, it might be a little bit hard for me to get back into the swing of things at first given all that has happened so far." I said and then Myron nodded, thinking that this had made sense.

 

"I guess that perhaps school life might not really feel normal at first. If anything, school life may feel the one that is totally out of place at least initially." Myron said and I was glad that Myron was talking with me. He was a good guy, or at least when he was not talking all about the fucking class president stuff. But then when he brings that shit up, that was when I started to get a little bit more strained with my opinion of him.

 

I was thinking about what was exactly happened, and I was thinking that all of this had finally been a part of normal life, before I actually finally decided to try and help others out by this fucking report to the police station. Now there was a part of me that was starting to regret the whole letting them know what is going on, as there is a large part of me that feels as if they were just going to take all of this information and then find a way to take the credit for what happened and then be considered the big damn heroes of the fucking city.

 

I had no idea why this was really bothering me so much, but we just went inside of the police car and then the police sheriff was just looking at us and then he said one more time to get the point annoying across to everybody. "You better not tell anybody what the hell is happening, and if you do, I am going to remember what you are doing and that I will not let your life be very easy because you have no right to scare the city about the monsters." The police sheriff said and then he was just leaving it at that and I rolled my eyes to prove that I got it.

 

"Yes, I understand that you don't want me to tell a single person what the hell happened. I just want to actually know that you have the intention of fighting these monsters and taking them out, because if you do not, then I might actually have to break the promise that I made to you and I think I might actually have to track them down for you, since I think that you might not really know how to defeat the monsters." I said and then I placed my hands on my face and then I was starting to close my eyes in annoyance.

 

"You made a promise to us that you are not going to get in the monster hunting anymore, and here you are, telling me that you might start doing it again. Why the hell are you not going to follow your promise anymore? I have no real reason to have a trust in you given what is happening. I am going to give you a chance to show me that you are telling the truth, since I don't want to act like somebody doesn't have any credibility over what is happening." The police sheriff said and then I was thinking about if this guy was going to be my next rival more so than the monsters.

 

"Sorry, I won't make the threat again. I promise that I will never even suggest the idea a second time anymore." I said and then after I had told him that, the two of us were in a sort of staring contest with each other, and then afterwards, he started to look back at the window in front of us and he was getting back into the driving once again.

 

Eventually, the four of us parked in front of the place that looked like the cave that we were walking by earlier, and then we were seeing a bunch of police officers in the area and then the sheriff was looking around and he was seeing just how many sticks of dynamite that were in the area to throw in the cave to blow them all up for good. "We do not want even a small amount of evidence of this cave being here, and I mean that this is going to all go down to kingdom come." The police sheriff said and then after he was saying this, the three of us were getting a little bit worried on if this was actually going to go the way he plans. The three of us meaning me, Myron as well as the younger officer.

 

We were watching as a couple of the officers in the station grabbed two or three sticks in each hand and then placing them inside of the cave throughout a bunch of different places. The police sheriff just stood there watching the dynamite getting placed, and I was starting to actually think that maybe there was a chance this can work out with how much dynamite that was being placed in there.

 

"So if this fails, what do you think we are going to do next?" The younger officer asked as he rubbed his face again with the hand that had the cast on it. He was clearly not caring about how much he was probably agitating his hands every single time that this was happening. Then he placed his hand down and then the actual police sheriff was looking around and then he looking inside of his car and then he was quieting talking to himself.

 

"Where the fuck is my matchbox? I thought that I would have brought that here with us. God fucking damn it." He said and then the younger officer brought the lighter out to him and then he was clearly seeing what the police sheriff was trying to do, so he was just sparing him the time that he was going to waste looking around and just have the job get taken care of right away. Afterwards, he was watching as every officer had left the station and then there was one final stick of dynamite that was placed just before the entrance of the cave.

 

Then the police sheriff placed he lighters flame right at the tip of the dynamite and he had a few seconds to get out of the way, so he was running as fast as he humanly possibly could and then the place started to blow up and the cave explosions were going on for like three or four minutes and it was bringing down not only the cave but everything else that was around the cave. It was kind of amazing to watch all of this happen with how it was to see mass destruction happen.

 

After the explosions were over with, the sheriff looked right at me and then us and then after he had done so, he was giving the lighter right back to the younger officer and then he said "I guess that the cave is taken care of. I want the other officers to go around and clean up this mess that has been created. You guys follow me, we have some more work that we have to do. From what I remember, you were telling me about the android building." The police sheriff got right inside of the car and then the younger officer pulled out yet another cigarette and started to smoke it. By this point I was so immune to the sight of him smoking that I just didn't even care what he was doing.

 

We were driving for a while, and I was thinking if Devon even remembered that I was even a person at all, and if he remembered all of those crazy offers that he had made to me with Jenny in the area, acting like this was a great idea for us to actually go and have some androids of us created. I was just thinking on if the entire business had been expanding or not, and the idea of the business expanding had scared me a little bit.

 

I still couldn't really believe that all of these androids were becoming a thing at all. I was scared on what would happen if the androids actually started to get more of a personality and that very idea had scared me so much, that I wanted to actually kill them all out of nothing else just to make sure that these things would not come along and become just as dangerous, if not even more dangerous than the monsters had actually been.

 

As we were driving Myron said something really calm but still getting the point across. "I think we are really playing with death right now." Myron left it at that and I was obviously trying to hide how obvious that was, but I was still not able to blame Myron for feeling this way due to the fact that this whole thing really probably was just a lot of material for him to take. I did not really understand why we were going through this, or how the monsters had actually still been able to make as much of a impact as they had, but it still really got to me.

 

Eventually, we were right at the entrance of the pyramid that was showing the house of the androids being born. I then sighed and I hated the idea of going in there again as I knew every single detail about this place and I was not really sure if I wanted to meet that subtle monster Devon ever again. Besides, I was just a teenage boy. There was no way I can take him on if they decided to fight with me.

 

We were outside of the car and then we went on inside of it and then the sheriff was just thinking about what he was going to do now. He had heard some of the stories about Devon, and he was not really sure if he was going to believe what he had been seeing or hearing, but he was deciding that he was going to give this a chance. So he opened the door and then once the door was opened, we were all inside of it and then I saw that there was some really strange things going on in there. As if we were actually seeing a bunch of androids walking around in the room, socializing, as if they were actually forming a life with the other androids that were in there. Devon was just walking around, talking with them, as if he was actually really giving a fuck what they were saying.

 

I walked up to the man and then I saw the police sheriff get right in front of him. "You know, I have been hearing some things about this place. But that is not really what I am looking into right now. I am trying to figure out some other things. Such as if you have any knowledge of these monsters in the city, or if you just are as oblivious as the general public is." The police sheriff said and then he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small set of yellow legal paper and he was pulling a pen as well, to start to take some notes.

 

"Yes, I know a lot about these monsters. In fact, you can say a part of my creation and will to create even more of these are due to me actually wanting to help out make these monsters die. These androids have extra strength, and I am sure that the monsters will die when they face androids." Devon said and he was giving off just a convincing enough statement that the police sheriff was not really sure if he was supposed to believe in him or if this guy was actually lying or not.

 

"Do you know what you plan to do with these androids if they actually help destroy these monsters? Will you stop this terrible business, or will you still keep this up and try to come off as a big freedom fighter?" The police sheriff was starting to really show his disdain for the idea and I was thinking that if nothing else, this guy did have a decent amount of courage.

 

"I think that we should discuss some business with that. I do plan to continue building these things, and I will only stop if I fucking die before they are finished being built. But I think that they deserve to have freedom. They have a limited life span. Only seven years. I think that if they defeat some monsters, they should be allowed to live and act like they have a family for those seven years. As an experiment you know." Devon said and then he placed his hand on the sheriff's shoulder as the younger officer popped a pimple on his face while taking out another cigarette.

 

"What are you wanting to offer to me?" The police sheriff asked as if he was going to decide if this was actually a smart idea to try and indulge Devon for a bit, and then he was laughing and then Devon decided that he was going to do his damn best to explain everything that was a part of his plan.

 

"Look, these people don't have that long to live. Only seven years. In fact, I have already placed a couple of them inside of the city when I found out that some people were having trouble having kids. Of course I would let them know of the seven year thing. They said they would rather have a child who only lived seven years over no child at all. That is their choice. I have a business offer to make you. I want to help your town. If you let the androids live here after they defeat at least one monster all on their own, then I will not do any more illegal work. I will even admit to the work that I have done. These men and women are my children, and I want them to have a chance to live life. I am wanting them to live a life that they should be able to live in seven years. The only way anybody can tell they are a android is when they die seven years to the day after they have moved to this city." Devon explained and then he was sitting down on the one chair in the room that is nearby and then the police sheriff was thinking about this for a bit.

 

"How do I know that you will actually tell me your work? How will I know that these androids will have defeated monsters? How do I even know which ones are androids and which ones are not?" The police sheriff asked and then Devon nodded and gave a short explanation to it all.

 

"Honestly, for each of my androids that get their freedom, I will tell you one thing that relates to the creation of that android specifically. I will let you know they have defeated monsters by placing a red collar around their neck, and once the monster is destroyed, the collar will disappear. That is the only way it can go. If they do not have a monster destroyed after six weeks of being in the city, they can be considered illegal, and they might be dangerous by that point, and you can track them down and kill them. I won't even complain. And that goes to the third answer, you know these are androids with the red collar around their neck." Devon said and then he was finished with it after that.

 

Afterwards, the sheriff was thinking about it and then he was going to ask a couple of more questions before he would agree or deny what the offers being given were.

 

"How do I know that these androids will not become people who commit crimes and ruin the lives of all of the actual people that actually live in this city? I will not compromise the actual people from this city just because of you wanting to have these unreal androids have a so called chance to have a fake life. This is a idea that I am really having a hard time believing." The police sheriff said, not really sure if this was making Devon see his point.

 

"I think that some of them might get into crime and create some problems. But some might just be perfectly fine. I think that they will act just like normal humans, and the stuff they go through will actually be what you will be expecting." Devon answered and then he had said "You know, just like how normal humans act like. If real humans are like that, then spare me the fucking lecture on how my androids should be like."

 

"You know, I don't really like the idea of this happening. But at the same time, I would be dumb to deny the good points to this idea. I might have to give this a chance." The police sheriff as the younger officer got wide eyed, as if he could not believe for a second that he had actually heard the man say that this was a good idea. "But if I do this, we will only be starting with just one android, just to see if what you are telling me is actually true." 

 

Devon was placing his finger son his chin and then he was slowly nodding as he was hearing this. Then he clapped his hands a couple of times and then with his right hand he held it out for the man to shake it. The police sheriff waited for one or two seconds before he went through with it and he shook the hand of Devon and then Devon said to the police sheriff "This will be the start to a great business between the two of us." After he said that, this was when we were made to actually leave the place now.

 

Afterwards, the four of us walked out of the pyramid where the androids were being made and once we were outside of the pyramid, I was looking right at the police sheriff and I was wondering why he had actually gone with the idea, and I was really tempted to ask but then I decided to just keep it to myself. There must have been a good reason to it. There just had to be a good reason to it, one that would make sense if I actually was told it.

 

After I was starting to get over the annoyance that I had with the sheriff, I was wondering what we were actually going to be doing next. "I think we should be heading down to the creek. I just have a feeling that something else is going to be happening there at any second now." I said, and I had no real idea why I was feeling this way, but there was just something about this that made me worried that we were going to have to defend the lives of every single person who lived at the creek, and if we didn't, then it was their fault if they had died.

 

"Where is the creek? Do you mind leading me to where that is?" The police sheriff asked and then after he asked me this question, I looked at the younger officer and he wasn't really going to try and object to what was happening. It was like he was actually seeing how well I was going to be able to handle this. Then I started to lead them to the way where the creek was, and I was thinking about if this was actually going to be a smart idea or if this was a dumb idea and that I should be ashamed of what I had just been slowly setting the people who lived at the creek for.

 

As I was going down to the creek, the police sheriff said "I still have no real clue what any of this is about. But I realize that there is no real reason to try and put logic to any of this. I might as well just accept what is happening, and if I learn anything, then I will tell everybody about it, but if not, then I guess that perhaps I am just going to be here just to fight the monsters off and save the people in my city from death. That is the least of what I should be doing after all." 

 

The younger officer looked like he was finally starting to get tired, as if his lack of sleep was kind of getting to him now of all times. Then he looked right at us and he said "I think I am going to just catch a quick nap." Then he closed his eyes for the mere few minutes that we were going to be in the car, since he was just letting his mental mind kind of prepare for what was going to be happening at any moment.

 

Eventually, after another ten minutes or fifteen, I couldn't remember, we parked at the side of the forest and then we were ready to actually go inside of the forest. As we were inside of the forest, I saw that he was looking right at us and he said "I will let you help in the fight against these monsters, shall a fight happen, but I am not going to let this become a full time thing. I am only allowing this because you seem to know what the monsters are, and by default, you are the biggest expert so far. But I think after this fight, I will have a grasp of what I am supposed to be doing." Then with that, we were inside of the forest to start our journey.

 

As we were inside of the forest, I was looking around and I saw the creek entrance and then we were inside of there and at the creek, there were the same three or four people there and then we were just in there, thinking that maybe there really wasn't any monsters in there, but then there was a really loud, long noise. We were looking around, and then I was thinking that a monster was coming along at any minute. My theory was proven to be true when there was a crashing noise and something that looked like a gorilla that had been dead for like a month came into the forest and they seemed to be largely enraged. 

 

The police sheriff grabbed a gun from their holster and started to fire it several times and they saw as the monster was barely looking like they were actually getting damaged at all. I was shocked at how little these guns were helping out. But despite that, I could see a small amount of blood coming out of it after all.

 

And then afterwards, the monster started to run towards the police sheriff as I started to skate on my board and then I rammed right into the monster and before they were able to start to claw at me, I jumped under the monster and then I was able to not get attacked by them this way. This gave the police sheriff enough time to grab a shot gun and then fire it at the monster a couple of times. 

 

The shot gun actually seemed to do some damage, enough though he had to reload after every single time he had fired the gun at the monster to hit them. Then the younger sheriff saw that there was one stick of dynamite and then he threw the stick of dynamite right at the monster and then the dynamite blew up and it seemed to actually made the monster start to walk a little bit slower. Jason from the creek was witnessing this, and he was wondering what he was going to do to actually help out here. Then he grabbed the knife that Tristan used to have and then he ran to the monster and at their back start to stab it several times. That was until the monster swatted Jason away and then Jason slid down on the ground and he got up, barely anything keeping him running.

 

The monster was still seeming like they were impossible to beat. So I started to run up the small hill in the creek and I was just trying to find either some back up weapons or perhaps have a way that the monster would get distracted so that way the police officers would start to shot at the monster to eventually kill them, since there was only so much damage these things can take.

 

I was watching as the monster was coming up towards me, and I was thinking that perhaps there was a small chance that I can indeed pull this off, and I was starting to get a little bit more hope in life by doing this. I looking around and I was just trying to find something, anything that can destroy this monster. I found something that looked like a really sharp stick, and then I grabbed it and as the monster was getting closer to me, I stabbed them right on their hand and while I knew I didn't really do any real damage, I felt like I needed to do something while the police sheriff was placing bullets inside of their back.

 

I could hear all of the shotgun bullets going right into the back of the monster, and I was wondering if there was a chance that this was actually going to let us win this battle, or if we were just fucked by doing this. I was seeing as the younger officer also grabbed his pistol and he fired the gun a few times himself and he was just pouring all of his bullets into that thing, wondering how many bullets it was going to take for this monster to actually get killed off.

 

I then threw as many rocks as I could at that thing, just getting as much damage as humanly possible at the thing and I could tell that after about three minutes or me throwing the rocks at this thing, that the monster was finally starting to slow down from damage. I was glad that we were finally making progress on this thing, and that there was a chance that perhaps this monster actually can get killed off.

 

As I was watching the monster slow down, I saw the police sheriff fire the bullets in the gun a couple of more times, and I saw that the monster was starting to walk backwards and get on the way to falling down. I then was walking a single step back, thinking that I was finally able to stop this throwing and then the monster landed on the ground and they remained still for a moment.

 

I was walking down the small hill, not really sure what I was going to do now, and if there really was anything that I can do and then when I was done, I saw that the monster was starting to turn into ashes, and that was when I knew that we had won against this thing. Then the police sheriff sighed and then realized just how many bullets that they had wasted on this, feeling a little bit annoyed at that fact as it was sort of sinking into him.

 

I was realizing that the terrible smell of the monster was coming to me. It made some of the other monsters by that point in time smell actually relatively fresh by that point in time. I then sat down and then I thought about how my pants were going to get extremely wet and gross over the fact that I had just sat down really close to where the monster that we had just defeated was. "So what we are going to do next?" I asked and then the police sheriff looked right at me as if they could not believe the fact that I was actually asking this question, wondering what type of trouble I was going to cause or at the very least hint at cause when I was just asking the question.

 

"You are going to go home, and your friend is going to go there as well. Then you guys are going to hold your end of the promise as well. Then we will start to take care of the entire operation all on our own. I don't want you guys talking about these events to anybody else, and I don't want this to start to turn into some form of fucking mass hysteria." The police sheriff said and then the younger officer took out another cigarette and smoked it. I think nobody would really argue with him using it. I would say that he had earned it this time by now.

 

"Just remember what I had said earlier, if it turns out that any monsters attack me or my friends, I will fight them. I won't hunt for them, but if something happens, I will one of the first people to jump up and defend them." I said and then the police sheriff thought that it was annoying that we were going over this again as the younger officer talked with the people at the creek to take some questions and use this as evidence as the police sheriff was taking Myron and I all the way to the police car while I was holding my now soaked skateboard under my arm.

 

Eventually, Myron and I were inside of the car, and then I saw that the police sheriff was going back inside of the car to go and grab his younger associate to make sure that this guy wouldn't go too far into the questions for something that was honestly not really even in their power. The two of them were heading on back to the car as Myron said "I don't want to deal with that again." 

 

The police sheriff started to drive us away and then he was just remaining quiet this whole time, not really wanting to have any conversations with us at the time being. He was thinking about how bad this was going to look on the record for the town, and he was starting to think about all of the deals he had made about the androids earlier. He was feeling like a fucking dumbass as he was thinking about this, regretting a large part of this.

 

The entire time that we were driving home, I was just talking to Myron pretty quiet while the driver and the younger officer were just not speaking a single word to each other, doing a combination of pondering how to handle the monsters from this point forward while also kind of listening to the conversation at the exact same time. "So you know, I think that maybe we can actually get back to a normal life if we actually do hold our end of the deal. Besides, I do need a couple of breaks after this. Dealing with these monsters has really worn me down, and taking a break would not be a terrible idea at all." I said and then I was yawning a little bit. All of this plus the previously terrible sleep time were finally coming right back to me, and I was watching as Myron was just remaining a little bit unsure to this.

 

"I really think that you should go on and try to lead a normal life again. That is the very smallest thing that you need. I am thinking that you are getting yourself in a really dangerous situation throughout all of this." Myron had said and I was thinking that it was annoying that everybody was telling me to stop here, but at the same time I was just thinking about how true it sadly was, and how wrong I was for getting all in their place of not acting like they were valid by doing this.

 

"I know that I am unsafe when I do all of this. But nobody ever does anything to actually make this a better school, and I am just trying my best to turn around the tides to actually make this work out." I said and then afterwards, Myron and I remained silent for a mere seconds.

 

"I think that we both need to get some decent amount of sleep when we get to our houses. Then starting tomorrow, just take things a bit easier. That is the least you can do us for, as the friend of many people inside of wayside." Myron tried to keep the subject just a little bit nicer again, and then I was already starting to feel my eyes bag a little bit, and I was barely keeping myself awake by this point in time.

 

"Yeah, I think that we can agree with each other on that regard." I said and then eventually, the car was starting to pull up at the front of my house. I pulled out the skateboard and said "See you later Myron" then I walked on inside of the house and then I went right to my room and I was going down on my bed and I was closing my eyes, barely able to contain myself for how tired I was. In fact, when I closed my eyes, I was pretty much asleep right away.

 

I was not really sure how long I was asleep, and honestly I gave zero fucks how long I had been asleep. I really needed it, and I was going to take advantage of it now. I had no real to not sleep when I had every single thing in the world to justify the idea of me sleeping. I had a terrible night sleep the previous night, and I had been fighting monsters and dealing with the police for the entire day, and at the same time I was still wondering if this was when the police were finally going to get in my business of what the hell was going on, to try and get me in trouble for ruining their public image or something like that.

 

I was just moving around a lot while I was asleep, trying to really piece together everything that had happened, and I knew that it was just fucking impossible for that to happen. There were so many things that had happened that piecing it all together would have honestly been as close to impossible as it would have been to have the republicans win every single state of the south at once.

 

I was thinking about how much of this was really a natural event, and if any of this at all was a natural event or if I was going crazy even hinting at the idea of this having anything related to natural events at all. I knew it was funny silly for me to pretend as if this was actually natural stuff, but I was just trying to think of any of this that I could piece together as something within a form of reason, and looking back at it, I knew how dumb I was for even considering the idea of this being a possibility.

 

Eventually, the night had all but been over with and I was starting to feel the sunlight get in my eyes. I was getting up and then I was yawning a little bit, and I was just wondering if the sleep was actually even worth it at all. Despite the fact that I wouldn't really consider it to be a good night of sleep, I did feel better over the fact that I did get a decent amount of hours of sleep in that night, so I was just figuring that I had to take things one step at a time and I had to just sort of count my blessings in a way.

 

Once I was out of my bed, I was sort of getting around the area and I was rubbing my eyes a little bit, and then I was getting ready to do some other things this next day, wondering if I was actually going to be able to survive the next few days of my life without any form of monsters coming along and fighting me, or if that was just something that I was just going to have to accept would never fucking happen.


	37. Best Case of the Decade

Chapter 36: The Case of the Decade

In later July of 1986, there was an event that lasted a few days that really sort of changed the course of everybodys lives involved. There is a larger and grand story that will change the views of people who read it, but that was not the whole story. In fact, there was another shorter, less upper scale, but much more covered by the media event that lasted about three days or so that happened to have everybody involved in the other incident involved in this in some way, just without them all knowing. This event was huge right when it happened, but due to the fact that the second event happened less than a week later, this event was sort of thrown by the wayside right after it had happened.

So in July 24 1986, four days before the adventure story started, there was one of our great heroes who was inside of his bedroom. His name was Tai, and he was getting himself ready for the summer camp that he had come back home from for a couple of days when his father told him to watch his younger sister. But since his father was back again and the two of them discussed a babysitter Kari can go to, which she would go to in a very short period of time, Tai and his father agree they would go back to summer camp again for the rest of the summer on July 26. All he had to do was just wait one more day.

As he was sitting down, his younger sister Kari walked inside of the room and Tai was just not even saying anything to her and he was sort of also pretending as if he had not seen her at all, which was a terrible thing for him to do, but he was doing a good job at it so far, so he was just going to keep up at it.

But that ended soon enough when she had told him of what was going on in the living room. "There is the phone ringing. The person who called say that they needed to talk to your urgently. I tried asking them what was happening, but they told me to get you." Kari said and then as she had said that, Tai was losing his annoyance sine he was wondering why this guy was calling him now.

Tai walked up to the phone and then he grabbed the phone and then he listened to the phone for a moment, which was really scary what he was hearing, and it was showing that he did need to take the moment much more seriously. "You are needed to go to the police station right away. The police chief is wanting to talk to you. Any detours will not be accepted." The voice on the phone said and then after they had said that, Tai hung up the phone and then Tai told Kari he would be gone for an hour and that if their dad saw him gone that it was absolutely urgent. In order to help speed up the time, Tai got on the bike and rode to the police station to get the questions over with.

Once he was inside the police station, he was sitting down for a moment and as he was waiting, he saw the guy from his summer camp cabin with the left arm cast looking at him. There was the V-Loser on his cast, which was still funny as hell but when he saw the troubled look at the guys face, Tai knew that this was not a joke, and then he got his serious face on right away. "You are expected to know everything. Not that it would surprise me, but don't try and keep them thinking that you are this smart ass." The guy said and then he rubbed his face with the hard cast and then he headed out of the police station and then Tai was wondering what the hell was going on as he walked inside of the police station.

Tai took the first seat and he was looking at the police chief, which was a middle aged man with a beard around his face and then he drank some of his coffee. There was this really hot girl next to him, a young lady, probably twenty three or so, with red hair and she was a police officer as well. But when Tai looked closer, when he saw the rings on the two people, as well as the picture on the table, was not that she was a young cop who was just working with the chief she was a young new cop that's husband was the chief of the police force and he was working with his wife to make sure that she was safe.

"This is my partner Whitney, this is her first day on the task force." The chief said, whose name was David, when he saw that T.K. was clearly confused and then he said "Yes, I get it, there's a big gap between us, we heard this from the last guy. That is not the point though. We need to ask you a few questions now."

"What exactly are you wanting to talk to me about?" Tai asked, getting serious when he was seeing that this was not something he should taking lightly as David took another shot of his coffee and then handed Tai a giant file and then when he felt how rough it was he said "You let the previous guy read it?" He could tell with the feeling of a arm cast and then David nodded.

"There is missing girl who has been hunted down by us for a few days, but with no luck. Her name is Kimberly. Here is everything that we do know about her, so go ahead and read it and see if there is anything you know, and we will ask you some questions, to see if there is anything you know about her." David said and then Tai felt like it was better to just get this over with, so he started to read it and the more he read it, the more that he was thinking he was actually knowing what to be expecting now.

The name of the girl was Kimberly Cohan, and then there was a little bit more to the girl. The girl had been eighteen years old at the time that she had been missing. She had a 2.8 GPA at high school, which was one that wasn't too great, but it certainly wasn't terrible by any means of the word. She had about seven or so really strong friends, and she did date two people back in the day, although as the file said, there was little to no knowledge of the people that she had dated, and Tai was thinking that this could have been really useful information. Tai then brought down the file and stared at David.

"So you are expecting me to know all of the answers to this missing case. I didn't even know that this person existed until less than five minutes ago. I get that you really want to find the girl, but I want you to be realistic here. You are the police chief, and you are here asking somebody who was just trying to get ready for returning to my summer camp." Tai said and while the statement was fine at first, by the end David was getting a little bit annoyed at him.

"Look, I understand that you know nothing about the girl, but you should not be a dick about it. I want to just solve the case. Her parents are feeling terrible over what happened, and from what I am seeing and hearing from people who knew her, she seemed like she was a decently special girl. I know that she may or may not even be alive, but I do not really want to take the risk." David said and then after he had said that, Tai was thinking about it and then he slowly nodded and then he brought both of his elbows onto the table as he was looking up at Whitney and winked at her. She smiled for a millisecond but then she got a face of utmost seriousness.

"I will let you ask me some questions, and I will answer the questions. I just want you to understand there is virtually no chance that this is actually going to help you in your case. If you get that, you may ask me the questions and I will give you what I can." Tai said and then after he said that, David nodded and then he asked Tai the first question.

"Now that we are understanding each other, let's get right to the point. My first question is where were you four days ago? That is when people said she had started to go missing, and I want you to think really hard on it. I know you were probably at your summer camp, but what were you doing at the camp?" David asked and then Tai actually stopped and thought about it as best as he could. He was trying to give the guy the true answer, but he was not having it in his mind.

"It was my last day before my father told me to come back. He told me that he needed me to watch my younger sister Kari. I was pissed at him for this, but there was a certain tone to his voice that was making me realize that he was not to be fucked with, so I reluctantly decided to do this to make him not get any more in my business about it." Tai explained, and then he added in "Although we did make an agreement on that when this was all done with, I would go back to camp tomorrow or something. I'm sorry, but I am trying to figure out why you are asking me this. Was Kimberly at the summer camp?"

"Look Tai, I get that you don't get why I am talking to you. I get it. You are a young man. In all reality, you are probably thinking about some hot chicks, thinking about how to pick them up. I was exactly the same way when I was a kid. Having sex with girls and all that. But I am working on a case. Tell me where the hell at the camp you were, and what you were doing. Please, I was willing to let your attitude slide earlier, but I am getting kind of over it now." David said and Tai was trying to see if he could even get this guy to understand his innocence, but he took a groan as he answered the question more in depth.

"I was hanging out with one of my friends. Her name is Sora. She and I were talking about what we were going to do when we came back to school and what classes we were going to take. We were planning on getting some of the same ones, in order to you know fuck around and have something more entertaining than listening to old men talking with each other." Tai said and then he added in one thing when he was thinking about it. "There was a little bit of a uneasy feeling to the camp owner, and he refused to talk to us."

David stopped when Tai was saying that last bit, and while he was ready to start bitching about what Tai was saying, but then when he heard about the camp head feeling worried, he thought that maybe there was something he could get about Tai "Can you please tell me more about him?"

Tai was about to ask him what he meant when it clicked to him. "Oh yeah, my camp head. Well, he didn't really talk to us when we asked him what was going on. He was just telling us that there was something about a girl calling him and sounding a bit worried. The guy said that he needed to be alone and that he needed to talk to the girl again since she would call again in a hour or so. I don't know where else this went, but it still made no sense to me." Tai said and then David nodded and got the number of the summer camp head master.

"Hello, I am police chief David. I am hearing investigating the disappearance of a young woman named Kimberly Cohan. I am wondering if you have any information regarding her getting lost, or if you don't have any idea what is going on." David said and then after he had said that, there was a moment of silence and then David said "So you have seen her? When was the last time you have seen her, and was she in the summer camp program before she had gone missing?" Tai was just listening to this, and the more that he was listening to this, the more worried he was going to get over what these following results would have been.

Tai was not daring to speak, and he was not daring to make any real big noises, and he was just staring at Whitney. Instead of last time where he was making a terrible attempt at flirting with a older woman he was doing it this time as a fear and he was just trying hard not to show how worried he had actually been over this whole thing, since in reality this was actually starting to scare the living shit out of him.

"I understand that you don't want to place anybody in danger by telling me any information, but in reality this may be the life of a young woman that we are talking about here, and if you stay here and not do anything to help me out, there is a very good chance that this woman is going to die. Do you want to have that be on your mental stability for the rest of your life?" The police chief asked and then Tai was thinking that this guy was being kind of rough with what he was saying and that the guy could have been a little bit more nice about the whole thing, but he was telling himself not to really think about that too much since he needed to get more facts, and he was thinking this guy would have the information needed.

Tai was looking outside the window of the police chiefs office and the more that he was looking around, the more he was getting scared of something just coming in the room and the more that he was thinking that there was something after him. After Tai was getting himself way too worried about all of this stuff, he looked right back at David and Whitney and he was trying himself not to think of this.

"So you talked with her about two weeks ago? And she was talking about how she was getting restless and wanted to leave the town. Alright, I will talk to her parents about that and see if they have something else to say on the matter. Thank you for that, and I will leave you alone now. That is enough of a start for me." David said and then he hung up the phone and rubbed his eyes in agitation but then looked at Tai again.

"How well did that turn out?" Tai asked casually, trying his best not to act like he was pretty much listening to the whole thing, but he figured that since there was already a lot of stuff going along with the guy, that he better not really mess around with the guy. David looked at him and Tai was no longer the biggest problem that the guy had, and then he stood up and then he was putting on the gun holster and placing the gun in there. Tai was not really sure if he was going to be scared to see this or if it was kind of badass that he was seeing this.

"Well, it turns out that I am going to have to talk to their parents for a little bit. You know what Tai, since you are here with us right now, why don't you tag along for this little interview that I am going to be having with her parents? Normally I would never ask for a young teenager to come along but consider this a bit of a job shadow. Just remember one thing though. I don't want you to say a single word during the whole interview. You can stay there, you even even listen to the whole thing, but that is all that you are getting." David said and then Tai thought about how this was the most interesting offer somebody gave him in the last several weeks, and then Tai nodded.

"Do you really think that he should be witnessing this stuff? He's only fifteen after all." Whitney said and then after she had said that, she was looking at Tai and she wasn't trying to indicate that he was a trouble maker or anything, but she was just trying to be realistic in that Tai might not really be ready for this type of material. David looked at Tai for a second and then he nodded and looked at his younger wife.

"Yeah, I think that he will be fine. I don't really thinking that there is any problems with him coming along. I trust that he will not really get in our way over what we are trying to do." David had said and then afterwards, Tai finally stood up and then he was walking outside of the room with David and Whitney, and everything was still going well up until he reached the car, and the very moment the three of them walked in the car, that was when things started to get much more crazy.

David started up the car and as he was starting up the car, he pulled out his box of cigarettes and then he started to smoke the cigarette and he was ready to go out and do his general daily investigation, and while it was normal for these things to happen, there was something about this girl that made David a little bit more annoyed at what was happening, like he really needed to stop it from getting any worse.

David was driving along, going as fast as he possibly could in order to reach Kimberly's house fast enough. He had a slight sinking feeling in him, but there was going to be very sad news about the case coming up any minute now and he was just bracing himself for it. In fact, there was a part of him that was just told me that he was wrong about it so that way there would be a slight chance that you would have to turn things around. As he was driving along Tai was looking at Whitney, and he was doing his absolute best just to remain quiet. After all, that was exactly what the police chief told him they wanted of him. And for the time being, there's sort of was no real purpose did not do what he was told to do.

Tai did believe any idea of breaking orders, and going around to do his own thing, but he always felt like there should have been like a purpose to it. He wasn't quite one of those people that would just randomly go to parties every weekend and go around doing crazy drugs and all that stuff. He had gone to one of those parties one time in his life and they just didn't really kind of like it, but he would do it again if he thought it would give him a good chance to score with girl that he liked.

The police chief was in the middle of his cigarette, about 1/3 of the way smoked, and he butted the burnt off out of his window and continued to go along the process of going through the remainder of it. Neither Tai nor Whitney decided to try and argue with him about it. After all, Whitney kind of like the smell of it on him. While she didn't do it during work hours, when the hours are out, she would have just as many as her husband when they would be sitting outside the front porch, talking about the work day. And Tai, while he didn't do it at parties he still did it. The person that was his former babysitter, a older guy named Davis, who is soon to join the military, had probably gone through a pack every single day. Seen him do that, made him do it himself.

His father was well aware of it. Despite that, he only tried to do to get his 15 year old son to stop doing it once. They just ended up agreeing that he wouldn't do it as long as he was inside the house and the sister was in house as well. But as long as he was outside or or not with his sister, then his father while reluctantly agreed to it.

Soon enough the three of them were pulled up at the front house of Kimberly's parents. David stood up and drop the finished cigarette on the ground and stomped on it.

Inside of the house, David sat down on a couch that was kind of squeaky when he did so. He was looking at the parents of Kimberly, as he was trying to think of a way to start the interview between the two of them. At first he just simply ask them how they were doing, and while he knew it was a dumb question, he was just trying to be nice. He knew that they weren't fine and he knew that they were going through a lot of stress, but he can tell that if anything they didn't need people to just be nice to them.

"We're doing okay. Just thinking a lot about our daughter. We really want her home so badly. Just thinking about the fact that she might not be here is making us go crazy. Even if the worst happens, and she just isn't alive anymore, at least it would be some form of closure. At least there would be an answer to our question. But not knowing what the answer is, and just hoping what could be a false hope just makes everything seem even worse. But if you have any information or need any questions, please ask us so that way we might be able to help out." Her mother said, as David was moving his foot and a cigarette stopping Fashion on the ground and Kimberly's father was remaining silent during this whole event, as he was just trying to process the whole thing still, really more than ever letting in the fact that his daughter might not return come to his mind.

Despite wanting to say something, and while he felt like he could make at least some contribution to the conversation, thinking that he might vaguely know where a Kimberly might be, he remembered what he was supposed to do and the fact that David told him to be quiet so Tai just remained silent the whole time.

The interview lasted another about 5 minutes or so, with David asking some questions about where Kimberly was last seen by them before she had gone missing, wondering what their perspective on the whole thing maybe. He was also not too sure if he could fully rule out the two of them as a suspect yet just on the off-chance that this was something that their parents did in order to get a publicity stunt. David knew that was very unlikely, but he needed to evaluate all the options.

Kimberly's mother said that the last time they saw her before she had gone missing was that she was going on a date. There was no further information on the date and they barely even knew that name of the guy she was going on a date with. She vaguely mentioned the fact that his name was Davis, that guy who was getting into the military. They weren't too fond of him going on a relationship with her but since she was legally old enough they knew they couldn't say about it. David asked if he could check her room and they agreed and the three people in the investigation went up and to Kimberly's room to check it out.

Right before the three of them were inside of the room, Whitney had her police phone ring and then she waited for a couple of seconds as she was listening to the news that was being exposed to her. "Alright, you want us to check the well near the outside of the town." Whitney said and then after she had said that, she was looking like there were some tears coming down her eyes and then she was listening to the rest of the call and then she just said "Alright, we will be there as soon as possible." That was the way that she had ended the conversation, and then she looked at David and Tai.

"I have some bad news." Whitney said and then she had gotten really quiet and then she said "News report says that Kimberly's dead body was found near a well at the exit of town. I said that we would be there. We must leave right away I would say." Whitney told the two guys and then after she had said that, the two guys were letting the information settle in and then they both felt like they wanted to hate the world for what had happened.

Tai was looking in the room and he was thinking about going back to the room, and then he was looking at the other two bedrooms in the house, and he was thinking that Kimberly had two siblings, and when he saw the stuff in the room for a split second as David was getting ready to check things out, that they were probably both girls. This was strange for him since he was feeling like he was starting to sort of become a little bit of a investigator. After a few seconds of this stuff going on, David went out of Kimberly's bedroom and then he yelled out at the living room to make her parents hear him. "We will come back and check the room later. We will probably be back at the end of the day. We need to check something else out." After he had said that, the three of them walked out of the house before Kimberly's parents could even try and say something to them at all.

As the three of them were in the car, David took out his second cigarette and then they started to drive over to the exit of the town and as he was doing so he was looking at Tai. "After we find the body, we are going to drop you off at the police station. I am sorry for questioning you. But I do not want you to pursue this case further at all. I want you to go home on your bike once these questions are done, and then just pretend that this never happened." David said and then after he had said that, Tai felt bad for hearing that.

Tai nodded to show his fake approval in order to make David not get in his case anymore and then he was remaining silent to be able to keep up with what he had been told to do earlier. Tai did want to figure this out though, and that was why he was going to go against what the officer said.

The three of them had reached the outside of town and then David did the same cigarette thing that he had done before, and this time Tai could tell that there was quite a bit more force put into it this time around, as if the fact that this was happening was just genuinely pissing him off. Then the three of them took a few steps further along and then as they were done with the walking, Tai was seeing the body of the girl and Tai was feeling really bad when he had seen her, as if he was about to throw up.

Kimberly was looking like she had been left outside for like two to three days, and all of the flesh in her body was starting to show. Tai realized right then and there that the day she died was the day that she had gone missing. David walked up to her and he was staring right at her for a little bit, and he was taking a moment to pray that she would have a good afterlife. Then after he was done with the praying, he stood up and stared at Whitney. "I wonder why this was so close to the well. I want us to look at the well." David said and then he started to walk towards there. Whitney was following him right along, and then Tai was very close behind, wanting to see what would happen but not wanting to do it in a way that he was going to possibly piss off the two officers and get in the way of their investigation.

What was inside of the well looked like it would have been seen in a horror case. There were like twenty to thirty bodies at the bottom of the well and they were looking like they were all forms of decayed, with some of them looking like they would be like zombie material, and some of them looking like they had been there much more recently, maybe only a couple of weeks. As the three of them stared down there, David was shining his flashlight as he was holding his fingers to his nose. Tai knew that this was now the start of a much bigger case, although he was not really sure where the case was exactly going to go.

Whitney and David stared at each other for a few seconds. Just a few seconds of them looking at each other made Tai understand perfectly what the hell they were thinking about.

"I want the entire area covered. I don't want any of this area left open. I don't care how late it has to get before this is all done." David said and he started calling up other officers to help start the investigation. Tai was still remaining silent, just obeying his orders, despite how much he had wanted to say something, because he knew that if he did, he was going to just really piss off David and make the officer feel like he was not doing this end of the deal.

"Alright Tai, it is time for me to bring you back." David said, and then he was putting the flashlight away and then he looked at Whitney and said "Alright, you guys better check the place out. I will be back in about half an hour or so." David said and then after he had said that, he and Tai started walking towards his car. This time, Tai got to be in the shot gun seat and then David was starting up his third cigarette. Tai started to pick up the pattern that David only smoked on the job when it was in the car as a sort of driving thing.

"You know Tai, I know that you probably saw more there than you ever really wanted to see. I just didn't know what to do with you since you were here and everything. But I want you to just go back to normal life. I do not in any case wish that you pursue this case. Please, for the love of god, let the police do their job and leave us alone." David said and then he was staring at Tai and then he said "Since we're away from the scene, you can talk now."

"I want to know how this gets solved though. I feel like you guys can use some help here." Tai said and then after he said that, Davis placed his hand up and he was shaking his head. He was tired of Tai having this argument with him, and this was not even really one. It had barely started, and he was already sick and tired of the fact that Tai was trying and fight with this guy at all. "But if you want me to leave it alone and let it go, I will do my best." Tai reluctantly agreed and then David nodded to show again that was indeed what he had wanted.

"I am sorry that this is happening, and I am sorry that Kimberly may have been the girlfriend of your babysitter. I feel bad for you knowing that Davis is probably not going to be in a good shape for the next few days." David said and Tai was thinking that this guy had a lot of random information if he is already well aware of the fact that Davis was his babysitter. But then Tai figured it was meant to be general knowledge.

"I will perhaps talk with him soon. Maybe I can try and comfort him or something." Tai said and then after he had said that, David pulled up at the police station and then Tai walked out of it. "If the case ever gets solved, you can come along and tell me how it went at the summer camp or something." Tai said, under the assumption that this is going to be solved sometime in the next month or so. After that, David started to drive back to the evidence area and then Tai goes to his bike to ride somewhere.

Tai grabbed something that looked like it could have been able to help him figure out some information relating to Kimberly. It was a small video recorder and curious to see what it contains, Tai starts up the tape that was in there. It had some information that Tai was confused by, wondering how the hell this stuff was being recorded in the first place. The first thing it showed was Kimberly hanging out with Davis at the edge of a cliff, near a waterfall and Tai never saw Davis so happy in his life as be was in that moment. He felt glad to see the guy have some joy in his life.

Tai watched as Davis was pointing down to the water at the bottom, and then Kimberley was watching Davis as if happy to see him happy for once in his time that they had known each other. "When I was a lad, I would jump down and plummet to the ground, and I always would love the splash, and I would try to out do my splash each time, in a sort of personal competitive way." Davis said and then he checked up on Kimberly to see what her reaction would have been to this.

"I never was really into the waterfall before, but seeing how into it you are, I think I might have to give it another chance now." Kimberly said and then Davis was starting to go on and untie his shoes as he was thinking about just jumping in there, to prove himself to be a good jumper. He turned to see how Kimberly was going to react to this, if she was thinking it was cool or if this was insane, but in all reality, he was going to just make the jump either way since he was too excited to pass up on it now.

"I think you would love it if you try it out. Just don't think about it and jump. You can even close your eyes if you don't want to watch the drop. The first time is always the one that is going to scare you the most when you get into something. That fear that you are going to fail at what you are trying to do." Davis said and then his shoes were off and soon enough he was taking off his shirt as be was ready to make the jump. Kimberly took a moment to look at his chest and seeing the slowly growing muscles on his chest, wondering how big they would get when he left to boot camp.

"I will go first, and you will see how easy it is." Davis said as he stood up and stretched his arms and then he took the leap. As be was leaping, he grabbed his legs as they were bending and be bit the water and the splash was a decently successful one. Then he looks up at Kimberly and he is wondering if she would also take the jump as well.

As he was looking right up at Kimberly, the woman was so happy to see the smile on his face. She thought that this guy was so happy about what he was doing that she figured maybe it was something she actually should try out after all. So she took off her shoes and then she was thinking that despite her not liking this idea at all, she did need to give thus a chance. Kimberly slowly took off her shirt and then she placed the shirt above her shoe. Davis felt like he was going to get a bit of a score with Kimberly after this, and that excited him. She then went on and took the jump and she hit the water and looked right at Davis, hoping he would be satisfied with her jump.

"That fucking rocked." Davis said as Kimberly was glad at his approval. Davis was thinking of how great Kimberly was and how much be had wanted her to feel and understand that she was special, and what he would do to show her that. They played around in the water for a bit, splashing water at each other and for a little bit had a fake innocence big youth to them, even though neither one of them were quite in a youthful stage anymore.

Davis and Kimberly did this for a few minutes and then they went on to reach the shore with their wet and exercised bodies. They were soon off to get the clothes they were, to be ready for public. Kimberly was slowly forgetting about her previous hatred of the waterfall, and in some cases was hoping to do it again very soon, wanting to experience the pleasure the plunge brings as well as the admiration of her boyfriend, as well as the boners her wet body probably provides him.

The two eventually were walking up the cliff hill and then they were some bustles in the woods. Davis had a bad feeling about this, and he started to walk in that direction quietly. Kimberly was wondering where be was going, so she started to follow him a little bit and then Davis saw that it was a young man, probably about nineteen or twenty years old with a white hoody, and he looked like he was a long time social reject who had not been talking with people for a extremely long time.

As Davis got close to the guy, he saw the guy refusing to budge as he stared at Kimberly or Davis. It was strange, no doubt, but Davis thought he could somehow get this guy to speak, get this guy to let them know a little bit to make him see that he was safe, that there was nothing to fear at all. It was something he thought could work, and something he thought could have been worth the try if for nothing else. But looking back on it, if you were to ask him in hindsight, he said he would have regretted this. As many things to have happened since then were at least indirectly attributed to this event.

The guy held his hand forward as he was doing his best to scare Kimberly and Davis. It was doing a semi good job at it. Enough to make them a bit cautious, but not enough for them to want to leave this guy entirely. They just thought he was a little bit of a freak, but they thought that it was just simply that, so Davis stood there with Kimberly a few feet behind him, but she was just trying to hide the fact she was just merely unsure more than she actually had a feeling of terror.

"Sorry to bother you. We will leave you alone now." Davis said as he was slowly starting to get too scared to talk to this guy. The man was having his left hand in his pocket, but there was nothing to do far indicate any real melicious attempt to do something. That being said, Davis did feel that as long as he had kept his composure, he can get out of this just fine. They waited in fear for a couple of seconds and they eventually gave up and started to walk off as the man began to talk to them suddenly and as he did so, it was like their blood turning to ice.

"My name is Jeffery Woods. I know all about you and where you guys live. I would suggest bring more careful with that in the future. You should probably check up on your guys places more often before you go out to do some things. I will be watching you." Jeff said as Davis and Kimberly walked off and the worst part about all this was that they had actually believed him that he could do something in order to make things even worse.

Once the two were a few feet away from him, the two started running out as fast as possible. There was no way they would take any risk. With this guy. In fact, the two just simply grabbed their clothes and started running to Kimberly's car, where she threw Davis the keys since he was closer to the front door and despite it being her car, he was the one driving this time, and thankfully she trusted bum enough to do it.

Davis was driving just above the speed limit until they were on the main road, where he began to go slower. As he was getting slower, he and her both were thinking it was going to be at least relatively safe for them to be going at the slow pace. Eventually, the two grabbed their clothes and went inside her house where they began to feel a tiny bit safer as Davis closed all doors. Before Tai can see more, there was a knock on the door and Tai was forced to stop on his own there.

Tai turned to see the mom of Kimberly standing there. Tai felt even more terrible for her, since he had now started to know some small details of Kimberly and every bit of knowledge he had made him get this whole thing even more now. Tai stood up and then he started to go towards Kimberly's mother in order to go on and try to provide a base amount of support for the broken woman. "I do not even understand how it is to know your daughter might never return." Davis said as he felt bad for the lies. He knew she was not coming back, but he was pretending she would just for her sake, since she probably needed that hope for just a little bit longer.

"I just want to have somebody who gets it by me. I don't think they will ever be able to understand it. But if somebody did, I could really use them right now. Probably now more than I ever would have." She said and Tai could not handle it anymore. He could not handle being there as a false sense of hope. He got up and sighed as he decided he needed to leave the place right then and there.

"I will possibly be back later. I don't know yet though. I don't know about anything anymore." Tai said as he was talking about the camera indirectly and be began to head on out of the house to go on and pick all of this up later. Besides, Kimberly's parents most likely needed a few minutes alone before David came along to break the news or ask for even more questions. Or even worse, both of those at once, which Tai was sure was going to be too much information to share all at once.

"Yeah, I guess you gave been here for a while. Thanks for trying. Please, try and put this whole case to rest for my husband and I." Kimberly's mother said as Tai began to leave the house, and then as he was gone, Tai got right on the bike and was riding as fast as he could go, scared how he would do. Wanting to finish this whole thing but scared David would get him and then he would have a lot of answers he would need to provide, and he started to peddle even faster at that thought coming to his mind.

He rode his bike for a while until be started to go so fast he could not keep up anymore. He lost balance and then hemis ankle had the worst part of it all. Not breaking it, but still needing to give it a decent amount of icing. He got back in his bike and began to ride to the closest store, but now doing it slowly to not deal with a chance at making the situation even worse for himself, which he knew was a real possibility.

As he had eventually reached the store, Tai was walking a bit slow and his energy was practically drained by this point, and he had no real desire to continue this up for too much longer. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed to get home as soon as possible if he wanted to be able to have this leg get remotely close to being in a condition that would be considered working. But he was in the store, and he was ready to get right down to business. He grabbed those really shitty cast bindings one can put on easily and then after he did so, he went outside to give himself the scrappy medical treatment.

As he was outside, he can see people around him were eyeing him to make sure he was fine and that he really didn't need to be sent right to the hospital. He just grabbed his shoe and took it right off, as Tai winced in pain. Then he started to show his weakened, but not broken, ankle to the public for the short term as he started to wrap his foot up to try and make things better than they had felt. It was only after this that he felt even relatively ready to start going out again into the public. As he was setting off, he saw that somebody in the store was heading on towards him as Tai rolled his eyes a bit but still let her get close to him.

"Hey, you seem like you are in a lot of pain. Are you sure you don't need at least a tiny bit of help?" The girl, dressed in red with a brown cowgirl hat asked, and after Tai took a moment to process it, he got why she was looking at least a little bit familiar to him. It was Mimi, one of the five people at his summer camp cabin, and she was using that to be nice with him.

"Hey Mimi, didn't see you there. I didn't think u would see a random cabin mate here. I'm guessing you're just getting something. I am going back tomorrow. Anyways, since you asked nicely and I feel like I might need a little help and I do sort of know you, I will accept your offer. But just don't try and get to close to me. I have a lot of stuff I an trying to figure out." Tai said as be started to head off and Mimi was right behind him the whole time to make sure he really was fine.

"So how did that incident with your ankle occur?" Mimi asked innocently enough as Tai thought about the bike he just picked up right when Mimi came to see him. Tai felt no wish to ride more, and he was just working all of these things out in his mind. "Did you just break the law or something?" Mimi asked innocently again as Tai thought about how to tell her that it was slightly true that he did, but probably not in the way she would have thought he did.

"Well, I did go out and have a interrogation with the police chief. He was asking me some questions about a girl who had gone missing. I don't really want to talk about it though." Tai said as he was thinking about all that, and how Mimi would probably do her best to get more info out of him on the case, and how he would have no desire to let her know more on this, but that she was probably going to have none of it, as much as be had hated it.

"I hope you had nothing to do with her going missing. I don't want to think of you as this terrible person who has no respect for others. But I doubt you are that evil, or at least you do not give off that impression from the few times I have talked with you, this being one of those times." Mimi said and Tai felt strangely relieved to know she had mostly approved of him. Mainly to know not everybody had been his enemy during the last couple of hours or so. Plus, Tai was wrapping his mind around the whole Jeff Woods thing he had seen in that tape, thinking it was related to Kimberly and her missing case. He didn't know why, but he was now certain that was a part if it all in some form or fashion.

"I do feel a lot better knowing you think I am on the clear. I don't want people to go around thinking I was a part of what happened to her." Tai said and then Mimi had a nod of showing that she was just glad to know he was able to believe her on all of this. But it was still annoying to know a few people didn't believe in him at all, such as David. Tai was still not sure if David felt like he was fully cleared up by that point.

"I mean, you just don't seem like you are that type of guy. I just hope my assumptions are proven to be true, and that you do not back stab me or something like that. But I will be giving you a benefit of a doubt here." Mimi said and then Tai nodded, still thinking it was better than nothing at all. She thought he was on the clear, and he needed to take that.

"Despite that though, and knowing it is not safe for me to, I am looking into the case a bit, trying to see if perhaps I can put a bit of a rest to the theories, to show that it is just a simple missing case." Tai said and he felt bad for lying and then he said "Never mind, I will tell you the truth. It turns out Kimberly has been dead for a while. Her body was recently found. I feel bad for her family now, and I wanted to on a way make up for it all. I wanted to go in and find the person who killed her, and see if I can bring a sense of some justice to the family." Tai said and then Mimi felt like this was lunacy, but to some extent was able to get it.

"I feel you. In fact, I quite respect the goal. You want to be a hero for the people. I respect that. I think at least for now, plus your ankle, I will be by your side to help your sorry ass out." Mimi said, kind if meaning it as a joke but kind if was being serious about it at the same time. She was also worried about Tai messing up now.

The two were in relative silence for the next few seconds as they were on the sidewalk, and Tai was just hoping Mimi would not get too much if a hassle, as she seemed to give off that impression on the few times he saw her in camp, and he was just hoping that he was wrong about her and that she truly would be a good ally to the overall cause. Then soon enough, Tai and Mimi decided to take a bit of a break.

"I am tired. I am curious about you tough. What is it about you that you would be fine with telling me?" Tai asked, being patient enough about it and then Mimi took a very long, deep breath as she thought about what she would like to tell him, maybe thinking that this whole thing can get the two to be a little bit of friends with each other.

"Well, my father is a rich man. A businessman to be exact. Has several million dollars. One of the most rich people in the town, and he seemed to think it wise for me to be away for the summer where he can do his business at optimum level. He said he is working with one if our senators. Claims this will be a major breakthrough in the business. Usually he knows he will pull through and he had never shown this level of certainty. Besides, I thought three full months out of the house was a great offer so I accepted the offer and decided to spend the summer here." Mimi said as Tai thought it was cool that she was in that spot.

"I wonder which senator it is. I bet it is the younger one." Tai said as Mimi nodded to indeed confirm it was the young up and rising senator if Minnesota, Todd Robinson. The thirty six year old man took pride in being out with the people of the state and helping those in need by doing the job himself. Be was a fucking hero to many people. "I do wonder why he choose your father." Tai said easily enough, thinking nothing too hard on the subject as Mimi thought of it for a bit, not sure why either.

"I think it has something to do with the fact that my father and him went to school together. I think this is his way of trying to bring them back together. I'm not quite so sure though. Maybe when I come back to his house, I might ask him a little bit more about it. And we're still hanging on and talking by by that point, I'll probably tell you why." Mimi said, and now Tai wanted to hang out with her even more just to get that answer that she had promised him.

He didn't say that out loud of course. He didn't want to give off the impression that he was just kind of using her. After all, there was a part of him that still did want to know her more that had nothing to do with the senator thing. Besides, these sort of conversations are a thousand times better than going around to risk every second of your life. He thought of that as he was thinking about what he was going to say next.

"Well, I certainly do think that your father will be able to pull if a bit of success to this if he does it well, crazy to think that you are technically rich, knowing that I have seen you every day basically for like two months. I almost know nothing about you, and you are suddenly revealing that type of bombshell at me. Would be a lot to handle on normal cases." Tai said as he kept the response simple, generic, and yet something Mimi can get. He thought about it for a little bit, and the more that he thought about it, the more he realize just how much sense it made.

"I think you are taking it decently well." Mimi joked, as she was thinking about how other people would react every time she would tell them about her richness. Most people thought it was the craziest thing in the world every time they heard about it. In a way, it was one of the funniest things ever. Just hearing someone get a lot more serious, as well as careful and jealous when they are talking to her after they hear about that. Tai seem to be doing that a little bit, but not to the point that so others would do it.

That was when Tai decided that it was time for them to head out again. So he stood up once more, and grabbed the bike, and Mimi stood up as well, and they decided that they were going to keep walking. The more that they were walking, it seemed as if they have been friends all along. As if this wasn't just some random thing that start up in the last half hour or so. Most people would have been none the wiser through it all, but they both know the truth.

Tai felt strange being in this situation. After all, just a few minutes ago he had found out that Mimi pretty much had a business tycoon father. It was odd knowing he was hanging with the Minnesota equivalent of royalty, and he felt now more than ever to place himself on the high behavior, but he knew not to make it too obvious as that could create some problems there, dealing with her acting like he was a dumb ass and everything. He wanted to be relatively composed as he was getting to know this girl who was slowly be coming a friend of his.

"You know, I think my father would probably think you're a decent guy once he gets to know you a bit better. Just don't get too scared about being around him. If you do, he will figure it out right away and he will not really be all that happy about it. He will mist likely really get all up in your business showing that he is a laxed dude and everything. My dad does that a lot when he is around some people I hang with." Mimi said as she tried to figure what was worse, her friends getting scared around her dad or her dad trying to act like the cool guy. They were both totally terrible, but funny to watch.

"I guess your dad does have at least a little bit of a sense of hospitality to him. That does make me feel so much better to know in all honesty." Tai said, thinking that it was going to be much easier being at the house she lives at with that small tidbit of indo which can be able to save him a little bit more than he would like to admit at the end of the day. "Maybe I could be able to pull this off after all." Tai was thinking of the chance of this working actually being about fifteen percent rather than zero percent.

"I am really thankful that you are starting to see the bright side of this all. I am glad that there may be a chance you guys can pull this off. I hate it when I show my dad a new friend of mine, and the sheer level of uncertainty to it causes all of my friends to never want to speak with him. By that point it creates a level of controversy that is totally un needed and in a lot of cases just fucking annoying." Mimi said as she wanted to show that it was all fine for the most part.

"I have not seen your dad yet, so I have no real clue how I will feel about it all. I think that perhaps we could get along great, but I can also see how it can be a total failure at the same time." Tai said still understanding the small chance that this all can fail in the long run. Though he really did not want it to fail.

Eventually, Tai and Mimi were wondering where to go next, in order to really have a full experience of figuring out where the case was going to go. In all reality, none of them were really all that sure where this was going to go in the end of the road. Tai was just a little bit worried about what was going to happen if Tai was just not more careful about where he goes on the case. As much as he had hated the idea of him following in the fate of Kimberly, he was able to fully recognize the fact that this could actually happen shall he get a big head on the whole thing.

"Tai, are you one hundred percent certain that you want to continue this investigation? I mean, your ankle is starting to show some blood on your shows from what I can do. You at the very least need to go on and go to the hospital soon. I am not going to force you to do this, but I feel like if you want to be smart, that is what you should be doing." After Mimi said that, Tai rolled his eyes as if he was able to understand that this was the case in the first place, and that it was a little bit annoying that she was saying this, wishing that she would not get in his case about it anymore.

"I get it, I messed up and I should have been more careful. But you know what, at least I am still alive. At least I am not like anybody like Kimberly. I want to go home sometime and be able to know that I will be at summer camp soon, but I also want to be able to be the man who can go down as the one who had solved the case on who killed Kimberly. her family needs it, and I feel like I need it in order to find peace with the whole fact that I am living in a city where killers are going around at large." Tai said and then as he was in the middle of that rant that was when he stopped his thought set all together. He felt so dumb for not getting it earlier. Tai turned around at Mimi and then he place his right hand on his face as if annoyed at how dumb he had been this whole time.

"What is it that is bothering you?" Mimi asked and this time, there was nothing about her tone that was showing annoyance. She seemed to understand that Tai was actually really feeling dumb for this, and then Tai looked down on the ground and then Tai pointed at the small alley way that nobody was at and he was indicating that he wanted him and Mimi to go there right away. They did so and then Tai started to tell the story in a relatively rushed way.

"Look I don't think you will believe me when I say this, but I think that I know who had killed Kimberly." Tai said and then Mimi thought he might be serious and decided to give him the chance to prove himself.

"I was looking around in Kimberly's room earlier, as I was doing a bit of my investigation, and I was watching a bit of a camera that had a tape in there. It showed her and this guy named Davis, you know him?" Tai was asking about Davis and after a couple of seconds of thinking about it, Mimi had nodded and then Tai decided that since he didn't have to explain that, he was going to take advantage of that fact and go forward with it all.

"So she has been Davis for a bit, I didn't even know about that, but that is not important. The important part is that they were at a waterfall and they were hanging around there. Then they met this guy with a white hoody. The guy looked like he was full of malice and like he was ready to kill them. I have a feeling that he must be the one who had killed Kimberly. I mean, I don't really have any full on evidence to her death and the fact that he might have done it, but that is what I am thinking happened. I need to try and find him. Or at the very least, I need to find Davis, and then see what he is going to say to me if I tried to talk to him." Tai said and then Mimi thought that this was a big reveal and didn't fully get it.

"Wait Tai, be patient with this. What prove do you have that this guy was actually the one who had done it?" Mimi asked and then that was when Tai had to think about it. In all reality, he didn't have too much proof to the whole idea, but the idea just made a lot of sense and he felt like there was no way that this guy did not do it.

"I get that it is crazy. But think of it this way. There is no evidence that we have so far that can say that this guy did not kill her. It is some evidence, and I think that we need to go with it at least at the moment. We might as well go and try to go with that." Tai had said and then after she had heard Tai say that, she was thinking that this was a bit of a terrible idea, but she was dumb to try and pretend that there wasn't a level of truth to it.

"In all honestly, I think that if you really think this is what is behind her death, then go ahead and just go along with it. I may not really fully agree with it, but if you are so sure, I will go along with it." Mimi had said and then Tai nodded and he was starting to bring his bike on the direction of where Davis had lived. He was going to ask him that type of stuff first, to see if he was correct about his theory.

"Where are you heading?" Mimi asked as Tai stopped and realized that maybe she was not as into this as Tai would have thought she would have been. Tai then was thinking about how he was going to get her into the idea of going along with his plans, if this was even something that she can do. Then he was thinking about some rewards that he could try and provide for her to make her believe that this was worth it. Although he would have felt a little bit bad for lying.

"Look, I get that you think this is a terrible idea. Hell maybe it even is. But at the same time, I think that it is something to go with. If you are going to be with me on this, great, if not then please leave and just let me go back to my investigation." Tai made a very basic ultimatum and then that was when Mimi was standing there, and then she was really not sure why she was having this much trouble on all of this, and then Tai said "I am sorry if I am coming out as a dick right now, but I am trying to do something right now. I have a bit of a cause right now, and I am thinking that you will be able to understand where my motives are now."

After Tai had explained that to her, Mimi nodded and then she started to walk along with him. "At least you are able to understand what it is like to have some form of motivation over this whole thing." Mimi had started to be right next to Tai this time, and it seemed that once this debate was starting to subside, the two of them were going back to talking like a general nice group.

"So once you are done talking with Davis, what do you really plan on doing afterwards? I think that you should maybe go home and try and get a few hours of sleep tonight. Just a little bit of an idea that I have right now." Mimi was curiously asking, and then Tai thought about that a little bit.

"Maybe I might try and get some sleep tonight when this is all over. That might not be a terrible idea. Really depends on how late in the night it is when it is all over with." Tai said and then he was thinking that this was a fair enough statement to make, and one that Mimi would probably not really argue with him too much on, and then afterwards, the two of them were getting back to the general nice mood that they had earlier in the day. One that would last all the way to when they had reached Davis's house.

"You know, I think that perhaps Davis could be the one who had done it, if the guy with the white hoody was not the one who had done it. I have a terrible feeling that there is a small chance that he is the one who had done this whole thing, as terrible as it is for me to admit that fact. The guy is the one who has led me and babysat me for several years, and here he is, probably my second highest suspect to be the one who had done this terrible event. As much as it would be terrible to even fathom, I can perhaps consider the idea of Davis just pretending to love her, and then using that as a chance to kill her when she is close with him." Tai said and then Mimi thought of it.

"This really sounds like it is a bit like a noir mystery. I don't really know why I am thinking that way. What do you think about that idea?" Mimi had asked Tai and then as she had asked Tai that question, the two of them had been silent for about ten to fifteen seconds or so, just not too sure where else it would be going on this whole thing.

"It is pretty cool that it is happening, or at least it is kind of cool. Not to the extent that I want to be the next victim or something, but there is something about this whole thing that maybe has a little bit of a charm. I think you might be able to get where I am coming on the whole thing that there is a small bit of a charm to the thing. But in all reality, I think that in just a couple of days, this whole thing is going to be over with and then we can all move on with our lives. That is the hope that I am having here." Tai said and then after he had said that, the two thought that if it wasn't over in a mere few days, then perhaps they were going to be getting a lot closer to death than they had wanted to admit it.

"I do see where you are coming from on the whole thing of this having at least a little bit of a charm. I mean, in all reality, we are basically going to go into something that we are probably going to be able to tell our children for the rest of our lives. I doubt that they will be able to believe us, but I don't really think it matters all that much if they believe us or not. I mean, the only way they will be able to believe us is if we actually have some form of recorded proof to the whole thing, and I am kind of wishing that maybe we had done so, in order to show that this whole thing is the truth, and that we are not really fucking around all that much." Mimi said as Tai was thinking about the jack pot that they had sadly missed this whole time.

"Well, maybe there are other people who might have proof of this. After all, there is that tape that Kimberly has. If we manage to get that tape, then maybe there is a chance that we can be able to show the world that this did indeed happen after all. Then if we survive this whole thing, we can show the recordings on television and then there is no chance that nobody will be able to deny us and we will be the most famous people who have ever lived in the rest of the world." Tai said and then as he was saying this, he was feeling like he was getting a little bit of a ego as he was talking about this whole thing, wondering if he was just thinking too highly of himself or if this was actually true.

Mimi thought that if for nothing else, there would be something that they could show the public and then when they show this to the public, they would get at least short term media attention.

"Well, then perhaps we just need to focus on finding a way to publish this whole thing, as I am not really sure how I am going to be able to publish this tape, which is a terrible thing to think about this happening, and then nobody would be able to have the chance to see it." Tai was thinking more just beyond his future children he might not have, and more on the whole just general media.

"If you don't know how to get the proof, then I guess that everybody is just going to go around and be none the wiser. I wonder if something like this has happened before, and if they were able to ever get the proof to the whole thing." Mimi said and then after she said that, Tai was considering it for a moment.

"I mean, sure there are probably somethings that happened in real life that are somewhat close to what happened in real life to us, but nothing really much that would really one hundred percent like us. Not really all that shocked now that I think about it, but who really cares what we are dealing with, since in all reality we only really have one chance to go through this." Tai was saying and then Mimi thought on that.

"I doubt that anybody really would even want to dare admit that something like this has happened even if they did. They would just do their best to act as if this was something that was just a nightmare, and repress it as just a really largely repressed memory and literally nothing else beyond that. I mean seriously, who would really try and argue the idea of that even having a small chance of happening?" Mimi asked and then as she had asked that, Tai was thinking that she totally understanding this whole thing.

"I am so glad that for the most part, you are seeing what I am doing, and where I am coming from and everything. But who the hell really cares though? I guess that none of this really matters all that much anymore. I just think that it is a great thing that people are actually able to go along and just pretend that none of this ever is happening. It is honestly really impressive that this is happening at all." Tai said and he was thinking about the total reluctance of this whole thing.

"But in all reality, I think that people are just in denial of what is happening over the whole thing. People are just probably trying to act like they are all cool. They are just probably acting as if this entire event never happened just to make it feel like they are totally safe and everything. I can honestly understand why people are that way. I mean, if you had never talked with me at all about this, I probably would have just pretended that this had never happened when it eventually came back to the news and everything. If it even had the chance of making it back to the news at all." Mimi said, as she was thinking about how likely it would not even hit the news in the first place.

"If it doesn't hit the news, there is going to be a huge level of ideas and facts going on to prove the over all corruption of this place. This town seems like there is more corruption to this town than people would really want to admit. Maybe if there is a fact to prove this whole thing, then people will not want to live in Wayside Minnesota anymore. But it is one of the most popular places in town that nobody would really want to have something like that happen.

"I can't believe that we are having this conversation at all right now. This just seems like something you would hear in a movie, never something that you are going to have to deal with in real life. But here we are, dealing with this in real life, and I am just on the verge of just refusing to believe that this is happening. I mean, I don't want my town to sort of represent the main scars of corruption in this nation." Mimi said with a hint of denial to it, and Tai was able to sort of understand how she would feel about this thing, and he was kind of feeling the same way about it.

"I think that there is just some good reason that this is happening. I would really want to believe that there is something that is driving the secrets to be hidden the way that they are. But that is nothing that really matters now I guess, even though in all reality it should matter." Tai said as they reached the front entrance to Davis's house and knocked on the door.

Davis was waiting for a moment or two before he decided that this was not really going to go anywhere as Davis had answered the door for the two to walk on in. The guy was kind of shocked to see two of the people who he had originally babysat staying here and wanting to visit him, but at the same time he was glad that there was somebody who was wanting to hang out with him as this usually never happened and he was happy to have a change to that rhythm for for once in his life. "What are you doing here?" Davis asked, wondering why the hell they were here in the first place since while he was glad they were here, he was wondering why there was two of the people he used to babysit doing this.

"Honestly, there is something that we feel like we need to talk to you about, since you are the only one that I feel like I can trust to talk to you about here." Tai said and then after he had said that, Davis was thinking that it was strange but then he sat down and let Mimi and Tai sit down on the two worn down couches that he used for the special cases of a guest coming on over, which almost never happened. Davis took out his next cigarette and smoked it, this time doing so with the window opened to show a tiny hint of respect to the guests that he had over.

"Well, we know that you recently had this girlfriend, and we know about the fact that she went missing." Tai said and before Davis was not really all that invested in the conversation, but the second Tai had mentioned Kimberly, the moment Davis got entirely serious, and he knew there was no more time to go and fuck around with the two guests.

"Please tell me more about this right now." Davis had said and then after Davis had said that, Tai was getting ready and he was totally willing to oblige to what he was being asked to do, and then after he had started to talk, he was doing his very best to tell him the sad news of how Kimberly had died and everything.

"Well, I had been questioned earlier and I found out the truth about her. She had died recently, and I was one of the first people to see her body. I wanted to be the one who told you about her death, since I feel like the police doing it would have a sense of fakeness to it all. Please forgive me. I was just wanting to help figure this whole case out, since this case is just something probably too big for any one of us to handle alone." Tai said and then after he had said that, Davis thought that there was a small level of truth to what Tai had been saying there, as much as he had hated to admit it.

"I understand that you want some form of justice, and I want to take down the asshole who killed my girlfriend. But please, I want you to be safe. But that being said, I would not really mind if you were there to help me on the short term. I think it would actually be really helpful, and that is the only reason I am not going to stop you from helping me here. But if you start to make any sort of mistakes on all of this, and if it seems like you are going to get in danger, I want you to go return to your dad as soon as possible. I know your dad, and I do trust him to keep you safe, even if it does mean that you might be dealing with a guy who is in a wheelchair." Davis said and then he started to stand up with the cigarette in his hand, ready to make Tai try and take back his offer of help.

"Alright then, I guess that this is probably the best you are going to give me. I really hope that we can find the person who did this. I don't want him killing another person. He has already killed over twenty people. I would not be shocked it is closer to thirty or so." Tai said and then that was when Mimi and Davis looked right at him. Davis had no idea that so many people had died, and while Mimi might have heard it, she did not even remotely think that this was possible, as she did not really process it all that much.

"That seals the deal. I am going to need your help as much as possible. I am pretty sure that if I am going to try and do this, then I might get killed if it is just one on one with the man who had done it. But if we are united, I do think that there is a slight chance that we will be able to pull this off." Davis said and then he looked right at Tai and Mimi, trying to think of what he can do to make them a bit more ready to have a fighting chance.

"You seem to be really deep in thought right now." Tai said and he was feeling like a dumbass saying something this obvious, but he was just trying to see what Davis would do, and if it was even remotely close to what he was thinking the guy was going to do.

"Come with me to my room. Trust me, I think that you would really love it. Just wait until you see what I am going to show you." Davis said and he was having a bit of a accidental sinisterness to it. He wasn't trying to scare them, but the way that he said it was in no way not scary. The three of them started to walk on towards his room and he was ready to show them what he was having planned.

Once the two of them were inside of Davis's bedroom, they realized what he was wanting to show them. It was a bunch of weapons, mostly related to his military gear that he was using during his training. He had a few guns on the wall, and he had a huge set of bullets in a bunch of open boxes. There was a small set of knives that were in the room, and a couple of throwing knives. There was a thing that looked like a grenade launcher in there, and Tai was a little bit confused by that. On his wall was a sword, hanging down and it had the mason symbol on it. Davis said that he stole that during a school dance once and kept it since. He said it was just too good to refuse. That has been there for about as long as Tai even knew that Davis was a person at all.

"I think that you are going to probably need some of these if you actually want to fight the guy who is a killer." Davis said and then he pulled out a machete from his box and then he was holding it as if he was thinking about this being his weapon. Then there was a baseball bat that had a bunch of nails on it, and then it was really funny to see that in Mimi's opinion, wondering what the hell a baseball bat was going to do in a fight.

"I don't really know if any of these are actually going to be all that helpful. I mean, I guess they could be, but if none of us have been practicing how to fight at all, I really highly doubt that this is actually going to work out." Mimi said and she was the only one who was trying to use logic on the situation.

"Well it is better than just plain melee fighting, so if you want to do something, then just accept the fact that this is something and deal with it." Davis said and he was a bit annoyed as he grabbed the baseball bat thinking about what he was going to do with this. He was thinking the exact same thing as Mimi on this regard. Then he started to get used to the weight of it and then as he did so, he grabbed a pistol as well and then placed it on his upper legs in their holster.

"In all reality, I doubt that we are actually going to be fighting this guy at all. I would just let it go. If I am fighting this thing, I am going to probably get myself killed if I continue this." Tai was saying as he was holding a gun, finally letting the realism hit him. Then he was thinking about it and then he said "Maybe if I learned how to fire a gun, I can pull it off."

"I guess that this is a good point. You are going to need to learn how to use a gun. Have you ever fired one before?" Davis asked as he was watching the look on Tai's face give him the answer that he felt like was giving him the whole level of context there. "I guess if you never even fired a gun, then perhaps you have a lot of stuff that you do need to learn after all." Davis said and then he started to head out of his bedroom and then Tai and Mimi were looking at him as if trying to decide what the hell was going on, and if they were actually seeing this or if they were going insane.

"Let's get this whole thing over with. You know, that way we actually have a chance on making this thing work out. But in all truth be told, I think we are going to have to do a lot of things that would make you understand how to fire this gun, because if you don't know how to work it out, then we are going to fucking a huge ass problem before we even start. But I guess that you already understand that in the first place. Heck, one or two shooting sessions won't really make any difference, but it will be better than nothing at all." Davis said and then he placed the baseball at his back and then after he did so, he went along with Tai and Mimi and they were going along all the way to the shooting range, hoping that nobody would question what a few teenagers are doing with a bunch of random weapons in the area.

"I have a feeling that the police are going to be coming soon, probably going to ask us what we are doing, thinking that we are probably going to try and kill some people. I guess that this would not really be all that out there of an assumption to make when this is what they see of us." Mimi said and then Tai was starting to place the gun in his pocket, thinking of that exact same problem coming up.

Eventually, the group had reached a car and then Tai got his bike and then placed the bike inside of Davis's trunk, and they were getting ready to head out, and then Davis would make this a bit less strange when he placed all the weapons in there.

Davis started to drive the car and during the drive on over there, Davis was looking on over at Tai and Mimi and he was wondering what the hell they were thinking. "Hey, do you actually want to do this? This is going to be your last chance to turn around and do something else." Davis said and then the two people didn't say anything, so Davis gave up after a few seconds. Soon enough, the car pulled up at the shooting range and he was ready to show them what was actually important.

At the shooting range, Davis was pulling out the gun that was in his holster and then he saw that there was a round of bullets in there. Then he started to aim the gun right at the wall, and then he was looking right at the targets. Tai and Mimi were watching this as he started to shot at all of the targets and he was doing so with relative ease the entire time. Tai and Mimi wondered how this was really going to teach them, thinking that while it was cool to watch him do this, none of this was actually any help at all.

"I guess that you have been doing this a lot." Tai said and then Davis nodded and then he put the gun back in the holster. Tai decided that he was going to give this a try. Tai pulled out the gun from his pocket and then he was aiming. The more that he was doing this, the more that this was starting to make him have an extremely high form of unease. But then he decided that he needed to go with this, and he started firing the gun. The first five or six bullets were a total miss, and only at the seventh did he get a clear hit. He knew how to fire a gun, but he was terrible at aiming, so it kind of didn't even matter all that much anymore. Then when he was done, he looked at Tai and then he shook his head.

"Yeah, fuck the idea of me using a gun. That was a disaster. I could not handle that at all." Tai said and then Davis placed his hand on Tai's shoulder as Tai said "I get that you want me to be ready for this, but in all reality I don't think I can be ready no matter how hard I try here."

"Tai, you have a lot of stuff that you need to figure out yes, but you will be able to figure it out eventually. I think that maybe Mimi should try it out." Davis said and then as he had said that, he looked at Mimi and then he was watching the younger girl shake her head violently as if trying really hard to make him see how this was a terrible idea.

"Please, don't make me do this. I get that you want me to help out, but this is crazy. I have no experience fighting at all." Mimi said and then Davis smiled. She knew he was a nice guy, and she respected him to a relative degree, but this guy was fucking insane if he had thought for even a second that this was actually going to work. But then she was starting to give up and then she ended up grabbing the gun and then she was starting to aim it right at the target. But as that happened, there was a bunch of noises that scared the three of them.

Davis, Tai and Mimi were all no longer on the mind set that they had been on earlier, as they were trying to figure out what they were going to do now. Davis was holding the baseball bat and he was staring right at Mimi and Tai. This whole thing was going to be a little bit bloody, and that was one of the very few things Davis knew for sure at that moment. There was a bit of a silence as the three were listening to see if there was going to be something else that would come up in order to show that this was going to go the way that they had been fearing that it was going.

"I want you and Mimi to get right out of here right now. I do not want you guys to argue with me right now." Davis said and he was saying this with a level of authority that showed that he was indeed not fucking around. Then with that, Tai and Mimi were starting to walk back and they were just doing their best to find a place in which they were not going to be attacked by any sort of monsters or anything crazy like that.

As Tai and Mimi were walking away from the room, there was the door which was breaking down. As they had seen the door get broken down, there was the guy with the knife running right at them. He was still wearing his white hoody which was covered in some type of blood and Davis knew the battle was going to get ugly. The entire thing started as Davis started to thrust the baseball bat as fast as he could possibly be able to swing it. The guy was hit right in the face and it did something that looked like a black eye, and Mimi was really happy to see that Davis did indeed get a use out of the baseball bat. "Wow, he might be able to pull this off."

That was all Mimi was saying to Tai as they were starting to head up the stairs, and they were watching as the guy with the white hoody was grabbing Davis by his face and he was getting ready to stab the guy in the face, and as he was getting ready to stab Davis in the face, he grabbed the guy with the white hoody and threw him right down on the ground.

As the guy with the white hoody started to fall down to the ground, he managed to cut Davis in the upper part of his leg and Davis screamed really loudly as he hit the gut with the white hoody right in the ball sack as hard as possible. This created a loud noise with that guy, and then Davis was starting to head towards where Tai and Mimi were. Trying his best in order to make them feel as if they were safe with the one guy who was able to actually fight off this guy and then the guy with the white hoody started to head towards Davis to get ready to attack him once more.

Despite having a giant cut on his leg, Davis was doing a relatively decent job getting up the stairs. Tai and Mimi grabbed him and started to help carry him as they were running along, being much slower as a obvious result of the fact that he was a one hundred seventy pound man going up the stairs. Tai and Mimi were watching as the guy with the white hoody was starting to really catch up to them and then they threw Davis right in the drivers seat of the car. Then Mimi got in the passenger seat and then Tai went in the back seat. Tai started to hit the peddle as he needed to go as fast as he possibly go in order to get the hell away from that man.

Davis was just trying to make it so that he was actually able to concentrate on the road ahead of him, but it was really hard for him to actually concentrate on anything that was going on. He felt like he was just going to die while he was doing this drive.

It was then when the guy jumped onto the top of the car and then they were trying to break the hood of the car. They were stabbing the hood of the car, and then Tai took out his gun and then he fired at the hood of the car a couple of times and that made him fall down and ride down to the ground and then that made it so that they actually had a few moments to make more of a head way on the drive back to town. Davis was looking at Tai and Mimi and the look on his face was one of utter terror. Like this entire thing was his fault, which he was not really sure why he was feeling that way, but it was really hard not to feel that way given the situation.

Davis was getting tired and then before he was able to fully get back to town, he look behind and saw that there was no guy there and that they seemed to be fine for the time being. "I'm sorry, I can't drive anymore. I'm going to pull at a hotel tonight. Maybe the three of us can just get a night here." Davis said and then he drove another thirty seconds until the closest hotel was found and then Davis pulled right up.

Once the three of them had pulled up at the parking lot, Davis got out his wallet and pulled out the two one hundred dollar bills that he had put in his pocket. He always had a couple hundred dollars with him as some form of reserve money just in case he needed it in an emergency. They walked to the hotel and Davis was pulling out the money to the front counter lady to give them a good night of sleep.

After he had done this, the front counter lady looked right at Davis to try and figure him out at that moment. "Do you need some medical help?" She had asked and then Davis shook his head. He was trying really hard to make her stop the questions, and he was just wanting to get to the room and lock it up and then perhaps they can have a small chance of being safe for the night.

"Please, we need to be somewhere safe. I don't really have the time to argue with this. Give me a room for three for the night." Davis said and then after he had said that, the hotel counter lady raised both of her hands as if getting a little bit defensive over this and then she gave him a card and his remaining change and then she told him the room he needed to go to, and then Davis tried his best to smile but all he was able to do was just say "Thank you" before he deciding to just head on up to the room. Mimi and Tai were behind him, this time just looking behind every few moments in order to make sure that there was nothing around ready to attack them at any second.

Once inside of the room, Davis opened the door and then they walked right inside of it. Davis and Tai and Mimi started to get right on the bed. Davis said he was going to sleep on the couch and then he covered up the window with some curtains and then Tai and Mimi each got a bed of their own. Davis slowly got on the couch and then he also pulled something else from his pocket. It was the same type of weak fake cast that Tai had used earlier for his foot and then he delicately wrapped it around.

"Damn, that Jeff dude is determined as fuck. I guess he won't even want a moment without trying to claim his next victim. Whatever. At least we are safe for now." Davis said and then he turned off the room light. "I want you both to get some sleep. It's almost two in the morning. I think we all need some sleep. I will sure as hell be getting sleep now to." Davis said and then he laid fully down and then both Tai and Mimi were thinking about that. Tai got on the bed and Mimi did as well, and then they both turned off their lights as well.

Everything was all good and quite for about three hours or so. During that time, they were able to get a relatively bad sleep, but at the very least it was sleep. Mimi was thinking that she had heard something, so she was curious what it was she was hearing and then she was standing up a little bit just to make sure it was just people normally and not Jeff or something.

As she was standing up, she was checking the front door of the room and she was totally glad that there was a locked door there, and that there was no real chance that this thing was going to get them. Mimi was fearing the worst was going to happen at any moment, but then when she was who was there, she was shocked. She didn't see Jeff. In fact, she saw somebody she knew for a fact that she was going to be able to trust. It was Matt, a guy who had went to camp with her. When she saw that, she started to get a bit more comfortable and then she opened the door to walk out of the room.

Once Mimi was out of the room she was looking right at Matt. "How did you know that I was here?" Mimi asked and then as she had asked him that, Matt was looking around and then he shrugged as if thinking that this was not really all that big of a deal how it happened, as much as the fact that he was here, and there was nothing that they can really do about it now.

"I was just seeing you and Tai walking in. I saw that you were bringing Davis with you guys. I thought that maybe I could be able to help you guys. If you don't mind, would you mind talking with me for a bit?" Matt asked and then when Matt had been asking her that question, Mimi was thinking that she was a little bit hungry. Mimi nodded, and then they started to walk away. "I was just driving around for a bit. I am looking for my brother T.K. He is not at the camp and I haven't seen him in a couple of days."

That was when Mimi thought that this would have actually been a really big deal. The fact that his brother might have just randomly gone away and that there was nothing that they can really do about it. "That sounds like it would be a really big problem. It is related to what Tai and I have been doing for a little while. I think I can talk to you about it. I do trust you enough to let you know some of this stuff." Mimi said and then Matt got more serious, wondering if there was a bit of information of T.K. that he could get out of this.

"Well, it seems as if there are people who are going missing a lot lately. I think that this may be relating to what happened to your brother. I doubt that the guy has taken your brother, but I think that maybe your brother is adventurous about it and he might be wanting to see if he can get some information on this stuff." Mimi said and then after she had said that, Matt got pissed. At T.K., not at her.

"My brother is a fucking idiot. I wish that he would stop acting like he is just some big damn hero right now." Matt said and then after he had said that, Mimi was holding up her hand as if she was trying to get him to calm down and everything, even though there was not really anything about this that he would be able to be calm on. Matt thought that perhaps when he saw T.K. next, he was going to be able to get the guy to see the ways that he had were just flawed and that he needed to just go along and be a normal teenager and stop acting like he was going to save the day.

"I don't really think you should blame him on anything that is going on right now. None of this is his fault. He is probably just doing the best he can in order to even stay alive right now." Mimi said and then after she had said that, Matt was nodding and while he didn't like it, he was thinking that maybe there was a level of truth to the entire thing. He thought that maybe T.K. was just innocent all of this time, but he was trying to convince himself of that.

"If T.K. needs some help though, he can be able to just ask somebody and they will probably be able to do it. They might not really like doing it, but they will still do it and everything." Matt said as he was looking outside the window entrance of the hotel. As he was doing this, the more that he was thinking that there could be a chance that perhaps T.K. might not even survive this, and that he was going to die soon enough if he was not careful. He already broke his arm, and if he was not careful, there was a high chance that it was going to happen once again, and that would be a nightmare to deal with.

"I think that your brother just wants to do something that he can consider to be something that matters. Shouldn't you really be glad that this is the case? He is not really just acting like everything is just something that should be given to him. But I don't really know what to do right now. I should probably try to go to sleep right now, but I don't really know if I am able to do it right now." Mimi was thinking about this and then Matt was starting to close his eyes and everything.

"I am pretty tired right now. I mean, I need to get some sleep, but there is something about this town that is keeping me up right now. I am thinking that something is going to come at us at any moment. Something that is going to change the entire scope of the town. Do you get what I am talking about? I feel like there is something coming up that we will not be ready for. You know, I just can't focus anymore." Matt said and then Mimi nodded like she did get it, which she really did.

"You know, I think we really try and get to sleep right now." Mimi was saying and then after she had said that, Matt looked right at Mimi and then after he had looked at Mimi, he was thinking about that. Slowly, he was starting to stand up and as he was standing up he was heading on towards his car in the hotel parking lot. "Are you going to be heading out now?"

"Yeah, I am going to try and go to sleep right now. I will be driving to the summer camp right now. If you want to come along, go ahead, but if you don't want that, then I will be heading out right now." Matt said and then after he had said that, Mimi was slowly nodding and then she was starting to head back to her room in the hotel. She felt like it would be interesting to head out with Matt, but she thought that the other two would be scared if Mimi was gone, and she did not want to deal with that, so for that reason she decided to stay at the hotel.


	38. The Investigation Continues

Chapter 37: The Investigation Continues

Eventually, Matt made it to the car and he went right inside of it. He placed his head at the wheel for a moment as he was taking a long and deep breath. He was tired of going around places that made no sense. He felt like he needed to do things that made sense, and none of the events going on right now had made any sense. He just wanted sleep though, and there was barely anything that he can do besides just think about how much he lusted for sleep. He started the car engine and started to drive on back to the summer camp, which everybody was probably waiting for him.

As he was driving on back to the camp, Matt was debating to himself if he should start to listen to some music, but he eventually decided against it, although he wanted to, he was just too tired to do it, and as a result he decided that music was going to be a luxury he would pass up on this time around. The camp was probably going to give him the luxury he needed and wanted for the last few days.

Once he was at the camp again, he was going to go and see his girlfriend again and they were going to show their love for each other. He loved showing his love for his girlfriend, and he loved to see her love for him coming along as well. It was sort of a double thing that he loved, and another thing that he just wanted. He wanted to be in love, and he wanted to be loved, and that was why he had loved it so much.

Matt walked inside of the cabin and as he was inside of the cabin where he was supposed to be this whole time, he saw his older brother laying down on his bed, but not asleep. He looked up at Matt and then he rubbed his face with his unbroken hand and then he was standing up. Matt wondered what the heck was keeping the guy up so long, and then while he was thinking about this he did feel like a little bit of a hypocrite about feeling that way, considering the fact that he had been up this whole time. But T.K. was only twelve, while Matt was 16. "Honestly, I have just been thinking about everything right now, and I can't get myself to sleep right now." T.K. said quietly, in order to make the conversation happen while not waking everybody else up.

"I get it. I met somebody at our cabin for a moment. She was talking about you. She was claiming that you were investigating all of this stuff that has been going on here." Matt said and then after he had said that, he looked at T.K. and was waiting for his brother just to confirm or deny what he was saying. T.K. was rubbing his cast and he was still hating the fact that he was carrying like an extra ten pounds on his arm there.

"Yes, I am investigating all of this stuff. Why in the fuck would I not be investigating all of this stuff? Am I just going to let the authorities acting like they are allowed to eat donuts not deal with the stuff that actually matter? You are fucking insane if you think that I am just going to remain here and not do anything about it right now. That is insane." T.K. said and then Matt was just not wanting to argue or agree with him. There was a hint of truth to it, but he in no way liked it.

"I know that maybe it is insane, but honestly you doing this is insane. You are getting yourself in a position where you are likely to die. I don't want to think about my brother dying at the age of just twelve. Do you really want to know how it is going to affect my mind if you die before you even became a teenager?" Matt asked and T.K. just didn't get it. He didn't get why Matt was the one who cared. He could see why his parents would be acting like this, but not his brother.

"Matt, please let it go. I have a thing that I want to do, and I am going to do it. You can try and get me to stop, but I am going to do it no matter what you try and do." T.K. said and then Matt was thinking about it, and he was thinking that T.K. was not mature enough to get it, and that soon enough he would be able to understand it, but for now he was just too young.

"I get that you don't really think it matters. When I was your age, believe me, I didn't think it did either, but when I grew up, the more I understood why it mattered so much. Please, I understand being adventurous. I understand wanting to do something crazy like becoming a self proclaimed detective, but please at the very least be safe about what you are doing now." Matt said and then after he had said that, T.K. was sighing and then he was thinking about the fact that his father would not really get in his business about it, and that if anything, his father would actually let him go around and do this, and that his father was a man who understands his point of view, and he was wondering if he should ask his father about it.

"I will obviously not get in any fights. I will just make sure that only my friends know what I am doing. I know some places where I can hide and not be exposed if I am careful enough. Trust me, I know some people who can give me some locations to hide." T.K. said and the way that he was saying this almost made Matt think that he was actually knowing what he was talking about.

Eventually, Matt thought about it. "I will leave you alone about it for the time being, but the next time that the police come along and start questioning me about what you have been doing, I am going to finally start get in your business about it once again. I think that if you can keep it to a level where you don't in trouble with the law, then I will respect what you want and I will leave you all alone about this." Matt had said and then afterwards, T.K. held his good hand out and he was offering a shake of truce to this idea.

"Fine, I am not going to fight you with this. You clearly are giving me your best alternative." T.K. said and then Matt shook his hand and then Matt stood up and began to head on to his bed. T.K. thought it was smart to go to sleep, so he went on his bed and then he closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep and not think about what was going on.

Once Matt was on his bed, he was thinking about Mimi and Tai as well as T.K. and then his girlfriend. He was having so many things that he was thinking about that it felt like his mind was running at like a trillion miles per hour. He felt like if he did not get some sleep, then these thoughts were just going to keep him going for the next couple of days. But then he decided not to take the risk, and he was thinking more about what he said to T.K. and that forced bullshit truce that they had set up as he knew it was the only way T.K. would give Matt anything remotely close to what he had wanted.

Eventually, when Matt had woke up, he was looking around and he was seeing that he was the only one that was still in the cabin. Everybody was probably just out doing their own thing by now. Knowing the conversation that had happened the previous night, Matt would sadly not at all be surprised if there was something T.K. was already doing to be a 'hero' at that moment. But for some reason, the silence was just a little bit blissful, so he opened up the window and he was just letting the breeze of the outside getting to him, and he was wondering if anything that he was dealing with was actually real or not. He was thinking that perhaps he had just dreamed this whole thing, which would have made this a really bizarre dream.

As he was alone for a couple of minutes, there was a knock on the door and then Matt groaned. He was wishing for like ten to twenty minutes to be to himself, but at the same time he knew that this was just plain and simple unrealistic. So Matt stood up and then he walked up to the door and then saw who it was that was there. When he saw who she was, Matt got a lot more happy and then Matt let her right inside.

"Sora, I am so glad to be seeing you right now. I was hoping that I was going to be coming by and see you again soon, but now that you are here, I don't have to worry about that right now." Matt said and then he hugged his younger girlfriend and then after they had started to hug each other for a while, Matt kissed his girlfriend and then it turned into a french kiss that lasted about twelve seconds or so. Once it was over, they separated their mouths and then Matt smiled in ecstasy.

"I was wondering if you were going to be coming back to the camp at all. But now that you are here, I am now worried that you aren't going to stay here." Sora said and then after she said that, Matt closed the cabin door and then he closed the window once again. He wanted to have the moment just to be with Sora alone, and then he would try to get her to understand what he was dealing with, and why he had to do what exactly he did, in terms of just leaving the camp.

"Don't worry, my brother and I have talked to each other and we started to have some form of understanding with each other, and then I went and had a good night sleep. I just hope that he keeps himself safe." Matt said and then after he had said that, Sora seemed to consider that and then she nodded and then she started to wrap her arm around him again, embracing the moment she had with him as well, and Matt was starting to feel like he was falling in love all over again each time he saw her.

"I think that your brother just needs to maybe have a few experiences in order to feel like he is proud of what he has dealt with and everything. I just think that your brother doesn't want to be a person who says that he has done nothing in life at all." Sora had said and then after she had said that, Matt was thinking that it was a little bit annoying that everybody was telling him that, like he understand why he was feeling that way, but he was just annoyed by everybody explaining the obvious to him.

"I would not worry about it. I just want to relax and enjoy the moment with you." Matt said and then he was looking at her in the eyes. "I have really missed you the last couple of days. I don't want something like that to happen again. I want to be right at your side next time, regardless of how tough the situation is." Matt said and then he was feeling a little bit like a homeless romantic as he was saying that, and it seemed to do a relatively decent job at getting her to be a little bit flattered over what she was hearing.

"Matt, I have missed you as well. I was a little bit worried that you were not going to come back any time soon. I am glad that you are here. I know that we haven't done this in a while, but do you want to go on a date tonight? Just you and I? Then we can come back to camp and just enjoy our night here?" Sora asked and then Matt nodded. He felt strange going to summer camp when he left every third or fourth day for the afternoon.

"I would love to go on a date with you. Do you have any place that you want to go to?" Matt asked and then Sora was shaking her head and the Matt just simply said to that "Well, I guess we will just figure it out while we are driving, and you will see what you like to do there." Matt said and then the two of them laid down on the bed and then Sora was thinking about how much her and Matt were getting closer to each other in just the course of dating for only a few weeks.

"You know, I think that we should check out what is going on around town when we are gone tonight. I think that perhaps we will see what we get there. I am sure that there are a couple of things in town that we will like to partake in." Sora said and then Matt nodded and then the two of them were closing their eyes a little bit and then they were just enjoying the short term silence of the room, as well as their loving grasp.

Eventually, Matt and Sora were starting to wake up and as he was waking up a little bit, he was looking right at Sora and he was seeing that she was still asleep for a little bit longer. He then kissed her on the cheek and he was thinking about where he was going to bring her during the date. He did not really know where he was going to bring her, and he was thinking about how he was going to get the money for the date with her, and he was thinking that this was probably not going to go as well as he was thinking it would, and he was thinking that the place was going to have to be relatively cheap in order to actually have it be something he can provide her with.

"Hey Matt, do you have any plans tonight?" There was a voice that asked him. Matt turned around to see who it was. He could see that it was just some random girl who he had been talking with her and there, not at all a person in the cabin with him. Matt did not really feel the desire to talk with her at all, but at the same time there was no real harm in talking with her, so he decided that he was going to do it for the time being just because he did not really want to come off as a dick.

"Yeah, I am going to go on a date with my girlfriend right now." Matt said and then after he said that, the girl nodded. He then slowly remembered who she was as he was staring at her and it was coming back to him. "So Candice, why don't you go around to other people and talk with them? I am already taken, so you are wasting your time here." Matt said and then Candice shook her head.

"I'm just trying to be your friend. Do you act like this to everybody who wants to be your friend?" Candice asked and then after she asked that, Matt did feel a little bit bad over that and then he was walking closer to her in order to try and make her feel at least a little bit better than she had already been feeling by that point in time. "I was just hoping that perhaps we can hang out at the lake for a little bit."

"Maybe tomorrow. I think that I am just going to be very busy tonight. I really hope you don't mind me giving you that answer. I am getting ready for a date, and I can't really waste any time with that right now. I just need to get right to work right now." Matt said and then he started to walk away and then when he walked off, Candice looked right at Matt and then she started to walk away. She was annoyed with how Matt rejected her like that all the time, and she was wishing that she would actually be able to get to earn his respect a little bit more.

"Hey Matt, do you know what the other cabin mates are doing right now?" Candice asked and she was being a little more neutral about this and she was not trying to get Matt to love her at that moment. She was just wanting to get to know the details about his cabin since the people in his cabin went around to a bunch of a different places at all different times, and she was wondering what the hell was going on that made them all over the place all the time and not ever speak to each other for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

"I don't really have any clue to be perfectly honest with you. In all reality, it is none of my business. I don't really have anything else to say to it besides that. I guess that perhaps it is better I have no idea what they are doing. I don't really know if I will be able to feel the same way about many of them ever again if I did know what they were doing all the time. As long as we all meet up and sleep in the same cabin at night, I will just move on and drop the subject and just assume that it is none of my business what they are doing." Matt said and then after he said that, Candice had laughed a little bit as if not really sure if she could argue with him on that.

"I guess that this does make sense enough. I guess I would not really want to know what my friends are doing all the time, as long as they don't really get me in trouble with the law or anything crazy like that." Candice said and then Matt was wondering why she would be getting in trouble with the law over something her friends was doing, but then he decided not to say anything about it as Candice seemed to not really want to talk about it all that much anymore.

"I will just say that perhaps you really do not know how some of my friends actually are. They are some of the craziest people that you can ever meet." Candice said and then Matt was not really sure if that was true. Matt did know some pretty crazy people. After all, his father did have the nazi sign worn onto him every single day basically. That would qualify as strange in his eyes.

"Unless if they are in some form of cult or something like that, I doubt that these are truly the strangest people I will ever meet. Besides, I don't really think that there is anything to say about strange. I think most people are strange in their own way." Matt said and then Candice decided that she was going to keep some of the bigger details of that stuff to herself, not really wanting to argue with Matt about how her friends were and everything.

"You know, I think that perhaps you will understand everything more in the future. Everything is just probably too much for you to really understand for the time being. There is nothing at all wrong about that, but I would not really assume you would get it for now. Once you start to see some of these things come along in your day to day life more, then you will understand why I say you have seen nothing yet. There is a reason this is considered to be one of the strangest towns in the entire nation. There is nothing about this place that is normal." Candice said and then Matt nodded. He was able to attest to that a little bit.

"I guess that I can't really argue with that. There really are some of the craziest stories I ever heard that take place here. But those are folk lore stories. There is no way that any of those, and especially no way that most of those are true. There is just no way that would even be possible. If these things were real, this town would have probably been destroyed by now." Matt said and Candice was feeling like there was a bunch of risks being taken with them talking like this, but since Matt didn't get that yet, she decided she would not call him out on it for the time being.

"I think that I am going to go back to my cabin soon. Thanks for talking with me for a while." Candice said and then after she was telling Matt this, Matt decided not to argue with her, and in a way glad that she was finally leaving him alone. He walked slowly away and then when he was about twenty or thirty feet or so away from where the meeting was, he took one quick glance back and then he started to walk on forward again.

Candice was a strange woman. There was no way around that. He was wondering why she was this way, and he was wondering what she was even talking about on most of these things. Matt felt like he should get to know her a bit more just to see her point of view on a lot of these things. Then Candice decided that she needed to do some more investigating on what was going in this city.

As Matt was walking along for a while, Matt was wondering where T.K. was. Despite the fact that he had made a promise to leave him alone, there was a part of him that was wondering if this promise was actually the right thing to do and then he was thinking about Sora. He was trying to decide if he should try to find T.K. in case, or if he should go on the date with Sora instead. Both of these options were truly great.

"I think that T.K. knows what he is doing. He may be rash, and he may be doing a lot of things that would be considered to be unsafe, but I would not call him stupid." Matt said to himself, finally deciding that he was just going to do the date instead since he wanted to be with Sora so badly that this was just the option he felt like he needed to do for his own sake. Suddenly, as he was sitting down he was hearing some foot steps walking towards him and then they had sat right down next to Matt and Matt was wondering why this person or all people deciding to talk to him.

"I was hearing that you were talking about your brother. I was wondering what the hell was going on. Although if it is none of my business, I will leave you alone." One of Matt's cabin mates said and then after he said this, Matt recognized the voice of Izzy. The guy who liked to use computers a lot and sort of had made some form of a living off of it. Matt was just looking at his cabin mate, not really sure what to say.

"He is just a bit of a wild guy. But it is nothing that you need to worry about all that much. I think that I will just go on a date with Sora instead, since she is better than T.K. and I think that she and I need to catch up after a little while. But then again, I think that even just a day or two without Sora is just terrible for me." I said and then I was thinking about how great the date was going to be and then I said "I think that I will let her choose where this day is going to be, since I need to make up for not seeing her for a while."

"Boy, if you let her choose where to go, she is never going to make a choice. Women never make the right choice, and they just take so long to make any choice at all. You need to be the one who needs to make the choice for her. That way there will not be any sort of stalling out here." Izzy was saying when he picked up the rock and then he tossed it right into the water and then there was a bunch of bounces and Matt could vaguely even hear it after the fourth or fifth bounce and then the rock went inside the water. Izzy turned at Matt and Matt was forced to think about what the guy said.

"Have you ever gone on a date with somebody? You're like fourteen or something." Matt said and then he was tempted to laugh and then Izzy sat down next to Matt again and he was ready to start getting a little bit more serious with the conversation once again and then Izzy made a simple reply.

"Yeah, I have gone on one date before." Izzy was thinking about how it had gone, and Matt was laughing. He was sure that Izzy was a faggot, but then he was shocked and also kind of interested in the fact that he had just been proven wrong. Izzy looked at Matt and then he rolled his eyes as if he was able to pick up what Matt was thinking. Exasperated, Izzy said "Yes, everybody thinks that way of me when they first see me, I am used to it by now. Every time I talk to them, I have to make them understand that this is not really how I am right now. That being said, there was one experience I had with a guy. He was a horrible dick to me, no pun intended, and then I never wanted to go back to it again." Izzy said and then he was forcing his lips together.

"What the hell happened to make you never want to do anything like that again?" Matt questioned and his initial annoyance at Izzy and his nonchlantness was not turned into vague interest. He was thinking that this was going to be a strange story, and Matt was thinking that Izzy better be glad that nobody was listening to their conversation and that it was just the two of them.

"I was eleven years old when it happened. It happened with a guy named Walter, who was thirteen. We were slowly starting to be friends and then one night he invited me over to his house to stay the night. My parents thought nothing of it. I went to his house and we played games for a while and then he suggested that we tried something out. I didn't know what to think of it and then I said yes to his offer, and this was the one time I was not smart enough to pick up the hints. I usually am smart enough to notice things, but this was the exception." Izzy said and then he was taking a large built up breath out of his mouth. Matt glanced at the guy as he continued the story.

"He started to take off my shirt and then as he took off my shirt, he told me to take off his and I did as well. Then we took off the rest of our clothes and he was basically leading the way through the whole thing. It was really painful and I was in so much pain by the end of the event. I didn't really think that I ever wanted to try anything on that regard again, and there was a very vague part of me that enjoyed this, and then afterwards, I went to sleep as it had tired me beyond all belief. Then when I woke up, Walter had all of his clothes on and I put my clothes back on again. I asked him if we can never do that again as I was sore and everything. He said that he won't do it again to me. Then I wasn't even sure if I wanted to hang out with him anymore at all by that point anymore." Izzy finished and then Matt asked the next biggest question.

"Did you ever talk to him again after that? Or did you just leave him forever?" Matt was asking, and then Izzy gave a shorter response.

"I talked to him for another two months. Then after the end of the school year, I never talked to him again. I am glad I never talked to him again. After that had happened, I never wanted to even think about the idea of having it with a guy again. I am not the fondest of how women treat everything with such sensitivity, but at least they are nice, and they don't try and use me, so I am going to go with them by default." Izzy said and then afterwards, Matt nodded and he was thinking that he was going to leave it at that.

"So how was the date like that you went on that one time?" Matt asked and then Izzy gave the story to that one as well.

"I found her at school one day in seventh grade. We talked for a little while and I asked her one day if she wanted to go out to dinner with me. We went to the date and then we talked for a while and she was always really indecisive on where to go and then eventually we went home and then I told her that I had a great time and she told me to stop focusing on trying to be impressive and start to focus on things I enjoy like some random things such as science. I never talked with her again. Every time I tried to talk to her again, she seemed to pretend as if I had never even existed." Izzy said and that was the entire story.

"Interesting. Do you have any real advice on how to go on a date? Not that you have more experience than me since I have been going on dates all the damn time." Matt said and he was saying it in a slightly bragging way but he was also a little bit proud of how he was with the girls, and then Izzy laughed as if he was able to figure out that this was bullshit that he was the one asking him this stuff.

"No I don't. If anything you should be the one giving me the advice. But it seems like you are busy right now, so I am going to leave you alone now. I am going to just focus on my studies right now. Thanks for talking with me." Izzy said and then he was gone and then Matt was staring at the sky confused, wondering if this conversation was real, and if he needed to talk to him again to get more information or if this was a one time thing.

But then, Matt was thinking about hanging out with Sora again. So he stood up and then he was going right back to the cabin. He was ready to go on this great date with her, hoping that it was going to be as great as he was hoping that it would have been. He wanted this date to be able to go along without a single hitch, but he had a terrible feeling that there was going to be something that would be coming up that could ruin this entire thing. It was silly for him to feel this insecure about this, but at the same time he just could not get the feeling out of his mind no matter how much he had tried to do this.

It took him about eight or so minutes to get to the other side of the camp as he was walking a little bit faster than usual, not really wanting to take any pauses the entire walk there. He was just curious about T.K., about Candice, about Izzy, just to see if he was actually going to make any real progress on getting to know all of the details or if Candice was just a crazy girl, and if Izzy was just some crazy guy with one gay experience and had regretted the experience. T.K. was the only one that really got him worried.

Once Matt was at the door, he opened it and then he saw that Sora was smiling and then Matt was thinking about all of the money that he was going to need for the date. "Sorry if this is not really enough to make this a super big luxury. I just needed to get something together for the two of us." Matt had said and then Sora looked at him and she didn't really blame him for not having a huge amount of money. There was nothing for him to worry about there at all.

"I was not expecting this to be a five star date or something." Sora gave him a solid answer that was trying to make Matt think that this was all good and everything. Matt then sighed and then he was thinking about the fact that he felt like he needed to make the date really good, and the fact that he did not really have amazing funds made him feel terrible over the fact that she was dating him.

"I won't worry about it too much since you tell me not to. But at the same time, I am just wanting to make you feel like you are the most important woman in the world. You understand that I have a feeling that you are not appreciated enough, and I don't want you to think that." Matt said and he was feeling strange saying this, and in fact there was a part of him that felt a little bit stupid as he was feeling this way. Then the two were silent for a moment.

"I really appreciate the fact that you feel like you are thinking about trying to make me feel like I am the best girl in the world. But quite frankly, I am just happy to be with you, and I think that as long as you actually are with me, I will know that I can feel like I am the best girl in the world. But I don't need to be the best girl in the world. I just need to know that you and I are still on a good place. I am excited to go on our date." Sora had said and then after she had said this, Matt was nodding, and he was more into the idea of making her feel a bit more normal than he had been trying to make her feel.

"Sorry for being so forceful about this whole thing. I will start to really take it easy from here on out. I think it is best to just take it slowly, and start to have a normal date, with some normal conversations, and just not really make any real attempts at anything else. I think that we should just be transparent, and not really act like we need to have to have a really big and complex and perfect relationship this whole time." Matt said and then afterwards, he placed his arm around her neck and then they were just looking out the window and then Sora was thinking about how nice this would have been.

"I really like to just know the normal you. Nothing more, nothing less. Is there really anything wrong with that?" Sora asked and then after she had asked that question to Matt, he thought about that and then he shook his head. There really was nothing wrong with just acting normal and trying to have a normal relationship. As if nothing really was all that big of a deal. Not that really any of this was actually a big deal at all.

"I think that this date is going to be pretty good. I think that the others will understand how great a relationship will actually be like when they get into one as well, and that they are just missing out on something like this the whole time. I get why they would not really understand what the importance of having somebody you care for being at your side, but once that happens, I think they will truly understand why it actually matters." Matt said and then afterwards, Sora looked at Matt and was ready to continue to speak to him.

"I do have some money for the date. Don't worry about the funds too much right now. Just take it easy. Have some fun. Let's just talk about our future. You know, I have some great plans on what I want to do once we get out of school." Sora was speaking as if their relationship will actually be able to last on a longer level than just a few months or a high school deal. As much as Matt liked her, he did recognize that this was very unlikely.

"I think we should be going on this trip soon now. I don't have any idea where the hell to go. Izzy thinks that I should have picked where we go, but I think that I would rather have you choose where we should go on the date." Matt said and then after he had been saying that, he thought that Sora was getting a little bit more of an excited look on her face when she was hearing Matt suggest that she was going to pick the choice of eating for them, and that he trusted her enough for that.

The two of them walked out of the cabin and then afterwards, Sora started to ask the question that Matt had been sort of thinking about a little bit, but didn't want to make a big deal out of. "I wonder why Izzy thinks I should not be choosing where we go on our date. It seems a little bit odd that he thinks I am not ready to make that kind of choice." Sora said and then afterwards, Matt was just deciding that he was going to keep the truth to himself, while also giving her an answer that she would probably be able to believe in as well.

"Yeah, I think that perhaps they just don't really want to have that happen since he probably doesn't really have all that much experience with people in relationships and stuff. I wouldn't really worry too much about it in all reality." Matt said and he was just doing his best to make sure that Izzy did not really get exposed to anything that he felt like he didn't to be exposed about.

"I guess that makes some sense. I think that once Izzy goes on a date or two, he won't really mind it so much anymore." Sora was saying as she was just thinking about the same conception that she had of the guy that Matt and pretty much everybody else had of him. "To be honest, I thought that he would have been a little bit of a faggot. I guess that maybe he just doesn't do a good job showing the fact that he is otherwise." Matt and Sora were in the car and then Matt started the car as Sora thought about her choice of dating.

"I think that we should go to the chinese place. Might be a little expensive, but the food is good and it is still close enough to here." Sora said and then Matt started to drive off. Matt didn't love chinese food, but he far from hated it and he was able to tolerate the idea enough that he was not going to make a big deal out of it. He thought that it would be fine to have that food every once in a while. And the last time he was there was like three months ago, which was decently long by that point in time.

Eventually, Matt and Sora were well on their way to the date site and Matt was just talking with Sora a little bit. "So do you really think that you are actually going to go along and help your mother more at the shop, or are you just going to try and find a way to get her to see that you have no desire to keep up with that stuff anymore?" Matt was asking and then after he had asked her that question, Sora was just thinking about it a little bit more. She did not want to work there, but at the same time she had so little options that she felt like she was going to have to accept the whole thing and take it like a actual woman.

"You know what, I don't want to work at that flower shop. But I feel like I really do need some form of a job at least until I finish high school, so I am going to accept the idea at least until I graduate high school. Once I graduate and am starting my new life and everything, I might actually consider going back and trying to find something that isn't the fucking flower shop. But for now, I am not going to complain too much about it." Sora said as Matt was thinking about why she needed to have a better initiative than this, but he knew that she was just trying to be nice to her mother about this and Matt did not really have all that much time to think as there was a bunch of cars driving by really loudly and his mind kept losing focus every few seconds.

"I guess that maybe there is something of merit to just working at a nice and easy job. So I guess that there is no real point in trying to change something." Matt said and he was thinking about how much he was really missing a nice and consistent outlook in life. His father was a fucking bigoted fool and said something racist or sexist every fifteen minutes, T.K. was going out and slowly killing himself with breaking his own body parts, and then his mother never even did anything besides just work all day. Yet, his father was never abusive, which was strange to him, that despite how much he was a asshole, he never did anything that would be considered abusive to him or his brother. He didn't like them hanging out with jews or blacks or gays though is all.

"I think that my mother really does just have my best interest in her mind, or at least what she is thinking is going to be my best interest. My mother just wants to see me have a good life, and I think that in all honesty, I feel kind of terrible for this whole hating my mother for doing this." Sora said and then eventually, they were getting close to the food place. But he saw that there was a gas station nearby that was twenty four hours, and he was thinking that since his car was starting to run out of gas, that he would take a few minutes to fill up. There was still twenty dollars in his emergency wallet his father gave him before he left, only to be used when totally needed.

"I am going to stop and fill up for just a couple of minutes. I will be back in a moment." Matt said and then he stood out of the car right next to one of the gas filling places and then he placed the nozzle in the car, enjoying the smell of gas for the first couple of seconds, and then he was staring right at Sora. As the gas was filling up, he was hearing something strange. It wasn't like screaming or anything, but it was just sounding like a guy who was coming towards them and Matt was wondering what the hell was going on.

Matt was looking around and saw that there was a guy wearing a white hoody walking towards him and then there was a knife that he was holding.

As Matt saw this happening, Matt was going to his back trunk and he pulled out the machete that he had held in there and had never had to use. He was holding the machete for a few seconds and the guy with the hoody was getting closer to him, and then Sora started to get out of the car.

"Matt what is going on?" Sora asked and then the guy with the white hoody slashed right at Matt and then he dropped the machete a little bit and then Matt jumped right at him and the knife fell down to the ground and then Matt punched the guy right in the neck, and made the guy gag a little bit.

"Get the fuck out of here. Get in the station and call the police on us right now!" Matt yelled and he was really starting to show his violent side as he had heard that and then Sora realized that there was no way that she was going to actually do anything to help him out, so she ran right inside of the gas station and then she was looking for a phone that she can use to call the police. Matt then grabbed the machete and then he swung right at it, leaving a large cut right in the chest of the guy with the white hoody and then he was seeing that this was not doing anything to help him out. Sora saw as the guy with the white hoody just rubbed his chest a little bit and then he grabbed the knife again and started to get ready to stab Matt as Matt held his hand up and let his hand get stabbed right in the hand.

Inside of the gas station, Sora was placing in two dollars inside of the twenty five cent a minute phone booth and then she was yelling "There is a fucking guy trying to kill my boyfriend at the twenty four hour gas station! Please get the fuck down here!" Sora was yelling she she didn't even care how many people were looking at her as she was doing this.

There was a guy named Jim that was there buying his pack of cigarettes and energy drinks. He then grabbed Sora's chest and then he was nodding. Sora was looking right at him and then he said "I will help you right now." Jim said and then Sora was crying and then she thanked him for this and then the police said that they were going to be there in five minutes as Sora hung up.

Sora and Jim were outside of the gas station and they saw the guy in the white hoody grabbing Matt and then slamming his head right into the car a couple of times, and seeing Matt starting to bleed a little bit and then Matt was watching as Jim was walking closer to them and then he grabbed the neck of the guy in the white hoody and then he was pulling them away and the guy was feeling like he was losing some oxygen as this was happening.

The death grip could not last forever as the police arrived and the guy punched Jim right in the face and broke his nose with the level of force that was applied and then Jim hit the ground in pain and then he started to run off. One of the officers was David and he grabbed his gun with Whitney right at his side. He fired the gun and it almost hit the foot of the guy in the white hoody, but barely missed, and then he was breathing heavily.

Matt slowly walked to the gas nozzle and slowly placed the nozzle back to the machine where the nozzle was supposed to be and then Matt slowly closed the block for the nozzle and then he was trying hard to keep his body safe. His face was feeling numb and he covered his hand with a bandana that one of the officers gave him. "You should be taken to the hospital to get some casting." David said, thinking about when he broke his hand on his early days of the police force, thinking a little bit nostalgically.

"I can handle it." Matt said and then Sora was telling him that this was false, and then she was able to finally convince Matt to let it go and go to the hospital. Jim decided he would go to get some bandages for the nose, but that this was going to be all that he would get and then they all started to head to the hospital. Once at the hospital, Matt was placed in a room where he got a hand cast and a cast on the left side of his face, both of which would be destroyed by the time when this whole killer mystery was over, and when he would have to face some adventures much bigger. Jim got a small nose cast, and then afterwards, Sora and Matt went back to the idea of going on their date, and they both agreed to not even mention what had happened earlier.

Once they had been on the date, Matt was doing his best not to let the pain that he was feeling get to him, and he was just staring right at Sora. "So when do you think you are going to go on some vacations? Like stuff that you plan on just going to on your own?" Matt asked and then after he had said that, he ordered his food and Sora ordered hers. Matt didn't order much since even if he had wanted the food, he was not really able to actually get himself to sleep with how much his face was hurting and the eating was going to just make himself hurt even more by doing this.

"Matt, I don't really think that I am going to be going on any vacations anytime soon. I know that this may sound crazy for you to hear, but I don't really have any chance to make these type of plans. Besides, I am at summer camp and I am with you, so there is no real need for me to actually go on any vacations. being with you is already enough of a vacation for me." Sora said and then after she said that, Matt was trying his best to not really make himself feel like he was the one that was placing her down in her life by doing this, since she was claiming up and down that things were fine. Matt was just not really too sure though, and he was feeling like he was really holding her down, and no matter what she said, that was probably not really going to change in his mind.

"I just don't in any way want you to be bogged down by stuff like this. I want you to actually be able to go on and live at least some form of life. This is making me feel like you are not getting this at all. I am not really able to justify this at all." Matt said and then he was shaking his head a tiny fraction of an inch since he was not really wanting to do anymore than he was already doing so since he was just in so much pain that his expressions would not really be allowed.

"If I went on a vacation, I would most likely invite you along since I really enjoy your company, and not having you with me would be a lot worse than just having a little bit of an annoyance happening every once in a while." Sora said and Matt could tell right then and there that she was talking about the whole attack that happened at the gas station, even though Matt really had no desire to speak on that, he was thinking that no matter how hard he tried, that was going to come up a lot.

"I am really glad that you want to take me with your vacations. I just feel like that really makes me feel a lot more special than it probably should be making me feel. I do wonder though, do you plan on going to college, like to get a further education, or do you plan to go right to the work force? I think I am going to pursue my music career. I have been really enjoying writing music. I am not in any way good at it, but I still enjoy it and who knows, I might be good at it if I keep it up." Matt said and then after he had said that, Sora thought about that and she was thinking about his music.

"I have not really ever seen you play that much of it. I think you have only shown me one or two songs so far, and I want to know more of it." Sora said and then eventually, there was the food that was given to them and Matt was very slowly eating the food, and then Sora was eating her food much faster, but not to the point Matt felt like she was being a slob.

"I want to just make sure that the music is good. I don't want to create something that nobody will like. I want to create something that at least some people will be able to enjoy, that way it will feel like I actually did something that was of worth." Matt said and Sora was kind of understanding the logic of that.

"I guess that makes sense. I just really want to see what you produce is all. When you produce some music, I want you to maybe show me what you are making first, that way I can tell you what you can improve on and what is working well so far." Sora said and then afterwards, Matt thought about that offer and thought that perhaps it wasn't a terrible idea.

"I might do that. But please actually tell me the truth on what you think of the music. Please don't lie about it to make me feel better. I don't want you to feel forced to act like you think this music is hot stuff just to make me feel better. I want the honesty as I actually want to be able to improve what I am working on." Matt said and then afterwards, Sora was nodding. As much as she would love to glorify the stuff that he was making, she was able to get where he was coming from and she was deciding that she was going to respect his wishes just because of how much she had loved him.

"Fine, I will tell you the truth of what I think of the music. Even if the music is a piece of crap and you need to really work it out. I want to see you perform as best as you think you are, and I am going to help you do this." Sora said and then Matt was thinking that this was going much better, even though he was only a fourth of the way through the food and Sora was mostly through the food, and she was just waiting to the point he was done before she would suggest the two of them heading back to the camp.

"Sora, I think that you are quite possibly the only thing here that is even keeping me any sort of sane. You are the person that actually makes me feel like there is something very real to all of the stuff that doesn't even feel real at all. I feel like none of this feels real, and I don't like that feeling of false life." Matt said and then he was thinking about how he was going to make up to Sora for the amount of support that she had been providing him this whole time.

"You are the person that makes me feel glad to be able to keep going on this journey of being a teenager. Hell, even some of the not so great parts of it, such as your brother or your crazy father or your non focused on the family mother are a piece of the charm. I am aware of how your family is like, and I feel like I actually am a part of it in some way. It is a part of my life, even if they barely know me." Sora said and she felt strange saying that about T.K., as she most certainly did not 'barely know him'. If anything, she knew him better than the majority of people.

"I think that I might be ready to go back to camp. My head is killing me. I want to keep this up. I am so fucking sorry for stopping by that fucking gas station." Matt said and then he was eating two more pieces of sushi and then he stood up and then Sora nodded and she was able to understand where he was coming from, although she did not really blame him for what had happened. It was not his fault. He made a choice that made perfect sense at that moment.

"I will drive on back." Sora said and then Matt nodded, not being able to drive there even if he had all the desire to in the entire world. Then with that, they were walking along and then Sora put in the funds for the meal and then they went to the car where Matt carefully placed himself in the shot gun seat and then Sora went to the drivers seat.

Sora was driving and Matt was just starting to close his eyes a bit and he was going to do his best to sleep through all of this, even though he felt like he was not going to really be able to sleep with all of the pain that was going. The entire time that Sora was driving, Matt was just wanting to try and speak to her but with each progressing moment, he was thinking that he had no real desire to keep talking at all anymore.

Once Matt was back inside of the summer camp cabin, that was when he was sitting back on his bed. Sora was just staring at him for a moment. "Just try and get some sleep." Sora said and then Matt nodded as she kissed him right on the forehead. He smiled as she gave him the sweet kiss and then she stared at him as he was out for a little while. After he was down for two minutes or so, she decided to walk to her bed and she went to the bed and the stress from what happened just made her fall asleep right away and then Matt was able to sleep for a while.

Eventually, as he was sleeping, he was thinking that there was some strange noises going on. At first Matt thought that he was hearing the voice of Tai, one of his cabin mates, so he decided against it, but then there was the voice of somebody that he either didn't know, or maybe did know but from so long ago that it was almost forgotten. As he was hearing it more and more, the more that Matt was getting convinced he needed to go on and check this stuff out. So he was opening his eyes and then he was walking out of the house and then he was outside.

Matt was walking along and there was only one of his eyes that was even remotely able to see anything going on at all. As he was walking around, he could tell that it was late enough in the night that nobody was really around at camp at all, which made him start to think that he was indeed sage for the time being from getting in trouble. Matt was feeling good about this since he knew anything that could have gotten him in trouble would have been too busy in their own house.

Eventually, Matt was out in the eating yard where the camp mates would normally eat, and Matt was wondering why the voice was bringing him right to here. But eventually, Matt sat down and then he was waiting for a bit. His head was still half covered with head casting and his hand was just wrapped up in it just barely to the point where he could barely move his fingers and thumb but that was basically the only thing he could do with that hand. Eventually, there was a light that came on and Matt saw who this was.

It was Davis, the guy who was hanging out with Tai a little bit earlier and he was the one who had started the conversation with them. "Matt Ishida, I need your help to solve a murder mystery case going on in the town right now. I had some help with your friend Tai a little bit earlier, and I think that perhaps you will be able to help me out." Davis said and Matt was confused by this and before he was even able to ask any question, Davis started to explain this stuff to him.

"I have been looking into the case of Jeffrey Woods after the body of my girlfriend was found. He has killed over thirty people, and I want to solve this case right here and right now. Your brother is going around, and he is looking to try and solve this case right now. He is a very noble man in all honesty." Davis told Matt and then Matt was thinking about this and then Davis said "Don't worry, your brother is just simply wandering around town with his skateboard a lot and just hanging out with his friends, as he is just trying to find some simple pieces of evidence here and there at different places."

"Are you going to help T.K. stay safe for me? I will join you on the case that I want my girlfriend Sora to be safe and I want T.K. to be safe." Matt said and then after he had said that, Davis was thinking about this and then he was just not really sure what to think about this, thinking that it was just simply impossible for him to actually promise that, but he was thinking about doing that in order to make Matt feel just a little bit better.

"I will do my best to make that the truth. But here is the thing, this man is going to be very mad. He is going to do anything in his power to make our life very rough. But we are going to do anything to make this possible. I really need your help. I need the magic that you have to offer." Davis said and then he said "Jeffrey Woods was the guy that gave you this injury and almost killed you and your girlfriend. Surely you are going to want some revenge." Davis said and then after he had said that, Matt thought about that and he was thinking that this was indeed the truth. He would indeed want some revenge for what had happened.

"I do want to give him back what he had given me, but I have no idea how I am going to be able to do any of that." Matt said and then that was when Davis was placing his hands on the table and then he was just saying something very simple to him.

"Just make sure that he gets exposed and his entire operation goes the fuck down. That is how you can get your revenge on this man. Something very simple." Davis said and then afterwards, Matt was nodding and then he told Davis that he was now in this competition and then Davis smiled for the first time, excited that this was finally going to be the thing that he needed to destroy the killer who had killed his girlfriend. He wanted the revenge even more than Matt, but they both had a common on the surface desire for it. "We are going to leave right away."

Davis and Matt walked out of the summer camp with no simple clue as to what was going on as well as the fact that Davis got rid of the light and then they were just walking for a little while. Eventually, they were inside of his car and Davis had bought a bunch of supply of energy drinks. He pulled out one for himself and gave Matt to one and Matt said "Thanks." Knowing that he did indeed those drinks. Davis took out his cigarette and started to smoke that cigarette and then they were driving off.

As Matt and Davis were out of the camp, Sora woke up and she heard the noise. Tai had heard the noise as well and then they both walked out of the cabin and they saw that Matt was not there anymore. "God damn it, what the fuck is he doing this time? He almost died tonight, and he is going the fuck out again. God damn it, I need to make sure he is safe again." Sora said and she was pissed that this was happening and she looked right at Tai and then she asked the following question "Tai, want to help me find Matt?"

Tai thought about that and then Tai nodded. "I think that while we are out, we can talk a bit about what I have been doing lately, and the strange case that I have been forced to get involved in. I think we can be able to help each other out here." Tai said and then with that, they started to walk out of the camp and despite them not even being legally old enough to drive, as they were only fifteen, the late hours meant they can get away with it this time.

As Sora and Tai started their drive, they were already too far gone as Davis and Matt were thinking about what they were going to do next. "So Davis, can you give me the entire story of what is going on with this Jeffrey Woods?" Matt asked and then after he asked that, Davis sighed and then he threw out his cigarette and placed in another one with all the weapons still in his car and then Davis decided that he was going to give him as many details as he remembered.

"So Tai got questioned by a police officer and then they questioned his involvement with a girl named Kimberly going missing. That was my girlfriend. She ended up being dead sadly. Tai and this Mimi girl, who I think is still at your camp, started to look around and they eventually found me. We looked around and had a fight with Jeffrey Woods. Tai and I spent the whole day looking around for more evidence, and we saw that Mimi was nowhere to be seen. I have a feeling she might be the next victim of Jeffrey Woods, and I need to know if that is true or not. But we found one piece of evidence that we might need to bring to the sheriff David. We found out that there was a bunch of video tapes that contain a few pieces of what happened to him when he first became this killer. I need to find the tapes and once we do, I will bring it to David and then we will have a piece of the case figured out. And we need to see how Mimi is doing." Davis said and then Matt nodded, still getting it.

"Do you really know how you are going to take down Jeffrey Woods?" Matt asked Davis and then he was holding his head by his right hand, and then Davis was looking right Matt and then after he was looking at Matt, they were thinking about what to do, but they didn't really know if they really had a plan. Matt was starting to pick this up and this was really starting to scare the young boy and then Davis was shaking his head and Davis and Matt pulled in at a very empty parking lot, and then they were thinking a bit on this.

"So we should just probably go around and try and find the tape. I have no idea where the tape is, and that is what we are going to look for. I don't really care how long it takes for us to find the tape, that is something we need to do right away. I am a little bit sure where it is, but I need to go right there and see if what I am thinking is the truth." Davis said and then he smoked his next cigarette and then Matt was thinking about while he hated smoking, he thought that with the fear going on, he might as well try it out. Matt held his hand out and then asked the following:

"Can I have a cigarette?" When Matt asked that question, Davis nodded and gave Matt one and after the first puff, Matt gagged very badly and then he was looking at Davis and said "How in the hell do you like this stuff? It is hard to take in?" Matt asked and then Davis smiled and he gave a very simple answer to the complaining question that Matt had asked, and then he was continuing it just to make it feel like he didn't really waste the whole thing. Then he promised to himself that this was going to be the only time he would do it.

"Once you do it often, then you get used to it. It is not really all that hard to get used to it." Davis said and then after he had said that, they were walking off and then Davis said "Okay, first thing first, there is this very small independent news building. It barely sales any copies, but once every five or six years, it does publish one really big story. One that makes it the best selling store in Wayside Minnesota for that upcoming month. If you remember, that is where the first Jeffrey Woods story had been published."

Matt thought about this for a second and then he nodded when he really did remember this. "Well, I think this place still has the tape here, and we just need to ask them a couple of questions, and see what is going on." Davis said and then the two of them were walking towards the news building that was right in the middle of two bigger buildings, and Matt could tell at most eight people could fit in there.

Once they had reached the front entrance of the building, Davis looked at the room inside and he could see that five people were in there. One older man who was probably sixty three or sixty four, and totally covered in white hair was sitting down and writing something. There was a guy who was no older than twenty one standing there listening to the conversation. Then a woman in her mid twenties, maybe twenty six or so, sitting next to the older man. Then right there, the two of them had seen that two younger students were there. Once Matt saw the arm cast with 'V-Loser' on the cast, he knew that it was T.K., and there was the girl with purple hair, and he knew that was his friend Yolei. Davis opened the door and Matt and him walked inside to interrupt the conversation.

"T.K., what the fuck are you doing out at 11:47 in the evening?" Matt asked and then T.K. was standing up and he was looking extremely guilty and then he managed to come back with a question that made almost tempted to just shut up right on the spot.

"Why the fuck are you wearing a hand cast and a face cast? You should be taking even more rest than me you dumbass." T.K. said and then he said "Besides, you promised me that you would let me investigate on my own." T.K. said and then he grabbed his skateboard and then Yolei was standing there and then she was wanting to make T.K. calm down, but she decided against it and then T.K. said "We're going to go to Molly's house now. We need to let the adults take care of the investigation." Then he turned one final time at the reporter who stopped writing stuff down and then he said "Please let us continue this conversation tomorrow." Then afterwards, T.K. and Yolei were outside and T.K. placed the skateboard on the ground and started slowly skating off as Yolei was trying her best to stay next to him.

"Says the guy who is wearing a arm cast and trying to heal a broken body while he is skating." Matt said and then Davis rolled his eyes to make the two of them stop their mini fight and they sat down in the now warm seats of T.K. and Yolei's former spot.

"We are looking into the case of Jeffrey Woods. We need some information for that right now." Davis said getting right to the point, and then the older man was sighing in annoyance, as if he was tired of this entire company being known as the one about Jeffrey Woods, and he was really starting to regret the publication of this. But since Davis and Matt were at least being nice about it, that he was going to go along with it and let them ask their questions but then he would try to sleep afterwards.

"Yes, it seems like every single person in the plant wants to talk about that. What is it that you want to know about?" The older man said and then Davis said that they were looking for the tape that they used to publish the story. "Oh that thing. Actually for once that is an original story. I guess that I should give you credit for that. I don't have any of the tapes anymore. I gave them all to the police chief David. If you really want to know that stuff, you need to take it to him. But there is something that I can tell you about that I think you might be interested in knowing. There is an interview that I set up with Mr. Jeffrey Woods, going to happen tomorrow morning at eleven in the morning, and I was going to go there. But I am tired and I am old. So I think that for both of our sakes, I will let you guys do the interview here now." The older man said and then this was when Davis and Matt thought that this was a great idea.

"Yes, I am going to check out that tape soon enough. I think that perhaps David will give you the tapes if you come up with a good interview. I want you guys to come up with a really good one for all of our sakes. I mean I am tired of this case, but I don't want him to kill anybody anymore, so I will help support you for now." The older man said and then he ripped off the paper with the questions T.K. and Yolei talked about earlier and then he started to write yet another list.

He write another few seconds or so and then he gave Davis and Matt a few questions and then the old man "Ask these exact questions and you will have a good set of questions for evidence to bring to the guy." The old man stopped then and he shook his head. "Hell, take this too. The kid probably shouldn't be too into this at all." Then he gave the papers to Matt and Davis.

"Thank you for the information. I think we should be heading out now." Davis said and then the two of them walked out of the new building and then the two of them started to walk to Davis's car where Davis took out another cigarette and then they started to head on out.

Then with that, the drive was going down and then Davis said "I am going to bring you to the hotel that I paid for yesterday. I rented off another night there. But I think I am going to have to leave in the morning to go to a new safe place. So when we wake up before the interview, we need to grab that stuff. But let's take a few minutes to figure out what we are going to do with this interview now." Davis said and then Matt nodded, thinking that he was really making some progress on this stuff.

When Matt and Davis wee inside of the hotel, the two of them were inside of the hotel room and then Matt was thinking about how dirty the room was. There was a bunch of fast food wrappers thrown all over the place, and it was very obvious that Davis had been only allowed to eat that type of stuff for the last day or so. "Sorry for the mess. Don't really worry all that much about it. I think we need to worry more about the interview that we should be having with Jeff as well as to find where it should be." Davis said and then he was looking at the paper. He saw where it was supposed to be. Just a random house that address did not look familiar in any way whatsoever, and Matt was wondering what the hell was with that house when Matt was seeing the address of his own.

"I fucking hate this stuff." Matt was saying about his casts and then after he had said that, he grabbed his hand cast and despite the fact that Davis was not really in love with what Matt was doing, he was in no way going to argue it since he did know that he needed as much of Matt's body to be used as possible. He took the hand cast off and then he grabbed the fact cast and then he took that off as well, exposing his face as well as his hand. They were covered up with blood. "I am going to take a shower right now. Once I come back, we can talk more about this." Then with that, Matt walked out of the normal room and he took a shower to wash off the blood he was covered with.

The more that he was taking this shower, the more that he was glad that it was coming along now. He was thinking that maybe there was a little bit of excitement to be taking out of this, and that maybe T.K. was valid in a way to be doing this stuff. He was in the shower for about ten minutes or so and then when he was done, he walked out of the shower and put his clothes back on and then he felt much better and walked out of the bathroom.

Matt sat down on the bed that Davis was not on and he was seeing that Davis was looking at all of the questions while smoking a cigarette and he was laying himself back on the bed while doing this look.

"This is a very to the point set of questions. I wish that there was a little bit more material to these questions. I mean, obviously all of this stuff makes sense." Davis said and then he rubbed his face and then he slammed the papers right on the table and then he looked at Matt and was ready to talk about some more personal stuff that he thought Matt would be interested in talking about. "Tell me, how would you feel if you had lost your girlfriend?" Davis said and then Matt was thinking that this was a really close to home question.

"You mean if she was killed, like yours?" Matt asked, feeling bad about asking this question, hoping that Davis didn't really feel all that bad about this question and then Davis nodded as if that was exactly the way that he was asking this. "Well if she had been killed by somebody, I am going to find the person that had killed that person and I would fucking kill them back. I don't even care if I would be murdering a murderer. I would not give a single fuck in the entire world. They would deserve that death." Matt said and he was not feeling bad in any way about saying this, and then Davis was thinking about that and then he had nodded as he had heard that answer.

"Honestly, I might feel that exact same way. The person who had done that would have been clearly troubled, and I think that they are worthy of me taking some revenge onto them. I hope that you would be willing to help me out with avenging Kimberly. She deserved something better than this, and she was much too young to fucking die like this." Davis said and then he was getting less professional about not showing his disdain over Jeffrey Woods and he said "I don't fucking know who Jeff is, but if I find him again, I am going to fucking kill him. He has taken away too many people and there is no way that he deserves another chance." Then with that, Davis and Matt were thinking and Davis said "Kimberly loved the fucking waterfall. After I showed it to her the first time, she could not get enough of it and she wanted to go there every single day."

"Wait a second, do you think that there is a chance that she had died there?" Matt asked and Davis was thinking about this, not wanting to admit it and thinking that there was a small chance that this could have been the truth. But then he shook his head and then Davis was saying the next thing that ruined that idea entirely. "Or do you know a bit about how she had died?"

"I was with her the day she had gone missing. We were talking for a bit, and we were breaking stuff like glass bottles and setting some stuff on fire and bragging about it, just having some fun. I think that she had gone home after I was talking with her and she was talking to me about how it seemed like I was really changing and she was not really too sure about how to handle all of the changes to my personality. I was a little bit hurt by that, but I was thinking that she was liking that to think that maybe I was growing up a bit more." Davis said and then Matt was keeping one eyebrow raised as Davis was thinking he needed to continue explaining a bit.

"Well, I was thinking it was about the fact that I was going to be joining the military soon enough and I was thinking that it was a really good thing. I didn't really think about it. But now that I am thinking about it, I am starting to think that maybe there can be a bit more to this than I would have ever really thought about it at that more. I think that she was talking about the fact that I used to be just a general carefree person, and that she was just wanting that side back to me. Not really this person who actually seemed to be caring more about what I was actually doing in my life." Davis said and then Matt thought about that a little bit.

"I think that she just needed to get used to the fact that things are no longer the same. She probably needed to grow the fuck up a bit. Don't blame yourself about that stuff." Matt said and then he was feeling so fucking tired that he was laying down and he was not keeping anything on his face or on his hand.

"Yeah, I am just glad that we are finding a break on this case. I think that this is what really matters." Davis said and Matt totally forgot in his hazy state that Davis brought all of his energy drinks there and then he was placing them on the table. Matt closed his eyes and he was asleep.

Davis thought about waking him up to talk with him more, but then he decided against it when he realized that Matt really needed some time to recover. So he sat down and smoked three more cigarettes back to back to back before he went to sleep when he realized he finished his pack, and he was glad he had three more in his pocket that he would start the next day and then he turned off the light.

Once they were both asleep, and the room was covered in the smell of nicotine burning, they were just thinking about how the next day, they were going to have to defeat Jeff and if they were going to fight him after the interview, or if they would bring the information to the older man and then they would go back to it once again.

Eventually, there was Sora's car which pulled up at the hotel entrance and she was thinking about her boyfriend being safe while Tai was thinking about how to keep Davis from doing any more crazy stuff. She looked at Tai and she was thinking about if this was actually the proper place or if Tai was not sure. Tai was nodding as if to show the point that this was the correct place and then afterwards, they got out of the car as Tai took out his newly bought pack of cigarettes and they both smoked one before going inside the hotel.


	39. The Interview With The Killer

Chapter 38: The Interview With The Killer

Sora was getting into the room where Matt and Davis were, just to see what was going on, and if there was actually any chance that this could give them some information on Matt. Tai was telling her that this was the room that she needed to go to and she had slowly opened the door, not at all sure what the hell she was going to see, and she was hoping that Matt was still in a relatively decent state of mind. She was looking around and she saw that Davis was outside and she saw that there was a bunch of papers on the table nearby while also looking down at Matt and wondering why he had done what he had done.

His face was exposed, and there was nothing that was guarding it as well as his hand. She could kind of get the hand, since that wasn't totally injured and everything, but the face was really worrying her and she was wondering why he had done that when it was nowhere even close to being fully recovered. Tai was standing at the entrance of the room as a sort of scout, in order to make sure nobody saw what the hell the two of them were doing by this point in time.

Before Sora was able to leave the room, there was Davis who was walking out of the smoking balcony and he was looking right at Sora and Tai. He wasn't shocked to see Tai, he was fearing that he was going to come along sooner or later again. Sora on the other hand was a bit strange to him though, and he was thinking about the order of questions that he was going to be asking this young lady. "What are you going to be doing with those papers?" Was pretty much the only thing that he was able to get out of his mouth as she was looking down right at the papers and everything before looking right at him again.

"I was going to use this for the interview against Jeffrey Woods coming up tomorrow. I know that you probably don't want me to get that information and you don't want me to do the interview, but for god sake, I am worrying about my boyfriend and I don't want him to get in trouble anymore. Please fucking let me do this for him. I will even come back and give you proof of the interview and act like this never happened." Sora said and then after she had said that, Davis was looking at her and he was shaking his head lightly.

"Look you are young. You should not be forcing yourself into this business. Please don't do this. Let Matt and I do this. We have already set this stuff up. Let us do this. Try and act like you have a normal life and act as if this was nothing that ever even came close to happening." Davis said and then Sora was just looking at Davis as if he had no understanding of human emotion.

"Do you care at all, do you care how other people feel? It feels like you don't, because you keep throwing this idea that you guys can do it on your own. I just don't think that's really possible. Please, I don't want him to get hurt. It was already bad enough seen what happened to him at the gas station just a couple hours ago, and I don't want this to get any worse. I think that if you had someone you cared about like this happened to you then you would understand just as much as me." Sora said as she was looking right at Davis, seeing of she can be able to break through to him. She could tell from the look on his face that she was making progress doing so.

"Fine, you win. There was someone I cared about back then, her name was Kimberly, and I am trying to avenge her right now, which is why I am being so strict right now, I just don't want to see something like this happen to anyone else. But made your point and I guess it's selfish and I give you a chance. But please, once you're done with that interview, just stop it all. Come back here, give me the information, and let me do the rest of the job alone." As Davis looked at Sora, they slowly came to an agreement and she was starting to head out of the hotel. As Dora was heading out, Davis decided he would smoke one more cigeratte for the night before sleeping. "Want one?" Davis asked Sora as she was heading out and she accepted his offer. He lit it for her and as she was taking some puffs, she left the hotel with Tai and the papers at hand.

After they reached the car, they sat down and stared out the window for a moment. She was still unsure about leaving Matt with Davis, but she decided that even the worst thing that he could do to him was still better than anything that this Jeff character could do to him. So with that, she decided that she was going to let it slide. She figured that there would be at least some level of safety there.

They drove along for a little while, as Sora I was thinking about the questions you was going to ask this Jeff person, fearing that if she was not safe enough, then she might have another Kimberly situation on there conscious.

A fear of that happening was making her start to wonder if this actually was a good idea after all. Maybe she should actually go back to the hotel and let Davis do the operation after all, but before she could think that too much, the drive had already been almost over, and the interview was going to start soon one way or the other. Sora took a long and deep breath. She couldn't let her second-guessing get to her too much. So she got out of the car, with Tai right at her side, and they left any materials to keep them safe and there as well and went right inside the tent.

"You do not look like the man I set myself up to talk with." Those were the words said by Jeffrey Woods the moment that they had both walked into the tent. It was this moment that made them both realize that they were really treading on thin ice here. As that was happening, he still commanded them to sit down. They did so, with much less certainty that they were actually going to get out of this than they had even just 30 seconds ago.

He was looking right at them, as if trying to decide what he was going to make out of this. He wasn't sure if he want to give them information or not, and he also wasn't sure if he had wanted to kill them or not as well. For now though, he was going away before he did anything just to see what they would actually have to say, and Sora was keeping the paper under the table so that way he wouldn't see what she was using to give herself an advantage over the entire situation.

Jeff was starting to get a little less unsure on this entire thing, and he was thinking that they wouldn't really have the chance to do anything, so he decided that he was going to play along with it just for the time being. He asked them what they were doing here, and Sora had to take a second or two to think that one out a little bit, realizing that she actually didn't know what she was doing here. But before she could get herself to think about that too much, Jeff was already taking the ball and rolling with it and they were just sort of the audience. "You know what, I don't really care. I don't think you will live to see the end of this anyway. So you can just keep it to yourself."

It had been less than a minute, and already the entire interview was failing, and there was no certainty how they were going to save this at all. With every single time that either one of the two heroes were trying to come up with anything to say, Jeff will just come up with some form of down statement to make them lose any thoughts on what was happening.

They were starting to really get the vibe that he was running the show, and that they really were more than anything just there to witness it. They also realized that he had a bit of an over arching plan that was way too complex for any one of them to really believe that he could pull it off. He was a normal everyday killer after all, there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to do even half of the things that he said he was going to do. At least this is what they were thinking.

"Nobody cared about me when I was getting harassed, when those bullies were all around me, when they tried to kill me, and as a result, they have no one to blame but themselves for what I have become. But I am tired of being considered this evil being, and I'm going to do my best to make them realize that they were wrong about me. That I'm not some just innocent kid, that I am even stronger than them. I am going to kill every single one of them. All the police officers that were there and didn't do a damn thing to stop what was happening. Then once I am done with them, I'm going to go after every single person whoever tried to bring me down."

So this was all it was, just some petty revenge story. In a way, it was almost pathetic how this was the way they were doing all of this. In fact, any sort of support that could have possibly been had earlier with him was basically thrown away when they were realizing what this was actually like. But then as that was happening, Jeff was just looking right at the two people that he was talking with and he grew a smile on his face. That was when Sora was starting to realize there more than ever that he was just some insane person with no real rhyme or reason to anything that he was doing.

"Do you really have any real reason that you killed these people in the first place? I don't really get why you would feel the need to do this in the first place. I mean, were they really so bad you can't just fight them once or twice and then kick their ass and them just never ever deal with it again." Sora asked, just not sure she could even process how dumb this actually had sounded, as Jeff was looking right at them.

"Well, you see, I did try to fight them, and it was during that fight that I had with them that I was really starting lose my control, to where I couldn't really process what I was doing, and to be totally honest with you, I don't even mind but this was what happened. Honestly, I think they deserve what happened to them. They would have grown up to be even worse than they already were. I honestly think in a way, by what I did, I may have actually done the world a bit of a service. You will know my story soon enough." Jeff said as he was looking right at the two of them for a reaction.

Jeff was laughing, this entire interview but he was having with these people was really entertaining, watching the looks on their faces as they were starting to realize that he indeed did not really have the right mindset, and this understanding was what scares them even more than him just try and act like an innocent person. They were starting to think if they should just leave but that would ruin some the fun.

"Don't leave me, we're just getting started. We have a lot more to discuss. Don't you want to stick around for a little bit longer? Don't you want to know some of my plans? I have quite a lot of them coming up, and I think you'd be pretty excited to hear them. Just stick around for a little bit. I can trust you one thing, you really won't regret what you are about to hear." Jeff said as he was looking at the two of them, and they were unsure of how to reject him, or if they should listen to him a bit longer.

As Jeff was continuing, there was something about this that was making Sora very uncomfortable, and she was watching her friend ball his fists together. She was wondering why he was getting this type of reaction, but she was looking at Jeff again, getting more focused on what was the matter at hand. She knew that she couldn't get too distracted over what was happening, but at the same time, there was just a lot of information that still need to be cleared up. But before she can even think about asking some more questions, Jeff was already on the roll again. Basically this entire interview was already doing the job for them, as they didn't really have to ask any questions, and he was just doing all this on his own.

"I am going to start with that mayor. He has been in this town for so long, that he has been able to get himself into every single organization, and he has been able to make it run in his own way, if the police aren't able to see how corrupt he is, then they are part of the problem. I'm going to kill him. And once I kill him, I am going to go to his second command and I'm going to go down the entire line then I will go to the police and take them out one by one. The first of which is that sheriff David. After being in the force for almost a quarter-century, you would think you would have changed things out by now, but it's just been more of the same. It is very obvious he doesn't care at all." Jeff said and despite how horrible it sounded, some if this did make a small amount of sense.

As Jeff was watching the looks on the two younger people, he could see they were starting to understand what he was saying more now. It was wrong and there was no good way to do what he was going to do, but part of it did make some sense.

That sort of realization was what made it add another layer of confusion and terror to whole thing. Them realizing that even with all the insanity to this it wasn't completely off. It was at this point they felt the need to end of the interview but they just weren't sure how they could do it.

"Even if the mayor is corrupt, it is still against the law to kill someone. So no matter how you try to look at it, you're going to be doing something that will be looked at as illegal. That means in the end, nothing you're going to do is make you out to be the hero. So all of this is going to come out as useless at the end of it. Are you sure you want to go down in an even worse light than you already have?" Sora asked as she was wondering if there was still any shred of sanity left in the guy, but from the look in his face, she could tell that none of this was going to happen.

"I don't give a fuck what they think. I am already seen as someone who can't do any good in his life, so what would even be the point in trying to make myself look better in their eyes? You might as well have just not ask that question it to me at all. It kind of makes you you look even more dumb than me. But to be fair, you are listening to me more then pretty much anyone else around." Jeff was saying and then the silence of outside was not silent anymore. There were the sounds of quiet footprints outside, enough to make them all stop.

As they were all listening, all of them are starting to have a slow sense of dread coming towards them. It seems like no matter what they do, or where any of these conversations could be held, somebody was going to be out to try and listen in on them, to give them a sense of insecurity, and if Jeff was caught, the entire interview would be over. All of this would have been thrown away, he would be put in prison, and thankfully, if they were actually smart enough, none of these two would have been put in any more danger than they already were by talking to this guy at all.

Jeff was getting a smile on his face. Both of the people he was talking with seem to get a little more uneasy when he was having a smile that would probably haunt their nightmares for the rest of their life. But before either one of them can ask what was happening, there was a subtle but also very obvious sound coming out from under the table.

Tai and Sora both realized that he had just taken out a knife. This was going to make things a lot more scary, and they began to realize that they weren't to fuck around at all. This time they really were aware of the fact that they need to get out as soon as possible.

"So Jeff, how much longer do you plan on keeping up this killing game? I just want to know how long you actually think that this is going to be kept up." Sora asked and she was asking this in a innocent enough way, and she was thinking there was no way in hell that Jeff was going to actually get fucking triggered over this whole thing. "I think that the mayor is going to find out about what you are going to fucking do, and it is going to turn this whole thing into a you vs them situation. Do you think that you would be able to actually handle this whole thing by your own?"

Jeff was wondering how much longer she was going to keep up this idea of them not actually considering all of this. "I know for a fact that I have a lot of stuff that I have to consider. In fact, your friends who want to track me down will probably confront me soon enough. That guy is probably wanting to get revenge for his useless ass girlfriend, and he doesn't even realize how stupid his girlfriend is, and me killing her actually gave him a favor more than anything else." Jeff said and that was when Sora knew right then and there that it was a good thing Davis was not here for this, since he wouldn't have to hear this shit talking that Jeff was having of Kimberly. But it seemed like Tai was doing the job for Davis.

"Hey you fucking asshole, leave Davis and Kimberly out of this. They have done nothing to you, and they don't deserve these types of comments. I was able to tolerate the other things that you said, but the fucking said that you said that is the moment I lost any respect and trust in the ideas you have." Tai said and then Jeff was staring right at Tai, his face growing a smile that was too much for any normal human being.

"Young lad, don't worry about that. I will make sure that you and your family are going to be some of the next targets that I am going to go after. You should have been more polite to me." Jeff said and then Tai was standing up and he was getting ready to have a fist fight with this guy and Sora was holding him as tightly as she could in order to make sure that he would not do this.

"Don't mind him, he is not used to death threats from somebody else. Just keep talking." Sora was staring at Jeff as she was trying to decide if Jeff was wanting to keep this up or not, and if Jeff was going to end this conversation once and for all. Sora was shaking her head as if she was really wanting to have him continue talking, but it was seeming like Jeff just simply did not care as long as Tai was here threatening to make fist fights with him.

"This guy needs to calm the fuck down if we are going to continue talking. That at the very least I want you to fulfill for me. If you can do that, then we will continue talking." Jeff said and then Tai was looking at her as if she could not fucking believe the fact that she was actually letting this guy run the fucking show. Tai sat right down and then he was staring at Jeff as the serial killer was having a ton of pleasure of what he was doing to Tai, and he was going to keep his promise soon enough, and Tai at the time didn't really know that he was planning to actually keep good on his own side of the promise.

"Now that he has calmed down, I am going to ask you for your help on killing the mayor of the town. I want you to take down the man that made my parents lose any lose that they had for us. I want you to kill Jimmy fucking White." Jeff said and this was when he was getting much more serious, and Sora was now in total fear, but despite the fact that she was fearing this, she was having a feeling that there was a chance that Jeff could actually pull this shit off.

Sora gulped slowly as she was ready to continue talking "So Jeff, how do you plan on killing Mayor White?" Sora asked and then after she had asked Jeff that Jeff placed his legs on the table and he was excited, feeling like these people were now finally speaking his language as he was licking his lips and he was starting to explain his plan a little bit.

"I want you to make sure that his fucking cronies have no idea what the fucking hell I am going to do. I want them to distracted enough for me to fucking stab him right in the fucking neck and slash the neck open. Then once he is dead, I want you to help me kill every single one of his fucking cronies." Jeff said as Tai was looking at Sora as if she was not able to fucking believe for even a second that he was actually seeing her consider this idea. Tai might have considered it for one or two seconds, but then he would have started to go sane again. Not this idea of actually going on for almost an entire minute or so.

"What would be given to Tai and I if we actually did this job for you?" Sora asked and Tai was able to tell that she was doing a terrible job playing long game. It was clear she was trying to play long play but there was no way in hell she was going to win this whole battle, and Tai as much as he hated Jeff knew for a fact that he had considered all of this much more than Sora ever would have and then he continued.

"Sora, we need to get the hell out right now." Tai said and he was tired of all of this, and he grabbed her shoulder as they headed out of the tent. As he was doing this, he was trying to make sure that there was even a small amount of sanity that was still on her and everything. "I am sorry that you actually thought it was a good idea to listen to this idea. We are not going to fucking kill Jimmy White. As terrible as this guy is, and as corrupt as he may be, I am not going to let this happen. I will let you shit talk him as much as the next guy, but that is it. I will want you to help me prevent his death though. Maybe when I save this guy, he might actually fucking change how he is so that way he can become a better mayor or something like that."

They were inside of Sora's car and then Sora took out a cigarette and lit it up. Tai grabbed the pack and placed one in his mouth without even asking her if she was fine with this or not. Then she was looking at him and then he said "Maybe he actually has a good point. He may be insane, but come on, actually think about this for a minute. This guy might actually have changed this town for the worst and we need to really consider this for a bit." Sora said and then Tai did something he was not proud of but he needed to do in order to get her to stop this bullshit.

Tai slapped her right in the face, and did it so hard that his hand was stuck right on her face and then the red mark was stuck right there. Sora was looking right at him and slowly picked up her still burning cigarette and did the next puff and then she asked "Why the fuck did you do that Tai? I thought we were friends?"

"We are, that is why I am trying to make you change your bullshit ideas. We need to actually consider this shit for a moment, and actually know what we are getting ourselves into right now. But I want you to actually see why this is crazy, and why we need to stop Jeff. He almost killed your fucking boyfriend. He KILLED Davis's girlfriend and thirty other people. Get a fucking GRIP!" Tai pounded the window so much that there was a slight crack in there.

Sora was looking right at him and she was not sure what to say, and then she was shaking her head and then after a couple of seconds she nodded once more. "Fine, you are right. Let's be a fucking saint again. We need to tell Davis what he is planning on doing." Sora said and then she finished the cigarette and then threw it out the car. As she started on a second one, Sora started her car and the two of them were starting to drive off.

"Want to go to the fucking pizza shop?" Tai asked and he was feeling bad for the way that he had slapped Sora really rough across the face. Sora was looking right at him and she was wondering how he was able to suggest this idea, when they had no money and everything. But before he was able to even remotely suggest something like that, Tai said "I got some money just enough for one thing of food. I grabbed some from Davis."

"If you are willing to actually pay for the fucking food and everything, then I guess that perhaps we can do it. I guess I am able to understand what the hell you were doing to me now. You seemed to try and get me some of my sanity back to me, so you felt like that was the only way that it would be able to possibly work." Sora was said and she was feeling terrible for all of this, and Tai was starting to actually forgive her and then Tai was the next one who had said something.

"I just wish that we actually knew what we were getting ourselves. After we eat the fucking pizza, we need to talk to the fucking mayor and see what the fuck what is actually going to be happening and I am going to actually try the best I can in order to fucking save him." Tai told her and then Sora was just not really sure what to say but then before she was really able to see what the hell she was going to say, they were already pulling up at the pizza place and Tai said "You know, maybe if I didn't get told that Jeff was going to kill my family, there is a slight chance that I might of actually been able to consider it for a short moment."

"I'm getting hungry. I just hope that Jeff doesn't follow us around and that he has already moved on from what had happened. I don't want him to be tracking us down over something." Sora said and she was feeling terrible over what was going on, and she was thinking about the chance on what it would be like if Jeff was actually following them around.

They went right inside of the pizza place and she was driving to the cheapest one possible just to make sure that nobody would actually see that they were nearly broke. Before they walked in they both killed the cigarettes in their mouth and while they were terrible smelling, they really didn't care all that much. Once inside of the pizza place, they were looking around and saw that only like six people were in the place, all of which were in different tables and Tai was thinking that nobody was hearing what they were going to talk about.

Tai and Sora ordered their pizza and then they sat down right at the booth that was closest to the back wall of the place, to increase the chance of nobody hearing them as much as humanly possible. Then Tai was still looking right at Sora, as if trying to figure out what to say next in the conversation. "So Sora, when we try to tell the mayor what is going on, what the hell are we actually going to say to make the mayor actually believe in the story that we are telling them? I have a feeling that there is no way in hell that they are going to believe that Jeffrey Woods is going to kill him." Tai said and then after he was saying this, he was staring right at Sora.

Sora was just laughing a little bit as if trying to realize how crazy this whole thing really was. "I am scared that he is going to think that we are a part of the conspiracy. I guess for a moment I was, but now I am not anymore, and I am just terrified that they are going to hear that one last little bit, and then they are going to act like I should be arrested for my short consideration of what he was saying and joining him for what he was saying." Sora had said and then Tai was looking around and he was scared that people were actually looking and seeing what they were talking about.

"Well either way, I guess we are going to say that we are going to have some interesting stories to talk about in the summer of 1986." Tai said and he was staring right at Sora in a playful manner, as if he was trying to see if she was going to find this whole thing funny, but he was thinking that she was not really finding this all that funny, which he didn't really blame her entirely on, but he was trying to make some form of humor of this whole situation.

"God damn it Tai, I am trying to actually take this seriously." Sora said and then Tai was looking down, he was not really shocked that she was acting like this, but at the same time he was wishing that she was less harsh with the way that she had been saying this, but at the same time he knew that she was really at the top peak of fear over what had been happening.

"Sorry, I know that you are really scared about Matt and everything right now. I guess that maybe when you have something like that with somebody you really care about, then anything that would make you laugh and actually go along with a joke gets thrown away. But I seriously don't know, I think that we should just talk to him and maybe trying to tell them the actual truth and I was thinking that maybe there should be some form of evidence that we should have in order to make him believe what he was saying." Tai said and then he was looking at Sora in order to make sure that she was fine, and that whatever happened to Matt didn't really phase her all that much.

With that happening, the pizza was set down and then as the pizza worker placed it down, she winked at Tai and then she headed off and Tai waved his fingers around, trying to make this at least a little bit lovely, and Sora rolled her eyes. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she did decide to laugh at that one for a brief moment. But once Tai was getting right back to looking at her was when the two of them were getting seriously once again. "But what can we use as evidence? We didn't write down the interview, and we didn't actually record it or something like that. I feel like in hindsight we should have done that, and maybe they would have actually believed us then. God fucking damn it, I feel like a dumbass right now. We should have been more careful about this."

"I think that in all reality, no matter what the hell we do, we are going to get people to be wondering what we are doing. God fucking damn it, if I wasn't going to get grounded down, I will get grounded right now for all of the rule breaking and wandering around I have. The day that my dad let me get back into camp is when I am going to get right into the fucking investigation of my fucking life." Tai said and then he rolled his eyes at that and despite this, Sora was still able to think that there was something good to this. Sora and Tai ate a slice of the pizza.

"I am wondering who actually has a plan on this right now. Who out of the two of us." Sora pondered and then Tai shook his head. She shook her head. "I should have known. Maybe Davis is right. Maybe we should just go to the summer camp and not say anything. Let's just tell Davis what happened. That was what we had promised we would do with him earlier."

Once the realism of the situation was really getting to Sora, she was nodding and then she was looking right at Tai. "Yeah, you are right, let's get the hell out of here and end this fucking investigation right now." Sora said and they ate the rest of their lunch in silence.

Once the two of them finished the food, Tai and Sora were standing up and then they went right to the car and then Sora was driving to the hotel as Sora took out another cigarette and Tai took one three minutes or so later and then they were right at the hotel about ten minutes later, and then they were wondering what the hell Davis was actually going to tell him right then and there, and if he was going to take the investigation over.

Once at the hotel again, the two of them were hearing Matt and Davis yelling at each other. "You actually fucking let her do this entire interview! How the fuck are you letting her do this? She is in danger by doing this." Matt was yelling and then after he had asked that question, Davis was rubbing his face and he was just tired about hearing him yell all of this stuff at him. "I thought that you were a fucking hero, and here you are, just acting like this was totally fine for her to do all of this." Matt said and then Davis just decided that this was enough and Sora and Tai were just standing there, wondering where this was going to go.

"Matt, shut the fuck up. Please understand that she had forced me into this stuff. Please just understand that I didn't want her to do this, and then after she forced me to do this, I didn't even get a chance to go through what exactly what I had wanted her to do. Please leave me alone and not judge me for what your fucking girlfriend wanted to do." Davis yelled and then after this, Matt was walking right up to Davis and then he was getting ready to punch Davis right in the face for his impulsive behavior when Sora walked into the room and yelled at Matt to stop.

Matt looked right at Sora and then he was getting a lot more calm after this. He ran right up to her and then he hugged her very tightly and he was saying that he was sorry for any of this, and he was not wanting to make her angry. "You should have just waited. I knew that she was going to be fine." Davis said as he took the final cigarette out of his pack and then started to smoke it. Matt looked at him and he was not sure if he wanted to apologize at all, but he was certainly no longer angry. So he was in a mixed feeling.

"I will let this slide since she came back. I was not really sure if she was going to come back. Just know that if she wasn't back by tonight or if she had been revealed to die, then that punch in the face was going to be the least of the things that I would have done to do." Matt said and then Davis just turned around and he didn't even want to bother looking at him anymore.

"Please Matt, let him just relax a little bit. Don't really about what he does. He is a good guy. He just had a couple of big ideas. He wanted to do the interview. I really did force him to give me the interview, so please if you are going to get angry at anymore, then it should have been me, alright Matt." Sora said and then Matt was slowly just wishing that the subject would just drop as this was happening.

When this was just slowly starting to calm down, Matt looked forward and then he said "What are we going to be doing now?" Matt asked and then that was when Tai was remembering what was in that interview, and he was just hoping that Davis would not find this totally insane, and he was certainly going to leave out the part in which Sora had actually considered this whole thing, since while he personally didn't feel bad about this whole thing, he was still scared about what Sora would do if there was another offer to this whole thing all over again.

"Well, he wants to kill the mayor, Jimmy fucking White." Tai said and then after he had said that he was looking right at Davis. "Please understand that we both think that this is a terrible fucking idea, and I have no idea why he thinks that killing the mayor and all that will actually make anything any better at all." Tai was trying to really clear up Sora's name and Sora was able to appreciate the fact that he was trying so hard on this, so Sora was just pretending that this was true, he was wishing that Sora would just keep it to herself this entire time.

"I get that it is a terrible idea, but maybe there is a way to how he plans to do that can be disgustingly clever. We should know more about this Jeffrey Woods and see how well he could actually pull something like this off." Davis had said and then he was sitting right down on the bed and then before anything can happen, and before he could even try and say anything else beyond this point, as he was looking up and he was seeing Jeffrey Woods staring right at them through the window of the hotel and he was holding a fucking knife in his hand and he was smiling trying to get them scared about what was going on.

"Get the fuck out of here right now." Davis said and then Tai was looking at Matt and Sora. Despite their argument earlier, Matt didn't want Davis to do this as it would increase the risk of him getting killed. "Go out through the fucking back window." Davis said with such a sternness that he was not going to let this be argued. Matt and the others looked at each other and then he nodded slowly as Jeffrey Woods kicked down the door and he was walking right towards Davis. The guy took out a gun and then he fired the gun right at Jeff and it hit him in the ear, shooting his ear left ear off. Jeff covered up his left ear that was dead.

There was a guy and his girlfriend walking by and they were seeing what was going on. Right when Matt, Tai and Sora were heading off, they saw that Jeff was looking right at the couple and Davis was too busy reloading as there was only one bullet left. Jeff yelled right at them "Stop standing there you fucking assholes!" Jeff yelled and then he walked up to the guy and sliced his throat right open and killed him in less than two seconds, and then he grabbed the girlfriend and slit her throat open as well. Then he pushed the dead bodies right down the ledge and then the two dead bodies splat on the ground. Davis then placed the lighter on his bed and started it and then he was running out as well.

Davis and the other three were out of the hotel room and then Jeff was walking through the hotel room that was slowly setting on fire and then Jeff was staring right at the three of them as they were getting down and running towards the car. Then Jeff went out of the room the normal way and then he was starting to get the car and he was just walking as he was doing so, slicing the throat of every single person who was walking by him open, and by that point, he had killed another four people from when it took him to leave the hotel to when he was in the parking lot of the car that the group of four went inside of.

Jeff jumped right on the car and he was stabbing the window as Davis was driving the car and then they were driving the car so fast that Jeff fell backwards and then he landed on the ground and then his face started to get scraped up a bit and then he stood up and rubbed the blood off of his face.

Wondering how the hotel was, Jeff was staring right at the hotel and then he was laughing the entire time that he was watching the hotel slowly burn down to the ground and then he was laughing so hard that he was feeling like he was going to cough up a couple of lungs but instead he pounded his chest a couple of times and then some blood came out of his mouth. He was still enjoying it too much though.

Davis was driving right to the summer camp and they all went right inside of the summer camp cabin and then they closed the door right shut and then Davis was looking right at all three of them.

"Alright, you three, stay here. I don't want you guys to be in this operation anymore. You guys need to be safe right now." Davis said and then he was looking right out the window and then he said "Alright, I am going to find Jimmy fucking White and tell him every fucking thing that is going on. Then once I do, I am going to fucking kill Jeffrey Woods. I want you guys to promise me that you will not pursue this any further at all."

"But Davis, what if you actually need some help with this whole thing? I think that you need to actually get our help right now." Tai asked and then Davis was looking right at him and he was shaking his head. He was refusing to let this guy actually continue these investigations and it was really strange and hard for him to be doing it at all, but he was wanting to get some revenge for what had happened to Kimberly, and then Tai was able to see that this was starting to be a bit of a rough question that they had asked Davis, and then Davis sighed in annoyance.

"You are not going to continue this. For god sake, just don't do it. If Jeff comes along and wants to cause some trouble here, then you can do something then to defend the people in this camp. Then once he is gone, stay here and act like nothing had ever happened." Davis said and then he was walking away and then he was watching as Tai was just looking down and he was not really wanting to argue with Davis since he didn't really want to cause any problems on all of this stuff, since he knew that Davis was right this whole time, as much as he had hated to admit it.

As Davis was gone, Sora was looking right at the two of her friends. "Well, I think Matt better stay here, since he is hurt, but if Tai and I want to continue this, then we should be able to have the choice to decide what we want to do." Sora said and then when she had said this, there was a moment of silence that was going around and then there was this guy who had stared him and then he was smiling a little bit.

"I heard all about this stuff on the news. I think I want to be able to help. Just let me try and track down Davis, and maybe I can see that I can be able to have some help investigating." Izzy said and then Matt was looking at him as if he was crazy, and then he was thinking a moment or two about it and then he was looking right at Sora and Tai and then he was thinking that this was actually a relatively decent idea after all, since Izzy had no part in this as of yet.

"Yeah guys, let Izzy do it. I think he might actually know how to do this." Matt said and then he held his thumb up at Izzy. He knew Izzy can do the job, and he was not wanting to tell the others his story since they probably weren't allowed to, but he was thinking that Izzy was quite the qualified guy to handle this whole thing. Izzy was standing up and then he put some supplies in his back pack and then he was asking if they wanted to come along. "If you change your mind, meet me in one hour at the local Diary Queen, and we can discuss this stuff." Izzy said and then he was looking at Sora's pack of cigarettes and while he hated smoking, he was facing a bit of Matt's problem of anything is better than nothing in this case. Sora got it right away and gave Izzy one single one and then he walked out to the Diary Queen of the town to get some dinner and maybe talk with his friends on how to kill Jeffrey Woods.

As he was heading out, at a different section of town, T.K. was skating slowly towards the entrance of Harold's house with Yolei right next to him. "I just wish that Davis was helping up and not that fucking asshole of my brother." T.K. said and then right when he was right at the front porch, he jumped up and grabbed the board and then Yolei was looking right at him and then T.K. nodded at the door.

Yolei didn't really mind Matt, and she was starting to lose a bit of her crush on T.K. with the stuff that he had been doing, and he was thinking in reality, he was a good friend but not a good romantic partner as she was wondering how Molly could handle dating him. And Davis was such a cool person, and he was starting to get a bit of a hot personality to him, and he was such a hot guy when he was in military gear, and he was a really sexy big boy when he was smoking a copious amount of cigarettes. Yolei knew she was supposed to hate cigarettes, but Davis was just too hot with them.

As the door was answered, Harold and Clair were seeing T.K. and he smiled a bunch when he saw Yolei and T.K. "Please come in, let's hang out for a bit." Harold was excited to see his younger friends. It was a little odd being a nineteen year old dating twelve year olds, but it wasn't what placed him down.

Once inside, at the same time, there was the police station as Sheriff David was smoking a couple of cigarettes with his wife Whitney when there was a knock.

It was the investigator who worked at the news building, the older man, and he was placing down a couple of tapes there and stuff. "Please watch these, I had to steal these, but when you see the evidence, I think you will forgive me for breaking the law this once." The old guy said as he sat down and David rolled his eyes and then he started the tapes to see the story of Jeffrey Woods.


	40. Jeffrey Woods

Chapter 39: Jeffrey Woods 

The video had started to show a family driving up to a house that they had just moved to. The family was the most general family that could possibly be thought of. A white family with a father who was in his later forties and inside of a general business, a mother who was about four years or so younger than him, and two sons that were both straight, trouble makers, and getting in trouble every other week in the school year. In fact, that was one of the many reasons that they had moved onto Wayside Minnesota. The trouble that both of these young man would make in their high school class. The name of the family was the Woods family, and the name of the children were Jeff and Liu. Jeff was sixteen years old, and he was only a couple of weeks away from turning seventeen years of age, while Liu was the older of the two, and he was twenty one years old, and that was something that he took advantage of. On his first day of his twenty first year, he went to the bar and started to get a bunch of bottles of alcohol and he even let Jeff had some when he had come home that night, a bit of a hush hush situation.  
After the blue car had pulled up at the new house, the father went out of the car and then he placed his hands inside both of his pockets and then he was looking forward at the town that was ahead of him. It was becoming the most industrialized city in America, even more so than Angeles or New York, and the population already compared. The forest that was remaining was going to be cut down in a matter of days to make more room for houses in the city. There was virtually no tree life left, with most houses having one single small tree that was there in order to make sure that the 'green' of the city was still a little bit intact.  
Once the mother of the two boys were out of the car, she looked right at Jeff and saw that he was still wearing that awful blue jacket that he had ever since eighth grade. His upper part of the jacket was getting pretty messed up, and she was wondering how much longer she was going to be seeing her younger son as a edge boy. "Jeff, why don't you and Liu go around town and make some new friends?" His mother asked, and Jeff looked right at Liu.  
The two were relatively close and neither one of them straight up hated the others company, but both of them did wish that they would have not had to be forced to make friends together. There was too much of a age gap in order to make the two able to have friends that could be in the same 'in' group.  
Jeff went in the car and then he grabbed his camera with his three empty tapes that he was keeping inside of his section of the luggage, as he was getting into film making and he wanted to make a couple of short 'films' that would reflect some of his new life to his friends and other people who might be interested. Plus, it could be some memories that he could use for the days he was a older man.  
"Fine, we'll be back by the end of the day." Liu said and he was looking at Jeff and the two brothers nodded with each other and then they were walking down the street as they were doing the exact same thing that they were told to do. As they were walking down, both Liu had a chance to shit talk the situation of their life and how much they had hated the stuff they were forced to do.  
"So Liu, what do you want to do? If you want to go around and make some new friends without me, go ahead. I guess I could go around and talk with some people on my own." Jeff said as he started the recording and he was just sort of having the camera pointed forward to the cars that were driving by.  
"As much as I like your offer, I have a feeling that if our parents find out that I ditched you, then they might be more than just a little bit pissed off." Liu told Jeff and that was when Jeff slowly nodded. He knew that there was no point in arguing with Liu about that. It was true, since they tried really hard to give their family a 'standard conservative' feeling. After all, they were from Montana originally, where both his parents and Liu had all voted for Reagan in the 1980 election just last year.  
"I just wish that we were still in Montana. I wonder what dad did that was so bad that they forced us to move here. The official story was that he just got a simple promotion, but I heard a fight with mom and dad about it the night before we left, and I heard that they were arguing with what he was doing at our original town, and he was acting like he was some fucking saint and that she was wrong. I think that she was even making a threat to make a divorce with him." Jeff was slowly saying as he was letting the situation sink in and then he was looking right at Liu, as if to see if he was actually going to believe in Jeff and what he was saying.  
"I think that maybe dad just had to make a couple of sacrifices in his job that would make people feel a bit insecure over living there anymore. That is my guess. Please don't worry about it Jeff. This is a new chance. Just try and move on in life, and consider this a clean slate." Liu said and then he was moving both of his hands in a straight forward fashion, and he was just acting as if he was hiding something. He clearly knew what his father did, but he refused to admit it, and wished that Jeff would have at least a little bit of innocence to this.  
"I know, it is just going to be hard to get used to, I mean I have been living there for so long, and I had some friends there, and I have grown to totally miss them honestly." Jeff said as he was thinking about the friends he lost, and how much it was going to take to make them moving away actually feel a little bit justified.  
Jeff and Liu were then at the skate park which was actually only about ten minutes away from their house, and then Jeff sat down on the bench at the park and then Liu was looking right at Jeff. "I think that maybe we should just try and make some new friends. If for nothing else, there is only a couple of weeks before your next school year starts. Don't want to start junior year without at least one friend." Liu said and then he was looking right at the people who were skating along. Jeff was thinking and he knew for a fact that he was right, and Jeff was just holding his camera forward as he was watching the people skating along.  
"Maybe you are right. I just don't feel right about it. But I would hate to not have at least one friend when I am starting the next year. How about this, you go to the bar and I will tell our parents that you are making some friends at the bar, and I am making some friends here." Jeff said and then Liu thought about it. While he felt strange letting his younger brother give him this permission, he knew he was just trying to be a relatively nice guy.  
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's meet up at ten back here, and then we can go home and tell our parents how our first day went." Liu said and then he stood up and he was heading onto the bar, which was only about twenty minutes away from where the skate park was, so he didn't have to walk all that far. Then Jeff was looking back at the skaters again.  
When Jeff was watching and recording this, there was four dudes, aging between fifteen and seventeen years old, skating right up to Jeff as Jeff placed the camera down and one of them said "Hey, what are you doing?" He sounded a little bit like a dick when he was saying this, but Jeff could tell that he was just genuinely curious what this guy was doing. Afterwards, the guy held out his hand forward and said "My name is Randy." He was a guy with a blue vest and a pink shirt and a white pair of pants. "This is Keith." Jeff would later learn he was the oldest one, almost eighteen, and he was a guy with just a white shirt and a jacket tied to his waist with a green pair of pants, and he looked like he was on a massive diet as he clearly barely hit one thirty. "This is Troy." That was the fat guy with a hat that looked like it was a million years old, was only barely at five foot, and had not changed his clothes in days. "That is Michael." This was the guy who looked like he had a bit of muscle and was wearing a yellow shirt and blue pants, by far the most casual of them all.  
Jeff was not too sure if he should agree to hang with them or not, and he was just thinking that if he had done so, either these would be his first four friends or that if he had done this, they would just think that he was some stupid guy that got himself right into a stupid trap. But then he was thinking that it was better than doing nothing at all. So he said "My name is Jeff. I had been recording stuff lately. I just moved here, and I am making a sort of short film to make my experience here more memorable." Jeff said and then Randy was looking right at Jeff and the camera.  
"That's a strange hobby that you are getting into. I guess that you should try and do a little bit of skating, I think that you can see how good you are at it." Randy said and then he got off his board and he was holding it forward right towards Jeff. That was when the two of them were looking right at each other, and Jeff was looking at the skateboard. He was terrible at it and if the camera was not enough to get made fun of, then there was no way in hell that the terrible skating would not do it. But Jeff felt like he needed to try and prove himself. If they were dicks, he can just take the camera and leave. If they were nice, then perhaps they can teach him how to skate better and he can start a friendship with them.  
So against his better judgement, Jeff stood up and grabbed Randy's board and then he was slowly getting himself on the board and as he was doing so, there was a level of insecurity that was across his face that Randy and his other three friends were looking at, and a part of them were trying to figure out if they should laugh or feel bad. Then with that, Jeff started to skate a little bit and after about three feet or so, he fell down and landed right on his ass.  
All four of them had a little bit of a laugh and Micheal said out loud "You're terrible at this." As Micheal had said that, Randy was looking right at him and gave him a 'don't do that' look on his face. Then he grabbed the board and then Keith actually made fun of Micheal a little bit.  
"You were even worse than him when you first started. You didn't even make it sixteen inches. Be nice to the guy." As Keith had told Michael this, Jeff was looking forward and then he was trying to figure out what to say. Then Jeff walked to the camera and then he grabbed it right away. Keith seemed to be a decently alright guy, but this Michael was just a asshole, and he was wondering how he was going to be able to own this guy and make him eat his own words.  
Randy sat down next to Jeff after Jeff sat down on the bench and then Randy was placing his hand on Jeff's shoulder. This was feeling really gay in Jeff's mind, but he was not letting himself think that. "So Jeff, my friends and I are going to smoke some tobacco and pot at Troy's house. Do you want to join us?" Randy asked and then Jeff was thinking about it for a moment. He knew that if his parents knew, the two of them would have been surprised about what he was doing, but they knew that he was almost seventeen years old and that was indeed old enough to be making your own choice on quite a bit of things. And besides, these four guys were mostly being alright to him, so he nodded and accepted their offer.  
"We should get right out now. I don't want anybody to get aware of what we are going to do." Randy said and then he was standing up again and then the five guys left the skateboard and then the five of them were going to Troy's house, which was about a mile or so away from the skateboard, and as they were heading on there, the five of them were talking a bit.  
"Why did you move here before?" Randy asked and he was just trying to be a usual casual conversation, not thinking at all about what the conversation was, since they thought that it was probably some random think that was relating to a school problem and starting fresh for the next two years of school and everything. To the normal person, that would be the thing that would make sense and Jeff decided to just tell the truth.  
"Well I found out that my father had to got a new job when I was at the end of the school year. I am not really aware of what the job is, and I don't really care, since every time I try to talk to somebody about it, I am told that it doesn't matter and that I don't really need to worry about it all that much, even though it is a little bit annoying that I am told that none of this matters at all and everything." Jeff said and then eventually they reached the front entrance of Troy's house.  
Once at Troy's house, Keith was looking forward and checking to make sure that none of the five guys were being seen by Troy's parents, which would have made their smoking plans fail since they were not aware of the fact that Troy and his friends had smoked. Jeff was having some talks with Randy and Micheal and it seemed like after a mile of walking with them, that Michael had mostly gotten over the statement that he had made earlier and that Jeff was a relatively decent guy, and that he just needed to get some teaching on the skating in order to improve and then he would be set.  
When they saw that the friends were safe, the five of them all went inside of the bedroom and Troy opened his window completely and then opened up the one soft spot in his pillow and then grabbed a giant lighter and then Jeff was looking at the amount that was kept in there. It was a giant white bag that had about seventy or so cigarettes and about three or four hundred dollars of pot and even a giant bong in there as well. Jeff thought that this was extremely awesome, and he was really wanting this already.  
"Alright Jeff, if you want some of this, please don't even tell anybody about this. This is going to be our little secret." Troy said and then Jeff nodded and he was willing to do anything in order to get some of these cigarettes and a puff or two at this bong. After he nodded, Troy then nodded and then placed a small amount of the weed inside of the bong and then doing it the correct way, Jeff was smoking two puffs of smoke right out of his mouth and then afterwards, he gave Troy to fill up the bong again and he gave Michael the bong as Jeff then smoked his first cigarette in the pack.  
The five of them were talking about life and what it was like to be dealing with parents who were just trying and force them to live their own version of what a perfect life would be, and Jeff was talking about how his parents were too obsessed with him and his brother Liu just continuing their business and everything and Jeff said that he hated this type of career.  
"Jeff, if there is something that you want to know, is that this fucking town is fake. My dad basically controls this entire town, and they only care about the people who work under them. The only people that he listens to are the police and the fucking mayor. My father wants me to pretty much take over the business." Randy said and then he took a long puff at the bong afterwards and then he gave Keith the bong as he took out some cigarettes and Jeff was thinking that if anything, these four guys were going to perhaps make the town and living in here at least a little bit tolerable.  
"I doubt I want to meet the fucking mayor. The mayor sounds like he is a fucking asshole." Jeff said and then after he was saying this, he was thinking about it "What if there is a big group of people who own this town and that they are making us all work together as a big and giant pawn." Jeff said and at first this was just meant to be funny, but at the same time he was not really sure if this was true, and he was thinking "If I meet the mayor, I am going to kick his ass." Then with that, he finished up here.  
Jeff and the other four guys were thinking about the mayor and then as he was thinking about the mayor and how much of a dick this guy probably was, he stood up and then he put his current smoking materials down and then he said "Oh my god, I think I know what we need to do. We need to fucking talk to him, and then convince him that he is a dick, and then once he sees the error of his ways, then he might start to become a decent man again." Jeff said and he knew he was being way too optimistic about this, but there was something about it in that moment that made him think that there was a chance that this could indeed all work out.

"The mayor will think that we are the smartest guys in the world, and he will really value our insight. He will start to think that we are some extremely insightful people and everything. Jeff, you might be a true revolutionary in this whole thing after all." Troy said and then he burped the combination of a gross energy drink as well as his oiled up food and his toxin fumes that he was putting inside his body all at once, and then the other four guys just remained silent at that as if amazed at the level of effort that this burp took.

"If he doesn't work with us, we kill him and make somebody else who will listen to us come along and take the job over, and then he will become a hero for us all." Jeff said and then he was walking out of the door and then right before he was outside of the room, there was something Troy said to him that made him stop and made him think that he was slowly at home by him saying this to him.

"Jeff, if you want to be hanging with us, you need a board. First thing first, we got to get you one." Troy said and Jeff smiled and this was the first time that he was actually feeling he was in any way a part of this strange group, and he was glad that he was able to actually get something of a trust going on with these four, even if it was on the stage and they weren't going to be holding it for a super long time, the at the moment excitement was enough to make it worth it all. 

"Where do you guys get your boards?" Jeff asked as he was starting to feel like he was getting into a bit of a deep world with this. He was feeling like with every minute that he spent with this four dorks that he was starting to forget his Montana life and he was starting to forget the life of his father that had made them come here. They were here now, and he was indeed trying his best to make the most out of it, which was what his parents would have wanted out of him in the long run, or at least he was thinking that it was this way.

"There is this store that is near the middle school, and I think that the guy will be able to hit you up with a good board." Michael said and he was pretty much having the entire previous anger that he had his bad skating performances gone away by this point in time. "Besides, I think that if you want to be any decent by the start of the school year when the people are skating against you, then perhaps you need to start as soon as humanly possible."

Jeff was not really sure what to think of this, but as he was hearing this, the more that he was thinking that Michael was indeed right by this whole entire thing, and he was thinking that maybe these four people could actually be the friends that actually make him feel like he was able to really have a full life in Wayside Minnesota, and he was wondering if the life in Montana and him moving onto here was actually a sort of blessing in disguise, even though it did not really seem to be that way when they had first arrived here.

The five of them were walking right along down the streets, and as this was happening, Jeff was taking the setting and he was really trying to let the different places in each place make sense inside of his mind, and he was thinking that this was actually going to be a relatively easy, and very industrialized and urban place that he was going to be very least to at this point in time. Jeff was thinking that Liu was really missing out on a lot of stuff by just staying inside of the bar and not talking with anybody at all.

When the walk was getting over with for the most part, the five of them were right inside of the store with the skateboards that Jeff was going to get very used to in the next few months to couple of years in his life, well that was what he was thinking it was going it be like. He was thinking that he was going to maybe stay here for the next couple of years in order to have something for the rest of the school life before he would finally move on and to a totally different town entirely.

The store owner was looking right at the five guys and then he was looking right at Jeff and his lack of board made him figure out right the fuck away that this was the guy that he needed to help. "Have you ever been here before?" The guy who owned the store, never seeing Jeff before and was thinking maybe he was here before on different workers shifts asked and then Jeff shook his head, which made the guy realized that indeed he was going to have to work with Jeff on a more advanced level now.

"Well, if you have never been here before, then I guess that perhaps we do have a lot of work that we are going to have to do in order to make you even presentable in the skating filed." The guy said and then he was looking around and he was checking out all of the boards, and Jeff was checking out which ones he was going to have to see that would actually be the best fit for him, and then the two men were staring at one that was a rather generic one, but it was still one that was mostly calling out to Jeff, mainly for how simple the entire thing actually was.

The board was a tan one with blue wheels as well as the entire board just having one large blue line right down the middle of the board and then there was a red line on both sides of the blue line, which was a relatively thick line and everything. "Wow, this is quite the board. I think that this is the one that I actually want." Jeff said and then the guy was slowly taking it right down and then he was looking at Jeff and then he was wondering what the price for the board was.

"This costs a hundred and twenty dollars. How much of that money do you have?" The guy who was holding the board asked and then he was looking at the board and then Jeff was shaking his head. He did not have that much money. He was pulling out just ten dollars from the pocket he was wearing and then the guy was had owned the board was thinking about this for a moment and then it had seemed like he was coming up with a compromise.

"How about you pay in chunks? Ten dollars per week until you pay off the entire one hundred and twenty dollars. Just come by here every friday for the next twelve weeks." The guy said and as strange as this had sounded, Jeff was thinking that this was the best compromise that he was going to get, and that for a fact that if he was wanting this board, he was going to have to accept the offer, but before he could say anything, there was a guy walking right inside of the store and he was holding up one hundred and ten dollars. 

"Let me pay the rest of the fee. Got to help a guy in need." The guy said and ripped the ten dollars out of Jeff's hand and then placed that in his funds and then placed it right on the other guys free said and then he looked at Jeff and was saying "Don't pay back, you will never see me again. I will make sure of that." Then with that, the guy said and then Jeff and the other four guys ran out of the shop before there was any chance that this could have been taken back.\When Jeff was placing the board on the ground, he was slowly getting in the hang of skating, falling down after every three to five feet, and this was the entire case for the entire first block that he was doing this, which was about fifty feet or so. However, with each progressing block, his amount of feet that he was able to last before tripping would increase by another foot or two, to the point to where he was able to go a good twenty to twenty five feet before he was facing his trips, and then he was certain that the others were now getting annoyed by his terrible skating if they had not been annoyed of it by this point in time already.  
"Oh my god, we are getting very close to the mayors hall." Randy said and by this point, they had gone down nearly thirteen blocks or so, which was about nine hundred feet or so of skating around and everything, and Jeff was wondering if this whole mayor meeting was actually going to go out as well as he was thinking and hoping that it would have gone.  
Eventually, Jeff was taking a bit of balls in his mind and then he opened the door of the mayors hall and then he was looking at the other four. "I guess that you are not really super high anymore Jeff. If you think that you still want to meet him, maybe you really are crazy after all." Keith said and then Jeff thought about it. Before he was able to actually decide to get the hell out of here, there was the mayor who was walking out. The mayor was a guy who wore a fully white suit and he was a decently aged guy, probably early fifties or so, and before Jeff could decide that maybe it was best to get away from this guy, he placed his hands on Jeff's shoulder and it seemed like he was ready to give him a lecture. Before the four people with him would tell him to stop, the mayor was already going on his rant.  
"Young man, I heard that your family has moved here now. I really hope that you enjoy your time living at Wayside. I think that you will see that we actually have a lot of stuff that I can offer you." The mayor said and he was having really large fingers, probably eight inches or so, and Jeff was wondering why his fingers were so long and then Randy was the next one who had spoke up.  
"I think that we need to head out now. Jeff has been getting used to the living setting of this place. Please just let us hang around and everything." Randy was seeming like this guy who was talking with Jeff was just scaring the shit out of him. Randy then said "Thank you for talking to us and everything." The mayor was just looking right at Jeff and then the mayor was thinking about what to say next.  
"You know Randy, I get that you are young and that you probably don't really understand the fact that I have bright imaginations for what you guys are going to be able to do for the future of this great town. I think that you guys just think that anything like this is just cliche garbage. But I believe that you guys can have a good future here. I am going to let you guys hang out and just act like you guys are better than me talking to you guys, but you will start to think that I am right about this whole thing." The mayor said and then he looked right at Jeff and let him go and then he said "My name if Jimmy White."  
Jeff was thinking that this whole thing was just really strange and he was not wanting to be rude about this whole thing, so he just shook the hand of Jimmy White and then with that, the group just left right away and then when they were about two hundred or so feet away from the mayor Jeff said "Yeah, I am not wanting to talk to that guy ever again. Just talking to him once gives me the fucking creeps." Jeff said and then Randy nodded.  
"I am glad that you finally understand why I don't want to talk to that guy so much. Just something about him makes me think that he is the more disturbing men in the history of this entire town. I never want to talk to him again either, and even just those few sentences were a little bit much for me." Randy said and Jeff was looking right at Michael and he was wondering what he was thinking about.  
It seemed as if it did not really have to wait all that long when Michael said "If you guys think you guys are scared of him, talk to my younger sister. She thinks he is even more scary than you guys are saying he is. If you as much as merely mention his name to here, then she will start to talk about how he gives her nightmares and she just shakes at it and everything." Michael had said and then when he was telling the four other people he was talking with this, Jeff was learning that they were getting relatively close to the house that he was actually living at, and that the next step of the journey was going to be this.  
"What is the name of your sister?" Jeff asked and he was just thinking that it was a simple enough question as he was thinking that maybe he could make some friends with her, and that maybe if he was able to get to know her enough, then perhaps he will actually be able to earn her trust and in the end of it all, pursue a relationship with her this as the start of him being inside of this city and everything, as that would be a very good start.  
"Her name is Jane Arkansas. She is fifteen years old. I think that she has met that guy before, and perhaps when she had met him, then perhaps there is something about him that he did to her, and that is why she hates him so much. I am starting to wondering if this guy has done something to her, and that if I would want to watch him die depending on what he has done to her." Michael said and Jeff was thinking that perhaps this was not really something like rape he was talking about, and Jeff would be really glad if that was not even close to it, but at the same time, Jeff was thinking that there was about a one percent chance or so that this can happen.  
"I would like to talk to her, and see what she is like, what she might think of me." Jeff said as he was lightly hinting at the idea of them dating but he didn't want to ruin anything that he was building up with Michael, and he was just going to keep it low since he didn't want Michael to think that he was just some form of pervert and everything. But then they were at the front yard of Michael's house and he was looking right at Jeff and everybody else.  
"I am going to get something at the house for a moment. Whatever you guys want to do is up to you. I will probably only be in there for a couple of minutes, but if you want to go inside, then go ahead. I won't really reject to the idea of it." Michael said and then Jeff was looking at Troy as Michael went right inside of the house and then Keith was snorting a bit.  
"Do you actually think that you have a chance on dating Jane? I would be amazed if she even went on one date with you. I mean, she really has a lot of standards that you are going to have to somehow meet if you want to have a chance with her. These standards are really big." Keith said as Jeff was wondering what the hell these standards were, and if Keith was just saying this to get Jeff away from here, or if this was actually the truth here.  
"Well either way, I want to talk to her at the very least. I think that this Jane girl needs to get some friends right now." Jeff said and then he was thinking about that as he was waiting for what Michael was going to get, and if he was actually going to get something in the house that was actually going to be something they can all use, or if it was just some form of boring money that would just get them some boring items at some boring store, which as Jeff thought about it, he was thinking that this was probable in all reality.

Not much had happened for the rest of the hang out, and it wasn't until three days later when the next part of the story would take place. Jeff was planning on talking with Michael for a bit and everything that day, although he was not really all that sure if everybody else was going to be hanging out with him or not. He had spent the last three days just sort of getting used to the sights of this new town and trying to come home by a relatively decent time in order to make it so that way his parents did not think too much about what he was doing and all of the trouble he was slowly getting himself into with these four guys, and how much he was not really caring all that much if he was going to get caught or not, but he was just enjoying his time outside in the city now and not even caring what his parents were really thinking or what they were doing on a daily basis when he was not even in the same area as him anymore.  
Jeff was outside of his house and he was placing his skateboard on the ground and then by this point in time he was a much better skater by this point in time and his performance was slowly starting to become something that was not really able to be laughed at anymore. Once he reached Michael's house, he knocked on the door and before he was able to ask what they should do, there was a younger girl who answered, probably about fifteen or so.  
"Hey are you that Jeff guy that my brother Michael has talked about?" Jane asked and as terrible as it was to admit for him, Jeff had almost entirely forgot about her and he was thinking about how he was going to just go along with this and act as if this was not really bothering him at all, even though it was slowly getting to him more and more as he was doing this.  
"Yeah, I am Jeff, I was going to hang out with Michael in a moment. Do you know where he is right now?" Jeff asked and then after he has asked this question, Jane just shrugged as if she was going to just be going through some usual explanation that was almost on the track of being a broken record by this point in time as she had said it so many times by this point in time.  
"He is hanging out with everybody else right now? Do you want to stay inside for a moment before you find them? You look like you could use something to eat." Jane asked and then Jeff thought about it and then he nodded. She did point out the truth, which was something he was not thinking about before hand, but then once he was asked this, he did realize that he was indeed hungry so he was not going to lie to himself about this and he was inside of the house before his mind was able to even process this for a moment.  
Once inside of the house, Jeff was making himself a sandwich out of the bread and some other fridge material he had and then he was looking right at Jane. He had no real idea why he was thinking about this all of a sudden, but there was something about the conversation he had three days ago and the encounter with that older man three days ago that made him remember the details about Jane that was the first thing he had ever knew about her. "So Jane, Michael was talking to me about the sheriff, and why you hated him so much. I don't really get it. Do you want to explain to me what the problem with him is?" Jeff asked and he was thinking that this was indeed a innocent enough question at the moment.  
"To be honest Jeff, I don't like talking to him. I met him once, and he did something to me during that time that scared me forever. He talked about what he was going to do with the town when he was able to control every single aspect of it. You know, the police, the news, the businesses, and I think that he owns this place. Every time I asked him about some crimes in the town, since it was a seventh grade project to do a job shadow of somebody in the town, and I picked him, and he said that there was no crimes and I know that is not the truth, and I think he has found a way to erase these records from even happening. I think that he is lying to everybody and that he just might be just as involved with all of these things as the real criminals may be, if not even more than they are." Jane said and then Jeff sat down on the counter as he was eating his sandwich.  
"So you think that he is lying to everybody in order to make sure that nobody would feel the desire to leave this town or decide that they don't want to come to it? I think that this sounds like the normal business that you should be hearing every day Jane." Jeff said and then he didn't like the mayor, but he was just trying to be realistic about the whole thing as he was saying this.  
"You know Jeff, I would almost be willing to believe you bit ever since that day every time I ask about something that is going on, it seems like people are thinking I am insane, as if I am a liar. It is like every time somebody dies or goes missing, the town acts as if these people don't even exist anymore. I think that this guy is trying and act as if not only is there nothing going on, but everything that indicates these things seem like they are not even around at all in the first place, as if these things are just a bunch of imaginations." Jane had said and then Jeff was thinking about this, and he was just trying to make Jane get that this was fine.  
"Maybe you do have a big imagination. Maybe there are a bunch of creative ideas that you have, and that you should become a writer or something. I think that you have a good idea on how to make a riveting story." Jeff said and he was thinking that he was indeed taking this too far, but he was just trying to make Jane feel better about this whole thing.  
"But Jeff, these things are not real. I have pictures of some of the people who have gone missing. It is not like you would believe in me though. You act like this mayor is just a normal guy." Jane said and then Jeff cut her off there.  
"I do not think that he is a normal guy. I mean have you seen his fingers? But seriously, to act like he is a giant part of these crazy conspiracies is just insane Jane. I don't want to make you feel bad, but good god you need to just be real on this." Jeff said and then after he said this, Jane was just thinking that Jeff didn't really get it nearly enough for her to think that he was fully comprehending this whole thing.  
"Jeff, that is the least of his problems. If the only thing about him that was a problem was his fucking fingers, then I might be able to over look this whole thing. But it was not just like that. It seems like there is much more to this whole thing than just that. When you actually fucking talk to him, then you might get this. Just go and actually see him again, and really listen to him." Jane said and then Jeff shook his head on that one.  
"You know, I don't want to talk to him again. He has something to him that is strange to me. I get that at the very least. Why would I talk to somebody who I don't trust just off of his general appearance?" Jeff said and then Jane was thinking that maybe there was a slight chance that Jeff would actually understand what she was saying this whole time after all.  
"Jeff, that is not all that there is to it. But if you refuse to talk to him, then I guess that perhaps you will just think I am lying to them like everybody else thinks I am like. Everybody thinks I am a fucking liar, and if you don't talk to him again, then you will think the exact same thing." Jane said and Jeff was just getting tired of this and thankfully he didn't have to think too much of this as the other guys came inside of the house to let him get out of the discussion.  
Jeff left the house right away, and he was just doing this in a way to get the hell away from Jane and make her not so much staring at him and acting like he was this terrible person for not fully believing her and everything related to that regard. Once the five of them were out of Michael's house, who was just going to grab some money and he was confused but not at all surprised after a few seconds that Jeff was there, and then Jeff was the one who was starting up the conversation that he was starting to think that he should not have brought up, but at the same time he was just feeling like he needed to bring up to make them understand what he was doing.  
"So I was talking to Jane about the mayor, and she was really defensive about it. I found that she had met him during the job shadow and everything that she had with him, and she seemed like me not fully getting it with her was a terrible thing that I needed to rectify." Jeff said as he was hoping that Michael was not going to get too angry at what Jeff was saying, but it was seeming like he did not really have all that bad of a problem with this.  
"I think that the mayor might like you and think that you are quite the man." Michael said and he was saying it mostly in a innocent way, but at the same time there was a level of truth to this whole thing that was making Jeff a little bit worried, and he was wondering why Michael had thought that and why the mayor had such a liking to this guy and everything. He was a new comer to the town, but after three to four days of being here, he would have thought that the appeal to that would have been all but gone by this point in time.  
"As much as I hate to admit it, I think that we're going to talk to each other soon, and I am not really going to be all that ready for this." Jeff said and then after this, the five guys were now at the skating park, where only the five of them were, and it was totally fine with Jeff that this was the case, and he was hoping that they could have a moment to catch some smokes while they were doing this all alone. Seemed like Troy had beaten him to these thoughts as he pulled out a single pack of cigarettes and one bong as well.  
Troy pulled out four cigarettes for each of the five members of the crew and almost all at once, they were setting off their first one and then Keith said "I don't get why you guys are so worried about this guy. I think that you guys just need to relax a bit." As Keith had been saying that, Jeff was trying his hardest to think that he was right. But then this was when Jeff was starting to make some connections with it.  
Jeff was thinking about his father who had moved here, as well as the first day he moved here, the mayor was talking to the guy as if he was going to be the next greatest thing. He was starting to think that if anything, Jeff was starting to think that maybe his father and the mayor had talked to each other about this whole thing before he even moved here, and that Jeff was going to slowly become the next big protege of what the mayor wants him to be like. Jeff was starting to think that soon, he was going to have to talk to the mayor about this, or his father, or now that he was thinking about Liu on his first day here, maybe even Liu now.  
This had made Jeff zone out for about ten seconds or so without even saying a single word and then Randy was the one who had brought him back to reality. "Jeff, what the fuck, you're not even fucking high yet." Randy said and then Jeff was laughing as he took the next couple of puffs of his first cigarette to the point where he had destroyed the entire first one and then he threw the cigarette bud right into the skating ring. After this, Jeff took one single round in the skating ring before sitting down and starting his second one.  
"So Jeff, are you excited for the first year that you are going to have school here? Do you think that you are going to go on any dates with any girls?" Keith asked and the question was very simple and Jeff was still having a hard time to get himself to say anything right now and then Jeff was thinking about it, and then Jeff nodded slowly as he was taking a really long and dragged out puff.  
"Yeah I will at least try and find some people. I am just worried that nobody is going to like me. You know, if I just get rejected by a bunch of people. I would really hate getting rejected by some people." Jeff said and then after he had said this, he was thinking and then Jeff said something else on top of this whole thing.  
"I just think that people are going to think that I am some strange social outcast who just is too much of a fucking novice. I think that if I am here for a year or two, then I think that some people might actually want to date me, but on my first year, nobody will like it at all." Jeff said and then Troy was just starting up his bong with the whole thing and then he was showing the smoke getting dragged out for like a tenth of a mile or so.  
"Wow that is a really great drag bro. I think you should try and make it go a whole fucking mile." Randy said and then Troy was looking at him and he was thinking that this was a good idea and he was just thinking about how he was going to try this out as he was starting to light up the pot and then he was taking a super deep breath and then he held it in for about five seconds or so and then he dragged it out an extremely long bit and it was looking like it was about a mile or close to it, but Jeff was thinking a little bit realistically over this whole thing, thinking that it just probably looked like that.  
After this though, the other four started to get along more with the smoking of pot and then all of them were having about two of three puffs. Jeff had gone second, then Randy had gone third, then Michael and then Keith was the last one to go and then all of them were high as a kite by this point in time. "God damn it bro, this is really awesome." Keith said and then he was placing his hand right on his part of his body where his junk would be and then Jeff was laughing when he was thinking about what he was going to do next, as Jeff was thinking about where it was going to go actually.  
This was when there was a bunch of cars that driving by, and Jeff was thinking that this was a bad idea for them to continue doing this whole thing, and he was looking at each of the cars that were coming by, and one of the cars looked a little bit familiar to him, and Jeff was starting to think that maybe one of these cars was one that either Liu was driving, or at the very least a car that he had gone into a couple of times just to hang out with some of the older people that he was friends with by this point in time.  
Jeff was placing the remaining two cigarettes left inside of his back pack and he was doing his best to hide what he was doing and he was placing his feet right on top of his skateboard and then the other four were starting to do what he was exactly doing, just to make sure that there was no risk of being in trouble at all.  
The next two or so minutes were really making them paranoid and then afterwards, and this was them just perfectly fine, so they started to get right back into their smoking and everything now. As they were getting high and everything, Jeff was getting more and more into the whole mayor conspiracy, and he was starting to think of more of these details, and he was starting to think for a fact that his father much have known about this and that was what he was going to look into once he was done hanging out with his friends.  
The next day, Jeff was ready for going to hang out with his friends, but at the same time, he had wanted to talk to Liu at that moment and he was walking right up to Liu right before he went to hang out with his friends and before Liu would go along and get some drinking done with his friends, and as Jeff would later find out, his girlfriend that he had started to recently meet. "Liu, before you go, I want you to tell me something. I want to know about what is going on with why we moved here, and what dad did to bring us to this town. And spare me the bullshit, just fucking tell me the god damn truth." Jeff said as Liu was looking right at Jeff and then he was hating this, but then he told Jeff to sat down for them to talk since they were the only ones in the house.  
"Dad decided to move here because it was going to be a big job opening. He was making some deals with the mayor, and one of the deals was about him moving here and running the section of the business that he works out, in this town." Liu said and then Jeff was really thinking about it and he was starting to slowly get it more and more, and then Jeff said the next bit.  
"So that is why dad is talking about his next big job promotion. He had made a deal with the mayor of this town. Do you know what the other side of the deal was going to be? You know, what our dad had to do in order to make the deal fully come through?" Jeff asked as he was looking right at Liu, and he was starting to slowly get more and more convinced that Liu did indeed know the answers of these questions, and this was what was scaring him more than anything. Not the idea of Liu not knowing it, the fact that he did, and the fact that he was lying about knowing it.  
"I think that part of the deal is the fact that he has to keep all of the crimes under the cover, and that any illegal work that our father does for the business would not get noticed by the law. As long as any break ins, any deaths, or any missing cases would just not get reported. He has been going under the idea of not letting any of the crimes get through. I have a feeling that there is much more to the whole thing than just this and that he has to do something else." Liu said and then Jeff was starting to think of this a little bit, and Jeff was thinking that what Jane was saying was not so insane, knowing that there was now two people who had said this by now.  
"What else do you think that he has to do for the mayor?" Jeff was asking and he was getting a little bit more scared, knowing that what Jane said was not so dumb after all, and that he did need to actually take this more serious, thinking that there was more and more workings underneath what was going on.  
"I think a part of what is going on with the arguments about mom and him, I think that maybe the mayor wants him to actually commit some crimes as well. I think that maybe he wants our dad to kill the people who are aware of these things, just to be able to shut them up, and then cover up the events. I am of course just thinking this, and I know that it sounds stupid for me to say this, but at the same time, I can't really think it is all that strange for me to say this and I think that maybe as horrifying as it sounds, that if you know about this, and that I do as well, and some other people, we are either going to have to be forced to work with the mayor, or we are going to die." Liu said and then Jeff was thinking that this was still a little bit of a stretch, but at the same time, he was not wanting to fully brush it off there.  
"I don't think that these people are going to get killed. I mean, I get the whole idea of them wanting us to work with him, and I guess that this does make a bit of sense now that I think about it, but not the whole fucking death thing. That just seems to be a really big stretch from the imagination." Jeff said and then after he had said that, he was looking right at Liu and he could tell from the look on Liu's face that he was not to be taking this so lightly, and Jeff was thinking about Jane and how there was a chance that maybe she could be in danger if this was true.  
"I get that you think this is strange, but think about it. Our dad is a businessman. I would not doubt if he was able to start to play a little bit dirty with the law. It seems to be more stupid to pretend as if this is something that can't happen. I would wish that you would take this a bit more seriously." Liu said and then Jeff was shocked at this part of the conversation.  
"I am taking this seriously. I get that this whole thing makes some logical and strange sense, but come the fuck on, I don't think that our dad is like this. I think that maybe he has done some things related to dirty business, but I want you to look at this at least a little bit realistic." Jeff said and then Liu was knowing that Jeff was just in denial about the whole thing.  
"I am taking this realistically. I think that maybe our dad is using the idea of breaking the law just to rise up in power. I think that our dad only really cares about increasing in power." Liu said and then Jeff was just remaining silent as he was looking outside the window and he was thinking that he needed to take this calmly and that he needed to stop thinking about this, thinking that they were going to get caught at any moment coming up.  
"I think that maybe we should wrap this up. I was going to go and hang out with some of my friends, and while I appreciate that you are talking to me about this now, I need to place this whole thing aside, and I need to go and relax a bit. Besides, there are only a few days left before school, and I want to take advantage of that while I can." Jeff said and then he was going right to his board and he was grabbing it for a bit as Liu was looking right at him and the statement Liu made started to make Jeff get a little bit more concerned.  
"Jeff, go and have some fun with your friends, but please for god sake, just watch out and don't act like this is too stupid to consider. Actually really look out and understand that this can become a much bigger issue than you may ever consider that it actually is." Liu said and then Jeff nodded, and he was wanting to make Liu calm down a little bit.  
"Just go out and get a bit of a hangover. Take things easy. I think that you need to relax a little bit." Jeff said and as he was saying this, it was mostly as a joke but not entirely as one either, he was having a little bit of a serious tone to it since he was thinking that Liu was just going through minor withdraws.  
"I will try my best Jeff. I get that you are just doing your best, and that you just want to have fun and everything. I get that you think this new town life actually is better for you and that you are really getting used to it. I don't want to take that away from you, and I am starting to think a little bit bad for this now, but I want you to understand that there is nothing wrong with looking forward and actually examining this whole thing." Liu said and then Jeff was now only about five feet or so away from his front door.  
When Jeff was opening the door to get outside of the house, he was slowly placing the board down on the ground and then he was getting ready to hang out with his friends, thinking that while there was a small chance of what Liu was saying being true, the entire thing still did feel a little bit out there, and Jeff was still having a little bit of a hard time fully believing in the whole thing.  
Jeff didn't even have to wait at all when there was Troy, Keith and Randy all showing up with their skateboards and Jeff could tell from the look on their faces that they were getting really serious, and that this was not really a day for them to fuck around or anything anymore. "We need to get to Michael's house right now." Randy said and then Jeff was seeing from the look on Troy and Keith's face that this was a really seriously moment, and then Jeff nodded as he was starting to skate forward with the other three of them, and the more that they were skating on over there, the more that Jeff was starting to have a sinking feeling over what he was going to be seeing soon.  
The more that he was heading on there, the more that he was thinking about what Jeff was hearing from Liu as well as Jane in the last twenty four hours, and the more that this was coming to him, the more that he knew for a fucking fact that this was no longer a matter that he could just pretend was not a big deal. This was now a matter that was right there and it was very serious. When he was getting there, something would show up and if had just never hung out with Troy, Keith, Michael and Randy, then none of this would have fucking happened to him, and that it wasn't Jeff's fault, but he should have just not gotten into this at all.  
Eventually, as he was doing this, Jeff was starting to have the sinking feeling coming in, and the more that Liu's words of telling him to start taking this seriously was getting to him and this was when Jeff was feeling terrible for not thinking that and for not thinking that he should take this seriously, and the more that this was getting to him, the more that he was going to never doubt anything about Jimmy fucking White, and the more that he realized that nothing about this guy was not considered too far.  
Eventually, the four of them were right in front of Michael's house and he was seeing a bunch of police officers right in the area and a couple of cars. Michael was standing in front of one of the officers and he was holding his hand up, as if he was not sure why or how any of this was happening and then Jeff was seeing a bunch of boxes getting taken out of the house and Jeff gulped. Right then and there, he knew exactly what was going on.  
A police officer saw the four guys and walked right up to them. Her younger partner, a twenty three year old man who was clearly in his first case, walked up to them and then she was getting right into the questions that she was wanting them to tell her. "Do any one of you guys know Jane Arkansas?" The girl asked and then after she had asked this question, Jeff was thinking about this and this was when he was feeling even worse.  
"Before I tell you anything, please tell me something first. What the fuck just happened?" Randy asked and then the police officer was looking at him as if she was annoyed by this, but then she thought of it and she was thinking that this was going to be their only chance to learn of this, so she decided that she was going to tell them the truth, hoping that they would remain quiet about this whole thing once they had left.  
"This young girl, Jane Arkansas, was found dead in her bedroom earlier today. She was found with a bullet in her neck. Her older brother was telling about how he didn't hear the death, or her parents, which makes me realize that there was a silencer applied to the gun. We do not know if it was a suicide or not. We can tell from how cold her body was that she died nine hours ago." The police officer said and she was looking right at Jeff and the other three guys, and then Jeff was looking right forward and then he was starting to think about this and he thought of something right then and there, that he would never dare say out loud.  
"I'm sorry, but I know her, and I left something in her room. Can I just have five minutes in there, to find something that I gave her and she left in there? I guess that doesn't really matter if she would give it back or not." Jeff said and the more that he was looking at her, the more that he was seeing that the police officer was not believing in him, but she was also seeing that Jeff was going to do this either way, so she had given up on this and then she was pointing at the house.  
"Go ahead, you have five minutes. Once the five minutes are up, I want you to leave this house, and never come back." The police officer said and then Jeff nodded as he ran right on inside and the other four members of his group were looking right at him, and then he was walking right to the bedroom and he was looking around to see what he could find, as he was obviously lying about what he had said earlier, and that he was just trying to put his suspicion under rest.  
He was looking in the room and he was trying to find some details. He found something that looked like a letter and he was looking right at the letter which was placed right there for somebody to read and he opened it right up and he saw that the letter said "To that Jeff kid." And then after he saw that, he placed the letter right inside of his pocket and then he was looking around and he saw that when he was looking right around, that this truly was the only thing that he could get from here. Then with that, Jeff walked right out of the room and then he was outside of the house and he was back to the three guys he was brought over here with.  
"You still have two minutes to go. Whatever, I guess that you held your end of the promise. I don't want you guys ever to come back here again. We are going to get right back to the investigation." The police officer said and then the four friends realized that this was it, and then they were riding away on the skateboards they had and then Jeff was thinking about the letter was going to tell him and what he was going to read there later that night.  
The ride took a while and then eventually, Michael was there and then he was looking at Jeff for a moment, as if there was a vague level of resentment that there was to this thing, and then he sat down on the bench next to Keith and then Keith was just wondering what the hell was going on. "I wonder what must have drove this to happen at all." Keith said quietly and then Jeff was thinking about this a little bit, and he was starting to really piece together what she must have done.  
Jeff was starting to think for a moment that she did do this to herself. She did this to herself because she said that murder cases would be covered up, but since a suicide was not a murder, that perhaps this entire thing was something she did in order to help give some information about the guy to the public, such as the letter to Jeff, and perhaps he was thinking that this was something that Jeff needed to be more careful of, as if he was going to need to take down Jimmy White now.  
He was not at all saying this, and he was thinking that as sad as this was, he really needed to take this thing down, and then Jeff was going to see if this was true, or if this was a murder and that there was some time to cover this up before the news would hide it. Hell, Jeff was starting to think that perhaps this actually was a false case and that Jane was not dead, and he was hoping this was true.  
"I don't fucking know, but if I find out what had caused this, I am going to take this fucking person down and they are going to die even worse than she had." Michael said and this was when Jeff was going to slowly realize that all of this was slowly going to change forever and that Jeff knew that he was going to regret coming to this town even worse than Liu had imagined it would be.  
When Jeff was back at home that day, he was seeing that his father was working and everything, and Jeff was thinking that he needed to talk to his father right then and there, in order to finally place all of this to the side and he can finally see the truth of his father, and what his father had done in order to get this job and everything. "Dad, would you be willing to talk to me for a few minutes? There are a few things that I want to ask you questions on." Jeff said and then his father was looking right up at Jeff and he had remained silent for a moment and then he sighed and nodded, thinking that perhaps he could give Jeff a couple of minutes.

"What are you wanting to talk to me about?" Jeff's father asked and then Jeff was wondering if his father was actually going to go along with these questions, or if he was going to get annoyed at what Jeff was doing, but Jeff knew for a fact that he was going to have to be relentless with what he was going to be asking his father, and he was not going to let the guy slip up on any questions at all since he knew for a fact that this was the only way that he was going to have even a remote chance to learn of the truth.

"I have been hearing that there have been a bunch of things going on in the town lately, and I heard that one of these things was that a girl had recently just died. I think that she might be aware of some of the things going on in the town, and that fear is why she had done this." Jeff had said and he was thinking that this was stupid when he was saying this, and he was well aware of how silly this had sounded, but he was hoping that his father would be right into the conversation as soon as possible. "I am wondering if you had to make some deals with some people here in order to actually get a job at this town. Is that the truth?" 

His father was looking right at Jeff and he was not really sure with what Jeff was trying to accomplish, and this whole thing was making him a little bit afraid of what to say to his son, knowing that he was going to slowly have to tell him the truth. "Well, I did have to make some deals in order to get here, you are right on that. But that being said, you are not aware of what I had to do in order to actually make this make sense to you. I had to sell some things that would increase my spot in the company, and before you even ask, no I do not regret any of it and I will continue to do it if I have to." Jeff's father said and then he was looking at Jeff before he had asked the next question that would piss Jeff off so much that he could barely contain himself on what he was getting asked.

"Are you sure that you are not involved in some way with what your friend did when she had died?" Jeff's father asked and Jeff was so pissed off at this that he could not really comprehend this, and he was thinking that his dad was truly hungry for power if he was able to be willing to place his kid on the down under.

"I didn't do anything that like, and there is nothing that would make it worth even thinking that this is the case, you fucking asshole." Jeff said and then he was thinking about what he was saying to his father, and if his father was not pissed off over what he had been saying before, then this was what was able to actually piss him off there.

"Don't you ever talk to somebody like this? That is one of the worst ways that you can tell me that you have nothing to do with it. I am starting to think that you are lying to me. I think that you might actually have something to do with this girls death, and I might be tempted to question you about this." His father said and then Jeff nodded and he was actually feeling a little bit bad at this, and he was looking right at his father again.

"Sorry about that. I just was shocked that you would have asked me that I was responsible for what had happened to her. I am just really uptight about this whole thing." Jeff said and his father was remaining silent, and his father was just looking right back at his work, and he was trying to get back to his work and Jeff said the next part of the conversation. "Would you be willing to tell me what you had to do in order to get the position?"

"That stuff is none of your business. It is something that you should probably not get too worried about. I think that you are already starting to get a little bit into thin ice right now. Jeff, if you want us to continue to have any form of a proper conversation, then you should probably be heading out right now. Maybe, we can actually continue talking for a while." Jeff's father said and then Jeff was walking out of the hall and went right to his room.

Jeff was sitting down and then he was looking at the letter and he was not really opening it up. But then as he was thinking about this for a little while, there was a knock on the door and then Jeff placed the note right inside of his pocket and he looked forward and he was seeing that this was his father. "Sorry for the conversation from earlier. I get that you are starting to wonder things, and that you are probably wondering if I had actually earned the job that I have right now. I get that you are confused, and that you are starting to really miss being here in this town. But you have been here for nearly a week. You have got to get over it by now." His father said and then Jeff was looking right at him and he shook his head.

"That has nothing to do with it. I was just worried, and this was making me think that you got involved with some things and I felt like I had deserved the right to know." Jeff said and then he was standing up and he was walking right towards his board. "I think I need to just go on a skate, and I will be back in about half an hour." 

"Jeff, why are you leaving this conversation when I was just starting Jeff? You seem like you are no longer wanting to talk to me anymore. I do not appreciate that you are acting like this Jeff. I am your father, and I should be allowed to have the right to know what you are doing right now." Jeff's father said and then Jeff was looking right at his dad and he was thinking about what to say next when he was placing the board right down on the floor and put his right foot on it.

"How am I able to talk to you when I don't even know if I should be able to trust you at all?" Jeff said and then he was starting to walk further and further away and then his father was starting to walk closer and closer to him but Jeff was now down the stairs and then Jeff was telling his father "Go ahead and run your business in your own way, just know that if something happens to somebody again, I am going to assume that you are a part of the establishment and that this is at least in some way your fault." Jeff said and then his father was just starting to remain quiet a bit after this.

"Get the fuck back here, there is no way I am going to let you still do this anymore. I am not going to let you spread lies about what I have been doing. I am making great progress at my job, and I know that my job is better than what you are doing right now." Jeff's father said and then Jeff was opening the door. 

"Go fuck yourself dad. This conversation is over right now. I am tired of this." Jeff said and then he closed the door shut and then he was walking for about ten feet and then he started to skate off a bit, and he was not going to talk to his dad again, and he was fine with this, and his father was not going to pursue him. He knew that Jeff would come back soon.

Jeff was just skating for a while and the more that he was skating, the more that he was starting to really understand that his father was not pursuing this whole matter anymore, and Jeff was just thinking that perhaps he was able to finally take a bit of a break on this whole thing for a bit, and he was thinking that while he was told by the police never to come by where Michael lived every again, he felt he needed to get some some things straightened up and everything. Then with that, Jeff was getting off the board and then he knocked on the door of where Michael lived and he was waiting for a moment for not only the answer, but perhaps how he was going to react to seeing Jeff there, and if he was going to go on a rant and then blame him for everything that had happened.  
Michael was just staring right at Jeff and he was just remaining silent for quite a moment, and Jeff was able to tell that if he was not careful about this nearly enough, then he was going to be fucked. "So Jeff, what are you doing here? Are you just going to talk to me about Jane? Are you just going to act like this never happened and try to make me get back into the fun and cheerful mood I usually have?" Michael asked and then Jeff was gulping, and then he was thinking that this whole thing was starting to really build up against him, but he was still wanting to try and make him feel at least a small margin better and everything.  
"I was just wanting to give you some of my condolences for a while." Jeff said and then after he had said that, Michael was looking down and he nodded and let Jeff inside the house. He knew Jeff by far the least out of them, but at the same time, he had known Jeff enough in these last few days that he was going to listen to Jeff and appreciate any comments that he would make since he did know that Jeff was honestly meaning his best with this whole thing.  
Jeff and Michael were inside of his room and this was when Jeff was starting to think that this was actually the first time that he had ever been in this room and then Jeff said "You know, my dad is just a bit of an asshole, but fuck that. How are you feeling?" Jeff asked and then Michael thought on it and then he was continuing.  
"I think that what she was saying about the fucking mayor might actually be true. I can't believe that I am considering that right now, but when all of this comes up, and the fact that even after all of these hours, there is not a single news report, I am starting to think that she is right, and that it is all my fault for not being there for her nearly enough when it really mattered." Jeff could tell from the look on his face that he had now hated the mayor.  
"I am starting to think that she is indeed right about this whole thing. I just have a feeling that this guy has no real guilt in anything that is going on, and that is why scares me the most about this whole thing. I think that he will find out about her death, and just give a random speech about how everybody should just stick together and act as if he was totally fine and then the entire world will have just pretty much moved on from this point in time." Jeff had said and then after he had said that, Michael was looking right up at Jeff.  
"Please don't come up with any ideas. I hate what the mayor was doing and everything, but please don't act as if you are the guy who is going to fucking take him down and everything. Just please go along and try and move along in his life. I will never be able to act as if everything is all fine and everything. I just wish that this had never happened, but if you get yourself killed for some thing like this, then I will never be able to move forward in my life and I will never be able to forgive myself over this whole thing." Michael said and Jeff was thinking and he nodded.  
"I do think that my dad is sort of becoming his right hand man right now. I think that if I can't take on the mayor, I can at least take on my fucking dad." Jeff said and then he was feeling like this was the truth, and then Michael was getting a bit worried about this and he was just simply shaking his head this whole time as he was doing this.  
"Please Jeff, just go back home and talk with your father and act like things are just fine. Your father is probably missing you right now, and he is probably going to give you another chance to have a mostly normal life if you just go back there and then in a week or two, I will try and act like I am fine and then we can start to hang out and everything once again." Michael was saying this only because he could tell from the look on Jeff's face that he was going to probably try and solve this whole case on his own, but at the same time, he was just feeling scared now and Jeff was starting to feel like maybe Michael was right here.  
"Yeah, I am sorry that I am acting like this right now. I just feel like there is a small chance that I am totally responsible for her death, and I was wanting to apologize for that. I had talked with her about the mayor and we were pretty much in a large argument over this, and then the next day this comes up. She was telling me about how little I understand, and I think that she is right, as much as I hate to admit it." Jeff said and he was looking at Michael and he was wondering how long it was going to take for him to process this whole thing.  
"Jeff, I have no idea if you are responsible for her death or not. I really do not want to know if you are or not. Because if you aren't, then you are just beating yourself up over some small coincidence, but if you are, then you are the one to blame, and I will hate you for the rest of your life, and I will try and kill you are a result of my fucking sister dying, and knowing that you are a fucking killer." Michael had said and then Jeff was scared as he was hearing Michael saying this, thinking that there was a level to what Michael was saying that was indicating that he totally believed that Jeff was responsible for this.  
"I just wanted to have told you this, and I felt like you really needed to know this right now. I feel like I would have never been able to justify talking to you anymore if I had never told you this." Jeff said and then he was looking down and he was starting to walk to the front of the room door and then he said "Michael, one way or another, I really am sorry for what happened." Jeff then started to walk out of the room and Michael was in no way fighting him leaving now.  
Once Jeff was out of the room, Michael was sitting down on his bed and he was trying to figure out if he wanted to blame Jeff or not, and he was trying to figure out if Jeff was telling the truth or if he was just saying that to make himself feel better.  
Jeff started to skate down for a while and he was planning on eventually going back home, but at the same time, he was still wanting to just be alone for a while, and he was starting to get more and more convinced that he really was responsible for what was happening, and this whole thing was just killing him to think of.  
Eventually, Jeff reached the front entrance of a gas station and he sat down on a table in the station and he was thinking about something. He pulled out ten dollars from his pocket, which was given to him before he left to hang out with his friends that day from his mother. Jeff picked up a energy drink, a bag of chips, and a box of cigarettes and a lighter and then he was allowed to buy all the stuff and then he was sitting down on the table as the worker there was looking right at Jeff wondering if he wanted to talk to him or not.  
Jeff started the letter and he was just starting to process this entire thing and he was feeling like he was really treading on thin ice as he was doing this. The letter started off with the statement "Jeff, I know that you don't believe me and that you think I am over reacting to this entire thing, and I am very sad that you have not gotten to this point. But maybe there is a little bit of hope there that this is the case. Maybe you are still relatively innocent enough about this whole thing. I am glad that you are still not fully understanding this right now. But that will be going away the moment that you read this entire letter, and I think that it is very important that you do get this all right now.  
It had all started when I had my job shadow and I already explained that enough to you, so I am going to spare you the details on that since I don't really need to go into any of that right now. But what I do need to talk to you about is the fact that the mayor has told me more stuff about this whole thing by different letters and everything. He had told me all of these things that really scary but at the same exact time made this entire thing of this town start to make a whole lot more sense after all.  
What I was told that the businesses there were a part of keeping the town rich after what had happened nearly twenty years ago. There was a bunch of terrorist attacks, or so the news claimed, at Wayside in the early sixties, and this had ruined pretty much the entire reputation of the entire city, and started to make people not have any hope in this entire place. There was not more than a single week without some major crime going on in the city, and they were tired of all of these stories coming along now.  
The mayor thought that the only way to make the entire city work in a way that can spread the entire idea of us being safe now was to cover up any crime that was going on, as if it never hit the news. Which would make you think that maybe there was no crimes now, but then you would be shocked when you would find out that there are even more crimes now than there were nearly twenty years ago.  
As all of these crimes have gone on, there has been events that have happened that would cover up these crimes and if somebody broke out and tried to expose said crime, they would be taken care of and they would die. One time two years ago, an entire family was killed and the only time it was ever explained to anybody was when the deaths were made public, and then once the were explained at first, no events ever showed up. There was a couple of people that investigated this whole thing, but then they ended up dead after just a couple of weeks.  
I heard about it for a day or two, and then when that had happened, it had been on the news for just a sliver of time, and then nobody ever heard about it ever again for the rest of their lives. I was wondering if the mayor was actually telling the truth or if this was just a big thing of my imagination and that I was just starting to think about these small coincidences and everything like that. I was terrified that he was telling the truth, so I did something that I should have never done, but I do not regret doing even at this moment right here right now. I walked up to the office that he was working in and when he wasn't around, I broke into the office to see what was in there that could actually give me some clues as to what I could really find.  
I was looking around for a while and I was seeing a list of hundreds of deaths over the course of the last couple of decades and everything, and each one of these deaths was making me start to think more and more that he had arranged every single one of them. There was a list that had gone to just thirty five minutes before I had broken into the office, all starting from the first day that the mayor had taken his office. I was starting to think that he was crazy and each one of these deaths was giving a really long explanation as to what the deaths were like and how to hide them all and everything.  
The entire situation was scaring the shit out of me, and I thought that I could get away with the entire thing, and I walked out of the office and I was remembering a lot of the names, and I was taking a picture with them on my camera and then I placed the camera around my neck and I thought that I could get away with this for a while and then right when I was outside of the office, I heard that there was a loud walking coming towards me, and I would not have been so confused if he was angry, but he was not, In fact, he seemed excited to be seeing, and he was thinking that he was going to make me feel like I had made a big mistake, which I guess I had done so.  
I saw the mayor and he was coming to talk to me. I know that I have said that I only met him one time in my life, but I was fucking lying about that. I didn't want people to worry about me and everything, so I lied my ass off about that, and I don't regret doing this at all, since I needed to in order to stay safe. But he was talking about things that really made me think that he was going go further along with this if I didn't stop the investigating right then and there.  
The mayor told me that the list was really nice and that he had placed a lot of effort into it. He was telling me how much of a shame it would have been to place my name on the list, and that the more that I look into it, the more that it was going to seem like he was going to have to do just this.  
I was wondering how serious he was about me placing my name on this list, and I even had said that to him, and then he was laughing and he was telling me that he was totally serious about it, and that I should never talk to anybody about this at all.  
I went home and I tried to live normally, but every single time that I have come along in the area, the more and more that I was certain that I was going to fucking die. The more that I was certain that the people who worked with the mayor was going to come along and take me away, and I hated that and it was starting to make me really paranoid for the next few years of my life, and I am still scared and everything.  
I really wanted to go along and just pretend that things were fine, and I did indeed never tell anybody what was going along, and then when you were talking to me about this, I realized that I had broken the one thing that was still keeping me alive by this point in time, and everything. I knew that when we talked about this, sooner or later, you were going to find out about this and then I was going to face my death sooner or later.  
Jeff, please understand what I had done, and I need you to understand why you need to do this. You need to find Jimmy White and I want you to get to know him. I want you to kill him and every single person who supports him and tries to get in his way, no matter what it is. Please, do this. When Jimmy is gone, then you will have liberated this entire city.  
I really have hope on what you are going to do. You are a smart man, and I have all hope in the world that you are going to be the guy who is going to reverse this trend that has been going on for nearly two decades and everything. I just hope that you understand what I am doing, and what I am going to let to let you do. I really hope that you get this letter and you see what I am going to do to make things in this town better for everything."  
Jeff had placed the letter right down inside of his pocket, he was looking right at the guy who was working at the gas station, and they were sitting right down in front of Jeff and then he was looking at the guy, trying to figure out what the hell he was going to do now. "I saw that you were reading that letter for a moment. It seems like you are really focused on something right now." The guy said as Jeff was just thinking about what to reply but then he was just looking right down and then he was finally starting to get a feeling that this guy was able to talk to Jeff and not get in any trouble for this.  
"I was friends with some people, and one of them had a sister who had just recently died." Jeff said and then when he had said this statement Jeff was saying "I was just scared scared out of my mind when I heard about this. I know that nobody is ever going to believe in the story. I heard that nobody was going to be allowed to talk about it and everything, and that the town is going to basically be like the fact that nothing had ever happened at all." Jeff said and then after he told the guy who worked at the gas station this, the guy was refusing to speak for a couple of a seconds before he continued to speak and give Jeff something that was both relieving and also scary at the same time.  
"Trust me, I know that there are all of these cases that happened. When I was only here for a couple of years, my first girlfriend that I had in this town had died. Her name was Misty Wakeman. She tried her best to try and stop the corruption of this town from spreading, but it failed and she had died much before her time should have been able to take her. I hate the fact that this happened, and she is not the only person that I ever knew this happen to. I know for a fact that she was murdered. There was a fucking hole in her chest. But people try and act as if she had never even existed. You are almost as old as she was when it had happened to her." The guy said to Jeff as Jeff was starting to think that while it was good to know he was not the only one who was being cheated like this, there was still something scary about the whole thing.  
"I think that it is the mayor who is responsible for all of this. That is what I have been forced to assume right now. I saw him once, and even then, I could tell that he was giving me the creeps, and he seemed to make me think that he was wanting to use me for something of his own gain, if you get what I am saying." Jeff told the guy working at the guy station, as the worker was thinking about this for a moment as well.  
"Young man, I get that there is a high chance that something like this can happen to the town, but in reality, if you get too deeply into it, you entire life will be ruined and there is nothing that you can do to stop it. I just hope that when the mayor leaves, then the town will go back to normal. There were other deaths and other crimes that have been covered up. Such as the fact that a young friend of mine, Sam, had been revealed to be murdered, but it was covered up as a suicide and only about a week or so later, nobody would even talk about it anymore and people were acting as if this never happened. There was his younger brother, a guy named Ken, who worked here for a short while, but then when Sam had fucking died, the guy had never come back and we were left to assume that he had died as well, but then his story was never covered up as well, making it be like his family never existed to the general public, but those people that did know them knew for a fact that he did indeed exist. But we are forced to pretend that he didn't since if we start to show his existence being a thing, then our lives will be forced to end." The guy said and then Jeff was thinking about the letter and how this was entirely to cover up the crimes in order to make the city seem more lovely than it actually was, and Jeff was wondering why this town was so important to justify this whole thing.  
"You know what, I honestly believe all of this. I can't believe I was forced to go to this town and then have any impression of it ruined in so few days. I guess that I just need to figure some stuff out right now. I just think that if I don't figure out what I need to do right now, but I think that I need to figure out how I am going to bring down the mayor to make this town have any sanity left. That is the only way to stop these needless crimes to cover up other crimes. I need to actually kill the mayor." Jeff said and then as he was saying this, he was feeling stupid for this, and he couldn't believe that he had been saying this, but he was staring right at the gas station guy and he was wondering if he was going to get reported by the police there.  
"Bro, I won't stop what you are going to try and do. If you think that you are going to actually make this work out, then I guess I will let this slide since the girl that I really respect, Misty Wakeman, had actually tried to do something like this, and I think that if you can be able to pull it off, then I will be glad but if you can't, then it will just go down as another day in the history of the town, and I guess that I will just be forced to remember you for this." The guy in the gas station said and then Jeff remained silent.  
"I guess I am going to get the hell out of here right now. I need to actually get going on what I want to do right now. Thank you for talking to me."' Jeff said and then he was looking right at the guy and then he said "My name is Jeff, what is your name?"  
"My name is Sheldon. I have been working here for almost two decades, almost as long as the mayor has been taking this town over. I just have been mostly minding my own business. But there is enough crazy stuff about this gas station that I guess that there is a bunch of stories that I can actually make out of here." Sheldon said as Jeff opened up his energy drink and he slowly started to drink it and he placed the bag of chips inside of his hoody and started his cigarette and placed the pack and lighter and his pocket.  
"Thanks for talking to me Sheldon. I guess that you think I stupid stupid right now." Jeff said and then Sheldon was shaking his head, thinking this was wrong for him to feel.  
"You do not sound stupid Jeff. You just sound like a guy who has a big goal in mind." Sheldon had told Jeff and then after Sheldon told Jeff this, Jeff was just remaining silent for a moment and then he nodded.  
"I guess that makes sense." Jeff said and then he just walked on, and he was never going to speak to this Sheldon guy again. Or at least he was thinking that was the case right then and there.  
Jeff was walking down the street and he was just drinking more of his energy drink, wondering if he was going to get in trouble soon, and hoping Sheldon would stay safe now with the talk that they had earlier.  
As Jeff was walking along, he eventually reached the first alley way that he could find and then he was sitting down there and he didn't really care at all if somebody was going to get in his case about it. He was smoking his next cigarette and then he finally started to open his bag of chips once his energy drink was over and he threw it in the trash.  
Jeff was thinking that as much as he had hated this whole thing, he might have to go back to his house and go to his family and do what everybody was wanting him to do, and that was just to pretend that all of this had never happened.  
Before he was able to finally take a break for too long, there was a bunch of police sirens that were going off and this was making Jeff scared out of his mind. He stood up and he was wondering what the hell he was going to actually do in order to defend himself if this was going to go the way that he was fearing that it would be heading towards. Jeff was holding nothing that he could use to defend himself and when he saw what he was going to have to face, he saw that there were five cars pulled right up, and that there was two people inside of each of of the cars, which was ten cars in total.  
"Jeffrey Woods, you are not allowed to talk to people about these conspiracies. They are making the people in this town feel very scared and second question their right to be in this town. Go back home and just live a normal life. Jane Arkansas never fucking existed. She is something that you have imagined." One of the police officers said, and this was the person who had talked to him earlier and gave him five minutes to go inside of that house. Jeff was looking at him as he was holding up both of his hands, wondering if he was going to have to defend himself soon.  
Jeff laughed and then he said "So Misty Wakeman and that Sam boy never existed either? I bet that their graves would like to disagree with this." Jeff said and then after he had said this, the police officers were all holding up their guns. Jeff knew for a fact that he was pressing their buttons, and he was loving how their buttons were being pressed, and he was just hoping that there was more to this that he can say that would make these people either finally give in and try to kill him or give in and tell him the fucking truth.  
"I don't know who these people are, and I don't want to have you guys talking about them at all, I don't want people to hear what you are saying right now. They don't need to have these lies spread around." The police officer had said and then Jeff was looking right at the gun and he was thinking about how this was going to go down. Ten people and he could take them all down in just ten bullets, and he was thinking that he was going to be able to do this easily enough, all he needed was just to get the first one.  
"These people are real. Don't you fucking dare tell me that they are not real. You should never have gotten into this job, and now here you are, acting like you these people are fucking false." Jeff had said and then after he had said this, he saw that the first gin from one of the scared officers was going on and Jeff ducked and then as he did so, he kicked the first guy right in the leg and then he he saw that they had a pocket knife and he grabbed the knife and then Jeff was holding the knife up, seeing that this was not going to go his way, but he was going to try his best.  
He was looking right at the first guy and he was bringing both of his hands to the gun and he was slightly shaking as he was standing up, and then he grabbed the guys arms and then he sliced both of the hands wide open and then the gun dropped right down to the gun and then he saw the guy getting stabbed right in the neck a couple of times, and he was seeing the blood coming down to the ground and then he fell down and he was the first person that Jeff had killed, realizing how much he was enjoying killing the establishment, and how much he was actually doing this city a favor as he was doing this.  
Then afterwards, one of the people fired their gun at Jeff and all it did was just hitting him right in the fucking left arm, which was not a big deal since Jeff was right handed, and Jeff was jumping right on top of the guy and cut his throat, and then after he cut his throat right open, and then the guy was dead and that was the second of ten people that he had to fight.  
Right when the next one was getting ready to fire at Jeff, Jeff grabbed the gun of the person that he was right on top of and then he fired the gun three times and kill the third guy, and Jeff was wondering how he was able to take on these people so easily. The first one was kind of hard because he had to actually think it out, but once the first one was killed, the other two had been very easy so far.  
The fourth one who was fighting him started to aim the gun right behind him and then Jeff barely managed to dodge the bullet as he punched the guy twice in the face and then he sliced right down the chest of this guy and then killed four out of the ten officers. Then with that, Jeff was starting to realize that he was almost half way there, and that he was getting relatively far in this whole thing.  
The fifth one was scared of Jeff as she was realizing that he was more than just some normal kid and then he was still holding the gun with the left arm and then he was holding the knife right in his right hand and then he fired at her once at the chest and right as she was falling to the ground, Jeff stabbed her right in the chest three times and his hands was covered in blood, and now he was half way through this whole thing and then he was looking at the next one who was firing at him at a rather frantic way.  
The sixth person kept firing over and over again but one single bullet right to the forehead of this guy was enough to take him out. Then the seventh person was right next to Jeff and he took her out by slicing her throat open and then the eighth guy was killed when he had shot him in the chest twice and then he threw the gun right to the ground and then there was the ninth one that he had to fight.  
When he saw that the guy was almost tempted to just let Jeff go, Jeff was thinking about letting this one free, and then Jeff threw the knife right at the chest of this guy and then he was walking up and then he was shooting the guy on the back once or twice and then he grabbed the knife and then he was looking right at the lady who was trying really hard to bring Jeff down earlier. The girl was wondering what she was going to actually say to to try and make Jeff stand down. "Look, the way we run the crime in this town may actually be good for you for once. If you want to just go along and come to the police station, and admit to everything, then as long as you admit to what you did, then you can just go home and act like this was all fine. I am giving you one chance in order to get away with this. If you don't do as I suggest, then you are going to be hunted down and we will not hold back on trying to kill you."  
Jeff was thinking about this for just a moment, thinking that maybe just maybe this was actually a good idea, and then he was getting the knife that was at the previous guy and then he pulled it right out. Then he was looking right at her and then he was just walking up to her, and he was smiling across his face this entire time as she was holding her gun right at him.  
"Jeff, what are you doing right now? Please stop this. You are going to regret what you are going to be doing right now." The police officer said and then before she was able to continue, Jeff stabbed her right in the chest and then he was moving his knife a bit and then the girl fell down onto the ground and she was dead as Jeff said something when he was gone.  
"Go to sleep." Jeff said and then he was rubbing the knife up and he was making the knife look normal as he placed it in his pocket. He wasn't a fan of the gun, so he got rid of that. As this was happening, one single car pulled up with the sheriff in it and he was getting ready to pull out his gun as Jeff was trying to decide what he had wanted to do next.  
"Put your hand up right where I can be able to see them right now young man." The police officer had said and then after they had said that to Jeff, the younger guy was doing exactly as he was told and he was holding his hands up and he was just walking right on towards where the police officer was and since his hands were held up, he was not really going to try and shoot the gun at all since he was pretty sure that this was just going to be making matters even worse if he tried any form of resistance at all and he didn't want to make matters with Jeff even worse than they were already at.

"You know, you are doing quite well in listening to me right now." The police officer had said and then he was opening the door and then he let Jeff right inside of the car and then once Jeff was inside of the car, the officer just placed the seat belt on and then he went right into his car and then after the car was closed, the police officer took out a pack of cigarettes and then started to smoke one. He held out one and Jeff nodded and then he lit it up and let Jeff smoke that one out.

"My name is Sheriff David. I have nothing against you right now. I just wanted to talk to you right now." The sheriff said and as he was telling Jeff this, he was seeing that Jeff was actually starting to calm down a little bit and he was looking right at the sheriff, and he was wondering where this was going to be going now. He was not really sure if this guy was nice, but compared to what had happened earlier, this conversation was actually pretty needed after all.

"Are you going to tell everybody what had happened?" Jeff asked and he was wondering if he was going to keep up this civil tone for the most part, and he was really hoping that this was actually going to go as well as he was hoping it would. After Sheriff David had finished up his cigarette he flicked it up and then he started up the car and then he was getting right into the conversation that he was going to have with Jeff, hoping that he didn't mind the talk that he was going to have with the guy.

"I will never try and keep stuff with the mayor under his way. That is how I was able to actually go along and go and become the top officer in this town. I am one of the only good cops here that actually invested his life to change the entire scene of it all. I hated the way that it was, and I actually have been fighting this ever since I have joined the force in 1962 at the mere young age of eighteen, but now almost forty I can see that the battle is almost certain to defeat me." David said and then Jeff considered this for a moment.

"David, so does this mean that you are going to tell everybody what had happened?" Jeff actually asked and then he was sort of mixed on the idea on what he was going to hear this sheriff say, and on one hand he wanted to keep the information quiet on the chance that nobody would actually know what he was doing, but on the other hand he was hoping that the actual town would know what would happen in the town, so he was wanting to do this now.

"I am going to decide on that later. But unlike what most people are doing in this town already, I will actually give you a real chance unlike most people. I think that if you actually have a chance on taking down this mayor, then I guess I will let you actually try and I won't do anything about it. However, if you start to sound like you are even ore crazy than you already kind of are, which lets face it, you fucking are, then I will send the police after you. But most likely, since you are seeming like a normal guy enough, I will give you an actual chance to go back home after this once I hear your story." David said and then Jeff was shocked at how nice David was actually being about this whole thing, and then Jeff was sighing and he figured that he can actually trust this guy for the time being.  
"Well I moved here a few days ago, almost a week by this point in time, and when I had moved here, y parents had tried to get me some extra friends and everything, and I was hoping that my friends that I would make here would be mostly normal people. It felt like they were and while I hated the idea of coming here at first, after a while, I started to accept the idea of living here and in a way, I really did enjoy the first four to five days that I was here, until I found out about this girl who had killed herself, Jane Arkansas, which was the sister of one of the friends that I started to make. But when I had done this, I started to look into why exactly my father had decided to move on here in the first place." Jeff said and then David was listening to this and he was actually listening for once, as if he was the only one that even remotely cared about Jeff and what he was actually saying, the only one who was actually treating Jeff like a real fucking person this time.  
"Why exactly did your father actually move to this city? Usually when people come to this city, there are a lot of things that happen in their first couple of months there that really make them wish that they had never come here, but most of the time, they end up actually enjoying the whole thing." David said and Jeff was trying to act like this was going to be the case with him, but at the same time, he was just feeling like this was too unrealistic.  
"He got a business promotion. And I figured that I think that he was actually doing a bunch of crazy business that would actually make me think he was working with the mayor and he only got the promotion as if he actually is a part of the corruption, and that was the only way that he could be able to get the promotion here, which I hate to admit the idea of my father doing this since I really respect my father. Or at least I used to. I don't know if I am fearing things or if I actually have a real reason to feel this way." Jeff said and then David was still listening and then he was driving along a bit and the more he did so the more Jeff was starting to know where this drive was going to go.  
"I honestly don't really doubt you. Sounds like every single promotion that goes along here. In a way, the amount that I am forced to believe you is a little bit more scary than anything else." David said and then Jeff asked the next question, just out of being curious more than anything.  
"Have you actually had to deal with all of these things before, or is this just something that you are telling me now?" Jeff asked and then David nodded and he was keeping up this conversation.  
"Yes I did. All of this corruption and all of this fucking crazy stuff is the main reason that I got to become the sheriff in the first place. I was the only one who gave a honest fight to corruption back in the day, and this was before Jimmy came along, and I was already sheriff then. If he was around before, I would have probably died before the promotion." David said and then he pulled up at Jeff's house.  
"You know, this conversation has been decent so far, but why the hell are you bringing me over here right now? I don't really want to be here." Jeff said and then David was just not talking anymore, and then he opened the door but right when Jeff was about to leave David did finally speak up.  
"I will come back here in three hours. If you are still here, then I will assume that you will have taken my advice to try and live a normal life, and I will let this finally be put to rest and I will act as if nothing happened, but if you are not here in three hours, I will be left to assume that you have been doing something else and I will start to search for you, and I will fucking track you down and everybody will know what you did and your crimes." David said and then he started to drive along and then he left Jeff there for a few seconds to think about his choice.

Jeff was thinking that if for nothing else, maybe he should actually give going home a small chance. So he walked right inside of his home and when he was home, he was glad that neither one of his parents were telling him what the hell they were thinking, and Jeff was thinking that he was actually safe for now. Jeff sat down on the couch and he was looking right at his parents and he said "Sorry for the way that I was acting earlier dad." Jeff said and then he was holding his board still, and he totally forgot that he had it in the first place. He was in fact quite certain that he did not have it. He wasn't really complaining though, as it did mean that starting tomorrow, he can go back to normal. All he had to do was handle this for another night and then starting tomorrow as long as he had just kept his mouth shut, then nothing could have come out of him in terms of getting in trouble with the law.

"Don't worry about it Jeff. I was dealing with the exact same rebellious streak when I was younger. Just make sure you don't go too over board with it. If you keep doing this over and over again, then I will start being far less forgiving of the entire thing and I will start to enforce some punishments for your behavior." His father said and Jeff was just nodding, thinking that this was the best that he can get out of this whole thing.

"I'm going to go to bed now. I am really tired right now." Jeff said and then he was grabbing his skateboard and he was going onto his bedroom and then his parents were thinking about this. They were thinking that maybe Jeff did actually have a chance of getting back to a normal life. Right before Jeff was gone, Jeff decided to ask his mother one question. "Mom, have you heard any reports of somebody dying recently?" 

Jeff's mother looked at him for a moment. As he was looking at her, he could tell that she wasn't bullshitting with him and that everything that she was showing him in expression was the truth, and then she was giving him the answer that he had hated. "No, I never had heard of anything like that. I'm sorry if you had heard some rumors and everything." His mother said and then after this, Jeff just nodded slowly and then he closed his door and then he placed the board on the ground and then he went on the bed.

Once he was inside of his bedroom, his father was speaking to his mother for a moment. "You seem to be getting better at acting. He didn't even notice what the look on your face was giving off." His father said and then Jeff was just so tired that he could not handle it anymore, and he was just trying to go along with his life once he woke up. He knew for a fact that this was a lie and that they had been lying, but at the same time he was too tired to continue this so he went right to sleep and he was just trying to act like he was going to live a normal life.

Jeff woke up the next day and when he had done so, he was not really too worried about this whole thing. He was actually thinking that if anything, he really did imagine the whole thing, and that this was one big nightmare. He got on his skateboard and his parents even acted as if this never happened and Jeff started skating off and this day he didn't want to talk to his friends for a day to give them a break. After a day or two of this, Jeff was actually starting to think that none of this really did happen and that he had imagined the whole thing.

The second day after the whole Jane death incident, Jeff started to talk with Randy and the others in the group, and they were all acting normal and not mentioning Jane even once, and he was convinced that this was all just something that never happened, and although Michael acted off that day, he did think that perhaps he had just not gotten enough sleep for the next couple of days, and right before Jeff went home, he just smoked with his friends for a bit and acted like everything was all good. Jeff was even enjoying like now again. 

When Jeff was heading home that day, he felt like his parents had known about the drugs that he had been doing, and he could tell that they were really in the mood of giving him a lecture, but they had not done this, and Jeff thought that this was just teenager stuff now. In the next day, Jeff and Randy talked for a bit and they were just talking about stuff related to how they were going to get their next drug supplies, since Troy was starting to run out a little bit and Jeff was worried that this was actually going to be a problem soon enough, and he felt like if anything he was going to talk to Liu about this, which was not too bad since Liu still did trust him a little bit.

The next day, which was the fourth day after the whole death of Jane incident, Jeff was talking with Keith and he had found out that Keith actually did have some supplies that he managed to buy the previous night at the gas station, where Sheldon was working. That was when Jeff remembered that conversation with Sheldon and he did realize that he was still alive, which was making him slowly start to feel better.

Jeff met up with Keith, Randy, Michael and Troy afterwards when they got that news and they went to Sheldon at the gas station and Jeff thanked them for the supplies despite them being underage and Sheldon said that it really was not all that big of a deal. He said that if they had the money to buy it, then they can just get the supplies that they damn well please and he was not he was going to stop them for this, which was really exciting for them to actually hear.

The more that they hung out, in the next couple of days, it was starting to act like Michael even was starting to get better, and it had been almost a week since Jane had died and while Jeff was mostly moving on from this whole thing, at the same time there was a part of him that was starting to think that he was lying to himself this entire time and that there was no way that Jane did not exist, and then Jeff decided that even if he had liked his new found freedom, that after one week or lying to himself, he was finally going to check back into this stuff now.

Jeff then woke up the next morning and this time, he was not really going to worry about his friends. This time he was either going to go to the graveyard or he was going to hang out with Michael and he was going to see what they were actually doing and he was going to finally confront them about this whole thing, to see if he was insane or not.

Jeff sat down in the skatepark for a while and he was thinking more and more about what he was wanting to do next, and he was looking around and he was starting to think that this was going to be a terrible event and everything, but then Jeff was thinking that the lying was too much and that he did need to figure this out, but he was not sure which one to check first as he was sure that either way, this was going to be a really huge mistake.

Then Jeff stood up and then he was placing his skateboard on the ground and then he was giving it just a few more seconds to think it out and then once he was finally making his choice, he was feeling better about his choice and then he started to skate in the direction of his destination.

 

As he was skating towards the destination, the more that he was starting to feel like he had made the lesser of two evils in terms of choices, and that he was now going to make a huge mistake if he didn't go through with the choice that he had made, but then he was thinking that the police was going to see what he had wanted to do and then his crimes would get public, but it didn't matter since he had recorded this whole thing the whole time so everybody knew the entire truth from start to finish.

Eventually, Jeff had reached the front door of Michael's house and he knocked on it several times and he could tell that the knocking was probably annoying since he knew for a fact that if he heard somebody doing this to his own house like this, he would be really fucking pissed off. But then Michael had answered the door and he was looking right at Jeff. "Can we talk about something that happened a few days ago?" Jeff asked and there was something about the way that he was asking this question that was making Michael start to piece it all together and then he was starting to really wonder why Jeff was wanting to torture him like this. But then he was telling himself that this was going to come up sooner or later, so he let Jeff inside and then Jeff went right to Michael's house, in order to have a conversation neither one of them would hear.  
"Jeff, you know you are not supposed to be talking about Jane, or else there are going to be people who are going to start to track you down." Michael said and then Jeff was feeling glad that he did know exactly what Jeff was here for, but at the same time, he was not going to be fucking around with this for the time being, so he was not going to let any of his thoughts make him stop talking for any reason.  
"Michael, please don't be acting like this. We need to do something that can actually make your sister feel like she had actually made the best choice. This hiding and doing nothing is fucking terrible and is not giving her any justice at all. This is something that you should not be giving your fucking sister. That is fucking terrible." Jeff said and then he was looking at his brother. "I am going to kill the mayor. Once I do that, then I am going to take down the rest of his cronies, including my father and by doing so, then everything that happens in this town can be revealed, and there is nothing that we will feel like we will have to hide anymore." Jeff said and he felt like he was ready to do this, while Michael was shaking his head with his hands at his face.  
"JEFF! Oh my fucking god. Why are you acting like this? You know for a fact that this is a terrible idea. Please don't act like this is a good idea. Just stop what you are doing right now. I was finally thinking that you were able to let the matter go. I thought that we could just pretend that life was normal now." Michael said and then Jeff was unable to believe in the defeat of this guy.  
"You lost the life of your sister, and you are acting like this is normal. How the hell can you tell yourself this? There is nothing about a fifteen year old girl dying because the fucking police or nobody else would do their job in actually making the people safe. You must realize that this is something that she should have never had to happen to her." Jeff said as Michael was looking down, he knew Jeff was right but he hated to admit it since he knew there was no justice that could ever come to her.  
"Jeff, I really want to avenge her as much as you do, but I know that this is never going to fucking happen. Just go on and live life. Just act like things are fine. I am doing my best on this regard, and while I am not doing super amazing, I am doing better than I ever could have thought I would have been able to do." Michael said and then Jeff was just unable to believe in what Michael was saying, that he was going to let his sister not get any vengeance.  
"I am going to take this guy down, and if you want to support me, that is great, but if not, then I am sorry. I don't really know if I would ever be able to really support you anymore." Jeff said and then Michael was just trying to figure out if Jeff was actually going to do what he was fearing Jeff was going to do now.  
"Jeff, please don't do this. If you are going to kill the mayor, as much as I would hate to do this to you and as much as I hate the mayor, I think I would have to take you out for the sake of the rest of the town." Michael said and then he went to the knife that was on his wall and Jeff was thinking about this, and if this was a warning sign or not.  
"Michael, please don't do this. We're supposed to be friends. We are supposed to be supporting each other no matter what happens. I want to help your sister find peace, and you are just not letting me even have a chance at this at all. Please Michael, join me and then we can actually do the one thing that really matters." Jeff said and then after he had said that, Michael was not wanting to entertain this any further with Jeff, and then he was walking closer to Jeff with the knife in his hand and Jeff was wishing that he still had that knife before, and now the one time that he needed self defense was the one time he could not fucking get it.  
Jeff then kicked Michael right in the balls when Michael was only a few feet away from Jeff and he knew that this was nothing to be feeling bad over since this indeed was self defense and then his friend fell down to the ground and he was groaning in pain. He was looking right up at Jeff and he was not really sure if he was able to look at the guy he was thinking as a friend anymore or not. "Jeff, I don't want anything to happen to you. Don't continue this case anymore. Just drop the fucking subject and act like none of this happened. I miss Jane, I really do, but she is gone, and she will always be gone. There is nothing you can do about it." Michael said as Jeff was grabbing the knife and he was holding it, wondering what to do now, thinking that he did have two options on what to do that he could justify in some way.  
On one hand, Michael was his friend, so of course he should spare Michael to actually make their friendship actually still have some honor. But at the same time, he was worried that he was never going to actually trust the guy again, and that he might try and report it to the police. If he was going to, then he would need to kill the guy in order to keep himself even have a small chance of getting away with what he was doing, although he would now have sixteen people under his death count if he did.  
Jeff had made his choice, even though it was a choice that he had really hated to make, and he was really wishing that he did not have to make this choice, but he knew for a fact it was the only way he could keep himself safe from getting exposed any further than he already did.  
Michael was watching as Jeff was getting to his knees as Jeff was grabbing Michael's hair and then Jeff was holding the knife forward. "Please don't worry about this. I will avenge both you and Jane. At least you can see her again soon." Jeff said and before Michael could even begin to try and resist, Jeff just slit the throat of his former friend, killing him right at the spot, and Jeff threw his dead body at the ground and then Jeff grabbed his skateboard, and then he left the window and then he started to skate down all the way to the next part of his journey, and he was hoping that his parents wouldn't know for long enough for him to actually get the revenge, and if they did, then at least they didn't figure out that Jeff had killed their son, and his friend.  
As Jeff kept skating down even further more and more, the more that Jeff was just in fear that he was going to get caught at any moment. But eventually, Jeff had enough and he went down to the next part of what he felt like he needed to do.  
When Jeff was continuing his skating, he would stop getting as afraid, and he was starting to think that nobody was ever going to catch him and then he was starting to let the fact that nobody would even act like Michael existed be exposed to the public again, not even to his other three friends.  
Jeff went right to Randy's house and once at his house, Jeff was scared of what was going to happen. He was just hoping that he was going to contain himself this time, and not kill a second one of his friends, and he was just glad that Randy didn't know about Michael having been killed by this point in time now, and Jeff was thinking that maybe he could be able to go along this whole day without having anybody hearing of what he had done. As he had knocked on Randy's door, he saw Randy opened it and then he let Jeff inside of the house and then once inside of the house, Jeff was placing the board down once again as he had been doing every single time he had gone to a new house.  
"Jeff, what are you going to want to do today?" Randy asked and then Jeff was just giving Randy a look on his face that was showing that he was not going to be messing around that day, and that there was something that he needed to do. As Randy was thinking about this stuff, he was starting to piece some of this stuff together and then he had said "Jeff, what exactly are you wanting to do?"  
"I think it is time for the mayor to pay for his crimes, and I think you might be able to actually help me out with this whole thing. Randy, how do you think you will be able to help me destroy the mayor?" Jeff asked and then Randy was sitting down and he was thinking that this stuff was crazy, and that Jeff needed to slow down and get a little bit more realistic on this whole thing. He wasn't too opposed to Jeff doing this stuff, but there was no way he could realistically be able to pull this shit all off for good.  
"I don't really think you would have a chance on taking this guy down. He had basically the entire city working for him, and I just think that he will be able to take you down the moment that he sees that you are coming towards him. He is going to fucking kill you and then you will really have nobody to blame on your death besides yourself because you just didn't know how to fucking keep it to yourself." Randy had told Jeff and then that was when Jeff was standing up and then he was pointing his hand right down on the ground and he was starting to get a little bit more visibly annoyed at this stuff when he wanted to prove his point to Randy.  
"I have no other fucking choice since I know for a fact that nobody will ever actually join me on this. He is going to fucking keep up these crimes and corruption, so please just fucking stop this and actually help me. I don't want you to get in danger either, but I feel like we are getting in danger by just standing here and doing nothing at the exact same time. We need to fucking kill him if we want a chance at actually bringing any of this into peace." Jeff said and then after he had said this, Randy was just thinking that Jeff had totally gone insane.  
"Jeff, we have been living here just fine until you moved here. Then in the last two weeks after you had shown up, everything just starts to go down hill and then you act like we should be helping you out on some form of basically suicide mission. I hope you actually get why this is so fucking insane and why I would not really want to be able to help you out." Randy said and then Jeff was sitting down on the couch again as he was placing one single hand on his face.  
"I thought you were a friend. I thought that you would actually be able to help me out, and not just reject me all the time. I really just wanted somebody to actually help me out and everything. Nobody ever wants to admit the truth on the problems of this town, and it seems like I am the only one who is actually seeing what all these problems are. Why is it that nobody actually can see what the problems have been." Jeff said and he was actually feeling terrible as he was doing this. He didn't want to place these people in danger, but at the same time there was no way in hell he had wanted to do this all alone.  
Randy was just a little bit worried about what was going on, and he was worried on if this guy was actually even remotely as sane as they thought that they were. They would have considered Jeff a friend before, but now they are not so sure anymore. They think that Jeff is just some guy who really needed some help here. "Jeff, I do consider you to be a friend right now, but please don't actually try and make this all one big damn hero type of situation. You are trying way too hard to be this great hero that can save us all, and you just don't really have all of these things that can really go in your favor. In fact, every single thing that is going on is totally against your favor, and you must realize that this is the truth."  
Jeff then sighed as he was saying "I am totally aware that this is totally against my favor. But I need to do this since I am pretty sure that I am the only one who can and who will do it. Nobody would want to do it at all, and therefore I am going to actually try and do this on my own. There is nothing wrong at all with this whole idea." Jeff said and then Randy was shocked that he was speaking like this at all.  
"There are a lot of stuff that is wrong with this idea. The mayor will see what you are doing, and he will kill you before you even have a choice. Jeff, if you do this, I don't think I will ever be able to talk to you ever again." Randy said and then he was watching as Jeff was grabbing his skateboard and he was starting to walk away and then he placed his hand on Jeff's shoulder.  
Jeff was realizing that when he had left Michael's house, he still had the knife in his pocket. Jeff was placing his hand in his pocket and then Jeff said "Randy, you better let go of me right now. You do not want to know what I a going to do if you make me too angry." Jeff felt terrible for saying this, as he knew where this was going to go, but he didn't care.  
"What are you going to do Jeff if I don't let you go?" Randy asked and then Jeff was starting to try and walk along and then Randy was pressing down even hard and then Jeff was getting tired of this so he grabbed the knife and then he pulled it out of his pocket.  
"You are a friend of mine, so I will make this quick." Jeff said and then he turned around and stabbed Randy right in the chest and then he spun the knife around as he saw that Randy was looking right at Jeff and then he was letting go of Jeff and then Jeff let go of the body and he pulled the knife away as Randy started to fall down to the ground and he landed right on the ground and then he saw that his now second dead friend was looking right at the wall and he saw the blood of his dead friend going over the entire ground and that was when Jeff heard that there was some sounds to see what was going on. Jeff then left the house and he skated just fast enough to where he was able to avoid getting seen by Randy's parents by mere seconds but he was not far enough away to not hear the absolutely heart breaking scream of Randy's mother and Jeff was just glad that if for nothing else, nobody would see what he had done.  
Jeff was now feeling even more alone than ever, knowing that two of his friends were now dead and that both of them were on his hands and now he had killed seventeen people.  
He was not going to take any more risks. He was going to go after his father, kill his parents for being a part of the business, and then he would kill the mayor. Right before he came up with this idea, he decided to do one final check at the gas station when he went to the bank and stole twenty dollars where he bought one more pack of cigarettes and one more energy drink. After he smoked all twenty in a row, and after he drank the entire energy drink in about four gulps, he was ready to do what needed to be done.  
Jeff was riding right to the place where his dad had worked. They had drove by there one time right when Jeff had first moved there to make the see what the place was. Jeff was rubbing the knife and he placed it right in his pocket and he was noticing that his white hoody was pretty much covered in blood and then he shook his head hating how much it was covered in blood and how much people were going to go around and question him for what he had been doing and then he was walking right inside of the business building.  
As he had first gone in there, he was seeing that Liu was talking with Troy and Keith there. Liu stopped right when Jeff was inside of his room and then he was looking right at Jeff as if to decide what he was wanting to say, and if he was going to regret all of this stuff. "Jeff, I am not going to let you do what you are wanting to do." Liu said and then after this, Keith raised his hands up and he was just acting like he was not wanting to be a part of this and that he was just going to be going on.  
"Sorry for getting into this whole thing, just pretend you guys never met me." Keith then ran out of the building, and Jeff felt like he could spare at least Keith since he had conceded and he felt no need to actually punish the one guy who had decided that they were just going to let Jeff do what he had pleased to do. Then Jeff was looking right at Liu and Troy and then Jeff was really not wanting to kill his brother, since he had known the guy for a really long time. He didn't mind Troy, since Troy had barely known him, but if they were both able to back down, then Jeff was fine with taking them both down.  
"Jeff I really hope you understand that this is a terrible idea. Please get the hell out of here and just go home." Liu said and then Jeff was just shaking his head, as if this was just going to happen. Liu was looking right at him and Jeff was thinking that the only good thing that was going to be coming out of this was the fact that he was not going to try and fight Jeff, which would have made it an easy kill if something like that came up and if he was given the choice.  
"I don't care that this is a terrible idea. Our parents are too into the crime scene, and they need to be taken out, and I don't care if this sounds crazy, and I will fight my right to do this no matter what the situation may be. I don't want this to be done to you, and I will do it if I have to, but I have no desire at all." Jeff said and then Troy was just looking at Jeff and he was looking in his pocket for something he could defend himself with, or some drugs that he could give Jeff last second in order to make himself weak and useless.  
"Fuck this Liu, I have been trying to get you to respect my choice, and I wish that we were in the days back in Montana where he didn't have to deal with anything like this, but our dad had to give himself a promotion for no real reason. This is the fault of our dad, not the fault of my own. I never wanted to do this, but he has left me with no choice but to do this." Jeff said and then Liu was just getting pissed at Jeff for trying to justify the idea of doing any of this, and he was thinking that Jeff was going to have to die soon if he was not going to calm down soon enough.  
"Jeff, I was wanting to try and talk to you and maybe get you to see how crazy this whole situation was, and I was hoping that maybe once I explain things to you, then you would be able to see what is wrong with what you want to do and you will finally go along and act like a normal guy once again." Liu said and then as he was saying this, he knew that this was a really off chance that this was just not going to be happening, but he was just wanting to pretend that this could happen and then Jeff was just getting ready to grab the knife that was in his pocket. Troy was looking right at Jeff and then he was wondering if he needed to make the choice that he knew he was going to really hate making, since it meant that doing this was virtually going to end his life.  
"Liu, he is too far gone, just leave me alone, and I will see if I can actually change how he is thinking on this." Troy had said and then after he had said this, Jeff was looking right at Troy and he was going to hate the choice that he was being forced to choose, but he was going to not regret making it if it meant that he would actually have a chance on killing his father and killing the mayor of the town.  
Liu was looking right at Jeff and as much as he had hated to admit that Troy was right, he did know for a fact that Troy was indeed right about this and then he said "I am going to be getting the police, just hold him out long enough." Liu said and then he ran out and he was going to be going to the pay phone that was near by and then Jeff was holding his knife. He was going to deal with the police soon. He had to do it before, and he was not going to mind doing it again. First time was the hardest. But these people ahead of him were more important.  
"Troy, I am going to give you one chance to get the hell out of here, and then you can just go along with the status quo of this town and act like everything never happened. Or if you don't leave, then it will only leave Keith to be acting like this." Jeff said and then Troy looked at Jeff trying to piece together what he had meant by 'that only leaving Keith' and then after he had thought of it for a bit, he then understood it and then he was shaking his head there.  
"Oh my god Jeff, did you kill Michael and Randy? Why the fuck did you do that? Was it really worth it?" Troy questioned Jeff and then after he had questioned him that, Jeff was just walking right towards Troy and he was going to be ready to make this the eighteenth person that he was going to add to his list, even though he had no real desire to do this. Troy was getting closer to wanting to fight back but he was still wanting to fight this "You better turn back, and I never want to see you again. You should have never talked to any of us you fucking asshole."  
After Troy had said that, Jeff grabbed Troy by the face and then he was holding Troy's mouth and nose to make sure he was refusing to breath and then Jeff was stabbing Troy in the neck three times right then and there and after the third time, Troy fell down to the ground and he was now dead as well, and Jeff realized that the only one who was left was Keith, and that he had finally spared at least one of them.  
Jeff then looked at Troy, he nodded and then he was going to the elevator and he had went all the way up to the top floor of the business building, and then Jeff opened the door and then he was looking right at the man that was his father, and he was holding his mother by her chest with a gun to her face.  
"Jeff, don't you fucking get any closer, or else I will fire this fucking gun at you." Jeff's father said and then Jeff was holding his hands up and this was when he had dropped the knife and then Jeff was wondering what he can do to make his father realize how insane he was.  
"Dad, I will leave and go back home, but please tell me why you are holding mom like this? Why are you making the visual that you are going to kill my own fucking mother?" Jeff asked and then his father smiled and then he mouth the words 'you want me to kill her?' and then with that, he fired the gun and then he let go as his deceased mother fell down to the ground and then he placed the gun right down to the table as he sat down on his seat and Jeff was told to sit down and then Jeff reluctantly did so.  
"What is wrong with you?" Jeff slowly asked his father, not being able to think of any different question besides just this as his dad was looking right at his child, just thinking of what to say and entertain his child with on this conversation. "My mother was innocent, and she did not in any way deserve what the fuck you just did to her. I feel disgusted to even know that you are even my fucking father." Jeff said and then his dad was tempted to slap him for the way he was talking but he also knew it really did not matter at any moment soon. He really didn't give a shit what his son was saying to him since he was well aware of the fact that soon enough, this guy was going to get punished for everything that he had done.  
"You are the one who is going around and spreading lies about what this town is like. You are the one who is telling people false stories of what happened here. You act like you are some great person and that you are going to bring an end to this whole thing, but in reality, you are just feeding into the masses. You have made no real difference, and I think we both know this. You just don't want to admit the fact that you are useless in the long run." His father said as Jeff was looking down, and Jeff hated to admit it, but he knew that his father was right. "Now you have decided that you have no desire to act like a good person and live normally. After all, you forced me to put a bullet in my wives head because you are so demented you wanted me to."  
"No I fucking didn't want you to kill my fucking mother. You just decided that this was what I said, and then you fucking shot her before I even had a chance to. You are one of the most fucked up people that has ever lived. You just do what works best for you and your business. I would not be surprised if you along and marry a younger woman and have children with them and then train them to take over the job." Jeff said as his father was now starting to get pissed.  
"Don't you dare start acting like I am one of those stereotypical people that you would see in the movies who want nothing but power. In fact, I am wanting peace. But the peace that I want is something that my own fucking child will not be able to help me provide. Do you not know how ashamed this makes me to say that?" Jeff's father said and then Jeff was looking right at the gun. Tensions were rising really fast, and he was thinking that he was going to have to use it soon, if his father didn't get to it already.  
"I really highly doubt you are going to be able to take me on with the gun. You have barely fired one before. You are better with the knife anyways. Just don't even bother. You are just going to make me feel embarrassed to be your father even more. If you are going to be a criminal, you at least could have been a professional one. But here you are, just killing anybody who disagrees with you and you act like that is with honor." Jeff's father said as Jeff wondered how there could be any form of honor when it comes to killing people.  
"Nothing I have done has been for this lie of honor, or whatever you want to call it. Do you really think I care about that? If I wanted honor, I would have graduated school and gotten a life in college or a good job. There is no honor to throwing your life away to pick up after the messes your own father has made." Jeff said and then his father stood up and walked to the window.  
"I have made no mistakes Jeff. Don't you ever assume that I have made some again. I am the best businessman in this entire city. I have made nothing that could even come close to being a mistake. The closest that I have gotten was having you even be alive." Jeff's father said and then Jeff was holding the gun now and he was wondering when it fire it.  
"At least your brother actually has friends and a job. There is nothing that you have. You just have a terrible reputation and a bad temper and this imagination that you are some form of freedom fighter. Well guess the fuck what Jeff, this isn't second grade anymore. There are no heroes and there are no villains. Just people who actually need to do something in order to advance in their job. Once you get a job, if you even live long enough to see one, then perhaps you will finally see where I am coming from in all of this. But I doubt that this is the case, given how much of a retard you are." Jeff's father said and then Jeff just kept him talking.  
"So having any sort of compassion and not wanting to let somebodys death just be something that will be considered a false event is being a retard, and going around and acting like your son is a piece of scum isn't being one? I think that perhaps you have your standards a bit mixed up fad." Jeff said and then his father was still looking outside as he was saying this.  
"Damn, maybe not all is lost with you yet young man. I thought that you were too far gone, but I guess that maybe you do have some fire left in you after all. I just thought that you were some extra soft dummy who just didn't understand how the world worked. But maybe I should have given you an extra chance. Maybe I can be able to get you to work with me after all. We can rule this town. We can be able to make the mayor see that we are above him, and then I think that you will see that if anything, I am the one who actually is the hero of this all. I am the one who has made great advancements in this world. We could be able to actually change the setting of this place." Jeff's dad said and while it was tempting for like five seconds, Jeff couldn't handle it anymore and he did the town justice.  
Jeff fired the gun and the bullet went right outside the glass window and his father looked at him as his body fell down to the ground, and then Jeff stood up and felt like the entire thing was over. But as he turned around, he saw the mayor walk in with three of his cronies.  
"Jeff, I didn't really think that you would actually have the balls to take down your father like that. I thought that you were just speaking it up, and acting like you would actually do it. God, it is a shame that you decided to do something like this. You would have been one of my most trusted advisers if you had behaved yourself. Hell, you could have even taken the job from your father and he would have gone down as a failed businessman, which lets be honest, he probably would have been in the long run." The mayor said and then Jeff was aiming the gun right at the first of his cronies and fired the bullet and the bullet went through his fore head and then the guy fell right down and then Jeff was looking right at the mayor.  
"Bro, you don't need to be acting this way. I thought that you would have been willing to give me a chance to explain myself to you. I guess you are too temperamental to actually do something like this. You are quite the crazy young man. I guess I wasn't any better when I was your age." The mayor said and then he was looking at his cronies and then he said "I guess we need to show him a lesson of respect."  
"What the hell are you talking about, a lesson of respect?" Jeff asked and then after he had asked this question, the mayor was walking up to Jeff as one of the two cronies went right behind him and then grabbed Jeff by his hands and then he kicked Jeff's knees, breaking both of them with utter ease. Jeff went down to his broken knees as the mayor was looking at him when the other cronie started to cover him with a gas bottle.  
"You think that I enjoy hurting people?" The mayor asked and then he grabbed Jeff's knife and then he sliced open Jeff's mouth on both ends and then he was pulling out a lighter in his pocket and he was looking at the flame that was coming up. "Jeff, I thought that you would understand the sacrifices that I would have to make when I became mayor. I know that many people do not trust me, but I am doing something that I needed to do. I do not regret what I have done. And I certainly don't regret putting silence to a nonsense speaker who tries to spread false rumors of my town." Then the mayor ordered the guy holding Jeff's arms to give him more pain and then the guy broke both of Jeff's hands with no effort and he dropped his gun and then he was screaming by this point as blood was coming right out of his mouth and then he coughed up even more blood.  
"Fuck you. Fuck you. FUCK YOU!" Jeff yelled and then the mayor stomped on one of Jeff's broken knees and then Jeff was let go and then he flopped down on the ground and then the mayor was looking right at Jeff above him and then he was smiling as he was watching this guy in pain.  
"You do not speak to your elders like that. Your father never taught you to respect your elders. Maybe that is why you have been talking back to him the entire time that he was here. If you actually have some lessons in respect, then perhaps you would have actually behaved like a normal boy. But I guess you are just not a fucking normal boy. Maybe me getting rid of you would actually be making things easier for you." The mayor said and then he was grabbing the gun that was right on the ground and then he aimed it right at Jeff's chest and then he was shooting him right in the chest.  
Jeff was coughing and he was barely even alive at this point in time. "Jeff, you are quite the fucking loser. I think that perhaps your father should have taught you how to handle things a little bit better. But I guess that maybe your father does not have anything good going on for him at all. I think you need to start to actually try and maintain a normal composure while you are talking to me." The mayor said and then he was kicking Jeff right in the balls a couple of times and then Jeff was crying down his face which felt terrible with the gas that was on his face.  
The mayor was just wondering if Jeff was going to say something at all when Jeff looked up at the mayor as much as he could possibly be able to and then he said "Oh my fucking god, I want you to fucking die. I think that you are going to die. I will kill you when I get stronger." Jeff said and then the mayor looked right at him.  
"Oh my fucking god, I can't believe what the hell you are saying. You are dead Jeff. DEAD. You don't have any chance of actually killing me. I am going to kill you now. I will never see you again. Nobody will even know that you exist. Then your brother Liu will become my right hand man, and he would trust me now. I will be able to show him that I am a nice guy." The mayor had said and then he was wondering if he should kill Jeff now.  
"Honestly Jeff, I would hate to do this right now, but I have a lot of work to do, and this conversation is getting a little bit boring. I think that it is time to kill you now." The mayor said and then he grabbed Jeff and then he broke the window and then he threw Jeff right out the window and Jeff was falling down and then all of his body parts were flying around, especially the broken parts and then Jeff was certain that he was going to die.  
Eventually though, Jeff opened his eyes and then when he had opened his eyes, he saw that he was in the hospital. He was looking around and he checked the date on the calendar that was about thirty or forty feet away and he had realized that for some reason, he was not dead which he was not sure if he was happy for or if he was sad over this, Jeff was seeing that two weeks had passed and then Jeff was looking around and then he was starting to standing up. As he was standing up, he saw that he had two arm casts, and then he was having two leg casts and he was able to walk around but in a very limping like fashion.  
There was one doctor who had walked up to Jeff and then they said "Wow, you are finally awake. We were thinking that you were dead. You were brought here and you were barely even alive at all. The person who brought you here is this guy named Sheldon Lee, the guy who works at the gas station." The doctor said and then the doctor said "Who is your family, since the only person who visited you was the sheriff?"  
Jeff thought about this for a moment and then he had shook his head, as if he could not handle this at all. "I only have one older brother, named Liu. But that doesn't matter now. I am ready to leave now." Jeff said and then he was watching as the doctor was ready to protest and Jeff was shaking his head violently and then he said "I am going to leave now. I respect the fact that you did this for me, and I really respect the fact that you want to help me even more, but I need to get the hell out of here. If you experienced the stuff that I had to deal with, then you would understand why I am doing this right now." Jeff said and then the doctor was giving up on this and then she walked to the side and then she had said one more thing.  
"Where do you think you are going to go now? Do you have any plans on what you want to do?" The doctor asked and then Jeff was thinking about this and he really could not come up with anything, so he had shook his head and then he was limping his way out of the hospital.  
"There is nothing that I can go to. Nobody wants to talk to me anymore. Nobody likes me at all." Jeff was then outside of the room and then he was outside of the hospital and he was heading on out of the town and he was starting to feel something very heavy in his pocket and he ripped his pocket open and he saw that there was a small tape set and a camera in there and then he eventually after several hours walked one single mile and then he sat down and then he was seeing that nobody was around to see that he was going to do this. Then he placed the camera down and he watched the entire thing, which was bringing the story back to him all at once and Jeff placed his hand on his face despite it being way too broken to get away with this at all.  
Then once he was done watching all of this, Jeff then took a deep breath and then he was going to end this all off for a moment and then he said "I am going to leave this life behind. My name is Jeffrey Woods, and this is my story. But I guess that many people will probably know of me now as Jeff the killer." Jeff finished the tape and then he pressed stop and that was the end of the true story film that all went down hill in the course of just a mere few days.  
The now exiled man was walking right to the radio station building that was very small and in between the two places and then he placed the camera and the tape right in there and then he realized that this was going to be the whole thing and he was done with this and that he needed to start his new life.  
Jeff had tried to see Keith once more and when he managed to get to talk to him Keith wasn't angry and he didn't yell at him for killing their friends, but he was just confused at this, wondering who the hell this Jeff guy with a deformed face and a bunch of broken body parts was. They didn't even know who he was and when Jeff mentioned Randy, Troy, and Michael as well as Jane and then Keith said that Jeff was stupid and lying and that there was none of this that was true.  
After Jeff had given up on this whole thing, and then he walked off he gave one more try to Liu who was the only one living in the house and when Jeff asked him, Liu said his brother died when he was only thirteen and that his parents died in a car crash that year and that Liu moved here recently because he got a business promotion. Then he asked Jeff why he asked this and then he said that Jeff looked like his brother and then Jeff was saying he was just interested in this but then he left when he realized Liu was not normal and then after this, he went to a hotel and he lived behind there, slowly killing people over the years to get some supplies from them and then switching locations every death to not get caught and he would wonder if he should kill the sheriff or if he should kill the mayor first, but he knew he had to kill both.  
And that was how the whole thing ended as Sheriff David was staring at his wife and then the older guy and then he said "This does place more context in this more than ever. I think we need to actually and figure this whole thing out now." David said, thinking that maybe Jeff was actually the lesser or two evils.


	41. Getting a Clue

Chapter 40: Getting a Clue

David stood up and he was walking outside of the police station, and then when he was doing this, he was looking at Whitney. "I'm hungry right now. I need to find this Jeff guy and maybe even give him another chance. I can't believe that I am going to give that guy another chance right now, but considering the stuff that they had said in there, I might actually have to give it a real go right now." David said and then he was looking down and took a deep breath right then and there. "Whitney, do you want to come with me to get something to eat?" Then with that, the guy with white hair stood up and was thinking that it was time for him to head on out of the police station, and just go back to his broadcast building.

Whitney got up and then she nodded and then the two of them had walked out of the police station as the older guy went to the radio station, or at least he was driving there, and when Whitney was in the passenger seat of David's car she felt like it was time for her to speak her feelings on the subject. "So David, you knew who Jeff was and you just let it slide? Why did you do that?" She was more confused and shocked but she didn't really get angry at her husband.

"Well, I thought that there was a chance that he might actually change his lifestyle, and I was willing to finally give him a chance. When I had done that, I didn't think he was going to keep getting any worse. She was only a sixteen-year-old guy, and I didn't think there was a way for him to actually act like this. I thought that he was just a confused guy who made a couple of wrong choices and needed a chance to turn things around." David said and then after he had told her this, Whitney had thought about it and he was seeing that his wife really could not argue with him all that much about that.

"Yeah, I guess that makes a little bit of sense. I never really thought of it though. I just thought that you were scared to face the law by talking to him." Whitney had said and then David thought about that for just a little bit. It wasn't entirely wrong that he was thinking about it like that. "But David, if we see him again, we need to either kill him or arrest him."

"I know that now. He is too far gone. He is a monster. But at the same time, the mayor is a fucking monster too. I think that perhaps if I had to make a choice, I might have to save Jeff and kill the mayor. I never realized truly how evil he was until I saw that tape. I will probably just arrest Jeff and leave it at that, but I don't think I can get myself to kill him over this." David said and then they pulled up at the Dairy Queen, which was only ten minutes away from the police station at the police station and then he got out of it. The real reason he chooses that was that it was just cheap. Before they went inside, both David and Whitney had a cig and then they got ready to have their food.

David and Whitney both ordered a flamethrower meal and they both just got a soda. As they were sitting down, they noticed that only one other guy was sitting there, and he was eating something and he looked like he was writing something on a small notebook. David felt stupid for this, but he felt like he needed to know what he was doing. David walked right to Izzy.

"Is there anybody who is going to pick you up? I don't know if you should be out this late with the stuff going on around town lately." David said and then when he had said this, Izzy was looking right at David and he was just thinking of a way to get him to leave him alone, but then he thought that maybe David was just trying to make sure that he was safe against the bunch of murder cases going around.

"Well, I am going to be meeting with some of my camp friends soon. They will just talk to me about some stuff related to summer camp and everything. We will head on back to camp afterward. I know that you want to make sure that I am fine, but I wouldn't really worry about me all that much. Thanks for asking me this though." Izzy said and then afterward, David just nodded and he felt as if this guy was telling the truth.

"Yeah, go ahead and just hang out with your friends. Sorry for bothering you. I was just worried about you for a moment." Then with that, David walked right back to Whitney as the food dropped off as if on cue and then David was thinking about that with Whitney. "Got to give the guy credit, he seems to be better at talking to the police than some other young people. Makes me think that he is not really a troublemaker at all." David said as he unwrapped his food and started to eat it right away.

"Bro, not everybody who is a teenager is a troublemaker. I know it is crazy to believe that, but I didn't do anything too much when I was a young girl. Then again, my parents always made sure me and my sister were always safe and they were telling me that they didn't want us to have anything happen to us. I never got why they have been this firm on my safety, aside from the fact that they were my parents, but I feel like they were taking it just maybe a little bit too far without there being at least some form of backstory to this whole thing." Whitney said and then David nodded, and he was well aware of this fact and then he was scared about hearing her about this, and then he was wondering if perhaps he should tell her the truth about the stuff that he knew about her previous life, even if this did mean that they were going to get divorced.

"I think that they are just concerned parents. I knew some people who didn't know how to talk to their children at all. When I was just a police officer who was getting ready to be in his job at first, I knew this guy who would never talk to his parents and it was bad enough to the point where it may as well be like his parents were dead and everything." David had said and then Whitney thought about if she felt like she could ask him about this.

"How has the guy been doing lately? Have you ever talked to him after you started his job?" Whitney asked and then David thought about it and he thought that if for nothing else, telling her the truth would get a little bit of a reaction out of this.

"Well, you do know him. He is one of the senators in the state. He is quite the amazing man. He is Todd Robinson." David said and then after he had told Whitney this, the more shocked that he had told her this fact, David was laughing at her look. "Yeah, I am telling you the truth. I knew him when he was just a young thirteen-year-old guy." David then started to finish his meal and then Whitney was thinking about what to say then.

"I guess that nothing I ever knew was that crazy. I just knew some guys who would guest star in a movie for like one role and that was my key to fame. But I never knew a person who would go on and become a fucking senator. I think that this quite possibly the craziest thing that you have ever told me. Do you think that you will want to talk to him ever again?" Whitney asked and then David thought about how tempting it would be but also about how impossible that would really be at the same time.

"I don't really think that I can be able to get to know them. I think they just are too busy with their work. I think that if I talk to him, it will be about how to handle my town and everything." David said and then Whitney had been thinking about this, and then when they were finished eating, David was thinking that it was time for them to start to get back to work, and then Izzy was looking up as they got up and went to the car and he was wondering when Tai and Sora would show up.

Izzy was getting to the point where he was actually starting to think that maybe there was actually not going to be the two of them showing up and everything. Izzy was finished up with his meal and he was just simply glad that the fucking sheriff was gone. In all fairness, he was not nearly as bad as some of the other officers who were in the town. So Izzy threw the wrappings away and right when he was about to leave the food place, Tai and Sora had shown up finally and then Tai opened the door up and then the two of them were looking right at each other. "Hey Izzy, you seem like you have been here for a really long time." Tai had said and then the three of them sat down at the table and Tai was wondering if he wanted anything. "Matt will be here in about ten minutes."

"I was thinking that you guys were not going to show up after all. I thought that you guys were going to just let me do this on my own. But I guess that I gave you guys too much credit." Izzy said and he was just trying to be funny about this whole thing, but then Sora was just looking right at the menu.

"Well, I thought that if anybody needed some help on this, that you were going to be the one who needed the information relating to what happened," Sora said and then afterward, Izzy nodded and he was thinking that this was true enough. Izzy had waited for a couple of minutes as Tai had given them the short version of the story, and then once the story was all said and done, Izzy was nodding very slowly as if to show that he did listen to this and that at least part of him was able to comprehend this story.

"Okay, why the hell did you actually decide to keep this up? Why not just stay at camp and not pursue this any further? I think that this would actually be the only thing to make this actually sensible." Izzy said and then he said "If I were you, I would just stop and no longer do this investigation, and just go back to camp and pretend that none of this ever happened. But I guess that maybe you weren't really as smart as me." Izzy said and now he was feeling like a total dick, and then he said: "Sorry for saying that."

"Well, there is something about the guy that actually makes me scared to even go back to camp for more than a couple of hours. I mean, Matt almost died when he had fought this guy, and you expect me to just go on and pretend that this never happened?" Sora said and then after this, Izzy was thinking and then he nodded as if he was going to finally concede to her on that one. But that was Sora, but there was still Tai.

"Sora, fine if you actually think that you need to try and avenge your boyfriend, then I guess that maybe I won't try and tell you against it. But for god sake, Tai needs to stop doing this. He had nothing at stake. That Davis guy is doing his absolute best to get you to stop doing this whole thing, and you are still over and over again just saying that it is fine for you to keep this case going. Tai just gives it up and then maybe you will actually start to live a normal life and everything." Izzy said and then Tai was looking right down on the table and then he was rubbing his eyes a little bit.

"Izzy, I get that I have nothing at skate. But I don't want to actually get anybody that I know in danger. If my sister gets in danger because I didn't do anything to stop this guy, then there will be nothing about myself that I will actually say is all right about my situation." Tai told Izzy and then Izzy thought about the idea of losing a younger sister, and he knew for a fact that Tai feeling this way was not really all that crazy at all, and Izzy was thinking that if Izzy was actually having that as his main reason, then maybe he should leave him alone about it. But he still didn't feel too happy about this whole thing.

"I guess I can understand what it is like if Kari was in danger of dying or something. I have a younger sister, and if something happened to her, it would be pretty hard for me to handle. I don't really care all that much and I don't really think this Jeff guy is actually going to be going after you, but if you feel like this is the only way you can even remotely feel justified about the existence of this guy, then maybe I can't really get all that angry about this. I don't like it. To be honest, I fucking hate it and you are probably going to get yourself killed, but it is still your choice." Izzy said as he was trying to make himself feel better about letting his friends possibly going out and risking their lives and getting killed.

"Izzy, I know that you aren't really all that brave of a gut and that you have nothing that you feel like you need to be fighting for, but I guess that this guy hasn't seen you yet. When you see him, then you know for a fact that it is like about wanting to make him go away forever. It is the only way that will actually keep me not scared. Because I will be so focused on killing this guy that I don't really have the fear to be terrified of what is happening to my boyfriend or my family." Sora said and then Izzy was raising his hand up and he was just getting tired of this conversation.

"All right, you guys have made your point. I am tired of you trying to prove your point. Can we just talk about something else that is not really fucking related about you trying and save your friends and family." Izzy said and then he was placing his hands right on the table that they were talking about.

"Well, I think that when Matt comes along, we will be talking more about what he wants us to do. He seems to be the most damaged by this guy, and I think that he wants to take him on the most out of everybody. So I guess that if there is anybody who is going to be leading the operation, it will probably be him." Tai said and then Izzy was feeling like he was about to lose all hope again since if there was anything he knew about Matt in his few conversations it was that he was probably not the smartest tool in the shed. Not that Izzy would ever even dare to tell somebody this. If Matt heard that, he would be screwed.

"I guess that Matt just wants to get some form of the basic revenge story," Izzy said and he decided that this was the only thing he would want to say about the matter before feeling like he was the one that was being a dick.

"Well, a revenge story is more motivation than I guess you would have. Or hell even I would have." Tai felt like he was forced to admit that, and Izzy was glad that if for nothing else, Izzy was glad that he was able to see that his motivation was a little bit weak over this whole thing. But then Sora was the next one who was speaking.

"I think he is coming right now. Just look out the window right now." Sora said as she was pointing forward and then Izzy was looking out the window the exact same way that Sora had told him to do so and Matt was getting on the parking lot of the place they were eating at, and he saw that Matt was slowly limping as if the pain of what he was doing was just way too much, and Izzy was starting to kind of feel bad for the guy, but there was no way that he would even dare to say that out loud since he didn't even know how bad his condition actually was.

Matt walked right inside the restaurant and then he was walking right towards Izzy and Tai and Sora and then he was slowly sitting down and then he was taking a deep breath and then he was looking right at Izzy and Izzy was seeing that this guy was just refusing to get up at all and that he needed a huge break before he could even begin to think about taking down Jeff or anything of the matter.

"Nice to see you here today Izzy. I was wondering if you were still going to be here or not." Matt said and Izzy could tell that Matt was actually meaning it when he was saying that he had enjoyed Izzy's company, and Izzy was wondering why he was enjoying seeing Izzy here, but then he decided to just not really think about it all that much for a little bit, thinking that they just needed to talk and have some conversations about the more important details and everything. "I think we should be getting the hell out of here," Matt said and then the other three looked at him a little bit surprised that he was suddenly saying this with virtually no warning and they were about to ask him what was going on when he was holding his index finger up and they were able to see that now was not really the time to be getting into his business about the whole matter at hand.

When Matt was walking toward the front door of the Dairy Queen, he could see that this was much more of a problem he was going to have to fight then he could have imagined. "Holy shit guys, I think he is here right now," Matt said and then he was seeing that Jeff was getting right towards the door and then he was walking back to the point where he hit his ass on the floor and he felt a loud thud and that was when Sora had finally gotten up, and then she was walking right towards Matt to see how fine he was.

She looked up and she was seeing that Jeff was opening up his door and then he saw that the door was starting to get more and more open and then Izzy and stood up at that point and then they were running to Matt and they helped Matt to stand up and then Tai was pointing at the other door for them to get of the place. Jeff was moving his knife around and Matt could tell that Jeff was finding this to be rather amusing.

Sora and Matt ran out of this place and Izzy was just right behind them when Tai was the last one who was getting to the exit of the Dairy Queen and then Jeff was starting to run over in their direction fast as he could get before it would be considered an outright sprint and then afterward, the four of them were out of Dairy Queen and then Izzy was trying to make a joke there. "I guess that I don't really ever want to go back to one of these places again." But then Izzy felt bad about that joke since even he was able to realize that this was actually not all that funny.

Jeff was outside of Dairy Queen and then he was holding the knife as he was smiling at them and then Matt was feeling like a dumb ass for the fact that he did not have a car for them to go down. Izzy was thinking that there was a place in which he could actually keep them hidden at, and then he was telling the others to follow him for a bit. Considering the situation, the other three were able to actually let Izzy take the lead for a moment, thinking that he was the best bet that they had.

The four of them were going on a full on sprint for the next five minutes or so, wondering if Izzy was actually telling the truth that he should lead them or if he was just trying to get them to be left alone by the killer. Jeff seemed to have given up on the whole chase for the time being, and either way, they were starting to think that Izzy was the hero for the hour.

But after a bit, they did see that Izzy was indeed telling the truth when they were at this place that looked like a broken skating park that hadn't been used for a while, and Izzy sat down there and the others sat down there as well. "I have only been here once, and that was when some of my druggie friends were trying to do their drugs before they would get caught by their parents. I didn't accept their offer, and I totally forgot about the place for a while. That is, until tonight when I was just needing to find at least some place for us to actually hide at and get away from this guy." Izzy said and then Sora was thinking about that for a little bit.

"Izzy, you are a savior right now. But I think that maybe you do know what it is like about this guy getting close to us. I don't even think that I will have an actual good night sleep for a while since I am scared that he is going to show up in some of my nightmares which after all the stuff that we have gone through, I don't really think is actually all that out there of an idea." Sora said and then she stood up after a moment, she was standing up and she was staring right out towards the sky in the distance.

"You know, despite how scared of all of this I am, I feel like this sky is still really great looking. I hope that I will be able to come by here more in the future. At least this actually makes it worth it." Sora then looked right at Matt and Tai and she was just trying her best not to look at Izzy, as if he was just somebody who didn't really need to get involved with this whole thing.

"We need to not stay here for too long, since if we stay here for a really long time, then Jeff will see us eventually, and he will actually ruin the beauty and safety of even this one place. I don't really know if that will really be worth it." Matt had said and then he was walking down the skating rink, as he was holding his hands out as if he was just trying to be slightly balanced out in order to not fall when he was running down that ring.

"As much as I don't like to admit it, I think that maybe Matt is right. I think that we can only stay here for at best ten minutes. Maybe if we just go back to camp, then everything will be fine and we will never have to deal with the guy again. It seems like we are still relatively safe while we are there. For some reason, the one place that Jeff never attacks us at all at is the summer camp, which makes me wonder if there is something there that is blocking any harm from coming in." Tai said and it was a strange theory and he was feeling like a stupid guy when he was saying this, but at the same time, he was feeling like there might have been a level of truth to it as well.

"I don't want to go back to summer camp. If we go back there now, then the camp head will probably be wondering where we are. He will probably get in our business about it and he will probably try to find enough information in order tell our parents that we have created some problems, and then he will just sort of ruin any of the joy that is around at this camp at all." Izzy said and he was starting to feel a little bit like a pessimist when he was saying this, even though he had no real desire to feel like one when he was saying this, but at the same time, he was trying to be a realist here.

"Well, I would rather have our camp head get in our business about stuff with us being unsafe than us just acting like just running around like this is totally fine and that we are fucking invisible," Matt said and then he was looking at Sora again. "Either way, let's get the fuck out of here." Matt then ran back up the rink and then he was popping his fingers when he was back at the normal surface again.

"I think you guys are both right. How about we just try and head back to the camp and see what happens next. I don't think we should be trying to not go there. You know, unless if something else comes along and we get distracted that way." Tai said and then both he and Izzy were standing up as well and then all four of them were standing and staring at the sky for just a moment.

"You are right, the sky does look fucking amazing," Izzy said and then he was trying to capture at the moment for just a little bit longer before they would be forced to leave the area.

Before the three of them were able to have too much of a chance to admit that they needed to get out of there, they were seeing that there was a police car pulling up to the four of them. "Oh shit, if we weren't going to be heading out before, we are going to have to get out now," Izzy said and then after he had said that, the four of them were heading out of the abandoned skating park and then Tai was thinking that while there was a small amount of thrill to this whole thing, it was still a little bit scary since if David found them, he was going to be pissed off at them for still putting their life to risk and Davis would be even more pissed at them and probably find them to be some form of liability, and Tai could not blame them on this one, since in reality they kind of were pretty much a liability.

"Wow guys, we really probably should be thinking about this better," Sora said as the four of them were behind a house and chilling in the owner's yards, and then she was wondering if the police were still there. "I really hate how we are actually doing something like this. I think we just need to give up the investigation." Sora continued as Izzy was looking up and he was looking right at the window of the house they were chilling at.

"I don't think there is anybody here like at all. It feels like either nobody is home or something else may be going on." Izzy had said and then he was walking towards the front entrance of the house as he was feeling like he was actually making a good choice on this one, even though the others were thinking that this was a terrible idea, but they were also thinking that this was still less of a terrible idea than trying to run away from the police. But then again, if there are people who live here, then the police would be able to find them and they would be screwed even worse than they already were.

They had no choice but to follow the guy as he was knocking on the door and then all four of them stood up and they were following them in order to see what was going to be happening to Izzy due to his carelessness. The three others were right behind Izzy as the door didn't open for about ten to fifteen seconds. "I wonder if the door is locked or not," Izzy said as the others were starting to think that he really was taking this much too far.

He tried to open the door and the others were shocked that the door indeed was not locked, and then he was opening the house to see what the house was like. He was seeing that the house was pitch black, and Izzy was feeling a little bit scared about this. He was ninety percent certain that they were indeed actually in a house that had not been used in a while. Izzy then turned on a light, and as he was walking down the hallway to the house, he was seeing that the other three of them were starting to not feel as scared about this anymore.

But their theory about a house that was not used anymore was quickly thrown away as they saw that there was a guy who was coming out of his bedroom and he turned on the light to the upstairs of the house and then he was calling out towards the younger four teens. "Why are you here?" The guy asked and then he was starting to walk down the pair of stairs.

"We were just trying to get away from the police. They are probably looking for us at this point in time, and we don't want to be dealing with them." Izzy said and then the guy was at the final step down and then he was looking forward and he was seeing that there was a police car slowly driving by, and they were scared at that moment but the four of them just barely walked away enough to avoid getting caught.

"Why exactly are you dealing with the police right now?" The guy asked as he was closing the door and he was looking forward as he was locking the door. "Please, tell me. There is a chance that I know what is going on with what you are talking about and what you are running away from." Izzy was thinking about it and while he didn't really think that the others wanted to listen to him tell this guy the entire truth, but at the same time, he was just able to tell from the look on his face that the guy was actually a person who can be trustworthy.

"Well, we are trying to actually get away from this strange killer. Somebody who has been going around for the last several days killing people. He calls himself Jeffrey Woods. Do you perhaps know who this guy is?" There was also just something about this guy that was making Izzy certain that this guy knew some things about the guy, and that Izzy needed to get this information if they wanted even a slight chance at breaking this guy. The guy who owned this house sighed and then nodded as he was leading them down towards the living room and they had sat down.

"Yes, I do indeed know who this guy was. I used to call him a friend for the first few weeks that I knew him. In fact, I was the only person who he was friends with that even remains anymore. I had been told to not say anything about the case in order to have my safety maintained, you know from the mayor Jimmy White. But I don't really think it matters anymore. We are in Jeff's last hurrah. I have a feeling that this is the truth." The guy said and then he stared right at them. "You guys better give this case a rest. I know who this guy is, and I need to know that there is not anybody who is going to actually fall to his victim list again." For some reason, when this guy was telling them this, that they were starting to believe him more than the police telling them this. They felt like he was actually telling the truth on some real concern, and then Izzy was thinking about this, but he was wasn't sure how to get this guy to admit that he needed to be killed himself.

"Dude, this guy has killed about ten to twenty people so far, and even if you don't want to admit it, this guy has been going around too much and he needs to actually be taken down," Izzy said and then before Izzy was able to say anything else, there was a loud knock on the door and then the owner of the house was looking at the four guests and he was just shaking his head.

"We need to be prepared for what is coming through the door. It is either Jeff, or the police, or hell even the mayor of the city. If it is the mayor, he will make Jeff look like a fucking blessing in comparison. He is much worse than even the worst thing that Jeff can do." The owner of the house said and then Izzy was standing up and he was slowly walking towards the front door of the house.

As he was at the door, he was looking through the pupil and then he was placing his hand on the door and then he was turning the doorknob, and then the guy who was at the door held out his arms and he was smiling as if he was glad that Izzy decided to help him out here.

The guy was wearing all white and he had something that looked like eight-inch fingers and he had two people that were at his side. One of them was a guy with red hair and he looked like he was starting to hate his job more and more with each year that he was working with this guy, and then there was the guy who looked like a more kept up version of Jeff. "You know, we have a lot to be talking about." The mayor said as he looked right at the guy who owned this house. "Oh Keith, we will be coming by you later. But I have something to tell my friends here. We will borrow them first, and we will be at your house again in about an hour or so."

As the mayor was walking Izzy out of the house and into his car, the other two members of his group grabbed Tai, Matt and Sora and then they were dragged out of the house and they all went inside of his car and there were seven people in the house as he started up his car to his place.

Once inside of the car, the guy was looking at the four younger kids and then he was smiling. "My name is Jimmy White. I am the mayor of this city. I don't really appreciate people snooping around and getting in my business about how I handle the job. You seem to not understand just how hard this job actually is. Sometimes people have to make some sacrifices and you might have to do something that people would consider to be terrible in the eyes of the general public. But I guess that most people won't be able to actually understand what I have to do for the sake of this city." Jimmy said and then when he had told the four guys this, Jimmy was looking forward at the window again and he was getting close to his office.

"I guess that maybe you should actually try and talk to people and act like a normal person again. But I think that may be wanting you to be a decent man and mayor is just too much to be asking for. Not that you really care all that much." Matt said and he was placing his hand on the weak side of his face as he was groaning and the others could tell for a fact that maybe he was just well more aware of how terrible of a person the mayor was than the other three people in the group.

"Well, I guess that you just are a bit too much of a general idealist. I think that maybe you should spend a day or two in my shoes before you start to judge me or my methods." Jimmy White said and then he was not even bothering to look back at the four people he was talking to his office, because he was just tired of people acting like he was not aware of how he should do his job, when in reality they were the ones who didn't know how to do his job, since he had done his job very well this whole time.

"You are right. I don't know how to do your job, but please actually maybe tone down the level of evil that you are placing into it." Izzy said and he was trying to be funny about it and he was wondering if his comment was going to piss the guy off or not, but he knew for a fact that he should not really push it too much further no matter how much of a high horse he was allowing himself to ride.

"The so-called evil that you say I am performing is just the way that I have to do my job. There is nothing evil about this. I am trying to make you people have a good life to live, and you are here acting like a total asshole and acting like you can do everything so much better than me. If you keep this up, then for god's sake, you can just go on and fuck yourself." Jimmy White said as the car pulled up at the mayor's office and then all seven people in there walked out of the car and to his office, where he was messing with his fingers and Sora was getting a sick feeling watching him play with his eight fingers.

Once inside of his office, they all managed to find a way to sit down in his office, although it was a very tight fit and even the mayor was able to realize that this might have been a big mistake and that he should have maybe done one at a time. "You know, the police sheriff has told me all about the cases that are going on right now, and how you guys are compromising the case. In no way do I trust the mayor, and once this Jeff guy is done with, I am going to have to check him out next, but for now, I am going to be looking at you. Jeff is a guy who is able to show no remorse. He is pure evil. He has ruined everything about this town and the good image that it was able to build up in the last five years since he had gone into the scene. Do you know what it is like to have your own town be invested by a strange serial killer who is just killing people for sport?" Jimmy White asked and for once, all four of the other people did feel like there was a small level of empathy that they can feel for him since he was showing himself to understand what it was like.

"I have a lot of things that I have to do to this town to make it function normally. But at the very least I am actually doing something for the overall benefit of the town. Yes, you may not think that I care about this city, but I do. I have to do this to make this place thrive in any way possible. I think that soon enough you will be able to finally understand how I feel about this. Sometimes things have to be done a certain way for the job to be done. I don't want you guys to get in the way of this Jeff case. If you do, then I will not feel bad sending one of my helpers down to kill you." Jimmy White said and the entire feeling in the office changed the moment that he had said this, and they went from somewhat understanding him to just fearing him even more now.

"What the hell are you talking about? If you kill us, then everybody is going to find out about these deaths and your town will get inside of an even worse reputation." Izzy said, finally interjecting with this terrible idea and then Jimmy was laughing and then he popped all ten fingers in his hand and then he looked at them again.

"You do underestimate my methods. I have a good way to hide up these deaths. I have been able to hide up so many things in this town since I have come here that perhaps you are just simply naive. There is no nice Wayside. This town has been a shithole for the last two and a half decades. One of the hardest towns in Minnesota or even America for that matter to take care of. But I have to cover up these problems in order to make this town even slightly more appealing." Jimmy White said and then the others started to fear for their safety, seeing that he wasn't bluffing.

"Maybe Jeff was right about you. Jeff is a terrible person, no denying about that fact. But at least he seems like he wants to take you down. At least he seems like he knows that you are the one who really let all of these happens." Sora snapped as Jimmy shook his head at that fact.

"Wow, you seem to really not understand the grand picture of this young lady. Damn, I guess that I have to take this to even bigger measures than I would have even desired to." Jimmy White said and then he was pointing at his door. "Get out of this office, and I don't want you to continue this case. If you do, I will fucking kill you all."

The four of them were standing up and then they were walking slowly out of the office and then once they were about ten or twenty feet from the office, the guy with the red hair closed the door and then Sora looked at them.

"I can't believe that I am even suggesting this, but for fuck's sake, I think that maybe Jeff is right. I don't want to take his side, but there is a mayor who just pretends that nothing ever happened. It seems like they both have a vendetta and need to be taken down. But it seems like who should be the first one to go down." Sora said and then Tai was holding up his hands up.

"I think after Keith saying this, David saying this, Davis said this, and now fucking the mayor saying this, we really do need to stop going down this case. I think we just need to accept the fact that this case is too much for us to do. I'm done. I'm actually being serious this time." Tai said and then he was heading down to the summer camp and he said "You can go back to this case if you want, but I am no longer doing it. Four people have told me to stop, and I am doing it."

Izzy was looking at Matt and Sora and then he was wondering what they would say, and he was wondering if he should listen to them as well, but then he looked at how far away Tai was. "Maybe there is a level of truth to what Tai said. Do you guys want to die?"

Matt and Sora both thought about this, and of course, they didn't want to die, but at the same time, there was virtually nothing that they could really have done about this whole thing. "Izzy, I think you are just not really all that invested enough in this whole thing, and if this is the case, you can quit the case now if you want to. But I think that there needs to be something to bring down this guy." Matt said and then Sora was looking right at Matt as if she was starting to think that she was on Tai's side, and then she was seeing just how far away Tai was, and she was starting to think that she had made her choice.

"I'm going to go back to camp. I will try and sleep it off for the night. Once I wake up tomorrow, I will make my mind. You guys can argue about this all you want, but I need to get some sleep." Sora said and this was her way of picking neither side while still following Tai and she started to follow him and she lightly jogged so that way she could eventually catch up to him.

Izzy and Matt looked at each other for a moment. "I don't want you to go around and investigate this. But at the same time, I don't want you to do this alone. I guess that I will stick by for just a short while. But I hope that you choose to go back to the camp, but I fear that you won't." Izzy said as he was starting to slowly walk and Matt was just rubbing his face for a bit, realizing that maybe there was a good reason to go home, but he was just refusing to admit this and then he started to follow Izzy a bit.

"I am just worried about my brother T.K. He has barely shown up after this whole stupid case started. I am truly worried that he is going to get himself in danger. I think that this is reasonable for me to fear." Matt said and then Izzy had actually thought about that. Izzy barely knew T.K. and found him to be a little bit of a tough ass, but there was no way that he wanted the guy to be in danger. But as everybody else had felt, he thought that perhaps T.K. could be able to take care of himself.

"I think that as long as he has some friends, he will be fine," Izzy said and he was feeling like this was a relatively safe bet for him. "I think that his friends will come along and make sure that he doesn't get into much trouble. I think that he just is up for the thrill. But that being said, I guess I can't say that it is too wrong to feel worried. I mean, you barely got out of a fight with him alive, and if you were barely able to get out of there alive, then I guess there is a level of validness to the idea that maybe he won't actually be safe either." After he had said that, he was starting to think that Matt might be right on this after all, but then he thought about Matt and T.K.

"I am glad that you see it in that way. I just thought that nobody would understand why I am worried about his safety. If I see him again and see that he is not doing this whole thing, or that at the very least he is doing it in a way that is not too risky, then I might actually feel almost fine with this whole thing. But I guess that I don't always get what I want, no matter how hard I want and try to get what I want." Matt explained his desperation as there was a car that was pulling up next to them. Given the previous cases, both Izzy and Matt were scared of the thing that they were going to have to witness on the guy from the car.

The car window lowered and then when they lowered the car, Matt looked down and then he was seeing that there was a guy who looked like he was probably about twenty years old or so. Matt could not really make out who it was until the guy started to talk. "You guys are the most consistently refusing people that I have ever met in my fucking life. It is kind of annoying. But I almost admire it. Get in the fucking car, and I will drive you to the gas station where I need to get some things." Davis said and then Matt sighed in annoyance knowing that Davis was basically never able to escape them, and then they got inside of the car.

"Fuck this guy. Why the hell do you always go around and do the exact opposite of what I tell you to do? It is like if I tell you to go out and fin then, then you guys would actually not go out and do it." Davis said and then he continued after a couple of seconds of thinking about it.

"I guess that telling you guys not to do this is too much for me to hope for. I guess that no matter what I tell you to do, you will investigate. I guess if you guys are so insistent on this, I will no longer argue it anymore. I am glad though that Tai and Sora finally decided to listen to me for once. At least some people here are fucking sane." Davis said and then the gas station was pretty easy to get to, since it was only about a four minute or so drive to reach.

Once outside of the car, Davis got out of the gas station and the other two slowly followed him, thinking that if Davis was finally giving up on this, then perhaps they would finally be able to go free will on this. Davis walked up to the front counter and bought himself a pack of cigarettes, and then he paid for some energy drinks and a few things to eat before they sat down on the one table that has been there for a really long time.

"You know, I just want to go and see what the younger guys are doing before we continue this investigation. I think I will check out how Cody and Yolei are doing. I think even T.K. would not mind having me check up for a moment. How about we do that before we look further. I just want to be sure that they are fine." Davis started to smoke the cigarette and then he took the breath to let the buzz kick in. Matt felt better to know that Davis was actually feeling the same way that he was feeling this time.

Then when Davis had said this, the guy who was behind the counter looked right at Davis and then he started to say something in which Matt needed a short second to piece it all together, but then he realized after about half a minute what it was. "Hey Davis, when you see Cody, tell him that I will be home in about two hours or so." The guy said and then Matt realized that this guy was Cody's father as Davis said he would do this.

"I think I will stop by there first. I think that if I go there, then Cody will feel better knowing that you are fine." Davis said, and then he was finishing his cigarette and then he budded it out on the table and then threw it right in the trash can. Davis looked at Matt and Izzy. "I think I know where T.K. and Yolei are. So this won't really take too long." Davis then got inside of his car and T.K. and Izzy eventually started to follow him, not sure how to feel about the fact that they were following his lead, even though he barely ever stopped by to talk to them before this point in time.

Davis was driving his car for a couple of minutes and after a little while, he eventually reached the apartment that Cody had lived in. The apartment was having their light on, and then Davis looked right at Izzy and Matt. "Cody is a bit of a sensitive kid, don't push him too much."

Davis then knocked for a bit and then after he had knocked, he saw Cody's mother answering the knock and then she was smiling when she saw Davis and then a little bit more confused at Matt and Izzy being there. "Who are these people?" His mother asked and then Davis just explained that they were with him and that there was not anything that they had to worry about. So then the three of them were actually allowed in the room.

Once inside of the apartment, Davis was sitting down on the couch that Cody and his mother would usually sit on. But before he decided to fully get up again, he decided to get up for just a short moment, and he went to the fridge. He saw that there was a can of beer and he held it up to Cody's mother as if he was wondering if it was all right for him to grab one. "I should probably stop drinking them anyway, so go ahead if you want." Cody's mother said and then Davis sat down on the couch once again and then he opened up the can and started to drink it up once again.

"So Davis, what are you and your friends doing here?" Cody's mother decided to ask after he had drunk about a third or so of the can and then Davis was usually feeling so safe when he was inside of this apartment, that he usually forgets that there is ever any danger, on the off chance that there actually was any form of danger. But he was starting to get in the drunken state, so he was forced to think about it for a moment and then he snapped his fingers and had the slightest slur of his words.

"Oh yeah, I need to make sure that your child is safe. Cody and everybody else in this town might be in danger. I know this sounds crazy, but there is this serial killer going around and killing people, and I was wanting to make sure that your child was safe." Davis said and then after he had said this, Cody's mother was looking at the television and she was clearly thinking about what Davis had told her about, and then she sat down on the other part of the couch while Matt and Izzy were wondering what the hell they could really do.

"I heard something about that on the news. I didn't really believe it all that much, but if you are saying that this is the truth, then I guess that I should probably believe you. I think that there is no real reason that you would lie to me about this stuff." Cody's mother said and then she was looking at Davis and then she said "Do you actually think that you can take on that guy? I can see from the look on your face that you think that you are probably going to try and fight this guy."

Davis looked at her as he was continuing to drink the can of beer. "Honestly, I think that I won't be able to stand a chance fighting him. There is no way I am even going to try that. But what I do want to do is try and expose everything he has done to the police and the general public, so there is no way that they can deny him the chance of going to jail." Davis said and he was also well aware that there was no real way he was going to actually make any real changes to the overall scene unless if he did something like that.

"But Davis, do you actually think that the police will believe you? I think that they will just process your complaint and then pretend that none of this ever happened." Cody's mother said and that was when Izzy was thinking that Davis was probably too drunk to continue the conversation, so he decided that for Davis's sake, he would come along and help the guy out. Besides, something like this can maybe get her to have a little bit more respect for Izzy once he explained it in a rational way.

"Well we just keep telling the police over and over again what we need to do, and if we keep hammering this down over and over again that he will eventually believe us and they will have no choice but to process this. Besides, I feel like if there is absolutely un-debunkable proof that he had done this, and if people find out about it, then there will be a demand for justice. I don't really have any desire to do this right now. I have no love for going into something like a huge crime investigation, but I hate the idea of letting somebody like this happen even more." Izzy told her and then Cody's mother just looked right at him for a moment and then Davis was speaking up once again, with a slur in his voice going on this time.

"Well, I think that Izzy might be right about this. We just blow this whole thing up sky high and then we will be good." Davis said and then Cody's mother was looking at Cody's bedroom and she was thinking about the conversation but she didn't want to talk about this stuff anymore if there was any chance that Cody would hear this.

"Sorry guys, but can we please talk about something else? I don't want this conversation to be something that Cody is aware of." Cody's mother said and then Matt was seeing Cody just walking out of the room. The guy looked like he was pretty young. Probably only eight years old or so, which Matt was starting to realize made the whole thing way make way more sense due to the fact that he was probably wondering where his father was, and Matt was wondering why Davis would babysit this guy while smoking and drinking a lot.

"Where is Dad?" Cody asked and then after he had asked his mother this question, Matt felt like he would be the one who would take this up and give him the answer. Izzy had already helped out once, so he felt like it was his turn to say something that would actually make the entire situation so much better. Cody's mother looked like she was hoping that Cody would get back to sleep once this was over with, and then the conversation can continue.

"He is just at work right now. He said that he will be fine and that he will be back in a couple of hours. I wouldn't really worry all that much about it. Just go back to bed now." Matt said and then Cody was looking right at the whole group, and then he took a short breath wondering if Cody was going to let it go, and then he walked on inside of his bedroom and closed the door. Then Matt was looking at his mother and then he said: "I can tell that Cody really respects his dad. Probably thinks he is one of the best people that he knows."

Davis was looking at Cody's mother and this time, he was starting to seem a little bit less drunk, and Matt was seeing that he had a short-term drunk hood, less than five minutes. "Well, I am glad to know that Cody is safe. That is the thing that I was really wondering about. I think that now that I know this, I might be heading out now." Davis said and then he started to walk towards the door of the apartment. "Just let me know right away if something happens." Then with that, Davis opened up the door.

Matt and Izzy were looking at each other. "He seems to be really uptight. I would not really blame you. But like he said, if something happens, then please let us know. We will do what we can." Matt said and then he walked out of the house as well.

Izzy was the last one who had went and he placed his hand on the shoulder of Cody's mother. "I can tell that his father seems to be having a tough battle. I can pick it up right away. I know from experience. Please let me know if his father needs some help, or if you need to talk to me about it. I will do my best to help." Then Izzy left the house this time as well and now, they were ready to get back to the car.

As Izzy was inside of the car, he was thinking more and more on how unlikely it was going to be that Cody's mother would hold to her end of the bargain. Izzy indeed telling the truth on that he did wish to help her out, but at the same time, he was just thinking that this woman would probably not believe him when he told her that he got it. That was one thing that he really hated about girls, is that they think they know everything and that he is just wrong and that nothing he ever will say or do will be the correct outcome. He has a lot of bad experience with that in his lifetime.

As Davis was driving down the road, he was looking at Matt every ten or so seconds. After the sixth or seventh time of this, he felt like he finally needed to say something to make all of these glances less strange and probably pissing Matt off less as Davis could tell after a while, he was getting annoyed by it all. "I do honestly have a decent clue on where T.K. is this time, and I think that he might finally be willing to talk to you. I am not even saying this just to get you to trust me. I am telling the truth."

Davis didn't know or care much about Harold, but he would be dumb not to place his money on the idea that this must be the one place that he knows T.K. will be at least somewhat behaved at. He also knew that T.K. probably trusted this Harold guy more than pretty much anybody else that he knew at least in the obvious like vicinity of things. Matt was willing to give Davis a chance here and Davis didn't seem like the guy who would outright lie, but he felt like he needed to at least be a little bit self-aware of the risk that this could create if he was not smart enough.

"How do you feel so certain that he is going to be there?" Matt asked, finally feeling like he was willing to talk to the guy more. Davis was silent for a short second or two on this, trying to really figure out how he really could have been so sure about it aside from the few times that T.K. was there. Davis then just gave a long shrug as he was just obviously stating he wasn't totally aware.

"Well, I have seen T.K. has hung out with this guy a few times, and I just feel like there is a chance that this might be the guy to go to if you feel the need to clear things up with somebody. I just feel like this is one of the few people that T.K. actually trusts, and I feel like if T.K. of all people can trust this guy, then this is a good sign if for nothing else that he should at least be given a chance to prove himself." Davis said as Matt was thinking that he couldn't really argue on that too much, and then Izzy was just sort of still in his own little mind on the entire situation.

"I guess I should try and trust his instincts every once in a while, but holy cow I am just not too sure how I feel about a guy when I have never even met them." Matt said and then he said: "I think you might get what I mean and where I am stating some of my concern over this whole thing. I mean I trust you enough to understand the most basic of emotions."

Izzy was wondering how Davis would feel about this small and really subtle gab at his character. Davis seemed like he really could not care less as he was just continuing his drive to where Harold lived. Davis never realized how far of a drive it was between there and where Cody had lived. Davis thought that this speed and distance must really not be realistic. That maybe there was something else going on to the whole matter at hand. "Well I think that T.K. is a smart guy, and I know for a fact that he can handle himself in a fight. I would not doubt his ability to fight all that much. I would be wondering more on the idea of if he is fighting the right thing."

"Have you ever seen him fight before?" Matt asked, a little bit of both impressed and just a slight bit scared. He was scared to know how T.K. would be getting himself in trouble so badly that he would be forced to be fighting people. Or maybe he was even worse at school than the teachers let on, in which case, that was when Matt was feeling like he might have to give T.K. at least a little bit of a lecture on this whole thing.

"I have seen him do it once or twice before. I would not really worry all that much about it. He does his own thing. He is an average young teenage dude. Just let him enjoy his life and let him do the stuff that he really enjoys. I am sure he would appreciate you a lot better as an older brother if you had just accepted what he does. I am in no way trying to tell you how to run your relationship with your brother, but I wouldn't go out and doubt him at every chance there is if you haven't seen him for what he is worthy of yet." Davis said as he knew the drive was actually getting close to being done with this time, since he knew this area of the street and that Harold lived in that area as well.

Izzy was staring out the window and he was sort of making his own soundtrack to the city. He was giving it a little bit of a detective feel to it. He wasn't really even sure why he felt like the detective style feel would suit the city well, but he was just having that feeling. Maybe with all of this Jeffrey Woods stuff and how hard it was to take his mind off of that for even a minute or two, then it was just his way of feeling like it was the most well placed of all of the themes that he could give the area. He was also wondering just how much longer Davis and Matt were going to keep up the fight about Matt's brother. The argument was getting a little bit annoying after the first few exchanges with each other, and now he was just desperately hoping that they would change the damn subject.

"I guess that maybe I should actually give him a chance like you say I should. It is just a little hard for me to get over the mindset of him being some innocent and easy to take care of guy from the past. I mean, I don't want him to get hurt, but at the same time, I do see that maybe he should be granted a bit of freedom." Matt finally gave in and then Davis was just thinking on that as he drove.

"I am glad that you finally seem to be seeing it my way. Once you get over the feeling like this the first couple of times, it gets easier with each progressing time. I never thought that I could have such an easy time getting over most things as I do now, but I just don't really worry all that much about it, and I let fate do what it feels is needed." Davis started to pull up at the driveway of where Harold had lived.

"I guess that this is the time for us to get out now?" Izzy finally spoke up in the first time for like ever when he heard the car stopping and then Davis looked at both Matt and Izzy as if he was going to do some form of a stern pep talk.

"All right, this guy might not seem to fully trust you when he first meets you. Just don't worry about it and talk to him casually. If you do this, he will not mind you. And don't pester him about anything. If you do, he will get mad at you and lash out at you for getting into stuff that is none of your business." Then with that, Davis turned the keys and killed the engine as he left the car and took out a cigarette from his pocket and took a long smoke. Once he was finished, he pounded the bud on the ground and he was ready to meet with Harold and T.K. and perhaps Yolei.

The wait wasn't really all that long since Davis just knocked on the door and about five or six seconds later there was an answer at the door, and Matt saw that indeed T.K. was there and he could tell he couldn't fight it this time, so he let them in despite the fact he didn't want to.

"How did you guys find out where I was?" T.K. decided to keep it at that. He didn't want them to be here at all, and he wasn't even going to pretend that he did. But he hated the idea of an unhappy time with his brother, even more, so he was just going to pretend that he didn't mind all of this at the moment since he wanted this to be smooth. When he was seeing Davis, this was when he was starting to sort of pick it up in his mind ow this happened. He was sort of annoyed with Davis at that moment, wishing that they had never seen each other and therefore Davis would not have known exactly where he had lived.

"We found out where you were when I picked up the context clues of what you were doing and where you would probably feel the safest. If you wanted to hide, you probably should have picked a better spot to hide." Davis said as he was trying his best to avoid any sort of controversy, and he was trying to maybe provide a learning experience for T.K. on this, to avoid this whole stupid getting caught the thing in the future. "Besides, Matt was probably thinking that you needed help, and given the entire situation so far, I wouldn't really doubt it. As much as I hate to admit it, I am going to need some help as well. That is why I am trusting your brother since he is not a bad dude." Davis said as he was looking at Izzy and he was wondering if T.K. minded Izzy being there or not. Somehow, it had seemed like T.K. didn't even notice that Izzy was there at all, which was beyond strange for him to think since he was right there.

"Fuck it. I guess that no matter what I try to do, I am not going to stay away from you guys forever. Just know Matt that I am going to be doing things my way. I don't want you going around and acting like you are some great saint who knows how to do things." T.K. said as he was getting closer to Harold, and he was starting to get slowly less annoyed now that he established the main piece that was annoying him.

"As long as you don't get yourself into so much trouble that it seems like you are in danger of dying, you can do things your way as much as you damn well please," Matt said as if he had no desire to argue at all.

Once they were in the living room, Matt met the guy named Harold for the first time. There was something about the general way that he looked that reminded him of somebody else. He didn't seem to mind the situation that much, but it didn't change the fact that it was still beyond strange for him to process. Harold seemed like he didn't mind that they were there and that he was just more confused as to what they were doing here over the fact that they were there at all.

"Hey, are you the brother that T.K. has been talking about?" Harold asked and he was just trying to be casual about the whole situation, not at all wishing to create any conflict while they were in the house. "He has told me a couple of things about you. I thought that we would never actually meet in person." Harold was saying, trying to sound as formal as possible throughout this entire situation. He had no real desire to have any arguments with Matt when he had barely even know the guy.

Matt was actually slightly taken back at the proper dedicate of Harold as if he was not really sure what he was actually going to try and expect. But when he saw that the guy was actually decently nice, he thought that maybe T.K. did know what he was talking about when he decided to start hanging out with this guy. Izzy was looking around as he saw Yolei and then he sat down next to her, and he was just a little bit bored.

"I'm just going to try and keep myself away from all of this controversy. I don't really want to get involved in any arguments that they might be happening." Izzy said and he was mostly joking about this, but at the same time, there was a little bit of truth to the whole statement. He knew that if things got worse, then they might actually get into a real fight on this, and he really just did not want to deal with that. Besides, Yolei seemed like she would be a nice enough girl to where if he wanted to have a casual conversation with her, he could be able to actually pull it off.

"T.K. is a mostly nice guy. he just gets riled up whenever he sees his brother. I don't really understand why he is that way, but as long as he doesn't ruin the times that we hang out by ranting about him, then I don't really get too much into his business about the whole issue. For all I know, there may actually be a real reason as to why he is this way." Yolei said as she was looking right at Izzy, and then the two were seeing that Matt and T.K. were starting to get mostly calm and that it looked like if anything, there was going to be some form of truce between the two for the time being.

"How did you start hanging out with T.K. in the first place?" Izzy asked, just trying to make some form of small talk. Yolei had to think about that matter for a couple of seconds, as she started to realize she actually didn't really know how they had met, and that sort of fact was a bit more strange to her than anything else, and she just shrugged at it.

"Well, it was mainly just school. I guess most people in our age range become friends sometimes when we were at school. It is kind of hard for that to not really be the start of a friendship. That or you meet somebody else's friend and then you start to become friends with them. But then that friend you were originally hanging out with was probably from school. So in a way, school is still indirectly responsible for that friendship as well." Yolei said and then Izzy was thinking that while there had maybe a small level of truth to it, that she was not entirely right. There were other ways to make friends.

"Well, there is also a summer camp. Several people I would maybe start to call my friends I had met when I was in summer camp. I mean I would never have hung out with say like Matt if I never went to summer camp. But I guess under normal cases, that school would be the top answer of how people start to make friends. I just wish that I had more friends from school. When I am at school, almost nobody likes me and I am pretty unpopular when I am at school. Wow, that was redundant, but still." Izzy said and then he was laughing due to how self-aware his redundancy was actually, and then he wondered what Yolei was thinking about the situation.

"I had made a few friends when I was down at school. Not a ton, but enough to say that at the very least I have some form of a social circle. Enough to not be a complete recluse. I think that having friends is one of the few things that can really make the school even slightly more tolerable than it is. Since school is pretty miserable to deal with on normal cases." Yolei was like the general teenager in that regard, on the fact that she had hated school just like ninety percent of teens. Izzy thought that it wasn't too strange since it was truth be told a little bit boring, even though he didn't hate it as much as most people.

"So Yolei, what do you think of what T.K. has been doing lately? I mean all of these cases that he has been going into now? I don't really know how to feel about them since I barely even know him at all." Izzy said and Yolei didn't say anything for nearly ten seconds.

"I think he has a really good goal. He seems to be the one who actually wants to make sure that there is some form of justice in this town for what happened. I think that it is scary to know that the system cares so little for what is going on on a daily basis that they will just look the other way. I just hope he makes it out of this." Yolei said and then Izzy decided to remain quiet.

"Even if he had a good goal, his way of going at it is a mess. I know that everybody says that, but running around the town with a skateboard and not actually having any real evidence what the hell you are going after is a terrible way of going at any of this. So this is why I feel like he needs to actually think this out a little bit more." Izzy said and then Yolei stood up. She walked right into the kitchen and then she waved Izzy on over. Izzy had shrugged and then he stood up and started to follow her wondering why she was doing this.

"I just was hungry, so I am going to get something to eat and I felt like since we are talking, it would be kind of rude if I didn't give you some warning of what I was doing," Yolei said as she opened up the fridge of the house and she was looking at the stuff that she knew Harold would allow her to eat. She was seeing that there was just a small thing of juice and then she shrugged, realizing that this was the best that she was going to get out of this. So she started to drink it a little bit. But before anything could have happened, there was a really loud knock on the door.

"Did you guys invite anybody else on over?" Izzy asked and then he was walking on closer to the door to see what was going on. Davis was sighing and then he went right to the pupil and then as he was looking right through the pupil, the more scared that he was by that point. He saw that Jeff was right there. And now there were about six people there.

"Oh my god, what the hell is going on?" Harold asked and then Davis was not allowing him to actually check this thing out as he was holding his hand forward and there was something about this that was giving off a stern impression. Harold was getting right next to Davis and he was not really giving a crap about this whole thing, and he just wanted to get this over with. He wanted to see who was there and he wanted to see why they were wanting to make him not see who was actually at his own front door.

"Can we please just not answer the door and not allow anybody who comes here soon inside of the room?" Davis asked and then he was walking away from what he was seeing as Jeff was still standing there and he was refusing to even move at all. Not even moving his knife in a way to make any sort of threat over what was going on. Harold looked for just a split second was when he was finally starting to believe that maybe Davis was right and that he should have listened to this guy the whole time, and not check it at all. Harold then looked around as he brought a small coffee table and then he dragged it right to the door and he was looking right at us.

"I didn't actually think that you were telling the truth. I thought that you guys were just saying something in order to make a story for you to come and hang out with me at this hour at night." Harold said and then he was sitting down again and then that was when he was starting to realize something right then and there, realizing how stupid he had felt when he didn't really what was going on. "Oh shit, Clair is going to be coming here in a bit. We need to find a way to make her safe."

Harold looked forward again and then he saw that Jeff was no longer there at all. "Oh thank god, him being there scared the shit out of me," Harold said and then he was looking around all of the windows in the area and then Izzy was wondering why this guy was still so worried if Jeff was no longer there at all. Izzy thought that despite how terrible Jeff was, this was still a bit of a huge exaggeration.

"I can't believe what the hell is going on. I wish that I was there and talked with Jeff more when he was in our town before he went missing." Harold said and then after he had said that, this was when everybody started right at Harold, and they were wondering what the hell he was talking about. Harold seemed to think about this, and then he decided that he was going to open the entire story to them, to make sure that they understood what was going on.

"Well, about five or so years ago, there was a guy named Jeff who moved here with his older brother Liu and his parents. Once they moved to town, they met a few guys named Michael, Randy, Troy, and Keith. I barely knew any of them, but I did talk to Keith a couple of times and he told me that all three of his friends had died and how Jeff killed them all after a girl named Jane had her death revealed. Keith told me that the case was basically covered up and people were pretending like it never happened at all, which I feel like that was bullshit. But then when I tried to talk to other people about it, they were doing just that. It was like Keith was the only one who remembered any of this stuff at all. Fuck, I wished that I had believed him at the time. I thought that Jeff was honestly just some form of urban legend." Harold said and then he was taking a deep breath. "How was I able to believe it? I was only fourteen when this event happened."

"It makes sense with the timeline on how many people that he had killed. I guess that there is a high chance that the story that people have been saying actually is true. Do you feel that there is a good chance that this is all true?" T.K. asked as he was getting up and grabbing his board, thinking that there was a chance he might use that soon.

"Oh, now I feel like I have no choice but to believe that this is the truth. I would never have said that earlier, but now I am utterly forced to. I just hope that Clair doesn't show up soon." Harold said as he went right to his room for some reason, and everybody was wondering what exactly he was doing. Then he grabbed a giant wooden baseball bat and then he said: "It's not a great weapon, but at least it will be something that I can use now."

There was a big thud and then Matt was getting right up after he had heard the thud. "T.K., when Jeff shows up, we are going to try and make him busy. When that happens, I want you to get the hell out of here. Go right to the police station, and tell them everything that happened. But don't go until you feel totally certain that there is nothing that will happen to you." Matt said and then after he had said that, T.K. nodded a little bit.

"You don't have to tell me twice on this one," T.K. said and then he was getting his fear publicly shown. He thought that he was going to be able to be this big great hero, but once he had seen this stuff happening, a lot of this was thrown away and he was no longer able to even pretend that he was going to be able to do all of this now. "I am scared."

Harold was placing both of his hands on his baseball and then he was holding it as tight as humanly possible. He was taking a deep breath and then there was a window that was starting to open up. "Oh my fucking god, get inside of my room. I think that perhaps you will be able to have a small chance of being safe in there." Harold was seeing as the window opened. Matt and Davis decided that they would stay up and help out, but then Izzy went inside the room with the other two younger people.

The window was completely open and then Jeff was inside of the room as he was holding up his knife and he had a wide smile that made Harold realize that he had virtually no chance of actually taking this guy out. But Jeff starting to lunge right at Harold and then he swung the baseball bat right at Jeff's chest which made him fly across the room, and then Harold felt like this was a victory for about five seconds or so. That was when Jeff started to stand up and get closer to Harold.

Harold felt proud of himself for what he had actually done, thinking that he was going to be able to actually keep the others safe. T.K. was watching in the room and he was wondering what he can do to help out. He decided to start looking around the room and he saw something that looked like a giant baseball bomb. T.K. started to realize that there was probably a reason he made this. Probably to make it so that there can be something he used when there was a fight coming up he could use that in order to have a good chance of destroying the person that he was fighting. Now all he needed to do was find a match and then throw it right towards Jeff to help out without getting in the fight.

Matt ran to the kitchen as Jeff went at Harold and he was trying to stab Harold's arm and he was doing his best to make the knife not hit his arm and then Matt grabbed another knife. He ran the knife right to Jeff and then he stabbed the knife right into Jeff's back and then Jeff pulled the knife right out of his back and then he threw the knife right at Matt which Matt barely deflected when he moved to the side at the last second and the knife hit the wall.

Harold bashed the baseball bat right at Jeff's face again and this started to create a bruise on Jeff's face and then Davis was looking for something that he could use since knives were basically just not going to work. Davis then found a plate that was inside of Harold's dishwasher and then he ran right to Jeff's face and then he slammed the plate right down on Jeff's head. Harold was starting to feel a little bit pissed that his plate was broken, and he was feeling like he needed to accept the fact that this was relatively nesscasary. Jeff then found Davis's left arm and then he was stabbing the upper part of it so many times that it looked like there was just a stream of red on his arm and then Davis grabbed Jeff's arm as he was pulling out the knife and then he started to aim it right at Jeff's face.

Davis started to cut Jeff's mouth even more open than it had been at all. The entire knife was able to make his mouth up to his nose and then that meant the smile was pretty much over a foot long and then Jeff was coughing out and throwing up blood as his face was now effectively split half and half. But then after he had started to scream a bit, Jeff started to laugh over and over again as he was starting to act like he was normal again.

Jeff then grabbed Harold's neck and then he started to grapple it a little bit and then he was starting to choke him a little bit. Jeff started to stab the knife right into his face and then he was starting to make a bunch of cuts in his check. That was when Harold grabbed the baseball bat again and then he punched Jeff right in the ball sack a bit and then he started to slam Jeff a bunch of times on the chest and then Harold was going at it over and over again until his legs started to break.

Jeff didn't care that his legs were broken. Compared to what Jimmy White had done with him earlier, he didn't even remotely give a shit. Jeff then grabbed Davis's face and then he placed one hand above Davis's face and then one right under it. Davis realized what was going to happen next. Jeff was going to kill him and then Davis was grabbing the knife from the wall in order to make it so that way he could defend himself a little bit. Jeff started to move Davis's face a little bit and Davis realized that he was going to die in the matter of just a couple of seconds. Davis then stabbed Jeff seventeen times where his balls were and then Jeff started to have his semen which was now exposed starting to fall down his entire pants and they were starting to get drenched as his actual balls fell down to the ground and then Jeff threw up even more as he finally let go of Davis and T.K. felt like he was getting ready for the time he could throw the bomb at Jeff and possibly explode.

Davis was found a couple of napkins as he wrapped his napkins around his arms and then he was feeling a huge surge of pain as he was doing this, and he was barely even paying attention to the battle at hand. Jeff was wondering what the battle could actually be like if he was more focused on one person at a time. Matt was wondering if Jeff was going to go at him again.

T.K. was placing a lighter right on the rope of the baseball bat bomb and then he was placing his tongue under his teeth and then he was aiming it right at the face of Jeff and he was wondering how the hell he was actually going to get this guy stop being in pain.

Harold aimed baseball at Jeff once again and then T.K. called out at Harold to not do anything as Harold looked back and saw what T.K. was going to do. Under normal cases, Harold would have been pissed, but this was one time he needed to do it really badly.

T.K. then aimed for a couple of seconds and right as Jeff was smiling at him and started to walk right towards him and then he threw the bomb at Jeff's face and then after he did this, there was a large explosion and then Jeff was falling down to the ground as Jeff was starting to crawl away from the entire house, feeling like he was losing his mind the entire time that he was doing this, wondering when he was finally going to kill these people, as this had started to get a little bit more personal. Jeff then barely made it out of the house as he was feeling like he was going to die in a matter of minutes.

Davis was sitting down and then he took out a cigarette as he was realizing that there was a gun inside of his pocket the whole time and he felt like a dumb ass this entire time but considering the fact that everybody in the house had almost died, none of them were going to protest the fact that he had forgotten this entire thing. Jeff was holding the gun in his left hand, where his napkin cast was and then he started to go to sleep.

"Your clothes are a fucking mess. Do you want some more clothes to make up for it?" Harold asked and then Davis nodded there. Harold stood and then got a black shirt and then a blue pair of pants and then he gave it to Davis to help his new clothing starting. Then Harold sat down. Matt sat down next to the two of them. Three guys who almost died in the matter of a couple of minutes as they were staring at Jeff's balls.

T.K. then walked out of the room feeling like he was finally safe for once as he was followed by Yolei and Izzy. "I'm getting the hell out of here. I can't handle being in here anymore." T.K. said and then he went to his skateboard and then he started to walk away. This was the one time Matt didn't argue. Not because he felt like T.K. was fine, but because of how tired he was by this point in time, and he was barely able to get himself to think at that moment.

Harold was thinking about the choice that T.K. had made and he was thinking that he needed to help him out at that moment. But before he could even think about this, there was a loud knock at the door and then he started to get up and slowly walk towards the door as he opened it to see that Clair was right there. Izzy thought that she was gorgeous, and he wished that he was just a few years older than he already was.

"What the fuck happened here?" Clair asked when she had seen everything that was spread around the floor, finding it more disgusting than anything as well as the broken knife marks on the wall. "Who the hell was the guy that was just walking by earlier with a skateboard? It looked like T.K., but he looked like a little bit older than normal." Clair then was wondering if she could sit down next to Harold as he explained this.

"Some crazy killer decided to show up and they had wanted to kill all of us. I don't get what was with them right then and there. I think that perhaps he just has a goal to take out some people whom he is really upset with. I feel like I may have messed up when I didn't really speak out to him before. I think that I should have tried to get to know him a little bit more before. But now I guess that I don't really know what I would do about things now, I guess that I need to help take this guy down." Harold had explained and then he was placing his hands on his face. He felt like he was actually having a bit of a brain failure and he had no idea why he was feeling this way right then and there.

"Why do you have anything to do with this guy? This whole thing makes no damn sense." Clair had said and then Harold knew for a fact that this was the truth, but god damn it, he just wished that there could have been an easy explanation that could have explained why Jeff was always going after these people.

"I know that it makes no sense. But this guy is a killer. There must be a real reason as to why he has become a killer. I need to know what he is a killer. This thing scares the shit out of me. I can't believe that he has been doing this, and I believe even less in the idea that there is no motivation for it. There needs to be something to it all." Harold said and then after he had said this, Clair thought that this was something he was trying too hard on, but at the same time she was wondering if he had good intentions this whole time, and then Harold figured he needed to go back to doing what he was wanting to do next.

"I need to find T.K. He is probably very far out now. I want to make sure that the killer doesn't get to him. If you want to come along with me, that is great, but if not, then you can do what you want." Harold said and then he was starting to walk off again as he wondered if anybody was actually going to follow him. As he was right at the front door, he started to walk forward and then Clair had stood up.

Once Clair stood up she said "I just don't want you to get in danger. So I will come along with you for now. I just hope that T.K. is safe." Clair said and then she went along right behind Harold as they were heading out of the house. Despite the fact that there was a feeling that maybe Harold was a little bit crazy, she didn't want him to get into danger as well. She didn't care too much about T.K., but she really cared a lot about Harold and wanted him to be as safe as possible, even if that seemed to be impossible.

Izzy was sitting down between Matt and Davis and then Yolei was looking right at the three guys. "Do you guys know what you are planning to do now?" Yolei asked and then none of her three older friends had any thought set as Davis was finishing up his cigarette and due to the fact that so many windows were wide as open, it was like he could actually get away with it for this once and not have any smell getting into a huge problem.

"You know, I just hope that this Harold guy is able to be trusted. Because I am tired of running. I need to get some rest right now. When I get up, I might be able to leave this house finally and I will feel like I can actually start chasing after T.K. again and everything." Matt said and then he was closing his eyes trying to sleep. Even if it was a shitty sleep, and even if it was a shitty sleep that barely lasted more than ten minutes, it would be better than him doing all of this still and fucking up his health even further.

"What do you think that I need to do?" Yoeli asked and then Izzy thought about that for a moment and then he rubbed his hands a little bit. He was standing up and this was him showing that he was probably going to help her out in some form of regard. He walked right up to her side and he was probably thinking he should be the one who did this as Davis and Matt were so worn down and probably near death.

"I will help you get home tonight. I hope that you don't mind me helping you. Besides, you need somebody to be at your side." Izzy said and then after he had said this, the two of them were slowly walking out of the house. Then Matt was looking right at Davis. This was when the two of them were the last ones left. The two of them were thinking that it was rather strange that they were the only ones left, and the two of them wondered how many of these cases were going to lead to the two of them being exactly like this. Just the two of them being alone as if this was starting to become fate a little bit.

"Holy fuck, I feel like I need to get some sleep. I just hope that Harold doesn't mind us sitting down and sleeping on his couch for a while." Davis said and then he was getting himself to sleep as the effects of the tar inside of his body was sinking in and Davis was starting to process the fact that he had legit almost died less than half an hour ago, and that actually did scare him quite a bit. He didn't really know how it was like to feel the experience of almost dying, but it was right there at that moment.

Once Izzy and Yolei were alone, Izzy was thinking about the entire thing. "Yolei, do you have a crush on Davis?" Izzy asked, and then Yolei was looking down and she was trying to deny this whole thing. "I am able to figure out the expressions on how people looked. I can tell that you either have a crush on T.K. or Davis. But considering how much more Davis did to help you out, I am assuming that maybe it was him."

"I do have a crush on him. I am scared of him though as a person. I feel like he is getting himself into way too much danger with all of this. He has smoked a ton and I am really scared about how much of his life that is going to be cut down as a result from all of his smoking. Besides, he does seem to be going on a lot of dates with people that are younger than him. Almost too young to be considered natural. I guess that would be quite the favor for me, but I wonder if he is just using these people for his own gain, and that scares me a little bit." Yolei said as she didn't want her body to be used just because she was young and that was the only reason he was going to 'love' her.

"I wouldn't really worry all that much about it. He is very focused on the whole Kimberly death thing. I don't really think he is going to try and go after you. I just think that if anybody needs to take down Jeff, it should be Davis and I think that this is all due to the fact that Kimberly was killed while he was dating her. I do feel bad for him, even if I don't really know how their love is like." Izzy said and then Yolei forgot about the fact that Kimberly was dead, and she was starting to lose any of her worried of Davis since she knew that Izzy was right.

"Do you know what Davis is going to do the next time that he sees Jeff? Do you think that he is going to either try and kill Jeff or maybe try and report him to the police?" Yolei questioned as Izzy didn't know.

"I guess that with the fact that Jeff is going to be trying to stab him and everything, I am going to assume that Jeff and Davis are going to be getting in a fight where Davis is going to do his best in order to kill him. If he wins or not, I don't know how the police are going to react to him or how he is going to be handled by the way of the law." Izzy said and then the two of them were so far away from where Harold lived that he was entirely out of any vision.

"I think that Davis is entirely justified if he wants to kill Jeff. I know that this sounds like a terrible thing for me to say, but I think that if he keeps this thing up, and he continues to go around the town and ruins the lives of people even worse than he already has, then I think that he is the only one that can actually take care of Jeff. I think that Davis has sort of been getting himself ready for something like this, such as the fact that he has been getting ready to be in the military this entire time." Yolei said and Izzy was wondering right there is that actually was true, that he had been doing all of this training on the chance that something like this could happen.

"I never considered that before. I thought that he was just doing this in order to give himself a cool look. I know that it sounds stupid for me to say this, but I have to admit that the military and the outfit in there gives off a pretty cool appearance, even if that is the one career that I have no real desire to actually get into in my entire life." Izzy thought that if Davis had been getting ready for this, then maybe Davis really could end up being one of the biggest heroes in the history of this town. Or at the very least the recent history of this town, which is not that high of a bar as there are not really that many heroes in the city.

"I think that Davis is just a man who has a past to him that I don't know. If he tells me his entire past though, I think that my entire life will be changed and I will never look at him the same way again, and I don't really know if I want something like that to be happening to me, and I don't know if I want my opinion of the guy to be so changed that I don't think I would ever be able to talk to him again." Yolei said as she was starting to feel a little bit certain that the truth could give her this feeling.

"I think that if Davis actually had any of these secrets to hide from us, then I think that maybe Davis just has a hard time talking to people. I don't really think that he has too much of a past. I mean with how old he is, I would not be shocked if he has some things that he does not want us to see, but I don't think that he is this great and secret person who is going to ruin our lives because of a lack of information." Izzy said and then Yolei was just not sure.

"I have seen him a lot of my life, and I am just not sure. I just think that there is something about his presence. I really think that I know him much more than most people in the world and that if I feel this way, then there must be a level of truth." As Yolei told him that, Izzy felt like he couldn't really argue with her too much on that regard.

"Do you really think that you actually know him more than anybody else in the world?" Izzy asked and he was not saying this to test Yolei, but he was saying this just because he was just not really sure if he was going to believe her that she had known him more than even his parents. But then as he had said that, Yolei had spoken and this was her attempt to debunk the theory that he was coming up.

"He barely talks to his parents, and a lot of time they tell me that he hasn't seen them in weeks at a time. I think that he just doesn't really care to talk to them all that much. As if the only good thing that came out of them was the fact that they were his parents, and once they were done raising him, then they serve no more purpose." Yolei was saying as she was wondering what exactly about his parents had made him resoundingly reject him that badly. There was no real reason for Yolei to reject her own parents, but that was her and not him, so she might actually not know him enough to make that type of judgment.

"Do you think that if he ever told you why he was doing this, that you would actually understand why he was doing all of this? I am just curious about what you think your opinion of the entire matter is." Izzy wondered as he was really just not sure what to think about Yolei and he was wondering if he should really fully trust her or if he was just a little bit scared of her this entire time.

"I think that if he told me why he was doing this, then I couldn't really get too into his business about it anymore. I mean, it is his life to live, and not mine, so I guess that I can just let this whole thing slide a little bit. I just have a feeling that one of these days, if I find out what the truth is, I will accept it and everything, but I am not going to force him to tell me the truth since I think that he should be able to have the choice on it all." Yolei said and she couldn't remember if she had already said, and she honestly didn't care all that much.

"Izzy, can you promise that you are just going to keep these conversations between the two of us? I don't any anybody to wonder what we are talking about because one or two of these details have been exposed to everybody else. I mean, even if you tell your family, they will start to make some theories on what you are doing and they might think that we are seeing each other, that we might be in some form of a relationship, which I feel like is a little bit far for anybody to assume, since have barely known each other at all." Yolei said as Izzy laughed a little at that.

"Trust me Yolei, I am pretty sure that nobody would even think for a moment that we were deep into a relationship or anything like that," Izzy said and Yolei nodded but she still felt a little bit unsafe here.

"I know that you are probably right, but I just don't want any rumors coming up is all. I know it is a silly fear, but it is something I always consider when I am going out and hanging out with people like this. Probably something that I shouldn't think about, but I guess when you have a family that tries to get in your business on everything possible, then you start to consider every possible outcome, no matter what the case may actually be." Yolei said and then after she said that, she started to feel like she could relax a little bit better. If Izzy was being relaxed about this whole thing, then she can compose herself as well. She was telling herself of this as they were walking along just fine afterward.

"Besides, my parents know that I am too worried about things like school to try and worry myself with stuff like dating and all that. I just think that it can be quite the huge effort for something that I feel like will not even be worth it in the end." Izzy told Yolei and that was the real reason he never dated. Not because of this idea of him being some form of sexual deviant who preferred some other stuff from the general public, but just because if he got too focused in school, then his studies would start to feel like they were all for not, and he certainly didn't want anything like that to come up.

"So Izzy, would you consider going out with somebody if there was just that one pitch-perfect person who really captivates you? Or are you just not even going to consider the idea regardless of the situation?" Yolei asked and then Izzy shrugged, as he was thinking that he didn't really have one real definitive answer one way or another.

"If there is somebody that really wows me, then yeah sure I guess I would be into it. But I don't really see that happening any time soon, and I would be colored surprised if that happened before I left high school especially. Even though I guess that it would be able to make high school a little bit more interesting. I mean, there is nothing I really do besides just go home when the school day is over. So I guess I would be willing to try something else out every once in a while when school is over." Izzy answered, not too certain where to go with it.

"My parents usually want to get in my business on if I want to be in a relationship or not. I feel like it is kind of annoying that they try so hard on that, but I guess that they just want me to be a bit more adventurous than I am right now. They said that my middle and high school career should be all about having relationships and knowing what it will be like to get married someday. I feel like they are probably right, but I don't want to live with the fear of rejection." Yolei said and then Izzy nodded at that one as well. He didn't really want to deal with rejection as well, and that was a part of him that was worried.

"I know how you feel. But I guess that if you just fear rejection and don't even try, then you will never get anything. But if at least you try and then you get rejected, at least you can say that you put in a real effort. That is my way of looking at it. But that usually applies when I talk to others. When I am talking about myself, I can't get myself to feel that way no matter how hard I try now." Izzy said and then he put his hands in both of his pockets to avoid a freezing cold feeling there.

"Why do you feel rejection so much upon yourself if you just accept it as a normal thing of life to others? It seems a bit strange how you look at it in this regard." Yolei said and then after she had said this, Izzy was not too sure if he could come up with a good response since in reality, he was not really one hundred percent sure. He just felt like he was a different person compared to most. That would be the answer he would settle with.

"A lot of people are not really like me. I think about Science. I usually enjoy school. I have an easy time getting the lectures. I am almost always in the top three scores of a test, only getting fourth highest once. The teachers actually respect the work and effort that I put in and don't feel like I am wasting their time being in there." Izzy said and then he finished himself with "I guess people might not like people who are not in the norm."

"I suppose that this makes sense in a way. If you are not what people expect you to be, they might be a little bit worried about that. They worry that you might try and steal their thunder if that makes any sense. At least that is how I think of it for right now. You just need to show some people that not having a general outlook in things might really not be all that bad." Yolei said and Izzy felt like it was much easier said than to be done.

"I appreciate the fact that you think that I can totally pull this off and have no real problem doing so, but that is just not what is going to happen. I think you and I both know that this is the case. I think that the more I think about it, and the more that I try to act like I could be a popular person and a person that can get people to want to form a relationship with me, the more that the idea of fools gold is going to become a real ass statement. I mean there are already so many taken people in my school, that sometimes I would not be shocked if they didn't even know if I existed or not. I know that sounds a bit extreme, but I feel like it is not really all that out of the idea of reason." Izzy kept going, and he felt like he was on a roll in proving what his point to Yolei was, who just decided that she would continue to let him rant since it was the only thing that he was really doing now.

"I don't really know Izzy, I think you should at least give it a chance. If things turn out the way that you expect, then you can say that you were proven right. But if not, then you should try and make that workout. Plus, you are a smart guy. You probably know how most things work without even trying it out before. If you know what I mean." Yolei said as Izzy rolled his eyes.

He did understand what she had meant. There was no way in hell he would not be able to understand what she had meant by it. But there was something in the way that she was just trying to be playful with it that made him feel like as long as she was having fun with her silly humor, he would not get in her way about it.

"You know, for somebody your age, you're not as bad to talk with as I thought that you would have been. I mean, you are listening to me, and you are actually placing in points and ideas that I never thought about. I mean, as smart as I may be, I am not calculating and I don't really plan every single thing out months before it happens. I do just let them happen naturally a lot of the time, but not all the time." Izzy said as he looked at Yolei once again and saw her messing around with her hair.

"Thanks, Izzy, that really means a lot to me to hear from you. I thought that you were just going to dismiss me as another hindrance or something like that. But it seems like you do have some respect for me. It seems like you don't have a problem just letting your opinion flow, even if I don't agree. You also consider my opinion, again even if you don't always agree. I think that requires at least some maturity." Yolei said, thinking that she might be able to soften him up if she had kept this up.

She had no real idea why she had cared so much about him not being such a hard ass all the time, but she was also wishing to see him potentially go out there and get a life. After all, there was nothing really all that interesting about sitting around your house all day doing nothing besides just doing school work and reading old and boring history books.

"Besides, I don't even know if I will actually really get the chance to with all that is going on right now in town. I would consider making it even out of this to be more of a victory than anything. I don't really want to worry about something I might not even get a chance to pursue just because of how far out of reach the thing may be. I hope that we can agree on that one. I mean, it is very hard to take the idea of dating seriously if you are not even sure if you are going to survive in more than a week or two from now." Izzy said and Yolei was going to have to concede that it was hard to argue on that one.

"I never thought of that one. I was just sort of trying and pretend that we weren't dealing with a psycho who plans to murder the entire town for all intents and purposes. Besides, I think that if he has gone this far and has somehow not died, we should be taking that stuff a little more seriously." Yolei said and then Izzy was wondering how they even could survive this guy with his abilities.

"I guess that if I don't make it, at least I will get to say that I started to know a pretty nice person. Somebody who doesn't judge me and somebody who really does feel kind of down to earth. But I think that we should probably be getting a little bit more serious now if we want to actually survive. We had our moment or fun. But we need to get over that and actually get down to business." Izzy finally decided it was back to being on the main topic, which both thoughts were a bit of a shame.

"Yeah, I guess that you are right, as much as I hate to admit it. We can't keep putting off the important stuff forever, sort of like school work." Yolei laughed and she felt like that was her last big joke before they got into serious mode, and Izzy understands that was the intent even right then and there.

"So do you think that the police will have any real chance of defeating Jeff? I really don't think that it is actually possible that they can stop Jeff, and I have a terrible feeling that if they are forced to confront Jeff, that the killer will slaughter all of them and then we will be forced to be independent once again. As much as I have a terrible feeling that this will happen, I really can't get myself to believe that this will not go down since Jeff has proven that he can handle pretty much any type of attack coming up. But then Jeff might have a chance of being distracted by something and then if he gets distracted by something, then he could be taken down that way. Maybe I should find a way to distract Jeff and that this can be the only way we can defeat him." Yolei suggested, wondering if there even was a way that they could distract him this well.

"I heard that Harold was mentioning something about friends and a brother that Jeff used to have. I bet that if Jeff sees them again, that there is a chance that they can start to change Jeff a little bit. Perhaps long enough for him to actually start to think that he is going to be a person who can actually start to get converted back to some form of normalcy. Then if that happens, I have a feeling that perhaps that he will just go to prison and then things will actually be some kind of reform in his life." Izzy was saying and then he had felt like this was really silly.

"I think that we need to find the brother. Hopefully, we can find Keith and then if we find Keith, he might actually tell me the truth about his brother and he might be convinced to actually try and talk to Jeff once more. Maybe if Keith, quite possibly his only friendly person, or even remotely close to a friendly person that he has, can actually talk to Jeff and make him sane again, then we could be able to try and defeat Jimmy White once and for all without actually having to kill Jeff as well." Yolei said and both of them knew that it was virtually impossible. But both of them actually wanted to believe even for a moment that this could happen.

"Keith will probably not want to talk to us again. If Keith sees us and especially if he sees Jeff, then he might be feeling like his death is being set up. I think that we need to actually just let him live alone. Either that or just be around long enough to make sure that Jimmy White doesn't kill him." Izzy said and then he had one real question in his mind.

How the hell was Jimmy White still mayor of this fucking city? It made no sense that this guy who had committed even more crimes than anybody in this city could be the mayor of the city? Did he hush anybody who even challenged his rule in the city like he hushed the people who actually tried to expose the crimes of the city?

"I don't even know who Jimmy White is honestly. I have only met him once, and that was when he took us to his office and told us to stop pursuing this case any further. I should have listened to him. I mean, if I had listened to him, I would have actually not had to deal with watching that terrible fight that Harold had with Jeff. I wish I would have never seen that. It was the most disgusting thing that I had ever seen in my entire life." Izzy said and Yolei had agreed with that. That fight almost made them sick. Especially the part in which Jeff's balls were starting to come out of him.

"I think that if you want to see who Jimmy White is, you just need to go to his office and try to make a deal with him. If you make a deal with him, he might trust you if you do a good job on your deal, and then he will actually start to give you more information about him. Then you will have enough information to take him down." Yolei said and then Izzy looked over at Yolei as if he could not believe that he had never thought about this idea beforehand.

"Yes, you actually have something going on here. I need to meet him at his office. Let's go and check out that office right now. Maybe when I talk to him, soon enough he will just tell me everything. I think that we can actually make a good working relationship here." Izzy said and then Yolei was feeling glad that no matter what, Izzy still did respect the opinion of Yolei.

"So do you even know where his office is?" Yolei asked as she was believing that this was a perfectly reasonable question. Izzy stood there for a moment and as he was thinking about this for a moment, he was having a hard time to come up with the answer, the block or anything. But he was starting to place the general area in his mind, and then he snapped his finger as if he got it again.

"Yeah, I think I do know where it is. I don't know the place exactly, but I remember the house and what it had looked like. If we find the house, then we will be set." Izzy said and then he was walking in the direction of where this guy had his office set, and then Yolei was just following him along for a while. She was trying to decide if she had wanted to talk to him still or if she was just going to let him run the show for the next bit. She didn't even know whom Jimmy White was, and only heard bits and pieces of his corruption, so she was even less familiar with it than him.

Yolei and Izzy were walking for a while, wondering how much longer Izzy was going to try and lead the show. She was fine with him doing it compared to him or her, but she felt like if Matt or Davis was going to be the leader or something like that, then they would have actually been a better leader than Izzy. She felt terrible for acting like this to Izzy, but at the same time, she needed to try and be a little bit more realistic. Izzy just did not really seem like he would be the leader type unless if it was absolutely needed for him to be.

As Izzy was walking towards where the office of the mayor was, Izzy was thinking out loud a little bit. "I guess that it will be an hour or so away from here. It took Davis about ten minutes to drive from there to where Harold had lived, so I imagine even at our slowest, it wouldn't take more than like an hour and a half away from here." Izzy was just making general assumptions, not really knowing what he was talking about and not really even knowing if he was right, or even really close to being right. But it sounded like a good enough assumption that Yolei didn't really feel the need to correct him. And since there was no clock that they had with them, none of the two of them would have been able to correct him if he was wrong.

"So Izzy, when we reach where Jimmy White is, do you think that you should try to talk to him alone, or do you think that you would want me to come along with you?" Yolei asked and then Izzy had thought about that for a bit. He wasn't really sure what the best answer would be. He didn't want Yolei to get in trouble, but he also wanted to make sure that there could be somebody who would take the mantle from him at the last moment. So he was not really going to come up with what he had felt like was the objectively correct answer.

"I think that you should just remain outside. Maybe we can discuss a bit of a plan before I go in there, and hope that he is going to come along with the plan. If not, then you can come in and take over the operation for me. If I haven't come out of the office after thirty minutes, then you should leave and try and inform Davis. But if I find something that I can compromise with him on in that time, then everything will be all right." Izzy said and then Yolei had thought that this was a relatively okay compromise.

"If you come out in thirty minutes or less, I will stay here. But I guess that you will be able to make some form of compromise soon enough with him, that can mutually benefit both of you. If there is one thing I am pretty sure you can use with your knowledge, I am pretty sure that you can use your knowledge to know how to make some politicians believe that you are able to fulfill your end of the deal." Yolei had said and then Izzy was thinking that it was a bit of a strong message.

"I think that you are giving me too much credit. I have never once in my life talked to a politician before. I am pretty sure that people have been doing stuff like this every day. I doubt that they will think that I am the one guy who can change everything about how he looks at life." Izzy said and he was thinking that if anything, he would be the would be the one who was right and that Izzy was just being too optimistic.

"But Izzy, you don't really know if you don't try something. You need to try and convince him to follow what you think should be the correct way. If you don't try, then you are sure to fail. But if you try and fail, then at least you can say that you did try your best at something." Yolei said as Izzy was not really sure what exactly the best he can do would be.

"I am pretty sure that if I was trying my best, that I would be fucking dead. I don't really want to do my best if I have such a feeling that it will be sort of a set up for certain death." Izzy said and he was thinking that Yolei just needed to finally accept what his fears were by this point in time.

"I guess if you feel like you are going to die by doing your best, which I think is a bit too much of an assumption, then I guess that you shouldn't do your best. But if there are some people who end up dying, then there is a small chance that you will be responsible for what happens next under the rule of Jimmy White." Yolei said and then Izzy could not believe for a moment that she was telling him this, and he was thinking that none of this was in any way his fault.

"If somebody dies, it will not be in any way my fault. The only way that somebody dying would be my fault is if I kill somebody. I seriously just don't fucking get it. I just don't get how me not really being sure of how to talk to this guy and him not agreeing with me will instantly mean that it is my fault that somebody died. I think you need to be much more realistic about what you say before you say that." Izzy said and he wasn't even sure why he was sounding angry at that, but it was what he was properly thinking at that moment and he wasn't lying to himself.

"I know that in theory that it won't really be your fault, but at the same time, you should try and make Jimmy really see what is wrong with the town. He probably just hasn't really seen what is wrong about the town and that is why he has been doing all of this. Maybe if you actually show him what the city is like, and therefore he can actually see why he needs to change his ways, then perhaps he will actually do just that. I know that it is a little bit hard to believe me saying that, but I just believe in you. If there is no hope, then there is no way that we can make it through what the problems of this city are. If we have no hope against Jeff, then there is no way that Jeff will keep himself contained." Yolei said as Izzy was forced to consider this part for a bit.

"Yeah, I guess you are right on that regard. If there is no hope for the future, then I guess that maybe we need to just accept the fact that we have lost the entire battle. Jeff needs to be taken down, and we can all agree on that, but I don't really know how we are going to defeat Jeff. I really doubt the whole Keith plan will work, and I am not even going to pretend that this is going to work, but still, I need to tell myself that there is another way." Izzy said one hundred percent certain Keith was not going to change Jeff.

"If you do not think that getting Keith to change Jeff again will work, which I guess is a bit of a foolish hope, then what do you think actually can work?" Yolei asked and then Izzy thought about that and he was just thinking that there was no real way that Jeff was going to change.

"You know, as much as I hate to admit it, I think that the only way this can happen is if you find a way to get Jeff and Jimmy White and kill each other, and then the two of them dying at the same time, that can take care of two of the biggest problems in the entire city. That is what I would say can work. But I don't know if you can find a way to kill them both at once." Izzy said and then the two of them were getting much closer to the office where Jimmy White had been.

"I don't want to admit that this is the truth, but I guess that maybe there is a level of realism to what you are saying. But if you are right, then I think that we will actually get arrested and we will be considered to be the worst people who had lived in this town. Because once Jimmy White dies, people will pretend like he is a great man, and like he made no mistakes at all no matter what he has done the last twenty or so years he has been mayor." Yolei said and then Izzy nodded.

"Most of the people who die at their job get considered to have done a great job at their occupation because people will be afraid to admit the truth of the terrible job that they have done. I think that perhaps the job is able to put people up to a pantheon, and once they are up on that level of godhood, then the people who dare say anything against them will be considered the sinners. I think maybe that is why Jimmy White is still mayor because he knows that nobody will dare say anything against him if he made some mistakes at his job." Izzy said and he was thinking about some historical presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, and John Kennedy, who would not have been nearly as considered to be great if these people were not killed.

"I guess that maybe that is what Jimmy White might want. He might want to die during his job, and therefore nobody would dare say anything against him. So maybe this is a bad idea, having a way for him to die during his job." Yolei said and then she felt a little bit worse at that one, thinking of how much this was going to fail.

"I think we just need to talk to him and make a compromise that will keep us safe. Then with that compromise, then perhaps we will actually have done the one thing that we can do in the end, and that is making sure that we are safe if for nothing else." Izzy said, wondering if Yolei was thinking that he was being selfish.

"I just hope that talking to him isn't going to be as much of a suicide mission as you have been hyping it up to be. Or as much of a suicide mission that I have also been hyping it up to be as well. I just hope that Jimmy White is willing to listen to the voice of reason at least to some extent." Yolei said and then Izzy nodded.

They reached the front entrance of Jimmy White's office and they made a plan that he would go in there and talk to him and see what Izzy can do to change his mind, and that if not, then Yolei was going to report to the police and tell them what Izzy had said to Jimmy White and then as a result, Yolei would actually have saved the town by exposing what was wrong about Jimmy in just that one conversation. Then before anything was able to be further discussed, Izzy walked right inside of the office of Jimmy White.

As Izzy was now inside of the office of the mayor of the town, Jimmy White was sitting down there as if he had expected Izzy to come and show up this whole time. This sudden realization that had hit him made him much less sure of what to do or say. In fact, he was ready to already bolt out of the room when Jimmy White laughed. "So I can tell that you have some trouble taking orders. I thought that you were too smart to make dumb choices. I guess I overestimated you though. No matter, it is not like you are going to make any difference to what my plans are in the long run. Just know that there are some people I work with who are coming right towards your house right now, and they want to give you a nice visit." Jimmy White said as Izzy was holding onto the chair so tightly his hands were starting to turn colorless.

"I love how you are so scared. You don't want to admit that I have you by a leash. You are a fucking idiot. If you had wanted to keep your family safe, you should have been quiet. You should have gone back to camp like the others. But you just couldn't handle letting adults do their business. You are a god damned disgrace." Jimmy White kept going as Izzy still let his anger build up a bit.

"I know that you want to lash out at me right now. But I think that we both know that you will be making a very big mistake if you do that. I can have some of my helpers here in less than a second if you even so much as make a move on me. Besides, weren't you going to try and make a deal with me and not cause violence? I can see that the deal idea is being thrown out the window. You don't even have the mentality to keep yourself composed right now. How do you think that you can make me a compromise with the attitude that you are placing forward?" It was at this point when Izzy had enough of the mayors bullshit.

Izzy stood up and started to walk to the door. "What are you, a fucking coward? A coward who can't even do the one thing that he said he would do? You are going to make everybody in your family die because you were not smart enough to hold back. You are going to be a failure because you couldn't even go through with your one fucking simple ass plan. God, you are even worse than Davis. At least he actually fights." Jimmy White said and then Izzy turned back at the guy just to say one thing to the man.

"I can fucking fight. I will fight. I am going to go back to my house and I am going to fight as hard as I can in order to make sure that my family actually has a chance of being safe." Izzy said and then he walked out of the office and looked at Yolei. "Failed so badly even I can't believe it."

"He knew just how to press your buttons just right. I really would not blame you for what had happened. Just go to your house, and see if you can help out your family in any way you can. That is pretty much what you are going to have to do." Yolei said and then Izzy nodded. He knew that Yolei was right. He knew that there was virtually no chance he could have actually changed anything, but he had hoped that there could have been a slight chance that he would have done so even then. He had hoped there could have been even a one percent chance he could have finally flipped at least something to his favor.

"If you don't want to help me right now, I totally understand. But if you do want to help me, that will be really great for me right now." Izzy said and then after he had said that, Yolei thought for a moment, realizing that this entire situation was deadly foolishness if she had wanted to help him. But at the same time, he was probably going to die, and leaving him even with the chance of dying was also deadly foolishness.

Izzy was walking along for a bit until he was out of sight from the office, and then he started to run as fast as he possibly could go given his body fitness. There was no way in hell even with his weaker health that he was going to let this guy get the last laugh. He was going to keep running until he reached that house even if it meant that he was burning every single calorie he had eaten in the last several days.

Yolei watched as Izzy was running, trying to slowly decide what her best option should have been. She was seeing that he was so far away from her that even if he had wanted to have her along, that chance was pretty much gone. She was just going to simply resort to wishing him the best of luck and hoping that he was going to be able to get out of this mostly fine. That was the only thing she could really hope for.

Izzy was not stopping to even take a break. The amount of effort that he was placing into his running almost made him cry from the sheer amount of exhaustion that he was getting from all of this. He felt like he was running out of energy, and he was also feeling like the only thing that was keeping him going was the small amount of energy source that he did have left. Before he knew it, he was actually most of the way back to his house, and his clothes were mostly soaked to the core from his sweat.

Eventually, Izzy reached the front entrance of where he had lived and he knew that he was ready to kick some ass if he had needed to do so. He didn't even bother knocking to get inside. He just kicked his door right down and then he walked right along inside to see what was going on in the house to get a clear idea of what he was going to be ready for. He saw that his parents were sitting down on a couch talking to a guy wearing a black business suit with red hair. There was also his younger sister asleep in her bedroom, totally oblivious to what could be going down at any moment.

The guy in red hair looked up and smiled when he had seen Izzy. "I can see that you heard that I was talking to your parents. We were discussing some things about you. Such as your behavior problems, and all three of us agree that you should probably change your behavior in order to try and fit a more suited and tolerable way. We all think that you have been taking for granted the idea of being at summer camp. With your actions there and all." The guy with red hair said and Izzy was totally confused as he held his mouth open.

"Are you seriously going to try and deny what is going on? There have been reports that you have been sexually assaulting people at camp. Many of them have come forward about what you have been doing. Your parents talked with them for a bit. The kids agreed that they would not press charges if you do not ever talk to them again. In order to ensure that you never talk to them again, I have this tracker that I am going to give you that follows your every move to make sure you never step out of line again." The guy with red hair stood up and then Izzy was not able to handle this set of lies and the bullshit this guy told his parents.

His mother even looked like she was ready to cry over what she had been hearing. "What the fuck guys? You don't even wait long enough to hear my side of the case? You don't even want to hear what your own child has to say for himself?" Izzy asked and he was even more pissed at his parents that he was pissed at the false set of rumors going around.

"I would suggest that you not talk to your parents like that. I am going to drive you back to camp and I am going to place this tracker on you before you leave, and I want you to have it on at all times." The guy with red hair said as he grabbed Izzy by his shirt and dragged him down to his car where he drove Izzy to summer camp. Then he threw Izzy on the ground and placed the tracker on him once he landed. Before he got back in the car he said "You fucking disgrace." Then he drove off and left Izzy out there dirty and sweaty and wondering if he had really lost any form of reputation that he could have possibly made lately.


	42. Two Sides of the Coin

Chapter 41: Two Sides of the Coin

Mimi was sitting down getting ready to go to sleep that night, as she was very tired and honestly had no real desire to continue this up for any longer anymore. She was putting on her pajamas, and since there was nobody else in the room, this was the only time she had felt like she would be able to do this, and she wasn't going to try and do it when others were around as they would try to find a way to go on and objectify her a little bit. Once she was done putting her pajamas on, she was heading right towards her bed with each step causing her to close her eyes even more than the step before. But this was stopped the moment she had heard a knock at the door. Mimi rolled her eyes and thought it was probably one of her cabin mates who were finally coming back for good during the night. It was kind of annoying how they were just randomly dicking around like this for hours on end every day, but since they never bothered her, she decided that she would pretend to be fine with it.

She opened the door and saw that it was indeed not one of her cabin mates. She saw that the girl there was somebody who she had only seen once or twice. She was the girl named Candice who she would sometimes see at the camp fire. Candice smiled and Mimi was wondering what she was doing here. "I was hoping that there were some others here, but I guess that I will just have to deal with you." Candice said and then Mimi was wondering what the hell was going on.

"Before you ask, yes there is a proper reason that I am here. Since nobody else is here, I think that maybe I can talk to you for a little bit. Maybe you will actually decide that you will want to help me out after all." Candice said and then before Mimi would be able to say yes or no, she walked right into the cabin and Mimi rolled her eyes in annoyance over the fact that she had basically forced the choice on her.

"So what is the proper reason that you are here?" Mimi asked and she was doing her best to try and compose herself here. Candice looked at Mimi and then she was checking around to see that nobody was around, so that she was safe to talk for the time being.

"I was getting some information from the camp head director. I think that he is using us for some form of grand scheme. I want to take down this syndicate. I hope that even if I die doing this, that the truth will be coming out over what he has been doing here." Candice said and then Mimi was curious and then she closed the door quietly as if she was starting to feel a little bit more curious about what was going on.

"What are you saying about the camp director? He seems like a nice enough guy from what I have seen of him." Mimi said and then Candice told her to sit down, and then Mimi reluctantly agreed that she was going to go along with this as she sat down next to Candice on her bed. "Seriously, where are you getting this information off of?" Mimi started to pester her a little bit further and then Candice raised her left hand a little bit as if to get her to stop and just let her tell the story.

"He has been running this camp for nearly twenty years. The entire time that he has been camp director, he has been sending the information on every single camper out to some so called government officials. I actually found proof of this when I found my own file, and stole it when the director was not around. That is why I am not really officially registered in the camp anymore, because according to the director, I don't even exist anymore." Candice said and then she unzipped the top part of her shirt and then she handed it to Mimi to let her take a look at it for a moment. Mimi opened it up and there was pretty much every piece of info about Candice given so that way Mimi would know all about her. Even going as far back to when Candice was only a mere few weeks old.

"How did the camp director get all of this information?" Mimi asked and then Candice seemed to think about that for a moment, not really sure what the answer was, and she was actually wanting to get that information as well. But then before that could be a thought set for too long, Candice started to continue the story.

"Well you know, I found out about this story that happened a little bit under ten years ago with some of the campers. The campers, which at the time it was a boy scout camp, so there were no girl campers, were attacked by a couple of scary adults and there was a guy who attacked and killed the adults who were trying to attack them. This was an event that went on the news for a couple of days and then faded away once again. There was only more year this camp was a boy scout camp before it started to be a multi gendered camp." Candice said and then Mimi was thinking about it for a moment and she vaguely recalled a story somewhat like this from back in the past.

"But you were not old enough to know about this. How did you actually get the information relating to this?" Mimi asked, and then Candice was placing her fingers together as she looked around for a bit to make sure that nobody was aware of this conversation before she felt the comfort enough to continue her story to Mimi.

"Because I felt there was something wrong about this camp the minute I walked into it. There was just something in it that seemed like it was giving off the wrong vibe. When I had this feeling, and I am always right about my feelings, I started to look forward a little bit to see what was happening. I then found out the schedule of the head of camp, and when I found out the hours that I was virtually confident that he was not going to be there after a couple of weeks, I found a way into his office and I would go in there for about twenty minutes or so each day to study his notes. This was the only way that I was going to actually find out what going down in this camp. The more that I found out about this stuff, the more that it was starting to look less and less like normal camp reports and more like actual real files that seemed like they were sort of stalking the people in the camp. I think that you might not believe me over this whole thing. I guess that if you don't believe me, I won't be able to force you to believe me, but I wish that you will be able to see through the lies." Candice said and then Mimi shook her head. She was not going to argue that this guy was a bit strange and that he probably had some strange habits, but nothing like this.

"Look Candice, I appreciate the fact that you think that you need to look after this camp for some reason. I don't know why you feel the need to do this, but it shows that you are not immune to any of the bullshit going on in this world. But that being said, I don't really believe any of this. I hope that you can understand why this seems just beyond strange to me." Mimi said and then Candice was standing up to make sure that they were mostly seeing eye to eye.

"Mimi, I know that you are in denial, but the evidence is right here. This guy knows all about us. I think that he might actually be using us for some form of experimental purposes. I know that this may be hard for you to believe, and I get that you need some time to think about it, but you can't deny the evidence when it is right the fuck there. Mimi, I think that now I have a chance to change this thing. Please try and understand what I am thinking about here." Candice said and then Mimi was thinking about this. The more that she had thought about it, the less in denial she would be able to put herself and the more that she was forced to at least ponder the idea that she was right.

"Candice, do you really think that I could even be able to help you out? Even if you are right, I don't really think that there is anything that I can do. I hope you understand why I am saying this. I have no idea how I can help you out. This is a man who has probably twenty to thirty years on us, and we're young women. He can probably kick our asses." Mimi tried to explain her feelings and then Candice did actually consider that for a moment.

"I do understand your point. It is a valid point under almost any other case. But please Mimi, I get that you are just scared. I am scared about what is happening to us right now. These people can probably kill us with a snap of a finger. Do you want to die at least putting up a fight and trying to do the right thing, or do you want to just have this guy possibly claim your life without any real fight that you put up here."

"I would rather have neither one of them. I would rather just live through this whole thing and think that you are over reacting. But I guess that there is no choice that you are going to let that happen. You are probably going to force me to make a choice." Mimi said and then Candice nodded.

After Candice had pretty much confirmed Mimi's fears that she was basically forced to make a choice, Mimi thought about it for a bit. Then she nodded. "I guess you are right about one thing. I would rather give a decent fight. I don't want to go into any physical fights though. I hope that you understand me." Mimi said and then Candice smiled as if happy that at least one person was going to help her out with this.

"The guy is going to be taking a night walk right now. We have about twenty minutes to actually get in there, get some information, and then get the hell out of here." Candice said and then Mimi thought that this was not a lot of time. But then Mimi realized that perhaps since the camp director only had his house about five minutes away, that this did give them about fifteen minutes to look around.

The two of them left their camp cabin and then they started to walk right to the directors house. When they were seeing that nobody was around to see that they were going to do this, Candice opened up the door and then Mimi stayed behind for a couple of seconds just to make sure that nobody would actually catch them. Then they walked inside of the camp directors house.

There was nothing really around in the first floor. Most people were usually at the first floor at some point in time anyways. The guy was almost always talking with somebody. Mimi never got why, but then she was starting to consider that maybe what Candice had said might actually have been true after all. She thought that maybe the guy was actually getting information or details about the stuff that they had been doing on a daily basis.

The second floor was just the gaming room in the camp. Mimi did have to remind herself that this did use to be an all boys camp, and that was why there was a lot of dude exclusive stuff in there. So she didn't think too much of it, even if she was one for trying to create some form of false equal rights idea. But on the third floor was where Candice knew that they actually did have to start being more careful about what they were doing.

"Okay Mimi, we have to be really quiet now. Just don't do anything that would be considered too strange. If the director comes in before planned, just jump through the window and hope you don't get hurt. I have this a couple of times. I usually leave about three minutes in advance and get out in full running to make sure I have at least a few seconds to be away from the house before the director can find us." Candice said and then she was starting to look around.

Mimi stood right next to her and then as she was standing next to Candice, she saw that Candice was pulling out a blue folder. "I have only been able to start reading this one. It seems like this guy has hundreds of files, maybe even thousands of them." Candice said and then she saw that it was the file of her fellow cabin mate Tai. She thought it was fun to learn more about the life of her cabin mate, but at the same time, she did think that it might be disrespectful. So she was not going to look too much into it besides just the basic information.

Mimi was now looking around at other things in the room. She found that there was a large bin of notebooks in there. Mimi pulled one of them out of the bin. "Have you noticed this before?" Mimi asked and then Candice turned around. She was trying to remember if she had or not. She had seen it, but she couldn't remember how much, if any, that she had read of it.

"I think I decided that I wasn't going to read it until I figured out everything else. If you want to read it though, go ahead." Candice said and then Mimi saw that there was probably a several multiples of fives in there in there. If Mimi had to guess, maybe thirty five now. Mimi saw on the table that there was yet another one. Mimi thought that maybe there was probably one for each year that he is the director at camp, and Mimi could figure out that this was probably the case when she saw that there was one number at the top of it. The number just simply said '1950'.

Mimi opened it up and read the first page that was in there. "I have finally started my camp director job. I was given this job after the previous director ran away and I managed to buy off the camp in an auction. It is a bit strange. I am not really going to there. But I think that I can turn this thing around and make this a better experience for the young boys who are going to be going to camp here this year. This is a male exclusive camp. Probably for the best, since I don't want them to go around fucking other girls or trying to fuck them and then having these girls reject them. I have dealt with enough rejection in my life. However, on the other hand of the argument, you could say that these people do need to be exposed to other girls at this age so that way they can start to get into the early dating scene, and maybe even if she rejects him, he can learn from this. I just hope that I don't have any faggots at the camp. I don't want to see any fucking fags banging at camp." Mimi was done reading the page and then she turned to the second page of the notebook.

"Your friend Tai is a very strange man Mimi. I never thought that there would be so many details about him in there that could be considered a bit taboo." Candice said as Mimi placed the notebook in the bin. She realized she wanted nothing to do with that notebook. She was scared that she was going to learn more and more details about what this guy was thinking about them, and she was worried that these thoughts could get a little sexual when it gets to the years where the girls are in the camp. Or even the boys if he is secretly one of those faggots that he was scared to have at his camp, because they might capture more of his desires.

Mimi walked right up to Candice and then she was looking at a bit of Tai's file and she saw that there indeed was a lot of info on the guy. She saw that there was probably twenty five or thirty pages in there alone. Mimi was wondering why he wrote so much about Tai.

But before she could even think more about this, she heard that the front door to the directors house opened. Candice shoved the file in there and then both her and Mimi got out of the room and closed the window and closed it.

Once the window was closed, they started to run at max speed and they were just barely out of sight when the camp director was inside of his room. He could tell that somebody was there, just like pretty much every day, but he can never find out who it was.

Not that it really mattered. He was going to find out the truth sooner or later. No matter how hard he had to try, he was going to find the truth of the matter, and when he does, he is going to punish them for not listening to him. He is going to punish them for acting like they were able to get away with getting into his office, breaking into his information, and acting like they are able to actually steal his information. As if it was in any way alright for that to happen. He was pissed that they actually had the assumption that he was fine with this, when in all reality, he was nowhere near being okay with people breaking into his stuff.

Once Mimi and Candice were left alone, Mimi was looking at Candice a bit. "I think that you might be telling the truth. When did you start to get the theory that this was what happened? Did he just give you that bad impression when you first saw him?" Mimi asked Candice and then Candice knew that there was a level of truth to that, but the fear that she had in him was beyond that. There was something that he just was that scared her.

"I think that the guy had something happen to him when he was younger that changed his life forever, and after his life was changed from what had happened, he had become the man that many would fear. The man that many would think was working with the grim reaper. I know that it is a little bit silly to assume that he worked for the grim reaper, or to even suggest that a grim reaper even existed, but it is hard to think otherwise when you talk with him. Yes, I have talked to him for a while a couple of times, and that was what made me really fear him even more than I had already feared him."

"What exactly was he telling you when you were talking with him?" Mimi asked, and then Candice was thinking that she didn't really trust Mimi enough to tell her these details, but she also thought that lying to her was going to be the biggest mistake that she would be able to actually make throughout her entire time getting to know Mimi. So Candice after a few seconds of debate decided that she would tell her the truth.

"Well, the thing is when I was talking to him, he was telling me that he had been watching people just to see what type of person they were. He also said that he was a bit interested in seeing their different thought sets, and that he liked to watch the conflict with his campers, as if watching them grow increasingly different opinions on things through the summer makes me more happy than anything else. He likes to watch us grow. I think that there is something else to him than anybody would want to admit." Candice said and then Mimi was thinking about this, and she was thinking that maybe Candice was actually right.

Mimi was thinking about this, as if she was trying to decide if she did get the proper context of what Candice was saying. The more that she was listening to her talk, the more it sounded like she was accusing him of being a pedophile. Given the way that it sounded at the moment, that was what she would have thought. But as Mimi would later find out, that there was much more to it than she would have thought. If it was just simply him being a pedophile, she would have been able to deal with it, but it was the fact that there was the implication that there was more to it.

"So Candice, is there a personal vandetta that you have against him, or are you just trying to fight for what you would consider to be the right thing?" Mimi asked and then Candice felt like she was able to have an easier time to answer this one than she was able to have to answer the other questions that she had been asked by this point in time.

"He did nothing to me personally to make me feel motivated to do this. I wanted to do this for other reasons. I wanted to do it because I actually have a sense of right. A sense to do something that actually matters. I feel like more people should feel that way rather than just sitting on their ass and letting this guy do absolutely nothing at all. I would rather have people that do something that could take this guy down rather than just letting him do this with future cabin mates. I don't want to know what he has done to these campers, and what he could do to them in the future. That idea scares the shit out of me." Candice admitted, and then Mimi thought that there must be something else that would make her scared.

"Do you think that he has killed some of the campers here?" Mimi asked, and then Candice thought for a moment. She wouldn't really know if she would have gone that far. But now that she thought about it, she was thinking that maybe she would actually take it that far. This would sound like the type of guy who would kill some of his campers.

"I don't know if I would say that I think he has done it on purpose. But I would also say that he has probably done it before." Candice said and then Mimi started to feel a little bit scared about that. She was not really sure why she was so scared about the opinion of a person that she had never met before, and she was starting to think that she was onto something there. That was the part that worried her. Not the fact that she was thinking that the camp director was just a pshyco path, but more of the fact that Candice might have been right about him being one. It would have been one thing if he was just a pedophile, but it was another thing entirely to assume that he was a fucking serial killer. One of his own campers none the less.

"Do you think that he wants to kill you? Do you think that he has killed some of your friends earlier?" Mimi asked and then Candice shook her head. She was thinking that she was pretty safe by this point in time, but she was not really sure if she felt that way about future campers.

"I think that he may have killed some people who were campers last year. I mean, have you actually heard some of the news reports here. Have you heard some of the reports about people who had gone missing? I remembered reading the reports, and seeing the news coverage that would only show up once, and then I decided that I would continue looking into it. I wrote notes about all of these people, and found out that they were all in this camp earlier this year." Candice said and then Mimi was just thinking that she was simply just over thinking this quite a bit.

"I vaguely recall some of these news reports, but I don't remember all of the details of these reports. Not that it was really all that big of a deal." Mimi said and then Candice was thinking about what she was going to tell her about the news reports, to make her see more of her point of view. To make her see more and more why she was certain that these people were taken in by the camp director and how he could have been responsible for the fact that they had died. Or at least have been missing.

"Well one of them was last seen down at the beach of the camp. The camp was quiet that night, and everybody who saw him that previous night said that he was perfectly fine and that there was nothing that would possibly indicate that something was going on with him. Then he was gone, and nobody knew where he was and after a while it was like people were starting to wonder if he was ever even at the camp. Or hell even if he had ever existed. But he did exist. I am almost certain that he did exist, and there is nothing about it that can change my mind." Candice said and then Mimi was not really sure if she was fully on Candice's side or if she was thinking that she was actually kind of crazy.

"Is there any other campers who went missing?" Mimi asked and then Candice nodded, and Mimi was wondering how the hell people even continued to send their children to camp if all of these people had gone missing according to Candice. Unless if Candice really was going crazy, and none of this had actually happened.

"Oh trust me, there were several other people who had gone missing. There was this girl who had gone missing about three days or so after the guy. She was in the forest the last time that she was seen. There were a couple of friends who were hanging out with her, and one of them looked away from her for just a brief moment and then before they knew it, they turned around and she was nowhere to be seen. She looked around for her friends for hours on end, wondering if she was actually to be found at all, or if she really did never even exist." Candice then said "People were wondering where she had gone. Many people had gone home after these two people went away and then some of them never came back. But then others came back after a couple of days and that was when I started to get more interested in these types of cases that are going on." Candice said and then that was when Mimi asked the question she could not believe she didn't ask earlier.

"Were you at the camp before, or is this your first year? Were you only in this camp just to do this investigation?" Mimi was pretty sure of what most of these answers were.

"Well, I have been here once before. Several years ago. Not last year. There was one person who had gone missing that year. But that was before I found out that every year this had happened, and that was before I found out the truth of what was going on here." Candice said and then she had decided to leave it at just that.

"Do you wish that you could have done something to keep her from going missing? Do you think that you being naive would have actually made any real difference?" Mimi asked Candice, and then after she had asked the girl this, Candice had been mostly silent and not really sure what to say. On one hand, realistically there was no fucking way she could have kept her safe, and that acting like she was able to safe the day was just a little bit wrong. But at the same time, she did think that maybe if she had been paying more attention to the actual conversations going on here, then she could have actually helped out and maybe made some difference. If she had made a friend with her, then everything would have been much better for everybody.

"Maybe not me. But I think that somebody else could have helped her out. If I actually fucking knew what to say to them, they could have been saved. I know that it sounds like I am talking about an alternate reality that will never come along, and probably would have just been the best case scenario. But you know, there is always going to be that small twinge of guilt that you will be having when something like this happens. As if you could have actually made any real difference, even though realistically there was probably no way it could have happened." Candice said as Mimi was starting to really appreciate the sun setting around them. She had no idea why she had liked the sight of the setting so much, but there was just something about it that was almost soothing.

"I guess that you just feel like there was something you could have done, but you know that nobody would have done something. Please don't try and beat yourself up about it. If you do, then you will never be able to forgive yourself for something that was in no way your fault. I don't even know if she is alive or not anymore. For all we know, she just went home early and that she is still perfectly fine and healthy." Mimi said and then she was trying to just be an optimist as she had said that, but at the same time she was just trying to be truthful.

"It doesn't matter if she was meant to go home or not. It doesn't matter if she is alive or not anymore. We should have been paying better attention from the start, and if we did so, we could have been able to help her out. If we helped her out, she would have never felt the need to go home and she would have actually been fine staying here with friends with the rest of her summer camp term." Candice said and then she was just thinking too much about this.

"Candice, I think we need to go on and head back to camp now." Mimi said and then she was standing up and then she picked up a small rock. Then she threw it and done the splashing effect for a few seconds and then she was done doing that after just one single rock. "Besides, I don't think that your parents really want you to worry so much about stuff that honestly you should have never learned about in the first place." Mimi started to walk away. Candice stood up and ran quickly right behind Mimi and then she was starting to talk to her again.

"Stop right now." Candice said as she was originally going to have some time trying to convince her that she was wrong but then she was pointing forward. Everything that she had been thinking was totally cut off and then Mimi looked forward and while it didn't really seem all that strange, she saw why she was so worried about everything.

It was showing the camp director talking with a couple of people wearing black clothes. The camp director had a couple of files in his hand and then he gave the people the files. Then one of the people wearing black clothes pulled something out of his pocket. It looked like a giant wad of cash. The other one placed his hand on his ears and then he was saying something to it. But it was too quiet for her actually hear what was going on there.

Mimi and Candice took only a couple of steps forward and they were just close enough to where they could literally barely hear what was going on and what these people were saying. The guy who had talked to his ears earlier then turned back to the camp director. "You better keep your campers away from your director house. I don't want them to actually know what our business is. This is your only warning. I don't care what you will have to do if they do this again. Kill them if you have to." The two people wearing black started to walk away as the camp director had a vague smile on his face as he placed the wad of cash inside of his pocket and then he walked right to his house again.

"Oh my fucking god. I think that maybe you are telling the truth. How does he think that this is something that is totally acceptable." Mimi said and then Candice looked like she had a ghost white face. Mimi was wondering why she had looked this way before Candice simply replied to give her the answer.

"He saw me before he went inside." Candice said and then Mimi was shocked as she had said that. As if she didn't want to believe in her at first, but at the same time, she felt like she just had to. Then she continued only saying a few words at a time. " He saw me for a brief second. I could tell that he loved to see me. As if he had finally figured everything out. Please, Mimi, I want you to help keep me safe."

Mimi didn't know how she was going to keep her safe. She thought that she was in no way any form of a hero. It was strange and kind of stupid for her to act like she was any kind of person that can save anybody. But he could tell with the way that Candice was looking at her that she had totally meant this request, and Mimi thought that she needed to try and make her feel better. "I will see what I can do to help you out. I make no promises though." Mimi said and then Candice thanked her as if this was better than nothing. She felt like at least having somebody there would have made her sleep better.

Candice was slowly walking towards the camp directors house and Mimi was utterly shocked at what she was doing. She couldn't really believe for even a second that she was actually wanting to go there again. Mimi and Candice were at the wall of the house and she was hearing the camp director slam something down. "If they think that they can run my camp better than me, I can show them what they are in for."

After the camp director had said that, Mimi and Candice could both hear something coming down the stairs. They didn't really have to be a genius in order to see that this was the camp director coming down to try and find Candice and Mimi. This realization between the two of them both got them scared. Mimi and Candice just stared at each other for about five seconds or so but when they had realized that the man was now at the bottom floor, that was when they were both running as fast as humanly possible to get the hell away from there.

Mimi hated all of the running. Mimi hated getting involved in there. Mimi had wanted to just go back to bed and have a normal night of sleep. She had wished that Candice had never met them. This was totally the worst part about it all. That she could have been fine with nobody to tell her this, but she was thrown into this whole mess and now she was going to be forced to fight along with the mess that she was placed in there. Even though she didn't even want to be fighting at all. She had hated fighting, and she hated being forced into a fight that she was having no interest in.

Eventually, they were behind a tree about a quarter of a mile away and then as they were sitting down behind the tree, Candice was placing her head on Mimi's lap. It was strange that this was happening, and Mimi was not used to having another person laying down on her like this, and she was especially not used to a woman doing this with her at all. She didn't really want to have people see that a woman was doing this to her, but she was thinking that this was a life or death moment, that she was going to let this whole thing slide for the time being.

"Mimi, if something were to happen to one of us, or both of us, then do you think that anybody would really care. If I died, or go missing, would you doubt what is going on? Would you actually try and advocate for me to the public?" Candice was curious and then Mimi thought about that. She felt like she was an asshole for doing this, to even try and consider this, but at the same time, she was just wanting to make Candice feel happy. But she was also trying to be realistic here.

"Yes, I will tell some of the people that I know what happened. I don't think if they will believe me or if they will just think I am crazy. If something were to happen with me, what do you think you would do about it? Do you think that you could get yourself to tell others? Even if you did tell others, do you think that they would believe you or do they think that perhaps you are just too insane to be believed?" Mimi asked, and she was not trying to sound like an asshole when she was asking her this. She really didn't want to sound like an asshole.

"I worry every day that people will think that I am too insane to be believed. But it is something that I really do have to try and get known to the people. I can't deny it now. I literally heard them talking about killing people if they went inside of his camp house again. How can I even pretend that this is all fine? How can I even pretend that nobody is going to be in danger? Every single one of us is in danger. Not just the two of us." Candice said and then Mimi nodded, as if she had actually understood this one. She really didn't feel like she wanted to, or even could argue with her on this one. Candice was right, no matter what that would truly mean. Even if she was scared on what that would mean. Even if it scared her to know that the camp director was working with the government or something like that. He must have been working for the government. That was the only thing that could make this have any form of coherence.

"I get that we are in danger. But I don't understand why the camp director is even doing this in the first place. It just feels wrong that he is doing this to us. I just wish that he was able to actually be a real camp director." Mimi said and then Candice laid back up again.

"Well, he is a real camp director, even if he is not a good one. But just because he isn't a good one doesn't mean that he isn't a real one. I just wish that he was a real one that cared. If he had cared, then I guess that everything would have been better." Candice said thinking about what camp could have been like if this guy was sane.

"Do you think that perhaps he was forced into this job because he was the camp director? Do you think that if he wasn't camp director, that he would have been a normal and good man? I think that maybe it would be a little bit hard to believe, but maybe I think that he was hired to a camp that somehow worked for the government." Mimi said, thinking it was strange that this guy was working for the government.

"Either way, I just wish that he would have maybe given our parents a warning or something. I doubt that our parents would force us to go to camp if they actually knew the truth of the matter. If they actually knew what they were sending us into before even looking into the camp and the history of it. I bet that there are many parents who never even look at the history of the camp and just send us here. I think that they are the evil ones even more than the fucking camp director if this is the case." Candice said, thinking about how evil this guy actually was. And the idea of parents being even worse was hard to imagine.

"I don't really think that we will be able to just sit here in this form of peace forever. I think that we are going to have to leave soon." Mimi said and then she stood up. She was just wanting to show Candice that she had no desire to do this anymore. She had wished that she was left alone. She had wished that people actually respected her opinion more than how they were so far.

"Yeah you are probably right." Candice said and then she stood up. Both her and Mimi walked away and started to feel like they were a bit safe. Despite the entire situation, being with Candice in a very open area. An area where she felt like she was not in immediate danger anymore. This actually made her feel a bit better. When they weren't talking about things, Candice actually made Mimi feel like that she was actually going to get out of this. "So Mimi, tell me a little bit more about yourself." Candice said and then Mimi thought about that, as if utterly shocked that she was giving her this question.

"Well, I guess I just came here due to my parents wanting me to have a fun summer. They are really rich business people. I just felt like they didn't want me around, and I didn't even mind. I felt like this was a decent compromise. You know, something that could make me feel like I had freedom and they could just work at their job without worrying about me anymore. Of course, I had accepted their offer. The camp was mostly boring now. But then there was something else that scared me. There was a guy named Jeffrey Woods who almost killed some of the people who had the same camp cabin as me." Mimi continued and then Candice felt like it was her turn.

"I am an only child. My father was worried about something happening to me. He always felt like there could be people who would try and take advantage of me. He wanted to keep me safe. He taught me how to fight. People always considered me to be the one who had the overprotective father. I didn't have many friends. Only a couple of guys that thought I was cool. He wanted to have me be the next great savior of the city." Candice said and then Mimi was confused at the last part.

"When you hung out with friends, what type of stuff would you do? Would you actually at least pretend like you were having a normal life when you were around them, or was that something that can never happen?" Mimi asked, and then Candice was not really sure why Mimi was so interested in her fucked up living life.

"Well, I just had to make sure that they didn't think I was going to get them in danger. I was always scared that they were going to be in danger every time I talked with them. The guy at the gas station, the Sheldon guy, he always seemed to be willing to listen to me and let me vent my worried out every time I needed to talk. I felt like he actually respected me more than anybody I knew besides my friend group. My friend group was just a couple of guys who liked the thrill seeking involved with what I was doing all the time." Candice said and then Mimi wondered what was about that Sheldon guy.

"I think that anybody who grew up here for at least a couple of years knows who that Sheldon guy is. It is kind of hard to imagine what life would be like if he wasn't at that gas station anymore. After all, he works there all the fucking time. I think I see him on a monthly basis without even trying to talk to him. And when I talk to him, it always seemed like he would get everything that I said to him. Almost as if he had gone through all of these events by himself. I wondered what happened in his life to make him so understanding of everything." Mimi contemplated, and she was really going to probably have a case of not realizing what she had with this guy until it was taken away from her.

"I just think that he has listened to stories. I think that he has experiences stories. The more that he has listened to and seen, the more that he experienced understanding. I think that it is really something just as simple as that. I think he just is aware of what people are always going through on a constant basis." Candice said, thinking about how much he was actually probably the most important person in this town that she had knew for that very reason. "When I first met him, I was fifteen years old, which was the year that I had come to this camp the first time. I talked to him for a while, and he talked about how much he had wanted to send his kid to summer camp when he was old enough. He was sounding like he was on the top of the world."

"Was that before you had gone to the camp for the first time? Like the day before you showed up or something?" Mimi asked and then Candice shook her head.

"It was the day that I got there. The last real conversation that I had before I went here. I just remembered his smiling face, his innocent demeanor, and his blush when he was listening to me talking, as if listening to me was one of the best things that has happened to him. I could tell that even if he had not wanted to admit it, that he found me attractive, and that if I was just a bit older, and if he was single, that he would have asked me out." Candice said and then Mimi thought about her friends.

"My friends are just a bunch of the popular girls. You know, the ones who always talked about the guys they were dating, how much they made them think that he was loved, and then they would dump him. Only one of these relationships lasted an even remotely long time. I think that they were too in love with the idea of fucking with the minds of young men, to be honest. But I did the same thing too. I liked doing it. I liked playing with what guys thought of me. I liked to see what they would think when I would go on a date with them, date them for a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two, then steal their virginity, and then after about another week or so, and another couple of sex sessions, just drop them since I was not really into it anymore. I never thought that there was anything wrong with what I was doing. I thought that I was just being the general high school girl. That is until I actually started to deal with the whole Jeff thing at camp earlier. I am starting to realize what it is like to be with somebody just to use them. I am starting to see what I should have done, and how I should have behaved when I was with them. I shouldn't have been for all intents and purposes a massive fucking slut. That was honestly all that I ever fucking was." Mimi told Candice and then Candice was thinking that it was a good thing that she was not a guy.

"I barely knew anybody who would want to date me. They were always too scared to get into a relationship with me. I don't really blame them for feeling that way. I mean, given the way that I was pretty much famous for fucking up the lives of anybody who knew me, I could tell that they wanted nothing to do with that. I guess it makes sense." Candice said, as she was thinking about her lack of any real friends.

"Yeah, well at least you have a couple of guys who seemed like they were mostly nice people from what I hear. I was just with people who didn't care besides spreading misery to others. I think that I actually cared about how people were treated, I would have never talked to them in the first place. But there is no point in trying to beat myself up for being a teenage girl who is going around to experiment." Mimi said, and even she knew that this was a load of bullshit.

"Well, I just wish that people actually would give each other a honest chance. Not something like the way of they have class with us, so they just have to pretend to get along with me. I mean people who would actually sit down and listen to me. When I talked to the Sheldon guy, that was something I appreciated of him. I talked with him, and he listened to me. He was like a real man. Not somebody who was too scared to say anything." Candice sighed, and then she wondered why she couldn't have been just a year or two older when she had met him.

The two were in silent for a while until they reached the giant hill in the forest. They walked up the hill, not really aiming at anything in particular.

Once at the top of the hill, Mimi was holding her hand out to sort of take in the nice moment. "You know Candice, it is these types of conversations that make me think that I was wrong about people all this time. That I needed to be able to give people a better chance at life. When we aren't talking about shit like who is going to kill us, I actually like to talk to you." Mimi said and then Candice was smiling and looking down, blushing a little bit.

Both of them were well aware of the fact that this growing bond between them was going to get them in trouble sooner or later. That this was probably going to be the only night that they would be allowed to talk to each other. Candice, not sure if it was because of Mimi as a woman, or because she had barely talked with anybody before hand for a while, was starting to form a strange feeling towards her. Something she never felt towards a woman.

"I think that I should tell my parents about the good things about camp. You know, I think that maybe that was what was really happening with the whole Jeff thing earlier. He didn't know anybody who would actually talk to him, and they felt like it was sort of him versus the world. I kind of feel bad for him." Mimi said, shocked that she had just said that.

"I think that people just are scared to try things that they never tried before. I was scared to ever go to summer camp at first. I thought that people would still be making fun of me even at camp. But it seems like any prejudice is gone when I am here." Candice expressed her gratitude here.

"I think that people just need to get away from reality. They just need to take their minds off of something. That is why so many people like this camp so much." Mimi said and then she was thinking about what life would be like when she went back to school again.

"There is also a little bit of a thrill of knowing that you don't have to worry so much about your parents for a few weeks. My parents don't really seem to care if I am gone for days at a time. I usually am out for a couple of days doing some jobs that my dad wants me to do anyways. Most of the time he just assumes that I am out doing his task. It is only when I come home and I don't have the task done that he gets a bit worried about what I am doing, and he starts to wonder if I am actually taking the best use of my time." Candice said as she was thinking about her parents and while she didn't hate them at the least, she would have to admit that sometimes it was a bit hard to have them pretty much think that she was always just off doing work all the time and not even ask if that even is the truth or not.

"I think that they just need to see you for who you are if that really bothers you so much. Maybe just one day, you can really sit down with them. If you don't want to be doing all of this training for a fight that will probably never happen, you need to express that to them. You need to express your at least minimal desire to just be a normal girl for once. I think that they will be much more willing to work with you if you are open to them about how you are feeling." Mimi said, a little bit hopeful that this is the truth. Although even she was not so sure.

"I think that if you knew how my parents were, then you wouldn't really be acting like this. But I don't blame you. I don't really think you would want to know my parents. They aren't terrible or anything, but they are not the best people ever either. I will give it some time though. Maybe you are right. Maybe there is something to the idea of just letting them be the way that they are." Candice said as she thought about that for a moment.

"Besides, I feel like if I really started to changed up how I was as a person, they would start to wonder what was going on with me. If they star to change as parents, I will start to wonder if they are even the same person anymore. I don't think either one of them really sounds like all that great of an event now that I think about it." Candice then was trying to wonder how her parents would even change at all, thinking that the idea of it isn't possible at all.

"I think that if you started to change, and your parents were really wondering what was going on with you, then that just shows that they do care for you. That shows you that even though on the surface it doesn't seem like they are all that worried about your own general well being, that they really do worry. That they really do want to see your best success at heart. I know it sounds like I am not really able to state much more than the basic stuff since it is true that I barely know them. But I would assume these types of things at least. It is hard for me to believe in the idea of somebody just down right not caring about their kids like at all. I think that even the most heartless of parents would at least have some hope in them and at least some care." Mimi was sort of drifting off at this point, hoping that she didn't sound like she was trying too hard.

"I guess that you are right. I think that maybe there is something to say about watching out for your own flesh and blood. If something were to happen to you, do you think that your parents would really try to get all the details on it, or would they just accept the official story?" Candice asked, thinking about what it was like to just go along with what the news says and not actually try to get any deeper in what can happen to their own daughter.

"They would probably believe the official story if it was something just as simple as something like a car crash or something like that. I think that car crashes are pretty easy to believe. But if something like me getting shot and killed behind a Dairy Queen happened, then they might look deeper." Mimi responded and then Candice nodded.

"I guess that does make sense. I guess that there is no real reason to question the official story most of the time. I do think that there is some validity to do it every once in a while, when it seems wrong, but on the surface, sometimes even if the real story isn't the truth, then maybe knowing the truth will be so much worse that you have to just pretend that it is true. Because the truth will just hurt you." Candice pondered this idea for a bit, thinking about what official stories could be better than the actual truth.

"Besides, I think that most of the time, there is the best intention at heart. I think that the police do actually care what happens to us all at the long run." Mimi was speaking her mild praise of the police force. At least the sheriff and his wife seemed like relatively nice people.

"But are they just pretending to be nice, or are they actually the type of people who you would really trust with everything to be there to take care of business when you need them to? Are they the type of people who you can really trust to put their good morals in front of what may seem like a good deal?" Candice questioned and Mimi was not really sure.

It was one of those things were they probably had the best intentions at the start of their job. That they really want to save the day. That they really do care for the people. But then eventually, as people start to get more into the job, start to get more exposed to the reality of what is at hand, they start to lose hope. They start to get desperate. They start to think of what can be the better way out. Then as a result, they throw away everything that the badge was meant to represent. That was what Mimi thought of it when she was pretty much told to think about it right then and there.

"I don't really know. If I was a police officer, I would know better. But I don't know any better since I am not one." Mimi just decided that she would leave it at that, hoping that this would satisfy Candice enough to moderately leave the subject alone. She was not really wanting to lose the small friendship that she actually had been slowing developing with this woman. She was not really wanting to throw something away because truth be told, Candice was sort of a radical thinker.

"Besides, even if the police were all of these morally bankrupt and evil people as you may fear that they may be, then why would they not be exposed by this point in time? I think that by now, they would be so badly exposed that nothing could really keep them up with their credibility anymore. Anything good that they would do would be thrown away because people realize that they are liars and just only out for themselves and not out for the good of the people." Mimi felt like she was close to being done.

The silence that followed was leaving Mimi with a level of uncertainty. Did she step too far? Was she still fine? Was Candice not mad at her for not fully agreeing with her? Candice was just looking around the forest, as if trying her best to really consider everything that Mimi had said, and honestly considering it this time. Not just in the way that she lightly brushed it over, but in the way where she thought that Mimi could have been right. Well, maybe not right per se, but at least trying enough to be on the right track that she felt no real need to call out on this. She felt like maybe Mimi was actually going to be able to start to convince her of the better side of the whole ordeal.

"I don't know. Maybe I am just too tired, cynical, and jaded to fully think these things through. Maybe I have been totally exposed to the wrong idea of life that I can't open myself up to these types of situations. I don't know if that is my parents fault or my own, but I just feel like sooner or later, I do need to accept the fact that there is always a chance that I am wrong. That I did think wrongly about something." Candice said and she had hated to admit being wrong as much as anybody else, but at the same time, she knew that sooner or later she would have to do it.

"I would not really worry all that much about it Candice, I really would not. I think that people just get raised to a certain value, and that it is sometimes very hard, maybe even impossible to over come the values. Regardless of if they are good or not. If you were really so worried about these so called wrong values, wrong idea as you call it, then you would probably be just taking up too much of your time. Just take the moment as it is. Just sit back and relax. Just don't worry about these things. That is what I would do." Mimi said, doing her best on this, but they were starting to think that they had heard something in the distance. They were not really sure if it was just footsteps of campers, or a large gathering of people that were going to pull some form of 'oh here go hell come' type of problem.

"I would not really concern myself too much about it right now. Give it another minute or two, and then we will understand what we are actually going through." Mimi said, mainly to herself and to be more calm rather than saying this to Candice to make her feel better.

She knew that trying to make Candice feel better was very hard to do. Maybe even impossible. She knew that the time that Candice would get her fears up to something, that she would start to not turn back. That was one thing she had learned from the short day that she had known her.

"Fine, if you think that it is nothing, I will try and be calm. I will try and act like you are right. But if you're wrong, then I really hope that we don't have to pay the biggest price for it that we possibly could." Candice said, thinking more about the idea of her or Mimi, maybe even both of them dying.

The amount of guilt that Candice would have if Mimi died would be nearly impossible to over come. She would feel like she had done everything wrong and that she would need to try and figure out the exact ways that she could have made things better if she had simply thought of things better. She would have been thinking about this until the day that she died, as if really worrying about something like this was a much bigger deal than getting her own safety in line. She would have been thinking that she would have turned out to be just as bad as the person that she feared, the camp director. While she wouldn't go out of her way to kill anybody, if bringing her onto this led Mimi to dying, then she would have been indirectly responsible for it and she would have to hold onto that burden until the very day that she had died herself, no matter how long that would be.

The very thought of this almost made Mimi want to turn back and just pretend that none of this would have ever happened. But they both knew deep down that she was too deeply into this. That there was no way that she could get herself out of this without having at least some affect on her life. That Mimi was going to have to deal with the burden of this day forever in some form or fashion.

"I hope that it is nothing is probably the closer to true response. I want to believe that you are over thinking it, but even I have to admit that I am not really so sure. Even I have to look at the truth from a level of realism. I saw those people just like you. I saw what they were telling the director to do. I don't think he is doing this intentionally anymore. But he is obviously the pawn of some form of game going on around us all." Mimi said as she was just trying her best to justify her slowly and increasingly sure feeling that she was wrong.

"Well, I mean regardless of if you are right or wrong, I do have to be impressed that you have this level of hope at all. I have to admit that if I was in your shoes, I wouldn't really have any hope. I know that it sounds silly of me to say, but the idea of there always being something that can go wrong is just not really ever going to change the fact that I can be scared. The fact that I can just wish that everything would have been better than I fear that it will." Candice continued, thinking that if Mimi was right, then she really needed to change a bit of her life style and everything.

The only thing that Candice wanted more than anything was an actual steady life that she felt like she could actually be comfortable with. She wanted to live a life without fighting. A life where she doesn't have to worry about the next time she was going to have to be forced to defend herself or some other friends that she could eventually gather up in due time. She didn't even want to think about what life was going to be like where she was going to constantly have to fight for people that she cared about just to make sure that they even had a small chance of living. And yet in a strange way, she was sort of going to have to deal with that with Mimi and her camp mates. Not that she really like super cared for them, but she had no desire to see anything go wrong for them either.

"I think that your parents will be willing to accept you if you don't like to continue this. They have already taught you a lot of things so far. I think that they should just be glad that you are making the progress that you already have made more than anything else." Mimi said, and she knew that it was generic, but honestly it was the only thing that she could think of.

"If my parents would be able to accept my wish of living a normal life, then everything would be absolutely amazing. If I could just pretend that all of this was not even a problem, then that would be fan fucking tastic. But that is not what is going to happen. I know them too well to pretend like it will. They will probably act like it was all fine and dandy for a few days, maybe even a couple of weeks, but that is fucking it. Once that time elapses, they will just go back to their normal self once again, and act like nothing ever fucking happened. They will act like me just relaxing for a while is a burden. They thought that going to summer camp was a lot for me to ask for. Then I had to explain that I could always just make sure everything was fine there, therefore indirectly hinting that it wasn't a huge vacation, and they seemed like me telling them this was actually a huge fucking relief." Candice felt like she had stated her opinion enough and that she could finally let the matter rest for the time being.

"Your parents make mine look like a bunch of saints. At least they never get in the way of me hanging out with my friends. I always just tell them what I am doing, and why I am doing this, and they are fine with me heading out and living life. They seem happy more than anything. Like I am being a normal teenage girl. As if they want that." Mimi seemed to miss her parents more by the time she had said this.

"I don't really know, I think that I just need to look at it with a fresh set of eyes. Maybe I will understand it better than." Candice offered, thinking that it was the best she was going to get out of this whole situation.

Mimi took a long and deep breath as she was just sort of getting tired of standing and felt like she needed to sit for even just a moment. But for some reason, she felt like it would be of disrespect, so she decided against it.

"If we make out of this both alive, we should try and become friends." Candice said, finally opening up and acting like a normal girl for once.

"Wow Candice, I never thought that you would have wanted to open up and try to admit that you would be willing to have a open life now. Have you just decided that you need to be with somebody besides a group of people who are your friends, but are just confused at how you are running your life that they think that you are just crazy? You know, like your other friends. Damn, that sentence almost made no sense at all." Mimi said feeling strange that she was actually calling herself out on how she had worded a sentence, and thinking that she needed to not get distracted by something just as silly as that.

"Well Mimi, I think that you need to give my friends a chance sometime. I still sometimes hang out with them. They are some of the nicer people to have gotten to know me. I guess that you are also pretty high up there, given how much you have been willing to be open up to me and everything." Candice said and then Mimi thought that she honestly didn't really want to get to know those people. She was not going to judge them at all, but so far she didn't feel too impressed. She needed to get to know them more on a level of how Candice described them before she could feel like she would actually feel the desire to speak with them.

"I guess that if I met them some time, I will see how they are, and maybe see if I was a bit harsh on them. But as is, I am not really too sure if this is how I feel about the situation right now. I think that they are just trying to get used to the fact that most of these things that they never thought would be real would actually be real. They were probably still in the idea of trying to live in make believe. You know, there are things that you don't want to believe but after a while, when you see some absolutely unarguable evidence, then when you see that these things are real, then you will start to try and change how you even live your life to make it change to what this new idea will have to make you adapt to." Candice went on a sort of rambling rant that Mimi and her were both sort of losing track of.

"I do understand what it is like for you to have to change your life in order to make something that is used to be fake and unreal to be the reality. It is strange, but I do totally get it though." Mimi said and then as they were talking further, there was more that there were noises getting closer to them. Mimi was starting to get a little bit worried about this, as with each step brought further more fear.

Candice was even more terrified at what was going on than Mimi. She was getting certain that they needed to get the hell out of there. But she was feeling like she didn't really want to anger Mimi all that much with her usual be safe attitude.

"Mimi, how much longer are you even going to try and deny what is going on around us? This is something you can't even pretend to deny anymore." Candice said and then after Candice had said this to Mimi, she was feeling like she was starting to get a little bit more angry at Mimi. This was also when she was starting to think that she was starting to ruin a little bit of the friendship that she even could possibly create with Mimi, knowing for a fact that she needed to be more respectful. Not that it would have really been all that easy to be more respectful to a person who didn't ever listen to her.

"I don't deny that there is something going on Candice. Oh my fucking god. Nobody can fucking deny that there is something going on here. But I mean come on, there is absolutely no hint that anything is going to happen soon. Besides, I am having way too much of a nice conversation with you for you to just cry your way out of this." Mimi said, and then she was honestly feeling like a bit of an asshole as she had said this. She had no idea why she was suddenly being so harsh to Candice, but she had wished that she was a little bit less annoyingly obvious with her complaints.

"Sorry Mimi, I just honestly wasn't really sure what you were thinking of the whole thing. If you say though that you were aware of this whole thing, then I guess that I need to be a bit more respectful to you. I am just really riled up every time I hear somebody coming on over in this area. I hope that you do understand. You know, after all of the things that have been going on here. I thought that things would have been starting to calm down, and seeing that we are nowhere near a point where we could be able to calm down, I feel like I can't take things nicely anymore. I think that we are going to have to get ready for any sort of battle coming up." Candice said and then Mimi placed her hands on Candice's shoulder.

"Candice, please listen to me this time. Even if you only ever do it this time. Just relax. Nothing is going to be a problem here anymore. I think that you are paranoid. I want you to just pretend like nothing is wrong. If there is anybody who needs to relax so much, then you are probably exactly that person that needs it." Mimi said and then she wrapped her arms around Candice for a very short hug. Not in a romantic way, but more of just happening to try and make her better.

"Mimi, if you even understood half of the fear that I have, and honestly understood it, not just in the way that you are telling me this in order to just make me feel better, then I would be amazed. It would be very hard to believe that you would understand this, and I hate the fact that I have to be this critical over you on this whole thing. I hate the idea of calling you out on this type of stuff. I should feel like I should trust you to get it all. I should feel like I should trust the fact that you respect my fears." Candice said and then Mimi let go, thinking more and more about what Candice had been saying.

"How can I understand something when I have nothing to do with it? How could I possibly understand something when there is no way to understand it. There is no real drive to the way that the camp director acts, and here he is, acting like this anyway, tracking people down who dare oppose him." Mimi said, thinking more about the other people.

"It is not just the camp director. Those people he was working for. Those people must be deeper into the roll than even fucking he is. As much as I hate to even imagine it, I think he is just a pawn in it all. I never wanted to admit that. But here I am, unable to deny the fact that he was just a pawn." Candice said and then Mimi looked around, thinking that it was always really shitty to not be able to bring her down on that.

"Yeah, even if the director is not nearly as bad as you fear he is, there are those other people who were talking to him. I don't want to admit it, but those are the people that actually scare me more than anything. I think that those are the person who you need to be careful about." Mimi said, thinking about how she was going to try and confront those people to the news.

She wondered how the news would even be willing to deal with this nightmare. The would probably not even try to. She was thinking that honestly, she couldn't really blame them on this one if they didn't feel the desire to cover it. They probably wouldn't even know how they could cover it even if they had to try.

At this point in time, the noises were getting closer. By this point, neither one of the two of them were able to even try and hide their fear anymore. They were both utterly scared of what was going to happen, and there was nothing good that would come out over acting like they weren't scared of this. It was the most scary thing that they had been presented with during their entire time that they had been at summer camp. Maybe the most scary thing they had been presented with in a large portion of their life.

"Candice, I am sorry for doubting you. But I still think that we will be fine enough. I wouldn't really worry all that much about it right now." Mimi said, hoping that Candice would be at least a little bit forgiving of this entire thing, not really wanting to have Candice be on her bad side when it wasn't really even all her fault and everything. It wasn't really her fault that it was extremely hard to accept what was going on. Any normal person would find this type of information and try to deny it, more out of the fear of being right than anything else. It was just the natural thing.

"I forgive you. I can understand why you were that way. If I was in the reversed position, and you were the one who was telling me of all of these things, I would probably have been in just as much doubt on it as you are. I think it is totally understandable why this is the feeling you have. But right now, we need to focus on this. We need to focus on getting this man taken care of." Candice said, one hundred percent certain that it was the man who had been directing the people at this camp the entire time. The man who had pretended to be everybody's friend, but in reality, was their master, the man who had been using them for all of this time without them even knowing the truth.

"But I guess there is no point in arguing about it now. We have the evidence now. We just need to find a way to actually be able to at the very least survive this whole ordeal." Mimi said and then she was looking around, trying to find a weapon that she could use in order to defend herself against whatever was going to be showing up. Not that she was really sure how she can defend herself and everything.

"Well, if there is nothing else that we have, we can at least fight them with our fists. I doubt that we can really kick his ass or anything like that, but we can at least try our best. It is probably the only thing that we can really use against him. I just hope that he doesn't really have something like a gun." Candice said, letting the fear of him having a gun get to her. "And if for nothing else, regardless of this outcome, I am very sorry for what you are going to have to witness."

"If there was nobody there to witness it with you, then nobody would have believed you or thought that you were telling the truth. In the end, as much as I hate to admit it, this is probably for the best of your reputation as well as getting the truth out. As long as at least one of us makes it out of this alive, we can find the information to expose him and take him fucking down." Mimi said, and Candice nodded feeling so much better.

"I will tell everybody everything. I will go back to the house again and I will try to get as much information as I can. I will even steal the information if I have to, regardless of how unsafe this thing is. No matter how much it will risk my life, if I feel like it is the only way to expose what is going on, I will do it. It is a life or death thing for me. But if it means that the camp will be fine for everybody else, it will be a price I am very much willing to pay." Candice said and then Mimi was shocked and impressed at her courage.

She could not believe the courage that Candice had on this whole matter. It was honestly really impressive. It was amazing to see somebody so devoted to an issue that they just don't care what would happen to them. Mimi thought about that, and she was thinking about how there was never a single thing that had left her this devoted in her entire life. It was honestly kind of sad that she had never found something that she had cared this much about. She never found something that no matter what would happen, she felt like there would be a desire to place her entire life on the ground for the issue.

"I wish that I was this committed. I am nowhere near this committed to anything in my entire life. I probably never will be this committed to anything in my life, as much as it sucks for me to admit. But sometimes, I have to just speak the truth. The truth is honestly the only way where I can be able to look at something, and then actually move along with it. But since there is no doubting this now, I think that if I survived this, and especially if you didn't, I would do my best to make sure that I would make everything worth it. I would do everything to make sure that what you do would be able to put everything at a rate of peace now." Mimi said and then before anything can continue, there was the sight of the camp director coming towards them.

The fact that he was coming to the two of them was spreading fear between the two of them. They were both aware of what was going to go down if they were not careful enough. Once he was up to the two of them, he took out something that looked like a gun.

This was when the fear of both of them raised to the maximum level of fright. They knew that there was a near guarantee that one of them, probably hell even both of them, was going to fucking die soon. He was holding the gun down to the ground and he had such a serious look on his face that he looked like if he was the parent to the child, he would have grounded them on the spot.

"Now listen the fuck up you two young ladies, I don't want you going around acting like you are the biggest fucking heroes in the history of the world. You need to shut the fuck up and just go the fuck back home. You have made a very big mistake by trying to get into the business of my camp. You were just meant to be a couple of campers. Not some fucking cops. Now stop acting like some, and fucking go back to camp. Pretend like you listened to nothing, and we will just get along perfectly fine." The camp director said and then he was pointing his right finger behind him.

"I should be able to feel safe in my own fucking camp. Not when I am around other people who might die at any moment." Candice said and then the camp director walked up to her and punched her in the face, and he could hear the crack on her nose, showing that her nose was now officially broken. There was even some blood to go down and show the proof of what was going on.

"Don't you ever try and talk back to me young lady. You should be glad that you are even alive right now. You should be glad that I haven't put a fucking bullett inside of your fucking head. I can pull the fucking trigger at any moment and I think we both know that nobody will really care if you are gone. I think that is the part that scares you the most. Not that it even fucking matters." The camp director said, throwing away any sign of showing that he was a caring dude. There was nothing he was even going to try and hide his anger. Not that anybody would have really cared what would have happened to a couple of random teenage girls. That was what he was thinking at the very least.

"I will tell everybody what happened. You should be glad that you don't have the entire police station up at your front door step trying to bring this camp down where you would be in prison for the rest of your life." Candice said, thinking that she was really pushing it, and then Mimi was looking around, wondering what was going on.

Mimi was a bit scared now. She was thinking that she needed to come along and do something to help Candice. Even if that did mean that she was going to die soon. She was going to have to accept the fact that Candice did know more information than she did and was a much more qualified person at this. That she might have to let her life go in order to give Candice a bit of time to get a chance to escape camp and be able to tell the police the truth.

"You think that the police will listen to a couple of young girls who aren't even old enough to move out of their fucking house over something about me, a very respected leader of the town who people think is a man who represents the idea of freedom in the eyes of the children now? I think that if you think for a minute that they will believe in you, then you must be even more insane than I am. I can get away with everything that I wanted, and nobody will do anything to stop me. They will find a way to blame you guys for ruining the camp that I have made. The perfect camp that I have made." The camp director said and then Mimi looked at Candice, realizing what was going to be happening any time soon.

Mimi knew for a fact that there was a fifty percent chance that she was going to die at the end of this whole journey. Mimi didn't want to die. In fact, the idea of her dying just simply scared the living shit out of her. She was too young to die. She barely had any real chance to do anything with her life. It was as if there was something that she had done when she was a child that there was some form of destiny working against her. That was when she was thinking, wondering, what she had possibly done wrong to even remotely justify this entire situation.

'I have just dated a bunch of guys and made them feel loved when they really weren't.' That was all Mimi was thinking, thinking that it really was not even all that bad that this was something she did. 'I was just doing it to sound and be cool' she continued her thought set. But she knew deep down that all of these last minute panics really had no affect on the long run.

The camp director was looking at Mimi and Candice both while he was letting the whole thought set sink in that they were having. "You know that I am right. You know that I haven't said a single thing that was false. You know that the law is going to choose me over you. You know that nothing you do or say will even remotely change what people think of it. They will just think that this was a conspiracy theory and maybe several years from now, they will think that this is possibly true." The camp director said as he laughed at that prospect. "But even if in several years from now and they even start to think that you might be telling the truth, then I will probably be out of camp by then, and there will be not nearly enough of a chance to catch me in time before I left the camp." The camp director knew that he had won the whole argument.

"What if the people found out what had happened to us?" Candice asked, as she was trying to make the guy start to consider this. The camp director shrugged as if he didn't really care at all.

"If they find out that two random young teenage girls died during summer camp, I might face a short term delay at the camp. or I can hide your bodies else where. Then nobody will believe that I was relating to it. You seem to not really give me enough credit where I think it is due. They will probably think that you guys were being reckless and got yourselves killed while you were out hanging with each other. It will be a very simple thing that I can say that would retroactively justify everything and eliminate me as any form of a suspect."

The more that the camp director talked, the more that Candice was thinking that this wasn't his first rodeo. He must have killed several people before. Many of which most likely campers. He must have been so used to killing his own campers that he probably found Mimi and Candice to be just nothing more than collateral damage. Candice thought that this was a very disturbed and a very sick man, who needed more help than even she thought.

Before anything else could have happened, there was something that absolutely stunned Candice. She was about to look up at the camp director to shit talk him a bit more, to try and get him to feel guilty about what he was doing. But she saw that the man aimed his gun and before she even knew it, the gun fired. Candice thought that she was dead, and she was utterly convinced that there was nothing she could do about the fact that her life was over. But then she looked down and felt her chest and realized that there was nothing to hint at the fact that she had been shot.

Both Candice and the camp director were utterly shocked to see that Mimi was the one who had taken the bullet. The camp director looked at Candice, wondering what had just happened. "I would have never thought hat she would have done something like that." The camp director said and then he was about to fire the gun again saying "Aw well, I was going to kill you both anyways." But before he could fire, Candice jumped at him and then punched him right in the face.

The camp director was so shocked at the punch and her sudden vigor that he dropped the gun in order to cover his face. Then afterwards, he looked right at Candice again, who had grabbed the gun and was aiming it right at the camp director. "Get the fuck out of here. Don't you dare try and tell what happened to anybody. She did not deserve this." Candice said and then she clicked the gun back and then before she could fire, the camp director started to run away.

Candice thought that if it was just this one time, and that everything else was just something she really did imagine, that maybe she could be able to forgive him for this eventually. But that was only about a one percent chance or so. Candice ran up to Mimi and then she started to hold her. Despite only knowing her for a couple of hours, this was a fucked up situation and she did not in any way deserve this. She also knew that this was entirely her fault. Yes, the director fired the gun, and yes she did pretty much make the final movement, but none of this would have happened if Candice didn't lead her down this path. Everything about this was her fault. She was not even going to try and pretend that it wasn't. Something that was her fault, and this fact was starting to really settle in for her. She wanted to throw up, she wanted to die.

"Mimi, I am so sorry, it really should have been me. I can't believe that he did this. I mean, I had my fears that he might do this, but I never once thought that he would have actually done this. At least, not to you. I thought that he would have done this to me. I felt like he should have done this to me." Candice said as Mimi was rubbing Candice's cheek, and Candice did know that this was going to be something that was going to haunt her life until the day that she had died. But it seemed like Mimi was not going to let her do this, and it seemed like she was going to try and make Candice feel a little bit better on this very moment before it actually happened.

"Candice, don't worry. This is my moment of redemption. This is to make up for all of the men that I turned down and pretended to love. It was either me or you. I choose you. Candice, please make this worth it. Go out there, bring down the entire operation. Find the man named Tai. Tell him sorry for everything I had doubted him on, and tell him that he needs to destroy Jeff. And maybe then, you will have made this actually pay off at the end. When my parents find out, just tell them that I am very sorry." Mimi said and then Candice was starting to hold on as hard as she possibly could to get her anger out on the situation.

"Please Mimi, everything will be fine. I will find a way." Candice said and then Mimi said that they both knew that this was not really going to happen. Then Candice held on for nearly five minutes afterward. She knew that this was something that she would have to avenge.

But first, she needed to try and give her a proper funeral. That was the top priority to make everything right. The first step and the smallest step of them all. So with that, Candice stood up and then she grabbed Mimi and as she was crying, she knew that this was something that the camp director was going to have to pay for when he was going to see her again.

Candice brought Mimi down to the bottom of the hill and then she saw that there was a small hole. Despite the fact that she hated to do this, she knew that it was the only way she would not get accused of something. So she wiped her tears a bit and then threw Mimi inside of the hole. Maybe one day, she would be found. When she looked down, she saw that there were several other people there. Women and men but all around twelve to eighteen years old. Candice thought that one day, they would all be found. Mimi then started to cover up the hole and the bodies were now hidden from everybody again.

As she was walking back to the camp again, Candice knew exactly how the camp director got away with this. He would just throw the bodies of the people he killed down in there, and that was the only way that it would have even remotely worked. Candice was kind of impressed that everything was this obvious right from the start, and that nobody even saw what had happened all this time. But at the same time, she knew that nobody would argue with the evidence when she would show everybody this. In a way, Candice had to thank him. She had to thank him in the way that the bodies were going to be easy to find, and then that as long as Candice remembered where the bodies were, then the evidence can't be argued.

Candice walked right back to the cabin where Mimi used to live in. Candice was thinking about how soon enough, she was going to have to play Mimi's replacement. She knocked on the door and thankfully only one other person was there. The person was Tai, and that was the exact thing that she had wanted. He opened the door wide open and let her inside of the cabin while extremely confused what was going on, but also aware she was going to explain everything when he would just remain quiet for a moment.

"Tai, Mimi had wanted me to see you. She told me that you would help me out. She told me that you were the only one I can trust. I hope that this is the truth. She was telling me also about the guy named Jeff that she had to deal with. If I help you out take down Jeff, then will you help me out in return? Will you help me... kill the camp director?"

The shock at this question had made Tai feel like he had lost every little bit of natural sanity when he had heard that. He would not believe that she had wanted this. Tai knew that on the few times he had seen Candice before, that she was a bit odd. But suggesting entirely to kill the fucking camp director was something he thought even she would never suggest.

"But what even is the purpose of killing him?" Tai asked, hating the fact that he was even considering this subject, and he was hating the fact that she was so serious about the idea that he could tell that she was not even fucking around. Tai then sighed and then he told her to sit down and tell him the whole story. "You better have a good reason why you want to do this. If not, then I would rather not accept your help, and I will report you to the police. And I fucking mean it."

Candice told him the entire story. She was not holding out on anything in the story. She talked about the conversations, her evidence, what she saw the camp director to do to Mimi, the dead bodies that she had found, and how she was going to use the evidence and the stuff that she found outside of the camp as a way to finally justify what she was planning to do to the camp director. She was watching Tai sitting there, utterly shocked at what she was telling him. He clearly had no idea how to process this, and there was a part of him that just know if there was a way that he could really believe what she had told him. It was one thing for her to tell him that the camp director had fucking killed Mimi, but it was another thing for her to say that the camp director did all of these things for years, and that there was virtually no way to get the evidence unless if they actually broke into the camp director house. Then there was the whole part about the fact that she had told him about the fact that there was a group of people who looked like they were actually working for the government telling him to exterminate anybody who was actually going to try and expose him.

"Candice, are you telling me the truth? I think that you may understand why it is kind of hard for me to actually believe what I am being told. I don't really think that you are telling the truth. I am sorry to accuse you or lying, but I feel like I need the proof." Tai said and then before there was anything that can happen and any other further chance for him to argue with her about what had happened, there was something that he finally took the time to see and examine.

He had seen all of the blood on Candice's shirt. He was seeing that she was indeed possibly telling the truth. Tai sat down and then he was placing his hands on his face. Then before anything else could be said, there was something that killed all of his doubts. A random note came in through the window and Tai grabbed it to read it.

The note was a simple one. "You should have just left the body there. Now you know where the secret really is." Tai looked at her and then he showed Candice the note.

As Candice took some time to examine the note and really let the whole note sink in, she stood up and then she punched the wall. "How the hell could I actually turn this thing around? How the hell can I actually avenge Mimi? I did everything wrong! I am a terrible fucking person. I don't know why you aren't telling me off right now." Candice was lowering her knees to the ground as Tai stood up for a moment not doing anything and then he walked on towards her.

Tai then placed his hands on Candices's shoulders, and then he was thinking about how he should probably tell her off, and accuse this of being her fault, but at the same time he couldn't. She was telling the truth. The fucking camp director was the one who had done this. There was no way around it. So not only was there the camp director who was behind this, but there was also fucking Jeff going around town. He knew that he needed to find a way to take down both of these criminals, but he was thinking that there was a way to admit that this was probably simply impossible.

"Well, first we got to get you cleaned up. Then we got to find a way to tell everybody what had happened. Then once we do that, I think we have a lot of work ahead of us. We either have to work on taking down Jeff or we are going to have to work on defeating the camp director. Either way, I think that we are probably fucked." Tai said, almost certain that there was no way that he was going to come out of this the winner. He knew he could come out of this a winner, of one of these cases, but not the winner.

"I guess that maybe I can get dressed. Although I feel like it doesn't even matter anymore. How the hell can I say that this even matters now? I mean, we are fucked. We have done nothing that can actually remotely hint at this guy being defeatable. Now we are here, debating what is the lesser of two evils." Candice said, and although she was sad, Tai knew exactly who the lesser of two evils were, but he refused to say his thoughts.

Tai looked out his window and he was just tired for a moment. There was something that just made him mentally drained about this entire prospect. He just needed to get some form of a break now. But he knew that as long as the camp director was here, there was no way he was going to get a break. He knew that this could be the last night of his life.


	43. Joe Goes to Prom

Joe felt like that he was ready to finally ask Sarah out on a date. He felt like this was something he was telling himself that he could not be able to do under any case. He felt like doing this was certainly setting himself up for failure. But he also knew that there was a one hundred percent chance of failing if he never asked. If he did ask her, there was a chance that he could fail. But it was not a utter certainty that he would fail. Just a very high chance of failure. But he was not going to let himself just sit around and say that he didn't at the very least try it out.

Joe was standing up and he was staring outside the window. He was thinking about what he did back in the recent times, such as the dances that he had gotten to, the fact that his former enemy Matt and him finally seemed like they were willing to try and start to make up for the terrible experience that they had earlier. Joe felt like Matt was finally starting to actually not be all that bad of a guy. That he had been too harsh on this guy right from the start. Well, Matt was the one who was harsh on him right from the start, and Joe was just sort of defending himself on this. Which led to them not getting along at all.

Joe just hated the fact that this was what he was having to deal with all the time. But then he sat down and then he started to reflect a little bit about that one faithful night. The night, well it wasn't a night at that moment since this was something that he had to prepare himself for the day beforehand, started the night when Joe decided that he was finally going to go to prom.

He was always telling himself that nothing good would come out of going to prom, and that he was just simply wasting his time doing this. He still felt like there was a level of truth to that. But he also knew that this was one of his few chances to try and do something like this. He felt like he needed to at least go there once. Even if he went willingly stag, and didn't try and do anything at all beyond a simple dance, he felt like it was the one thing that he needed to do.

So after Joe decided that he was indeed going to go to prom, it was more of a matter of just getting ready for the dance. He needed dress clothes, himself to look decent, and to be popular enough for one night to not make everybody think that he had no place being there. Or at least popular enough to where he could be there, and not feel like he was the one who was a total outcast. That at least one person there would be less popular than him.

Joe saw that Matt was walking along and he sat down on the table right in front of him. Joe could tell that Matt was in a terrible mood. He could tell that they were not really in the right set of mind to have somebody be a dick to him. But Joe also thought that maybe he was in the right set of mind to have somebody talk to him and try to be nice to him for one night of their life. Joe decided that he was going to try and be the hero, even though they had no sense of being able to even be close to getting along at all.

So with that, Joe stood up and then he slowly walked on over to Matt. Then he sat down in front of Matt and looked right at his rival. He was wondering how the hell he was going to actually get this guy to be nice to Joe for one night of his life. "Hey Matt, I saw that you were kind of in a bad mood. I was wondering if you needed a friend. If you needed somebody to talk to you for a moment."

Matt looked right up at Joe, and Joe could tell that there was a part of him that was very much treading on thin ice. As if Joe needed to be very careful about his next choice of words. Knowing that if he didn't speak correctly, Matt was going to hate him just as much, if not even more than he would have if Joe was just that one annoying guy at school. But Joe also felt like he needed to take the chance. So he started to speak his mind. He started to take the biggest leap of faith that he felt like he was ever going to take in his entire life.

"Matt, I know that we have not gotten along. I know that we have not even gotten close to getting along. I know that you think that I am a stuck up idiot. I don't blame you for thinking that of me. In fact, I think that it is totally reasonable that you look at me like this. But I think that you just tell me what is going on, that if you just give me a chance, that maybe you will see that I am not such a bad guy at all. That maybe I can actually help you out here." Joe said, and then Matt rolls his eyes. Hee hated the fact that this was the conversation he was having with Joe. But he felt like he did if for nothing else, give Joe a chance to prove himself.

"I tried to ask a girl out to prom. She didn't just say no. I can live with that. It was the level of the way that she was saying no that pisses me off. She said it in such a way that makes me feel like I am scum. That I should fucking die for even suggesting this idea to her. I heard the level of clarity when she was saying this. She was telling me that she thought I was a strange stalker like person. I am not a stalker at all. I don't get why she would even think that. I have done nothing that would even hint at the idea of me being a stalker. I think that there was something that happened to her that just scared her that she just needed to take her anger out on. I could almost understand if that was the case, but I just wished that she was more respectful about it. Besides, I am not even doing all that well in my grades. I am worried that I won't even be allowed to go to the dance at all." Matt said and then Joe thought about this answer.

Again, Matt and Joe did not get along. In fact, Matt had made fun of him probably more than most people in the entire world. But at the same time, Joe thought that this could be his way of redeeming himself to Matt and his eyes. So Joe needed to just say something. Something at all that would get Matt to think Joe can help him out.

"You know, I had a lot of people reject me in my life. It is something that you have to get used to and have to accept. I would not in any way try and get my whole life shot down as a result of this. I think that you need to just accept the fact that things happen. Then when that happens, you can be a little bit more at peace with what happened. You can think about what actually led to this happening. You can actually think about why she didn't want to say yes to you." Joe said and then Matt rolled his eyes. Joe knew he was not doing good at this, and then he found something Matt can't argue.

"I have a idea for you. I want to help you with your school work. Just do all your work hard core in the next couple of days. Just don't take any break at it. Then when you are done, playing catch up, and you know, staying on top of the current work, then you turn every single thing in that you can. You have a lot of work you can do. You have a lot of time. Even partial credit will be better than you credit at all." Joe suggested, hoping this would be a start.

Matt thought about this and he looked right at Joe. As he looked at Joe, he thought that maybe there was a level of truth to Joe. That maybe he could help him out after all.

"You know, I think that if you can pull this off, then you are going to be the big hero of my family for the year. Fine, I will give you ONE chance to do this." Matt said, and then Joe smiled. He felt like this can finally mend the old wounds.

The one chance was all that Joe thought that he had needed. He stood up and looked at Matt's back pack. "I think that you should take out anything in there, and try to work on that first. That will be better than nothing at all." Joe said and then Matt thought about that. He took out the back pack and opened it up. He saw that there were so many assignments in there that Joe was feeling like he was just going to go on and lose all his hope in humanity. That there was no fucking way in hell that he was going to help Matt do all of this stuff. But then Joe sighed and told himself 'This is still not as bad as that one Trevor guy I helped last year, and he actually managed to pull it off. Sure it took three days, but I have to try. Not to get Matt to prom, but to make Matt not hate me anymore.'

Matt took out the first thing. It was a simple ten question piece that was given two weeks ago. Joe thought that this was going to be one of the easier things, and that any points was better than nothing at all. "Well, here is how you do the work." Joe said and then he started to explain every single one of the questions to Matt, and he was watching as the guy was slowly nodding at most of the material and he was seeing that Matt was looking like he had actually finally started to get the whole point of the piece.

The work took ten minutes or so for Joe to go all the way through, and while this took a while, Matt took out the next one. "So if that was how you do this, then this is how you do that..." Matt said and then he wrote down the answer to the first question of the piece, and then once he was done, he showed it right to Joe. There was a thought that Joe had.

"Well, that is not one hundred percent right, but you are getting on the right track. Maybe you are getting this now." Joe said and then he explained it once more. Matt nodded, and then he did all of the questions on that assignment, which was twelve questions long. The two of them kept going on and on and it took a while, but the first class bell warning rang and Matt had seven pieces done. Which would have been an extra seven hundred points. Sure, there were three thousand he had to make up for, out of four thousand in total. But an extra seven hundred would put Matt at seventeen hundred out of four thousand. It would have brought up his grade from a terrible twenty five percent to a relatively respectable F grade of forty-two percent. Which compared to twenty five was amazing.

During the class conversation at the start of the period, Joe convinced Matt's math teacher to give him one period to tutor with Matt and the teacher agreed once they realized that it was Joe. Joe and Matt in that ninety minute period finished up another nine pieces, which placed Matt at twenty six hundred out of the now forty one hundred points, given the one hundred of that session. This put Matt at about sixty four percent, a low D. But it was still a D none the less, which would have been barely enough to give him the credit in the class as long as Matt kept this up.

And that was just simply how it was. Joe and Matt would talk to the teacher that was in his class every period and the teacher would agree to give Joe one period to work with Matt. Second period was art class, which had a single one hundred point piece every week, and there were fourteen weeks by that point. Matt had done three already, which were the first three weeks. Joe and Matt managed to do weeks four to eight, which placed Matt at a eight hundred point grade. Which was still an F, but it a high enough F where if Matt did one or two more pieces later, he would have passed with yet again a low D.

Third period was Creative Writing, which Matt already did have a C minus in. There was one again one thing for each week, and since Matt already did ten out of the fourteen pieces, Matt and Joe just needed to do the final four pieces. Matt actually brought himself to his first and at that point only A, and even if Matt did no more work for the final four weeks of that term, Matt would still have fourteen out of eighteen hundred points, which would have still been a C.

Four period was Science class. Which Matt only had a eight percent in. There was one piece that Matt had to turn in every day, which was seventy pieces in total. He had only done about five or six. Unlike Math, which was three pieces a week, and it was very easy to do at least one of those every time, the weekly warm up, this was all on your own guard. Joe and Matt knew that it was just a matter of doing as many as possible. Joe and Matt managed to get about eleven or so done, which brought Matt to about nineteen out of seventy, so only about a twenty five percent. It was a bad grade, but a far cry from the complete and total embarrassment of the eight percent he had earlier.

Final period was Accounting, which he had about a forty percent as was. There were two pieces a week in this class, which was the start of the week warm up pre test, and the end of the week unit test. Matt had already done about ten to twelve of the twenty eight pieces. Joe had made that up to twenty pieces. Which was enough to place Matt at an high D to low C.

After this, Joe looked at Matt and then he took a deep breath. That was seven and a half hours, plus the half and a half throughout the day for lunch and breaks, so a total of nine hours he had to work with Matt. "Let's see the principal."

Matt felt like this was a scary suggestion, but he knew that Joe was right on this. Showing the principal this could help show them that Matt did make a real effort. Matt and Joe walked to the principal's office and Matt said "Hey, I did a lot of my school work. I hope that this helps you let me go to prom." Matt felt like he was treading on thin ice, but the principal looked at all five pieces.

Sixty four, fifty six, one hundred, twenty five, and about seventy. The principal looked at these grades and then at the previous grades at hand. Then they sighed. "Compared to what you had earlier, I can say that you did put in a clear effort. I want you to have this motivation for the rest of the term. Hopefully this can be a real lesson for you. I think, even though I hate to admit this, that you earned prom this time. Enjoy your Saturday. I just hope you get back to work again once you have your night of fun. Let's try and turn these all to seventy five, maybe eighties or higher." The principal said and then she handed Matt the paper work back. "You did well. You did well."

Matt and Joe walked out of the office and then Matt looked at Joe. "God damn it, I should have asked you earlier. Then this mess would have never happened." Matt was trying to joke, and for a moment he forgot about all of the previous history of the two. "Sorry though. I really should have given you a chance sooner. That much is clear to me now."

"At least you see that there is some value is asking for my help. Now let's agree that we should help each other get a date. One for both of us. There must be people who are stag right now. I think we can find one for both of us." Joe doubted it, especially for himself, but he wanted to try his best.

"Yeah, maybe you are right. Hey Joe, would you mind doing that study session again? Maybe like once a week after school? I promise that if you help me? I will try my best on that weeks work to make sure that all you will have to do is catch me up with previous material." Matt asked and then Joe thought about it. He thought that this wasn't the worst idea. He thought that maybe Matt was making a very subtle offer of maybe trying to make a friendship with him.

"You know Joe, I knew that you were dedicated to school and everything almost as if it was your fucking job, but I never knew that you would have been this dedicated to it all. I will have to admit that I am totally colored impressed by your work ethic." Matt said, and there was no way that he was even going to pretend that he could catch up to the level of where Joe was at, but if Matt even improved by ten percent, then everything that he would have done today could have justified the hard position that he was now placed in a little bit earlier.

"You know, I guess that there is one good thing that comes out of my family values. If you lived with where my family, then you would understand exactly why I feel this way." Joe said and then Matt shrugged. He knew who Joe was, but he barely knew the family of the young man. How the hell was he going to know the family of the guy that up until earlier today he was utterly convinced that he had actually hated. It was a silly thought set that he used to have, but it was still indeed that exact same mindset and there was no point in trying to deny it.

"I think that I should see your family one day. I have nothing to do after school today. Do you want to go and hang out at my house?" Matt asked, slowly forgetting the hatred that he had of Joe, and although he would not consider himself to be a friend of Joe, he knew for a fact that he no longer hated the man, and in a way did wish the guy well when he would see the guy from now on. There was no way to try and act like Joe was wrong at anything when there was no real clear evidence to suggest that Joe had actually deserved the treatment that he had been given.

"I guess there is nothing better for me to do. I think that after all of the work that I did with you at school today, I think we both earned a day where we don't do any work after the day is over." Joe said and then with that, the two of them were starting to head on towards Matt's house, and the two were just trying to get to know each other a bit better. Mainly in order to see where this could be able to take them.

"So Joe, have you ever really had a good friendship with somebody?" Matt asked, already knowing that he was hitting a touchy subject, but he was hoping that Joe wouldn't mind the fact that he was asking him these type of things. He thought that Joe would honestly not mind the fact that he was going to potentially get a little bit closer to do one last make fun of Joe a thon depending on the answer that Joe would give him. But this time, more of just as a playful banter. He just hoped that along with this, that Joe could actually understand the full intent of the moment as well.

"Well, I had a couple here and there. And there are a couple of people that I hang out with once a week on Thursday from four to six. We just talk about the different movies that come out that week, and our opinions on our different pop culture. We're a group of six guys. I wouldn't really say that we are friends or anything, but we do however get along well enough to where we actually can enjoy our company for two hours every week." Joe said, and he thought that it was sad that the closest thing he had to having friends was just some people that he knew in a social group and everything.

"I guess that if I had a social group that small, I would start to feel what it would be like to have people make fun of you this badly. I would start to see why it could possibly hurt somebody this badly." Matt said, actually having a small twinge of genuine sympathy when he was saying this to Joe. In a way, he was honestly feeling bad for the way that he had treated Joe. He was starting to see a little bit the error of his ways. Even if he never become friends with Joe, he was officially not going to make fun of him anymore.

Both Joe and Matt knew that it was a matter of time before the subject came up. So Matt decided that he was going to get it over with right then and there, and hopefully redeem himself a little bit in the eyes of the slightly older class mate. "So, I am really sorry for being a dick to you. I thought that it would have been funny. I thought that if anything, that you would have played along with me. I never thought for a minute that you would have actually been hurt about it all." Matt finally got the apology he knew he had to make all day over with, hoping that all would be forgiven.

"I forgive you Matt. Everybody deserves a second chance. You are having yours right now. I think that once you start to get beyond the annoying treating everybody like crap thing, you are actually nowhere near as bad of a guy that I would have wanted to believe you out to be." Joe said, thinking that this was the two of them finally making full amends.

"But that being said, I will just ask this and get it over with as well. Why exactly did you treat me like that? Was it something that I did when we were in younger grades that made you feel like you had to one up me on a constant basis?" Joe asked, truly hoping that Matt would actually be honest with him. Even if it was a little bit hard to hear.

"I just honestly thought that it would be cool to do it. I never thought for even a minute that you would have been offended by what I was doing. I thought that if anything, there was a small chance that you would have found it funny. Now I realize just how much of an asshole I really was being." Matt said, finally accepting the words and not only accepting it, but saying them in such a verbal way that he could no longer deny it even in the back of his mind.

"Well, at least you are being frank with me. At least you are not giving me a lie that it was all about the way you were treated at home or anything like that." Joe said, finally feeling glad that there was that going for them. Joe was feeling glad that everything was all finally placed behind them, and that in a way, that this was a clean slate. Joe finally felt like if anything, Matt could actually be a decent guy. Joe felt like if anything, that out of all the bullies in the school, he was probably the only one that was even remotely tolerable.

"I am actually going to be interested in seeing how your family is like honestly. I actually am finding myself wanting to see them. I can't believe that I am finding myself being interested in all that, but here I am right now actually feeling that." Matt said, and the fact that he did just say the words out loud actually made himself believe it even more or anything like that. He just knew that he was getting closer and closer to getting to that point once and for all.

"I think that your family will just think that I am kind of the dumbass of the entire situation. That I was a dick, and then once that I had to find myself in a situation where I was finally going to have to make up for anything." Matt said and this time, he was actually starting to have some fun with this whole prospect. He could tell that Joe was actually finding a very small level of humor to the thing as well. He didn't to admit it, but there was that humor and he was just going to have to actually accept it.

"Well, I think that if you talk to them once or twice, they would be angry at first, but after a while, they will just think of you as a guy who is trying to reform yourself. And when they see that you might be putting in an actual effort, then they will actually start to support you for a bit for that very reason. That is the way that I am looking at it." Joe said, and then afterwards, they were at the front house of Matt's and then the two of them started to go inside and they were no longer on that subject and they were actually talking about school prom that next day.

The next day, Joe was at his house and he was looking at his older brothers suits. He had told his brother that he was going to prom the night before. Jim was a little bit shocked to learn that his brother actually was taking the leap of faith to actually go to prom, but Joe said that he would rather take a risk that would fail than take no risk at all. When he had told his older brother this, Jim actually almost seemed to be proud of Joe. As if this was the moment that he had waited his whole life for his brother to actually try and go through with.

"Well, I think that this suit is probably going to be the best one that you can wear. I think that it will fit you very well." Jim said and then showed Joe a pure black suit. Just a black button-down shirt and black pants. Joe smiled as he was seeing this outfit. In all reality, he was actually excited to be going to prom despite the fact that he was not really a popular boy at all. He thought that if he was charming enough. Just charming enough... then he would be able to get at least one girl at the dance to like him and want to have a dance with him.

Joe held onto the shirt and he got lost in his fantasy for a little bit. He almost forgot just how unrealistic this entire thing was. But in all reality, he didn't really think that it was going to go the way that he was fantasizing. But he was just wanting to pretend that he had a chance for just a little bit. Then he turned around to look at his older brother. As if his brother had done him the greatest service in the entire world.

"Thank you for the help Jim. I will not let you down. I will make sure that this is the best dance that I can possibly make it out to be." Joe said and then he walked to his bedroom. While in his bedroom, he looked down for a moment as if to consider what he was doing. The one thing he never thought he could do. Until the previous couple of days, he was certain he was not going to prom. Then he told himself that he wanted to at least try it. Then when he thought about it further, he couldn't resist. So he placed the clothes on and then walked back to Jim's room when he was done.

Joe showed his brother his new look. Jim nodded in approval. He was honestly proud of his brother for taking the roll to do something like this. "You know, I think that there will be at least one person who will like you there. I think you will kick ass at prom. Much more than you could even dare think that you would." Jim said and then Joe was glad that his brother was telling him this. He knew that his brother was just being nice, and that there was just him not wanting to be harsh. But even then, it was nice to listen to his brother, or anybody for that matter, speak to him in that regard. Jim drove Joe to prom and left Joe alone to be independent for the next few hours.

At Matt's house, Matt didn't need to get his fathers help to get ready for the dance. He already had a nice suit that he was able to put on. He placed on the dress shirt, and he just made sure that it wasn't dirty before he placed it on. Then he put on some black slacks and the only pair of dress shoes he had, which he had barely ever wore. Then when he was done, he came out of his room

His younger brother, T.K. Shioda, in one of the few times in this entire adventure in which he did not have a broken arm, saw Matt and thought that his older brother actually looked pretty decent. "Got to admit, I think that you can actually pull off that look. Especially since you haven't worn that stuff in several months." T.K. said and then he gave a playful punch on Matt's shoulder and then Matt laughed.

"Just because I barely wear it doesn't mean I can't pull it off on the times in which I do wear it. Trust me, looking impressive for prom really is not nearly as big of a deal that people try to make it actually out to be. I think people try and act like it is this really vitally important thing that you need to try and pull off. But in reality, it doesn't actually matter all that much." Matt told T.K., and he was actually telling the truth as he was saying this. He was not really sure if T.K. has any real interest in going to any school dances, but he was just trying to be nice to his brother. He was also trying to give his brother the thought set that all he had to do was just try a little bit.

Then Matt walked right to the living room. He looked at his mother and then he was seeing that his mother was no longer having her conversation with his father in order to pay attention to Matt. "Are you ready to go to the dance?"

"Yes, I am ready to go to prom." Matt said and then the two of them walked out of the house. As they were outside of the house, Matt's father told T.K. that he just needed to focus more on the small moments to make these big moments actually matter. Matt's father was obviously hinting at the idea of what Matt had hung out with Joe earlier. His father did not really like Joe all that much, but he didn't hate the guy. He just thought that he needed to get to know the guy a little bit better.

Eventually, Matt had reached the school and then Matt told his mother that he would just walk home when the dance was over. He said that there was a couple of people who would probably want to walk over home with him. His mother told him that she would respect his wishes, but that she still wanted him to be safe and to not do anything that he thought would be considered to be unsafe. Matt laughed and just simply said "I'm fine mom." Then he got out of the car and got inside of the school.

Once both Matt and Joe were inside of the school, Matt saw that Joe was just dancing around. He looked terrible at his dancing, but Matt didn't dare say anything since he could tell that Joe was clearly enjoying himself. He was just glad to see that the man who was slowly starting to be his friend was enjoying the time that he was actually having at the school dance. So Matt walked up to Joe and tried to see if he could talk to him a little bit. Just to see if they could pursue the idea of their friendship a little bit further.

"So Joe, I didn't know that you had a thing for dancing when you were at a school dance." Matt said and then after he had said that, Joe finished up the dance move that he had been doing, which took about another five or ten seconds before he stopped and then looked right at Matt to just show that he was focusing on him again. "What makes you motivated to dance around like this?" Joe then laughed a bit, as if trying to show that everything was alright. Which to a large extent, it honestly really was all fine.

"Just having some fun. Maybe I can get somebody to like my dancing skills and want to have a slow dance with me when it is time for that. I think that it is the best chance that I really have to get somebody to like me." Joe said, and then after Joe had told this to Matt, there was Matt just standing there. Matt was still shocked that Joe was actively trying to get himself some form of a date for prom. Matt then thought about that for a bit himself.

"I don't really think that anybody would like me in that regard, as much as I hate to admit that." Matt said, thinking about how much that kind of sucked. How much he would not be able to get somebody to like him for who he was. At least not this easily. Matt did like the challenge though. Just asking somebody to prom was too easy. He felt like getting to know a person before doing this stuff was the most rewarding route that you can go out of them all.

"Well, if you think that this will work for you, then go ahead and keep doing this." Matt said, and then he laughed a little bit as he had said that and then he started to leave Joe alone. He was not really sure if he should feel impressed with the fact that Joe felt so confident he could take on this type of game so easily, or as if Joe was a little bit of an idiot as he was doing this. In a way, he was sort of on a little bit in both sides of the issue. But instead of Matt dancing around in any form or fashion, Matt was looking around to see if he was going to talk to somebody else.

He thought that he was going to take this chance and actually talk to somebody else. In order to get a girl to like him that way. In order for them to see the good end of him. So he was sitting down on a table and he was kind of bored out of his mind. There was a girl that had walked up to him and then they sat down next to Matt to try and make some short talk. "Hey, my name is Sora. I saw that you were looking a bit sad." The girl started and then Matt looked up at her, not really sure what to say.

As they were starting their conversation, Joe felt like he was getting tired and needed a bit of a break. So he decided that he was going to finish up the song he had been dancing to, and then after the song was over, he decided to go out and stay right outside. As he was outside, he was taking a nice look at the view. For some reason, this view when he was at prom in a nice suit, as well as the whole sort of atmosphere, made him actually appreciate the situation much more. He felt like this place was made for this type of situation and this type of view. Joe then looked around and he saw that there was a girl who walked right up to him. She placed her hands on the rail.

"I saw how you were dancing. I was kind of shocked at the way you were able to just go in there and not give a damn in the world what people thought of you. I think that people were kind of shocked at how you were dancing. I think that you need to just relax. Nobody is wanting to make fun of you. Nobody cares about that. You are just a guy who is at prom." The girl said and then she asked "Did you go in stag?"

Joe looked at the girl and then he nodded. "Yeah, I had no real person who wanted to go in with me. But I didn't want to go to stay home all day. I was originally not wanting to go to the dance, but I decided against it eventually. I decided that I wanted to go to the dance after all and just enjoy the night. Enjoy one of the few nights in the end of the year where I could be able to prove myself. To be able to get a girlfriend." Joe said and then the girl nodded. Joe then thought about the most important part. "My name is Joe. What is your name?"

The girl looked at Joe. She was wondering if Joe was really any good at these interactions or if he was just winging it at the moment and trying to not look like a total dumb ass. In a way, it was a little bit of both as she would learn. But at the moment, she was not really sure how if that was how he actually was. "My name is Amy. I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. I didn't want you to feel like nobody noticed or cared about what you were doing." Amy said, and she was feeling like she was actually being nice enough as was.

Joe then thought about that, trying to decide if he had actually known about an Amy before or if he was sort of remembering incorrectly. "What grade are you in?" Joe asked, thinking that this could at least be able to partially provide the answer that he felt like he needed to know.

"I'm a senior in high school. From what I can tell, I think you are a junior?" Amy responded and then Joe nodded. "That might be it. I must have seen you in class a couple of times. Never really noticed you talking with anybody. Are you scared to make friends or something?" Amy asked, and Joe had to think about that. In reality, he wasn't really sure about making friends or something else. Joe then thought about it a bit in those few seconds and realized the true reason behind it all.

"I am more worried about the rejection of friendship that people would hand me if I tried to be their friends. I feel like if I try to be their friends, they would just tell me off and act like I am a fucking problem. Like I am a fucking pest. That is what I am more worried about. I guess that it might be a little bit silly to have that fear. But I am worried about rejection." Joe said and then he was thinking that fearing rejection so bad was a little bit strange. However, he did also find it to be justified. He felt like there was nothing wrong with being afraid of rejection.

"I think that rejection is a bit of a subjective idea. Just because they don't want to talk to you now doesn't mean that down the road, they won't want to talk to you. They might want to eventually talk to you. It is just a matter of time of when you will finally be able to get them to feel like they will want to give you a real chance." Amy said and then Joe thought about that and nodded a bit. He did have to deal with that with Matt after all. Matt used to think Joe was stupid and wanted nothing to do with Joe until that previous day. They might not be friends, but they might be able to finally be in the same room as each other. That was better than nothing at all, and he was going to take anything that he could get.

"I am just worried about how people are going to talk about me behind my back. That is another thing that scares me. The idea that people will pretend to like me but in reality they actually fucking hate me. That is something that I don't want to deal with at all. If I don't want to people, then I will certainly not deal with that. Sure, I won't have much of a life. But I won't have to fear anything at all." Joe said, and he was wondering to himself right then and there if it was really worth it.

Amy shook her head and her response was slowly able to start to convince Joe that it was really not worth it and that Joe had been wrong the whole time. "But if you actually talk to people, then you will be able to get experiences and people will actually start to respect you more." Amy said and then she said "The more experiences that you have here, the more that things can finally start to go a little bit in your favor."

Joe knew that deep down Amy was right. There was no real way that Amy could have been wrong about this. If Amy was wrong, then Joe felt like he needed to actually not have been so easily fooled. After all, talking to Amy was an experience of his own.

"Yeah, I guess. I just am worried about the worst parts of every interaction. But maybe I should try to not always fear the worst. Maybe something like hope for the best. But to also be prepared for the worst." Joe said, and then he was feeling like this was a bit of a personal compromise that he could have been fine with. In fact, Amy did think that maybe Joe was getting onto something there.

"I think that you are learning truly about what it is like to actually get out in the social world. The social life is the best type of life that there is. I think that when you dig deeply into it, you will realize what a wonderful world it really is." Amy said, and the thing was, she believed every single word of what she had told Joe. She had felt like if Joe just really went out there, really tried it, then everything will be something that he realized he cared too much about.

"You should probably go back to the dance. I bet that you have a date who is wanting you to come back soon. I bet that he is not really excited to see that you are leaving him in favor of talking to me right now." Joe said, and while he had no problem talking to her right now, he was well aware of the fact that he had to have been one of the few people in the entire school who had gone in stag, and as a result, needed to be more careful on who he was talking with.

"I will go back to the dance when I feel like I am totally ready to go back there. I don't feel like I am really ready to go back to the dance right now. I want to actually have a good conversation with you. I was hoping that you would have now been more open to talk to me now that we had talked for a while." Amy said and then Joe was just not really sure where to go with that. He did appreciate the fact that she was trying to be nice to him. But at the same time, he felt like she might have been trying a little bit too hard. He felt like she needed to just go back to the dance and in a way just pretend like Joe had never been there. That she had never talked to him in the first place.

"I don't know Amy. I think that I probably should be left alone. I didn't have a date. There is no reason to try and be having one right now." Joe was saying and while he knew that was false, and while he did really want to have a date, he was also feeling the need, no the desire, to just stay alone. Something that she had not been giving him. Honestly it was getting to the point where it was kind of annoying him a little bit. What had once started with Amy trying to be nice and Joe actually understanding that turned into Joe thinking that this was actually starting to scare him a little bit.

Joe felt like it was a bit extreme for him to actually feel scared over a damn thing going on with Amy. But he was more scared about the fact that this was going to lead to some bad outcome for him. A bad outcome he felt like he was just sort of setting himself up for if he wasn't careful enough. But then he was thinking, wondering, if he was actually more scared of Amy or if it was something that he told her about in his life style that he just needed to get over.

"Joe, sorry that I made you feel scared. I never wanted to make you feel that way. I can tell from the way that you are looking and the way that you are feeling around me that you clearly don't want to take any risks. I will respect that. But would you mind just giving me a couple more minutes?" Amy asked and then both she and Joe were looking forward and taking in the sight of the city yet again. Joe thought about it, and then despite his better idea, he decided that five minutes really was not going to be all that big of a problem.

"Yeah, I guess that there is nothing wrong with a few more minutes. I feel sorry for acting like this to you. I really do feel like a true asshole when I act like this. I hope that you don't get angry at me. I hope that you understand that I don't have any intention on making you feel like I don't care about you. In fact, it is how much I am starting to care about you and your happiness in just even the few minutes that I have been talking to you that is making me feel like we need to actually think this out. That you need to actually consider where I am coming from." Joe said, and then he felt like he was being a bit reasonable with that one. That even Amy must have been able to see his point of view on this one.

"I suppose that you might be right. I am surprised that you admitted that you cared even this much so soon after you had met me. That you cared about what I am thinking. What I am feeling. But if you really did care this much, then you wouldn't be trying so hard to be shooting me down when I am clearly trying to form something here." Amy said and then Joe sighed. Then he thought about this for a bit before asking what he thought was the more important question on his mind.

"I will talk to you if you be honest with me and answer me with the truth with this. Are you alone on this dance, or did you actually have a date with you?" Joe asked thinking that if she was alone, then he could continue to entertain her here, but if she did have a date, then he needed to properly end this right then and there.

"I did have a date before the dance started. But then we broke it off a few minutes before the whole event took place. I decided that he must have had a good reason to do this, and while I hate the fact that he did this, I won't try and pester him about it. He must have been worried about something if he didn't want to go on a date that he was clearly set up with." Amy said, and then Joe thought about this for a while as if he was just not wanting to fully decide if he should believe in this or not.

"Who was the person that you were going to go on a date with?" Joe asked, and then Amy thought about it for a moment trying to decide on if she had wanted to say the truth or not, and then she figured there was nothing wrong with letting Joe know what her date was.

"He was Andrew. He asked me about a week or so ago. He looked really worried when he asked me. As if me saying yes or no was going to be the one thing that was going to determine how his life was going to go in the future. I don't know what was wrong with him. But I remembered Andrew fondly, so I decided that there was nothing wrong with giving him a chance on a date, so I decided to say yes. I could tell that me saying yes to him was the best news of his life at that moment. I could tell that I really did make his day." Amy said and then both she and Joe were starting to think of the worst possible outcome.

"What if there is something wrong with Andrew? What if he was a bit suicidal, and that you saying yes to his offer to dance with you was the big deciding factor on if he was going to kill himself or not?" Joe asked and then Amy thought about how while it was a terrible idea, that maybe it was true. That maybe Joe was actually getting onto something there. Something that nobody should have considered.

"I don't know if he was that way or not. But if he was, that would be absolutely terrible. I would hope that he could be helped. I wonder if I could be able to talk to him soon, and see what was going on. If you are right, and it was the thing that would be the make it or break it between him killing himself or not, then I think that he really needs to get some form of personal help as soon as possible." Amy said and both of them were able to agree on this one entirely. But both of them were thinking and agreeing that they needed to not ponder this any further. Well, it wasn't a needed to not as much as a wanted to not.

"Let's stop thinking about that. Whatever happens is what happens. Don't think about it. Just enjoy the dance while you can." Joe said and then Amy thought that Joe was just being as optimistic as he could about this, and that he was just trying to avoid any fear that he had himself.

"Yeah, I think that I wouldn't want to think about that any more. I mean, I will ponder it when I get home tonight. But now is now. We are in the middle of a school dance. We are supposed to be enjoying ourselves right now. Not fearing something that will probably not happen." Amy said, thinking about the probably more than anything else.

Joe was already starting to forget about the the fear that he had over the slight idea of that guy doing some crazy and irreversible act. Besides, even if he did, he barely even knew this Andrew guy. As awful as it was to admit, he would really not have been affected at all by their death even if something like that were to happen. It was a terrible thing to admit, and he didn't want to admit it outloud to anybody, but he couldn't lie about it. In the end, lying about something related to the death of the person was even worse than telling the truth and saying you knew nothing about said person. At least that was what Joe would say.

Joe then looked back at Amy and he was smiling. Despite the seriousness of the conversation he did just have with her, he felt glad deep down that any girl liked him enough to at least approach him. At least consider the idea of small talk to him. That made him feel like even if he wasn't popular enough to date anybody, he was at least liked enough to be considered a decent and real human being. Before then, he wasn't even sure if he would be able to get this. But now people started to make him realize that not only could he get this, but that he indeed was getting it as he was right there. "Thanks for going out of your way to speak to me."

It was a simple enough thing, but he knew that those words were going to go a long way. He knew that if he had said that, this was going to make Amy actually feel like she had indeed made the right choice by giving Joe a chance. That she didn't need to worry too long term about what he was saying, and what he had actually thought of her. She felt like he was at least a relatively safe bet.

"I think that I just needed somebody who could talk to me tonight. Even without the whole Andrew thing to consider, I just have been thinking a lot about my life lately. I have been thinking a lot about where I want it to go. I realized that I didn't have as much time as I thought I did. I thought I had all the time in the world to sort of relax and do whatever the hell I had wanted. But now here I am, leaving high school in merely a few days, and now I am starting to realize that this is not what I am actually going to be able to say about my schedule. It may not really seem like it would be a huge deal, but seriously the thought of it all is scary. Then it stops being a thought and it becomes a reality. Once it becomes a reality, the fear becomes tangible. The fear becomes something you will no longer be able to even pretend isn't there. It is there, and you have to face it when it comes to you." Amy said and Joe was shocked that she had trusted him enough to actually open up to him like this.

"Nothing I think about or go through even compares to that. I mean, I do change what I want to do all the time and probably a bit too much and drastically for my own good. But at least I have a lot of time to consider things out. At least I don't have to act like I have no time at all. I mean, I do have a full year to try and decide what I want." Joe said and Amy picked up from there.

"A year sounds like a lot. But it is going to zoom by. You need to really be careful about letting your guard down. You need to really be careful about what you are actually thinking about your time. About your life. It is not nearly as much of a thing you can put off as you would dream it is." Amy was trying to be nice while also being firm about this to make sure Joe understood.

'If I had known how fast a year would have gone by, I would have been preparing myself so much for what was going to happen afterwards. I would have never once told myself that things were just going to resolve themselves if I just waited it out.' Amy thought to herself as she was still looking at Joe.

"Amy, I had no idea that going to the dance could really be able to open my mind up so much to what you are telling me. I thought that it was just going to be a general dance that I would be going to. You know, just to fuck around and just to kill some time. But here I am. Actually talking about school. Talking about life. Getting to know different sides of the whole idea beyond just me." Joe said in genuine appreciation. Not just something that somebody would say in order to get themselves out of trouble from somebody.

"I just saw that you needed some company, so I decided that I was going to talk to you for a bit. To see if my conversation is able to help you out at all. I don't really know if it has or not is the thing though. I want to assume that it has, but I don't really know." Amy said, and then the two of them remained silent for a bit.

Joe was thinking to himself 'This whole fucking conversation would be much better if I actually knew what I wanted in my life. But I don't fucking know. How am I supposed to fucking know? I mean, I am a seventeen year old man. Not like I have really had a lot of time to get exposed to actual reality to be able to think things out. I haven't gotten a good grasp in reality because I don't really even know what reality even is.'

As he had thought that in his mind, he continued to be thinking for a bit. 'I mean, if I knew what general reality was like, I would have been so much better prepared for life inside of high school. I would not have let anybody run the floor on me. I would not have even given them the chance to do that. But that is not how it goes. You get thrown into something and you have to fight your way through it. That is how life is. You having to fight through what life throws at you.' After Joe was thinking that, he was wondering if he could be able to make any moves on Amy.

It was silly of him to think that after one conversation, he would be able to suddenly play up some moves on her. Even he knew that it was silly for him to actually think this way. But he was also thinking that since he had already been here, since they were in a decent conversation right now, that maybe there was a one percent chance that he could be able to pull off a work of wonder for her. That he would be able to make her see the good side in him if he just put in the extra effort.

Amy glanced at Joe a little bit. He really was not as stealthy as he would want to pretend he was. She was able to figure out what he had wanted right from the start. But the way he looked about it. The way he seemed to be regretting the idea of him even considering it, the more that Amy was able to find that it was at least a little bit cute. Not in the way that she thought he would be able to swoon her over. But in the way that maybe giving him one single kiss wouldn't have been an utter tragedy.

"Joe, you don't have to worry about the simple stuff in life. I know I talked a lot about it. But that is only because I do want you to raise the awareness of it a little bit. I want you to be prepared for whatever comes up. I don't try and act like this to scare you. Nothing even close to that." Amy said and then she added in a little bit more. "But seriously, this is prom night. You need to stop thinking so much about it and just enjoy the dance right now."

Joe thought about that and he was thinking that Amy was right. He did need to stop worrying about school so much. He needed to stop worrying about life so much. He just needed to enjoy the moment. He just needed to enjoy what was being presented to him. In reality, he had the chance to impress somebody. He needed to take advantage of it while there was still time. "Amy, when the dance is over... want to stay the night at my house?"

Joe felt like it was a bad lead on, but he was thinking that it was better than where he had been before hand where he could not even consider the idea of talking to a person and even consider the idea of them liking him. At least this made him actually feel like he had a two percent or so chance of pulling this off. At least he felt like as bad and as unlikely as it was, that it was better than nothing at all. That he just needed to take the leap of faith.

"I don't know if I can stay the night at your house. I have a lot of work I need to do soon. But I certainly can dance with you a couple of times. I feel like that is not too out of my range of time." Amy said and then she had smiled a bit as she looked at Joe. One of her first actual smiles that she had since she found out about Andrew not being able to go.

The time that she had smiled and looked away from Joe she was thinking 'I would not have Joe as my first choice. I would rather go with Andrew. I even hope that Andrew gets better so I can see if perhaps we have a chance after all. But I think that one night with Joe is actually not all that bad of an idea. He is certainly nice enough to justify one night of dating him. I can pretend like I am his girlfriend for one night. I just hope he doesn't think this is going to be a long term thing. If he does, then that will be when I will have the problem.'

Joe was trying to read the expression on her face. 'It seems like she might like me. It seems like she might be willing to give me chance. But I can't tell if she is just being nice to me. Or if she was actually feeling this way. I have such a hard time reading girls properly that it really could be either one and I would be just as shocked either way.' But Joe decided not to think about it for that long. At least not until he got a more clear understanding of what she was thinking. What he was actually dealing with here. He just was hoping that it didn't turn out that both her and Matt were pulling his leg and that they actually had no respect for him. That they were playing with his esteem. That would have been the worst of it all.

"Amy, want to dance after this song is over?" Joe asked, getting himself ready for rejection. Getting himself ready for what he was certain was the inevitable laughing at him for believing he had an actual chance in getting her this whole time. He felt like he was setting himself up for failure. He was convinced that at any second, she was going to break out and laugh at him for being stupid and for buying into the whole ruse. He was just certain of it deep down in his mind.

Amy nodded and didn't give him that at all. She in fact gave him what was told to him this whole time. What he thought was the lie was the truth. "Yeah, after this song is over, I would love to go and have a dance with you." Amy said, and she was later going to see if she had regretted the words or not. She still was not really sure if she was going to think she had made a huge mistake or not. If it was, then she would at least know she would never have to see him after this ever again. That this could have been just one bad night. But however, if she did enjoy this, then perhaps she could at least be able to pursue him. As a friend. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Joe was so happy to know that even if it was just for one song, that she accepted him. It was his ground breaking moment.

'Oh my god, this may have actually been worth going to after all. I mean, I just got accepted to do a dance with somebody. Yes she is probably doing it to be nice. And she was originally going with somebody else. But here I am. Here she is. She accepted my offer. I need to just give her a good time. Maybe if I give her a good time, she might actually consider again the idea of staying the night at my house. I just need to over come this step.'

These thoughts were racing in Joe's mind at about a million miles or so per hour. He had no idea how to get his mind to calm down. How to get his mind to see the actual real reason to stay collected. He felt like he had run a marathon. He had felt like he was near the finish line.

Amy was thinking about Joe. 'I just wished that Andrew was here. I hope that he didn't make that irreversible choice on his life. If he did, I don't really know if I can handle the idea of taking life in such a easy stride. I think I would become a ghost in a body. In a metaphorical way obviously.' Amy thought that it was a good metaphor and one of the better ones she had come up with her in her time.

Eventually, it was getting to the point where the song was ending. It was getting to the point where Joe knew he had to seal the deal. To make it so that even if she had wanted a small chance to back out, that he was not going to go with it.

Joe held out his hand. He saw Amy look at it. 'I will give her ten seconds. If she doesn't take it, I will leave. If she does, we will dance.' That was all Joe thought there would be to it. Amy stared at him and they seemed to have an eternal silence.

'This is my last chance. Do I want to go with him and pretend like he is Andrew, or am I fine as is?' Amy gave it a few seconds and Joe was counting in his mind.

'One. Two. Three.' Joe kept counting, losing more hope each time. 'Four. Five.'Joe just wished the ten seconds were over or that she said yes by now. 'Six. Seven. Eight.'

Then at eight, when he counted to himself, she accepted his hand. Then afterwards, they started to go to the school. As Amy touched Joe, she smiled. In a way, it was an actual smile. Not one for show. One she felt like she could able to say she had and not feel like she was lying through her fucking teeth when she would tell somebody about it.

As Joe and Amy were inside of the dance floor, he placed his arms around her neck and then he was remembering all of those movies he had used to watch when he was younger. Remembering what exactly he was supposed to do and how he was going to really be able to swoon her over. If the movies had been right about their portrayal and not just meant for flashes and show. Even then, Joe was telling himself that things were mostly fine. That she was not really going to be too rough on him if he had messed up a little bit here and there. She might find it a little bit funny and might make fun of him a little bit. But Joe was just hoping that this was going to be the worst that it would actually get.

Amy was looking and reading the look on Joe's face, trying to decipher all of the confusion on his face. 'It is like he has never been treated with any kind of respect before, and he is showing his excitement for somebody showing him actual real decency. I wonder how bad his life really must have been if he is acting like this over me just accepting him to dance with me.' But she had no real desire to say something since she thought he was going to get really defensive over it all and tell her to leave him alone. She did not really want that to happen. She didn't want to make him think that she was attacking him for this. 'Besides, he clearly is enjoying himself. I don't want to ruin something just because I couldn't really keep my mouth shut. So I will ask him later if I feel like he is a little bit down back to earth.'

After the song was starting to wind down a little bit, Joe was thinking about how he could continue to keep her interest for the rest of the night. How he can get her to believe that he wasn't just deeply worried about the rejection of it all more than anything else. He wanted to show her that he had some form of a thick skin. But at the same time, even he knew that he was playing a bit of the truth there.

'I think she is starting to actually warm up to me. I think she might actually be thinking that I am not a bad dude. I have no desire to just let fear ruin my life. Just take the moment. Go with it. See where it takes you.' Joe finally decided as he was thinking a bit more in the way of his older brother Jim. Thinking that Jim was probably right this whole time.

Joe was getting slightly less gripped as he was dancing with her, thinking that there was no need to act like he was competing with anybody. No longer feeling the need to try and treat her as if she was an object. As if he was finally going to see Amy as not just some girl he talked with who gave him the courtesy of a dance. But more as if she was somebody who he can view maybe being friends with. Hell, maybe even in the long run, if she did end up liking him, maybe even a lover. Joe felt like this was now the way that a normal conversation should have been.

"Joe, why are you so worried about this type of stuff? I think that you just need to take it easy. I think that you are just being too worried about something that is not even worthy of being worried about." Amy said, and then Joe was trying to convince himself of that. He even was thinking that she was right. He even started to relax a bit. But not to the point where he felt like he would just wing the entire thing and feel just fine. That was not a point where he was at quite yet. He felt like he needed to work a little bit harder before he felt like he had earned that right.

"Sorry Amy. I keep trying to relax. I keep trying to tell myself that there is nothing to fear. I guess I am just having a sort of glass is half empty type of mentality." Joe said and he knew exactly what Amy was going to say before she had even opened her mouth. he had picked up on her patterns of talk just enough to sort of predict these things.

"But the glass is also half full. So it can't really be all that bad" Amy tried to say to Joe, and while Joe wasn't fully buying it, he could force himself to try and look at it that way. He could try and force himself to say that she could have been right. After all, if the glass was half full, that would still be something that you can drink.

"Hey Amy. I am curious to know a little bit about what you will be busy doing when the dance is over? What will make it so that you have to come right home." Joe felt a bit odd bringing it up. He felt like he was bringing up something that was actually not in any way his business. Something that he thought he could have been playing risky on. But she looked at him and he could tell that she didn't really seem to mind all that badly. In fact, she was feeling like she was able to predict the fact that he would ask her this eventually. It was probably better to just get it over with sooner rather than later.

"Well, I am working with my family on some projects they have. We will be leaving for four days on a trip. I don't really know if you should know about the trip that much. But I am heading out really early tomorrow. Won't be back until Thursday, and depending on the time Thursday, I won't be at school until probably Friday. I think the only think I can tell you is that we are heading to Wisconsin for a bit. My father works there. Well, that is where the main building takes place. He is doing his yearly meeting there." Amy said, and Joe nodded thinking that it did indeed make sense that she was only going to be there for four days. After all, they lived in Minnesota. Which was one single state over from Wisconsin. But he was also curious to know what the hell the job was.

"I guess that if you told me about the job, then you might get in a little bit of trouble?" Joe asked innocently. He really was not trying to get her in trouble. But he was thinking that maybe if there was nothing like that involved, and she didn't simply want to talk about it, that maybe he can open up up a bit enough to actually talk about it. He was hoping that he could get something like that out of her. As hard as it could have been to fully do so.

"Well, I wouldn't say in trouble per se. But I don't think that my family just wants me to really leak their secrets all over the place. I think they do want it to be at least a little bit self contained. Something only people they really trust would know. I don't think they would really trust you until they knew you for a couple of months. Maybe even a couple of years." Amy said, thinking that Joe was just being casual and thinking that there was no real intent to get her in any trouble. That was why she felt like she could indulge in him for the time being.

'Even if he was wanting to know for selfish reasons, I really can't imagine Joe being the type of man who can get me in trouble. I don't want to tell him though. Maybe when we're better friends. If we ever get to that point.' Amy was thinking to herself.

'How did I honestly suspect that she was going to tell me? I barely even know her. I mean, if I had known her for a while, then yeah sure. She is more likely to tell Andrew. If she can look at Andrew as a romantic partner, then she clearly doesn't trust me more than him. I feel like such a fucking idiot for even flirting with the idea in my mind for a little bit.' Joe was sort of mentally beating himself up on this. Even if he knew that it wasn't totally justified.

But Joe would still rather being a realistic pessimist on the way he was looking at himself rather than be a guy who was all sunshine and roses and didn't think that he was having any real problems. He knew it wasn't that fucking easy. There was no real need to be all like that. Besides, she was already treating him nice. And that was certainly enough for him to be calling it good.

"I don't even think that you would like what my father did at his job all that much anyways. You seem like that type of guy who would be opposed to the stuff that my father would do. I am not really sure why, but you just give me that impression. I think that you just seem to be that guy that would hate anything related to advanced corporations and business." Amy was saying, doing her best to not really still get involved on what her dad was doing. But she didn't mind the sprinkling in of the minor hints here and there, to sort of make Joe piece it together a little bit. That he was fine with. If he can piece in tiny clues here and there and then figure it out himself, she would not really be all that angry at him. That would mean he was just good at logical deduction. But if she told him right then and there, then she was going to have to find a way to make him look like the bad guy in order for her father to get off her back a little bit.

That was another thing she was really worried about. Just her father in general. He wasn't a bad guy per se, but he was more focused on the job at hand and getting the results that he wanted than actually being with his own family. In a way, she would not have been all that shocked if her father just look at everybody as a sort of piece in the giant puzzle of things. She would have hated it if it were that way. But she could really not be able to doubt it all that much.

This was when Joe started to observe her yet again. 'She seems to be really thinking about something. I feel like I really need to talk to her about it. But at the same time, I feel like she would get on the defensive about it. I don't really feel like I would need her to get on the defensive about me just asking her a couple of questions. So I will just let it go. I want to know more though. Maybe she will actually want my help. No, scratch that. Needs my help.' After Joe was thinking this, he could still realize that even though they were nearly two songs over the normal limit, that they were still dancing together. That they were still having the night of their lives.

Well, he thought that saying it was the night of their lives might have been a bit of a lie. After all, he barely knew what her life was like. So he told himself not to be riding too hard on the hype train. He had to tell himself he did need to play it a bit more realistically. Even if it mean that there was going to be a level of down to earth ness that can make the moment lose a little bit of luster.

Amy was seeing that Joe was not really in such a bad mood anymore. 'If anything, I would just say that he is being a bit pensive.' Amy was telling herself, trying to piece it together.

As the two were sort of in their zoned out mind set, where people around them didn't really matter all that much, Matt was just sort of watching. He was wondering how much longer that they were going to keep this up. How much longer that they were going to be able to act like the entire world around them wasn't real. He didn't really think it was even really possible for Joe to capture her in this type of mind set. He thought that such an activity would have been considered to be fools gold.

Matt thought to himself 'It is not even like I think he is a bad guy. He proved to me last night he wasn't. But how the hell did he take somebody he never met, and actually get her to like him enough to where she is just staring at him like this. I am honestly very impressed with him. I thought that I had a good chance with Sora. Maybe he is a player, and doesn't even realize it.' Matt wondered if he could have been able to make a harem if he had tried hard enough.

Matt then looked down at Sora, who was taking a break from their previous dance. She was really tired of tired and thought that maybe they had gone a little over kill at the dance. She could tell that Matt got her message. That she wasn't in the 'I'm done mindset' as much as the 'Holy shit I need to relax for a damn song or two' mind set.

Despite the fact that Matt did mostly enjoy the dancing and wished that they could have kept up with it, he knew he should not even be daring to try and get her to do something that he knew she was not wanting to do. That was going to be a recipe for disaster. Getting other women to do something that they don't want to do. It was something he figured out very easily when he was seeing how his parents had interacted and how his mother would feel if she was being forced to do something his father wanted to do, but not her.

So Matt was thinking that for his own personal sake, he was just going to let her have the next song or two still off. Once the song or two were done with, then maybe he would feel like he could be able to ask her to another dance without her feeling like he was just sort of using her for his own benefit. Which he really did not want her to think. No matter what the case was. He would rather have her just outright reject him over her saying yes and only pretending like she had enjoyed his company.

But there was just something about her this time. Something that made him feel like he really wanted to earn her respect and her trust. He felt like he wanted to actually make her feel welcome and better when she was around him. He wanted to date her. He wanted to pursue something with her. Yes, she was a bit younger than him, and that can be a bit of an alarm. But he knew that once their parents got over the age thing, they surely would have to support them. They surely would have to see that he was really giving it his best effort. If they saw that, then there was no way that they were not going to be able to support him in his pursuits.

But first he needed to really know if she was actually into him or not. First he felt like he needed to see if she actually did care about him in that way. Hell, if she even care about him at all. It was a terrible thought. It was a thought he never wanted to have. But when he was around her, even if he didn't dare have it with anybody else, he was now finding himself having it with her.

Matt caught himself deep in a thought set of 'Is this what it is like for somebody that you care about come into your life? Is this what it is like to meet somebody who you will want to be with and make them feel loved? I feel much too young to be having these feelings. But here I am right here and right now. I am having these feelings on the spot. I am starting to think that Sora has really started to do things in for me.' After he thought that, he looked at Joe and saw that he and Amy were now out of that mindset of dancing to nothing really. 'I wonder if Joe and Amy are the case of two people like this. People who actually have liked each other enough to where they would work together.'

It wasn't until long before Matt realized that it had indeed now been a couple of songs and that he felt like he would be able to ask her to one more song. Besides, he looked up and saw the time. There was almost no time left. He held out his hand and looked down at Sora.

"Just one more song? I won't ask you for anymore if you just give me one more song." Matt said and then after he had said that, Sora thought on it and decided that one single song wouldn't really be that bad. So she grabbed his hand and they got ready for her last song of the night.

As Sora was reluctantly doing the dancing that night, she was sort of wishing that there had been a general increase of respect that was being held to her. But she felt like that Matt really did mean nothing too bad about. He was just excited to do a dance, and he wanted to express his excitement to dance with her. He knew that he thought she was a pretty special woman, and that fact alone did make her think that it wouldn't be so bad to go along with this in all reality. Besides, once she was actually doing the dancing, and she wasn't thinking about her lack of desire to do the dance, she was catching herself actually enjoying it a bit. She was catching herself thinking that she had been a bit too harsh on him this whole time and that she needed to have been more open about this right from the start.

She was thinking about what it was like to be with a person that pretended like they weren't caring like Matt but in reality he was actually a very nice guy. The person that he was talking with would just have to break into that mold a little bit. They were just needing to make him understand that he didn't need to put on such a tough exterior the whole time. In all reality, Matt was just a guy with his own problem and his own insecurities. Even if he had no desire to admit to that being the truth. Besides, she could tell that Matt was one of those people who needed to just be opened to and when you opened up with him, and he opened up with you, then it was like he was wondering why he kept all of these things to himself the entire time in the first place.

Matt was placing his head on her shoulder and then he was smiling as he was taking in the entire moment. He was thinking about what it wold be like for Sora to know the feelings he was starting to grow with her in just the matter of mere moments.

Sora was able to start to sort of pick it up a bit. 'I think he just thinks that he can feel safe when he is around me. He feels like I am able to provide him a sense of warmth. I don't know what I did to make him feel that way. Maybe he just needed somebody to make him feel like he wasn't all that bad of a guy. Maybe he is having some memories coming back to him. I don't know what it is. Maybe I shouldn't really care. He is a nice guy when he is letting his guard down anyways.'

At the end of the song, Matt was looking right up at Sora again and he was thinking about what he was going to be presented with. He was thinking about giving her a kiss. Then he was thinking about if she had wanted one at all. He was thinking that she might reject him if he tried to give her one. It scared him that she would be like this during a dance but not more open afterwards. But he was getting to the point where he was not taking out any idea.

"Sora, how would you feel about seeing me again after prom? You know, maybe going on a date or something?" Matt asked, thinking that she might not want to be romantic with him at that moment. But that she might still be willing to give him a chance soon enough. He was just really hoping that she would be willing to give him a chance soon enough. Sora nodded, and she was actually catching herself thinking that this was a good idea. She was catching herself wondering when they would see each other again. When he would be able to rack up the courage to see her again in a romantic light as they were able to that night.

It really was just as simple as that. He had to just simply talk to her. Then have a dance with her. Then just ask her on a date. Matt had no idea why he had a hard time with her in particular. Any other girl he could have and did have a very easy time with. t was only really with her that he was catching himself slowly unsure of himself. But he was rebounding himself from the whole silly moment and he was now at that point where he had felt like there was no need for him to be so worried anymore.

As the two talked for a while, there was Joe and Amy. He was thinking that for the whole situation he was in, he gave it a pretty decent run. But he was also thinking to himself that maybe he would not really want to get something super long term with this. He was thinking that he just needed to be appreciative of the fact that he went anywhere with her at all. That he didn't really need to try and make this go any deeper. He was thinking to himself that he was going to allow her to make the move if she had wanted. If she did, then he would be on the ready. But if not, then he was just going to turn the other way and just assume that it was meant to just be a one night 'love' that they had between the two of them and that it wasn't really meant to go anywhere else beyond just that.

Amy did also catch herself in the mind set of it all. 'He's so cute. God, it's strange using that word with a guy only a year younger than me. But he is also a dork. I don't think that I can survive with a dork as my boyfriend. There is also Andrew. I think even with Joe proving himself to being a decent guy, I would still want to go out with Andrew more. But I think one kiss in the cheek might be good enough for Joe.'

So with that, Amy gave him the kiss in the cheek and Joe smiled as if the entire date was totally worth it for that kiss in the cheek. That nothing else mattered. He didn't even need to bother thinking about if he should have gone here or not or anything like that. He should have gone here just for that short moment.

Eventually, the dance ended and Joe went back to his house thinking about what had happened. Amy caught herself thinking about it one final time and thinking that if Joe was still single by the time she graduated high school, and if Amy was still single by then, she would ask him. So while she preferred Andrew, she liked Joe enough to give him one of those 'if we're still single by this age' deals to herself.

Sora was thinking about what Matt would be like at the date that they were going to have. She thought that Matt was going to probably be all smooth and totally over the worried boy mentality that he was showing. That he just needed to cross the first hurdle and now that he had done so, he was going to be a great guy to go out with. Matt was thinking that he was just wanting to get this Sora thing over with so he can go back to his irremorseful womanizer ways. Which he was much more used to by that point instead of the unsure guy he caught himself as when he was talking with Sora.

Joe eventually reached his house, and he went right to his room where he took off the tie and flopped on his bed. Despite the prom going decently well, he was fucking fatigued. He needed the sleep more than anything else. He needed the nice peaceful feeling that only your bed could give.

It was only really after this when the flashback that Joe had about his prom started to fade away. He looked down and smiled. He thought that if he could survive prom night, he could survive this date that he had with Aurora. He was catching himself in one more shorter train of thought on that whole night to give him a confidence booster.

'Besides, if Amy was able to see the good in me, and I had no experience by that point, then Aurora must see the good in me with having the experience of that one night with Amy. The second time can't be even half as hard as the first time, can it?' Joe was then thinking that he was going to have this very well taken care of. That he was going own the fucking game without any problems at all. "Go get her tiger." Joe was telling himself as he was seeing as Jim was in the hallway and thought about one final talk about advice before he went.

So he walked out of the room and he was looking as Jim was getting ready for work again. "Hey Jim, I know you are really busy and everything right now. I know that I am probably going to be very distracting, but can you give me just a few minutes of your time?" Joe asked and then Jim looked over. Despite how annoyed that Jim initially was over Joe getting in his business, when he looked and saw that Joe was in a dating suit and was actually dressed up very cleanly, Jim thought that Joe was doing something he must have just totally forgot about and that Joe really did need his help right now to make himself more presentable.

As Jim considered it for a couple of seconds longer he thought 'I think that Joe is actually kind of moving up in the world. I mean, two dates in a couple of months. I think he just needed to sort of get out of his nest a little bit. At least so to speak. I will see what I can do to help him out.' Then with that, Jim walked inside of Joe's room to see what exactly he would be able to do to actually help his younger brother out once more.

"I was just thinking that I won't really hit the home run with Aurora tonight. After all, this is like one of my first times getting this deep in the dating scene. I mean, I just wanted to vent about my worries a little bit. Maybe get some advice from you. Stuff like that. I hope that you don't mind..." Joe said and while Jim wasn't super fond of the venting idea, he was certainly a fan of the advice thing. Anything to make his younger brother get better at this stuff than he was at that age would be something he would be very much willing to do.

"So Joe, what exactly were you wanting to vent about?" Jim asked, hoping that this would be the easy part to get over and that Joe didn't really have like a hundred things that he wanted to talk about. After all Joe was right. He did need to be at least relatively on top of his schedule in that moment. He didn't think that he needed to go right away. But anything beyond maybe five or ten more minutes really would have been pushing it a little bit too far. Fifteen if he was really playing with his fate. But that would have been his absolute cap. Anything beyond that he would have actually told Joe he needed to stop and just leave on the idea that he could make this work.

"Well, I was just thinking about how before even just a couple of months ago, I was having no fucking luck at any of the stuff when it came to the dating scene. I was thinking about how nobody likes me. How I was just terrible. Then I saw Amy at the prom. She talked with me. I started to think that she was somebody who would care about my own personal thoughts and feelings. It turns out I was pretty much right. I didn't really have all that much to worry about when I was around her. But you know, I was thinking that she might have been doing this just to make me feel better. Now that more time has passed, the less I feel that way. The more I feel like she did actually care about my personal sake. Now here I am about to have a date with Aurora. Now I am wondering how I went from being like this to being a guy who just needs to say something and can get somebody to like him relatively easily. I just don't fucking get it." Joe knew that while Jim wasn't in love with swearing all that much, he wasn't so opposed to it that he felt the need to call Joe out on it.

"I just wonder honestly to myself, and in general... If it was so easy to do this right from the start, then what had me scared this whole time? Why couldn't I have been more out there. I did it with no real trouble with Amy. And if Aurora goes well, then that will be a second person who was at least decently willing to accept me." Joe said, and then he took a long and deep breath.

"I think that people just have that fear. When they get over the fear, and they start to just take the bull by the horns, it is not hard. It sure as hell was not hard for me at all when I started to get into it. I was starting to just pound out a relationship every few months at the most, and every few weeks when I was lucky. I was starting to be the womanizer at my grade when at first I was nowhere even close to it. I unlocked my inner beast you could say." Jim said and then Joe laughed a little bit.

'So I just started to unlock my inner beast. Is it really that simple?' Joe was just wondering if there was more to it than that.

"This family has got a lot of talent. They just need to decide that they want to pursue the talent. That they want to pursue the goals that they have. Once they do, it is something that we will just be unstoppable to go for." Jim said and he was fully meaning it this time. Not even as a joke.

"So Jim, when I go out there and I go on that date with Aurora, do you think that my inner beast will have been released or do you think that I need to work a bit harder on it?" Joe asked and then Jim shrugged as if he was not really all that sure. And it was true, he was not really too certain.

"If it hasn't been released yet, it is certainly getting there. You have at least started to play with the lock, and it looks like that if it hasn't run out, they are at least excited and waiting for the pouncing time." Jim said as Joe was starting to feel a lot better. He was now starting to think that he could take on anybody if he tried hard enough. It was a bold feeling he got at that moment. But he was just in the mood.

"I think this is going to be a good turning point. I think I got the whole idea under my fucking belt. I think I even have the fucking tools. I think I am going to win at this date. I will show all those people who made fun of me and thought I would go nowhere that I am not to be messed with. I have a real ambition, and I am going to pursue that ambition all the way through." Joe said and the level of confidence he was having was a combination of something Jim was proud of but also felt like he needed to dile it back just a little bit to avoid any real heart break problems or anything in case Joe started to falter and lose his way. Not that being bad at a relationship goal was really 'losing his way' per se but he didn't want to make Joe just get unconfident was all.

"Well just remember to be a bit realistic about this whole thing. Don't get too carried away. If you think you got it under control, then that is great." Jim said and then Joe nodded. He appreciated his brother. But it was time for the other part of the discussion.

"Well, since we are here, and I was bringing it up earlier, would you be willing to give me a couple of pieces of advice? You know, just at the date stuff to make sure I follow or don't do. Simple stuff like that. I think that I can work my way mostly from there once I get a bit of a ground work to start with." Joe said and this time he was thinking he was right. But there was still a level of uncertainty to him that made him ask these questions in the first place.

Joe was considering the questions to ask. 'I don't want to come off as too head strong. You know, maybe enough to show where I don't want to be fucked with and that I mean business. But not to the point where I think I am just being a massive fucking dick. I need to come up with a sort of middle ground that I think Aurora can appreciate. Maybe even love in a strange way.'


	44. Davis's Revelations

All in all, Davis was just mostly annoyed as hell over everything that is going on. He was just tired of these fights. He was just tired of the way that he had to be dealing with all of the problems of making sure that his friends were going to be safe. He had just sort of wished that only he had to be dealing with Jeff. If only he was dealing with Jeff, then perhaps he would have been able to actually make the others feel safe. Everybody else was outside and leaving him alone and as he was left alone for even a short moment, Davis was smoking a quick cigarette. As he was smoking the cigarette, he flicked it right down to the ground when it was finished and then he was staring back at the others.

'If I can make it so that the others are safe, and that they won't be in any right away risk by just going out there and pursuing Jeff with me, then I can finally do things once and for all. I am getting so fucking sick and tired of these fights. I want to destroy Jeff and get this whole fucking thing over with.' Davis was thinking and then after he had this thought in his mind, he was thinking that this was going to be his way of actually doing good for the town. So he smiled and he got right inside of his car not wanting to have them tell him not to do this and then he started the car and began to drive off.

As he was driving off, he was catching himself thinking for a little bit. 'God fucking damn it, I just wished that the people I was hanging with would have respected my wishes sooner. Now they will be thinking that I am some form of asshole just because I decided to leave them behind because I felt like I needed to do something good with my life. If they get mad at me, then they are the ones who have the problem.'

The more he drove, the more he was wondering where Jeff really was going to be. He just had no real idea where the hell Jeff was. But then as he was thinking, he was coming to the idea that maybe Jeff was going to be at some form of really basic hidden location. Probably down at the skate park, and then after Davis thought that there was a chance that Jeff was at the skate park, Davis started to drive right in that direction.

He drove a for a couple of minutes. The main reason he thought that Jeff was going to be there was because of the fact that he had assumed that since Jeff had liked skating, from what he had heard, that maybe there was him trying to capture some form of former innocence again. Some part of his life that was still normal and like what it had actually used to be. Jeff was probably thinking about where life had gone wrong.

Davis almost started to feel bad for Jeff. He was almost thinking that Jeff was forced into this. That Jeff was forced to do something that he didn't want to do. Davis was thinking that maybe there was just something that tipped Jeff on the wrong way. Something that he should have at least considered. Davis felt bad for hating Jeff so much. For thinking that he needed to kill Jeff. But at the same time, he was just worried that Jeff was going to kill them if he didn't. That was the main reason why he was trying so hard to stop him. 'I mean, besides, Jeff is probably going to be in a better spot for himself when he is dead. Never having to deal with the pain that he has gone through. Or the terrible things that have been done to him. Even done to him by us. I almost feel bad. But I don't fully feel that way. Just almost is all.'

Davis was wondering if perhaps he was going to be able to actually get to see the full side of Jeff. If he was able to actually see where Jeff was coming from, then once Jeff was dead, then he might be able to start to avenge Jeff. He is not going to safe Jeff, as he feels like Jeff might be too far gone to be saved fully. But at the same time, just seeing the truth and then going from there could have at least helped out his understanding of the situation.

'God damn it Davis, why are you thinking about Jeff and actually avenging him. He has done nothing and he has been through nothing that would be worthy of being avenged. That is fucking stupid. What would make me feel bad for him at all.' Davis was wanting to beat himself up for this. But at the same time, he wouldn't hate himself for just wanting to at least feel human.

The more that he was driving, the more that he felt like he was going to be able to get a natural perspective on life. The more that he was able to start to get a perspective on life, then the more that he was going to just adopt life styles. He was just going to go along with this and he was just going to actually respect the fact that he was being mature.

Davis was thinking that he just needed to have an objective view on life. When he was going to grow a more objective view on life, then he was going to see everything of all of the different sides of life. So he was not going to worry about it all that much. When he was done with all of this stuff, then he was going to go back to his normal life and then he was just going to try and move on from Kimberly, and then be with his self improving stage of everything.

Eventually, he got of his car and he was now in the skating park. When he was in the skating park, he looked around and he was waiting for Jeff to show up. He was starting to see that Jeff was probably not going to show up at all. He had waited for about five minutes before he had made that conclusion. Davis was taking out his cigarette and then as he was smoking the cigarette, he was relaxed as all hell. He wondered how cool it might have been if he got into skating. He saw that T.K. was really into the whole thing, and then he thought that maybe given how T.K. was so into it that maybe he should have given the skating life a bit of a chance and not really brush it off as much as he had before this point. He was just really bad at skating, and that every time he was getting ready to start skating, he was falling over and losing balance like a total dumbass every single time he did it.

But before he was given too much of a chance to be thinking of all of these on a bunch or repetitions, he was then seeing somebody coming on towards him. Davis thought that this was going to be Jeff and then he started to get much more focused, getting in the mindset that he had needed to be in this entire time that he was waiting but was too undedicated to get himself into.

Davis stood up the closer that the guy was getting, and with each progressing step, Davis was getting more and more convinced that this man was Jeff. He was going to take down this guy. He wanted this guy to die. And when he died, then he felt like he would have sadly done something good in his life.

'Why would I want to feel bad for him? He fucking killed Kimberly and over thirty, maybe even forty other people. He deserves no sadness at all. he deserves nobody to actually feel bad for him. I fucking hate myself for the fact that I actually felt like I was sorry for him for even a moment. Kimberly would not fucking approve of my feeling this way.'

As Davis was reminding himself of Kimberly once again, he lost any form of sympathy that he had with Jeff. He killed his fucking girlfriend. Every time he felt like Jeff needed to be given a second chance, he just needed to remind himself of Kimberly and any form of idea of giving him a second chance was gone. Soon enough, he saw that Jeff was now in the skating park. If for some reason, Jeff wanted a conversation, and if he wanted to actually make Davis understand him a bit, he was going to pretend to be supportive and he was just going to pretend to act like he was listening. But after that, once he was done, he was going to release all hell on this guy.

"You seem to be different from the others. You seem like you aren't going to fight me." Jeff said when he was looking right at Davis. Jeff was wrong about that idea, and there was no way that he was going to be able to change that idea. But Davis was still forcing himself to be willing to actually give Jeff a chance before he did anything to Jeff. Davis was forcing his fists to be balled to the point in which he couldn't do anything else besides punching him. But the more that he was waiting and standing there, the more that the anger he was having was building up.

"You seem like you are willing to actually give me a chance to talk. That you are wanting to almost even listen to me. I don't know. I just don't get it." Jeff said and then after he had said that to Davis, that was when he was wanting Jeff to get right to the point. He really was losing a lot of patience that he was having with this guy, and with each annoying dialogue dump he was giving Davis, the more annoyed that he was getting. The more he wanted to fucking pounce this guy.

"Just shut the fuck up and start talking about what you want to tell me. The more that you do this, the less likely I am to actually listen to what you want to say. I really want to bash in your fucking head for what you did to my girlfriend. I am giving you one more chance. I am going to let you talk and I want you to get it out as soon as possible." Davis said and then Jeff was wondering how much he had really messed up his calculations. He thought that maybe he had misjudged Davis again. Just as he had misjudged every other person in the entire group.

"Your girlfriend was not something I was thinking about. I was just in over my head. I thought that it was just an urge of fun. I needed to do it. I hope that you can be willing to forgive me for what I did to her. I mean, she was going to die anyways." Jeff said and then Davis released a punch right on Jeff's face and then he saw Jeff cover his face a bit. What little bit there even was left of the face.

"I never want to hear you use that excuse ever again. That is the worst excuse you could have possibly made for that terrible crime that you made. If you ever say something like that again, I will fucking punch you again and I will do it even harder. I don't care if she was going to die anyway. She was going to have several decades ahead of you." Davis said and he waited for Jeff to continue talking and he was losing all patience.

"If you don't kill Jimmy White then I will just be as much the victim as everybody else. I know you have been told this before, but he is just as bad, maybe even worse than me. I am not nearly all that bad of a guy compared to Jimmy White. Please do not over look him. he has been running everything here. I want to take him down. I just want you to help me take him down. Please, if you can do that, and I will probably die on the way, then I can die with peace. I refuse to die until he is gone. I will not give up until I know that man in destroyed." Jeff said and he was holding his hand up again. Davis was annoyed, but literally every single time he heard Jimmy White's name he was catching himself starting yo think that maybe his priorities were in the wrong fucking place. He didn't really want to admit that his priorities were off, given the killer of his girlfriend, but it was still hard to think otherwise no matter how hard he tried to think otherwise. He just wished Jimmy White never existed. So that way it would have been more black and white than it actually was. Jeff would be evil. Davis would be good. Then it would be over with then either way.

"I will take care of Jimmy. But you are the one that I hate more. I am going to destroy him after I kill you. No matter what you may say, you do not deserve to live even another minute. You may be the lesser of two evils. But that is a low ass bar." Davis said and Jeff just remained silent.

As Jeff was remaining silent, Davis was ready to try and bash his head in. But then afterwards, Davis was keeping himself contained. "Besides what is so bad about Jimmy White?"

"You seem like you have been paying even less attention than everybody else. You should have thought about this more. You should have noticed this even more than them. I thought that you would have seen it. But if you can't, and you can't see how he was able to mend me to be this level, then you are the one who had been wronged time and time again." Jeff said and then Davis was turning away, not wanting to even look at him. Not even wanting to beat him up anymore.

"I can't even think of looking at you anymore. If I look at you, I will be looking at a god damn fucking disgrace. You are one of the worst people that I have ever met. There is no way around that. I wished that you were never even born. And I wish that you would stop making excuses for yourself, because quite honestly you have no leg to stand on at all." Davis was not even planning to hold back anymore with his dialogue to this guy.

"I know that you don't really care about what I have to tell you at all. I don't even really think I will be close to getting you to actually care about what I am going to say. But at this rate, I don't really even care. I just feel the need to talk to you. I feel the need to at least try and present my case. But if you don't want to listen, then can we at least work together for like one day? One day where we can work together to destroy Jimmy White? Can you at least give me this?" Jeff asked and then after they had asked Davis this, he was watching as the guy was just looking right at him. Davis seemed like he was not entirely into the idea.

"I don't want to work with you. I have a feeling that you are going to blind side me and then betray me because it will be better for you. I have a feeling that you do not care at all about any agreement that you make with people. So I have no idea why I should even care what you think." Davis said and he was watching as Jeff remained silent.

The silence that Jeff was giving Jeff was one hundred percent absolute. He didn't need to think. 'Of course, even on the times when I do try and talk some sense into him, he is acting like he is smarter and better than me. He can really just fuck himself. I fucking hate him' Davis then was ready to just stomp his head in. But he was containing himself. As bad as Jeff was and as much as Davis wanted to kill him, he did know that Jeff was defenseless and no matter how bad Jeff was, in the eyes of the law, Davis would be the one who was looked at as pure evil in this case. He did not want to deal with that. Knowing that he did not want to deal with this, he just looked away and was thinking about how he was going to defeat Jeff later.

"Please, just give me one chance to prove myself. I promise that when we work together, we will defeat Jimmy White. We just need to work together. I believe that you will be the only one who might do this with me." Jeff said and then Davis was hating this.

This entire debate was killing him. 'But Kimberly fell to this guy. But he seems to be sure on this Jimmy White thing. I think that a short term alliance may not be all that bad. But once Jimmy is gone, I will fucking kill him and then make him want every second of his death.' Davis then thought that this can be a way to use Jeff in his favor for a moment and then he thought that now that he was winning, he would do this.

After Davis was thinking that he was going to be the one who would benefit out of this the most, he was totally ready to use Jeff to any extent that he would have to in order to be the one who was going to come out as the winner. "I don't like this. Like at all, but I think that maybe I should accept your offer. But once Jimmy White is gone, I am going to kill you. Don't think that this is going to change anything at all." Davis said and then he added in a short comment that was also to help make his point get across even more. "And I do not want you to listen to anybody else besides me. I am the one who is going to call the shots here."

Davis knew that this guy was going to betray him at some point. 'Doesn't matter, I am going to kill him anyways. Just when I am get betrayed since he thinks that he is smarter than me, then I will just kill him then and get it over with. No matter what happens, I will be the one who is going to come out as the winner here.'

Jeff was smiling at him and Davis could tell from the way that he was smiling that Davis felt like he was just going to be used and killed off. At least this was what Jeff assumed. Jeff was just hungry for more death. He was trying to lead Davis into a level of false security. Then once Davis was letting his guard down, maybe even showing that he was thinking that Jeff wasn't as bad as they have been thinking, then he was going to strike at Davis and kill him. Then he was going to go after Jimmy White. Both of them had a plan to take out the other one, and both of them were thinking that they had out thought the other one by a considerable margin.

Davis was getting inside of his car and he was just watching as Jeff was slowly coming on over. Davis was really tempted to just go on and run the guy over. In fact, for several moments, he was actually thinking about just doing that. Then after he considered it for a moment, Davis decided against it and then he was thinking that maybe Jeff was able to use his killer tendencies to release it on Jimmy White, which maybe could have been the one thing that would have been going in his favor in the long run.

Jeff eventually got inside of the car and then they were at the back seat and they were laying down a bit. Davis watched Jeff for a second or two and Davis grabbed the knife out of his hand and threw it at the front of the car, knowing that he was not going to trust Jeff for even a second, even during this shaky alliance that both of them knew was not really an alliance and just something for both of them to gain something.

Davis was driving and he was not even going to consider the idea of trying to have any sort of conversation with this guy. Jeff does not really deserve to have a conversation with him. 'Besides, I have a feeling that if I did try and talk to them, they would probably try and make themselves come off as the victim here. I am not going to let that shit happen. I am not going to let them actually act like they were the ones who had it rough. People have faced many problems before, but they do not deserve to use that as an excuse to fucking kill people. They should not even remotely comprehend the idea of using this as a proper excuse to kill people.' Davis was thinking the entire time that he was driving, and then he was just slowly driving on his way over to where Jimmy was as he was having yet again another smoke. He was wanting to have something to calm him down before the big battle he was thinking was going to be coming up.

Jeff was just watching from behind, waiting for any moment when it seemed like Davis was just letting his guard down in general. Despite the fact that he was clearly focused on driving, it was something that Jeff noticed that Davis was looking at the mirror with the edge of one eye just to make sure that Jeff didn't try and pull any moves on the guy. Davis was ready for any attack coming up, and there was nothing that he was going to let slide.

Jeff was thinking, or trying their best to given the pain that they were in. 'I don't know how he is able to focus this much. I have never met a person in my life that has been so focused. I think that he probably assumes that I am nowhere even close to the worst thing that he has faced, and that at worse I am just an annoyance. But he is still onto the whole Kimberly thing. He really has got to let that shit go. He has been on that for so long already. When all of the people I cared about died, I never once thought beyond it for even a moment. Not that it really mattered, since I was the one that had killed them.'

Jeff was salivating in the reminder of his first kills. He really did enjoy those kills in hindsight. They broke him at the time, but compared to how broken he was now, and how much he was feeling like he was on the last verge of life with his body parts missing, he was thinking that his breaking back then was nothing.

But no matter how many times he was getting in the idea that he had really enjoyed this whole thing, he was always thinking about what things would have been like if he was not turned into this. If he had been able to live at least some form of a normal life. Something he knew that was just never going to happen. It couldn't happen, even if he had wanted it to happen. He was going to die soon. No matter what he thought of anything else, he had a feeling that this was just the reality that he was going to have to accept.

Eventually, Davis was getting close to where Jimmy's office was. Davis was having a face that was giving off the idea that he was not really to be fucked with. That this was going to be strictly business. That he was going to go in there and take down Jimmy White and all of his men, then afterwards when this was over, he was going to take care of Jeff. He was wanting this to be over with in the matter of just a few minutes.

Davis was looking right at Jeff. "Do not think that this is going to be any form of a redemption story. If you think that this is a redemption story, then you better get yourself off of that mindset. But right now, I think that there might be more to this than either one of us think. I think that even if we didn't want to, that we are going to be forced to work together." Davis said as he was looking around and he had seen that it looked like there was about twenty or thirty cars around them. Each of them looking like they had housed four people in them. Davis was actually scared now. Jeff didn't scare him all that much. But this was scaring him. The realization that they were going to be dealing with more than just fucking Jimmy.

Davis got out of the car and then Jeff slowly got himself out of the car and he fell down onto the ground. Davis was seeing that the stuff that happened to him was already killing him. In all reality, he didn't need to kill Jeff. In all reality, Jeff was going to die soon. Matt did actually have a short millisecond of pity as he was looking down upon Jeff. But that millisecond of pity was gone when he saw that Jeff was getting back up.

As Davis was looking around, he saw the knife in the car still. Davis thought that he was making a massive mistake by giving him this knife. But he grabbed it and then handed it to Jeff.

Jeff was holding onto the knife and then Davis saw that Jeff was barely even holding onto it. Davis was wondering if it was even worth bringing him along. But then Davis shook his head and then he was walking right to the office. Jeff was behind him, although the difference increased by a small amount the more that they were walking there. Once Davis was at the front of the building, he had to wait for about ten to twenty seconds for Jeff to show up. When he was waiting, he took out another cigarette and smoked it for a while. Then when Jeff was next to him, the cigarette was already mostly gone, since he was an extremely fast smoker. So he just finished it, and then threw it on the ground and stomped on it for a bit.

Afterwards, Davis was ready to take on the guy. He looked inside of his pockets and saw that there was still his gun in there. But then he saw that there were no bullets left in there. He threw it right on the ground and was actually really pissed at this. "Well, I think you are going to get the first kill." Davis told Jeff, and there was a slight bit of playful contest that he was having with the tone. But at the same time, he was telling himself not to really focus all that much on having a playful interaction with Jeff, and he was getting over it quickly.

But the way that Jeff was looking at him, Davis could tell that Jeff was not really even all that certain that they could take on the first kill. Davis was thinking that if Jeff couldn't do it, then he really was going to be fucked. Davis was wondering what was even the point of bringing this guy along if he couldn't even do anything. But then he just opened the door and he was ready to take on the people inside, no matter what the whole thing was really going to entail.

Davis was just inside and at first it had looked like he was not really doing anything. In fact, he was just giving himself the confused face as if to show that he no idea what he was doing. The way that he was presenting himself made the people around him just not even look at him and get right back to their work.

Jeff walked up to the guy who was right next to the front door of the office and then he placed his hand on their mouth and then slit their throat open. He had dragged the person away just enough to where it had looked like nobody else was actually seeing what he was doing. Then afterwards, Jeff grabbed the gun that was on him and then Davis slowly walked up to it and then placed the gun in his pocket. He saw that there was one full round of ammunition. Then he was thinking about just grabbing the bullets of the other ones when they were gone.

Davis was just looking around a bit and he was wondering if he was going to be able to do a good enough job at this to where he didn't even have to kill a single person in the building outside of the sort of mandatory one that Jeff took care of, which was only because he had felt like he needed to have something in order to defend himself with. Davis thought he was just going to go back to the office of Jimmy and just try and talk some sense into the guy.

As Davis was walking towards Jimmy's office, he was seeing that everybody who was working here was just looking at their look. Either they didn't notice Davis was there, or they didn't care, or even worse they were told not to attack them because there was something that Jimmy had planned with them and that they were supposed to wait before that plan would really be able to go into full enactment.

Jeff was just a bit behind him. Every once in a while, somebody would steal a glance at Jeff, just to see what it was like to have somebody this fucking broken walk around. In fact, they just plain and simply thought that it was fucking disgusting. Davis was thinking that he seriously made a huge fucking mistake bringing this guy along, and the more that this was happening, the more that he wanted to just take Jeff out himself just to make the job much easier.

Davis was getting closer and closer to the door, and with each step, his fears were growing. 'They must be knowing what I am doing. This must be a part of a giant scheme. God damn it, why am I just too stupid to be seeing through the whole thing. I just wish that I was never here. I wish that Kimberly never died. If Kimberly had just simply survived, then none of this would have been a thing at all. Now here I am, fighting for my life and even the smallest amount of chances in order to actually survive here. To actually move on with my life. God I really fucking hate Jeff. I really want to kill him so badly that no words can even describe how much I fucking want him dead.'

Eventually, Davis reached Jimmy's room and then he opened it. He saw that Jimmy was sitting down in there. He was smiling as he was watching Davis and eventually Jeff get inside of the room. As if this was all planned out. The more that he was watching this guy, the more that he was letting the fear that this was all one big scripted event get to him even more. He knew that this was pretty much going to be his only chance to turn anything around in his favor.

Davis and Jeff got inside of the room and Davis was sitting down. He looked around and saw that there was the red haired guy, the guy who looked a lot like Jeff now that Davis was thinking about it and had the two visual comparisons going for him, and then afterwards, he saw that there was one single guy dressed in black looking at him with glasses being worn. Davis was scared about the third one was doing. He could have sworn he knew who this third guy was the whole time. But Jimmy didn't even give him chance to speak as he was starting to get right into the conversation.

"Young man, I knew that you were wanting to see me eventually. You do a really bad job hiding your intentions. Jeff was really easy to see through. Plus when you have him with me, then everything just works out like fine fucking math." Jimmy White said and he was pointing towards the guy who looked like Jeff. Davis was placing his elbows on the table and he was just staring right at Jimmy as if telling him to get right to the fucking point and to not waste his fucking time. "I can tell that you are pretty pro business right now. I like that about you. Doesn't bullshit around."

"I have no wish to be playing with you. I want to know everything about your business. I need to know what Jeff really hates about you so much." Davis said and then Jimmy laughed a little bit as if thinking that this was a good joke. He placed his hands forward and then he was wondering how he was going to word it in a way to where Davis would understand him, maybe even almost side with him.

"I think that you just need to understand that Jeff was the one who started this all. I was trying to be nice to him. Really I was. I didn't feel the desire to make his life any worse. But he thought that I was a problem. He didn't like me. He didn't really see the value of my job. I feel a little bit hurt. I wanted to help him so much. I wanted to make him feel welcome. But he doesn't like my service, and I think that he deserves to die. But seeing how he is right now, I think he will soon." Jimmy said and he was looking at the guy who looked a little like Jeff. In fact, the guy seemed to be looking like he was actually agreeing with this whole thing.

"You know, maybe you should have had a better presentation. Do you think that maybe all of this was your fault the whole time? Have you ever even considered that nobody likes you because you are a fucking freak?" Davis let the words escape him before he even had a second to think them all out.

"Oh fuck off young man. I am your fucking mayor. You do not get to talk to me like that. I would punish you if I were your parent. But I am not your parent. So I can just make you hurt a bit." Jimmy snapped his finger as the guy with the red hair bashed his head right into the table once and Davis actually felt his head ringing.

"How are you still mayor when you do these types of things on a daily basis? How do people think it is alright for you to be leading this city?" Davis asked, and he was asking in a way that showed he was clearly just not fucking understanding it. He didn't even care if he was going to get more anger from Jimmy out on him. He felt like he just needed to understand how a man can be filled with so much hate. How a man could try and justify this at all. How a man could think that it was alright for him to treat the town like this. he hated the fact that this was his mayor. He wanted to show the entire town that this mayor was a fraud. Even if it had meant that he himself was going to get killed as a result of this. But in the end, he just didn't really care. he felt like Jimmy White was just like what Jeff had said the more that he talked to the guy and let him actually show his real views in life. His real hatred towards everything. But at the same time, he felt like this was just a bit of a lost cause, and that he just needed to accept the fact that nothing he can do would change this. But he wanted to still try. He wanted to still put in a real effort.

The entire time that this was happening, he was watching Jeff look like he was about to die from some form of body loss. Jeff felt like this was going to be the death of him, and that he didn't even get to go down fighting. he was thinking that this would be a terrible death. Davis was wondering if he could help Jeff stay alive even just one or two more hours for this operation to happen.

In a way, Davis felt bad that he was just caring for Jeff's safety in order for him to just use the man. But in all reality, he didn't even care all that much. He felt like Jeff was just a tool. Nothing more, and sure as hell nothing less. But then he was thinking about what it was like to watch a person be this week. Be this frail to everything going on. Then as he was thinking this, he was thinking to himself that maybe this was actually wrong of him to be doing this.

Then after he was starting to think, even starting to almost feel for the young man, he was telling himself to get out of that mindset. He was telling himself not to be thinking like this. He was telling himself that having this level of compassion was the only thing that was going to make him week to Jeff. Something he knew he could not have.

Davis was just looking right at Jimmy White once again, telling himself to focus on the man who had ruined every single thing for him in the world. "So Jimmy, do you even fucking care that one of the people in your city, my fucking girlfriend Kimberly, had died because of this guy right here? Because he felt like killing was a sport? Do you even care that you are such a terrible human being that I am forcing myself to work for him just on the off chance that he might be telling the truth about how awful you really are? Do you even fucking care?"

As Davis was asking Jimmy this, there was a level of silence and discomfort on every single level in the room. Davis knew he had hit a situation where nobody was going to come out as the winner. But then he was looking right at Jimmy again and he felt like he was going to be a little bit more aggressive with him this time. That he was going to find a way to make this guy realize his own mistakes. Make him realize that he was not really the most powerful man in the city after all.

"You know Davis, I have many people that I watch over. There is no fucking way in hell that I can keep on track of every single one of them. You must surely realize this. Even fucking you must understand. I thought that you would have been able to realize this. I thought that despite the fact that you have no common sense at all, that you would be able to see the truth for yourself." Jimmy White said and then Davis was getting himself ready for yet another head bashing. He felt like it was coming right up at any second now.

"Maybe you should have thought about this fucking stuff before you became mayor of the city. Maybe you should have thought that there was a chance that you would not be able to help anybody out here. Have you ever thought that maybe that if you had helped out more, then you would be one of the best mayors in Wayside? Have you ever thought that it was better to just be open with people and not use them as your own slaves?" Davis was getting closer to breaking this guy, and he knew that sooner or later, he was going to come out of this as the winner. And then when he did, he was going to be the one who would be on top of Jimmy White. He would be the one who would be having Jimmy White be begging for him to leave him alone.

Jimmy White was just looking at Davis, as if wondering how much longer Davis was going to keep this charade up. In fact, he was honestly kind of thinking that it was getting old. It was funny seeing Davis like this the first few times. Now he was thinking that it was kind of starting to become a little bit sad. He was starting to think that any humor of the situation was just starting to be replaced with just some general sympathy. Jimmy White looked right at Davis as he was thinking to himself:

'How can I get this young man to see my perspective? How can I get him to see that I am right? How can I get him to understand the grand vision that I have? Is it even possible? Even Sheldon and Brad were easier than this. Sheldon was a man broken by the way his parents had treated him. He was already broken with the world. Converting him was almost too easy. Not even any real fun. But then Brad seemed like he was not really to understand me. But when I showed the pros and cons of my ideas, even he fell prey to me. Liu was the easiest. But that was because he already understood me. I appreciated that. That at least one person knew exactly where I was coming from. And yet, all three of these men were able to become my best helpers. Even though Sheldon left me and I wanted to blow his fucking brains out, I knew he did enough good things for me to spare him. But I just needed to up his drug use. Now here Davis is. A perfect weapon. A weapon I can use against me. I just need him to understand me. And then when he does, I am fine.'

Jimmy White knew from the start that this was going to be by far the hardest case for him to crack. He knew that this was going to be a good one though. Maybe even his best one if he can get it to work. "But Davis, I think that once you hear me out, you will see that I am indeed being quite reasonable. I mean, look at Jeff right now. I mean, really look at him."

Confused as to what Jimmy was saying, but also strangely thinking that maybe the guy was actually onto something here, Davis look a long look at Jeff. He looked like he was a weak man. A man who just needed something to make him feel like he was going to be safe. Davis was then starting to wonder if perhaps he was even wrong about Jeff.

As this was happening, there was many things that Davis was pondering to himself. Such as if Jeff really was bad. Such as if Jeff was really in all truth just the victim of bad situations at bad times.

Then Davis looked at each of the other three men that were in the room. As he was doing this, he was starting to think that he knew every single one of the three of them. As if their life stories were all the same. As if Davis was able to figure out what Jimmy had with them.

Davis wasn't too smart and he wasn't nearly as good as psychology as Jimmy White clearly was, but there was something that Davis clearly knew about each one of the three of them. Just by looking at their faces, he was feeling like he was able to see their life stories a little bit unfold to him. And with this happening, Davis felt like he really was getting it all over again.

The one who looked like Jeff was his older brother. He felt like this was common knowledge and deep down he was aware of this, but the shock of it at that first moment was just too much. But there was something beyond it that made him understand why Jimmy took him in and was able to do it with perfection.

'Liu was a man who had found out that Jeff was really a young man with the passions of a killer. He knew that his younger brother didn't care about anything besides himself. He understood that everything he had been thinking about life, and just life in general by this point was all just one big lie. I think he was just wanting to have the idea of somebody there caring for him be in the reality. Jimmy gave that impression. The mayor of a successful city trying to reach out to him so soon after he moved here and when he was dealing with a really bad period with his family. Hell, I might even have been like that if I were him. Damn, I almost have to feel bad for him. Even then, I think that he was just like Jeff a victim of a bad situation at a bad time. I don't really know. I think I should have given him a better chance. I think that his parents dying was also a huge thing in the whole ordeal. He didn't want to deal with the idea that he was going to be a independent man for the rest of his life. His parents being gone must have hurt him even more than he ever could have imagined that it would have. I think that Liu makes a lot of sense. I just need to start to get him to see that this is all a lie though. That nothing Jimmy says is true. I think that if I can get him to see that this is the case, then I will be able to really help him out. I don't know about the others though...'

As Davis felt like he was starting to understand Liu and maybe even feel bad for the way that he had been thrown into this whole thing, he was looking at Jimmy. "I think that I am starting to get it. I don't know if I am all the way there. But I think that this is starting to piece together a bit." Davis was then looking at the man who had been wearing black.

Jimmy smiled as he saw which one Davis was going to contemplate next. Despite being the most annoying one, the one who left him, and being the one who pretended like he would be able to fool Jimmy into thinking they were good again when Jimmy knew he was just trying to bring him down again, he was still Jimmy's favorite. The way that Sheldon fought for everything was actually borderline impressive. Maybe if Jimmy was a good guy, he would actually feel proud of the not so young anymore man. But it was just a lost cause. Even Sheldon must have known this. Even Sheldon must have known that this was just his final effort.

Davis was seeing from the look on this ones face that this was going to be a tough case to break. So many layers to him that even he with his mind set could not figure it all out. While he was thinking, Davis took out a cigarette and started to smoke it. He was ready to start to look into his next case.

As he was looking at Sheldon, he started to realize that maybe he did know exactly what was going on with him and came to this conclusion. 'A man who from a very young age had to be exposed to man of the painful realities of life, and as a result has been forced to fight his way through more times than he honestly should have been needing to. He seems like he has been trying to fix a lot of his mistakes from the past, thinking that everything wrong that happened lately in his life and his family was all his fault. I don't know everything about those obviously since I barely even know the guy, but this makes a lot of sense to me. I think that he just needs to lighten up a bit and not be forced to be taking everything so seriously. That being said, maybe there is a part of him that feels like he needs to be in this way in order to provide any form of assurance and safety to himself and his family. I can also tell that he has done many horrible things in the past. Things that would be considered terrible crimes that usually should be punished. But maybe he really did not have a choice. Maybe he felt like he needed to do what he did, and it also looks like that this is perhaps another thing that has really gotten into him. Knowing that he has done several things that nobody would want him to do. That nobody would think is anywhere close to being fine. But it was all in the name of being sure everything was alright. I just wonder if perhaps I can find out more about what he had to do, and then if I can, I can be able to start to make some type of a more informed opinion on it all.'

After he was having these thoughts, Jimmy just sat in silence as if he was wondering what Davis must have been thinking about the most complex of people that had been working with him. "I think that you should be lucky that you have this guy with you and dealing with you. In all reality, I doubt that he even wants to and just does it so that way he can have something like a fucking job for the house." Davis said and then he was wondering how exactly Jimmy was going to react to this type of comment.

Surprisingly, Jimmy White didn't seem to mind too much. He was looking at Jeff, who had both of his eyes closed. Either he was dead, or he was so bored he was sleeping. Both those answers would work just fine with him, since in all reality, either one can help him against this little shit head named Davis.

"You know, I am glad that he works with me. I know for a fact that he doesn't want to anymore. I think that he just wants to cover it up and pretend that he is so smart. I think that he just knows that I am better than what the fucking alternatives are, so he goes with it. He must realize that I am right and that I can break him if I wanted. I can break him, his wife, his child, his reputation, ruin everything he did, and then ruin everything that was even considered to be good in his life. Like some of his friendships. God, I love messing him up. It really is so fucking easy. But I think you are not interested in the dynamic between me and one of my best workers here." Jimmy had guessed correctly on that. Sheldon looked like he was ready to strange Jimmy to death right then and there and he was restricting himself as much as he possibly could.

"You should really not take anybody in your life for granted Jimmy. He has done a lot for you. I think you should try and show at least a little bit of appreciation towards him. Do you really think that this would be all that hard? I mean, he has worked really hard with you in the past." Davis said and then he was hoping this can throw Jimmy off guard for a few seconds and wonder how this was what the conversation turned into.

"Hey get back to focusing here, we are not here to talk about how I handle my workers. You have a job you need to do right now. I have had you look at the first two, and now I need you to look at the last one." Jimmy White said and Davis knew that this was the most provoking he can really do.

Davis was looking right at Brad, and then after he looked for a couple of seconds, he felt like it was pretty easy to figure it out, unlike Sheldon or even Liu to some extent.

'I think he just had a big bomb dropped on his life. It was a lot of him to really take. He hated the reveal, and he felt like he was powerless when he found out all about it. I think he just needed some light and some comfort. He obviously has had an extensive past with the guy in the middle. I don't really know if it is out of friendship, hatred, both, or something really different emotion that I will not be able to think of and maybe won't even want to think of. I think they have a strange dynamic of wanting to kill each other but also wanting to help each other at the same time. I wonder if I can change this dynamic to fully fit a better narrative and one that might even work in my favor.' Davis really felt like that was going to be one of the hardest cases. Not killing Jimmy, and not even killing Jeff. But getting them to both agree this is the best and not have them separate into two ideas and fight over what choice was best. Davis knew he had to hold back for his very reason.

"I think that these two need to really have a real discussion and actually think about everything through. I think they need to understand that being at each others throats is not going to change anything at all. In fact, it will do the exact opposite." Davis said and then he was waiting to see what Jimmy thought.

"The conflict between the two of them is totally not important to me. They had been like this for years. I can't change a damn thing about it. They are fucking stubborn you might say. I can't really even in my right mind come close to describing it as something else than that." Jimmy said and then he clapped both of his hands together.

"So my young man, you seem to understand everything that is in front of you. I am surprised that you were even able to do that. But thing is, all conflict will just be feeding into each other. There is no conflict that will be perfectly resolved on its own. That will never fucking happen. If you think it will, then you are gravely mistaken. Like is full of conflict. Life is full of hatred. These men feed off of it. Or at least the left one and the right one do. The one in the middle seems like he does want to change things around here. Not that this would work. A forty year old drug addict doing that? Not going to fucking happen." Jimmy White said and Davis was honestly shocked he was forty. He looked much older. Like almost sixty five. Probably due to the drugs.

"I have no idea what the point of this test was though. I mean, I am sorry about that. But I don't really see how this was some great eye opening experience for me. Even really even meant to be one." Davis said and the Jimmy White shrugged a bit.

"I guess if you do not notice it, or have not been paying attention, then there is nothing that I can do about it. You have made a lot of statements. Some of which really pissed me off, and some of which I think you did a good job on. But let's just leave it alone." Jimmy White said and then Davis was wondering why this was such a fucking game to these people.

"I just wish that you would fucking help me understand these things. Besides, I can't play this game for too long. I need to get out of here. I have some things to do." Davis said and then Jimmy White shook his head and then the way he did it scared Davis, as if there was a level of bullshit he can see through.

"You know you have nothing to do. You just want to say this to get my guard down. I knew this was going to happen. I have done this hundreds of times. Nothing changes about it. Just understand that in the end, I am the one who wins every fucking time." Jimmy White said and every word of it send chills down Davis's back, as he knew every single one of them was right.

"Maybe I just don't want to talk to you anymore. Can it really just be that simple and us not going in and making a big deal out of all of these things? I mean, I do want to see some people right now. Just to be with them." Davis said and he was getting closer to the truth and both he and Jimmy White knew this. The look on Jimmy's face showed Davis that he really was not going to get out of this really easily. Davis was just wondering if he was going to actually get himself out of this. He was wondering if Jimmy White was going to come along and show at least some form of humanity, or if Davis was still sort of screwed right from the start.

"Well you see the thing is, I have a lot of things that we need to talk about, and we don't really have a lot of time. The more that run around these discussions with you trying to leave, the more of a hindrance you are being to this very simple and important business meeting. Well still important, but it would be more simple if you just went along with me and let me fucking talk to you." Jimmy said and at this point in time, Davis knew he was clearly getting on the mans nerves. But Davis was thinking that maybe he can use this as a weapon against Jimmy White.

"Honestly though, what exactly do you need to do with your time? I mean there isn't a lot of things that you do. You just spend a lot of time in your office. The more that you are in this office, the more you are just letting things happen to your town. I mean, I have already told you before, that this is your job. You should be there for the people. You should be the one out there actually doing all of the hard work for them. It seems like you are not doing this at all. You are just too busy sitting on your ass all day and talking down to people who quite frankly do not have the time to hear or care what you are telling them." Davis said, wondering how much more he can push this guy to his limits.

"I do many things in my time here. What you may consider to be lazy and not getting anything done is me actually getting very important work done here. I have a lot of very important things that I need to attend to, and some of which you just simply will not be able to understand. You are too young to understand even if you had wanted to. I guess I don't blame you. It's really not your fault that you weren't born much earlier." Jimmy White said and then Davis was thinking about how to get out of there.

"Listen, we have not really discussed any real business here. We both know this. We have both some things to do with our time that are better than this. Even if you don't think that I do, I can tell that you clearly are too busy to be dealing with me right now. So for your sake, I do want to leave you alone and let you get back to your job. Please, do not let me get more involved with this than I already have." Davis said as he was standing up and he was grabbing Jeff to help him get out of there.

"But before you go Davis, there is something that I do think you need to be made aware of. Maybe it will actually make you take me more seriously, and maybe you won't actually just be brushing me off anymore. But I need to tell you that I was already well aware of what happened to Kimberly. I just don't care about it. And you want to know why I don't care? Because I can use this to break you and make you join me. I can use another one of you with me. And I know how fit you are for the job. I just couldn't refuse letting it happen. One of the few smart kills that Jeff came up with. Not too great of a man, but I have to give him credit on that one. he really came through for me on this one. Not get the hell out of here. Actually think about what you are doing and know that I am not going to be fucked with." Jimmy White said before he added in "After all, I did say that I plan this all out ahead of time."

Davis was wanting to bash Jimmy's head in at that moment. He wouldn't even care if he had gotten in trouble with the law or not. Many of the things he had done should have gotten him in trouble with the law. This really would not even be the worst thing that he would have done to get him in trouble.

Once Davis was out of the room and a bit out of sight from Jimmy, he punched the wall a couple of times until he started to feel like his fist was bleeding. He wanted to do it even more, and he wanted to do it to somebody else, but he knew that he was taking this too far. Davis looked back and saw that Jeff looked like he was getting back in the mindset of knowing what was happening.

"I can see why you fucking hated that guy so much. Just being near him for a few minutes wants me to bash him in so badly. God, he just fucking pisses me off." Davis said and then he was looking at one of the people who worked there coming towards him. They were taking out something that looked like a police baton.

Davis was looking right at that man, and Davis was shocked at the time same time that Jeff was not dead. Any other person would have been long dead by that point in time. Davis took out his gun and then he fired it at the guy, and after two shots, he was down on the ground. Davis ran forward and quickly grabbed the bullets in there and placed them in his pocket. Davis saw that Jeff was holding his knife and despite the fact that he looked like he was about to fall down a couple of times, he saw that there was a officer about to get out of their seat and pull the trigger on Davis, and Jeff took care of that one for Davis when they stabbed him a few times.

Davis was for a short moment feeling better about having Jeff along with him. But Davis knew that it was quite the risk letting Jeff be there. There was still a huge part of Jeff that was doing this for the sport and not for the greater good. Davis was thinking that even with a couple of good kills in there, that he was still not to be trusted and even if Jimmy White didn't care personally that Jeff killed Kimberly and if Jimmy White even found it partially 'good' for his sake, that did not and would never change the fact that Jeff was the one who did it to her. This made him angry, and think that he would still be fine killing him right then and there, but then he was thinking about the few good things that came out of Jeff and his being there. Davis went down real quick to grab the bullets that were in that persons gun and then after he did put them in his pocket, he saw another coming to him.

Before the other one really had a good chance, Davis shot them down and took them out. Then Davis went over real quickly and with just his left hand, was grabbing their bullets and ammo that they had while Davis looked around and aimed at people coming by and shooting them down.

Davis had to do this back and forward shooting and grabbing ammo thing for about ten to fifteen kills until he felt like he did have enough to last for a while. Jeff helped take down a couple of them when they would come up and then Jeff would just stab them but with each one, he looked like he was getting closer and closer to what looked to be his inevitable death.

Eventually, Davis felt like he was making decent head way with this whole thing. Every time he was killing somebody, the sickness and the guilt of a kill was wearing down. He knew that this was what had to be done. This was how he can make Jimmy White weaker. He knew that if he can pull this off, Jimmy White would have a huge amount of his resources gone and then it would be at that point in time where if anything, Davis was now the one who had the advantage.

Besides, when you kill enough, none of it really matters anymore. By that point, once you kill many people, it just turns into the number of a card. It is nothing more than a statistic. Something you can put your hat on. Davis knew that even if he had not wanted to be going around and killing people, that he can just do it in no real problem if he had to. He can always just kill a person when they were becoming a threat. When it had seemed like they were going to impose a challenge to Davis, there was no problem that he had to just kill them all. If anything, all of these shootings were sort of adding to his character. Adding to the fact that he was able to hold his own against even people like Jimmy White if they had wanted to do something to him again. And when it came the time when he would want to fire the final bullet, he can just do it and get it over with.

Jeff really had been lagging behind for a while by this point. There were even a couple of times in which Davis thought about helping him. Davis actually almost broke in and did it. But then he was thinking about not only Kimberly, but he was also thinking about how little time he had, all the people not Kimberly that Jeff killed, and that this might be his sort of going down in a blaze of glory moment that Davis decided that he was bot going to let this happen. He would let Jeff fall if that was what would happen.

After Davis was coming to that decision, and almost even enjoying the idea in his mind of what it would be like to watch the killer of his girlfriend fail so much, Davis decided to keep going. There was a part of him that was thinking that maybe he was the one with the problem when he was doing this to Jeff. But he decided that if he should have wanted to do this, then Jeff should have been a real and decent human being before hand.

Eventually, it was getting to the point in which Davis was near the exit of this place. Once he would be there, he was going to just get the hell out of there. He was going to put this away. Then he was going to wait and see how Jimmy White would react, and see how that evil man would take it. He was ready for any and all of it.

Besides, if this did turn out to be how he did, it would not have been the worst way to die. He was thinking that if he died here, this would be his final blaze of glory that he can present himself with. Sort of what he was doing with Jeff and letting him have. Davis then looked around and he was seeing that Jeff was about three feet away just slowly stabbing people when they were getting close to him.

Davis was then thinking one more time on if he should help the guy out of not. He was giving himself one final moment of doubt. One more moment of thinking that he was wrong about letting this happen to Jeff.

But as it would turn out, even if he had wanted to help Jeff and make the thing easier on this horrible human being, he didn't need to. Jeff was already out of the building before Davis was giving himself a moment of uncertainty. Once they were gone, Davis sighed and then he saw that they just need to make it to the car. Davis just ran to the car.

When he sat at the drivers seat of the car, he was starting up the engine. Then he decided that he would wait. He was going to wait for sixty seconds. That was how long he was going to give Jeff. If he could make it, then that would be nice for Jeff and then Davis can take off. If not, then Jeff was dead and maybe he should have been a better man before then and that way it wouldn't have had to have been a debate.

Near the end of his self imposed time limit, Jeff got himself on the car and then he was slightly opening the car. Davis just started to drive and then Jeff was barely in the car in enough time to get out. Davis was thinking about what had just happened and then he took out a cigarette and then he started to smoke it for a bit, thinking about what had just went down.

Once Davis was catching a moment to think about what was happening, he was thinking about Jeff and how much Jeff was still hated by him. How much Davis still wanted to punish Jeff for what he had done. But the thing was, Jeff did help him out here. Jeff did actually help him survive this whole thing. Jeff did actually take out a couple of the guards that were there. Davis was still not wanting to even consider sparing him or anything, but he was thinking that maybe Jimmy actually was more evil. And that would have been a pretty high bar for Jimmy to over throw, but listening to Jimmy for a bit, Davis thought that maybe Jimmy White was one of the few people to have over thrown this bar.

'I mean, I just have a lot of stuff to be thinking about. That fucking much is for sure. There is no way that I can go around this. I mean, I heard that Jimmy White might have been bad and I saw him a bit before, and I wasn't really thinking that he was a good guy. But for christ sake, I never thought for a minute that he was wanting to stoop this low on what he was doing. I mean, Jeff is a terrible person, but at least he is consistent with the stuff that he is doing. Jimmy White is a fucking liar. He is sleazy on what he is doing on a constant basis, and no matter how much I may want to trust him, I will never be able to trust him. He might come up with some good things here and there, for the development of the city, but when it comes to the people by people by people basis of the city, I can't even for a second pretend that he is a good man.' Davis was thinking and despite the awfulness of what was going on, he was actually catching himself thinking about some of the good things that Jimmy White had actually been able to do at his time of being the mayor of his city.

Before Davis could really form a bunch of fully coherent sentences, Jeff was trying to get his attention a little bit. "Now you must see why I must kill this man. Why this is not a fucking option otherwise. I need to kill him. If I don't fucking kill him, then nobody else will and then he will take such a rough control of the city that nobody in the entire town will be able to actually live their own lives. Do you not realize all of the propaganda that is being spread around?" Jeff was saying and then Davis was not really sure what to think about the rambling Jeff had been going on.

'I mean, I will not even try and pretend that Jimmy White is this great upstanding guy. But what in the fuck is he talking about with propaganda? That makes no real sense.' Davis was just thinking that as he stopped the car and looked right at Jeff.

"Where are you going on with him spreading propaganda? I mean, this seems like a bit of an extreme claim to be making even for this guy." Davis said and then Jeff looked like he was barely even thinking, barely even able to actually look at Davis, but then Jeff was slurring on the words enough to where he was able to start to make a full sentence. Even if the sentence wasn't very good.

"He had been using the summer camp to get the people there to see that his jobs were not so bad. I mean, that was what he used to be doing at least. You know, back when there was only a boys scout camp. Despite the fact that it may not really be that way anymore since it is a multi gendered camp and it will be hard to cover things up now, back when only men where in the camp, it was easy to find the corruption. At least when I hear the stories about them." Jeff said and then Davis thought that he was rambling on a bit by this point.

"Seriously Jeff, you need to get right to the fucking point. I am starting to really lose patience with this right now. I have no real fucking time to waste right now." Davis said and then he was spreading the statement in a voice direct enough and serious enough to where Jeff did not even want to dare to keep rambling. He knew for a fact that Davis was not joking around. That he was not wanting anything that can be even remotely considered to be stalling out.

"Well, there used to be several jobs that were going on in the town just for the sake of making the town richer. And I am not talking like industrial work or something like business. I mean, this city actually functioned off of high crime rates. Instead of Jimmy White stopping them, he hid them. We all knew this, and I think that even you can't try and argue with me on this. But when I found out the fact that there was a boys scout camp and that the camp director there was grooming these young men into thinking that these behaviors were good, that it was nice to actually be some form of pure evil, I started to realize that every male in the town that is above a young adult probably went there for a year or two, and then he was trained to be a part of the corruption. That he is a part of the norm, and that he shall do nothing besides just be serving the will of how the town functions. Even the women who are aware of this are a part of it because they just refuse to try and get their men to change their styles. They must be thinking that there was some form of benefits to these terrible deeds, and then they decide that they don't really want to fight it at all. I think that either they don't want to fight it or if they did and they tried to change it, they realize that they are going to soon die." Jeff said and then Davis was rolling his eyes. He got out of the car as if he was refusing to listen to the ramblings of a mad man.

He never went to a summer camp. He never even considered going to a boys scout camp, and he was a young adult, and that there was nothing about this that was actually true to Jeff's words. Davis was thinking that he was just trying to find yet another way to justify shitty behavior.

Once he was out of the car, he took out yet another one of his cigarettes and then he was smoking that one up. He was so fucking tired of Jeff and every single time he had been hearing and thinking about Jeff and all that they do, the more that Davis was just getting mad. He was tired of people just thinking that he was stupid because of the fact that he was still trying to get a grip on his life.

He was looking down and he was seeing that Jeff was in the car. As he was looking at Jeff, he could tell that Jeff was giving him one of those faces that was like 'you better believe me, I am telling the truth.' Despite this, no matter how hard he tried to think that he should give Jeff a chance to explain himself, he just found himself not really able to at all.

Davis could not really even think of anything too much more when he saw that there was yet another car pulling up in the area. Davis had a terrible feeling about what he was going to be seeing here. Davis was placing the cigarette down to the ground and he stomped on it as he was watching the car door open.

Out of the car was one of the men who had been wearing black. Davis was wondering if this man was alone. It was fucking impossible for him to see anything when the car window was up and there was barely any fucking sign of anything that can help him see through the darkness. So Davis was just forced to find himself hoping that nobody else was in there. He was thinking about how much harder things would be if one or more extra people were in there.

The man who was wearing a black jacket was walking right up to Davis and he was just adjusting the glasses a little bit. Davis could tell that he did not even need the glasses, and that it was just a part of the job.

"Hello, I have been aware of what you have been doing lately, and I have been wondering if I could possibly talk to you about our job, and what we actually do at it. I was hoping that perhaps I can be able to expand your mind a bit." The man said and then he was holding his hand out for Davis to shake it.

Davis was thinking that he was going to make a huge if he had made the hand shake. But he was thinking about how this guy was actually in general being a nice guy. He was being in general a good person. Davis was thinking that something about this guy was different. That there was nothing really to hate about this guy. That maybe he was the one guy in the job he can trust.

"What is your name?" Davis asked and then the guy smiled as if he was thinking about that problem. "I mean, how can I trust somebody who has not even told me their name? I doubt that I can trust somebody like that." Davis said and then after he said this, the guy was holding his hand up as if to show that he was getting it and he didn't need any more explanation to the whole thing. Instead, he was thinking about if he should just give his name, or if he was going to have to give Davis even more information beyond just this.

"My name is Sheldon. I have been on and off working with Jimmy for about two decades or so. I would rather not really get into my time there, and what I have had to do at my job. But I was hoping that I could indeed expand your mind a bit and maybe make you even see that Jimmy is not even all that bad of a guy. I mean, I doubt that you will fully believe me, but I think that when you work with him for a little bit, you will see what exactly I am talking about." Sheldon said and then he was hating every single word of this. He wished that he could just work back at the gas station. That was when things were much easier. But then he was thinking that this was going to be the only way to get Davis to actually be at his side. So when he was thinking that this was for the better of the entire city, he was thinking that he was just going to go along with this, even if it meant damaging every single perception that he was having upon himself. Even if it had meant ruining his reputation and everything that he had been trying to accomplish if the news had spread out of these very simple things.

"Well, when I try to actually listen to you guys, mainly Jimmy, he comes off as this prick who does not think that I can actually fucking listen to him. He thinks that he is too good for me. He doesn't respect me, so there is no fucking need for me to respect him at all." Davis said and then Sheldon was thinking about this. It was a good point and he can see how anybody else that wasn't named Jimmy fucking White could be able to despise the fact that he was this way. But even then, it was going to be hard to really get through this. Even though he really needed Davis's help. He was the fucking creator, and he was still not able to get him to join his side.

"Listen, I am the only one here right now. I was sent down here by Jimmy alone to talk with you. There is nothing going on outside of this conversation that you need to know about. I don't even know or care all that much about the people that you hang out with. If I knew, then I would have actually told them ahead of time what was going on so I could be able to help them out, not ruin everything." Sheldon said as he was placing both of his hands on both of Matt's shoulders. Despite the terrible situation Davis was in, and despite everything that was going on in general, Davis was still sort of finding himself actually believing in what he was being told.

"If you are the only one here, I think that maybe you might actually be telling the truth. I will give you a small chance to actually talk with me about what you think are the benefits of working with Jimmy. When I saw you and when I was thinking about the different things you three went through while we were in his office, there was a part of me that was thinking that you were the only one that I can fully believe in." Davis said, and he wasn't sure if this was actually going to help him out at all. Or if this was just a bigger example of him digging his grave as he was talking with these people.

"Well, on one hand, at least you are not his enemy. Just by not being his enemy, you are already decreasing your risk of getting killed by such a huge amount that you really are able to help your family and the people you care most about by doing this. I mean, for fucks sake, this guy is fucking insane. He has no filter. He had no understanding. He has no fucking sympathy, and doesn't even try to show it. I think that it goes with the idea of keep your friends closer and your enemies closer." Sheldon said and then Davis was wondering what this point was.

"I mean sure I guess. But please tell me that you have a better argument than this." Davis said and he was hoping that there was an actual real argument here, and not something kind of half assed like this. He hated how half assed this whole argument really had seemed.

"Well, I guess that if you don't understand that you don't really have somebody you really care about. I mean, I have a wife and I have a son who I care deeply about. I mean, if something were to happen to them, I would kill myself. I mean, I am already wanting to do that." Sheldon said and then he was taking out a cigarette and smoked it. Once he was doing this, he also pulled out a small dose of heroin and then he was starting to inject himself with it. "But here is the thing, I will stay alive for their sake. I barely even do that many drugs anymore. Usually just when I am working..."

Davis was feeling like a idiot for not getting it earlier. Sheldon. That was this mans name. That was Cody's fathers name. That was the name of the gas station worker. How did he not figure this out already?

It wasn't even like Sheldon was a popular name. Sure, there were probably a small handful of people in the city with that name, but not nearly enough to actually think that there were more than just one.

"You're Cody's dad right?" Davis asked and then Sheldon nodded.

"Yeah, I got involved with Jimmy long before Cody was even born. I did regret joining him. But I mean, Cody is a great man. I mean, I need to do this for the safety of my fucking family. I can't even look at them without thinking about the terrible risks that I am placing them in by doing this stuff. I really regret everything that I have done." Sheldon said and then Matt was starting to now feel bad for the guy. He was starting to wonder if he was going to try and actually help this guy, or if he was just going to remain silent and just let the guy suffer a bit more. After all, given everything that he had been doing, maybe a little bit of suffering was to be expected. But then Matt was thinking that this was a terrible thing for him to even consider.

"Sheldon, I mean, does Jenny know that you are working with him still? Do you think that she would lose trust in you if you are still working with him? Do you think that maybe she would not really feel safe about having you are Cody anymore?" Davis asked and then Sheldon thought about that and then he nodded.

"I told her that I was going to try and get to know him again, and this time just doing it in a way where I can let his guard down and think that I was on his side again. I don't really think he is actually believing in me though. That is the part that is really worrying me. I think that he knows what I am trying to do and he knows how to one up me every single fucking time." Sheldon said and then Davis could tell that this was killing himself to think about.

"I think that he might be aware of the fact that Cody is my son, and then he might try and use that fact to actually legit make me stay on his side. That if I try and keep myself away from him, then he is going to bring up Cody and maybe even make some threats that would put the safety of my own fucking child at risk. The very idea of this happening makes me so fucking mad. But knowing Jimmy White, I really would not doubt that this is going to be what he has really up his sleeve. I have to believe every single thing before I see it. I have gotten to know him for about two decades, and if you have gotten to know him for as long as I have, then you are really not going to put any fucking idea off to the side. You will see that every single fucking idea has the chance of being the reality. As disgusting as many of these ideas actually are." Sheldon said, and he was thinking about some of the things that he had to do for Jimmy White earlier, and he was thinking about how fucking awful some of these ideas actually were.

The very thought of them though would always make him feel sick to his stomach. As if he had no idea how this man could be able to stoop this low. And yet he had found a way to do it every single time. But he was just telling himself that he needed to protect Cody. "You know, Cody was one of the main things that made me want to calm down and become a better person. He was one of the very few things that actually made me start to think that I needed to try and settle down a bit. If Cody was never born, I probably would have died five years ago, when I was only thirty five years old. I mean, forty isn't all that old, but is five years more than I probably would have been given if Cody wasn't really around."

Davis was thinking about that. He was thinking on what it would have been like for Cody to have his father died when he was only three or so years old. At least with eight years old, there was a chance that Cody was able to have some real memories with his father. Maybe not all that many memories, but enough to say that he was able to say that his father was indeed there for a bit.

"I think that Cody will probably really miss you when you are gone. You seem like a really nice dad. You seem like somebody who really does care for Cody. If Cody can see that, he will start to be look back at you and think that you were one of the best fathers who have been around. Much better than what your father must have been like." Davis said, not really sure what can of worms he had opened there.

"Oh don't even get me fucking started. My fucking was one of the most evil people that I have ever seen in my entire life. I am fucking saint compared to him. I am fucking perfection compared to him. Which truth be told is not all that high of a bar." Sheldon said and Davis was thinking to himself a little bit when he was looking at the look on his face.

'I wonder what was so bad about his father that the mere mention of the man makes him utterly pissed off like this? I mean, I wasn't even trying to get him riled up. I was just trying to talk in a casual light right now, and here he is just getting mad at this.'

Davis just wished that Sheldon was going to perhaps open up to him a little bit more on this. He was hoping that if Sheldon opened up on this a little bit on what his father was like, then perhaps he and Sheldon could actually be able to start to connect a little bit. With them connecting a little bit, he was thinking that perhaps they could start to form a common interest that is just beyond wanting to make sure that Cody was fucking safe.

"I think that if I grow up to be a tenth as bad as my fucking father, then I deserve to die and Jenny deserves to ruin every little bit of my fucking name. I would truly deserve this more than anything else in the world. I would fucking hate what I would do in order to actually get to be as bad as he was." Sheldon said and Davis saw that he was starting to looking like he was going to cry a little bit. "I mean, if I knew what was going to happen to Riley, I would have been with her forever. I would have done everything that I could have been able to in order to make her safe." Sheldon said and then Davis was wondering who the hell this Riley was.

Davis had literally never even heard of Riley. He wondered if the name must have been mentioned to Cody once or twice. He was thinking that if Cody had heard about Riley, then maybe Cody can actually just tell Davis what was going on there. He was thinking that Riley was probably just the first person that Sheldon had dated or something like that. Obviously, they did not really marry since nobody really mentioned her and Sheldon was married to Jenny from what Davis understood, but from the look on his face showed that he was really thinking this woman was important to her.

"I think that if my father did something terrible to me, I would have put up a real fight. I would not have let him do anything that would have been considered to be big damage. I would not have let it happen. I would have either died fighting or he would have been the one who died. I wouldn't have just sat there doing nothing." Davis said and he was clearly making a fast judgment. Davis was looking at him as if he could not really fucking believe that Davis had been saying this.

"I did do my best on this. I did try my hardest to make him pay for the evil that he had spread. Do you really think that these things would have been so easy? If it was so easy, he would have stopped haunting my every fucking thought since I was only a mere ten years old. Davis, I get that you are trying to get into the military and that you are starting to think that you are some hot shot, but it really was not even close to being this fucking easy. Not nearly as easy as what you may think it to be." Sheldon said and then after Davis heard him say this, Davis was able to tell that Sheldon was telling the truth. Davis looked down and he was starting to feel bad for saying this. He knew that he really did make the wrong choice by saying this, and that if he had just kept his mouth shut, then maybe Sheldon would not have judged him as much as he was probably going to start judging him out to be.

"Sorry, I just never really thought that you were dealing with something like this. I just thought that you were some casual gas station worker. Just some casual person who dealt with maybe some bad things, you know like everybody else, but it was not really anything beyond this." Davis said and then Sheldon shook his head.

"I have probably seen more darkness than anybody on earth should have even remotely lived. I have lived so much fucking darkness in my fucking life that I can probably make a fucking book out of it and it would be a best seller for the character arcs laid down in it." Sheldon said and he was trying to take a terrible situation and turn it at least a little bit humorous. But Davis could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't fully taking this as a joke.

"I think that if you saw everything, then you probably wouldn't have held up even half as well as I did. I don't even blame you for that. It is just the truth." Sheldon said and then he was taking out a really long Marlboro and then he started to smoke it. "I just can't get myself off of the drugs. No matter how hard I try, I can't fucking do it."

"The drugs are a huge part of my life. They help define me. In a way, as terrible as it may be to admit, they actually fucking are me. I live with them. I breathe them, I want more of them. I need more of them to even fucking live naturally at this point in time." Sheldon said and the utter seriousness of this voice made Davis consider him a bit more.

"Do you think that your drugs will harm the way that Cody lives? Do you think that you will be able to even live that much longer with all of the drugs?" Davis asked, and he was honestly not even trying to sound like a dick when he was sounding like this, as he was just honestly curious about what this man was going to be living his life like. Davis also just wanted to make sure that even if he was still into these drugs or not, he was just more worried about what he was going to do with Cody when Cody was in the area. If at least he wasn't doing too many drugs when Cody was around, and he only did them a lot when he was away from Cody, then he wouldn't raise any voice to it. After all, Davis was even worse than Sheldon was at this, at least that was what Davis was thinking to himself. He was thinking that there was no way that Sheldon could have been worse than Davis when it came down to the smoking and everything else. Davis was too deep into the smoking for him to be considered anything above the worst on that regard.

"I think that he will be exposed to so much negativity of life that I doubt that he will even care all that much. He will probably just think that it is a bad habit that I am into and won't pursue it too much further. I could be wrong though." Sheldon responded and he wasn't saying that to justify himself, he was just saying it because he felt like this was just the truth of the whole matter.

"You know Davis, I think that you will be a good watcher to Cody when I am dead. I do have to admit that even if I want to stop, I am so deep into the drugs now that even quitting will not reverse anything. It might make it less bad per se, but that is all that is really going to come out of it. I am pretty much a dead man walking inside of a shell now." Sheldon said, as he was feeling disgusted over the fact that Cody was going to see his father gone any time in the next few years. But at the same time, he just didn't care to fight it and he just embraced the death more than anything else.

"Besides, I don't really think that I will be missed all that much by him. He might be a bit sad that I am gone, but it probably won't really be much beyond just that." Sheldon just sighed in sadness over this.

"I think that he likes you more than you give him credit for. He probably wants you to be at his side more. He probably is wishing that you would actually stop what you are doing, and that you would be his helper. His great and big man. But if you are dead, that won't happen." Davis said and then Sheldon just started to sit down on the ground next to the car.

Sheldon was closing his eyes and then he said "We should really be going out and trying to stop report Jeff to the police right now. Maybe even stop Jimmy. But I just need a bit of a rest first. I need to get my mind off of the matter." Sheldon said and there was a new cigarette that he put in his mouth that he was just slowly breathing in while he was keeping his eyes shut. Not giving a shit how much of the ash was landing on the clothes he was wearing.

Davis was thinking about what was going to happen next. He was looking forward and he was seeing that Jeff was in the car still. Jeff had his hand over his face. Davis lowered the car window and put his hand on Jeff. There was nothing there at all. Davis even waited for a few seconds. After about ten seconds of nothing, Davis took a deep breath and let go in acceptance. It was what he had wanted the whole time. Although it seemed to be rather anticlimatic. Davis rolled up the windows again and then he looked at Sheldon. "I think we should leave this car behind. If people see what we are doing, I think that they might get suspicious of us." Davis said and then after he had said that, Sheldon was opening his eyes up a little bit.

"Yeah, you're right. I wanted to rest for a while longer. But I guess that I will be willing to head off if you think that we will get in trouble over anything that may happen to your friend." Sheldon said and then he started to get up and then he brushed off all of the ash that was on his chest and then he coughed a bit as well.

"He was not my fucking friend. He just worked with me because I knew that I needed his help in order to destroy Jimmy White. I guess that I will never get my revenge. Doesn't matter. Won't be hurting anybody anymore. So I guess that in the end, I did win after all." Davis said and then he started to walk forward.

"Tonight is going to be a very dark night. We will be having a lot of stuff ahead of us. I don't think that either one of us are going to get any real sleep soon." Davis said and then he was waiting for Sheldon to catch up. After a few more coughs, Sheldon raises his hand as if he was needing to say something. Davis waited and decided to respect the guy enough to listen to what the guy was actually going to have to say.

"You should continue heading on. I have some business that I need to discuss. I think that you need to go to your friends or something. I don't know. I just need something to be taken care of." Sheldon said and he was referring to two things in all reality. He was going to talk to Jenny about Jimmy White about what he was going to do, and then he was going to talk to Wyatt what may be one final time, he was hoping to talk to Susan again and see what she had to say to him, and then he was going to kill Jimmy White with the others, and then when he was done, he was going to kill himself and enjoy every single second of his death.

Davis was seeing the look on Sheldon's face and both of them knew that there was something going to be coming out of this. Davis was feeling awful for what was going to be happening next. Davis wanted to help Sheldon. He felt like he would have been able to if he had been able to talk to Sheldon for a little bit longer. But it seems like that this was no longer an option.

This wasn't like Jeff, whose death was going to make Davis celebrate a little bit in all reality, this death was going to really fuck Davis up and Cody up. The death of Sheldon was going to be an event that was going to change the entire town, even if people did not realize it at the time. Davis knew that everything was going to change the moment that he died.

Sheldon and Davis started to head off in different directions. Neither one of them really realizing how much both of them needed each other, and neither one of them wanting to admit it. Just like what would have been Mimi and Candice, but was now Candice and Tai. What was like Izzy and Yolei. What was like T.K. and Harold. What was like Matt and Sora. And just Cody being a independent. Most of the people in the group thrived when there was a person who worked with them. A person with a special dynamic. They didn't know it at the time, but these two were sort of having a special dynamic the whole time that they were talking to each other and hang out with each other.

Davis decided that he was going to indeed see Yolei. What he didn't know at the time and what both of them had forgot at the time when the story had started to be written but was now as clear as day when memory came along, but when Davis was with Joe, Yolei, and Cody, and to some extent Izzy, there was a small group that was able to really do wonders against Jimmy White. He remembered the others, but he didn't remember Joe for some years, and Joe almost forgot as well.


	45. Truth of the Mayor

In all reality, if Yolei were to try and say that she understood everything that was going on, she would have been lying through her teeth. She would have only been saying that to try and keep herself composed, not because it actually was the truth. In all reality, this whole thing seemed to drive her up the wall bonkers, and she felt like she just needed, even deserved some real answers. She felt like this was the absolute least that she had deserved. Was a clear-cut explanation on what the hell was happening. She knew that there was a giant killer going around town and that her friend Davis was on a really bad vendetta to get him down. But this was really all that she was able to fully get her mind around before it just became too much to really handle.

But then again, she was just only like a twelve to thirteen year old girl that was thrown into this madness. She had no clear reason to be there. In fact, in all reality her being there was probably just more of a problem to be fixed up than anything else. Even she knew this at the time. But since she was in the area, she did not feel right just sitting around and doing nothing.

'I just wished that Davis was here. I just wished that I can go home and pretend that none of this was happening. This whole thing just seems way too much to be realistic. I mean, how the hell did Jeff not die during that fight?' Yolei asked herself, unaware of the fact that Jeff did indeed die only a couple of hours later from losing too much blood, not enough sleep and food as well as losing his important genitalia. The fact he even lasted that much longer at all was the biggest question out of them all.

She just felt like that as long as she finally started to get some real explanations on these events, then she felt like she could wrap her mind around this better. But until something like this happened, she felt like it was all just going to be one of the biggest blurs in her entire life. She felt like she just needed to pretend that she knew what was going on, even if she did not. Just to give off the idea of being composed.

Besides, it was possibly going to be one of those things that when she looked back on it and thought on it more, and then evaluated every single thing relating to the event, then it probably would make a lot of sense. It was just a matter of getting to that point more than anything else. But then she was telling herself that this was going to be how it was, and all she needed to do was just wait it out and just see what was to happen next. But then she was also fearing what another sighting of Jeff would do to herself, and what it was going to be like to go through that.

Eventually, she decided that she was going to go to the one place where she knew that she was going to be safe. She was just going to go back home, and then she was going to go to bed and pretend that none of this ever happened. Surely things would be much better if she had done that. All she needed to do was just brush all of this off. This was what she was telling herself the entire time that she was starting to go back to her house. She even started to believe in it a little bit. She honestly was thinking that if anything, this was all one big nightmare.

One nightmare that just seemed really graphic and then once in her dream state she reached her bed, she was going to go down on the bed and either start up a second dream or she was going to wake up from this one and then just start the day off normally. This was what was she telling herself over and over again. Every time that she was doing this, she was actually starting to believe it a little bit more. She was honestly thinking that she had over thought this whole thing. That she was wrong to even be this worried about it.

As she was coming to this what she had hoped to be the decent conclusion in her head, she was starting to get near the street in which she had lived. As she was heading down the final few houses before she was at her house, she was seeing her neighbor start walking into her house. Her neighbor was Aurora, and she was just getting off from her date. She felt like she had loosely heard about that a while back, but Yolei paid it virtually no mind at all. Besides, they had no real connection, so why would it even matter.

But as she was seeing the car of her date driving by, he was starting to slow down. The next following bit of information that happened totally escaped Joe's mind back at the start of the story because he had tried so hard to forget about it all and even did a decent job doing so by convincing himself that he went right to sleep. When in all reality, he did nearly a nights of random things before that point. When he was dreaming, he dreamt of a younger Davis to go along with him trying to capture some idea of sanity to this when in reality he was thrown into this crazy night as much as everybody else, and Davis was the one who had really changed everything for him.

It was starting right when he stopped the car and then lowered his window to be looking right at Yolei. "You seem really young to be out this late? Shouldn't you be home by now?" Joe asked it simple enough, thinking that he just needed to maybe find out where she lived, drive her home and be done. He didn't want this young lady out this late, and he was willing to change that for her, but he needed some form of a general pointer.

"Well, I actually live very close by. Only a few houses away. But thanks I guess." Yolei said, thinking that this was a bit odd and she wouldn't want to admit it, kind of annoying that this was what she was having to deal with at this point in time. She wondered why it was even his business what she was doing. But then as she said this, Joe was still looking at her for about another second or two before he shrugged.

"I won't get in your business about it. If you say that you are fine, then so be it. I hope you have a good night." Joe said and then he got about ten feet away after he started his car again when both of them saw something that was just really strange to them. They were seeing Davis walking along and he was having a dart out of his mouth with it going down and losing a lot of its steam. He was looking like he was rather beat up. As if he had been in a couple of fights. He was holding his gun in his hand, and he was still having a napkin over his arm as a sort of cover up to a wound that he had seen earlier and his black shirt was still mostly destroyed. His hair was mostly in the way of his walking, which was even worse since it was now in the night time. As Joe saw the slow walking, Joe felt the need to help this guy out.

"Hey dude, do you need some help right now?" Joe yelled, not even caring how many people he had woke up. At this point in time, Yolei didn't know that Davis was there and thought Joe was still talking to her. So she was going to turn around and tell him off again but then she stopped as she was seeing Davis. Something about seeing him made her heart stop.

Strange how even two months ago, she was having these thoughts and these feelings towards T.K., and with each passing day, she was starting to feel them more and more towards her babysitter, Davis. She had no idea why she had felt this way about him all of a sudden, but it was just able to make her feel like there was a sense of easiness when she was around him. As if he was the one who was truly going to make her feel safe.

Knowing not only how messed up he was before he had left, but how messed up he was looking now, she felt the need to help him out right away. She started to run towards the car as fast as possible, totally forgetting about the whole Joe dilemma and was even thinking that if he helped her out, she would forgive him for his initial annoyance.

She was feeling every single surge of her body wanting to help out Davis as much as she could. She felt like helping him was going to be the best thing she was going to do all summer. Even when Joe was getting over his initial shock, he was feeling like he was willing to do whatever he can in order to help out this man in need.

Davis was looking closer to falling down to the ground and both Joe and Yolei knew that this was going to be a bit of a rough patch. Joe got out of his car and then he grabbed Davis and was bringing him to shotgun seat. Eventually, Joe was seeing Yolei right there again. As he had seen her again, he was playing with his glasses a bit. Yolei in a strange way was finding it kind of cute for him to do this. But then she was thinking about how she would be able to help Joe out at this moment.

"Listen, I know that just a moment ago I was telling you to get back home and everything, but I have no idea how he is going to react when he sees me driving him to the hospital. I think that the doctors might not believe me if I tell them what happened. Can you come with me just long enough for me to tell them the story, so that way they know that I am telling the truth?" Joe asked, and the whole plan seemed simple enough, but he was just hoping that Yolei was willing to go along with it. If she had not been, then this whole thing was going to get a lot messier.

"Of course I will. I know him. He was my babysitter for a while. I really care about him actually. I just hope they are willing to treat him well." Yolei said and there was a sudden surge of sadness in her voice. Something even she was not expecting. She would deny it in the future to make herself look better and everything, but at that moment she didn't even care. She was just wanting to see him treated, and that she was going to go through anything to see this happen.

"Great, just get in the back seat. I think he needs to be resting at the front. If that is fine with you..." Joe said and then Yolei nodded. She did indeed get it and she didn't need to be explained the mindset of what he was doing. He got to the driver's seat again and then he started up the car. As he started, he was ready to try out some of the things his father taught him about medicine and put it to use. This was going to be his start to understanding the values of this job as he would later learn in hindsight.

Joe was wanting to drive slow enough to where he would not in trouble with the law, but also fast enough to make sure that he reached the hospital in a decent time. So it was like he was going to have to come up with some form of a compromising speed. Something that can get both of the jobs done at a decent fashion. He wanted really badly to help this guy out, but he was not really sure how to do it in the best way.

Joe was seriously wondering why Yolei was still out this late. That was going to be the biggest thing that he was going to question. It literally made no sense for her to be out this late. In fact, he was thinking that perhaps it was showing a level of irresponsibility to her parents that they were even allowing this at all. Or that maybe they didn't even notice this at all. Either way, it was actually bothering him a bit and he was thinking that soon enough, he was going to try and figure out more to do with that.

Davis was keeping his eyes closed for a while and Joe was thinking that it was good for him to catch a couple of minutes of shut-eye before he was at the hospital. But none of the three of them were speaking at all the entire ride there. As if they were all thinking about the can of worms that was going to be opened if any one of them started to speak about what they had currently seen. And since Davis was not even aware that Yolei was there, he was thinking that even if he did try and explain the truth to Joe, that he was going to call it a bunch of bullshit and that none of this really had happened. Which was going to be annoying, but he was aware of that possibility.

As the drive was happening Yolei was thinking a bit. 'If Davis dies, then I am going to find that Jeff person and finish what he started. I don't even care that I'm just a young teenager girl. This man would have killed Kimberly, then Davis and several other people. By this point, a level of justice would be gone. I really hope it doesn't get to that point though. That would be terrible if this happened. It would be terrible if Davis died and I don't even know if I could live with that idea for the rest of my life. Honestly, I think I would not ever really be the same again.'

Joe was doing his job though. He was driving as casually as he could. He was not going to take any risks hurting anybody. But soon enough, he eventually reached about a block away from the hospital as Davis noticed the car was slowing down even more and he opened his eyes just mainly to see what was going on. "What the hell is going on? Don't take me there!" This sudden very staunch rejection of the idea of basic health care shocked Joe and he stopped the car more in confusion than to actually support this terrible idea.

Joe was looking right at Davis. He started to take a long and deep breath. Mostly to compose himself for the rant a than that he was going to give Davis for the way he was acting. "You know, I am trying to help you out right now. It looks like you really need some help with the doctors, and you are telling me not to help you out. Are you fucking insane? Do you actually not even realize what you are saying right now? I think that there is something very wrong with you, and I want to make sure that nothing else happens. If anything, you should actually be thanking me for what I am doing right now." Joe said and he was meaning every single word of what he had been saying. He was just hoping that Davis would see his point of view.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I have a job I really need to do right now. I can't stay here and go to the hospital. If I do, then I will be losing my biggest chance to actually do this." Davis said and then Joe was raising his hands up in defeat.

"Is it related to the fact that you are carrying a fucking gun around as if you are from the fucking wild ass west? Because if that is why then you need to fucking explain the whole fucking gun situation to me right now." Joe said and then Yolei was wondering how much longer this debate was going to last between the two of them.

"Listen, I know you probably won't believe me or really even care, but there was a fucking killer out there just a few minutes ago. I doubt he will be covered on the news since nothing ever gets covered on the news here. But seriously young man, trust me when I say that there are other things that need to be done." Davis said and then Joe was getting really annoyed by this point over the whole young man comment.

"Dude, you're only like two, maybe three fucking years older than me. Don't you go around calling me a young man? What the hell do you think you are, fucking seventy?" Joe questioned and this was when Yolei was thinking that under every other case, this would have been comedy gold but under this case, it really was not. In fact, she was just wanting to know some more things about this just like Joe. But she felt like she was in a way even further behind than Joe was here.

"The fucking mayor has lost his fucking mind. He is just as crazy, if not even crazier than that serial killer was. I need to end his life right now." Davis said and then this was when both Joe and Yolei were seriously wondering what the hell had really gotten into Davis. Yolei was understanding most of it up until this point in time. But when he was starting to talk about killing the mayor was when even she was starting to lose track of who really was on the right side on all of this. Even Yolei was starting to question if Davis really was in the right mind this whole time and if she really should be trusting what he was saying right now.

"Enough!" Yoley decided and then after she had yelled this, both of them were looking right at her, momentarily pausing their large and important debate. Davis had no idea she was even there, and the very fact that she was made him really stop what he was thinking and feel much worse about this whole thing. "Now tell me what the hell is going on with the mayor, and can you start from the start of the story so that way your friend over there knows what is going on?"

As both of the older men were looking at her, they were wondering if perhaps they really had gone too far this time. Then with that, Davis nodded. He was going to do as she asked. He was going to do it for her though. He didn't really care all that much about making Joe feel like he understood these things. In fact, if Joe did not, then it really was not his problem at all.

So with this, Davis told Joe the entire story up until that point in time. As he was telling Joe, he was starting to think that it was more strange than anything else that Joe didn't tell him to stop or say that he didn't believe Davis or anything. If anything, Joe seemed to accept this a little too easily. Joe seemed to think that this was something that should have been common knowledge. He was just letting the words absorb though. He was thinking that the more that he learned about what was happening, the more that he would be able to actually help out this whole case. He felt like this was one of the most important pieces of information that he would be able to learn about this town, and it was all happening right at that spot.

Eventually, the story was finished and then Davis was looking right at Joe. "You can choose to believe me or not. I really don't fucking care anymore. But there you are. That is the whole story. Now you must be seeing why I must take down Jimmy White. If you actually believe me." Davis said, and then he was looking right outside. He took out another cigarette and whole Joe didn't smoke and don't really condone it either, he knew that Davis was an adult and it was his choice. He was just more worried about how Yolei would feel about it, as she was not an adult yet.

"I am not saying that I don't believe you. Not at all. But I need more evidence to really back this up. I hope you can understand why I say that. This is a lot of information that I need to let sink in. I think that if I don't get some real solid evidence here, I am going to just have to assume that you have gone insane and that you are lying to me." Despite the slightly accusatory tone in his voice, both Davis and Yolei knew that he was just taking extreme precautions for his own sake. They knew that in his mind, that this had to be done. Davis sighed and then he was looking right at Yolei, hoping that she can back him up and help him out on all of this. Joe even looked at her, as if thinking that he can tell if she was lying or not by the way she was looking around. Just by studying her face pretty much.

"I don't know about the recent stuff since I wasn't there to witness it, but he is actually telling the truth about Jeff. I was there and witnessed the entire encounter unfold as it was happening. It honestly was one of the scariest things that I had ever seen in my life. I actually did not know if I was going to make it out alive." Yolei said and then Joe was really looking at her and trying to make a final judgment.

After a bit though, it was clear that Joe decided to believe in her. "Yeah, I think that you are telling the truth. Sorry that I am having a hard time really wrapping my head around this though. It really is a lot to take in. I think that you surely must realize this." Joe said as both Davis and Yolei felt like he was right to be acting like this. But then he shook his head as if he wasn't able to believe what he was going to say next.

"But if what you are saying about Jimmy White is actually indeed true, and you are not fucking around with me, he does need to die. I think that most of the time this would be extreme measures, but I would not say that is the case in this one case." Joe said and then both Davis and Yolei felt relieved that this was what he was deciding on.

"That being said, I want this to all be within the confines of how the law can do it. If we get in trouble, we need to present it in a way that it looks like we are innocent. No more running around taking down hundreds of people at once. We need him down, but he needs to be smart about it." Joe said and then he was looking to see if at least Davis would agree. Yolei he was not so worried about in all reality.

Davis was thinking about this, and he was thinking about how hard this was going to be, to be working in the law on this case. Since with Jimmy White, he had pretty much morphed the law into helping him pretty much be safe, and that anything bad that would happen to him would keep him out of any danger. That anything that happened to him would indeed if anything spread ideas around that there were people who were just trying to overthrow his good name. He was that type of person, and this was going to be the game that they would have to play. It was going to be a hard game to play, but they both needed to be ready for what was coming soon.

"I won't make any full promises. I do not know what will be happening. I hope that you understand this. It will be very hard to know what he has up his sleeves. But I will do my best to follow your vision for what is happening. Only because I don't want you to get in my bad graces." Davis said, and then he was looking at Joe, hoping that Joe was going to be able to accept this sort of loose truce.

Joe thought on it and then he nodded. "I want you to at the very least do your absolute best to do it my way. I understand that in the end, when we get to your part of the show, that we will have to break the law a bit. You know, the whole killing thing. But I want that to be the only thing going against us. I want us to look like we were mostly justified people in our actions up until that point in time." Joe said as Davis was thinking Joe didn't get it. They were perfectly justified people. Not that the police would get it.

It seemed like the only person in the force who even seemed to try and get where they were coming from was the sheriff. And even Davis was thinking that he wasn't all that perfect of a man. But he was at least one person who might have been there for them if worse came to worse.

As this was happening Yolei caught herself in her mindset again. 'It is so beyond odd to think we are at this whole thing for what feels like forever. Yet in reality, it has only just been several hours. It feels like we lived a year in a day. But that is not the case. We haven't really even lived a full two or three days yet. I really wish I would have known how much everything was going to change in such a short amount of time before this started. At least then I would have felt somewhat prepared for what to come.' As Yolei was thinking this, she saw that the two guys were deep in thought at that moment.

"Well, if this is what we are going to be doing, I guess that we may as well just get started right away. I think that we are going to be out here for a while. I think that maybe we should bring the girl back home through first. I mean, I don't want anything to be happening to her." Joe said, not even really remembering what her name was from when Davis had been telling the story. He didn't really think it mattered. They were going to be fucked right from the start anyways. He might as well just say 'fuck it, you are named Luana' or something like that just to get the point across that the whole thing seemed to be like a losing situation.

Davis shook his head as if thinking that this is a terrible idea. "She has been here for us so far. I think that I would rather have her at my side. I don't think that she will really get in the way all that much. I think that is anything, she will actually be helping you out." Davis said and then Joe was looking at Yolei as if he was trying to convince himself that this was the case. He was sort of having a hard time believing in the man. But then again, if he was going to believe the story so far, he may as well try and believe him on this one.

"Fine, but I really have no idea if this is going to work out too well. I think that no matter what happens tonight, we are going to be playing with really dangerous territory. I really hope that you know what you are actually doing. You better know what you are doing." Joe said, and there was a slightly threatening tone to his voice. Even Davis was shocked at this, and then he was taking at the moment to consider that Joe was just under a lot of fear and that he didn't really mean any kind of threatening tones that he was giving off at that moment.

"Trust me, if I thought that something was going to happen to you or Yolei, I would not have told you what was happening. I would have just left the car and then pretended like you never even existed, and I would have checked up on Yolei later to make sure you didn't do anything to her." Davis said and Joe was able to tell from the way Davis was saying this that he was indeed telling the truth.

"I guess that there is no point in fighting about this now though. I think that before this gets even more sidetracked, we should be heading out now. I think that I have to trust you to know where we are going first." Joe said, trying to decide if he should be trusting Davis at all, considering the rest of the story and the fact that the man had a gun and the fact that Joe could not fight even if he had wanted to since he was so weak.

The three of them started to drive away from the hospital and then Davis was finding more material he can use to make the napkins stay on tighter. But he was seeing that this was probably not going to work no matter how much he had wanted it to. So instead he just tightened them up and was seeing that the blood was really starting to soak through and that the napkin was probably going to start falling apart soon. Davis was thinking about how sooner or later, he was probably going to have to resign and accept the fact that he had lost the whole issue. That none of this was actually going to work in his favor. In a way, he was already thinking about what his funeral was going to be like.

Yolei really hoped that this was going to be over within a day or two. She really was getting sick and tired of this whole thing, and she was just wanting this whole ordeal to be over with for good. She was starting to feel the urge to catch a quick nap. It was so late at night. But she knew that sleeping at that moment really was not an option. She knew that even if she was going to really miss sleeping, that she was not going to be able to get what she had wanted. Besides, she would be able to always catch up on it later.

The longer that Joe drives for, the more that she was wondering where Joe was taking them. After thinking about it for a moment, she decided to ask. Joe looked at her for a quick second before looking back at the outside window.

"Just take us to a forest or something. That way we can be away from any sign of people. So we can discuss what the fuck we are going to do right now. This is fucking insane. I hate this. But I hate the idea of having no plan even more. I also don't want my father or brother to know what I am going to do. And hoping that maybe I can see this Sheldon guy myself, and get a true idea of what he is like before I judge him as any good or not." Joe said, really not sure what to think of Sheldon and not sure if any of this was a good idea at all.

"I guess that makes sense. I mean, he is kind of crazy. I mean, I bet if we knew what was going on in his mind all the time, it would make sense why he is this way, but right now it just seems like he is a bit of a nut case." Davis said, and he was trying to be respectful since this was Cody's dad after all. He was wanting to treat Cody's dad with some level of respect.

"I doubt that I will ever really meet him though. So I guess it really is none of my business what is going on with him honestly. I just wish that I had a more clear idea on what the hell I need to do here. None of this is really something I would have ever expected to find myself doing. I never really thought to myself when I woke up and went on a date today that I was going to be fighting serial killers and tracking down the mayor of the town for no real good reason." Joe said and then he was wondering if and when Davis was going to interject that there was a lot of good reasons and that Joe just didn't get it. He was preparing himself for that moment at any second.

"I bet that if your father and brother found out what you were doing, there is a good chance that they might you have gone totally insane. They might think that you have some problems going on or something like that. So it would probably be best if you don't ever try and reveal what is going on to him. I guess that it is not really any of my business though." Davis said and then Joe was thinking that none of this was in any way assuring to him. But he was not going to say anything. He was just going to keep this to himself.

"You guys shouldn't probably be talking about this while you are outside of the car. There might be people who are wondering what is going on and might try and report you to the police as a result." Yolei said as if she was now starting to think about that problem a little bit herself.

"Well, I guess that we will be crossing that border when we get there. I mean, people have already probably decided that I am bonkers." Davis said and he was wondering what Joe was going to say to this. If he was going to say anything at all.

Joe seemed to be too deep into the thoughts in his mind to notice or care. He seemed to try and only get one thing done. Which was taking out Jimmy White so that way he can go home that night and then just relax and sleep and then pretend that this was all one big bad dream? But he was thinking that it was going to be a long night, so he wanted to just get it all rolling at once. 'I wonder what his family is like. I barely know him, and yet I am already feeling some form of an attachment to him. He seems like he would be a relatively nice guy.' Yolei was thinking to herself for a while as she was looking at Joe increasing his pace.

Yolei was thinking that there was perhaps a chance that Joe was wanting to prove himself to somebody, and that this was what he thought would be the only way that it would have actually been done. Yolei was wondering what exactly he was trying to prove, and she was wondering if perhaps he just needed somebody to be there by his side or something like that. She highly doubted that she would have been able to do this, as she was much younger than him. But she was wondering if Aurora could actually have been able to do the job. Maybe if Joe got far with Aurora, they can talk about his problems and he can open himself up to her.

"Hey Joe, do you think that we are far enough in the forest to feel like that we are not being watched?" Yolei casually asked when they were nearly five minutes into it. She was thinking that the question was valid enough and getting the hell out of the forest was going to be a pain in the ass, and that Joe was probably over thinking it. They walked for about another minute or so until they were in a clearing. Once in the clearing, Yolei was nearly certain that he had planned this thing out on purpose.

"So Davis, when you think that you are going to go all in against this guy, what do you honestly think that Yolei and I can contribute to help your cause? I want you to be one hundred percent real with me right now." Joe said and then after he had said this, Davis was thinking for a bit. He was not really sure. He was thinking that perhaps there really was nothing that he would use them for. But then he felt like he needed their help mainly to just make sure that they don't get killed. If they get killed, then it would all be his fault.

"Well, I think that if you want this to be in the hands of the law, which I do not fully agree with, but I can see the merit to it on some extent, then I think that when I am fighting him, then you need to report everything to the police. Look for the sheriff. He is the only one that I think I can trust here. Tell him everything. And when you do, tell him what I am doing and hopefully with the previous context that he will be given, he will understand what I am doing and he will actually forgive me for anything that I might be doing to the image of the town." Davis said and then Joe was thinking that maybe this was one thing that he wouldn't actually mind doing all that much.

"I guess a simple police report is not going to be all that hard for me to do. Are you sure you want me to bring Yolei with me? I think she can actually be used as a witness and I think that he will take the idea of two witnesses a bit more seriously than just one." Joe said and he felt like this was simple enough logic to roll with.

"I don't really think that he might want to bring others with him. He may think that he might just go on his own. I don't really know what he is going to do if he is all alone. What he will be able to do against Jimmy White. Or who knows, maybe the police force is actually decent and I just don't know them nearly enough to give them the credit that they deserve. I am just not really too sure though." Davis placed his hand on his face and then he was rubbing his face as if trying to legitimately consider every single option.

"Maybe Jimmy knows about what you are doing. Maybe he knows of the game that is going on. Maybe he views it as a game at least. I would really not doubt it, considering what he is like according to your stories." Yolei said lightly, thinking about what Jimmy White was going to do to her and her own family if he found out that she was involved. The very idea of that was scaring her and making her feel very guilty on the off chance that something were to go down with her.

"I think that Jimmy is well aware of what is going on. I have no doubt about that at all. To even try and think otherwise is a bit naive of anybody to think about. But I want to build a ground game up before any of that even has to be something we worry about." Davis was then looking at Joe and Yolei. He was now starting to really let the idea of something hurting them sink in. This made him feel a bit sick to his stomach to consider.

He didn't mind something happening to him honestly. He didn't even mind the idea of him actually even dying. But he was worried about what was going to happen to the two of them. The more that these thoughts were coming to his mind, the more that he wanted to make sure that they were safe, even if it meant his death on the line. He was hoping that maybe Joe can pull this one off for him. That maybe Joe can help make Yolei safe. If that can happen, he would feel so grateful to him.

"Joe, I want Yolei to be at your side the entire operation. Do not let her out of your sight. I don't care if it looks like I am on the verge of death. I don't care it seems like this entire thing is a bust. Keep her with you and if it looks like you are about to die, help keep her safe no matter what until the moment you die. I am sorry that I am asking you this, but you are a grown man, and I feel like I can hope to trust you enough." Davis said and then he was giving Joe a silently pleading look.

Yolei was getting kind of tired of the two of them acting like she can't protect herself. "Seriously guys, I am fine on my own. I don't really need your help to watch me over like a fucking hawk. I mean, yeah sure, I won't be as strong as you guys. That is true. But if something were to happen, and if I had to fight for myself, I will be willing to do it. Please, don't worry all that much about me. I mean, I don't mind worrying about me a little bit. That is fine. But I don't need to have both of you watching me every single second of the day. I am almost thirteen years old." Yolei said and then both Joe and Davis were looking at her.

Both of them were thinking for a moment. They did remember back in the days when thirteen seemed like they were big enough to do so many things on their own. If only they had the hindsight factor kicked in. But at the same time, she probably could be able to take care of herself on small doses. Things here and there. Even they had to recognize that a little bit. Joe and Davis were thinking about that a bit.

Despite their fear, they did know that she would want to be at least a little bit independent. They both knew that she was going to desire a small amount of independence. Maybe she did deserve something like that. Maybe she did deserve a single chance to prove herself to actually take care of herself. But then they were thinking that maybe some form of restriction was better than nothing.

As Yolei was looking at both Joe and Davis, she was starting to get even more annoyed at the both of them. 'Oh my fucking god, it is like they don't even notice me. They don't care about me. They want nothing to do with me. I can just fucking feel it. They think that having me around is a pain in the ass. They don't want to admit it, but they both hate the very fact that I am here. But I can't do something if I am not given the chance to still show myself. Oh my fucking god.' Yolei was just wanting them to both breaks for at least a moment.

"Well, I think that maybe you can sort of keep watch on what is going on. IF we are working on something, then you can make sure that nobody is seeing us on something. I don't know, but it seems like you really want to show us that you have nothing to be afraid of." Joe said and then he was feeling like he was going to really regret every minute of this if this did happen. Davis was also looking like this was going to end in certain failure, but he didn't want to exactly admit it.

"I don't really know. I am not going to like this. I think that this is a terrible idea to be totally honest. I don't want you to take any offense to this, but I just feel the need to be one hundred percent real with you right now Yolei." Davis said as he was wondering how much more he was going to have to drag this thing out. "But then again, I think that we have all made choices that we really regret in the end. Maybe this will show you that you shouldn't underestimate what we are saying. Maybe you actually should give us at least some credit." Davis said and then he was hoping that Yolei was just going to be rolling with this if for nothing else.

"I don't know why you don't trust me so much. I can't prove myself if I don't get the chance. Besides, you are going to be throwing me in a really rough situation again. I think that if you are going to place me in this case in the first place, then perhaps I should actually be proving that I deserve to be here. So please, think of it this way. Think of it in a way to show that I can do things on my own. How about you actually look at it like this?" Yolei was saying, and then after this, Joe was just wanting to give up on the fucking fight.

"You know, I think that you may be onto something right now. I mean, I don't like it. I am not even going to pretend that I like it. But it is not the worst idea that we have been making so far. It is the only one that seems like it had any grounds of actually working. Davis, I think that maybe she is right. Maybe we should let her have a shot." Joe was reluctantly getting on the idea of letting her help out like this and he just knew that only really Davis needed to be placed onto the bandwagon. Which he knew was probably going to be really hard to actually pull off.

Davis was thinking about this, and as he was looking at Yolei, he was having an extremely stern look on his face. 'Come to the fuck on Davis, just give me a chance. If the guy who doesn't even know me can do it, then you need to as well.' Eventually, it looked like Davis was starting to give in slowly.

"Fine. I don't really like it. I hate this idea and think that it is going to fail. But if you think that you can pull something off, if you can make a miracle work out here, then I guess I will go along with it. But seriously, if it looks like you are in any form of danger, leave. No arguments. If it looks like Joe and I are going to die perhaps, leave. Again no arguments. Just leave and tell the police everything that you know." Davis said and then he was wondering how much Yolei was actually going to go through with this idea, if at all.

"Thank you, guys. I really will not let either one of you guys down. When you see what I am capable of, then you will see that you guys did make the right choice in bringing me along." Yolei was saying and then both Joe and Davis were looking like they were not really too sure if she was right. But they were both willing to give her a chance. Give her a benefit of a doubt.

"Well, as you said earlier, there is nothing that you can do to prove yourself if you are not even given a chance to prove yourself and everything," Joe said and then afterwards, he was thinking that as much as he hated this, there was no real way that they could plan these things out too much further. They were going to just go to have to accept the idea that they were going to win this entire thing. Even if it was a bit half-assed, they knew that this was going to be really impossible odds, either way, no matter what the case may have been.

"I think that perhaps we should start to head out now. I think that since you are the one who wants to take down Jimmy the most, that this is going to be your show. I may not agree with everything that you do, but I know that in the end, you are the one who is going to run this whole thing." Joe had said and then after he said this, Davis was glad that Joe was going to reluctantly give control to Davis.

"Thanks for understanding that I am the one who needs this the most out of everybody. I think that when he is gone, you might actually start to see why I am saying this, and why I want to pull this off now." Davis started to head out of the forest. As they were walking away, all three of them were getting ready for the crazy battle that was going to be coming up at any minute. The fight that in a way that they were actually just dreading. None of them wanted to do this, but all of them, Davis especially, felt like this needed to be done.

As they were near the exit of the forest, they saw that there was a car pulled up about twenty or so feet closer to the sidewalk. When they saw the car, all of them were starting to get scared of what was going to happen next. They had a feeling that they were going to get into some really big fight, and that they needed to all protect themselves from what was going to be the biggest fight of their life before the operation really even had a chance to kick off.

There were about three people in the car. One for each one of them. They were pretty sure that this was all planned out on purpose. All three of them looked exactly like Sheldon in the way that they were wearing his exact same clothes. All of them looked like they had been working at this job for some time, at the very least five or so years. It looked like they were probably in their later twenties to somewhere in their thirties. Davis looked right at Yolei, and he was taking out another cigarette as she was standing in front of her and then he was placing his hand on Yolei's shoulder.

"We do not know who you are, and we have nothing planned right now. In fact, all three of us were planning on heading home right now. I hope that none of this is causing any real trouble for you right now." Davis said and then he was holding his hands forward as if he was trying to bullshit enough to make them actually start to think he is actually being honest with them.

"We know what you are planning on doing right now. We know that you are planning on killing our boss. You know that you are committing a crime right now just by talking about this. But Jimmy doesn't really want to hear what you are going to say to defend yourselves on." The one at the front said and then he was placing his hand inside of his pocket and it looked like he was about ready to kill all three of them. It looked like he was going to really enjoy this moment.

"Listen, I know that we may have said some things that may give off that impression. But we have no real desire to do that to our great mayor. He really has done a great job leading our town. There is nothing that we would have done better than him on." Davis said and then the people were holding out their gun and they were aiming right at him. They were thinking that they could take on Davis. It was three people against one. Even if he was well trained, which there was no way he could have been as they thought since they had no idea he was military training, they would still take care of him.

"Jimmy White promised all three of us a massive pay increase by taking you out. You have no idea what you are actually worth to Jimmy White." The guy who was in front of them was saying as he was smiling like a madman. Davis thought that this was going to be a great weakness. Davis was spitting the cigarette down to the ground and then both of them thought he was kind of being gross at that moment.

"Why are these two people with you in the first place? What have you been telling them?" One of the people asked, and he was sounding like he was unsure of what he was doing. As if thinking that he was sort of playing with fate a bit by asking Davis these questions. Davis smiled and then he was just holding his hand out in front of the other two people that were with him, just trying to keep this as casual and as nice of a conversation that he possibly could have made this entire thing. He was thinking that if he just continued this whole casual nice boy appeal, then they would actually believe him and not even mind the fact that he was having a gun with him. They would possibly even think that he was just using it in order to defend himself from other things and not really trying to use it against Jimmy White or something like that.

"I just found them, and they seemed like they needed somebody to make sure that they were safe when they were heading home. I don't really know what they were doing in the forest when I found them there." Davis said and he was glaring right at Joe and Yolei as if he was trying to get the point across to them that this was a fucking set up. Thankfully, both of them seemed to be seeing what his intentions were at that moment.

"Yeah, we just found him looking around and he saw us. He thought that we needed some help to get out of here since it was getting really dark in here. So we should be thanking him for helping us out right now." Joe said and then he was doing his best to be going along with the original idea. As if he was wondering what Davis was really going to get out of this.

Yolei thought that since both of them were keeping up this scheme, that she needed to keep up with it as well. She knew that this was probably going to be her way of just being safe for the time being. She just simply nodded to agree with the statements that both of them had given off earlier. "See, they were just here and I was helping them out. If anything, I was just being a nice general upstanding citizen by helping people out right now." Davis said and then after he had said this, he was wondering if the people were finally going to believe him now.

"I would believe you if it weren't for the fact that people reported his car to be found near the hospital where it looked like you had been there for several minutes. They started to think that you were loitering and that was how we found out about where you guys are right now. So for both of our sakes, you should probably stop lying now." One of the people said and then Davis sighed in annoyance. He didn't think this out, and he was hating the entire situation that he had just placed himself in.

"Well, did you think that maybe these people were lying to you just for the sake of starting some controversy? I think that these people were lying through their fucking teeth. I haven't been inside the hospital in several months. I haven't been in there since I had to do some physicals." Davis said and he was telling the truth on this part, and he was wondering if the people were actually going to believe in him. He just hoped that this section of the truth would have been enough for them to just get off his back a little bit.

"But they didn't say that you were inside of the hospital. They just said that you were in the parking lot. So it doesn't really change the story all that much. Unless if you think that we are stupid and that we can't see through what you are trying to do." The one who was in the lead told Davis, and then this was making him much more worried about what he was going to have to say in order to get himself back on decent footing if it was even possible for him to do so. He was wondering if there was going to be a loophole that if he tried hard enough that he can use to defend himself a bit more. He was just hoping, but even he was starting to this that this was a bit of a fool gold hope.

"Well, it doesn't really matter. I mean, I was never at any point in time doing anything that would put Jimmy at risk. So none of this is really even all that big of a deal. I think that you just should take this easily. Go home, relax for the night, and just pretend that you are with your wife or something." Davis said, and then he was wondering how well this was going to hold up against them. He was placing his finger on the trigger of the gun. He was ready to fire them at any point in time. He was ready to kill them if he had to. He didn't want to since he didn't want this job to be even more impossible than it already was, but he was feeling like he was going to have to do it at any moment.

"I think that our life is none of your business. We do not really think that you should be changing the subject like this. Not that deflecting anything is really going to change anything for you." The one who was in the middle and sort of leading the group was saying and then Davis was wondering how much more he was going to have to go before he was just going to have to call this a losing situation and where he would just have to go through with the idea of killing them.

Joe was actually watching and he was seeing that Davis was actually considering out the options a bit. Joe thought that in all honesty Davis would have taken the shots already and gotten it over with. But seeing that he was putting this much thought into it was making Joe start to think that maybe he was wrong about the guy the entire time. That he should have not started to think this badly about Davis right from the start.

"Listen, all you have to do is just turn yourself in. Once you turn yourself in, then we will talk to you and we will get the information that we need from you and then we will release you." The guy in the middle was telling Davis but both he and Davis knew that this was a fucking lie. They both knew that there was nothing in this entire situation that was going to even remotely hint at the idea that they were going to be going through with this.

"Under most cases, I would possibly be willing to give you a chance. But I really doubt think that you are telling the truth. We both know that you are lying to be me right now. So just stop pretending like you and I are actually going to have any level of pleasantries and let's just talk about what you were actually going to do once you were done with me." Davis said as Yolei was wondering if Davis was actually going to get himself out of this.

'It seems like he is really digging up his grave. I want to see him get out of this. But I doubt that he is going to do this. I think that he is going to be screwed no matter what happens. I want him to be safe. But I doubt that this is going to happen. I don't want to see anything happen to him.' Yolei didn't want to be watching this anymore.

'Maybe he was right about what he was telling me earlier. Maybe I am not really cut for the job. Maybe I am setting myself up for something that is not going to go in my favor. Damn it, I hate to admit that he is right about anything. That would be basically me saying that I doubted him and thought that he was being an idiot. But here I am, and I am starting to think that I was the idiot.'

"We were not really planning on keeping you alive. I guess that you were too smart to see through what we were going to say." The guy who was in the middle said and then Davis smiled. He felt like this was enough to go through with what he was wanting to do from the start. They had said that they were going to directly use force on him and kill him. He had every right to do this and defend himself from what they were going to do. Davis took out his gun and shot all three of them in the head, killing all of them instantly.

Once he was done, he was looking right at Joe and Yolei. "They were making threats to me. I had every right to do that in self-defense." Davis said and then afterward, he was walking off a bit. He was going right to Joe's car. As much as he had hated to try and defend himself to these people, he was scared that they would have tried to report him to the police if anything else happened. But then he was hoping that they were going to realize that he did what he felt like he had to do in order to bring them any form of safety. He was hoping that at the end of the whole thing, they would be on his side throughout this whole thing. But at the same time, he was just not really sure what to believe and what not to believe with this anymore.

Once Joe was in the driver's seat of the car, Joe looked right at Davis and then he was just trying to wrap his mind around what was happening. "So when are you planning on seeing Jimmy White?" Joe just thought that the question was simple enough to where Davis would be able to have a general idea on what to say as his answer. But both of them knew that there was no real perfect timing to go in there and take the guy on. They both knew that either way, this was going to still be something that they would be in the long haul for now.

Yolei was thinking about all of this, and she was thinking about what she was going to say if they asked if she was all right. 'On one hand, I really am fine. There really was nothing that happened to me. Some saying that I am fine is not really lying to them. But at the same time, I think that this is all really starting to get to me. It really is starting to make me lose some faith in what is going on here. I want to go home and just pretend that none of this is even a problem. But I have to admit that it is not this easy. It never really is this easy. I just want to see them be safe though. And who knows, I can be able to keep them safe at the last minute in case something came up.' Yolei was now wondering what could be coming up in the last minute that would really be able to keep them safe. What she could do here, and the more that she was letting the reality sink in the more she was telling herself that this was a silly thought set that she was even having in the first place.

As much as she had hated to admit it, she really was sort of the useless on here. But she was not wanting to admit it. She was not wanting to admit defeat. She was wanting to show them her value. She was wanting them to see that she really can do something that would make her coming along actually a good idea. But no matter what she was thinking, none of this was really going in her favor.

Joe started up the car. "I have no real idea what I am going to do. He is always coming up as the winner in every single case that is going on. God damn it, I want to find a way to expose a weakness of his. But I think that it is going to be impossible for me to find one of his weaknesses. If he even has any of them at all." Davis responded, thinking about what he was going to have to expose Jimmy. There was nothing he had. No recordings, no papers, nothing. He should have at least had something that was able to record their conversations.

As he was thinking about this a bit, Davis snapped his finger. "Joe, before we find Jimmy White, we need to find a store that might still be open. We need to buy a recorder. I want to meet Jimmy White again. This time, just to talk to him. Not kill him or anything. I want you to record the conversation while I am talking with him. If you can hide it in your pocket, then I think that you will be able to have the entire conversation archived. Then we can bring it to David. Once we show the sheriff this recording, he will have no choice but to go public with this. Joe, I think that this is going to be our breakthrough. And as you said, it will be in the law. If this fails though, then I have no idea what is really going to come next. If this fails, then we will have no choice but to take it to our hands." Davis said and then he was wondering what Joe was thinking about this idea.

"This might actually work. I can't believe that one of us have come up with the idea." Joe said and then he was placing his hands in his pockets. "But I have no money."

Yolei thought that for once she was going to be able to use this as a chance to prove herself to be useful. "My parents probably have a lot of money in the cash register where they work. I think that if I unlock the door and just go into the cash register, and take maybe twenty dollars or so, then that would have been enough to buy the camera that you guys think you need." Yolei said and then both Joe and Davis were thinking that this was a bit risky. They were both thinking that if she was exposed for what she was planning to do, then she was probably going to get grounded for the rest of her life.

"Seriously, this is not going to be all that big of a deal. I know that it seems like I am really making a big mistake, but I need to do it." Yolei tried to make them feel better, but neither one of them were actually believing it. Both of them were actually starting to worry more about her now.

"You know, if they even think to ask me what is going on, we can always pretend that it was a break in. Don't worry about it. Besides, I think that they will just let it go once they actually listen to my reasoning for it. I have no real fear about this as well." Yolei was really wanting them to just let it go.

After a few seconds of consideration, Davis then took a deep breath. "You know, if these people get angry over what you are going to do next, then I think that they will not really be aware of what is going on. I think compared to everything else that I am planning on doing, then they must see that this idea with money is really not all that bad." Davis decided and then Joe was still not sure, but Joe was thinking that she needed to have been given a chance, and this might have been her chance right here and right now. So he was going to deal with it.

"If you guys think that this is actually going to work, then I will not really get in your business about it. I don't really think for even a minute that this is going to be a good idea. But I am not going to fight you on this if you insist." Joe decided and then he started to listen to what Yolei had to say on where to go.

Yolei was leading Joe down where to go, and Joe was thinking about what was going on if they were going to get caught doing this. He was having a fear that there was going to be a higher chance of getting caught here than killing Jimmy.

Eventually, Joe was right where Yolei had told him to go. He was looking right at her. "You know, this part is going to be your show. Just go in there, get the fucking money, and then run out as fast as you possibly could." Joe said and then Yolei nodded as if she was understanding his insistence.

Yolei got out of the car and she saw that she still had her keys. Then she ran right to the door of the store and pulled out one of the keys and then she opened the door. This was probably going to be her one moment in order to actually show her worth, and she was going to do whatever she could now.

Once inside of the store, Yolei was walking right towards the cash register. She was ready to do her part. She was thinking that there was no way in hell she was going to get caught. She was thinking that even if she was caught, she can just explain herself out of this whole situation. So that was all that she needed to worry about. Once she was right in front of the cash register, she was opening it up a little bit. She saw that there were several hundred dollars in there. Then she smiled when she saw how much was in there and how there was no chance that she was going to get caught for this whole thing. She placed the twenty dollars that she thought she needed in her pocket. Then she thought about it a little bit more, and then she placed in another ten just to be extra sure. She was almost certain that thirty was going to be well more than enough. In all reality, if the stores with the cameras were not open, then Yolei can just place the money back in the register and it would be like nothing ever happened.

This was all she thought that there was going to be to this. She was then walking right out of the store. As she was doing this though, she was thinking that she was hearing something going on at the back of the store. This was making her think either her parents were up, or that somebody was already breaking in. Or that she was imagining the entire thing.

She was walking along and she was thinking that both Joe and Davis were probably wondering what was making her take so long. 'If somebody is breaking into the store and taking supplies off the shelves, there is nothing that I need to worry about with the money. The money is going to be the least of my parent's concerns. Or it should be at least. The money can just be made up for in a day or two. These supplies would take forever.' Yolei thought to herself as she was finally seeing that there was a guy in the back room.

When she was seeing that there was nothing covering up his face, Yolei was thinking that maybe he was just the night shift guy. But she was thinking that both of these ideas were not something she wanted to deal with. If it was a robber, she was going to have to fight for her life. If it was a night shift guy, he was going to tattle on her and then she was going to get in trouble for the lost money, or they would accuse him of taking the money and then he would lose the job that he had earned.

Either way, there was nothing that was going to make this worth the struggle of her finding out who this was. Besides, she did not want to deal with the idea of it being a robber and then she was starting to just walk away from the area. The more that she was heading further and further away from where the guy was, the more she was thinking that she was just going to leave and then tell Davis and Joe that she had gotten the money and that she was ready to buy the material.

The guy looked right up and before anything could be done on Yolei's front, he called right out towards her and started to ruin her whole perception in general. "Hey, who are you? Are you the back up that was supposed to be helping me out?" The guy asked and when Yolei was looking right at him, she could tell the evil look on his face, and she was starting to get herself ready for anything that was going to come up.

"I was not sent here. I just was passing by. I will be leaving now." Yolei was telling the truth enough, although she was getting more and more convinced that she was going to have to try and report him to the police when she was out of the place. He was starting to walk closer and closer to her. The more that she was seeing him come to her, the more that she was seeing that he was probably going to try and do something to her.

"You are already here though. I bet that I could be able to use you. When the police come, they can just see that you are here and they will believe that you were the one who did all of this stuff here." The guy said, and he was honestly starting to think that this was something he would be able to use in his favor. Yolei was starting to walk away and then the guy started to grab her shoulder and he was holding onto it very tightly.

"I really need to go now. I have to go home. My parents are probably wondering where the hell I am right now actually." Yolei said and then after she had said that, she was certain that this was not going to help her at all. But she didn't really care at all. She was just wanting to come up with some form of excuse and perhaps see that he had some form of humanity inside of him. Not that her coming home and him leaving her alone would have really been a good sign of actually showing some humanity.

"Wait for a second, I think that I have seen you around before. What are you doing here right now?" He asked, and Yolei was able to see that his mind was starting to race. She was seeing that she was possibly going to be able to use her ties to the store to work on her favor. But then when she was seeing the look on his face, she was starting to feel like this idea was dying right away. She was starting to see that he was not even going to care that she had been related to the family that owned the store.

"You should have really thought about taking care of the business here before you left for the day." The guy said and then he was starting to drag her along. The more that she was being dragged along, the more that Yolei was feeling like she might actually be in danger. The more that she was feeling like she could possibly be in danger, the more that she was wishing that Davis or Joe could help her out. She really was starting to see that she was in over her head this whole time. As much as she had hated to admit it, there was no way that she was going to be able to actually help Joe and Davis out. As much as she had hated to admit it, she really was a liability and she was doing more harm than good by doing this.

Once he was dragging her down enough, she was starting to actually feel like he was holding on too rough. As if there was a small chance that he may have wanted to actually choke her by doing this. Then Yolei was thrown right into the room where she was original. Yolei was looking around to see what she could actually use against him in this area. Yolei was thinking that it was kind of insane that she had been a part of the family who owned this store, and yet she didn't even know what she was going to be able to actually use against him. She felt like he was too superior to herself. That she was going to die when she was here. She felt that way about Jeff, and now she was feeling this way when she was here talking with this guy. No matter what was happening in the last couple of nights, she was feeling like she was always just on the verge of death.

Yolei then was seeing a baseball bat. Then she grabbed the baseball bat when he was turning around and not paying attention for a moment. She was trying to be as quiet as possible about this. She knew that this was a bit of a hard task to accomplish, being super quiet and everything. But she was just wanting to take him out.

Yolei swung the baseball bat on the guy and then he fell down right away. Then she felt the money was still in her pocket, and then Yolei was running right out of the store with the baseball before he was able to get up and actually take her out. Once she was out of the store, she closed it and she didn't bother locking but the closed door would at the very least distract him a bit and give her another second or two.

Once outside, Yolei ran right to the back of the car and then once she was inside the car, she slammed the door shut and then she was placing the seat belt on. She was looking right at Joe as she was patting his shoulder several times to get the point of the urgency across.

"Okay Yolei, I get it, we need to start right now," Joe said and he was trying to hide his slight annoyance over the constant touching, but he didn't really care all that much. He was starting the car and then as he was starting the car up, Yolei was feeling a little bit better once the car was far away from the store parking lot and there was virtually no chance that he was going to catch up to them.

Once they were gone from the store by quite a comfortable margin, Joe was starting to slow down and then Yolei was taking it easy and she was no longer stiff as can be. "What the hell happened in there? You were gone for like several minutes." Joe said and then after he had said that, Yolei sighed and then she was not sure what to tell them. She was not even sure why she was taking so much time to consider this.

Yolei told him the truth, and then after she had told the two guys the entire store, and then she was holding the baseball bat a bit, she was sounding like she was really starting to get to the point where she was no longer caring all that much. "I am kind of tired right now. I guess that if I needed to defend myself a bit, there will be this." Yolei said, thinking that she might be starting to get a little bit less useless now.

"Well, that is one way of looking at it. I doubt that it will be as useful as a gun. I bet that you can do more than I will though since I don't even have any weapon at all. I don't really think that it matters all that much anymore." Joe said and then he was chuckling a little bit as he was thinking about how this young lady might actually be more useful than him on a battle now. He was thinking that there was going to be a little bit of an embarrassment to the whole thing. He was thinking that it was going to be a little bit sad that she was going to put up a fight more than him, shall the need arise.

The more that Joe was driving, the more that Davis was starting to keep his wounds on track. He was just more focused on the wounds as he was taking out another cigarette to smoke it. Yolei was thinking that he must have been near the end of the current pack that he was going through. She was wondering if he was going to just get another pack once this whole thing was over with for good.

Yolei was thinking that he was still a good-looking man, even when he was smoking and in pain and looking like he was ready to kill the fucking mayor of the city. It was crazy to imagine how he was going to try and do that. But to some sense, she could sort of seeing the logic to the whole thing. She was hating to see him do this though, as she was actually starting to take a liking to him and she was starting to think that he was going to die now. Not just a liking as a friend, but a bit more than that. She was just hoping now that she was a bit older than she was, or that he was younger than he was.

Yolei hoped that when this was all over with for good, Yolei might try and stop talking to him for good. She was thinking that if she stopped talking to him, then he was going to start to lose some of these feelings and then she was feeling like she was going to be able to start to look at him as just a normal person again. Or in the next several years, maybe even have a small chance of just forgetting about him altogether as a human being.

Eventually, the three of them pulled up at the parking lot of the store where the cameras were being sold at. Joe got out of the car and then he was looking around and he was glad to see that there were another twenty minutes before the store had closed. Just enough time to grab what they were needing and then they would be able to able to head on right out.

Davis got out of the car as well. He was giving out a bunch of pained noises. Yolei was thinking that he needed to take a bit of a break. He placed the gun in the car. He was not wanting to get in trouble with the law by bringing a gun to the store. He was just thinking that he was already placing these two in enough danger as it was, and he was feeling worse with each time he was placing them in danger. He was starting to feel like he needed to protect them at all cost. He only knew Joe for about an hour or so, but he felt like this hour or so was well more than enough for Davis to feel a need to just protect him as well as protect Yolei. Well, Yolei already made sense given how much he had already known her at this point in time.

Eventually, the three of them were inside the store and then started to go at the back of the line. She was just doing this to be thinking about various things here and there. She was not wanting to get in the way. She was just hoping that neither Davis nor Joe would feel the need to get right in her business about the choice that he was making now.


	46. Setting up the Motions

As Cody was trying his best to sleep, he was hearing a door opening. Cody knew that this was showing that his father was now home from work. Usually if Cody was in bed by the time Sheldon got home during the summer, Cody would try and sneak out to spend about ten to fifteen minutes with his father in order to be with him. On school days, he would have to accept the fact that he can't really do this, but this was the summer. But there was something about the way he was seeing his father that made him actually think that there was something going on that was very important. Something even to his eight year old self that he needed to be a little bit cautious about.

He was wearing a pure black suit, which was something Cody had barely ever seen before. He was seeing his father look like he had just fought in some form of a war. He was scared about what his father was actually thinking at that moment. Cody didn't want to make his father get annoyed or worried about him for staying up late, but at the same time he was wondering what was going on with his father that was making him feel this way in the first place.

He was flopping on the couch and then he was placing his hands on his face. Cody was thinking that maybe talking to his father could get him to feel a little bit better. So Cody decided to take the chance. He walked right there and then he sat down right next to Sheldon. It took Sheldon a few seconds to actually show any expression over this, but then Sheldon looked up at Cody and he was smiling for a couple of seconds. "I think you should be in bed right now. Not that it really matters. It's the summer anyways." Sheldon said and then Cody was wondering to himself if this was going to be the final time he was ever going to see his father. He was having a terrible feeling that this was going to be the case.

"I just saw that you were looking like you were not really a happy camper right now. I was wondering if you were okay." Cody said and he was always mature for his age, and he was sounding like he was going to really help Sheldon out. Sheldon just simply looked right at Cody and then he was just holding in any form of tears that he was having.

He needed to look strong when he was looking at Cody. He needed to be there for Cody. He needed to have himself look like he was being composed when Cody was there, so that way Cody would understand that he was not a weak man. At least giving off the impression that he was not a weak man, so this was why he was just going to do this.

"I just have a lot of stuff going on with work lately. I think that work has been really bogging me down. I just want to get a couple of good nights of sleep. I just need to get high again." Sheldon said, and he was wondering if he should have not been speaking about getting high when Cody was around. But then he was thinking that Cody was probably well traversed in the idea of what getting high at the very least was. So he was not really feeling like he needed to constrain himself too much on these discussions.

"What makes you want to get high?" Cody was asking, in his way to try and understand the appeal of what it was like to be high. He didn't want to judge his father for habits he had ever since he was a young boy, but he just wanted to figure out the whole appeal himself. Even if it was something that he felt like he was never exactly going to get. Cody was even thinking that maybe he should actually try to get high a couple of times in order to see what it was like to be high. And what was so great about the whole thing.

"I have just had a lot of stress lately. I want to forget about the stress, and I want to just think that everything will be alright. Trust me, when you try it out, you feel like there is nothing in the world that is going to bog you down. Try it out some day. But I am just going to stick to casual cigarettes." Sheldon said and then he took out one from his pack and then he started to light it up. As he was smoking the cigarette a bit, he was hoping that Cody wasn't going to make a big thing out of it. The whole issue would be kind of annoying if his eight year old son was going to try and dictate how he should be living his life. He liked Cody, but he was going to smoke as much as he wanted, and he was going to just make it clear to his son that he was going to have to deal with it even if he was opposed to it.

It seemed like Cody didn't really mind too much. He had seen it so much from his father that no matter what the case may have been, he just couldn't really get himself to give too much of a shit. "So dad, what exactly at work is making you feel stressed?" Cody asked, and then Sheldon was starting to finish up the cigarette he had and then he was budding out the remaining bit on the ashtray.

There was barely any left at all, so there was no real need for him to feel like he needed to get in the one final puff in all honesty. "Just a bunch of supply shipments. I think that these supply shipments are just a bit rough. We have a lot of money that we need to make this next month in order to turn up a profit for our slightly weak previous month. You know, sort of the economic benefit of what we are investing in." Sheldon said, and he was feeling like it was probably strange for him to be talking about this to his eight year old son, thinking that his son probably didn't really get the context of what he was talking about at all.

"In short, I just hope that we don't end up losing our business. If I lose my business, I don't know how I will be able to continue living." Sheldon said, thinking about what terrible financial situation he was going to possibly be in if he wasn't smart enough, and if he didn't turn in anything good. He was worried about how his family was going to survive. He was wondering how he was going to survive through the terrible ideas of losing his job that he had for over twenty years at the gas station. He was probably going to kill himself even earlier and in a less dignified way than he was planning on doing so.

But then Sheldon was looking right at Cody, and looking at his son was making him think against what it would be like to kill himself. He was thinking that doing this would be one of the biggest mistakes that he could have come up with. He thought that Cody needed him there, even if Sheldon himself was suffering as a result of this.

Cody was wondering what his father was thinking. He had seen this look on his face so many times, and he was starting to think that his father needed to take it easy. Cody was scared his father was going to die soon. With all of the drugs, the late hours, and how badly he was handling himself on a general basis, it was hard for him to actually function normally anymore. Sheldon was thinking that with how bad everything was, that maybe it was better for him to just end it all right then and there.

Cody was hugging his father. As Cody was hugging his father, it was his way of trying to show that things would be fine while also trying to show his affection for his father at the same time. He was wanting to feel it as much as he could on the final times of the summer at the very least. As this was happening, Sheldon smiled.

The longer the embrace held, the more that Sheldon was thinking it would be awful for him to end his life. He was thinking about what it was going to be like to be with Cody more. It was a daily battle he was doing with himself. Wanting to survive for the sake of Cody but wanting to die to get over what had happened in his life earlier and to no longer ever be thinking of any of these things anymore and then the entire world would be better with his lack of being around. Even Cody and Jenny would be better without him, and he was well aware of this truth.

As Sheldon was thinking about the conflicting dilemmas and his conflicting feelings that he was constantly having, he was hoping that Cody was not going to be able to see through what he was thinking. He was hoping that Cody was not going to try and get him to reverse what he was feeling about himself at the last minute. He was just thinking about the choice that he was making, and he was thinking how much longer he was going to try and last before he was going to make his choice.

Eventually, the hug ended and then Cody was still smiling really huge. Sheldon just wanted to see the smile more. He wanted to see his son happy. But he was not sure if his son was going to still be happy with him in future years. He was still hoping that Cody would be able to appreciate him better in the future, but the fear that in all reality he would not was still just getting to him every single fucking time. "I am so sorry that I am the guy who you had to start to get to know as my father." Sheldon apologized to his son, and he was hoping that Cody was going to be nice to him still, but he was not sure if that was going to happen.

"Don't worry about it dad. I would not change it for anything." Cody said and then Sheldon was wondering if he was just saying this to make him feel better or if he was actually telling the truth. In all reality, he was starting to think that either one of those really had a big chance of being true. Either Cody was just being nice, which Sheldon was hoping was the truth so that way Sheldon can be aware of how fucking awful he was as a human being and he will never forget the truth, but at the same time he was thinking Cody was actually meaning it. This would be the nicer option out of the two, and in a general world case, this would be the one that he would have wanted, but Sheldon was just thinking that it was only because of general being unware of what the world was actually like that was making Cody actually feel this way in the first place.

The more that time was passing, the more that Sheldon was hoping that this conversation can be over so that way Sheldon would not have to worry about his terrible of a human being he actually was. He was thinking about how if Cody can go away, he can go back to his brooding angst which he was starting to really miss now more than ever.

"Cody, I think that you should really be heading to sleep now. You have been talking to me for nearly twenty minutes. I think you have gone well beyond your bed time." Sheldon decided and then he was standing up. Cody was thinking that he was going to try and change what his father was thinking, but when he was thinking about it he was starting to think that in all reality, his father had probably made up his mind and that trying to change it was going to be more of a hassle than anything else.

Cody was starting to go back to his room, thinking that if there was one thing his father was totally right on, it was that he did need to get to sleep soon. He really actually was feeling his fatigue coming in.

But then right as Cody was opening his bedroom door to go to bed, there was a knock on the door. Sheldon was rolling his eyes at the knock and then he was walking right to the door and he opened it.

Cody was just standing there casually, as if he was just going to listen to the conversation for a couple of minutes and then he was going to go right to bed in order to get himself some actual sleep. As he was starting to listen to the conversation, the more that Cody was starting to think that he knew almost every single voice of the conversation. "Sheldon, I was seeing that you were really at an unease when you were at work today. I was just wanting to stop by and talk for a couple of minutes. I hope that everything is alright. I was also wondering how Cody and Jenny are doing." The guy said, and the more that Cody was listening, the more that he was starting to figure out that this was just Wyatt.

"Listen, I just had this conversation with Cody right now. I don't really want to be dealing with yet another pep talk about my mood right now. I don't really think anybody actually cares all that much what I am dealing with. They just think that I am in a bad mood all the time." Sheldon said and then he was smoking his next cigarette and then Wyatt was just trying to think of something that would make him be able to make the conversation a little bit less uncomfortable.

"Sheldon, I get that you think that nobody cares about you, but that is not the truth. A lot of people do care about you. People are worried about what you are going to do to yourself. We all know what you are considering right now. We think that we need to help you." Wyatt said and then he said "I have been around you for over twenty years. I know almost as if you were a family member. if you actually went through with what you are thinking about doing, then I would be in a spot where it would be like I was losing a family member." Wyatt had honestly meant every single word of what he was saying.

"I know. I just have so much in my life that has been so bad, and so many things that did not go my way that I am starting to think that this is the proper choice of what to do. I mean, I doubt that Jenny and Cody really even care about me. They probably just act like they care about me in order to make me feel better. That has to be the fucking case." Sheldon said and Cody was wanting to interject, but he could clearly tell that this was the conversation two adults were having with each other, so Cody was forcing himself to just not talk at all, no matter how much it was killing himself to listen to his father be talking like this.

"If they didn't care about you, they would have left you a long time ago. Please Sheldon, I know that you are tempted to do this and everything, but please don't do it. I mean, you already lost a ton of your life form your drugs." Wyatt said and then Shledon snapped.

"I FUCKING KNOW THIS WYATT! I KNOW THAT I AM GOING TO DIE YOUNG! BUT I WANT TO CONTINUE MY HABIT BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY MAKES ME FEEL BETTER!" Sheldon was tired of his yelling and he was looking at his next cigarette. He started to smoke it and then he was feeling the next needle of his pack and he wanted so badly to have it. He needed to smoke it in the next couple of hours for his own sanity.

Wyatt was just standing there, thinking about what he was being told. He was thinking about Sheldon, and he was just wondering how much longer this worker of his was going to continue to abuse himself. Wyatt had wanted to see him stop, and he was even silently pleading most of the time for him to stop. But it was just something that looked like it was never going to come. He was accepting of the fact that Sheldon was this way. It was kind of hard not to be when he had been exposed to this life style of his worker for so long. But that didn't mean that he was personally very fond of it. He was not very fond of seeing a man who he had started to know as a friend, and as Wyatt stated, even almost as family, doing this to himself constantly. It was terrible to witness, and it was something that Cody would never be able to fully understand since he was born well into his fathers drug career.

"I'm sorry that I said anything. I just get worried when I see you is all. I just wished that you were able to talk to us normally, and actually be there for us when we feel like we will be needing you." Wyatt said and then Sheldon was thinking that the idea of anybody needing him was something that he was just not really able to fully comprehend. It just didn't make any sense to him. How could anybody need him? He was a living disaster who had barely gotten anything good done in his life. He was a failure. But there was a part of him that was thinking for a moment. Actually feeling like it was functioning on a normal level for even just a moment.

"You said that you needed my help. Is that actually true? Is that something you think I can actually do?" Sheldon asked, as a large part of him was sounding like he was almost begging in a way for this to be true. Just wishing that somebody was actually going to care for him. He was feeling that if somebody cared for him, then maybe there was some hope in his life yet. Wyatt was looking right at Sheldon, and for a strange short moment, it seemed like there was even a bit of brotherly understanding between the two men.

Wyatt placed both of his hands on the slightly younger man's shoulders. He was pressing down hard, as if thinking that him doing this was going to do a better job making his point clear. "Listen Sheldon, we all need you right now. Cody needs you to raise him. Your wife needs to to be there for her when things get rough and she just needs a person who can be there right at the moment for her. I need you in order for some order to be brought into the gas station, and to make it feel like there is some form of running order. And most of all, this city actually needs you. They need you because you did something nobody else did. You actually tried to make a difference. You tried to show people that they don't need to fear. This is a big thing. This is the most important thing that you could have done, and you did it perfectly my friend." As Wyatt was saying this, Sheldon actually found himself believing in Wyatt. He found himself thinking that Wyatt was actually telling the truth. This made Sheldon actually want to do something he didn't want to do earlier. He was thinking about Jimmy White.

He thought about the conversation that he had with Davis earlier that night, and what he can do in order to actually help out there. Sheldon was thinking that he could actually be able to help out. All he needed to do was just give in some extra effort.

It was concept he was starting to forget a lot about. The idea of effort. The idea that he just needed to work a bit harder. But when he was thinking about this, the more he was thinking about what he was going to be able to do when it came down to crunch time.

"Yeah, I am very sorry for the way that I acted. I feel like a dumb ass. I know that I am addicted. I know that I will probably never break it. But I want to help out. I really, really do this time. Let me help you. I am going to do the one thing that I said I was wanting to do but never really got the balls to do it. This time, I am actually going to do it though. I am going to kill Jimmy White." Sheldon said and as he was looking at Wyatt's face, there was a smile on Wyatt's face. As if this was the thing he had wanted to hear Sheldon say this whole time.

"Now it seems like the man I used to know is coming back. I am not going to get in your business about what you are going to do in order to do this. I think that this is going to have to be the show that you run on your own. But let me tell you, I am going to be rooting for you every single step of the way. When it is all done, come to the gas station. I will be waiting for you there. Maybe we can celebrate the victory." Wyatt said and then Sheldon was getting something of an actual smile on his face for once, something he felt like was a huge weakness but something he needed to show more on his final days.

"Yeah, let's do that. I would really like that actually." Sheldon had meant every single word of it. Wyatt can see from the look on Sheldon's face that he actually did. Wyatt then started to leave Sheldon alone as the drug addicted father was thinking of what to do next.

"I think maybe I can try and meet Davis again. Surely he must know something. Or maybe I can talk with Jimmy White again, and see if I can still get him under the impression of being cordial." Sheldon said and Cody was thinking all about what was happening.

'Why does he want to kill somebody? Do I really know my dad? Should I have just not listened to this and think that he was still a bright and great man? I feel like I just got exposed to something that I shouldn't have been aware of.' Cody was curious, but he felt like learning more was going to get him in massive trouble.

'Maybe if I follow him. Maybe if I track down what he is doing, then I can see what he is going to do. Maybe I can tell him off. But I am tired. I want to go to bed. But I want to see that dad doesn't do something that he will hate for the rest of his life. I feel like I need to make a choice right here and right now.' Cody was wondering which one of these choices he was going to regret more in the long run, and which one was going to create bigger problems with his father.

As Sheldon went into his room, he was looking through a chest that he hadn't opened in a while. One that he knew opening was going to bring him back to the days that he was at earlier. Something he was starting to tell himself was going to be a big mistake if he went in there. He was still in doubt. He was still trying to bargain himself out of this. But then he shook his head. He grabbed a machete that looked like it was starting to age a bit. He then grabbed a gun and then he grabbed all of the extra sets of ammunition that he had in case he needed to reload. Then he was looking at a picture he had. A very important picture that he knew was going to keep him going throughout this entire operation, regardless of if he had lived or not.

As Cody was trying his best to sleep, he was hearing a door opening. Cody knew that this was showing that his father was now home from work. Usually if Cody was in bed by the time Sheldon got home during the summer, Cody would try and sneak out to spend about ten to fifteen minutes with his father in order to be with him. On school days, he would have to accept the fact that he can't really do this, but this was the summer. But there was something about the way he was seeing his father that made him actually think that there was something going on that was very important. Something even to his eight year old self that he needed to be a little bit cautious about.

He was wearing a pure black suit, which was something Cody had barely ever seen before. He was seeing his father look like he had just fought in some form of a war. He was scared about what his father was actually thinking at that moment. Cody didn't want to make his father get annoyed or worried about him for staying up late, but at the same time he was wondering what was going on with his father that was making him feel this way in the first place.

He was flopping on the couch and then he was placing his hands on his face. Cody was thinking that maybe talking to his father could get him to feel a little bit better. So Cody decided to take the chance. He walked right there and then he sat down right next to Sheldon. It took Sheldon a few seconds to actually show any expression over this, but then Sheldon looked up at Cody and he was smiling for a couple of seconds. "I think you should be in bed right now. Not that it really matters. It's the summer anyways." Sheldon said and then Cody was wondering to himself if this was going to be the final time he was ever going to see his father. He was having a terrible feeling that this was going to be the case.

"I just saw that you were looking like you were not really a happy camper right now. I was wondering if you were okay." Cody said and he was always mature for his age, and he was sounding like he was going to really help Sheldon out. Sheldon just simply looked right at Cody and then he was just holding in any form of tears that he was having.

He needed to look strong when he was looking at Cody. He needed to be there for Cody. He needed to have himself look like he was being composed when Cody was there, so that way Cody would understand that he was not a weak man. At least giving off the impression that he was not a weak man, so this was why he was just going to do this.

"I just have a lot of stuff going on with work lately. I think that work has been really bogging me down. I just want to get a couple of good nights of sleep. I just need to get high again." Sheldon said, and he was wondering if he should have not been speaking about getting high when Cody was around. But then he was thinking that Cody was probably well traversed in the idea of what getting high at the very least was. So he was not really feeling like he needed to constrain himself too much on these discussions.

"What makes you want to get high?" Cody was asking, in his way to try and understand the appeal of what it was like to be high. He didn't want to judge his father for habits he had ever since he was a young boy, but he just wanted to figure out the whole appeal himself. Even if it was something that he felt like he was never exactly going to get. Cody was even thinking that maybe he should actually try to get high a couple of times in order to see what it was like to be high. And what was so great about the whole thing.

"I have just had a lot of stress lately. I want to forget about the stress, and I want to just think that everything will be alright. Trust me, when you try it out, you feel like there is nothing in the world that is going to bog you down. Try it out some day. But I am just going to stick to casual cigarettes." Sheldon said and then he took out one from his pack and then he started to light it up. As he was smoking the cigarette a bit, he was hoping that Cody wasn't going to make a big thing out of it. The whole issue would be kind of annoying if his eight year old son was going to try and dictate how he should be living his life. He liked Cody, but he was going to smoke as much as he wanted, and he was going to just make it clear to his son that he was going to have to deal with it even if he was opposed to it.

It seemed like Cody didn't really mind too much. He had seen it so much from his father that no matter what the case may have been, he just couldn't really get himself to give too much of a shit. "So dad, what exactly at work is making you feel stressed?" Cody asked, and then Sheldon was starting to finish up the cigarette he had and then he was budding out the remaining bit on the ashtray.

There was barely any left at all, so there was no real need for him to feel like he needed to get in the one final puff in all honesty. "Just a bunch of supply shipments. I think that these supply shipments are just a bit rough. We have a lot of money that we need to make this next month in order to turn up a profit for our slightly weak previous month. You know, sort of the economic benefit of what we are investing in." Sheldon said, and he was feeling like it was probably strange for him to be talking about this to his eight year old son, thinking that his son probably didn't really get the context of what he was talking about at all.

"In short, I just hope that we don't end up losing our business. If I lose my business, I don't know how I will be able to continue living." Sheldon said, thinking about what terrible financial situation he was going to possibly be in if he wasn't smart enough, and if he didn't turn in anything good. He was worried about how his family was going to survive. He was wondering how he was going to survive through the terrible ideas of losing his job that he had for over twenty years at the gas station. He was probably going to kill himself even earlier and in a less dignified way than he was planning on doing so.

But then Sheldon was looking right at Cody, and looking at his son was making him think against what it would be like to kill himself. He was thinking that doing this would be one of the biggest mistakes that he could have come up with. He thought that Cody needed him there, even if Sheldon himself was suffering as a result of this.

Cody was wondering what his father was thinking. He had seen this look on his face so many times, and he was starting to think that his father needed to take it easy. Cody was scared his father was going to die soon. With all of the drugs, the late hours, and how badly he was handling himself on a general basis, it was hard for him to actually function normally anymore. Sheldon was thinking that with how bad everything was, that maybe it was better for him to just end it all right then and there.

Cody was hugging his father. As Cody was hugging his father, it was his way of trying to show that things would be fine while also trying to show his affection for his father at the same time. He was wanting to feel it as much as he could on the final times of the summer at the very least. As this was happening, Sheldon smiled.

The longer the embrace held, the more that Sheldon was thinking it would be awful for him to end his life. He was thinking about what it was going to be like to be with Cody more. It was a daily battle he was doing with himself. Wanting to survive for the sake of Cody but wanting to die to get over what had happened in his life earlier and to no longer ever be thinking of any of these things anymore and then the entire world would be better with his lack of being around. Even Cody and Jenny would be better without him, and he was well aware of this truth.

As Sheldon was thinking about the conflicting dilemmas and his conflicting feelings that he was constantly having, he was hoping that Cody was not going to be able to see through what he was thinking. He was hoping that Cody was not going to try and get him to reverse what he was feeling about himself at the last minute. He was just thinking about the choice that he was making, and he was thinking how much longer he was going to try and last before he was going to make his choice.

Eventually, the hug ended and then Cody was still smiling really huge. Sheldon just wanted to see the smile more. He wanted to see his son happy. But he was not sure if his son was going to still be happy with him in future years. He was still hoping that Cody would be able to appreciate him better in the future, but the fear that in all reality he would not was still just getting to him every single fucking time. "I am so sorry that I am the guy who you had to start to get to know as my father." Sheldon apologized to his son, and he was hoping that Cody was going to be nice to him still, but he was not sure if that was going to happen.

"Don't worry about it dad. I would not change it for anything." Cody said and then Sheldon was wondering if he was just saying this to make him feel better or if he was actually telling the truth. In all reality, he was starting to think that either one of those really had a big chance of being true. Either Cody was just being nice, which Sheldon was hoping was the truth so that way Sheldon can be aware of how fucking awful he was as a human being and he will never forget the truth, but at the same time he was thinking Cody was actually meaning it. This would be the nicer option out of the two, and in a general world case, this would be the one that he would have wanted, but Sheldon was just thinking that it was only because of general being unware of what the world was actually like that was making Cody actually feel this way in the first place.

The more that time was passing, the more that Sheldon was hoping that this conversation can be over so that way Sheldon would not have to worry about his terrible of a human being he actually was. He was thinking about how if Cody can go away, he can go back to his brooding angst which he was starting to really miss now more than ever.

"Cody, I think that you should really be heading to sleep now. You have been talking to me for nearly twenty minutes. I think you have gone well beyond your bed time." Sheldon decided and then he was standing up. Cody was thinking that he was going to try and change what his father was thinking, but when he was thinking about it he was starting to think that in all reality, his father had probably made up his mind and that trying to change it was going to be more of a hassle than anything else.

Cody was starting to go back to his room, thinking that if there was one thing his father was totally right on, it was that he did need to get to sleep soon. He really actually was feeling his fatigue coming in.

But then right as Cody was opening his bedroom door to go to bed, there was a knock on the door. Sheldon was rolling his eyes at the knock and then he was walking right to the door and he opened it.

Cody was just standing there casually, as if he was just going to listen to the conversation for a couple of minutes and then he was going to go right to bed in order to get himself some actual sleep. As he was starting to listen to the conversation, the more that Cody was starting to think that he knew almost every single voice of the conversation. "Sheldon, I was seeing that you were really at an unease when you were at work today. I was just wanting to stop by and talk for a couple of minutes. I hope that everything is alright. I was also wondering how Cody and Jenny are doing." The guy said, and the more that Cody was listening, the more that he was starting to figure out that this was just Wyatt.

"Listen, I just had this conversation with Cody right now. I don't really want to be dealing with yet another pep talk about my mood right now. I don't really think anybody actually cares all that much what I am dealing with. They just think that I am in a bad mood all the time." Sheldon said and then he was smoking his next cigarette and then Wyatt was just trying to think of something that would make him be able to make the conversation a little bit less uncomfortable.

"Sheldon, I get that you think that nobody cares about you, but that is not the truth. A lot of people do care about you. People are worried about what you are going to do to yourself. We all know what you are considering right now. We think that we need to help you." Wyatt said and then he said "I have been around you for over twenty years. I know almost as if you were a family member. if you actually went through with what you are thinking about doing, then I would be in a spot where it would be like I was losing a family member." Wyatt had honestly meant every single word of what he was saying.

"I know. I just have so much in my life that has been so bad, and so many things that did not go my way that I am starting to think that this is the proper choice of what to do. I mean, I doubt that Jenny and Cody really even care about me. They probably just act like they care about me in order to make me feel better. That has to be the fucking case." Sheldon said and Cody was wanting to interject, but he could clearly tell that this was the conversation two adults were having with each other, so Cody was forcing himself to just not talk at all, no matter how much it was killing himself to listen to his father be talking like this.

"If they didn't care about you, they would have left you a long time ago. Please Sheldon, I know that you are tempted to do this and everything, but please don't do it. I mean, you already lost a ton of your life form your drugs." Wyatt said and then Shledon snapped.

"I FUCKING KNOW THIS WYATT! I KNOW THAT I AM GOING TO DIE YOUNG! BUT I WANT TO CONTINUE MY HABIT BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY MAKES ME FEEL BETTER!" Sheldon was tired of his yelling and he was looking at his next cigarette. He started to smoke it and then he was feeling the next needle of his pack and he wanted so badly to have it. He needed to smoke it in the next couple of hours for his own sanity.

Wyatt was just standing there, thinking about what he was being told. He was thinking about Sheldon, and he was just wondering how much longer this worker of his was going to continue to abuse himself. Wyatt had wanted to see him stop, and he was even silently pleading most of the time for him to stop. But it was just something that looked like it was never going to come. He was accepting of the fact that Sheldon was this way. It was kind of hard not to be when he had been exposed to this life style of his worker for so long. But that didn't mean that he was personally very fond of it. He was not very fond of seeing a man who he had started to know as a friend, and as Wyatt stated, even almost as family, doing this to himself constantly. It was terrible to witness, and it was something that Cody would never be able to fully understand since he was born well into his fathers drug career.

"I'm sorry that I said anything. I just get worried when I see you is all. I just wished that you were able to talk to us normally, and actually be there for us when we feel like we will be needing you." Wyatt said and then Sheldon was thinking that the idea of anybody needing him was something that he was just not really able to fully comprehend. It just didn't make any sense to him. How could anybody need him? He was a living disaster who had barely gotten anything good done in his life. He was a failure. But there was a part of him that was thinking for a moment. Actually feeling like it was functioning on a normal level for even just a moment.

"You said that you needed my help. Is that actually true? Is that something you think I can actually do?" Sheldon asked, as a large part of him was sounding like he was almost begging in a way for this to be true. Just wishing that somebody was actually going to care for him. He was feeling that if somebody cared for him, then maybe there was some hope in his life yet. Wyatt was looking right at Sheldon, and for a strange short moment, it seemed like there was even a bit of brotherly understanding between the two men.

Wyatt placed both of his hands on the slightly younger man's shoulders. He was pressing down hard, as if thinking that him doing this was going to do a better job making his point clear. "Listen Sheldon, we all need you right now. Cody needs you to raise him. Your wife needs to to be there for her when things get rough and she just needs a person who can be there right at the moment for her. I need you in order for some order to be brought into the gas station, and to make it feel like there is some form of running order. And most of all, this city actually needs you. They need you because you did something nobody else did. You actually tried to make a difference. You tried to show people that they don't need to fear. This is a big thing. This is the most important thing that you could have done, and you did it perfectly my friend." As Wyatt was saying this, Sheldon actually found himself believing in Wyatt. He found himself thinking that Wyatt was actually telling the truth. This made Sheldon actually want to do something he didn't want to do earlier. He was thinking about Jimmy White.

He thought about the conversation that he had with Davis earlier that night, and what he can do in order to actually help out there. Sheldon was thinking that he could actually be able to help out. All he needed to do was just give in some extra effort.

It was concept he was starting to forget a lot about. The idea of effort. The idea that he just needed to work a bit harder. But when he was thinking about this, the more he was thinking about what he was going to be able to do when it came down to crunch time.

"Yeah, I am very sorry for the way that I acted. I feel like a dumb ass. I know that I am addicted. I know that I will probably never break it. But I want to help out. I really, really do this time. Let me help you. I am going to do the one thing that I said I was wanting to do but never really got the balls to do it. This time, I am actually going to do it though. I am going to kill Jimmy White." Sheldon said and as he was looking at Wyatt's face, there was a smile on Wyatt's face. As if this was the thing he had wanted to hear Sheldon say this whole time.

"Now it seems like the man I used to know is coming back. I am not going to get in your business about what you are going to do in order to do this. I think that this is going to have to be the show that you run on your own. But let me tell you, I am going to be rooting for you every single step of the way. When it is all done, come to the gas station. I will be waiting for you there. Maybe we can celebrate the victory." Wyatt said and then Sheldon was getting something of an actual smile on his face for once, something he felt like was a huge weakness but something he needed to show more on his final days.

"Yeah, let's do that. I would really like that actually." Sheldon had meant every single word of it. Wyatt can see from the look on Sheldon's face that he actually did. Wyatt then started to leave Sheldon alone as the drug addicted father was thinking of what to do next.

"I think maybe I can try and meet Davis again. Surely he must know something. Or maybe I can talk with Jimmy White again, and see if I can still get him under the impression of being cordial." Sheldon said and Cody was thinking all about what was happening.

'Why does he want to kill somebody? Do I really know my dad? Should I have just not listened to this and think that he was still a bright and great man? I feel like I just got exposed to something that I shouldn't have been aware of.' Cody was curious, but he felt like learning more was going to get him in massive trouble.

'Maybe if I follow him. Maybe if I track down what he is doing, then I can see what he is going to do. Maybe I can tell him off. But I am tired. I want to go to bed. But I want to see that dad doesn't do something that he will hate for the rest of his life. I feel like I need to make a choice right here and right now.' Cody was wondering which one of these choices he was going to regret more in the long run, and which one was going to create bigger problems with his father.

As Sheldon went into his room, he was looking through a chest that he hadn't opened in a while. One that he knew opening was going to bring him back to the days that he was at earlier. Something he was starting to tell himself was going to be a big mistake if he went in there. He was still in doubt. He was still trying to bargain himself out of this. But then he shook his head. He grabbed a machete that looked like it was starting to age a bit. He then grabbed a gun and then he grabbed all of the extra sets of ammunition that he had in case he needed to reload. Then he was looking at a picture he had. A very important picture that he knew was going to keep him going throughout this entire operation, regardless of if he had lived or not.

"I mean, we have talked for so long, and have really gotten to know each other. I feel like I might understand you better than almost anybody else. Besides like maybe Jenny." Brad said as he was letting the terrible truth of this reality sink in.

There was a very valid chance that Brad knew Sheldon more than anybody else. Even his family didn't understand him as much. Even his helpers at work. Nobody got him like he did. There was a bond they had. And it was going to be ruined soon one way or another. He either was going to be the one who did it, or fate with drugs would do the job. "I almost wonder if me never accepting the contract would have made any differences at all. I feel like if I never accepted the contract, I would never have felt a strange incentive to know you." Brad admitted and Sheldon didn't say anything.

"I guess that nothing can change things facts though. I am here. You are here. I want to kill Jimmy White. And honestly, I am not even thinking about being stopped this time. I feel like this time I will truly be going through with it." Sheldon said, looking right at Brad to see what he was going to say.

"I bet you are going to try and stop me now, are you?" Sheldon asked, and then he was wondering if he was right. He couldn't believe that he was going to have to deal with Brad, a person who he thought understood him more than anybody, who would have understood his intentions more than anybody else, try and stop him on the biggest thing he can do.

It made Sheldon start to think that nobody ever was really going to understand what his mindset was like, and that everything he planned on doing was just gong to end in failure. Sheldon felt like he needed to get people to see his perspective, and that the lack of this happening was just creating more problems for him. Wyatt didn't understand why he was exactly a certain way. Jenny thought he just was facing some problems and could be able to get over them soon enough. He was living with a group of people who just didn't really know him, and here he was with somebody that at least started to kind of get it. Started to show some signs that he was able to see through the mindset of what he was wanting to accomplish. And it was somebody who he was barely ever really going to get a chance to see again.

All of it really bothered him while also made him feel more depressed than ever, and he was not even sure how that could have been possible. The idea of him just getting more and more depressed at things in the world than he already had been. He thought it was just something that could not happen. And yet, here he was right at that moment facing this exact feeling.

"You know, I just think that I am the only one who deserves to do it. I mean, with the way he has fucked me up for nearly two and a half decades. I hate him. I want him gone. I am the only one who really deserves to have this feeling in the way that I do. I just want him gone. I want him more than gone. I want him to suffer for everything that he has done. And the thing is, it wasn't even fully done by him. I get that this wasn't fully his fault, as much as I hate to admit it. But he certainly fluctuated it. He was too focused on his own personal gain to see what he was doing." Sheldon was thinking about how great it was going to be to finally take care of the guy forever. If he was going to be able to do that soon.

But as he always had to remember, and he was forced to think about every single time something came up in his mind that was suggesting this, he remembered the fact that he was having all of the disadvantages. Nothing was in his favor. None of it. He may as well have given up right then and there.

As he was thinking about how much he was just fucked no matter what happened, he was starting to feel his mind resign to this face once more. He was wondering what he can do in order to get anything on him. "I mean, surely everybody makes mistakes. He must have made a mistake eventually. If he makes even one, I can find a way through it and I can break it. Nobody is perfect. I just need to find one mistake that he had made, and then I will be totally set. I will have everything figured out by then." Sheldon was saying a little bit hopefully.

"Do you honestly think that you can find anything that he has done that can be considered a mistake? I think that you are shooting for something that is never going to happen. You must see that he does not make any mistakes. Or at least not any that people can find and then use for themselves. Sheldon, you have lost the whole thing. Just accept that reality now and deal with it. Nobody is going to beat him. He will not find a way for you to let mistakes he makes get exposed. Especially since you make so many on a daily basis." Brad said and he was not trying to sound like a dick. He was just wanting to be real with Sheldon, and they both knew that this was the case here.

"But I want to find something. I need to find something. I need to break him. I need to win. If he doesn't get broken by me, then nobody else can do it. And nobody will really understand why he needs it. I want him dead more than anybody else. I think that it is just going to be the only way things can work for me again." Sheldon said, and the more he was thinking about this conversation and what he was saying, the more it was reminding him exactly of how he felt about his dad. The need to just kill the man and make him suffer while he was dying. It was the thing he needed. Not just to kill Jimmy White. No that would have been too easy. He wanted to make Jimmy White suffer. He wanted the man to see what he did to everybody else slowly get translated to him. The fear of death. The pain of death. He felt like Jimmy needed it all in order for him to fully get it all. Then once Jimmy got the pain he deserved, Sheldon would feel like at least a part of this was able to go his way at the end of it all.

But then Sheldon was thinking that it was going to be impossible to give him the pain he deserved. That would be something that only the fucking devil would have been able to grant. Sheldon was not the devil. He was not perfect, but he sure as hell was not the devil.

"I could try and help you if you actually feel like you will be able to find a way to defeat him. Let me get the point across right now that I don't think it can happen. But if it happens." Brad said, actually thinking about what can come of it.

Sheldon was thinking that if something were to come out of it, then something good would finally be in his favor. Something can show Sheldon that he wasn't hated. That there was somebody out there who knew what he had wanted. That actually listened to him once. It was hard to imagine, but he was thinking that defeating Jimmy was going to show if god was real or not.

I mean, I had believed in god on and off in my life. I wanted to think of one of them being real. To try and put a method to the madness. But I was starting to think more and more that there was not. Those were during times in which life was really bad. In which nothing was ever going to go my way. But then something good or even great came along and then I stared to think that I was wrong again and that god was real. Then I start to flip back and forth all over the place on my belief. It was honestly never any fun to be dealing with this.

"I know what you mean. If it happens, then I can really change the tides to go in my favor. I mean, I can't give up though. I have to have at least some bit of hope for something to be working for me." Sheldon said, as he was thinking about what life was going to be like when Jimmy was gone. He was thinking that if his can happen, then he might actually start to enjoy life and he might actually start to consider not killing himself. But he knew for a fact that this was going to take a while for him to feel that level.

"I just think that if you think that something can work in your favor, you just need to prey and hope. Keep your fingers crossed. If you think that something can happen and you just try hard enough, then perhaps you will make it work. It is going to be a lot of work, and something that will almost certainly never work, but I don't know. You have done more than your fair share of things that I never thought were going to go in your favor, and they do work in your favor. You have survived things that most people would certainly die at." Brad said, as if he was starting to maybe even show some level of admiring Sheldon.

"Yeah, I do admit that a lot of it is pure luck. Most people would account it as that. I mean, they are not really wrong." Sheldon said and then after he thought about this for a bit, he was starting to think of some places he can take Brad around that Jimmy might be at. There is no way that Jimmy was not aware of these conversations. Unless if he wasn't there. If Jimmy White was here, then he would have killed Sheldon by then. This made Sheldon laugh in both fear and safety. On one hand, he had gotten himself free to say whatever he wanted. Now he was just worried about finding Jimmy White. And some part of him was worried about it. Worried about where he was going to see him, as if he was starting to think he knew.

"If he found his fucking way to my house, and if he is planning on doing something to my own fucking family, I am going to be so beyond pissed." Sheldon said and then he was opening his car door right now. Brad was confused for a moment and didn't in any way understand what Sheldon was saying, thinking that Sheldon had truly gone off the deep end this time. He was thinking that maybe Sheldon really had been going insane and that he did need to have somebody there to try and constrain him a bit. Brad was starting to think that maybe he was going to be the one who was going to do it.

Brad got himself in the car as well, partly to question Sheldon what he was doing and why he thought Jimmy would be at his house, and partly for the fact that he wanted Sheldon to keep at least some form of calmness and realism to the entire situation. He wasn't thinking that there was like no way Jimmy would be there. He did however think that Sheldon needed to take things with a more clear mind and a more objective standpoint.

Just the whole thing seemed really sudden, and Brad was just worried about the idea of Sheldon losing his mind a bit. He thought Sheldon going crazy was going to be a real factor into things now. And Brad was thinking that if Jimmy really was where his family was, then there was going to be objectively better ways to figure this whole thing out rather than just running in like a fucking idiot. Which Sheldon was when he didn't think things through.

"Think of other places that he could be right now. I mean, yeah sure there is a chance that he is at your house. I'm not saying he isn't. But please think. Do you have any other ideas where he can be? Do you think that maybe there is a chance that he is at a different place right now? Somewhere he may have told you about earlier." Brad said and then Sheldon was thinking that Brad must have been trying to deflect the whole main point. His family was in danger, and Bad was telling him to just stop and think. There was something that this guy did not understand. Maybe it was because he never had a real family of his own that he needed to raise. Sure, there were the people he grew up with. But there was nobody who was his off spring. Or at least he didn't think there was.

"I can't keep myself calm when there is a very high chance that something will kill both of the people who have been at my side for the last several years. But seriously, what the hell are you thinking? About there being other places? I mean, I doubt that Jimmy keeps his word on tiny details like that. Even if it seems like it will matter, chances are it will fucking not." Just purely in his anger, he was thinking of places that Jimmy said they would see each other just to yell them back at Brad and prove his point.

"I mean, I actually doubt that he is waiting to meet with me at the fucking factory. I mean, that sounds like something he would not really actually go to since it would dirty up his clothes and everything. I imagine that he also doesn't want to be associated with that type of low life working material. He probably thinks that he is too good for that stuff." Sheldon said, and there actually was a part of him that was thinking and growing a deep level of disdain not only for him but for his opinions on the smallest of matters, such as this.

"It sounds like someplace he wouldn't be. But if you think about it, would he perhaps not tell that type of stuff that you would be expecting to you? I mean, if you think you know him, maybe you don't actually really know him all that well. He is probably at a lot of the least likely places. Or at least seemingly least likely places." Brad said, as if he was trying to show Sheldon to think a bit outside the box.

But then Sheldon shook his head. "On paper, it seems like that would be the answer. But he is probably thinking that I might suspect that, and therefore it would be working against you. In all reality, I don't think there will be any real obvious answer since I think no matter what we say, it will be going against what one of us is thinking here. So I really would not consider it all that much." Sheldon was thinking that he was going to be running in circles this entire time.

There needed to be a method to the madness. Even the most insane of people have some form of coherent idea of what is going on. Even they must have been thinking and planning of things before it happens. This whole thing made no sense, and it was really just starting to piss him off how none of this was grouping together. Real answers were the one thing he needed, and they were the one thing he was not getting. It was driving him up the fucking wall.

"Nothing you do is going to make perfect sense. You just need to accept that. You just need to find things that you think are going to work, then try to make them work, and who knows you might be able to pull it off. As I said earlier, you have found some crazy things and you have been able to make them work. I think that you are the only one who can do it. I trust that you are the only one who knows what is going on with Jimmy. You guys are fighting a mind battle. That is the point of all of this. Even you must see it." Brad said and Sheldon was annoyed that Brad was stating the most obvious part.

"I know that I am fighting a mind battle. Anybody can fucking see that. There is no need to tell me this. But fucks sake, I don't know how I can be able to actually out smart him. I don't even know if it is possible. I think that he is just better than me in every single way. He has every single tool possible in order to beat me. I feel like I am just losing any chance of being able to beat him. That is why I want to find a mistake he makes. I want to find some form of small error in his calculations. Because if I can do that, then I might actually have a chance of being able to break him. That is all I fucking want." Sheldon said, as he was feeling even more defeated than he already had felt before when he was thinking about the situation he was going to be setting himself up in.

He was thinking about how it was probably going to be fucking impossible for him to beat Jimmy. But he just had hope. That was all that he had. A small hope. What was wrong with having hope when every single other in the world has been going against him? Everything in this world was against his favor, and he really wanted to change all of this for the better.

"I get that Jimmy has done a lot of things to you that you wish you can just bash his skull in for. I get that. I really do. I think that if anything, it if actually pretty admirable that you feel this strongly about the issue. But when you must see that there is only so much fools gold that you can pull out. I mean, if you feel like you can stop him, I will do my best to support you. I will even speak highly of you when you are gone and people are just left with memories of you. But if it comes to the point where I might be the one who is in danger of death from all of this, I might find myself just leaving this and letting you take care of things on your own." Brad tried to make Sheldon feel at least a little bit better about the whole talking fondly of him thing.

"I just want to see that everything I did was actually worth it. I feel like none of this hassle was actually worth it. I hate that feeling. But it is the feeling that I am constantly stuck with. I just want you to do one thing for me if I die tonight. Can you at the very least grant me this?" Sheldon asked and Brad felt like that was the least he can do, so he straightened up and was listening more intently than ever.

"I want you to be there for my family. I want you to be there for Cody. I want you to be there for Jenny. If I die, take my place in a way. Hell, if Cody starts to look at you as a father figure, then I can't complain. Can't be any worse than me. Just be there for them and fill in the hold my death would leave." Sheldon pleaded and then after a few seconds, Brad nodded. He can give Sheldon this at a minimum. The two of them then stared out the window for a moment, wondering what to say next.

"I think that I need to just find him. I will see what I can do once I find him. But finding Jimmy White is the first step. I wish that I was home right now. Even if I wasn't smoking around and wasting my life away, I would have been able to at the very least be there for Jenny and Cody. I really feel like I am going to be missing them. They really helped change my perception on reality. I know I said this before, but there is another reason that when I think about it, comes right to me. And do you think that you know what the reason is? If you know, then I think that you actually do indeed know me more than anybody else here. I don't really think that anybody else knows why I feel this way." Sheldon said and then Brad was thinking about this on the very casual drive of only about ten miles an hour since there were no other cars nearby so Sheldon could have been as slow as he had wanted to be.

"Is it because you are fighting for other people now?" Brad asked, and then Sheldon nodded as if that was at least the bulk of it. There was a bit more to it than just this, as he would explain, but that was a major part of it.

"Well, that is the easy part of it. But I realized that this is no longer a fight just for myself. I mean, there is always something to come out of fighting for myself and everything. But at the same time, I started to see that people were actually needing me. If it was a fight that I was just fighting for myself, then perhaps I would be able to place this all behind me and I would probably have given up on the fight a very long ass time ago. But when I saw Cody, after he was just born, I started to feel much different about it. I felt like there was more to it than me. Even if I just had Jenny, then that would have been something that I would have been able to move on from eventually. I would be able to trust her enough. But when Cody was around, I started to realize that he was innocent and defenseless. And he still is, at least until he is a teenager at the very minimum." Sheldon was saying and then Brad was starting to wonder if he was wrong about Cody this whole time. Wrong about his impact on Sheldon. And as a result, wrong about Sheldon now.

"I never really thought of you as such a family and father man. I mean, I hope that you don't blame me for feeling that way. It's just with all the drugs and everything, you would give off that impression of being a man who just only cared about what gave him the next high. I think that you must see where I am coming from on here." Brad said and then after Brad just decided to express his shock, Sheldon was taking out a cigarette and then he started to smoke it.

"Yeah, I suppose I can see where you are coming from. If I had never moved here, I would have never gotten into drugs in all reality. But I would have let all those women suffer and nothing could have saved them. I also would have never met Jenny and had Cody. I also would have never even met you. And I think that there is a chance that meeting you was a good thing in my life." Sheldon said, thinking that he just needed to appreciate the small things more than he was.

"I think that you are starting to really see the actual values of life more than you had when I had first met you. Who knows, maybe that is all a part of the natural maturation process. Maybe it was because of the fact that you have seen a bunch of darkness in life. Maybe it is a bit of both. But here we are. You have started to become a new person in a way." Brad said and then Sheldon shook his head.

"I guess that maybe I am not as bad as I once was. But that is not really all that high of a bar. I really still have a long way to go. I should not have waited until I was in my thirties, or until I was in my forties, to actually make any real difference. I don't want to be fucking around here anymore. I just don't want to look at the wrong things that I did." Sheldon said, and then he was thinking about Tiffiny.

"Sheldon, please don't think too much about the things that you had done wrong in your life. Think about the things that you have actually done right in your life. Think about all of the things that you were able to fully accomplish in your life. I know that you did some terrible things, and I am sure that neither one of us need to mention what these terrible things were..." Brad said, thinking about Tiffiny, and they both knew that this was able to leave a real negative spot in the mind of Sheldon, but then he felt like he was able to continue. "But the thing is, that is so far in the past that nothing can be done about it. And you do feel regret over what you did. This is something that several people never feel."

Sheldon knew that Brad was right. He hated to think about how Brad was right in that regard. But at the same time, he was thinking about how he still needed to try and fully make everything right. Which was something he was thinking he was never going to be able to do.

"I just wish that when I tried to make up with her, that she saw what my changes were. I guess that some things in life are always just meant to sort of leave a negative impact on my life. I wanted to have a good chance to redeem myself. But I don't think I ever made myself redeemed in her eyes. She always treated me like crap, and when she saw that I was seeing Jenny, and you of all people, she was even worse to you guys. She must have sort of kept her hatred to me to herself after she saw how popular I was getting. But you guys were an exception." Sheldon was feeling even worse for all of those experiences at school as he was thinking about these things further.

"I just wish that I would stop looking back at this point in my life after all of these years. It is fucking stupid that I am still thinking about all of these things from fucking high school. I have not been there in nearly fifteen years, and I find it to be just a bit of a really sad moment when I go back and see that this is just how I am here. I am talking about high school despit enot being there in nearly two decades." Sheldon said, and then he was wondering if Brad was going to say anything.

"The longer that it has been the more it does become something that you should not actively think about. But it is also something that I think you do need to keep a open mind about. You think about how different things could have been, and what you would have done if you were given another chance to do these things again. That is a part of growing up. But when you start to think about how you would change things so much and it is all you think about, then that is when it comes a problem." Brad said and then Sheldon nodded at that.

"It seems like you seem to be seeing where I am coming from for the most part." Sheldon said and then before he can think about what else he was going to say, Brad was coming up with an idea neither one of them were really certain about earlier.

"Hey, how about we go to my house for a bit? If you actually are going to try to take down Jimmy White, and if you think that I am going to help you, then we need to actually get some things together. I need to get some weapons now." Brad said and then Sheldon was starting to think a bit against it at that moment.

"If you really want to, then I guess. But I think that we should find him soon. Before he gets a bunch of cronies to be helping him. And if you want to take this as one final chance to leave me alone, then I guess you can do this now." Sheldon said, thinking he would stop by Brad's house as if to give him one more chance to turn behind Sheldon and start to save himself from what was to come.


	47. A Concerned Sister

As Kari was inside of her house that night, she was coughing a little bit. She hated feeling sick. But the worst part was that she always was just sick on a regular basis. There was nothing that she would have been able to really do about it besides just sleeping a bunch. But as she was trying to sleep, she was feeling like there was something going on that was not going to keep her asleep. She felt like she was going to be awake for a while, no matter how much she would have wanted the sleep. There was something such as the fact that she was thinking Tai was in danger that was keeping her up. The idea of Tai being in danger made her want to talk to her father about it. But she knew that there was nothing her father can do about it without getting himself in danger, and possibly even Kari in danger as well on top of that as well. So for both Kari and her father sake, she had to just hope that Tai was safe.

But there was also something else that confused her. There was something that made her feel like she was going to be watched soon. That her life was going to be put at risk at any moment. Kari was starting to get convinced that she was going to have to find something to keep her safe. As if there was some form of a McGuffin that would have actually been able to keep her safe.

She was watching out the window of her room, and then she was just taking in the dark setting. She was wondering what kind of ambiance was going to erode the town. She was also wondering why she kept thinking about a guy with a gas mask on. For some reason, the idea and the sight of him kept coming to her mind. As if she was wondering when she was ever going to see him, or if he was even an actual person.

Kari was hoping he was a real person. There was something about the idea of him being a real person that seemed to make her feel like there would have been something that would make her feel safe. She felt like he had actually been sort of like a guardian angel for her in her life. Kari felt like that if he wasn't real, then she was just going to be sort of going crazy in her mind. And if she was going crazy, there was going to be more things that she needed to worry about than Tai being in danger.

But the more that she was thinking about how her being crazy was more of a problem than Tai being crazy, that was when there was a small part of her that was wondering if perhaps she really was actually crazy. That maybe she should actually be looking more at Tai than worrying and thinking about just herself. But then she was thinking that with how sick she was, that she would deal with anything related to Tai soon and that she just needed to sleep.

When she was thinking about how much she just needed to sleep, Kari went right to her bed and then she went to it. She was under the blanket. As she was under the blanket, she was actually getting herself back into the other mindset of having a good nights rest. She closed her eyes, and then she was actually in the transition of sleep. And as she was starting to sleep, there was her father who was passing by in his wheelchair. He then looked over just to see how Kari was doing, and then he was smiling as he saw what she was doing.

He always liked seeing her rest. It was nice to know that she was always safe every night. He always felt like there was something about just seeing her doing something even as simple as sleeping every single night that made him think that he was able to do yet another thing right. When he was always thinking about how he had indeed done some things right as a father, he was always able to help get himself to sleep just a small bit easier each one of these times that he had these doubts but then it would turn out that he was just sort of over thinking it a little bit.

The disabled father was always thinking about what Tai must be doing at summer camp. A part of him was worried about what can happen at summer camp when he was not paying attention, and he was just a little bit worried about what Tai was doing. He was also thinking that there was no way that it would have been any worse or more dangerous than the stuff that he was doing when he was around Tai's age. So when he was thinking about that, he was telling himself not to really worry about it all that much.

As he was heading off to sleep on his own, he was in his room and he was feeling the pain of forcing himself out of the wheel chair and getting onto the bed once again. The fact that he had been doing this every single day was pretty much on a daily basis putting himself in the worst physical pain that he could possibly be in every single time. He did sleep in his wheel chair every once in a while, but when he woke up the next morning his back was so stiff and his legs were in even more pain by doing this than the legs would have been if he just got himself out of the chair on a nightly basis. When he was starting to realize just how much worse the pain would have been by being in the wheel chair every night, he was telling himself that it was indeed worth this whole struggle in the end.

The sleep that he had to endure most nights was something that always broke him mentally speaking. He hated the pain that he was putting himself in every single night when he was doing this. It was almost not even worth going to sleep when he was always feeling this level of pain. But then he was always thinking about what he was going to do once it was all over with, and he was thinking about why he did this every night. If he was sleeping every night and feeling terrible while sleeping, the only reason that he was doing this sleeping patterns in the first place was the fact that he was thinking about how he was going to die from sleep deprivation if he didn't just suffer through the night.

There were some nights when he was always forgetting about turning off the lights, and he was always having an even harder night of sleep as a result of that because he wouldn't be able to just get up and then turn off the lights and then go to sleep as if he did that, he would probably be tripping the entire time and on the verge of breaking his legs again.

Every once in a while, he was thinking about the Miku girl who had helped him back in the day. Well, not really helped him super much. They both helped each other a bit, and they had both done some things that they would not have been able to do alone. But at the same time Takuya was the one who had been leading the whole thing and as a result, he had been the one who really had been doing most of the 'helping' at the end of the long road that they were forced to be dealing with.

Takuya was thinking how it was strange how that journey was the main thing that he had remembered about the whole quest he went through all of those years ago. Not the rebuilding and effort to renew the world. Just some strange journey that he had gone through when he was dreaming every night after like the third night of him being in the digital world. He was also wondering when he was going to tell the children about the digital world, if he was ever going to tell them the truth.

Despite the fact that Takuya was well aware of the fact that telling them the truth was the going to be able to keep them safe, he was always finding himself in a situation where it was just going to be really silly for him to tell them this stuff. He was certain that there was no way in hell that they were actually going to believe in him.

Takuya was thinking that despite the fact that it would help keep his family safe, that for his own sake of not seeming to be insane to his family, that he was going to keep his honor to himself. He was just thinking that this was going to be something that either would not be a huge problem, or it was going to really bite him in the ass by the end of the day.

Kari, when she had been asleep, was thinking and dreaming of something that she would dream about every once in a while. Kari was seeing herself in this strange thing that looked like an alternate world. She was not really sure why she was in this world, and despite the fact that she knew this a dream, there was a part of her that was thinking that she was actually inside of a real place. Kari thought that she was actually going to have to go around and try to find a real clue to this actually be a world, that way she can show proof that she was actually not going crazy.

In the dream, she was walking down a pathway that looked like it was a giant metal city. The metal city was always scaring her every single time that she had been there, and she had actually been in this city several fucking times. As she was wandering around the city, that was when she was wondering why she was actually here in the first place. There was a part of her that was thinking that this was the stuff that was of nightmares. It was really hard not to see it this way, when there was a bunch of stuff that she felt like was going to kill her anytime soon.

She was seeing that in the city, that there was a bunch of robots that she always had to get away from. She would just hide behind some walls every single time that they were seeing this. She was aware that if there was one of these robots that found her, that she would just get herself killed. Kari was hiding behind a trash can every once in a while, and then there were times she was behind a wall, then there was times she would just have to hide under a bench always made her feel like she was being extra exposed if there was a chance to find her.

The longer that she was in this city, the more it was slowly starting to scare her every single time. The city made her feel like she was setting up her death at this moment. She was wondering when these robots were going to eventually find her. She had a feeling that it was going to happen sooner or later, and she was always wishing that there was going to be somebody who was going to find her and then try and save her. Which was going to be the sort of best moment of her life when she was here or it was going to kill them both.

Kari also was able to tell herself every single time she was in this dream and she was fearing for her life, that this was just a dream and that sooner or later she was just going to have to wake up and then she would be all safe by doing this.

After Kari would tell herself that she was going to be safe, she would start to feel like she was actually able to start to feel safe. Kari was starting to look around the town a little bit, and she was thinking that if she had found something in the town that can give her some answers, that if she found something here, then perhaps she would be able to actually make something work. That she can solve this, and then she would never have to worry about being here anymore. As if this was sort of a game, and that she was going to find a way to get out of here. That there was end game spot she needed to reach. When she was thinking about some end game that she can try and reach, and she was thinking about how this was going to be the goal that she was going to try and shoot for.

After Kari had started to realize this for once, she was looking around town for something that made it look like she was going to be able to leave the city. She was thinking about how she didn't even need to worry about the robots, as they were never seeing her and that they were never going to be able to catch her and if they did these were probably just survalienece and that she was actually in no real danger when she was doing this.

The more that she was walking around, she was eventually seeing that there was a door she could go through. Kari was thinking that maybe this was going to be the thing that was going to keep herself safe. She was wanting this to be her salvation from all of this reckless traveling.

The more that she was heading down there, and the closer that she was getting to the exit, the more excited that she was getting. The more that she honestly thought that there was nothing she needed to be worried about. There would be nothing worse than this city. That was at least what she was always telling herself. That nothing in this like digital world plane could be worse than these robots and this dark city.

One thing that Kari never got then and only in hindsight would she be able to even remotely comprehend was the fact that she always started out here. She had no idea why she was always starting here. There was no real reason to always be starting here. At least this was what she was thinking. But later on, she would start to see the real reason she was brought here and she was wondering why fate just hated her this much.

As Kari was running out as fast as she could, the more and more confident that she was getting that she was going to get out of here. Then the more that she was thinking that she was going to indeed be safe, the more she was slowing down a little bit and she was looking around to see that the robots were not chasing after her. That would have made her feel safe and great under any other moment. But there was something about the moment that scared her. Something that nobody would really be able to get. The fact that the robots were just staring right at her. They were not even showing any sign of doing anything as Kari was slowly getting further and further away from them, and this was actually starting to make her think that she was in even more danger than ever. That there was something that she was doing extremely wrong. Or that if anything, Kari was having the chance to do something wrong here.

As Kari was getting herself more and more worried about what is going on, Kari was walking away from the area even more. She was knowing that any idea of her being safe was going to be gone at this moment if she was just not careful at all. So as she was walking away more, she was seeing that the door was just only about forty yards or so away. Despite wanting to run on over there, she was finding herself just walking. As if she was walking through jello by doing this.

Kari was scared out of her mind over what these people were going to do to her, or these robots she was telling herself in a correction. Kari then found herself able to place her hand on the door. Just sort of touching it and nothing else. But she was now within actual reach of this place. After she was touching the door, she looked back once again and then she saw that the robots were not only just leaving her alone, but they were also looking like they were starting to run out of power. And then Kari was wondering why they were running out of power. She even caught herself wondering if she could investigate this and actually help them out.

Then she was catching herself getting back to the rational part of her mind again. Then she was opening the door up. Then as she opened up the door, she heard something calling out to her. She didn't want to do this, but she found herself looking forward and then she felt like she was going to remember what she saw forever.

The thing she was seeing was actually just some really giant bear. They were covered up with black dirt, and the bear looked like they had gone through a tractor or something like that. The thing was also nearly thirteen feet tall, and Kari was feeling herself go through an even bigger thing of fear down her spine.

That was when Kari woke right the hell up. She was looking around, and she was starting to wonder what was going on there. She was wondering why she had to be having these dreams. She caught herself thinking that this whole situation was just terrible. Kari was thinking that if this thing can be real, then the chances of her finding out that Tai died or something like that was starting to become more and more of a reality. Kari was then wiping her face from her blanket, thinking that it was a bit strange that she was sweating this badly over something this minute.

Then after she was starting to tell herself to just play a bit more reasonable, she was looking around and then she was starting to feel a little bit off. Not because of the idea that she thought of being sick or something like that. Something much deeper. She was thinking that she was going to have a chance to actually turn things around for the better of Tai. She was thinking that she was going to need to find Tai. She was thinking that if she was going to get caught for this, that she was going to be in loads of trouble and her father was never going to trust her again. But then again, she was thinking that she can always just be clever about what she was doing and have her father never suspect what she was doing.

So she just grabbed a bunch of clothes in her room and then she threw them under the blanket to her bed. She was thinking that it was not really going to make all that much of a difference in the end. But then she thought that she was just going to have to clear all of these things when she would be in the house again, hoping that her father was still asleep by that point in time. Then she was opening the window to the house.

She got herself out of the house and then she closed the window and started to slowly go down the fire escape. There was a part of her that was thinking that there was a bit of a thrill to her sneaking out in the middle of the night. There was a bit of a thrill to breaking the rules. Even she was thinking that it wasn't really breaking the rules if nobody else was knowing what she was doing. So she started to think she was not really breaking the rules. It would be a terrible defense if she was caught and put in trouble, and if she said it, she was going to get her father extremely angry. But she was wondering that if this was the first time that she said something like that, then her father might let it slide that one time.

Kari was pretty much through the entire fire escape by the time that she was thinking about what excuses she can use, and then she was seeing that there was just some people wandering around. Probably not paying attention or really even caring that a ten year old girl was out. This was probably something that they were very used to by now, and that this was nothing all that new for them.

Kari thought for a moment that when she was alone, she was going to be able to take a moment to just wander around for a bit without any real need to be careful. But then she was telling herself that she was only needing to worry about Tai. So she was walking right to the summer camp. She barely remembered the setting of the summer camp, but she did indeed remember it in all reality.

It was when her father drove Tai to camp, and she was in the back seat. She was glad that she had actually remembered this now, and that she was going to be able to use this in her favor. Then maybe Tai might get angry at her for doing this for a moment but then when she was starting to express that she was worried about his safety, that if anything he might actually understand her and be on her side. All she had to do was just play herself in a nice enough light to where he can't get angry at her.

But even then, it was going to take her forever to actually reach the camp. She was aware that she was going to probably take her half the night in order to actually reach the camp, and that she needed to be considering these things out better. But she was already probably out of the house for about ten minutes or so, and that if she was turning around to go back home, that she was going to just make this entire thing pointless.

Eventually, Kari was just thinking that it was better to continue this than anything else. She was thinking that her father would not be too mad if this was the one and only time she ever did this.

Kari was just more worried about what would happen if a police officer had shown up and found what she was doing. If that happened, then it would have been a problem as they would have forced her living information out of her, and then after they found out where she had lived, they would have dropped her off at her house and then the police would have questioned Takuya endlessly for a bunch of details about the way she was being raised. Then afterwards, Takuya would have been pissed at what Kari had done since by that point, the law would have gotten directly involved and she knew that there was no way Takuya would have ever let this one slide.

So every single time it had looked like a police car was passing by, all Kari had to do was just hide for a moment and then after she hid for a moment, she had felt like she was fine and then she would leave the spot again. That would add about twenty seconds or so to the trip once every ten minutes. It was just a little bit tedious. But once the whole annoyance of it was thrown off to the side, she was able to tolerate it for the most part.

In all reality, Kari was aware that there was no real way that she was going to make any real difference if Tai actually was in danger. She knew for a fact that there was no real way that if Tai was going to get himself hurt, that she would have suddenly been able to do it on her own. But she was hoping that Tai was just not in danger, and that all that would come out of it was the fact that they were going to talk to each other for a bit and then the worst part of it was that Kari was just going to have to go home after a certain point in time. But then she was thinking how even that would not be so bad once it would get to a point where the sun was rising. Then once that happened, she would be able to walk home decently easily.

That was what she was telling herself. Just find a way to be with Tai long enough to where she was going to see the sun come up and then she would be able to walk home that way, and there would be no real problem of somebody wanting to grab her and make her life miserable.

But when Kari was sort of at a point where she thought she was about half way there, she was seeing that there was a black car that was slowly driving by. Kari was actually getting a little bit scared over this car. They slowed down and were driving around her enough to where she was actually starting to think after a bit that the person who was driving the car was actually wanting to do something to her. This was when the idea of Kari doing this instantly went from being slightly stupid to being easily the worst choice she had made in her ten years of living on earth.

As Kari was walking faster to get away from that man, she was starting to think that the man was going to leave her behind eventually. But she was starting to be proven wrong, as the man just slightly increased his speed. To be fast enough for Kari to think that he was directly going with her walking speed. Kari was now on the verge of wanting to cry. She wanted to get away from this guy, even though they had never met. Then she was thinking that she would never know what he looked like, and if he was maybe somebody that she had known earlier.

After a while, Kari hid behind a building in which it had looked like the driver stopped for a moment. After she hid for a bit, she was thinking that this was going to be the only chance that she actually had in order to get away. Then she took a deep breath and then she was continuing her walk to the camp, but this time in a slower and more secretive way. Not to get away from the police, but to get away from that man.

As Kari was thinking about how much danger she was in by being around this guy, the more that she was thinking about how much she had wanted to see Tai. Not for her making sure that he was fine or anything like that, but to make sure that Tai can protect her. Any illusion that Kari was going to help Tai was gone by that moment. She knew that there was no way in hell that she was going to actually help Tai and do something for Tai when she was being pursued by some car and she was just scared out of her mind over the fact that she was being pursued by this guy. The fear of her being found by him was ruining everything about her confidence.

Eventually, after nearly fifteen minutes of taking herself very carefully down this path, this was when Kari was starting to think that she was indeed going to be safe. The idea of safety was sort of false, and she knew that she needed to not get over confident about this. But at the same time, she did feel like she needed to at least lighten up a little bit.

Besides, she was already so much of the way towards the summer camp that it was actually getting to the point where it would have actually been better for her to finish this pathway rather than just dealing with the fact that she felt like she needed to go home and everything. Kari was not really sure if she was closer to being home or not. But she also knew that the difference was not really worth looking into at this point in time. So she decided that she was just going to continue to go down the rest of the way. Even if it was going to expose her to this evil guy more and more. But she just needed to make it to the camp and she was fine.

As Kari was starting to think about how much Tai was going to be her savior, and she was thinking about how he was going to be able to keep her alive if worse came to worse, she was also thinking about how much she was not wanting to force Tai into this situation. If she was going to risk anybodys safety, she would have felt awful for it. She would have only been ten years old and she wouldn't have gotten everything. But at the same time, she felt like she would have been responsible.

Eventually, she was getting to the point where she felt like she was going to be fine for at least a couple of minutes. The fact that she was now in the most public part of town, so the guy who had been chasing after her would not have the balls to chase her anymore. This was when she was thinking that everything was going to be good for at least the next five to ten minutes. Unless if everybody was out against her.

The more that Kari was heading in the direction, the more that she was thinking about what she was going to say to Tai when she sees him. She was not really sure what Tai was going to say to her, and she was even less certain of what she was going to tell him when he gets defensive about her being there and wanting her to leave. She just wished that Tai would only be annoyed for a minute or two and then once he saw her a bit longer, and saw that there was really nothing she could have done about it, then he would actually start to enjoy her company a bit more than anything else.

Kari thought that Tai enjoying her company was probably something that sadly was not going to happen. If anything, he was going to fucking hate her company. He was going to act like this was a giant waste of time, and that she was just making a big mistake being there. She knew that this was a big mistake. But there was just a part of her that was worried something was going to happen to Tai, and no matter how much she was thinking that he was probably going to be safe enough, the more that Kari was thinking that there was something more than just a simple fear going on. She was thinking that there was something going on in town. Something in town that everybody needed to be ready to help equally take care of.

In all reality, Kari had actually never really met Jimmy White or anything like that, but she would later learn that a large portion of her fear was a part of what she was going to be seeing with him. She would later learn that his presence of leading the town really was the main thing that was making the condition of this town so awful in the first place.

The way that Kari would later learn about all of this was Davis would meet her for the first time, not the first time in the way that she would see him and he was just doing a babysitting job. She meant the first time where she would actually be able to listen to him, talk to him, get to know him, and then he would eventually explain everything about Jimmy White to her and she would later learn that everything she had been thinking about was perfectly justified.

Kari was then thinking about something else that was a little bit unrelated. 'You know, it is really cold out here. I hate how fucking cold this place is. I wish that dad would have lived in a place that wasn't nearly as cold all year around. Why couldn't he have lived in a place like one of the southern states? At least that would have been a bit warmer than this place.' Kari was thinking that it was kind of crazy that she was actually considering wanting to live in the south. She heard so many bad things about the south, and how the people there were evil and that the politics there were evil as well. But then she was thinking about the good things people said about it. People were talking about how it was just a general nice place to live once you get over the politics of the place.

'After all, the south was where Jimmy Carter grew up in. And while I was just barely a baby when he was president, I heard that he was a nice guy from my teachers. I think that if there is somebody like him who would have been from the south and then became a president that most people can at least respect as a person, even if they had not really respected him as a president per se, then I think that the south isn't really as bad as many people try and make it out to be. I think that they just need to give it a chance before they totally ride it off. That is what I want to do.' Kari continued to think to herself, and she was also wondering if she was ever going to meet the former president.

As time was going by, Kari was eventually thinking that Tai was going to accept her company. She was always going back and forth on what to be expecting from Tai. But she was now fully thinking that he was just going to be at worse confused and then afterwards, he was really going to fully accept having her company. She was more and more convinced that he was going to accept her company, and that she was just too worried about it.

Kari had no idea why she was thinking that Tai was not going to like her company. Probably because she was just worried about how Tai was going to tell her that she shouldn't have gone to summer camp, and that she was not old enough and that she was sick. She was thinking he was going to use her personal health as an excuse.

After a while, Kari was starting to see the hill where the camp was going to be. As she was walking up the hill, the more that she was just bracing herself for something that was going to not be nearly as bad as she was expecting.

She saw that Tai was walking down the camp. As she saw Tai, she saw that he was talking with a girl that had black hair. She looked like she was about Tai's age, probably a little bit older. And she was wondering if they were dating each other or something like that. Kari was then starting to get her protective gauge. Tai must have seen her for a couple of seconds and then he looked like his face was turning ghost white, as if he was refusing to believe that he was seeing her.

In fact, Kari was thinking that she was wrong about what she was thinking Tai would be like when she would have been seen by him. He did not look like he was slightly annoyed or curious as to why she was there. In fact, he looked down right pissed. As if seeing her was making him hate every single second of this current moment. He started to walk right towards her and the more that she was seeing Tai come towards her, the more that she had been thinking that she had seriously miscalculated everything about this whole equation. She didn't really realize the magnitude of how wrong she actually was about this. Tai was right in front of her after about a minute or so. The girl that was with Tai was right behind him. As if she was wondering what was going to go down. Tai looked like he was about to get ready to yell at her for this.

"Kari, you should be home right now! You have no place being here right now. What the hell were you thinking when you decided to come here?" Tai asked and then Kari was looking like she was just really scared. She was wondering just what exactly Tai was going to have in stores when it came to lecturing her about her choice to come out here. Kari was not just a little bit worried about it. She was actually terrified to see her older brother be looking down at her like this. As if she had betrayed him or something like that just by being in this area.

"I thought that you were not really all that safe. I was hoping that I could have been able to help you out." Kari said and when she was saying it at that moment, when she was letting the meaning of her words sink in, even she was thinking and seeing just how silly this whole thing was. She was starting to realize that even if Tai was in danger, that there would have been nothing at all she would have been able to do about it. But she was just hoping that Tai would not want to yell at her too badly. Although she was aware that some yelling was a bit unavoidable. She was going to get yelled at a little bit. There was no fucking way around that at this point in time.

"Kari, there is nothing that you could have done even if I were in danger. Absolutely nothing. Even you must be aware of this. You decided to do something that even you must see if just ridiculous. I can't believe that you are actually doing this right now. God damn it Kari, now I have to find a way to bring you back home." Tai said and then he was looking at the girl that Kari was seeing him hang out with. She was wondering what this girl was going to do in order to help Tai out at all, or if he was just expressing his slight annoyance at the situation.

"Candice, I guess we need to bring Kari back home now. I guess that our plans are going to be put on a hold right now. I really feel sorry about not helping you right now." Tai said, and Kari was wondering if there was something else that was pissing Tai off at that moment. She was thinking that if it had just been a normal situation, then he would have been a little bit annoyed, but not nearly to this extent. Candice was looking like she was in a really bad state at that moment. Kari would later learn the terrible reason why she was like this.

"Yeah sure, I guess it can't be all that big of a deal." Candice decided, and she was looking like she was relatively unengaged. But both of them looked like they were not really wanting to do the other job that they were going to have to do, according to them. But that in a way, perhaps Kari being there in a way was a blessing in disguise. She was thinking that as much as Tai was annoyed about her being there and everything, that perhaps her being there was going to give them a less annoying thing to be dealing with. A smaller problem to at least for the time being take them off of the moment at hand.

Afterwards, the three of them were out of the camp and Kari was thinking that this was the biggest mistake that she had ever made by doing this. She was thinking that she would have not seen her brother like this had she actually just thought that maybe Tai was actually mostly justified with the anger that he had been expressing in this situation.

Tai was then looking right down at Kari after they had been gone for about a minute or so. "I will not tell on dad for what you are doing right now. I think that you have already probably learned your lesson here. Just never do this again. If you do something like this again, I will tell him and you will be seeing that my reaction is the better reaction out of the two." Tai said, and he was thinking about the one time that he made his father mad back in the day. When their father was angry, he was in no way afraid to show his anger. And that was something that was going to happen when Kari was going to be exposed. If she was ever exposed for what she was doing. But then Tai was thinking that if she learned her lesson, that she deserved something better than this. That she deserved to have been given another chance before she got in this type of trouble for something like this.

After Tai had told Kari this, that was when Candice was thinking about how she was going to possibly take this as a chance to maybe even get to know Kari for a little bit right then and there. If Kari was actually willing to give her the light of day and talk with her and everything.

"Hey Kari, so what made you think that Tai needed your help? Did you just have a feeling that he was going to need your help or something like that?" Candice asked, and she was just thinking that it was a simple enough question and that Kari was going to give her the actual answer.

"Well, in all reality, I was just thinking that something was going to happen to him if I wasn't there to at least see and make sure that he was fine. I just had a really bad dream tonight, and the dream really scared me. I thought that he was going to be in danger. I think that there is something in the town that is making this a dangerous place just to live in." Kari said and then after she said that, Candice was thinking that maybe Kari should be given a chance to be told the truth.

But then she was also thinking that Kari was probably just too young to know the truth. She was thinking that Kari should be given a chance to just think that there was a problem than knowing for a fact that there really was one of these problems. "Well, I think that it was very brave of you to go down there and see that Tai might need help. I think that Tai should be grateful for the fact that he has a sister like you." Candice thought that it was a nice and simple enough comment to say something like this. Tai was just looking at her as if he was annoyed that she was acting like Kari was justified in what she was doing. In all reality, it wasn't as bad as he made it out to be. But this was still something she should have never done.

Tai was thinking though that Candice was just trying to be nice to Kari, and Tai was thinking that maybe Kari was still just a simple girl that made a couple of mistakes. And that there was nothing wrong with that happening. "I just worry that when you do something like this, then you are going to get kidnapped by somebody. That they are going to hurt you. I am worried that you are going to get hurt when you are out this late." Tai was being one hundred percent truthful to what he was saying at that moment. But then he was looking at Kari to see if she was getting this.

If it had just been even a few minutes ago, she would have said that none of this made sense for her to be worried about this. But then after the black car that she had seen earlier, the more that she was starting to see that perhaps Tai and her father would be justified in the fear that they were having for her safety. That she should not have been so easy to brush this whole thing off.

Kari didn't think that she should tell Tai or anybody else about this. If she did, then she was feeling like they were going to get even more angry at her and they were going to go on rants that this was the exact reason why they were feeling this way and that this was what they were thinking about all of this time about her safety and everything.

The more that the three of them were walking towards where Kari lived, the more that Kari was thinking that Tai was not really as angry anymore and more of just a little bit worried about her. It was just a simple fear that he had, and the fear that he had made him lose a lot of reasonability that he was having when he first saw her, and he was actually starting to feel bad for getting this angry at her over what had happened.

"So Kari, do you think that you are going to go to summer camp eventually?" Candice asked just trying to be a little bit casual with the young girl, and she wondered if Tai was going to be fine with her just trying to make this at least a little bit of a nice discussion. Candice was thinking that if anything, she would be able to get to know Kari and make her start to be at least some form of a friend. Then she was thinking that maybe the whole problem that happened with Mimi was if anything a good thing, because as horrible as it was, Candice did have a chance of living. That if she can actually get out of this whole situation, then she was going to be able to make it worth it.

"Well, probably eventually I will go along and go to summer camp. When I go to summer camp, I just want to make some new friends. But if I feel like I won't be able to actually make enough friends there, or if I don't have that many friends, then I guess I will not go there in the fear of just looking like a loser and having people make fun of me all the time. I don't want to have people making fun of me and making me feel like I am useless." Kari said, and there was a part of her that made this fear come out. When she was younger, that there were people that made fun of her being sick all the time and would act like she was such a burden for being made fun of all the time and just simply nobody really seemed like they cared about her all that much. And if nobody really liked here, there was just no point in going to a camp where she was going to be considered a massive reject twenty-four seven on an every single day basis for the entire summer.

As she was thinking about what this was going to be like, she was wondering if Tai was actually going to be able to be there for her during summer camp. But then she was doing the math in her head, and then there was a part of her that thought that Tai was going to be much too old for something like this. That he was going to be much too old to actually be able to go to summer camp back in the day and everything like that. Kari was then starting to think that if this was going to happen, then she needed to get some friends before she would go to summer camp in order to have somebody protect her. But then she was thinking about the social effort that would have to be put in for her to get some friends and then afterwards, be able to actually go to summer camp and not feel like she was going to be considered taboo.

Candice thought that she needed to just go there anyways and that there was something about doing something like this in which Kari would really be able to get all of these friends anyways. She was thinking that if Kari just needed some friends, then summer camp was going to be the perfect chance for her to actually get them and everything.

"Well, just talk to some people and eventually one of them would actually be able to trust you enough to want to hang out with you. But you never know if you don't even talk to people first." Candice said, and she was just telling the truth when she had said that. She was hoping that Kari was not going to think that this was too vague.

'I just don't know how to make friends. I have never been all that good at it. People just do not really think I am a social butterfly. I think that there is nothing I can do about what people think of me.' Kari said to herself in her mind, and she was respecting that Candice was trying to be nice, but thought that she needed to be more truthful to her.

Tai was wondering about the whole thing of Kari getting some friends. He never really thought about the problems that Kari was having. In all reality, he didn't really care all that much. And he was here, actually starting to get exposed to these things right then and there.

The walk back home, even without that in mind, would have had some strains and everything considering what happened earlier and what Tai was thinking about her going around in the first place just ruining everything. He just wished that she would have never come here, and he thought that she would never exactly get what risks she was pulling when she decided to come along to the camp in the first place.

'I just feel like Kari doesn't understand just how truly cruel this town may be. Then again, I never really thought about it all that much before and I didn't really think about the truth of it all before hand. But now that it is right in front of me, and I am living in it, I do not want something like that to happen to her either. She deserves something much better than this.' Tai had meant everything that he was thinking, and he was hoping that Kari just would understand when she was older.

When she was older, and there were other things in the world that were even worse to be exposed to, then she would get. Then she would get why Tai was so worried about. Why he cared so much about her safety. Then she would not try and fight it anymore. Once something like that happened, then they can be at a bit more of an understanding.

Kari just thought that Tai needed to see that she was just concerned. Everything about that was out of her being a nice sister. Nothing really beyond that. She was not really wanting to make his life worse or anything. She just wanted to make sure that nothing happened to him. Was that really such a bad thing to be hoping for?

But then after Kari was thinking about that, Kari was then starting to bring her mind to the biggest problem and fear that she was having. The fear and problem that she had almost forgotten about. The problem of the car. Once she was seeing the black car pulling up, Kari then felt like all the blood was running out of her system. That she was seeing her maker.

The car stopped entirely and as the car door opened, that was when all three of them stopped. Two men in black were coming out of the car. They were the exact same ones that Candice was seeing earlier at the camp, and seeing them in a way gave her a huge vandetta for revenge. She wanted to bash them in, and she wanted them to die so badly that she was feeling every bit of reasonable thinking escaping her. She didn't really care, given how evil he was actually.

One of the men in black was popping his fingers and then he was just staring right at Candice. He must have made the connection as well, and Candice was certain that any safety she had was gone. He walked right up to Kari and then Tai started to run right up to them. As Tai was trying to do something to them, the other man in black just held his hand out and then Tai hit the hand and then he flopped down on the ground. He felt like his ass was hurting quite a bit.

This was really honestly kind of embarrassing that this was what he was having to deal with when he was in front of Candice and Kari. Kari, he can handle since she was his sister, and she had probably seen some things that were actually even bigger to laugh at and everything. But for some reason, having this happen in front of Candice made him feel extremely insecure, and he was thinking about how he was going to rebound his image after that whole thing. But then he was thinking that none of this was really all that big of a deal, and that Tai just needed to focus on the much bigger issue at hand. After all, there was somebody who was going to make a threat to hurt his fucking sister and not only his sister, but another girl who had a chance of actually needing his own help. So when he was thinking about the things he needed to do for them, then once this was all over with they wouldn't really laugh at him anymore.

Kari did not find the situation funny at all. In fact, she was actually scared out of her fucking mind as she was seeing this. She was wondering when the hell there was going to be somebody who was going to help them out. "You guys seem to not understand what it is like to just go home and act like you are being normal people. You should have just remained at summer camp you two." The guy who had made Tai look like a idiot said and then he was looking right at Tai and Candice. "I hate the fact that you just can't get it in your head that nobody wants your help. Nobody thinks that you are actually going to be helping anybody out. We want you gone." The man finished and then he was waving his hand forward. This was his way of showing that he had wanted the other person to grab them and put the two of them in the car.

After he was doing this, he was just going to let his assistant take care of those. Then he was looking right at Kari and then he was smiling at the sight of Kari. He was thinking that seeing her like this was showing that she was just like any other normal girl. Somebody who just was in over her head and everything. "You just need to go back home right now. Once you go back home, you need to accept the fact that your brother and his lady friend are going to be safe." The guy told Kari and there was a hint of evil in his voice that was making Kari think that this guy was lying through his fucking teeth, and that Kari needed to be sure that Tai was going to be safe and everything.

"What are you going to do to my brother?" Kari asked as the guy was holding his hand in a fist. He was just looking right at Kari, and he was trying his best to hide how annoyed he was getting with Kari. He indeed was getting very annoyed at her right now. He didn't mind at first, thinking that she was just a ten year old girl. But this whole thing was insane.

"You know, I only am going to leave you alone because you're a child. You don't really deserve anything to happen to you." The guy said and then Kari looked right at Tai and Candice.

This was when she was actually think that there was a good chance that he will be able to indeed save them. That the fear that she was having earlier was actually going to be a fully justified feeling that she had. And that she was if anything sort of predicting the future in a way.

"What is it that my brother had done that makes you think that he deserves something like this? He doesn't deserve anything to happen to him." Kari said and then after she had told the guy that, he was just looking at her as if thinking that there was just no real way that they were going to find out what was wrong with these teenagers. She just simply was too young to understand the whole purpose to their job. They didn't even mind that this was the case. But it would make it kind of hard to really make her see any of these values. He was wondering though if he should be able to say something to her in order to make her understand that he was not to be fucked with anymore.

"You know young lady, when you grow up, you will see the problems that these two have brought to this town. And you will actually support what we have to do with them. But right now, it just seems like you are never able to understand what we have to do. Not that it really fucking matters. You are just not old enough to see that your brother is not the great man that you are probably making him out to be, and that when you actually start to get to know him, that he is actually a terrible person who has contributed nothing good to this town." He meant every single word of what he had been saying. He barely knew Tai, but from the things that he heard, he would have been scared if he had children that they would be living in the same town as Tai. Jimmy always had the correct information, and this was not going to be any exception at all.

"And also young lady, I think that you should be worried about what your father is going to say if he sees that you are out this late. He might be a bit more than just a little unpleased." He said, and then after he had told Kari this, there was a part of Kari that was actually starting to believe in him.

"My dad is going to kill you when he finds out what you are doing with my brother." Kari said and after she had said this, the guy was starting to laugh when he had heard her make this type of threat. In a way, he found it adorable that a ten year old was acting like her disabled father was actually going to make any difference. There was no way in hell that he was going to do anything that would suggest the fact he needed to worry about himself.

"I would love to see him try. I would love to see him try and get into the business of what my boss does. I think that you are selling your dad to be a bit greater than he really is. Not that I blame you, he is your father after all. But go home, there is nothing that you can do about this." The guy said and then he sounded like he was bored of this conversation. So they saw that Tai and Candice were both inside of the car. Then he walked to the car and got in the drivers seat. His helper was right next to him, feeling a bit bored about the moment.

The car began to go away and then Kari was shaking in fear. She was well aware of the fact that this guy was going to do whatever he had wanted to Tai and Candice. He wasn't too worried about Candice in all honesty. But Tai was just scaring her. She was worried about what Tai was going to go through when these people were talking to them.

As the car was going away, for a few seconds Kari was actually thinking that she was going to try and pursue them and then kick their asses when they were going to be seen by her again. But then she was thinking and she was telling herself to be realistic. She knew there was nothing she can do about this.

Kari was crying as she was heading to the house again. She was going to tell her father when he woke up the next morning and when she was awake as well. Once she tells him, they would be the one who will put these two people to justice. That was what she was firmly believing that he could do.

The closer that she was to being home, the more that she was crying and the more that she wanted to cry her fears of what would happen to Tai and Candice away. She was thinking that maybe this was a terrible dream, and that Tai and Candice were going to be fine. Hell, that there was a chance in which Candice did not even exist at all. She was thinking that it was going to be a bit interesting if Candice never even existed. But she was not thinking about it all that much as she was going up the fire escape and then she was back in her house and then she closed her window once again. Kari was in her bed and she cried for a few minutes and then she was asleep as she was crying. Her father considered for a moment to see what was going on. But he was in too much pain and it was probably just a bad dream that she had and that she was going to be fine come the morning.

As Kari was asleep, there was Tai and Candice in the car. They were being just driven right back to the summer camp. It was strange how they were always coming back here, and how it seemed like they were not even going to punish them all that much beyond placing them here. "You two need to appreciate what your mayor does for this city more. He has done a ton for you guys, and you have not in any way shown any gratitude to what he has done. He is one of the best mayors that we have ever had in this town."

After the guy had told them this, both Tai and Candice were wondering why he was talking about the mayor in the summer camp.

"What does the mayor have to do with this? Does he talk with the camp head every once in a while?" Candice asked, thinking that this was just going to be the easiest question she can ask, and would have nothing to do with what was going on. At first they were dealing with some stupid lecture about being out late at night and then it was seeming like they were going to get killed or something for this, and now there is a lecture about the mayor.

"He has connections with every single person who lives here. He has done a lot of things here that are connected to everybody else in the town and their jobs. He understands the work that everybody has to put in their job." The guy said and then at the front of the summer camp entrance he was looking at Tai and Candice. "It seems like you guys are being extremely stubborn about being here still. You guys constantly leave this camp. Everything will be settled. That Jeff guy is no longer a problem. He is gone. You can rest easy now." The guy actually said the first thing that made Tai feel safe in years.

"Are you actually telling the truth? Is Jeff actually gone now?" Tai asked, and he was thinking that if this was actually the truth, then Tai actually can go back to the camp and he was going to be able to relax about this stuff. Tai was thinking that this was actually the first thing of good news that he can be able to put in perspective, and then maybe the job of the police actually had been done for once in their life. Tai was then wondering if maybe this Jimmy White mayor, from the few times he heard about them, if maybe he was actually a good mayor now. Not that it really was related to Jeff in any way.

"Yeah, he was found in your friend Davis's car. When he was found, many of us think that he has killed Jeff. You should have been careful about who you hang out with. There is a chance that it would have been you." The guy said and then Tai shook his head and he just felt like this was just a terrible insinuation.

"He was only doing what he was wanting to do with Jeff because he killed several other people in this city. He deserved to die. You should not in any way lecture me about him doing the wrong thing. I think that you should be thanking him for what he did." Tai said, and despite the fact that he was defending him and was trying to act like Davis was in the right, Tai was thinking that there was a small chance that maybe the guy was right. That there was a small chance that indeed Davis could and would have done something like this to him and Izzy and Yolei if he was not kept safe enough. There seemed to be some form of insanity that he was reaching when they were talking to each other, and it was not entirely impossible that in all reality, Davis could have lost it and tried to kill them. Then in a way, it would be sort of both of them working against each other and that Davis and Jeff were going to be going into a huge one vs one situation. Two killers killing each other to leave one left, and then afterwards, that one would be going around and killing other people from there forward.

"Now you are seeing what I am talking about. I can see from the look on your face that you no longer feel the desire to argue with me anymore. You know that I have a very high chance being right on what he was going to eventually do to you. Would you be able to really forgive yourself if he ended up killing other people, or killing you. Would you think that your sister would have supported him for what he would have done and do you think she would have ever gotten over it?" The guy asked, and Davis was starting to feel even worse about this whole thing.

"I never want you to talk to him ever again. I want you to see that you made a big mistake here. I want you to see that if you ever see Davis again, that you should not really support him." The guy was really pegging Tai down but then Tai was thinking about something else.

Could the evidence have just been implanted there in order to make it look like Davis had killed Jeff but in all reality Davis was innocent? Could that have been the case? Was there a chance that Davis just needed to be given a chance to explain himself here?

Even then, no matter what was going on, Tai was thinking that Jeff did indeed deserve this whole thing to happen to him. Jeff was a terrible person, and he deserved to die. Anybody who disagreed with that was insane. He was not going to be changed, and his death was the only thing that would have changed anything about what happened. Tai was more thinking about if Davis would have continued killing, or if he was just going to leave it at what he was doing originally and that this whole thing was hyped up.

"Well, I think that with Jeff gone, I can indeed leave you guys alone. I think that I will try and behave normally again." Tai said and then he was actually telling the truth. Even the people who were dealing with Tai and Candice would be able to see that he was telling the truth. Candice felt a bit betrayed knowing that Tai was not really too focused on helping her anymore. Or maybe that was something he would get back into after a while, and that he just needed some time to be to himself now.

Tai and Candice got out of the car and then after a few seconds, the two in the car left. Tai was feeling sick. He felt sick about Kari sneaking out like this. He felt sick about all of the deaths. And he was feeling sick about trusting Davis, who could have possibly created some problems to an even larger extent than even Jeff would have? Then he was also sick over what was going on at camp, and the fact that he was in no way certain that anybody else was going to be safe. Even Candice, who he originally gave no shits about he was at least worried about her basic safety now.

Candice was wondering if she was able to help Tai out or not. Once she was thinking that Tai really did just need to be left alone, she was thinking that she would just leave Tai alone and then eventually once Tai got himself together, then he would be able to be willing to talk to Candice again about the idea of actually taking down the whole corruption of the camp.

Then Candice was thinking that there was a possible chance that maybe he did not care after all. That maybe he did actually find her crazy. That this was going to be a battle that she was going to have to do on her own. She was thinking about what she can say to Tai to make him feel better, to see her need for him. But then Candide started to feel bad for all of this, thinking that she was indeed starting to be selfish in a way.


	48. Preparing for the Final Confrontation

Harold was thinking about his mother Susan, and what the entire situation going on would entail. "You know, I think that this whole thing is just kind of hard to really wrap my brain around. I feel like none of this was ever something I would have ever even thought could happen." Harold said and then he felt the need to clear up what he was meaning. "Well, I meant that I thought I was never going to have to deal with a guy who was a crazy killer. Somebody who just goes around and kills everybody for no real reason. I mean, that is one thing that most people probably think that they would never really get into in all fairness." Harold looked right at T.K.

T.K. was thinking about Matt and what his older brother was probably thinking at this moment. He was probably cursing at T.K. at this moment, acting like this was something that would really prove what he was thinking about T.K. and him not being safe nearly enough. T.K. hated it, and he sure as hell didn't want to inflame things any further, but a part of him was starting to think that Matt was right. "Do you think that Jeff even is the entire problem, or do you think that there are other things going on besides just Jeff?" T.K. asked, and he felt like this was just a reasonable enough of a question.

"How am I supposed to know? Given what is going on, I have no fucking idea what the hell is even going to happen now. I think that we are going to be dealing with a bunch of problems with the police. I mean, they are probably going to go all over our parents house and everything. I sure as hell think that if my girlfriend or my mother find out what is going on, they would be freaking out and be thinking that I wouldn't be safe anymore." Harold said and then he added in a short "But I am a full grown adult now. I don't need people looking after me anymore. I don't know about you. I don't know if you need or want people to be looking out for you now." Harold said, and he was hoping that T.K. would not mind him sort of getting in that type of business. But he was mostly not really meaning anything with it.

"You know, I just wish that my parents would respect the fact that I have a life that I want to live with my friends. I want them to respect the fact that I do things on my own now. I don't need them anymore. Well, okay I do in terms of basic keeping me in the house and feeding me and stuff. But the thing is, I don't need them watching over me all the time. I should be allowed to go out and just do what I wish." T.K. said, and he was thinking that Harold was just going to brush this off.

"I felt that exact same way when I was your age. There is nothing about this that makes me feel like I need to be watching over you and telling you that you are objectively wrong or anything like that." Harold told me and I was glad that he was going to have the decency that he was just going to leave it at that and that he was not really going to pursue my business on this any further.

"In all reality, I think that it all depends on how mature you are. Well, mature for your age I should say. I guess most people would say that no twelve year old would be really all that mature at all. But you can always be on the upper hand of it all. I guess maturity is just something that will come with age and everything. The older you get, the more mature that you will naturally become even if you never really did anything to show it. Just sort of different insights you grow." Harold said and then he was thinking about what to do now.

"But it doesn't matter. We have been waiting here for long enough. I think it is time for us to find the tape of Jeff and then expose it to the police. Maybe there is something else that we can also find if we look hard enough. It seems like it just isn't going to be all that simple. As annoying as that would have been." Harold said and then he got right in his car. T.K. waited for a couple of seconds and then he got right inside of the car as well. Then Harold started the car right up.

Once the car was ready to go, Harold was thinking about where to go next. He drove along for a while and then as he was pulling by the skatepark, he was seeing that Davis's car was right there. Confused but also interested to see if Davis was willing to help out, he started to pull right up and then afterwards both T.K. and Harold got right out of the car.

When out of the car, Harold and T.K. walked right towards Jeff's car just to see what was going to be waiting for them. They were just curious to see if Davis was out on a walk or something. Neither one of them were at all expecting to see what was actually there. Neither one of them were expecting to see Jeff's body right there, laying down in the car. "Well, I guess that even if we find the tape, then there is no arresting him." Harold said and then he was placing his hand on his face.

T.K. was shocked at seeing this, and he was wondering how his friend Davis actually got the balls to kill a man. Yes, a man who had done these terrible things, but he still did kill a man. It was just a bit much for him to really believe. He almost was refusing to believe in this. It was hard to really think that Davis was a killer. And one that didn't care who saw what his crime even was.

"But in all reality, if we find the tape, all of those people who had to deal with losses in their families from this guy, they can get at least some form of resolution to what happened. I think it is still important to show them this for that very reason." T.K. said, really excited that this was going to bring him down. Even if he was dead, it was going to still bring him a bit of justice.

Then after he was saying this, he was looking up and then there was a car that was pulling up. Both of them knew before the door even opened that the person who was going to come out of there was going to try and talk to them. They were both just wanting to get this over with and then when the door opened, they saw that it was just one single guy. As he was getting closer to them, they were both starting to realize that this guy was looking a lot like Jeff. And then when he was only about fifteen feet or so away, they knew that this guy was actually not just looking like Jeff, but it was easy to figure out that the two had been brothers.

"It seems like you found out the truth before anybody else. Jeff was an innocent man. It really is your friend Davis that is the evil monster. I mean look at Jeff. He was just defending himself." The guy said and then he was knowing that neither one of them were going to fully believe him right away, but he was thinking that he just needed to say some things here and there and then soon enough they would actually believe him.

"Your brother killed over thirty to forty people. There is nothing innocent about what he did. Don't you ever say that he was innocent." T.K. was thinking about Kimberly, and he was also thinking about the fight that he saw Jeff have earlier. Either way, it was pretty much showing in every single way possible a huge lack of innocence, and nothing like what the man had been suggesting.

"If you work with my boss, he has the truth of everything. He knows everything that is happening here. You should have worked with him. He really opens up your eyes on everything." The guy said and then he was laughing. "Jimmy White is one of the smartest people that I ever met. Wonderful man. Knows how to actually do the job properly. You know, I think you should meet him soon. Maybe when you meet him, everything will all come together." The guy said and then he rolled his eyes. "God damn it, I forgot. My name is Liu." Then he held his hand out for Harold to take.

Harold was thinking that this was all a huge load of bullshit. But it was really hard for him to actually not take what he was saying at least a little bit seriously when he was seeing Jeff's body in Davis's car. Harold was thinking that perhaps Davis was actually the killer, and that in all reality, this was the way that Davis was able to hide himself from the punishment he should have been given. Harold was then looking at T.K., and then Harold remembered the interactions he had with Davis, and then he was thinking that there was a bit of bullshit to this whole thing, and that Liu was still full of shit.

"I don't believe in you. I mean yeah sure, I don't think Davis is like a perfect guy when I have seen him back in the day. But here you are, suggesting that he is going to go around and killing people. I can maybe understand the idea of him having killed Jeff, since there was something of a vendetta that he had against him, but nobody else beyond that unless if he had felt like it was beyond necessary. Unlike what your brother was doing, just killing people whenever he felt the need to. When he had just simply wanted to." Harold said and then he was placing his hands in his pocket as he was looking at Liu, waiting to see how Liu was going to react.

"You know, it doesn't matter if you believe me or not. You can make that choice for yourself. But then you should be ready for anything that shows any evidence going against him. when that stuff comes up, you should be ready to accept the truth for what it is." Liu said and then the two older guys were looking at T.K. "What is this young man doing out at this hour?"

"He is being watched by me. There is nothing that he has really done that would be able to get him in too big of trouble. If that is what you are worried about. I wouldn't let him get too carried away even if he had wanted to do a bunch of stuff. Besides, I don't want to deal with how his parents are going to see me when they see how their son is if he is in bad condition. That really would not be all that fun at all. I would in fact be finding it to be a mostly disturbing experience." Harold said and he was mostly telling the truth there, even though he was not really too informed on how T.K.'s parents actually were like, so he didn't know if they were cool people or not.

"Well you know, I just don't want him to get any ideas in his head right now." Liu said and then after Liu kept it at that, T.K. was feeling a little bit uncomfortable hearing them talk about him like this. He was kind of wishing that they would go around and change the subject again. Change it to Davis or something like that. Even changing the subject to Davis would have been better than this. At least then T.K. could have been able to try and justify Davis and improve both of their perceptions on his friend. Something that T.K. felt like he could be able to do at the very least.

"Well, I think that you should know that we really were not planning on staying here too long. We were planning on heading out right now actually. Hope that this doesn't cause too many major problems for you right now." Harold said, and he was entirely saying this just to make T.K. and him be able to leave the conversation with relatively little hassle. Liu was just remaining silent, not exactly sure what he was wanting to say to these two guys to make them aware that he was starting to pick up on the fact that they just did not want to be around him, and that they really had no plans after this. Everybody could see that there was no real plans after this. But they were just too busy thinking that this was some great plan.

Harold and T.K. were walking away, looking back at Liu once every ten steps or so just to see if Liu was still paying attention as they were walking away. But it had seemed like Liu had decided to leave them alone after a while, and then he was actually seeming to be paying more attention to the car where Jeff was.

Once inside of the car, T.K. was actually starting to think about Jeff a little bit. There was a part of him that was thinking about him in an actual real life sense. Jeff was not born evil. He was a young guy at one point in time. He was somebody who actually had a life. A guy who had dreams. A guy who had goals. That was when T.K. was actually started to feel maybe even a little bit bad for Jeff. He even was thinking that maybe he should have looked at Jeff with a more personal sense.

Harold was then looking at T.K. "Regardless of whatever Davis has done, we need to find him in order to make sure that he doesn't get caught by the police. If he gets caught by the police, then the debate will be over before it began. I mean, he is in his fucking car. The general viewer is going to see this and jump right to the conclusion that Davis did this. You know that I am right. You know that I am telling you the truth right now." Harold said and then T.K. nodded.

"I mean, I have no real idea what he is doing right now. It doesn't really even matter what he is doing. As long as he is not getting himself in more danger. But who knows, maybe Jeff was in the car and Davis didn't even know. But that doesn't really matter as the police will still assume that he was there as a result of Davis killing him right from the start." Harold continued and T.K. waved his hand to show that he was getting it and that it didn't need to be explained any further.

Harold started the car and as the car was going on for a while, and then T.K. was just thinking for a bit while. "I have no real idea where the hell Davis even could be right now. I think that Davis might be hanging around with Yolei or something. Poor girl, if she saw what happened to Jeff I bet she would not be able to have any form of sanity left over for her." T.K. said and that would have been the only way he would have really lost some respect for Davis, was if he was forcing Yolei along in his adventures at that time. But it was true that Davis was with Yolei, but thankfully she didn't have to see what happened to Jeff.

The two of them were driving for a while and then Harold was feeling like the lack of sleep was really getting to him. Both of them had pretty much not slept for nearly a fucking day. Both of them were starting to really feel the fumes of late night excursions getting to them, and both of them were just really badly wanting to go to sleep at this point in time.

They were thinking of the real benefits to going on and heading to sleep and everything. But both of them were thinking that sleeping was really just going to make them drop their cover. Make them start to feel like they were not really running on hyper drive. But they were doing just this. Harold was just hoping that when Clair would see him again, that she would be willing to give him the night of his life and some of the best sex ever.

Harold had felt like he had deserved the sex at this point in time after all of this time. The sex was just something that he was really excited for. Even just the idea of having sex was making him feel like this whole thing was worth pushing through. Most people felt that way when sex came up in the subject. At first you don't really think of it as a motivator and then the longer you have gone with no sex, the more that you start to really crave it and in a way it becomes the biggest motivation of your entire life.

Even T.K. was starting to feel that way a little bit. Even he was getting pretty excited for having sex soon, even though he knew that many people thought that he would have been too young to go around and fucking people. But he didn't really give a single shit. He wanted to go around and share it with the people who he had been seeing lately. And then he would make them see that this was his idea of showing his love for them. Or at least his younger mind version of love.

At the time, T.K. never really understood that there was much more to love than just having sex all of the time. Later on he would get that, but at the mind of a twelve year old, it didn't really make that much sense to him. But then as Harold was driving around, he was starting to really think that this was a big mistake. That he should have just gone home instead and be with Clair for the night. When this was over, he was swearing to god that he was going to be with her and then he was going to take in every minute that he could with her.

But the answer that they had been looking for was starting to get closer to being presented to them when they saw the store and they were seeing that there was one single car there. Both T.K. and Harold was starting to think of the same thing. "Do you think that Davis might be in there?" Harold asked and then T.K. thought about it for a moment and then he nodded when he thought about this for a few seconds.

"I do believe that he is in there. I have no idea why he would be, but given what he has been doing lately, it seems like the likely outcome." T.K. said and then Harold decided that this was the best piece of evidence that they had at that moment, so with that, Harold started to pull up to the parking lot of the store.

Harold pulled up on the lot right next to Joe's car and T.K. thought for a split second that he knew what this car was. He felt like he had seen it a couple of times before, but he was telling himself not to think about it too much. Harold got right out of the car and then he pounded his fist on the car. T.K. looked at him as if wondering what was pissing him off so much. "I mean, I know that Davis is kind of being a dumb ass right now, but what has he done to really make you so angry right now?" T.K. asked, not even really trying to defend himself all that much. He was just wanting to know what got Harold all riled up. He felt like this was the most reasonable thing to ask. Then Harold was looking right at T.K. and T.K. for the first time that night was seeing just how tired he really was. T.K. was thinking about just how much he needed some help at that moment, given the expression on his face.

"I have not slept in a very long time. Your friend, and hell maybe even my friend to some extent is going to get in a bunch of trouble with the police. There was a psycho serial killer going around and I didn't even get to help defeat him, and I was promising my girlfriend that I was really going to change myself and be a better boyfriend, and I am not even having the chance to do this right now. I feel like I am fucking lying to her, and this pisses me off." Harold said and then he was wondering when T.K. was going to speak up, or if he was just not going to say anything and let Harold continue going on with this rant.

"I just don't understand why any of this had to happen to me. I don't really feel like I deserved any of this at all. I feel like I deserved much better than this. And yet here I am, right now pretty much just trying to clean up the mess that this town has made. Itw as already hard enough trying to clean up your mess with your terrible skating habits. No offense, but it's true. And now I am dealing with the fact that Davis is pretty much now confirmed to be a utter lunatic." Harold said and then after he said that, he was just sitting on the car a bit. T.K. did the same thing, although he thought it was strange how he had sat on Harold's car for the second time in this entire excursion.

He felt like he should have been giving Harold's car a little bit more respect, but that was nowhere even close to happening. "You know, I think that Clair was really lucky to have you. You showed her a bunch of compassion, and you are simply a good man. I think that if anything, Clair should be working with you to make herself better." T.K. said, and he was not really sure what he was opening up when he was saying that.

"I would not have been this type of person if it weren't for Clair. She was really the one that started me on my way. You are giving me way too much credit, and not giving her nearly enough credit. I think that she deserves more than you are giving her." Harold said, and while he was glad that T.K. looked at him in a positive light and everything, there was just more that he wished T.K. would have known before he made these type of assessments.

"I think that everything is going to be fine. When you see her again, you are going to really blow her out of the water. She is going to really be impressed with everything that you have done lately. She will find out what you did to help defeat Jeff, and what you did to make sure that nothing in this town got too awful, and then she would actually start to think that you are a needed part in her life." T.K. said, and then he was hoping he could be the same way with Molly when they would grow up.

T.K. was thinking that it was a bit silly that he was thinking this far ahead. Thinking that he for sure was going to get a future with Molly. T.K. was telling himself that he needed to be a bit more realistic on this whole outlook of things.

Eventually, Harold and T.K. were just staring at the lights of the store. "If for nothing else, I did enjoy the journey for the most part. It gave me a lot of chances to try and open my eyes to the reality of this world. It helped make me see what people really want in their life. I know that is strange, but it made me realize what I desired with people. I desire somebody who I know I can trust. I mean, I don't hate Davis or anything really, but I don't really know if I can trust him quite yet. I used to, and now I am not so sure. I mean, I probably should be giving him another chance and when I see him again, I will be listening to his side of the story. I think that he deserves a chance to prove himself that he is not this god awful evil person that Liu makes him out to be. But I am thinking that maybe Liu actually is right. Or at least there is a small chance." Harold said and then T.K. thought about it a bit and how to respond.

"Well, I would not really say I think Liu is right. But I do indeed think that maybe there is a chance that I should be looking at Jeff in an ever so slightly different light. I feel like I maybe should be giving him another chance at everything. I mean, he was a person at one point." T.K. said and then he was continuing his stream of thoughts.

"The thing is, he wasn't always evil. He didn't always have the tendency to go around killing people. He probably didn't even think about doing something like this. But then he was probably finding himself in a situation where he kind of found himself with no choice but to defend himself. Then once he killed, either he was forced to keep doing it or maybe he just wanted to afterward after enjoying it for the first couple of times." T.K. waited for a couple of seconds before continuing.

"But here is the thing, if he really was like this, then maybe it had something to do with the way that he was raised. Maybe with the way that he was raised, he just thought that it was some form of a scape goat. The only way for him to feel like he was the dominant one of the group. I mean, I can't really blame him if it was really just that simple. It would be disgusting, but if he was raised in a god awful way, I guess I can sort of see where it was coming from." T.K. then felt like he was finished and Harold waited a couple of seconds to make sure.

"You know, I have no real idea. I mean, people were raised terribly since the start of man kind. But maybe you are right. Maybe there is more to it than I ever really thought. Maybe there is more to what he had been doing, and that I should not be so hard on him." Harold said and then afterwards, he stood up and started to walk inside of the store. "We probably only have at best five or so minutes before it closes."

But then as they were walking there, T.K. was looking back and he was seeing that there was another car that was coming up. He was thinking that maybe they should have waited to see what this car was going to do. But at the same time, he was thinking that if they had waited, then something was going to happen to them. So T.K. was just not telling himself to be thinking too deeply into it. Once inside of the store, T.K. was looking around and thinking there was no fucking way they were going to find Davis or Yolei or both in here.

"I think that this is going to take much more than five minutes to figure out. I never really realized just how fucking big this place was." T.K. said and then he was just going to leave it at that. He didn't want to argue with one of the few adults who fully respected and trusted him. But he was still thinking that a huge part of this was not really worth it.

"Well, I am pretty sure that we can just wait near the cash register and then they will show up eventually." Harold said and then T.K. was thinking that if this was the case, then why did they bother going inside the store. "I was just really cold, and I wanted to get a little bit warm." Harold said as if he was reading T.K.'s mind and knowing exactly what T.K. was thinking at that moment.

"I guess I can't really argue with you on that. It was getting pretty cold myself." T.K. said, admitting it for the first time. He didn't feel like it would have been a huge issue for him to admit it earlier. He just never really felt the whole need to do it before hand. But then after he said that, he was looking around and he was waiting for Davis to show up.

'God, if Davis is not here, this will be the biggest waste of my time possible. God, I really wish that he is here. I don't believe what Liu was saying at all. But maybe Liu was right about one thing. Maybe Davis really did kill Jeff, and that can explain the level of heated debate between the two of them at the very least.' T.K. was thinking to himself and while he didn't trust Liu, he could fully understand why Liu would hate Davis if this was the case.

Eventually, Davis and Yolei and the guy that T.K. felt like he must have met once or twice showed up. That was why Joe was able to dream of T.K. and his skating life later that night when he thought about it. Since he did see T.K., and knew exactly what he looked like, and he was just dreaming of a man who was going to be his friend and gathered up the pieces of evidence from T.K.'s behavior to witness that sort of dream prequel. "Hey, what are you two doing here right now? I was not really expecting you to be here." Davis said, and he was being pleasant enough. But then Davis bought his camera and then he placed the camera in his pocket and he was ready to head out and take care of this whole disaster once and for all and get it over with.

Before Harold and T.K. would be able to make conversation, Davis was out of the store and then T.K. and Harold just followed him out. Once the five people were outside, T.K. was thinking that this was a ratio of a sausagefest. Yolei was the only girl there, and there were five people. Which was an eighty percent chance male ratio, and that was what was needed for a sausagefest. T.K. was thinking that it was kind of dumb that his mind was going off to this at a really important time, but his mind couldn't help itself at that moment.

"I saw what was in your car." Harold decided that it was time to actually get to know the real details of the event. He wanted to know if Liu was telling the truth, and as a result, if he was going to be able to actually trust Davis at all. Then Davis turned right towards Harold and then he was just taking a long and deep breath. One that was showing immense dread over what was going on.

"I did not kill Jeff. But I was there when Jeff died. He and I actually teamed for a bit. I know, hard to believe but it's true. We were actually working together, and I was actually starting to trust him a little bit. I was thinking that he was actually turning into an ally. But I guess that maybe I was just trying too hard. He didn't make it because I was wanting to take down Jimmy White. Who once Jeff showed me to him, I was seeing was actually purely and simply evil." Davis said and then he placed his hand on the next cigarette on his pack and started to smoke it.

"Jimmy White is a master at spreading a word around that makes you start to second guess yourself. You start to think that you were wrong about your preconceptions on life and everything. I was thinking that maybe he was actually right on what he was saying when I started to talk to him. But that was because he was just a master at spreading lies around and doing it in a way that makes it sound true. I know that you probably have seen a guy that works for him. Don't trust him on anything." Davis said, and he knew that he was being a hypocrite with him trusting Sheldon. But that was an actual exception. Sheldon was a good man.

"I already don't trust that guy. And besides, sorry for changing the subject, but why are you actually buying that camera right now?" Harold asked, thinking that it was actually a good point to ask that question. It just seemed totally random for him to be having this camera at the moment. He was thinking that it was the wrong time to be buying stuff to take pictures with.

"I am going to be questioning Jimmy White. And I am going to be asking for his side of things and I am going to be using this in order to give the tape to that one strange publishing company and then he might get taken down that way. And if he dies before hand, maybe I won't get charged with this information being released." Davis said and then Harold did get it.

"That is fair I suppose. I mean, I am planning on doing the exact same thing with Jeff right now anyways. So I guess when you explain it that way, I can't really argue with you too much." Harold said, and then after he was saying this, he was looking right at T.K. to be seeing what his friend was thinking about the moment.

"I think that I should be heading out right now. Joe and Yolei are probably getting a little bit impatient. I need to get some information out of Jimmy now. So I will be talking with him." Davis said and then after he had said that, he started to head on out. He got right inside of the car, and then he fired up the engine and then he began driving off. Harold was looking right at T.K. as if he was thinking about what was happening lately. 'I think that Davis is just trying too hard. I think that he has too much going on, and that he is going to get himself killed before he even has a chance to fulfill any of these things. At least he is putting in a honest effort. I think that I should be grateful for that at least.'

After Harold thought to himself that, he was taking a long breath. "I think that we should be leaving. I don't know if Davis is telling the truth, but he is setting his mind on something else, and I can't really stop him right now. I am getting tired though. I want this night to be over with forever. So let's just get that dvd and then we must bring it to the man right away." Harold said and then T.K. and Harold were in full agreement on the idea of getting this over with for good.

While both of them did draw a small level of enjoyment out of this adventure, both of them were desperate to get this over with. Both of them did want to go back to bed, and sleep it off. Harold wanted to go back to Clair and be with her and share her love. T.K. needed to go back to summer camp and be with her, since summer camp was something that he genuinely was missing by this point. While he originally hated spending the whole summer at this camp, there was something about it that he was actually liking now and something that he was missing about this.

They were now both in the car and then T.K. was looking down at his skateboard which was at the back seat in the car. T.K. sighed and he was thinking about how much he had wanted to go back to skating. That was something that he also liked about summer camp. The nightly skating session that he would be able to do at the pavilion of camp when nobody else was around at night. Usually when everybody was already done with dinner and nobody was in that area, T.K. would go out and spend about twenty to thirty minutes skating just to practice his skills and get better at it. It was something that was a slow work, but he did genuinely enjoy it quite a bit.

Harold was just driving for a bit, and then he was thinking about where the dvd was going to be found. "It seems like it has been going around to like fifty different places. I just have no idea where the hell it could possibly be. Just knowing the general area of it would already be taking care of the first problem." Harold said and then after he had said that, T.K. felt that he had no real choice but to agree with him on that. This whole thing was pretty hard to even get the ball rolling on.

Once the ball was rolling, everything was going to finally go in their favor. But then T.K. was thinking and then he was starting to come up with an idea that was strange even to him. "What if we will find it at the school? I have a strange feeling it is going to be at the school." T.K. said and then he was looking at Harold. "I have a feeling that maybe the evil of Jimmy White is real, and that maybe one of his men already found the dvd and they are hiding there to get in a report." T.K. shook his head.

"That is a strange idea. But for some reason, I am starting to think that maybe you could be onto something. I don't really know what makes this sound like it would work out. But damn it, there is no point in at least not trying. Let's go check it out right now." Harold said and then he started to drive right towards the high school. That was the more popular school, and it was the school Jeff was at before he died and went insane.

As they were driving to the school, T.K. and Harold were both starting to think that this was exactly what was going to happen. They were both thinking that this was going to be where their section of the finale was going to be. T.K. was tired of this bullshit. He wanted this over with. He just wanted to go back to summer camp. But given what would eventually happen, and what was going to be in store with him, T.K. would later learn that maybe he was giving that idea too much credit and if he knew what was going to happen in hindsight, he would have wished that perhaps he could have still be going through this instead. As the adventure that was waiting for him was just fucking totally out of that world.

Eventually, Harold was getting close to being where the school was at. Both T.K. and Harold seemed to be thinking about what they were going to do if this place was wrong. There were just so many places in town that finding any one where this dvd was at would be fucking impossible to really get down to. But then they were both thinking that there was just nothing about this situation that they were going to be the winner in. Harold was thinking about what Susan would have been thinking if she knew exactly what he was doing at that moment.

Harold pulled up at the high school parking lot. There were four black cars in the area. Harold and T.K. did have their idea confirmed right then and there. The idea of the dvd being there. The cars sealed that deal right then and there. But they were also starting to think they were going to into a battle at any moment now. Both of them knew that this battle was going to lead to their death shall it happen.

Harold looked at T.K. He took a long and deep breath. "Oh my fucking god. This is going to be a giant fucking mess now. Are you ready to fucking die?" Harold asked, and he was just asking it in a mostly joking way. But at the same time, there was still a level of truth to it all. That was what was scaring the shit out of them. The fact that this was actually probably at least somewhat real.

"Well, I guess that there are worse ways to die. At least if I die tonight, I would have died trying to do the right thing. So I will take it at that." T.K. said and then after he had said that, he was looking at the front doors of the high school. One of the first times that he would be there was when he was going to have to possibly be fighting for his life. He didn't really know if he was totally in love with this idea or not. But he was thinking to himself that it would have been worse. It could have been the first day of high school.

"I can't really argue with that. I just never really thought that my death was going to be coming up right now. That is if I am actually going to die tonight. I would hate the idea of dying tonight. Then I would have really failed to keep up my promise to Clair, and I would hate everything about myself at that point. I just want to make her proud of me. Is that really too much to ask for? Is it really so much to actually be wanting to have a girlfriend who appreciates me and actually is proud of the things that I have done? I don't really think that it is too much to be asking for something like that." Harold said, and there was a part of him that was thinking that as much as he had hated to admit it, maybe it actually was too much to be asking for. That maybe he should have been ready to actually accept the fact that he was wanting way too much of the world. Or expecting way too much out of this world.

But then he was thinking that there was nothing to change what happened. Harold then opened up the hatch to the car door and then he was glancing right at T.K. The both of them were staring at each other for a moment of understanding and then they both nodded right at the same time and then they both left the car pretty much at the same time and closed the door at the same time.

"I guess it is time for the final confrontation. I can't believe that we are here right now." T.K. said and then he was waiting for Harold to take the first couple of steps. Harold just seemed to let the moment sink in a little bit. The moment of them being here again.

"I never wanted to really come back here. I thought that I was going to be done with this place forever. I guess that this is too much to ask for. But I am ready for what is to come." Harold was making peace with himself on this and then afterwards, he was walking right towards the school. T.K. was right behind him, and then as the two were heading to the school, T.K. was bracing himself for his death.

No twelve year old should even come close to the point of death. No twelve year should be having the fate of the town on their shoulders. It was fucking stupid. He was thinking that so many people were a thousand times more capable of this than him, and here he was dealing with this once again. He was the one that pretty much happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and in a way, this was actually his punishment for this. He was aware that this was how fate was getting to him. This was how fate was punishing him.

Once the two of them were inside of the school, Harold was prepared for anything was going to happen. He didn't even care anymore. He was going to destroy the people who had this dvd. Then he was going to bring it to the guy who owned that news company, and then it was going to be over with for good. Then he was going to be with Clair, and everything from that point forward really would not even matter all that much anymore. They were walking down a couple of hallways, just wondering where this person was going to be. The person who they were going to have to discuss with and try and convince to give them the dvd that had the information related to Jeff and the killings that he had committed.

T.K. was wondering if Matt was actually going to view this as a needed measure when he would find out was actually being done. Maybe Matt was going to think that maybe T.K. was actually doing the right thing by going out and being this adventurous man, and maybe even this dangerous young man. T.K. was thinking that this was going to be his one big chance to really prove himself.

T.K. wanted to just prove himself to his brother. The one who was pretty much easily the hardest on him out of anybody else. T.K. was thinking that this was going to really do it. He was telling himself over and over again that he was going to make Matt proud. He didn't even know why he was caring about his brother os much compared to other people, but this was the one person who had been a tough critic on him right from the start, and everything that T.K. did was always getting on Matt's nerves and he was just getting really sick and tired of how Matt was always treating him.

Eventually, they were starting to find a bunch of doors opened, and that was when Harold was thinking that this was where they were going to go to. They were now getting themselves ready for what was happening next. Eventually, they were walking around enough to where they found the exact classroom that they felt like they needed to find.

The two of them were seeing that there was a guy sitting down at the teachers table of that room, and he was smiling while looking at them. As if thinking that this was going to be a nice moment. "You know, I was wondering when you guys would be coming here. I was wondering when you guys were going to get the big picture. The place that Jeff never really got a chance to live. I think in a way that it is actually kind of sad." The guy said and then he was having something right in front of him.

"I was never going to guess that this would be where you were if my friend didn't have the strange hunch that you were here right now. Maybe you could have gotten away with this all if it weren't for my friend." Harold said and then after he was saying this, he knew that he was only doing this in order to keep himself calm and collected. He knew that there was no way that he was actually looking at all impressive to the guy at that moment. In fact, he was probably looking like a guy who was totally in over his head. Which in all reality, he totally was. The guy was just waiting for Harold to say or do something that would prove his point.

"I'm waiting. I want you to prove yourself as this big and bad guy. This guy that I have to fear." The man said and then he was holding his hand out to the dvd. "I mean, there is nothing here that I will need right now. I don't really care to use anything with it. I don't care at all about Jeff." The guy said, as he was just sort of waiting for Harold to take the bait. "Or you can just leave here and pretend that none of this ever happened. You can do anything you want. What can I really do about it? It is your choice after all." After he had said this, he was wanting Harold just to take the bait.

The fact that both Harold and T.K. were both taking this long to actually take the dvd was actually making the guy think that he underestimated both of these young men. This was actually starting to piss him off a bit. He was just wanting them to take the dvd and then he can go home and get this whole thing done with. And yet they were actually being smart. This was something that he was not expecting at all. He was not really expecting them to start to actually out calculate him and Jimmy White. Was the days of Jimmy White over? Has his luck run out? Had he finally made a mistake?

"Why do you even have the dvd with us right now? What is the point of this meetup?" Harold asked, and then he was looking right at this guy, and he was thinking about what was going to happen next. The guy then thought he can turn this around in the course of a mere few seconds with some deal that he can make.

"I will tell you what you want to know. You have come this far. But you need to take the dvd. If you don't take the dvd, I will not answer you." After he said this, Harold and T.K. were looking at each other. They both knew what was going to happen, but neither one of them cared. This had to be done for the sake of taking Jeff down and bringing justice to the people who were killed by him. So with that, Harold grabbed the dvd and then he was holding onto it very tightly. This thing that he knew was going to be the difference between innocence and guilt.

Then the guy smiled as he had seen Harold grab this. "I was wanting to make a deal with you. I think that you will be a bit shocked to know that Jimmy sent some of his helpers to where your mother lives." The guy said, and then he was looking forward to Harold to see what he was thinking. It took a second or two to have him really let the truth sink in. But when it did, Harold was thinking about how much he had wanted to bash this guys head in.

"What the fuck is Jimmy doing with my mother right now?" Harold asked, and he was already accepting the truth right then and there. His mother was going to die that night. No, he wanted to try and save her. He wanted to try and save the woman who actually been at his side every since he was born. The one person who he trusted more than anybody else. He needed to save her. This was the only thing he cared about anymore.

"I have nothing to do with it. He wanted to see if you were interested in joining his side. He says that he will be willing to keep your mother safe if you guys started to work together." The guy said and then Harold was looking down at the ground. He wanted to save his mother. But he was wanting to bring justice to all the people Jeff killed. He was now forced to make a choice. He was looking at T.K. and this was clearly the hardest choice he ever made in his life. Nothing even came close at this point anymore.

"I am going to save her. I am going to fucking save her." Harold said and then he was looking right at T.K. "I am so sorry. But she is my mother. She is more important than this. Jeff being proven guilty can wait for another day or two." Harold then gave T.K. the dvd. "You know exactly where the place you need to drop this off is." Harold said and then he looked at the other guy and shook his head.

"Tell Jimmy that the deal is off." Harold said and then afterwards, T.K. and Harold were running away. But when they were in the hallway, there was a bunch of people were who leaving the different class rooms. This was when T.K. and Harold were now in the fighting for their life stage of the quest. Harold would not get either case to happen if he didn't defeat these men in black at the school.


	49. The Final Confrontation

Harold quite simply had no idea how the hell he was going to be able to save anybody when he had nothing in order to defend himself with at that moment. He knew that in all reality, he was able to run off and get the hell out of the school by pure running. But in all reality, it was just really hard to actually do that if he didn't at least defend himself a little bit. But then not only that, but there was the dvd, then there was T.K. and then there was his mother to consider. All of these were suggesting that he needed to do this right then and there.

When somebody took out a gun and fired in the direction of Harold, all he was able to do was just roll away and then he was shocked that he didn't just get killed from what had happened. Then he was seeing that T.K. was running right behind the guy. He pushed the guy down to the ground and then he grabbed the gun. Then with that, he threw the gun right to Harold, as he had known that there was no way that he was going to be able to fire the gun and take out anybody at all. But then he was thinking that maybe Harold didn't know much better and that either way this was going to be a huge mistake.

Harold grabbed the gun even though the gun went off when it hit the ground for a second and the gun shot a hole through the ceiling. Once Harold was holding the gun, he knew that there was only four bullets left to actually use. Then with that, despite the fact that Harold only had four bullets left, he knew that it wad four more than he would have had if there was no gun. So he decided to accept it as it was.

T.K. had caught right up with Harold and then he was holding his hand to his head as if he was thinking this was going to protect him. It was his broken hand that he was placing on his hand, and then the cast was getting pretty wrecked already. T.K. was thinking that he was going to have to use yet another cast soon. That he would have to go to the hospital at the very least for something like that very soon. He was tired of getting a new arm cast, as this could be his third one, but it was the only way that he was going to even remotely get close to having any recovery on his arm.

Harold was just terrified over what was going on. A small part of him was wishing that he did accept Jimmy's offer just to avoid a bunch of gun shots being fired at them and then having to run away and block the shots all the time. Once every hallway, Harold would fire the gun once and then take out of the guy that was right there in order to at least lighten up the load of who was working with Jimmy White.

Harold was thinking that Jimmy White was fucking evil, and that he wanted to kill him now. The fact that there was even the chance that Jimmy White was going to kill his mother was throwing away any amount of chance that he was going to think that Davis was crazy. This guy was pure evil, and this moment right her was proof that Jimmy White was just one of the most evil people that he had ever met in his life. T.K. was getting right to the door. This time it was Harold's turn to be behind T.K. and the two of them were sort of switching every few moments. T.K. was feeling bad for not helping Harold, but with nothing to defend himself he kind of had no choice but to run away like a fucking coward.

Once Harold was getting near where T.K. was, he saw that there was only one bullet there. "Oh fuck it." Harold said and then he saw that there was one person running right towards Harold and then he fired the gun at them and then took them out. Then Harold threw that gun right down on the ground. Then he ran up to the guy who he just took out and then grabbed the gun and any spare ammunition that he had. "We need to get out of here right now." Harold said and then afterwards, he was thinking that it was strange how he had killed four men in the last five minutes. He had never killed before, and now it had happened four times. He was thinking that he was going to become like Jeff or Davis if he was not really careful enough.

"I know that we need to get out of here right now." T.K. said and then afterwards, the two of them were out of the school. T.K. was looking around and saw that with the hand that wasn't holding the gun, Harold was still holding the dvd. "Give that to me. You need to have proper aim for when you are dealing with those people." T.K. said and then afterwards, Harold got exactly what T.K. was saying. To save some time, he threw the disc right at T.K. who then ran along and barely managed to grab it in time. If he had not, then the disc would have probably broke.

If the disc had broke, then things would have been a thousand times worse. Anything that happened here would have been for nothing. T.K. and Harold both knew that they needed to be much more careful with what they were doing than how they were at this moment. But T.K. was feeling more pain on his broken arm for all of the strenuous activity that he was having at that moment. Well, strenuous when you have a broken arm.

T.K. made it right to the car and then he opened up the car door. Once he opened up the car door, he got inside of the car and then he was placing his seat belt on. Then he placed the dvd on his lap and was looking behind in order to see how Harold was doing.

Harold was right there and then he was seeing that there was one person right behind him. The person fired their gun and hit Harold on the leg. Harold screamed for a moment as he fired the gun right at the man who had tried to kill him. Then the guy was shot right in the chest. Harold saw that there was nobody around so he took just a quick few seconds in order to actually have as many bullets as possible. By this point, Harold had about fifteen or twenty as back up. It was better than nothing.

Harold got right inside of the car and then he took a moment to reload the gun with the couple of bullets that were gone. Then afterwards, he was placing the gun right in the cup holder. Harold was unable to believe that this was the fifth person that he had just killed. Harold was hoping that in the eyes of the law he would be find as it was all self defense.

T.K. was checking once again to see if there was anybody coming right towards them. He was seeing that the men were only a mere few feet away from him. "Get the hell out of here." T.K. yelled and then afterwards, Harold started to drive his car as fast as possible. He was getting faster with each passing second. He even drove through the side walk to save himself a couple of seconds, and then he was driving on the seat at about eighty miles per hour. Even at that speed, he was still going to have to take nearly five minutes to get home.

The entire drive home, Harold was looking like he was going to have a bit of a mental break down. T.K. was looking down and then he was feeling really bad for what had happened. He was feeling really bad for the fact that Harold was facing a bunch of emotions running through him all at once. On one hand, Harold wanted to help T.K., but he cared so much more about Susan that he almost never even cared about anything else at that moment. What the hell was he supposed to do besides just care for his mother?

T.K. was just remaining silent for the sake of Harold, thinking that Harold really did not want to hear anything else at that moment. Thinking that there was a chance that Susan being in danger might at least been sort of his fault. He didn't really want to admit to the fact that this could have been his fault, he knew that this was the truth. T.K. was feeling awful, and he wanted to make up with Harold right then and there but knew that this could not happen. But then Harold eventually reached the house where he had grown up in. Just because he moved out didn't mean that he wanted her gone.

...

Once Tai and Candice were getting ready for sleep, Tai was looking right at Candice. "I am super sorry for everything that has happened to you lately. I wished that I could have helped you better. But here I am, having not really helped you at all. I am really sorry for that. I should have been there for you, and here I am, not being there for you at all. Makes me feel like a utterly terrible human being." Tai said, and then Candice shook her head. She was thinking that Tai was beating himself up for something that he was not really needing to worry all that much about.

"You know, you have a lot of stuff that you need to worry about. Such as your sister and everything. But you have nothing to blame yourself for what you have been doing with me. At least, you are actually doing something now. At least you have been helping me when nobody else would probably even try and believe me. Everybody else would probably think that I am full of shit. At least you are here right now, and you are doing the one thing that nobody else will ever do for me." Candice said and then she was wondering if perhaps Tai would be able to accept her and her romantic advances soon enough. She was thinking that maybe it was because he was one of the first people she had been talking with lately, but she was wondering what it would be like if they were actually in some form of a relationship.

Tai then was looking down and he was aware of the fact that Candice was just trying to make him feel better. "Thanks for trying to make me feel like I am not a failure. But I should have been there for Kari. I should have made it clear to her that I have no desire for her to ever try and do something like that again. But I have a feeling that she is going to try and help me again, even though I have no desire for her to create that level of danger for herself. She is my younger sister. I want her to be safe. Before hand, I was thinking that maybe it wasn't all that big of a deal when I was thinking about how I can reconnect with my father again. But when I got over the initial wish that he would have been there for me, the more that I am thinking that I was harsh on her and that I should have given her a real chance before I instantly judged her that way before she was even born. I feel awful." Tai still was not able to get over that, no matter how much he tried to tell himself that it was not all that big of a deal.

"But you have said that you don't feel that way anymore. You should not be making yourself feel awful over how you used to think. You do not feel that way anymore. You must realize that you are beating yourself up too much over this." Candice told Tai as Tai was placing his hand on his face.

He was thinking about everything. "I guess that I am taking this a little bit too seriously. But for gods sake, I don't want to think about something happening to her. I will want to protect her. I don't even want to think what it would be like for the camp head to still be there when she is old enough to go to summer camp. After what happened with Mimi, I don't really think that I could handle the idea of her going her if that guy is still the camp head." Tai said, and he was thinking more and more about this man and how fucking awful he actually was.

Afterward Tai had expressed his feelings, he looked at Candice. "I want to make sure that the camp head is not there by the time that Kari comes here. I have no idea how I am going to do that. Maybe just expose him for some crimes he caused here. I think that maybe if I find those men in black, then they can lead me to a place where I can get the information that will be able to expose him." Tai said and he was getting a little bit more hopeful.

"Do you actually think that you will be able to find them again? They seem like those type of people who are just sort of like ghosts. You don't really know where they are or who they are, and they can be an even bigger threat than anybody else." Candice was thinking about what it was going to be like if they saw one of those two men again, or both of them again. If that happened, then things were just going to become a bit of a nightmare.

"You said that you were done going out there and trying to change things? Are you suddenly changing your mind now? Do you actually think that you want to get down to the bottom of this?" Candice asked as she was looking right at Tai, and then he was thinking all about it.

"God damn it, I know that I want nothing to do with people like Jeff. Thank god that is over with. So I don't have to be thinking about that stupid shit anymore. But for gods sake, the camp head is something else entirely. I think that if something happens to him, then the camp would be much better." Tai said and then he was thinking about that for a moment. He was thinking about how much he wanted to save Kari, and the other campers. "That is the very least that I want of this."

"Do you think that you can actually do this? I want you to be honest with me. Do you think that he can be defeated, or do you think that this is something that is now out of the range of things being possible?" Candice asked and then Tai was looking right out the window, and then he took a deep breath. He was thinking about Kari, and the thought about Kari was what was really keeping him moving forward at that moment.

"I don't care if it is or not. This is the future of my younger sister that we are talking about. I was not really all that invested in it until I thought about that, and until I saw her again. But the moment I saw her, that was when everything changed my mind of the issue. I can't look at her and think that everything will be alright anymore. I need to be there for her and make sure that she is safe. That is all that there really is to it." Tai said and then afterwards, he was standing up. "Once this is over, I truly am done. No more adventures. No more putting my life at risk for something like this. But I need to get that camp director expelled from here. This is going to be the final mission." Tai said, and then he was holding out his hand. "And I trust you enough to want you at my side." Tai said as Candice was shocked that he was speaking like this of her. This made her feel proud as hell.

"When you tell me this, there is no way that I can refuse your offer." Candice said and then she grabbed his hand and then afterwards, the two of them were ready for the operation coming up soon.

"Who knows, maybe once this is done, I will tell people about you and then you might actually have a chance of becoming popular at camp. Now that would be something that would be good for you." Tai said, and he was meaning every single word of it. He was wanting Candice to get a better reputation, and he was going to do this for her.

The two of them left the cabin. Once they were out of the cabin, Tai looked up at the six on top of the cabin. Then he was thinking about how this was going to be the last time that he was going to see it with it being related to the camp director. After this point, everything was going to be great. Everything was going to give him hope.

After he took one final moment to look at cabin six, he was ready for the moment that was in his mind going to change everything for the rest of his life. The two of them were heading on right to the camp directors house and then they were both thinking about how this was going to look really strange to the casual viewer of them going to his house this late at night. But then they were both thinking that there was no chance that people were still out at this hour. They must have been alone by now.

…..

Eventually, Davis, Joe and Yolei were near Davis's house. This was the first time he had been there in what felt like forever. And they were indeed not going to be there all that long. He was just wanting to sort all of these things out before he was going to get ready to confront Jimmy White. "Thank you for helping me out as much as you guys have up until this point. But as much as you guys have been helping me, I think that I will not be able to look at myself in any form of clear conscience if something were to happen to you. In fact, I would probably hate myself if something were to happen to you. I think that I should be taking this out on my own. I think that this should be my show from here on out." Davis said and then he was looking right at Joe and Yolei, feeling awful for the fact that they were forced into this whole thing. "But that being said, despite my feelings on the matter, if you feel like you want to help me out, and if you still want to be a part of this, then I will not get in your way. I will let you do as you please. I will accept the fact that you are making this choice." Davis then was hoping that Joe and Yolei were back down. But he was going to legit not get in their way if they choose to not do this.

"On one hand, I would rather just go home and act like none of this had ever happened. But no offense, but I don't really know if you will be able to take care of this on your own. I think that I want to be there at your side and make sure that you can actually do this. So for that reason, and only that reason, I am actually going to be there at your side and make sure that things will be fine." Joe said and then Davis was looking at Yolei.

"Are you kidding me? This is one of the first chances I have had to live an actual adventure. Why the hell would I turn this thing down? Of course I am going to accept going further. This is not safe in any way, but that doesn't fucking matter." Yolei said and then after she said that, Davis was thinking this was not really a great idea. But she was making her mind up, and he was going to have to accept that.

"You know what, I brought you both into this adventure. I guess it is only natural that you want to see this through to the end. I am going to kill Jimmy White, or I am going to die trying to do this. Either way, I am going to be having the night of my fucking life." Davis said and then he placed his right hand on the steering wheel and then he used left hand to start smoking and then he was driving as fast as possible.

The entire time that he was driving towards Jimmy White's work place, the more that Davis was thinking about the revenge he was going to get on Kimberly. Joe was not really feeling all that great letting Davis drive his car, but he knew that Davis wanted this more than anybody else. So he was going to just let him have the moment of glory for the time being.

As the driving was continuing, Davis was getting himself closer and closer to the moment that he had been waiting a couple of hours for. If there was one thing that he was going to have to thank Jeff for, it was the fact that he had given Davis a new motivation. A new reason to keep going. Even if this was going to end that night, it was still indeed more than he had been given just the night prior. And then once Kimberly was avenged, he was going to go right back to his intense military training once more.

Yolei was thinking about how much Davis was going to get himself in danger, and she was hoping that Davis would be able to restrict himself if things were getting too rough for his sake. She was starting to really care about him in a crush way, and she was wanting Davis to not get himself too hurt over something that was not his fault. Even if it was about Kimberly, a woman that Davis had really cared about. Then there was Davis who she was worried would never even look at her again, because of the fact that he had just gotten over Kimberly. And that he was never even going to give her a chance to prove herself.

"Do you think that you will be able to move past Kimberly once this is all over with?" Joe asked, and there was nothing negative that he was indicating there, but he was just wanting to know what Davis was thinking about. He was looking at Davis as if he was just wanting to have him see that there was nothing really worth all of this huge revenge story. He can always just find another woman who he could love.

"I will try to do my best to get over Kimberly. But I doubt that it is going to happen in a snap of a finger like some people are expecting me to do. I don't really think that getting over Kimberly would be super easy." Davis said and then afterward, Davis was thinking about Kimberly. He was thinking of her lovely and naked body, and how much he had enjoyed the company with her when they were together. It was awful that he was thinking of her just like that, and he was even telling himself this, but he just didn't really care at that moment.

"If you think that you are going to be able to at least try, then I guess I won't be able to justify getting myself in your business right now." Joe said, and then he was looking forward and then they were both getting ready for being at Jimmy's office.

Yolei was wondering if Davis was just going to go all guns blazing at that moment. She was thinking that Davis was going to throw everything away if this was his plan. She was thinking that he just needed to think about things a bit before he would do this. But then she was thinking to herself that she was not really giving him a good chance. That she should have been telling herself that he did think this out a little bit.

Davis pulled up at the parking lot of Jimmy's office. Once he was done, he killed the engine and then he was looking right at Joe. "You know, I am done with all of this. I am going to bring the gun right to his face, and then I am going to pull the trigger. I just hope that his minions are too dumb to know what I am going to do. They will not really know what is coming to them." Davis said and then he was bringing his gun right to his hand, and then Joe was seeing how happy Davis was for the first time since they had met.

"You must be really confident in what you can do." Joe said, and he was glad that Davis had this optimism. But no matter how much Davis was thinking he got this under control. Joe was still trying to be realistic with himself. He was thinking that Davis was setting himself up for a really dangerous situation, and he was just wanting Davis to be at least a little bit more realistic here. But then he was thinking that maybe this thought set that Davis had was the only thing that was keeping any form of sanity in his mind.

"What would you want me to do when you are in there?" Yolei asked and then Davis was sighing. He was not really sure what he was expecting of her. He really did not have anything for her. He was thinking that the idea of her going in there at all was something that still scared him. But since she was here, he didn't give a shit. He was going to have to find a way to make her useful.

"I want you to sort of be at the rear. Every time I take somebody down, I want you to get the spare bullets of the people that I take down. And if there is something that is looking like it will get to Joe or I, then you tell us. But then when we get to Jimmy, I want you to leave. Run as fast as you can to Jimmy's office. Tell him everything that is going on, and then you will be the hero for that reason when David comes here. Joe and I will have to take on Jimmy on our own." Then Davis thought about it and then shook his head. "Actually Joe, take care of Yolei when she leaves. You guys can be with me and help me during the assault as much as possible. But when it comes to Jimmy, I am doing this on my own. This is going to be just him and me. And I will take him down or die and then have the recording expose him. Either way, he is done." Davis said and then he was thinking that even if he died, then he did find a justified reason to die. Joe and Yolei didn't like what he was doing, but they knew he was right there. So with that, the three out of the car and started to head on towards the office and got right inside.

...

Despite not really having any real attention of being right in the exact same place, Matt was in the same area as Sora and Sora was in the same area as Izzy. They were all brought together once again. It was the fate that was meant to make the three of them have to deal with the final hours of this quest together. Matt was thinking to himself a bit. "I am just a bit curious to see if T.K. is still fine." Matt said, and then he was placing his hand on his chin. He was thinking about T.K. and just the fact that he was scared for the safety of his younger brother. But he was totally ready for any news, even if it was the awful news that he had been dreading this entire night.

"I am curious to see what his friends are up to. I am more worried about his friends right than him. I think that he has been able to get himself through enough rough patches to where I am not really all that worried about him. But his friends I am not really too familiar with, and they might be a bigger problem." Izzy said, and then after he had said that, he was thinking more about Yolei than anything else. He was not worried about her causing trouble. But he was worried about her just getting into so much trouble that it would have honestly just been better if she caused it. That causing it would have been less of a problem than actually getting into it.

Despite that, Izzy was not really all that familiar with the others, and as a result, he couldn't really say anything about them all that much. He just assumed that they were going to be fine. But at the same time, he was not really willing to make any judgments on that until he saw them a bit more.

"I think that there is nothing really to do now." Matt said, and he was thinking about his personal injuries, and he was also thinking about how much he needed to get some rest, despite the fact that he took off all of their bands. But then Matt was thinking that whatever new adventure he was going to have would be determined in the coming moments. Matt had been thinking about what there was coming up that he could really be able to prove himself useful on. He was thinking that as much as he had hated to admit it though, that he was sort of at a stand point in which he was not really going to be able to be all that useful.

"Well, I don't really think that we are going to able to forget about these events no matter what happens. I think that all of this will be brought to my memory for the rest of my life. I think that these events will just change my out look on life forever. I know that it sounds silly for me to start talking that extremely, but given what was going on lately, I don't really think that it is all that extreme to assume this." Sora was thinking about how much Matt hurt himself and how much it had made her sad to see her boyfriend like that before they were able to even go on a date.

"I think that this was the best year at summer camp ever though." Izzy said and then both Matt and Sora looked at him as if he were insane. "I mean think about it. Think about what was presented to us. That was a really exciting adventure that we went through. It was dangerous as hell and it was scary as hell at the moment. But when I distance myself away from it, the more that I feel like this was worth it. Sure as hell is better than being at camp doing nothing but random activities all the time." Izzy said and he actually meant it. He was actually finding himself wanting to do this again. He was wanting to go at this adventure once more. Which was crazy because at the time, he was not really wanting to do this. He was scared out of his mind at that time, but none of it was scaring him anymore.

"I guess that it was more interesting than boring camp activities. I think that perhaps you are right about this. But who really cares right now? I think that it is all over with for good. I want to at least think that it is over. I wish that it was over." Matt said and then after he had said that, he was seeing that there was something pulling up at the camp and then Matt was wondering what the hell there was with a car pulling up at this point in time.

"Maybe we should be heading to sleep now. It is really late honestly. I can barely keep myself up." Matt said and he was thinking about setting himself to sleep for that reason. But also because he was scared of what he was going to be seeing at any moment. He was scared of what was going to happening to him, Sora and Izzy.

Before the other two could even say something, they saw what the car was doing. There were three guys who were wearing black coming up to them and they were going to bring them to an area in the town where they would be exterminated for their involvement over what had been happening lately, and where nobody would actually notice what was going on. They knew that this was the will of Jimmy White, and that they had to respect what he had wanted them to do.

The three of them were right there before they even had a chance to comprehend it and then each one of the three were so fastly grabbed by the men in black that they had no chance but to be taken down to where they were being led to. The three of them were thrown right into the car and then one of them got right inside of the car and then was starting to drive off.

As the drive off was happening, Izzy had been thinking about where they were being led. They knew that this was going to be the one moment that was going to make or break everything. This was going to be the one moment in which everything that he had said earlier about doing this again would either be proven true, or he was going to have to take it all back and act like he didn't really mean it. Which at the time was not true because at the time he did mean it. But that was possibly going to go away at that moment.

The drive was lasting a little bit longer than they had been expecting. The entire drive was kind of boring as none of the three of them spoke even a single word. None of them were really sure what was going happen. None of them were aware of why they were being the targets before anybody else, when in all reality, there had been others that had been more involved with what was going on than the three of them. Like Davis, T.K., Tai, and hell even Yolei was kind of getting up there at this point. Honestly, they were thinking that the three of them were probably the least involved.

Eventually, the car was pulled up at the forest and then Sora was thinking about how she was going to die that moment with Matt. At least it was going to be with her boyfriend. She was also going to die with Izzy. She was thinking about how he was nowhere near the first choice on her mind, but that she was not super against it. The fact that it had turned out this way was just a bit strange. But it was nothing really more than this.

The six people who were in the car were brought out. One of the men in black were at the back in order to make sure that the teens would not try and run away. But the other two were in front in order to bring them to the exact place that they were going to ruin the lives of these three teenagers. Matt was hoping that T.K. was going to be fine. This was one of the things that he was assuming would be in his stream of final thoughts.

The six of them were eventually at the spot in which they were being led to. This was the exact same spot that Joe, Davis and Yolei were at earlier. This was when the three of them were getting ready for their escape. They had a chance of being able escape, and they were going to take their chance to whenever the first chance was going to come up.

...

Eventually, Sheldon pulled up at Brad's house and he was just waiting to see what Brad was going to grab. A part of him was hoping that Brad was going to grab a bunch of drugs. Despite the intensity of the moment and how much he was telling himself that he should be taking this seriously, he still wanted to get into the drugs. He still was wanting the drugs. He just wanted to get one last good and true smoke in before he was going to have to fight Jimmy White. Plus, Sheldon was also just wondering when Jimmy White was going to see that Sheldon was actually a much smarter man than he would be able to really give him credit for. That Sheldon truly did have a good resolve, but was just too hidden in his drugs to really show it publicly.

Sheldon was just watching Brad get inside of the house and he was just staring right at the house for several minutes. He just simply took out a cigarette and then he was feeling like he was just shaking the entire time that he was smoking the cigarette, which made him know that he was smoking too many of these. But at that moment, he was just not really caring. He felt the need to smoke, and by god he was going to do it even if it meant that he was going to mess himself up even more than he had already been messing himself up by.

Sheldon was thinking in a way that he had taken the whole thing with Brad for granted. He should have appreciated the friendship that he had with Brad more, and in all honesty, he had not shown him enough. That was why Brad had probably wanted to kill him. It was all his fault. And then there was the whole thing with Tucker. Just thinking about him made Sheldon want to break down in tears. As he was thinking about it, Sheldon decided it no longer mattered and then he placed his head on his steering wheel and he was just going to wipe them away when Brad showed up.

Tucker was a fucking hero. He was a warrior for lasting as long as he had. Sheldon had nothing but the utmost respect for what that boy had been dealing with. He felt like Tucker should have had a better life. There was nothing that could have happened in order to make Tucker have a better life though, and that it was just something that was sort of set up for failure right from the start.

Sheldon was thinking about how much of a coward he had been. Every single time that he saw Tucker, he was starting to break down a bit more. He was not there for his nephew. He was not there for the person who had needed him the most. Everything that Sheldon did was not able to even compare to the darkness that he had set up Tucker by just leaving in shame every single time they saw each other. This was another reason Sheldon thought that he deserved to kill himself for the sake of everybody else in the world.

When Sheldon was thinking about how much he had wished that he would have been there for Tucker, the more that he was sort of catching himself thinking about what he was going to actually try and accomplish when he was around Tucker, and he was always trying to get himself away from the thoughts of Riley every time when he thought of Tucker. And getting himself away from thinking about his father, which was the thought set that he had hated even more than the other stuff. He had hated the mere thought of his father.

Sheldon was placing his fingers right to his face and then he was pretending like he was killing himself when he did the fake finger gun shot and then he was placing his head down and pretending like he was dead for a couple of minutes. Once he was faking his being dead for a couple of seconds as opposed to minutes, he heard the car door open and saw that Brad was right next to him.

"I think that I am ready for whatever comes up now." Brad said and then after he had said that, Sheldon was just looking at Brad. He was happy to see that Brad was going to be helping him out. Even if it was just to get ready to kill Sheldon. Even if he was just waiting to kill Sheldon until Jimmy was dead, he was still able to appreciate the help that he was being offered by his friend. Then when he was thinking about what Brad had actually been doing for him, Sheldon was starting the car.

He didn't really know where to go next, but the more that he was driving, the more that he was thinking that the factory that he was talking about earlier was where he needed to go. So when Sheldon was starting to think that he should be heading along that way, so he was slowly driving towards the factory. Brad seemed to pick up what Sheldon was trying to accomplish at that moment. "To be honest, I never really thought that you were going to actually go and head that way. I thought that you were staunchly on the idea of rejecting this place." Brad then was wondering what made Sheldon change his mind.

"I just thought that it would have been worth checking out. I just thought that if for nothing else, I can at least check the place out and see what it had to offer. Who knows, maybe he really is there. If he is, then I will fight him. Then I will fucking kill him. Then I will return home and then have one night with my family more. One more night with my family. Then when I am done, I will be doing the thing that I should have done a long time ago. I am going to kill myself. I am going to enjoy killing myself. It will be worth every second of it." Sheldon was smiling for the first time for a long time. The idea of him dying by his own hands was bringing a huge amount of joy to himself. He was just thinking about what was going to be like.

"I don't know Sheldon, I think that you are giving the idea of killing yourself too much credit." Brad said, and for once, he was going to open up more about his brother. The one person who both of them had very different views on but were still having a level of affection for, but for different reasons.

"I was not really going to tell you this, because I was just thinking that you would not really believe in me. But I think that you just need to know the truth. But Tucker tried to kill himself. He was saying that he was worthless due to the fact that he was disabled and could barely walk. How he was an abomination and how he should have never been born due to the fact that he was the product of a fucked up line of love. I think that he just wanted something better than what he had. I then had to try and get him out of what he was wanting to do. I talked to him about the people who were there for him, and I was making him understand that people did appreciate him and his humor even with his problems, and that he will be able to just live a normal life once he turned old enough to go to the doctor on his own. He was fifteen at the time he was trying to kill himself." Brad said and then Sheldon was thinking about that. This would have meant that this happened eight years ago. His nephew was twenty three years old. Sheldon had barely even realized that he was this old, and he was thinking about and trying to remember the last time that they talked with each other. He literally couldn't remember.

Eventually, Sheldon pulled up at the parking lot of the factory and then he looked right at Brad. "I never knew that. Nobody ever told me that he was feeling this way about life." Sheldon said, and then he was trying to let the full weight of the words of the revelation sink in.

"I thought that you would have not been able to comprehend it. I didn't even know if you cared about Tucker honestly." Brad said, feeling like he did really make a big mistake here.

"Well, I do care." Sheldon said and then he added in an "I guess it doesn't matter now though." Then he was thinking about how maybe he shouldn't do this. But then he was thinking that maybe this was a better chance than ever to actually do this. To go through with what he had to do.

...

As Kari was asleep, she was dreaming of what life would be like if Tai got himself hurt. Not in the way of a general injury where he needed to rest for a couple of weeks or maybe even a month or two. In the way that he was actually dead, and that there was nothing that can really change his death. She was thinking that if Tai died, then her father would probably be blaming himself until the day that he died for what had happened, thinking that he should have been there for his own child. Kari would be thinking that she would not really be ready for how truly awful she would feel about it. She was thinking to herself at that moment that she would be able to be fine with it. But she thought that this was all before the truth would be lying there for her to really confront.

Kari was not really sure how she was feeling about the fact that she was even forced to be thinking about this. She was thinking that the fact that this was a dream that she had was something that was more of a curse than anything else. But then she had been tossing and turning in her bed a lot, trying a lot to just make sure that nobody would really know what she was actually feeling.

But then there was something that Kari was telling herself. She was not really sure if she should believe in what she was telling herself. But it was the only way for her to actually feel like there was still any real hope in what was going on. She was telling herself that Tai was fine, and that there was nothing that she needed to really worry all that much about. She was not really sure if this was the truth, but she was trying really hard to tell herself that this was nothing she needed to worry about.

The dreams that she had been having had been really unpleasant the last few days anyways. Even before the dream that she had in that strange metal city and even before that whole thing at the summer camp recently, a lot of the dreams that she had been having were honestly kind of fucked up anyways. She was thinking that the dreams were a curse that had been brought upon her when she was a small child, as she had been having them for such a long time.

She remembered the dreams that she had two days ago. One of them was seeing a guy on a bridge with another dude. One of them was the guy in the gas mask and the other one was a guy wearing all black. They were both holding something that looked like swords. They kept up a sword fight for a while, and the guy with the gas mask won after he was stabbed and then he was forced to fight for himself and then when the guy wearing black died, the guy in the gas mask was actually doing something that he never thought he would do. He made a vow to protect somebody. To protect her. And Kari was thinking that the 'her' in the dream was actually Kari.

She had no real good reason to think that she was the one in the dream. But at the same time, there was something in her mind that was thinking that there was no real reason for her to be having this dream if it wasn't about her. It sounded a little bit narcissistic in her mind, but she was finding that she was having a hard time not really having that thought set. But then before anything else in the dream could be expanded on too much, there was a loud noise and even if Kari had wanted to keep sleeping, she had no choice but to wake up.

Kari was looking around and then she was seeing that there was a young boy, who looked maybe a year or two younger than her, knocking on her window. Kari was beyond lost at what she was seeing. But at the same time, Kari was seeing that he was in a true need to talk with her. So Kari sighed and then she opened the window and then she let this guy into the bedroom. Once the guy was inside of her bedroom, he was talking a little bit quietly.

"My name is Cody. I live a couple of houses away from you. I was wondering if you were having some dreams that were a bit like mine." Cody said and then before Kari could ask him what the hell he was talking about, he cleared his throat as if he was remembering that he needed to clear things up. "Well, in the dreams, I feel like I am in some form of an alternate reality. A world with monsters. And not just monsters. But monsters that look like they were going to try and come to earth. And I have a feeling that these monsters might actually be real. That is what scares me the most about them." Cody said and then the more that he was describing them, the more that Kari started to really piece it together.

"I think that I do know what type of dreams that you have been having. Did you ever have one that relates to a metal city?" Kari asked and then Cody shook his head, as if thinking again that maybe they were actually not on the common ground.

"Well I never saw anything like that. But I did have a dream about a huge mountain that I saw in the middle of an island. The island was really large, and the mountain looked like it was reaching right towards the sky and there were a few like darker clouds in that area. I always feel like I am about to take on the word when I see that mountain. It scares me. I feel like the answer to the worlds issues are up there, and that I just need to go up there." Cody said, and for the first time, he was thinking about what it would be like to actually go up there. He was thinking that going up there was actually going to be the biggest hardship of his entire life.

"I think I have seen that place once before. The description of a bunch of dark clouds reminds me of something that I saw once or twice. I never really thought too much about it. That is one of the places that didn't really bother me all that much in all honesty. There was a castle that I saw that scared me a thousand times more than the other place that you were talking about." Kari said and then she was thinking about how much she would be scared out of her mind to go in there. She was certain that she as going to be asking for death if she actually went in there.

"I can't remember if I ever seen a castle or not. I think that I saw something that looked like a dark tower. I never really cared that much for it though. I thought that the dark tower was something that might not have even been made yet, and if something that will either never be created for will be created later. As if I am getting a prediction of the future when I am looking up at that place. I don't know. I get that it sounds strange. But I guess if you see it for yourself, you would understand." Cody said and then he was shaking his head and couldn't believe how stupid he was being.

"Why the fuck did I come here? I am going to be in so much trouble if my parents find out that I am not home. I should have actually thought about that before I came here. God, I am a dumb ass." Cody swore for one of the first times in his life. He heard swearing a lot, but that was one of the first time he did it for himself.

Even Kari was shocked at his sudden use of swear words. But then she was thinking that he was just simply expressing his concern for getting in trouble, and then she stopped thinking about it after a few seconds. Besides, it was none of her business that he was swearing. She just needed to make sure that she didn't get too much into it herself.

But then Kari was thinking for a moment. "If you are not sure about being here, then maybe when I get better, we could go out to the park for a moment and talk about it then." Kari said and then that was when Cody was thinking for a moment about Sheldon and he was thinking about his mother as well. Despite the fact that this was objectively the wrong choice to be here, he was thinking that it never really mattered in the case of this night.

….

Once Tai and Candice were inside of the actual camp directors house, they were both aware that they were going to be in a really rough position if they were going to get caught. Tai was taking a deep breath, and he was getting himself ready for whatever was going to be coming up at any moment. Tai and Candice were walking up the stairs of the house of the director. Tai was just scared of what he was going to be seeing. He was having no idea why he was so worried about what some camp director was keeping as his records, but there was a part of him that was thinking that maybe there was something that he was not really too familiar with here.

He was also hoping that he was not going to be seeing the camp director come around. If he had seen the camp director, then that was when he was feeling like he would be forced to protect Candice, and he was not really sure if he would be able to actually pull that off. If he was forced to protect Candice, he was feeling like he was going to fail at that miserably. He felt like he should have been there for Candice, but at the same time, he was convinced that he was not really going to be able to actually do anything.

As Candice was watching Tai show his fear a bit more, the more that she was showing her fear. The more that she was thinking that she made an even bigger mistake by bringing Tai along. Bringing Mimi along was already kind of setting up for failure as she was willing to admit in hindsight. But this was something she could not have been able to in any way predict. She was thinking that Tai would have been able to take care of himself. She was thinking that Tai would have been ready for anything that the camp director was going to do to them, and seeing that he was not really able to keep himself together, Candice felt like this was something she needed to be ready to be punished on.

But then after Tai was getting himself composed again, Candice was getting herself feeling a little bit better. Knowing that Tai was able to move beyond the initial shock of what was going on. She was thinking that maybe she had yet again not given him enough credit. She had never given anybody enough credit.

Then with that, Tai and Candice were walking along closer to the main room where Candice had been at earlier that night. But before something like that was really able to happen, there was a noise in the house that made Tai stop what he was doing. Candice took a second to process it, but when she was aware of what was going on, she was starting to freak out a little bit of her own. She was shaking her head, and she was acting like she was in denial of what was happening. It was her going through a bought of survivors guilt when she had heard that. She should have not ever seen that guy again. It should have been her and not Mimi who was with Tai right now. Candice then hugged Tai before he could even have a second to process anything. Then Tai looked at her and then he started to accept and embrace the hug a little bit.

As he was standing there, and he was letting her embrace him, Tai was starting to wonder again what it was going to be like if the two of them had ever started to get a bit more romantically involved. He was finding himself actually starting to enjoy that mindset a little bit more. He was actually wanting to date her. And if it wasn't in such a rough situation, he might have been able to have the balls to ask her. But he was finding himself thinking about the more serious situation at hand.

The hug only lasted for a few seconds though, as she started to let go and she was looking right at the man who had ruined her life and had given her a huge amount of guilt just by seeing him. It was the camp director. "You never know when you need to give up. I have to almost be impressed with the dedication that you have. In fact, I take it back. I am actually very impressed over the amount of dedication that you have shown." The camp director said and then after he had said this, Tai was standing in front of Candice. But before he could really start to take full pride in what he was doing, Candice grabbed him and started to pull him back. She was not going to let him do this. She was not going to let a second person fall under her mistakes.

"You seem to not really understand the full point of what this camp really was meant to be back in the day. The camp was originally meant to be a training ground for the young men in town to see that the occupations going on here were actually the right jobs to pursue. I guess that in all reality, the true story will never come out. And now that I am here, trying to fix the mess up around here, nobody is able to appreciate the effort that I put in." The camp director said as Tai shook his head.

"You have not really helped anything out. Don't even try and act like you are doing this for the best of the people in this town. Nobody is believing in your story. Nobody is thinking that you actually had the best intentions here." Tai said, and there was a part of him that was starting to sex guess himself a little bit. Maybe the camp director was not that bad of a guy.

"You haven't seen what I have had to see throughout these last several years. You have no idea how much I have had to fight. I got rid of Mimi because she was fighting me. She was thinking that her plans were better than mine. I had to get rid of her in order to actually continue to make progress on my goals." The camp director said as he was looking at the wall.

"It wasn't even her plan. She was following what I was doing. You should not have punished her for something that I was doing. You should see that I am the one who has caused you all of this trouble lately." Candice said as she was just trying her best to get herself the punishment that she had deserved for what happened to Mimi. She didn't know why, but Mimi had affected her more than anybody else that she had known lately.

"It honestly doesn't matter who was doing it at first. And if you were remembering correctly, I tried to fire at you. But your friend decided to take the bullet for you. You should be thanking you for what she decided to do. But I guess that it doesn't really matter now." The man said and then after he had said that, Candice pushed him down to the ground and Tai was shocked at her sudden outburst at that moment.

"You do not know when you need to give up at all. You just keep going and going until you think that we will not have the patience to fight what you are saying." Tai was putting his hand on Candice's shoulder, trying his best to make sure that she was fine. Trying his best to make sure that nothing at all happened to her. He thought that this was too much for her to really try and get into. As he was pulling Candice back, that was when Candice was looking at him as if she was wondering what he didn't understand about her trying to make this man suffer.

"I think that if you actually listened to me, and if you actually talked to me about what I was doing more, than if anything you would actually be supporting what I am pursuing right now. You would actually be seeing that I was right about everything." The camp director said and then Tai was thinking that maybe he was going to be willing to give him a chance. Maybe there was a level of truth to what he was saying, and that he needed to give the man a chance.

"What exactly have you actually been doing? Maybe I would actually understand if you explained things better." Tai said and then he was waiting for the camp director to respond. But he was standing up first and then he was wiping his clothes up and then he took a deep breath and he felt like it was time to really break the mold with them.

...

As Cody was thinking about the trouble that he would be in if he was caught by his mother, he was looking right at Kari. He was thinking that Kari would be the only one who would be willing to listen to him at that moment. She would be the only one who would be willing to actually even pretend to believe what he was telling her of his dreams and everything. He was thinking that there was a chance that he could be able to actually be friends with her if he had actually tried hard enough. All he had to do was just give it his best effort. Once he would get Kari to see that he was trying to be friendly to her, then maybe she would be willing to expand her desire to talk with him a bit as well.

"I think that the things that we see in our dream could either be a prediction of the future, or in a strange way showing that we are sort of connected. I know that it is strange to suggest, that we have a connection. But I can't really help but feel that way." Cody said and he was smiling and he was now holding out his hand as well.

Kari was a bit curious as to why he was holding his hand out, but she was thinking that he was just doing it to be a bit friendly to her. So she was going to hold out her hand as well. Their hands touched, and then the two of them stared at each other for a bit. As if wondering what next they were going to say. In fact, Kari was not really sure exactly what to say to Cody, as they had barely even known each other and this was literally their first time ever conversing with each other.

"You know, I never really had a friend who was actually willing to listen to me about these things. Who might have actually even believed in me in what I was telling them. People always just think that I am having just an active imagination and the start to brush off everything that I tell them. Maybe I can't really blame them for feeling that way though." Cody was still thinking about how he was wishing that at least his parents would have believed him. It was the fact that his parents didn't even show signs of believing in him that really got to him. That he should have at least been given that.

"Are you feeling something right now?" Kari asked, and she was not really all that sure what the meaning behind her question was at that moment. There was a couple of different things that she was feeling at that moment, and she was not really sure if Cody would feel it. But then she was thinking about the burning feeling that she was having, and she was thinking that there was no way in hell that Cody didn't feel the burning feeling by this point. It was impossible that he didn't feel the burning feeling.

"Yeah, I feel it as well." Cody said and then after he had said that, they both had a similar mind fade and they were both witnessing something that neither one of them would really get at all. They were in the middle of what was looking like a giant chasm. The giant chasm was not really what was confusing to them though. It was the fact that the chasm was in the middle of a forest. The forest looked like it was away from everything related to society. That the two of them were truly alone at that moment.

Cody was looking right at Kari, and he was wondering if she was thinking the same thing that he had been thinking. "Do you know what is down there? Have you ever seen something like this in one of your dreams?" Cody thought that this was a simple enough question, and he was just ready for her to tell him no and that she had never seen something like this. But the look on her face was showing that she was indeed thinking about something at that moment.

"I think that I might have at least heard what is down there before. I don't think I ever saw this chasm. But the sounds that it is making are really making me remember something from back then." Kari said and then she was trying to remember when she had heard these noises. But she was utterly certain that she had heard this now. The noise was getting louder, and the more that the noise continued, the more that Cody was certain that he was hearing this back in the day as well. Cody was just trying to remember if he had only heard it once or if he had heard it multiple times.

The two of them stared at each other for a bit, and they were both listening very contently. They were both trying to see if the other one knew what exactly it was. But they were just trying to piece this together at the same time. As they were listening, they were starting to think that it was a monster. Not just any monster, but one that looked like it would literally be the difference between what could be saving and destroying the entire world.

The noise sounded like they had been moaning, and that in a way, they were in a ton of pain. The pain that they were giving off in the noises seemed too real to brush off. If it wasn't for the fact that they were thinking that this thing was going to kill everybody, there was a small chance that they would have started to feel a bit bad for them. But then they were starting to walk back as if they were just going to pretend they never heard this. But the noise was too loud and they were hearing it actually calling out to them.

"Help me. Help me." The voice was saying and then Cody was looking right at Kari. He was wondering what she was wanting to do with this noise. As Cody was staring right at Kari, he was wondering if she was actually almost considering going down there and helping out that thing. He could not believe, as he can see from the look on her face, that she was even thinking about the chance of helping them out. He was pulling at her as hard as he could as if to really jot her memory.

As he was pulling roughly at her, this was when she was starting to slowly get back to thinking properly. "Sorry for thinking about helping them. It was just the way that they had been talking almost made me actually want to help them." Kari said and then she was shaking her head. She could not believe that she had been thinking this way. "What is that thing though?" Kari asked, and that was when Cody and she were both in full agreement. There was nothing that he could really say though that would really give the real answer. Neither one of them knew, and the fact that they didn't know only made things even worse.

"If I had known, I would have told you by now. But I don't know, so I can't really say anything." Cody said, and he was thinking about what it would be like if he went down that chasm. Just mainly to see what was down there. Then he was thinking about how risky this whole thing was. Then he was just hoping that the whole vision would end. He was getting so tired of looking at the chasm and just simply being near it.

Kari was then placing her arms around Cody in a hug. She was just too scared to even admit that in a way that it was kind of silly for her to be acting like this. She was just scared. She felt like since he was there, that he would be able to help her out. "Cody, what is going on? You need to save me." She said, even though she was older than him and if anything, she should have been the one who was protecting him. Not the other way around. But at that moment, she didn't care.

"I don't think I will be able to save you." Cody felt like he just needed to tell the truth to her. He was then looking right at the chasm and then he was feeling like they were going to just get engulfed by darkness. But before it can consume them, the vision ended. Once the vision had ended, Cody and Kari were just staring at each other. They tried their best to process what they had seen, thinking that this would bring them together more than anything else.

….

As Matt, Izzy, and Sora were now in the forest, the three of them were wondering where the hell they were going to go once this was over with. Matt was thinking that he would just have to tell the police what happened, and given what has been happening in the last few days, they would have no choice but to believe them. That was going to be what he was thinking would really be going in his favor. That all he needed to do was just tell them what was happening, and then once he got them to be aware of what was actually happening, then they would be able to help them out. But then Matt thought about the worst part of this whole thing.

He knew that the police would probably be asking him for proof that these people were actually indeed the ones who were on the wrong side of the law as opposed to them. But then Matt was thinking that he didn't really have anything that can make them that he was on the right. But then he saw that one of the people who were wearing black was pulling out a gun. "Jimmy White said he didn't really care all that much how we took care of you. He just said that he wanted you gone." The guy had said, and then Matt was starting to think that this guy was going to do exactly this if he was given the chance to do that.

But then Matt was looking right at Izzy and Sora. Matt was thinking that there was no real way he was going to shoot these people down, and that Matt shouldn't even consider that. But if he was fast enough, he could just beat them up with his fists and everything. Matt was thinking about how this was going to be immensely risky, but that he had no real chance but to go through with this.

Matt decided to go with it. Before the guy was even able to fire the gun and take out one of them, Matt punched the right in the face. The guy was holding his face as if to take in a moment to really process the pain that they were actually in. Then with that, Matt was looking right at Sora and Izzy. He was hoping that they would be willing to help him out. As he was not really wanting to do this whole operation on his own. Izzy and Sora were able to see that this was exactly what Matt was wanting out of them.

Even though Izzy never had fought anybody in his life, he was starting to think that maybe he could pull something out at that moment. That maybe he could actually be useful in terms of fighting. Then Izzy decided to pull the gun out of the other person's pocket and then he threw the guna way so that way the person could not really use that against Izzy. That was what Izzy was more worried about at that moment.

After that, the guy who Izzy took the gun from just grabbed Izzy by his sides and then he threw Izzy right down to the ground. Izzy just hit the ground hard and then Izzy was groaning at that moment. He remembered how getting thrown around how made him feel back when he was younger. It made him feel like he was useless and not able to actually do anything. It made him feel like nothing he would ever do would actually make him feel like he did something of value.

But then Izzy was thinking that he was not going to let this be the general narrative anymore. So he stood up and then he was ready to take his revenge out on that other guy. He just simply lunged right at the guy and then after he did that, he started to punch the other guy in the face a few times. Once he was done, he stood up and just stayed there for a couple of seconds to make sure that the guy was not getting up anymore.

Izzy saw that this whole thing was just as insane as it had looked. The guy who Matt had punched aimed the gun right at Matt. he fired the gun and Matt was pushed away from Sora at the last second in order to make it so that way Matt was going to be safe for another moment longer. Matt looked at Sora and saw that she was still fine and this made Matt feel a bit better and then he got himself up and then he kicked the guy who had tried to shot him right in the nut sack. He started to groan and moan a little bit as if he was trying to wonder why everybody was so into the whole nut kicking thing. He was just wondering why everybody always resorted to that right away before any other battle method.

Then when that thought set was still going on in their mind, Matt was ready to destroy this man when he took out the other gun. He didn't shoot the guy. He just couldn't get himself to do it. But he did hold the gun to the man's face for a moment. He was spreading the fear to them. Making them see that if worse came to worse, he was willing to do it. He was willing to do the irreversible act. The act that would probably send him to prison for the rest of his entire life.

Then when he was done, he was looking right at Sora who was still just trying to deal with the other guy. Once Matt was certain that the other guy was understanding what was going to happen if they didn't comply, Matt stood up and then he pushed them right down to the ground real simply. Then he turned at Sora and Izzy and then yelled "Let's just get the hell out of here. We are not going to get anything by staying her doing nothing all day." Matt said and both Izzy and Sora knew that he was totally right.

So with that, Matt and the other two started to run out of the forest as fast as possible. This was their running for their life moment. Or at least one of their first ones. They were wondering what they had really done in order to really warrant this entire situation. But at the same time, they were still finding a bit of excitement over it. They were not really sure why they were still finding this to be fun and exciting. But here they were, actually enjoying the moment of the run.

The run lasted for about ten minutes or so, and then Matt was just thinking of how lucky he was that none of those assholes took out their gun to try and shot them down when they were running away. It was really just all pure luck that this was what had happened. He was just thinking that they should have been much more cautious about what they were doing. But then he was also thinking that this was in a way probably the best they were going to get out of this. As sad as this was for him to admit.

Once they were out of the forest, Matt looked right at Izzy and Sora. "Holy shit! I think we have to tell the police what just happened. I mean, if we show them their car, maybe we can actually take them down that way as proof." Matt said, and he was actually thinking that this strategy would actually work out. But then he was also thinking of something else. "If I show them their id, which I fucking hope they have, then everything will be great. I think that there is no way that they can deny the reports then." Matt said, and then he was wondering if the people would have been dumb enough to leave an id in there. Or if at least one of them had been.

Izzy and Sora were right with him as he got himself in the car and then as Matt was the only one old enough to drive, he was going to have to do this by default. Matt was seeing that the car keys were in there and he was just feeling like this was a one hundred percent stroke of luck and that he should be taking in his blessings as he started up the car and then he was driving away.

As Matt was driving down the road, he was thinking more and more on what he was going to say to the police. He was thinking that there was nothing he really could say to the police in all reality. At least nothing that he would say that would make them actually believe in what he was saying unless if he found an id in there.

…..

Despite the news of what he had heard about Tucker wanting to kill himself, and indeed actually trying to kill himself, Sheldon was thinking that this was still the best route for him. He knew it was a very serious case, and one that was totally irreversible. But he was thinking about his family and how much better they would be if he wasn't around. He thought about how much his family didn't need him around. He was thinking this was the thing that would totally justify everything he was going to do to himself. All he was hoping was that they would see his meaning, and why he was doing this. That they wouldn't try and make him feel like he was awful for doing the one thing that he knew really mattered.

Suddenly Sheldon was thinking about what it was going to be like to fight Jimmy White soon. "I can't believe that the thing that had pretty much run my life for the last several years is pretty much going to be over with for good after tonight." Sheldon said, and he was taking one final moment to appreciate while also let the fact that it was almost over sink in. This was when Sheldon started to feel like he was going to actually get his life together right then and there.

"You know Sheldon, I think that this is just one chapter of your life. Once you get this over with, then you can start and look forward and how you can fulfill your life on different regards. I think you just need to open your horizons a little bit. This won't really be all that hard in all honesty." Brad said and then Sheldon was thinking that Brad was just entirely wrong. Sheldon had been thinking that Brad just never really understood the truth behind everything that had scared him. Not that he really could, and he didn't blame Brad for feeling this way.

"I just think that people who really know me know that this is going to be the one thing that I will never really be able to actually accomplish. The idea of me actually getting a new life is just something that is too good to be true. Something that I would not really have earned. You know, I think it is strange that I am talking like this. I am talking as if this was really going to be the final night of my entire life. Which for all I know, it might not be." Sheldon said, thinking about what it would be like if he was given another chance to actually live a proper life. "That was why I came back to the high school. I wanted a chance to go back and actually do it right. To actually go in there and be the popular kid for once in my life." Sheldon was thinking about how great it had been to be the popular kid for once.

It was something that he had desired for several years of his life, and only really got the chance to do so when he was in high school again. That was something that he was glad that he was able to do. He was able to go in there and crush the competition for once in his life. He was the one that people respected, and the one that people feared making look back because they knew what he could do against them. But then these thoughts were all cut to a halt when he was seeing that there was somebody there waiting for them. But it was not Jimmy White.

Liu was standing there, inside the factory. He was waiting for the two of them. It was like he was totally prepared for a duel. A duel that was going to show people that he was not a force to be messed with. He was having what looked like the devils look on his face. He was looking like he was pure evil. Brad and Sheldon realized right then and there that Jimmy White had fully corrupted him before there was a chance to change him to be good again.

"Sheldon, are you sure that you are willing to fight him? He looks like he might actually be even worse than Jimmy White." Brad said and then he was thinking that it was strange for him to accuse Liu being worse. But at the same time, knowing this town, it was impossible to say that nothing could happen.

"Listen to yourself Brad. You are telling me that this guy might be worse than Jimmy White. If there is even a small chance that this can happen, then there is no way that I am not going to do something against him. He is going to be a plague. He needs to die. It really is just that simple. He needs to fucking die. No matter what the way that I do it may be," Sheldon said to Brad and then he was looking at the red haired friend of his. Or what he was supposed to assume was his friend. He was still not truly sure what he was supposed to be thinking of Brad.

"I know, but I think that you are too good for this. I think that you actually have a chance to live and do something good with your life. Please don't throw it away for something like this. I know that there is probably no chance that you will survive if you fight Liu or Jimmy." Brad tried his hardest to get the dying man to quit what he was doing.

"I know that you don't fully support me doing this stuff right now. But what else can I do about it? He has to be taken out. That is really as simple as it gets. I just want to something good with my life. I want to redeem myself. I know that many people think that I have redeemed myself. But I don't really think that I have done that yet. Nothing I have done has made me feel like I actually have redeemed myself." Sheldon said, and then he said "Well, nothing after I defeated my dad at least."

"But there are people who need you. I get that you have a death wish. I get that I have a contract to kill you. But every time I see you, I think that you are going to die anyways. I don't want to admit that. I hate to admit that the person that I had started to respect as a good man when I was younger is going to die. You deserve better than this. Nobody really knows who you are. Nobody knows what you have been doing for this town, and as a result there is nothing that people will be able to say in your favor. Do you really want that life?" Brad questioned and then Sheldon actually started to think about it for a bit.

He was looking right at Liu, and then he was thinking about what he can do in order to defeat Liu. "I know that nobody understands what I have done. I have to accept the fact that nobody knows what I have been doing. I have to accept the fact that I am pretty much unnoticed by others. But I hope that you can help my legacy live on a bit. Once I am done, our contract is over anyways and you might as well just act like a free man where you don't have to be bogged down by my terrible choices." Sheldon fully admitted what all of these were. Just a bunch of terrible choices that he should be ashamed of himself on.

As the cold breeze was passing by, Sheldon was waiting for Brad to respond to him. He was waiting for Brad to either support or reject what he was saying. "Sheldon, I will try my best to help you out. I doubt that Jenny will forgive you if you die though. I don't even know if you do. I mean, you're somebody who really helped change my life for the better lately." Brad admitted as Sheldon had a hard time really comprehending this.

"Even then, if I don't do this to Liu right now, then nobody else will. I have to destroy Liu. Nobody else can do this. It is something that only I understand and can do." Sheldon said and then afterwards, he was waiting for a comment on Brad's end.

"As much as I hate to say this, you are right. You are the one who will be able to destroy them. You are the only one who understands what Jimmy really can do. I am here with you though right now. So I guess that I have to help you now. Even if it goes against everything that I feel like I should be doing right now." Brad said and then afterwards, the two of them walked right inside of the factory. Ready to see what he was going to do when Liu was in front of them.

…..

As Harold was parked at the yard of Susan's house, he killed the engine and ran out of the car as fast as possible. T.K. was trying his best to pursue the man and his best to make sure that he was not really going to be tripping around or anything like that. Although he was kind of wishing that Harold would at least be thinking this out a little bit better than he had been at this point in time. Instead, he was just running around like a total fucking idiot. He was looking like he was basically a bumbling alcoholic and everything. Which would have been awful if it was the truth since he was just a twelve year old dude.

Once inside of the house, Harold ran right to the room where his mother was. TK. was just a mere few steps behind him, hoping that this person would just relax a little bit and see that this was just being a huge mess at that moment. But then when he was done, he saw that the room was just empty aside from Harold. He was watching as Harold was just placing his hands on his face. He looked like he was on the verge of crying. "I don't want her to fucking die. I don't want my mom to fucking die. She deserves so much better than this." Harold said and then he was looking right at T.K. as if hoping that his friend would be able to say or do something in order to help make him feel better. But T.K. was just at a total loss for words at that moment, thinking that he really had nothing to offer.

"I wish I can help you. But I don't know where your mother would be. Do you know where she would usually go in the house during the night?" T.K. asked, trying his best to make his friend be at least a little bit calm. But then before anything else can be said between either one of the two, there was a voice that brought joy to Harold's heart upon hearing it. He never thought in a million years that this voice would be like music to his ears, but at this moment it really was.

"Oh my god mom, I was fucking scared out of my fucking mind for you. I thought that you were in danger." Harold said as he wrapped his arms around his mother in a hug. T.K. was just watching as he was watching him hug his mother, and he was looking like he was about to let down a swarm of tears.

"Harold, why would I be in danger? There is nothing for you to be worried about. I was just getting ready to be going to sleep soon anyways. I just heard you talking, and you sounded like you were needing something. I am just so glad that you're home right now." Susan said as the two of them released the hug and then Harold took a deep breath to try and keep himself collected.

"Just some people I met said that they were going to kill you." Harold said as he was thinking about Jimmy White, and he was wanting to punch that look off of Jimmy White's face when they saw each other again. That was the first thing that he had wanted to do.

Then once he would punch him in the face, he would be ready to possibly do even worse to him. He didn't really feel like he was all that angry at Jimmy until he saw that his mother was in danger. "Mom, I don't want anything to happen to you. Please, understand that I just am scared out of my mind. There was a serial killer going around recently, and he was killing a ton of people." Harold had said and then after he had said that, his mother was just trying to really see why her son was this scared over her dying or something like that. She was in no danger of dying, and the whole fact that he was thinking she was was honestly a little bit silly.

T.K. was placing his hand on his arm cast, and he was just moving it around a bit to make it a better fit. It was starting to fall off of him a bit, and he was getting kind of tired of that. But then he looked right at Harold's mother, and then he was wondering if he would have been able to make a little bit of small talk there. Harold's mother looked right at T.K. as if she couldn't believe that she had not seen him earlier. "What is with his arm?" Susan asked, and then after Susan asked this, T.K. and Harold looked at each other. Neither one of them wanted to admit the truth, so they just went with the still true but slightly less so story.

"I had a skating accident and broke my arm during it. Was no fun at all. But I still do it anyways. Just need to make sure that I don't place my hand on the ground to stop a fall in case I look like I am about to fall. Better to fall on my ass and look stupid for a couple of seconds over breaking the next part of my body." T.K. said and then after he had said that, he was smiling and he was acting like he was keeping some big great secret from her. In a way, he kind of was actually doing that. But it was something that he never thought he would look at in that way.

"Oh that is so awful. Harold used to be in that stuff. But he never really got himself hurt too badly over it. Kind of surprised honestly. I thought with the moves that he was always pulling out and everything at that he was going hurt himself really badly and everything. Not that it really matters anymore, since from what I understand he is not really into it anymore." Susan said and then she was looking at the cast T.K. had on his arm. The fact that it was all dirty and that the only thing on it was 'V-Loser.' She was wondering what the context behind it was and she looked at Harold as if she was wondering if he was going to clear any of this up. Harold shrugged and it was actually the truth that he didn't really know what was going on in that persons mind for them to write that on the arm cast.

"You know, I think that you should get a new cast. I mean that one is starting to wear down really badly. At this point, you might as well just not even wear it anymore." Susan said and then T.K. nodded. He was aware of this and was wondering why she was so on the subject of his arm cast. It was just kind of strange that he was basically being interviewed by the mother of a person who wasn't even sure if he would call them a friend or not. In a way, Harold was a friend. But not to the same level as Davis or Yolei or even Cody to some extent. Harold was just somebody of his own.

"I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe tomorrow, I will drop by the hospital and get a new one. But right now, I don't really feel like I need it at this second. I think I will be able to get one more day out of it." T.K. said, and he was being truthful enough. There was nothing about this that was so bad that he needed the replacement right at that second.

"I guess that maybe you can get one more day out of it." Susan said in light agreement before turning at Harold. "But what did you hear that make you so worried that I was going to die? I don't understand what had gotten you so scared about that out of nowhere."

Harold was in no way certain how there was going to be the best way to explain it. In a way, he was thinking that perhaps it was impossible for him to come up with the best way to explain the situation to her. "You know, I just was told by some people who were wearing black that the mayor Jimmy White was sending some people to this house and that they were going to kill you since I didn't join him on what he wanted to do," Harold said and then he was thinking about what he was saying to her, and if she had believed in him.

The look on Susan's face was one where she looked like she was getting much more serious. She was scared of what she had heard. It was no longer something that was silly and something that she felt like she can ease his mind on. In fact, this news was actually starting to scare her a bit more. She knew a bit of how Jimmy White ran his business, and she knew that most of the time he wasn't really fucking around.

...

Davis had no real clear goal on how he was going to defeat Jimmy White. As much as he was wanting to look like he was ready for what was coming up next, he was going to have to reveal the truth to them when the time would come up. In all reality, he had no fucking clue, and he was just sort of winging it this entire time. Davis was just rubbing the hair on his face when he was at the early feet of the building, and then he was looking at Joe and Yolei. Despite the fact that they were saying that they would be there to support him, a part of him was still thinking that he was just going to regret bringing them along. He was just scared all shit as to what was going to happen to them.

Once he was aware of the fact that there was no turning back, no matter how hard he tried to convince them otherwise, he started to walk forward and he was holding his gin forward. He was ready to take down anybody shall the time arise. He was ready to kill anybody if they were going to get in the way of his victory, and he was ready to make anybody suffer if they were going to put Joe and Yolei in danger. That was the thing that was really keeping him moving forward. He was ready to go guns blazing shall the need arise.

Things seemed to be fine for the first little bit of it. When he was looking around, at first it looked like nobody even saw that they were there. It was as if Davis was thinking too deeply into this whole thing, and that he had over planned this. Maybe Jimmy White was not the master mind that he was thinking that this man was. Maybe he just thought that Jimmy could have been capable of magic or something fucking stupid like that. Then here he was, starting to see that maybe this was just a normal person who made normal calculations. There was now the part of him that was thinking that he didn't need to take down Jimmy White after all. It was a small part of him, but it was starting to sink into him just a little bit.

It had looked like everything was all fine for a while. Then Davis turned right towards Joe and Yolei. "Dang, what is going on. Are they waiting for me right now or something?" Davis asked and then he was just starting to get to the point where he was kind of letting his guard down.

But as he was starting to let his guard down, he was seeing that there was a woman walking towards them from out of Jimmy White's office. Something that Davis knew was fake, but still really got to him when he was seeing her. Something that made him second guess everything in an instant.

He was seeing Kimberly right there in front of him. He knew that she was a fake, or that he was just sort of hallucinating. But at the same time, seeing her at all, even if she was not real, was keeping him very happy. He felt like he was seeing something like a ghost coming towards him. Davis was holding his hand forward as Joe and Yolei were both wondering what he was going to do now. They were both wondering if he was actually going a little bit crazy. "Davis, I was hearing all about you. I was scared about you. There is nothing that you need to worry about." She said, as Davis was feeling the feel of Kimberly's hand on his. Despite the instant at the moment pleasure that he had felt when he had felt at that moment, there was something else that made him stop what he was doing.

"You are not the real Kimberly. She had warmer hands. She also had a slightly higher pitch in her voice. You are not her." Davis said, and he was one hundred percent firm on the idea that this was not Kimberly. "I do not know who you are, but you are a fake."

As Kimberly was looking at Davis, Joe and Yolei were wondering what he was going to do next. "But Davis, I remember all of the great times that we had together. Why do you think that I am a fake?" Kimberly asked as Davis was thinking of a way he could test her if she was actually remembering these things or not. Kimberly was seeing from the look on Davis's face that he was not convinced at all that this was her. She was not falling for it, and she was thinking that Jimmy White was wrong about this.

"Name me something that only you and I know. Something that nobody else in the entire world knows, no matter how close you are to them. Tell me something. If you want to prove yoruself to me, I need you to fucking tell me." Davis said and the voice that he was having was showing that Kimberly, or the fake Kimberly was not nearly good enough at hiding herself. She was thinking that she was going to get exposed at any moment. But she was thinking of something that seemed like it would have actually really happened.

"Remember when you were trying to ask me to the movies? But you never accepted the offer that I was giving you. You were crying as you were staring at me and trying to get me to like you. Then when I started to show that I had no interest in you, I saw that you were crying and running away because you didn't want to see me anymore after I just rejected you." Kimbery said and then Davis shook his head. He knew that this was the evidence that he really needed to know that she the fake Kimberly.

"That never happened. You probably have implanted memories. I think that you might be a replicant. You were created by Jimmy White to fool me. But I knew better. I saw right through your disguise. I can't even look at you anymore." Davis said and then he put in one single bullet in the gun and then both Yolei and Joe were shocked when he placed the gun right to her face. On her forehead. Joe and Yolei did not in any way expect him to do or even think about doing what he was going to do at that moment. Kimberly was giving off a look that was trying to make him not do this anymore, but he was not falling for it no matter if he had wanted to believe in it or not.

"Does it matter if I am the Kimberly that you know or not? I am Kimberly. Here I am right now. Right in front of you." Kimberly tried to tell Davis as the man with the gun was having more tears in his eyes than he wanted to admit. Not only because of the fact that he was going to do this to a relatively innocent girl, but the fact that she was in the body of his former girlfriend. But if for nothing else, it did show that Davis was now pretty much immune to anything that would be thrown at him from this point forward.

"I can't ever look at you without thinking about how much of a fucking lie that you are." Davis said and then he said "Tell the real Kimberly that I am sorry for doing this. You really did deserve better. She deserved better. But I don't trust replicants." Davis then fired the gun and then he saw the fake Kimberly fall down to the ground, with the blood coming out of her forehead. He knew that he was now going to get framed for her death and be thrown to prison, but it was better than living a lie altogether.

Then Davis was looking right at Joe and Yolei as he shook his head. "I can't believe that Jimmy White would try and play that trick on me. Does he know no bounds at all?" Davis then was looking forward to seeing where Jimmy White was. Then he was walking the rest of the way to the office with Joe and Yolei right behind him, wondering how well he was actually keeping his cool and if they were going to see him become the next killer soon.

Eventually, they were at the door to Jimmy's room. "I have to do this alone. I am going to record the entire conversation. Tell David everything. Then he must come here and I will give him the camera. Either I die and the camera gets exposed, or I live and he is gone and I can use the camera to stay out of trouble." Davis said and then Joe and Yolei both knew he was not going to change his mind. He opened the door and walked in as he closed the door and then Joe and Yolei walked away to do the thing he wanted them to do.

...

After that scary moment and vision was over with for good, Kari was looking right at Cody and she was just trying to wrap her mind over what happened. "Do you think that we just looked into something that could actually possibly happen in the future? I don't want to think of something like this happening, but I am fearing that I can't really deny something like that happening either." Kari said and then she was thinking that looking at that chasm was going to give her a ton of nightmares, and she was not really sure if she was ready for something like that.

"I doubt that something like this is going to happen. But I have to admit that there is at least a small chance that it could happen. Which is the scariest thing to me. The fact that I can't even fully say that it won't happen. That I even have to sort of considering the idea that this can happen." Cody said and he was feeling like he had aged up ten years in the course of just a couple of minutes. He didn't even know why this was bothering him so much. But he was not going to be able to get the idea of something like this actually happening out of his mind. When he was thinking about what it would be like if this came to fruition, Cody was just trying to make peace with the nightmare that was to come. The nightmare he was getting slowly convinced with each passing second that he was going to be a part of very soon.

After this, he was looking right at Kari. Despite all of the terrible things that was going on, he was still finding himself enjoying the company of Kari around him. He was thinking that she was a nice enough girl. She believed in him and she had been talking with him throughout this whole thing, and it seemed like they were starting to build up a decent bond at that moment. But he was telling himself not to get too excited or else he was really going to fall down yet another rabbit hole that he was not really sure if he wanted to go down it yet.

"You know, I just think that we have a bit of a special ability. That in a way we have something that nobody else will have. I know that this may sound really vague. But I think you must know exactly what I am talking about. I think that you are aware of what I am telling you." Kari said and then after she had said that, Cody was nodding at her statement, wondering how much longer he was going to be able to continue this conversation, or if this was starting to hit near the wall that it could reach.

Despite the fact that he didn't want to admit that he was playing with only a small amount of information, and the fact that this was probably not really going to go anywhere, he was still trying to get all of the pieces together. "You think that if you tried to tell other people this, that they would brush it off as imagination or do you think that there could be at least one person who is able to believe in what is going on?" Cody was just trying to give himself the hope that somebody would believe in this, although the hope was pretty dim as he would have to admit sooner or later.

"I think that you know the answer. The look on your face shows that you know the answer. You may not like the answer. I don't like it at all either. But it is the answer that we will have to accept. Even if it does mean that we will have to be dealing with all of these things on our own." Kari said and then Cody nodded. He was knowing that she was going to say this, and then he was just looking at the window.

As he was looking at the window, he was giving himself hope that one day people would be able to believe what he is telling them. That they will not be able to deny the truth of this other world. He was starting to get convinced that this other world existed, and he just wanted to prove that it was there.

The idea of there being a world with other life was something that did excite Cody for a moment, but then he was thinking about the monsters that would show up if this was the case, and Cody was getting less and less sure on if this was actually all that awesome or if anything, that it would be extremely terrifying. The idea of these monsters coming along and attacking poor and innocent people made Cody terrified that he was going to be seeing something like this sooner or later.

"I think that if that world is real, that we would really have nothing that we could be able to defend ourselves with. I think that we would pretty much be having to accept our defeat now." Kari said, and she was unware of the monsters that had come to this very city back in the day, and that they had managed to survive and that there was nothing too bad that they needed to be worried about. They just needed to be a bit more careful with their strategy. If there even was one, and if two young ass kids would even be able to actually come up with a strategy at all. It was silly for them to even assume that one can be made. But they were sort of having a loose hope that there was one that they would make.

As this was a thought that Kari was having, this was when Kari and Cody were sort of getting to that point in their lives where they were losing hope in the world. That they were thinking that nobody would ever come along and that nobody would ever show their sympathies, and they were thinking that soon enough they were going to sort of become a ghost town.

"Do you think that there have been monsters that come along before?" Kari asked Cody and then that was when Cody was thinking that there was no fucking way that there had been monsters before. That it just seemed really out there. It was way too unrealistic, and that he just was unable to accept that idea. But then when he was thinking about this, he was thinking about what it would have been like if monsters had been around, and if he actually knew somebody who had met these monsters before. If he had, then that would be something that he would have to really try and get to know more about.

But before Cody would be able to think about this too much Kari shook her head. "I mean, I was just imagining the idea that this was real. I guess that it is not. I would never be this lucky to be seeing something like that though. I mean, fate must really hate me. The fact that only one person has seen me who actually knows what I am talking about and only one person who even believes me. Why would people start to believe me on this stuff now?" Kari asked and she was meaning it to show her hopelessness of it all, which she was showing a big amount of.

"You know, I think that people just don't really know what to expect with real life stuff. They are too scared to admit the truth of the fact that they don't know everything. The fact that they don't know everything is something that scares them, and that they want to know everything. They feel like if they don't know everything, that if anything they would be weak. It is something I noticed when I see my father." Cody said, thinking about Sheldon.

Cody was wondering if there was something that happened when Sheldon was younger that really ruined his life. Something that fucked him up beyond belief. Something that would never be able to change his life for the better. Cody was wondering if that was why he wanted to try and be a decent dad for so much of his time. Because of something from when he was younger.

Even though Cody was thinking that he was getting what his father was going through, he would never get it in the way that it had actually happened. He would never be fully prepared for what was actually the truth. The truth was something that even if he wanted to be prepared for, that he would never be able to really expect. He would never expect his grandfather to be such a terrible person, and it didn't really make any sense to him at all until further thought.

…

As Davis was alone, he was staring right at Jimmy White. The person who he was starting to realize had actually been the source of all the evil in the town. It was strange to him how he never noticed this before hand, but now that it was right here in front of him at that moment, it was something he could no longer deny. This man was radiating something that looked and felt exactly like death. In a way, when Davis was actually sitting there and staring at this man, in a strange way, he was actually smelling exactly like it. It was like in a way, Jimmy White was death. This was when Davis was starting to think that he had finally gotten the truth to this all.

"So you decided that you couldn't wait for me any longer? I thought that you would have tried to stay away from me. I guess that I was giving you too much credit. You seemed to be much smarter than this. Much smarter than actually being willing to come right to my front door to try and challenge me. But I guess it doesn't matter. You are with me right now, and we can have our little dance. We can see which one of us truly is smarter." Jimmy White, said and the look on his face was telling Davis that he was feeling like he was already one hundred percent certain of this outcome coming up. Davis was annoyed at his sense of a foregone conclusion, but he was thinking a little bit like the mayor as well.

When there is something so right there, so within victory, it would be very hard to not act like it was right there. It would be very hard to not feel like you have already won. In a way, Jimmy must have been thinking that this was already over, and that all Davis had been doing was just prolonging the moment. He turned on the recorder, and then the entire conversation from her on forward was going to be brought to the world.

"So why do do you do this? I mean, why do you continue these insane pursuits? Surely you must realize that you are not going to get away with this forever?" Davis asked, and he was feeling like he was already going to be able to predict what the man was going to say to him next.

"I do this and I get away with this because I know of what the town is like in terms of how it actually functions. I know the ins and outs of how this place is actually run, and I know the simple way I can be able to break people. Be able to convince them that I am the only one who will be able to really help them out. It is much easier than one may actually expect for it to be. You don't even really have to actually try all that hard. All you have to do is just tweak with this a little bit, and just see what can make things snap. When you are the one playing god, and the rest of the people around you fear your very actions because they know that you are superior, then that is when you know that you truly have resonated with the people. They truly will never question your lead again." Jimmy White said and Davis felt like despite how much he was not wanting to say that he got it, there was the part of him that would be lying if he said there wasn't at least some form of logic to these statements.

"But I guess it doesn't really make sense to me. Why would you do something if you are going to be feared rather than respected? I mean, would you rather be respected over be somebody who everybody just hates and can't even handle being around? I mean, many people probably fear about even just being around you. Is that really worth it?" Davis asked and Jimmy White just simply laughed at this.

"Of course it is worth it my young man. I mean, when you have people who just don't want to piss you off, then you can get them to do anything for you. They will always be respecting your authority because they know that you are the only one who will be able to properly lead them. There is a certain level of respect that they do have for you. The respect that they only have for a leader." As Jimmy White said that, Davis was thinking more about it.

As much as Davis hated to say it, and as much as it was going to kill him to admit it, he did find that there was a good point to all of this. There was some truth to what he had been told. Maybe he shouldn't have brushed all of this off so soon. Maybe he should look at the ideals of Jimmy White and actually at least consider them.

It was just in the way that he talked, the way that he so flawlessly explained everything that made Davis actually be the exact victim of what he was being told about earlier. He was somebody who was having a respect for Jimmy White, as well as a bit of a fear. This was when Sheldon was thinking that Jimmy White did really know how to run the town, and that he had been thinking wrong about the guy this whole time.

Despite the disdain of how exactly he run the business, and the results that came out of the way it was run, Davis had to admit that this guy could be right. He wanted to give Jimmy White another chance, as if to see if there can be more he would be able to really learn out of this guy. So Davis decided that as much as he was hating it, that he would indulge this insane man further, and look more into the mindset of a deranged lunatic.

"Can you explain what it would be like if somebody were to suspect of what you are doing, and they tried to expose you to the media? What would you really do then?" Davis was at his point of actual interest, and he wanted to see what this guy had up his sleeves. In a way, he was feeling like he almost needed to see it. That not seeing this was the one thing he would really regret doing in his entire life. Davis was certain that the answer to everything that he had been faced as a challenge could be solved right now.

"I just quietly eliminate them and make it look like it was a simple accident. It really is not all that hard even. All I have to do is just make the house have a gas leak and a match light up. Or a lawn mower blow up. Very simple things that happen all the time, but nobody would really suspect. Nobody would think that it is connected to me, because in all reality it hardly is. All I did was help order it. I didn't actually do the chore myself. And if they get caught doing this, then I can't do anything about it besides release them. I think that this is the simple word for it. Just releasing them." Jimmy White was wondering how long it was going to take Davis to make the connections.

"So how many of the people have you worked with personally given up on working with you? How many of them failed to cover themselves up well enough? I am just curious to know how often this becomes a obstacle you have to over come." Davis said, not even trying to start a fight anymore. If it weren't for the lump of a recorder in his pocket, he would have forgotten that it was even in there. He just wanted to know more. He felt like getting to know more was going to be the thing that can help him understand why Kimberly had died.

"A lot less often than it used to. For a while, it was happening all the time. I was actually starting to fear that I would get exposed. I just simply was not all that good at the job for a while. But now I have improved myself a lot, and I feel like I am ready to really increase my resolve of what to do. I know what must be done if I actually want to survive as mayor. I have to play the game much rougher than I expected." Jimmy then sighed and then he was wondering if Davis was done by now.

"This is actually pretty intriguing, I have to admit. I wonder how you actually try and get people to join you. I mean, a lot of these people must be really hard to break. They must be really stiff in their morals, right? At least, when you first see them that is." Davis said, and he was almost in a way thinking about how he can do this himself.

….

As Harold was feeling like he was going to be able to relax a little bit, he looked at T.K. as if to express that he felt a little bit dumb or freaking out in this regard. But as T.K. was still holding the disc, they both knew that the battle was far from over. T.K. took a deep breath and he was ready for what was to come next, even though both of them wanted to put this off a little bit longer. Not that it would really matter anymore as there was a loud knock on the door that ruined their train of thought. T.K. took a long and deep breath as he started to walk down the hallway of Harold's house. Harold was kind of hoping that T.K. wouldn't do this, fearing what they were going to be seeing on the other side and even if he had not wanted to admit it, he was scared out of his mind over what was going to be there waiting.

Once T.K. slowly answered the door, he saw that there was one person who was wearing a grey suit. Not like the one that Jimmy's helpers were wearing. It was almost like this guy was on a different level from them. "Give me the dvd." The guy told T.K., getting right down to business. That was when T.K. was looking right at Harold, as if hoping that he had an idea up his sleeve at that moment.

"I can't do that. It is too scratched up to be used anyways." T.K. said and there was a small level of truth to what he said there. He was just holding it behind his back, hoping that the guy would believe him and leave him alone. But the longer that the guy was standing there, the more that T.K. was starting to realize that this hope he was having was now gone. Then he looked at Harold for a second time, as if showing that he had sort of lost all hope in humanity.

"My boss is willing to give you a pretty hefty sum if you just have the disc over to me. I promise, I won't hurt you or anybody else if you just give this to me." The guy said and he was placing his hand on T.K.'s arm, and the pain of just the holding was already enough to actually make T.K. considering giving the guy the disc. It really was hurting so badly. But then T.K. was looking at Harold.

As he was looking at Harold, to see what he had to say about it, he was hoping that Harold would be forgiving of what was happening. That even Harold in his moment can see that T.K. just simply can't do this for too much longer. Harold was looking at his mother as if pleading for her to run away. As Harold was giving her this look, it took Susan a moment to process the whole thing, but when she understood what was happening and why he wanted her gone so bad, she decided to comply with him. She ran out the back door and started to run away as fast as she could.

"How nice of you to think that simply giving her a head start will actually do something. I almost have to appreciate how silly you guys actually are. It is almost impressive. But it doesn't really matter. I have a job I have to run, and a business offer I need to take up right now. Do not waste my time." The guy sounded extremely impatient now, and T.K. was well aware of the fact that he was treading on thin ass ice at that moment. But what he did instead was something he was certain he was doing just out of sheer stupidity and not because it was actually the smart thing to do. He punched the guy right in the face and then threw the dvd at Harold while the guy was not looking. Harold and T.K. knew that they had about four seconds to get the hell out of there and run as far away as possible. Just a small four second head start.

T.K. pushed the guy down, which he felt like would give another three seconds or so, bringing it up to seven seconds now. Right away, he took advantage of every single one of them as he was running away from the house as fast as he could. Then Harold was doing the exact same thing, but in the other direction.

With both of them going separate directions, it made it so that the guy would only be allowed to choose one of them. For the first time ever, the idea of splitting up was actually the best idea that there could be. They both knew that this was a once in a life time chance that they could do this.

As T.K. was running away, he was just really glad that he was able to get away from this guy at all. He knew it would be a short lived victory and that he shouldn't get in over his head at that moment, but even just for a few seconds he was thinking that he was going to be a bit safer. That this was the only thing that was going to go well for him. He just hoped that the guy would pick him instead of Harold, hoping that T.K. would have the dvd and that he would be even more distracted and lost when he saw that it was now Harold who had it. This was the best thing in his mind. If that failed, then the entire plan failed and Harold might have already been caught up with by now. But he was not thinking all that much about that idea, and was just telling himself that if there was a lord, then they liked him enough for this plan to work.

Either way it didn't really matter as he would learn, as the guy who T.K. punched eventually caught up about two streets after the chase started and then they pulled T.K. back. He fell right down to the ground and then T.K. felt like there was a huge surge of pain coming down his entire body. he was just hoping that the guy would be merciful enough to at least leave his arm alone. At least the fucking arm.

The man grabbed T.K.'s head and slammed it down to the street once. Which was enough to create a decent scratch, but not enough to make him really even bleed. It just made his head hurt by a lot. Then T.K. looked up and was feeling like there was a bunch of birds flying around. "Where is the dvd? Why don't you have it?" The guy asked as T.K. was looking at his arm cast getting looser and looser. He was more focused on that.

T.K. started to place his right hand on the arm cast and he was bringing it down to fully fit on him again. The guy who was watching him do this got even more angry at T.K. for not at all showing any sign of paying attention. Then with that, T.K. kicked the guy back and then he said "You should have listened to me earlier. I tried to tell you that I had nothing with me." Afterwards, he started to run away as fast as possible, hoping that the shock of the moment could get him another few seconds. But it was seeming like is luck was starting to run out at that moment. It looked like he was not going to be able to bullshit his way out of everything.

The guy started to run after T.K. again but then as he was running, a car pulled up and his helper was in the car. "Get in, stop wasting our time." The guy said and then after he said this, the guy chasing after T.K. got in the car and then closed the door. T.K. heard the car door slam shut and then T.K. just felt like he needed a quick scape goat. He saw the hill he was near and the fact that it looked like it was going to lead down into some form of a forest. He ran down that hill and purposely slipped.

As he slipped, he saw when he looked up and rolled down the hill how it seemed to him that nobody was chasing him anymore. He stood up covered in dirt and decided he was going to head back to the summer camp, where he would try and see Harold there or some other people, or perhaps just call quits to this and stay there for the rest of the summer.

As T.K. was slowly heading back to the summer camp, totally covered in dirt, the people who had been in the car looked around and no longer saw him anywhere. They got back in the car and then they were driving around to see Susan about half a mile or so from where they started. They pulled up next to her and before she could even process what was going on, the driver took out a gun and shot Susan right in the side. She fell down to the ground instantly as the car began to drive away.

...

Once Sheldon and Brad were inside of the building that Liu was waiting for them at, both of them were setting themselves up or the worst. Both of them were starting to think that Liu was going to easily kick both of their asses. Brad was the first one to speak at that moment. "So Liu, what makes you even want to be working with Jimmy in the first place? Do you not see that there is nothing good that will come out of this?" Brad was asking from what he felt like was good personal experience. Nothing about working with Jimmy White had made anything better for him. If anything, the whole ordeal that he was in at that moment got worse just because of the fact that he accepted Jimmy's offer and was ow forced to kill Sheldon at some point due to that. But then he was thinking that maybe he should be taking a bigger deal of pride in killing Sheldon. The man who had been related to the father of his disabled brother. The man who had ruined Tucker's life. Brad was telling himself in a way that if Sheldon wanted a death wish, that it would be granted to him soon. What Liu and Sheldon didn't know at that moment was that Brad was holding a lethal drug in his pocket. He was thinking about giving it to Liu originally. But now he was thinking about giving it Sheldon. Give the man his wish, and as a result take revenge on Tucker. All he had to do was convince Sheldon it was just heroin, and then Sheldon injects it, and then he would be dead in the matter of minutes. It was the perfect situation for Brad.

"I accepted his offer because I had nobody there to support me when I needed it the most. My brother killed both of my parents, a bunch of his friends, and my entire reputation because nobody wanted me around because they were scared that I was going to go around killing them like a mad man since that was all my brother did." Liu said and then after he had said that, he was waiting for their reactions. Waiting to see how yet again they would just judge him for something that he was perfectly justified in doing. Despite the situation, Sheldon still did not really feel for him all that much.

"My father was a horrible man. He ruined my life, my families life, and the lives of hundred of other people. I only joined Jimmy White because I was fucking broke. I had no choice but to. It was the only way I would be able to escape my father. I didn't even know who he was. He had just become mayor, and I was the new guy in town. I had an excuse. You should have known. You should have listened to the stories. And yet you didn't. You just made the assumption that he was out to help you, but you were wrong. You have been wrong about everything. You have never been able to put fourth one good thing since you joined this job." Davis was ready to kill Liu. It wasn't Jimmy, and it certainly wasn't himself, but Liu did do several bad things in their few years there.

Liu did try and sentence Sheldon to go to jail because of some things Sheldon did years ago. That would have been the worst out come. Because then he would be looking like he can turn this around. He would be lying to Cody as a result. There was nothing he can turn around about himself, and that was all that there was to it. Sheldon was living a lie every time he even as much as looked at Cody. He knew that looking at his son and being the one who would crush his life was too much. At least when he was dead, there was no real need to have responsibility to that anymore.

"If you knew what Jeff was like before he was forced to come here and fight for his life every day, you would know why this matters to me so much. Why it is so important that he gets his name cleared up. You must not have had a sibling that you cared about, one that you saw grow up and one that you saw have their life ruined in an instant. I had to see that every second of when I was looking at Jeff now. In that office room, this was all I was able to think about. The life he got to miss out on. Do you not understand what that must feel like? I think that you fail to truly grasp it." Liu said as both Brad and Sheldon knew this was a lie.

Sure, Sheldon didn't see her grow up per se, but he did share a large percentage of his childhood with her, and he saw her grow up to be a good student. He did have a couple of close moments with Riley, but he just didn't appreciate that until the whole thing was shattered beyond repair. Shattered to something that would never be fixed even if he wanted to fix it, because he had no chance to.

Brad had seen Tucker grow up from a child to seeing him be this man who can barely walk. His talking was slower, and his intelligence was lower as well. But Tucker fought every single day, and he was keeping up as much as he can. He had slowly started to gather up walking again, and he was starting to actually hold his own a little bit in a conversation. Sure, he never went beyond high school, but unlike Brad, Jenny and Sheldon who had choose to not go beyond, he had almost no choice because it was too out of his league. It was too much for him to bear.

"I guess it doesn't really matter all that much if you get it or not. Not like you are going to be seeing through the end of the day anyways. You decided to come here, to fight me, to try and challenge how I feel, and you think that I will let this thing slide?" Liu said and then he was pulling out a gun. He pointed it right at Sheldon. "You see, if there is one thing to learn from Jeff, is that you never do anything with a knife. Doesn't really work very easily." Liu laughed at this.

"I was able to defeat the camp director with a sword. I think that you underestimate the idea of bringing a knife to a gun fight." Sheldon said, as he was thinking about his great moment at the summer camp again. Then he was looking at Brad. He was thinking and hoping that there would be some form of a understanding between the two of them at that moment.

"What I think he is trying to say is that you shouldn't put too much trust in that gun." Brad said, almost totally forgetting about the needle that he had. He then kicked the gun off of Liu's hand, and the gun went off. Then Brad pushed him right down to the ground. They knew that this was going to escalate really quickly. Brad was just thinking about how even if Sheldon was a piece of shit and while Sheldon was going to have his wish fulfilled soon, that Liu was more important.

Sheldon was watching for a moment. He was just sort of trying to wrap his mind around this whole thing. He was trying to place his hand on one of his smokes, but for some reason he just could not get himself to do it. He was too busy just looking at the fight to have a smoke. Not even to fight back, just to take in the moment.

Then Sheldon saw that Liu was getting up and then he was going towards the gun. Sheldon kicked it away. That was the first instinct that he had to do. Once the gun was away, he was starting to feel a little bit safer. He then saw Liu lunge at Sheldon and Sheldon didn't even try fighting as he felt his body hit the floor and Sheldon did for a second feel like there might have been a skull crack, but he didn't care as Liu punched him a couple of times.

As Sheldon was feeling the pain Liu was giving him, he saw after the fifth or so punch Brad pulling him away. Liu slipped and fell down to the ground. Liu groaned but he was not fully out by then. Liu did feel a small amount disoriented but that was the worst he was feeling at that moment. Brad almost considered using the needle right then and there and ending the battle. But he was not too sure if he was wanting to do that when Sheldon had his chance to do something as well.

...

As Tai and Candice were having their conversation with the camp director, Tai was doing his best to make sure that Candice was calm and collected. He felt like despite all of the terrible things that the camp director had done, that he did need to actually give the sick fuck a chance. "Explain yourself. What made you do what you had done?" Tai asked, and he felt like this was going to be his only real chance to know what the actual camp was for. Then the camp director sat down on a chair and he was just looking at Tai and Candice. He clearly was pondering what he was going to actually tell them and what he would have to do in order to make them actually believe in him.

"You know, I have actually been the best thing that has happened to this town in a long time. You guys may think that I am a part of the corruption and that I am nothing beyond just a shameless sell out. I guess on paper I may look like that. But when you see what I have actually been doing, I think that you would see that your opinion of me does indeed actually rate very highly. That I have actually been doing the right thing consistently. I have been getting myself in the corruption so that way I would actually be able to fight it in a way that nobody else could be able to do." The camp director said and then he said "I will tell you something that has been covered up by the news."

"The camp director before me, yes there was one, he was killed. He died about a decade or so ago. There were forty young boys there and he was killed in a fight. He was a person who was actually messed up and the guy who had been at the camp to defend these boys actually saw what he was doing and he slashed down that man before he could change the minds of any further children. But the news was covered up to make the camp still look livable. They sent me in as the camp director and I have been forced to pretend that I have been the head since the early fifties, to make the town forget what happened and make it seem like it was just nothing more than a strange dream. And so far, it looks like it has been working well. But I feel like you will not be able to keep this secret to yourself. I have been fighting to help defeat Jimmy White and by getting close to him, but you ruined everything that I worked for." The camp director said and then Candice interjected at that.

"Don't say that about Jimmy White. He is a great man and he has helped my father run a very successful business. He has been very kind to me as well." Candice said as she was thinking about the last person who had truly treated her with any amount of respect.

"It seems like he has dragged you in if you think that he actually cares for you. Or who knows, maybe he actually does and he is just trying to mend you into being his servant. Knowing Jimmy White, I would not in any way doubt that this is the case. But I think that you must see what the truth of the whole matter actually is. I think that you should try and really see the truth behind him this whole time. Then you can see what he really does have to offer." The camp director said and then Tai was just thinking about the conversation he had with Jimmy White, and he wasn't sure if Candice was lying or not, and he was certainly not wanting to make her feel bad, but he was thinking that maybe she was actually wrong about this.

"Regardless of what you have been trying to do, it doesn't clear up what you have been doing to the other campers here. It doesn't clear up the fact that you killed a fucking camper. I saw what you did to Mimi. I saw what you did. I saw you kill her!" Candice freaked out and then the camp director took a long and deep breath in order to really compose himself.

"Listen to me young lady. Knowing what I have seen here and everything, I can't even tell you if that is the real Mimi or not. For all I know, she is a liar and a fake, and if anything a fucking replicant and as a result deserved to die. But if she is the real Mimi, then I would feel very sorry for what I did. But if you want to know if she is the real Mimi or not, then maybe you should go back to her house. See where she lives. And tell her everything. If she is there and she talks to you, and you see something that doesn't make sense, ask her a couple of questions about the area and the life that she had lived. See where the differences are, and then maybe talk to her parents. See what they have to say. If I killed a replicant, then I did the best thing that I could have done for you. She would have tried to kill you anyways. But if I killed the real one, then that is one thing that I will have to live with for the rest of my life and I will feel awful for it, but I was not sure. And compared to everybody else in the town, it would not have been all that bad." The camp director said, and then Candice was thinking that this guy was totally insane.

"You are sounding like you have been going crazy throughout the last several years. I can almost believe what you said about the previous camp director. Now that I have started to think about it, I think that I actually read something about the camp head either dying or people seeing that he had and going crazy. But the idea of replicants sounds totally crazy and you sound like you are fucking lying through your teeth," Candice said and then she was looking at Tai as if trying to see what he was thinking about it.

"I think that I heard my father talking about something like robotic humans. Is that possibly what you are talking about? If that is the case, then maybe I am actually starting to believe what you are saying. It is crazy, and sounds like you are lying, but for all I know, with the past history of my father, I am starting to think that maybe you had not been lying to me." Tai said and then Candice was thinking that Tai was now the one who was losing his mind and that he was the one who needed to go on and explain what was going on in his mind.

"See Candice, even your friend is starting to see through the lies of this place. Maybe you should be listening to your friend right now. I think that you should take into consideration all of the things going on here before you instantly judge my ideas as false and insane." The camp director said and then after he said that Candice was thinking that this is just too much to wrap her mind around.

"But do you have any proof of what you have been saying actually being the truth? Are you actually able to show me evidence that you are not lying to me and Tai?" Candice asked, and then the camp director thought about it for a moment and then he stood up for a bit.

"I don't think that proof is as important as much as how you feel. Your thoughts that you are having inside. When you start to think about things, and you start to listen to what I have been telling you, you will start to see that I am telling the truth. You just need to open up your eyes and see what I have been doing lately." The camp director said and Tai was going to indulge the guy for a bit.

As he was thinking about what the camp director said, he was thinking about everything that had happened for the last several days. He was thinking about how everything went so bad all of a sudden and how if anything a part of it was feeling a bit scripted. Then he was thinking about the stuff that he had just heard, as well as the stuff that he had heard from the past from his father, and there he was, actually starting to get convinced that the camp director was telling the truth. "You really were a normal guy after all." Tai decided and then he looked right at Candice to see what she would say.

…..

As Izzy, Matt and Sora were starting to head on over to the police station, as Matt was thinking about what he just needed. He was thinking that given his luck, he was going to not find the id, and that he would not have anything to actually present them. Then people would start to think that he was lying, and that he was possibly going insane a bit. So when he was thinking about what he was going to tell them if there was no id, and if he was going to just act like he had heard some rumors and that he didn't really know what he was saying, and then he would just head on home.

Despite the fact that he was not really aware of the fact that any of this would happen and he was thinking that he had nothing to really be blamed on if anything were to happen to either Izzy or Sora, but at the same time, he was starting to fear the safety of his girlfriend. There was going to be no way in hell he would be able to have a good explanation that he would have for himself to her parents shall something happen. He would just have to hope that it wasn't really one hundred percent his fault, at least in their eyes, and that they would actually be forgiving of him and if anything, have them both support each other the moment of grief.

But then Matt was shaking his head. He told himself that nothing was going to happen to her, and that he was just thinking that he was over thinking it. He was telling himself that she was safe, and that he was going to keep her safe. This was what he was telling himself. She was going to be safe, and that she just needed somebody at her side. Izzy he wasn't so worried about, but only because he wasn't really too close to Izzy. Although in all truth, he didn't really think that Izzy would have been able to defend himself all that well.

But at the same time, Matt was thinking that the people would just look at Izzy and think that he would be so weak that it would not even be worth bothering trying to go after him. That it would just be a waste of time to go after him. Matt was thinking that maybe he was not really giving Izzy enough credit, and that he should have been a bit nicer to Izzy, but at the same time he was just thinking that he was being realistic at his look at Izzy. He was thinking that even if he was sounding a bit like a dick, that he wasn't really all that far off. That was what he had been telling himself. But he would start to see later on if his evaluation was true or not.

Despite the fact that he was thinking that he wasn't really all that far off with what he had assumed, he was thinking that there was always a small chance that he did not really give Izzy enough credit. But then he was telling himself that one way or another, it didn't really matter all that much when he pulled up at the parking lot. Once he was out of the car, he was hoping that Sora and Izzy would look around a bit for an id.

Despite the fact that there was no real id, Izzy found something that he thought would have been even more important. He found something that he felt like even if the police tried to argue the id, that there was no way they would have been able to argue with this. "Hey, I think that the note that I found will really convince them of the truth." Izzy said and then Matt just grabbed the note before Izzy was even able to really say anything. It annoyed him, his sudden just desire to take this thing away from him, but at the same time, he was just thinking that Matt was just excited at that moment.

Matt was reading the note for a bit, and then he was thinking to himself that this was great. That this evidence would have been totally undeniable. Even if the people tried to argue some of the other things presented, that this was one piece where nothing can be argued.

"Izzy, you are a fucking genius. This is really going to turn the tides." Matt said and then he ran right into the police station with the note in hand. Sora and Izzy were looking at each other, as if thinking that Matt just needed to relax a little bit. They still thought that he was being happy at that moment, and then they went right inside the station with him. Matt was thinking about what he would tell the police about finding the note. He was hoping that the story of him getting the note would not be asked and even if he did have to tell them, then he can just lie about it and tell them that he just happened to find something that he thought that the police needed to see. He just hoped that the people with him would see that he was lying to them on purpose.

Inside of the police station, a bunch of officers were just answering questions by the people in town, and that they were all very busy. Not that it really mattered. Matt had heard that the sheriff was the only decent one, so that way he was just going to go right to them and hope that he would be able to listen and believe their story and not really just brush it all down.

Matt opened up the door and then Izzy and Sora were right behind him. They were just a bit concerned about the people who were looking at him, as if they were going to get questioned by the people there. But they were telling themselves that they were so busy that they couldn't be distracted by this for the time being.

David was in the middle of doing something, and he was looking like he was kind of annoyed with the interruption. But his wife was sitting down next to him, and she was having the impression that she was really worried about how much he had been overworking himself, as if she was wanting him to just sleep. Maybe even that the two of them could share a night of love together. That was what she was hoping, but she was going to just keep quiet about that until he was feeling like he was done with his job.

"I am really busy right now. I have a lot of cases that I need to work on. Stuff about this Jeff guy. I can't really be distracted all that much." David said and then he was looking like he had not slept in literally days. That was when Matt was thinking for a moment about not showing him the note, and he was thinking that this was actually a bad idea. But then he took a deep breath and a long breath, telling himself that this was something he had to do.

"I know that you are really busy, and I am terribly sorry for doing this to you right now. But I think that you have something that you have to look at. Something that will proof that Jimmy White is not the innocent mayor that people think he is." Matt said and then he was placing the note on the table. But the reaction he got was not one he was expecting. He was expecting either this ma to support him right now, or tell him off. At that moment though, the only emotion that he was showing was one of total indifference. As if nothing that was being told to him was something he could be bothered with.

"I have heard all about why this man is so evil and why I should be tracking him down and arresting him. Believe me, I heard all about this. Please, understand that I have been working at this as much as I can. But in all reality, I don't really think that anybody actually cares. I think that people know that he is awful. But they can't really get themselves to look into it. Probably because they are fearing for their own safety. Maybe you should too. This guy is not a fucking joke." David said and then his wife hugged him a bit and then he took a deep breath.

"Sorry. I just have been trying to take down this guy for years. I have never gotten close to doing it. A large part of me thinks that I should just give up on it. You know, concede defeat. Act like I can't really give a damn. Maybe it will be the only way to keep the fact that this fight lasting so long look like it has any form of dignity left." David said, and then he looked like he was ready to pass out asleep right then and there.

...

Candice was still finding herself firmly against all of these things. She was thinking that if anything, Tai was giving the camp director way too much credit. That this guy was pure and simply evil, and that he was not really the person that Tai was even starting to think that are. "I mean, I get that you might have been the new director, and you may be telling me about these things called replicants, but I think that you are still lying to me. I think that no matter what you want me to believe, that I will still never be able to fully forgive you for the fact that you killed Mimi. Even if you just killed a replicant as you call it, then I still feel like you would have done something that I will never forgive you for." Candice said as the camp director was just sort of refusing to look at her. As if his refusal to look at her was going to make it somehow like he never had to deal with what he had actually done earlier.

"I don't know if you want to believe me or not, and I think that no matter what I say, you will never be able to believe in me, but I am going to give you a chance to leave. I am going to give you a chance to pretend like this was something that you never had to see. I just wanted to show my perspective. But it seems like you will never see my perspective, no matter what I tell you. I feel like maybe I have burned too many bridges to really redeem myself in your eyes." Despite the fact that Candice still had no trust in the camp director at all, she knew that this was her best chance to get the hell out of there, and that she must realize that she needed to take the chance while she had it.

"I will look into that Mimi thing, and I am going to see if you are lying through your fucking teeth. If it turns out that you are telling the truth, and that there is a second Mimi, then I will possibly be willing to give you another chance. But if not, then I will be coming back here right away and I am going to take you out myself. I have no idea what is going on with you to make you think that I am going to fall for this, but I am going to be so easily fooled." Candice said and then she started to walk off. She looked at Tai as if to see what he was thinking.

Tai was thinking for a bit, and then he nodded. He was thinking that he would rather trust Candice, although he was still really willing to give the director a chance of showing that he was telling the truth. But then, he was right there at Candice's side.

They walked out of the camp directors house and then Tai was feeling like he was ready to start to speak up when they had been alone for about a minute or so. "I don't know, maybe he is right. Maybe there really are these replicants, and that he was actually just doing what he felt like he had to do. Do you think that there is even a small chance that he is telling the truth?" Tai asked, and then Candice was just really not in the mood to hear Tai defend this evil human being.

"I don't believe for a second that these replicants are real. I think that the whole thing is just a huge lie. But then I have to think about it a bit more. Maybe there is a level of truth to what he said earlier. I mean, I do believe him about the fact that there was a previous director. That I feel like could be true. But the other stuff, I feel like he is just saying something to defend himself with. I can't help but feel this way." Candice said and then she was hoping that Tai would leave her alone.

"I am going to go find where Mimi lives. And I am going to see if there is her at the summer house. Then I will check to see what she told me earlier is true or not. Who knows, maybe there is a very small chance that he is telling the truth. I don't believe him, but I am going to give him a small chance. Fuck, I can't believe that I am even looking at the idea of replicants being real right now. I feel like I am just as crazy as he is." Candice placed her hand on her face.

"Do you think that you would want somebody at your side? To make sure that everything is fine?" Tai asked, and then he was placing his hand behind his neck, as if trying to indicate that he was wanting to be with her for a bit. Candice was just looking at him and she was thinking about what he was offering of her.

"I am sorry, and I appreciate your offer, but I think that I must do this alone. I think that this is going to be my one and only chance to possibly make things right here." Candice said and then as much as Tai was not liking it, and as much as he was wanting to be at her side, he nodded as if thinking that he was not really going to get anything else from her now.

"You know, I think that you are right. You should be given a chance to do this on your own. If you want to do that. Sorry that I was trying to pester you into taking me along. I was just wanting to help out as much as I can." Tai said, and then he was showing a genuine look on his face, and no matter what the case may have been, Candice was not really able to really argue with him all that much. But she still felt the need to take on this battle alone.

Candice was walking down the pathway of the summer camp, and she was thinking about what she was going to tell Mimi if she would see her. If she was going to remember Candice or not. Or if maybe Mimi had been shot and there was only one Mimi, but that she survived the shot somehow and managed her way back home. She was thinking that there was no real way this could happen, but she was trying to at least give herself this small hope that it could happen.

As she was outside of the summer camp, she was feeling like destiny truly was calling her, and that this was what she needed to do for her own sake. So she nodded and then she started to walk in the direction she was thinking Mimi would live. If she was alive, then Candice was going to do her best to make sure that nothing could happen to her. She was not letting something happen to her again if there was even the smallest hint of a chance that she would be able to be saved. She felt like this would be her true chance of doing something right if Mimi was alive. She was just ready to give it her all on the chance that this was going to happen. She was telling herself that destiny better be good enough for her at least this once.

The entire walk on there, that she was alone, Candice was thinking of if she was really going to be given another shot of something like this. If she should find those guys that she was friends with. If she would be able to clear things up with those guys, and if they deserved better than what they had been given. This was something she was telling herself she needed to do.

With was progressing step that she was taking, she was thinking more and more about what Mimi was going to say to her if they saw each other. If Mimi was alive and if she was the normal her, then she would think that there was something strange about Candice and that she was not really there and that they never really met. Candice was not really sure if she was ready for something like that yet or not.

Then Candice was telling herself that she must do this. That she had no choice but to do this. She was really making herself fall strongly to this belief. That this was the one thing that she had to do. That this was the one thing in her life that was going to go for her. She was not really sure why she cared all this much, but she felt like it was her obligation to be sure of Mimi.

...

Despite how much longer he still wanted to hang with Kari, Cody was really starting to think that he was pushing his boundaries with being at the place still. He was thinking that if Kari didn't want him around though, she would just say this. But then he was thinking that he was not really needing to worry all that much about it. Cody was on the debate on if he should be heading out or not. Then he was just starting to think about something that he would tell her. That he had not already told her, and that maybe she would actually think was a decent bit of information that she would have been able to actually work with.

"So you know that chasm that we were seeing earlier?" Cody asked, and Kari was looking right at him as if she was really not wanting him to bring that up again. As if him bringing this up was actually going to give her a bunch of bad memories. Then he was rolling his own eyes, to himself, as if he was not really able to believe that he had actually just asked this question to her considering the fact that she was right there with him when he had seen that and that this had happened a mere few minutes ago.

"Well, I think that I might actually know a thing or two about that place now that I actually put my mind on the subject. That there is something that we can take from this, and that we can actually do a little bit of investigating. You know, not today since you know it is really late and I am going to want to go to sleep soon. But you know, maybe when you are no longer sick, we can go on and check the place out. Just an idea." Cody said and there was a part of him that was thinking about just trying and get to know her better than she had already started to open herself up to him and everything.

"What exactly do you envision?" Kari asked, and she was already thinking that she was going to really regret this. She was already thinking that this was going to be one of the worst choices that she would be able to make by asking him this. Then Cody was placing his hand behind his head as if he was trying to get her into the idea of what he was about to suggest to her, thinking that in all reality, nothing he would suggest would actually make her excited. So he might as well just say it.

"So I remember my father telling me something about a thing that he had seen back in the day. Something about where his father had worked. I think that maybe that might be a good place to look. I know it sounds strange to go check that place out. But I have a strange feeling that this is the place that I want to look into." Cody said, and then he was waiting to see what Kari was going to say. He was starting to think that she was not really excited about this idea.

"Well, you know, I just think that we should look into the chasm a bit. I think that looking into the chasm won't really be an awful idea. It can't be any worse than just us sitting here all day and doing nothing. Us just letting that thing take over and start to eat everything up. I think that now that we know where we are going to have to look, I think that this might actually be our chance to do something better for the people of this city." Cody was well aware of how silly he was sounding when he was saying this. But there was a part of him being something like a hero that did make him feel like there was a purpose to this.

"If you don't want to do it, then that is fine. I doubt that I would be able to really have the courage to look into that thing if you are not here though. I think that if I look into that, then I would be setting myself up for failure. If I do it alone." Cody was starting to walk to the window and he was well aware of the fact that he was treading on extremely thin ice, and that it was probably better for him to just excuse himself rather than be throwing the bait at a subject that was really probably going to cause a lot of strain on the friendship he had a small chance of building up with Kari. Or any chance that he had of building one up. In a way, he was feeling like he was making a huge mistake by even suggesting. And when he was looking right at Kari, and seeing the look on her face, one that she was really not giving a bunch of details on, the more that he was not really sure if this was a mistake to suggest to her or not.

"You know, maybe I might look into it when I am no longer sick. I want a couple of days to think about your offer." Kari said, thinking she would ultimately deny it.

Despite the fact that she was thinking that she was going to give the idea a small chance, she was not really wanting to make Cody believe in it too much. She was trying to keep an open mind. And that was all she was going to do with it. She was not going to let him think too much into this. Besides, she was just worried that Cody was going to get himself into something wrong by doing this. She was thinking that Cody was going to make a big mistake by making this pursuit.

"I will check on you in a few days. Maybe three or four days, and see how you are doing. Maybe you can give me your result then." Cody said and then he opened up the window. Once he had opened up the window, he got himself out the house. He then closed the window and then he was breathing a bit. He was doing it to see the smoking breath. It was then at that moment, thinking about how relaxing and calming it was, that he was starting to finally understand why his father was so into that stuff. He didn't think it was smart, but he didn't think that he could really judge him too much on the idea anymore.

Eventually, when he was thinking about Kari and what he was going to do later, Cody started to go down the ladder and he was thinking about what he was going to tell his father if he was caught. But then he was thinking that he was not going to get caught, and that he didn't need to worry all that much about it. That he was not giving himself enough credit for the fact that he did sneak out at what was probably his best time that he could have been able to do it.

Then when he was listening to the noises of the night time, he was walking right towards where the house he lived at was. The entire walk was only about two minutes, but every second that he was out, the eight year old part of him got back to mind and he was getting terrified again. He was thinking that he had made a big mistake being there. Then he was hoping that his mother would forgive him if she saw him here. If she didn't, then three days was going to be nowhere close to enough to be fine again.

Eventually, he reached his window and slowly got himself back in the house again. Then he closed his window up again and then he went right to his bed. As he was looking at the ceiling, he was thinking about what he was going to do now. It had been a moment now, and the more that he was thinking about it, the more certain that he was fine and that he got away with this. But there was still something about this that made him feel like there was too much that he was giving himself credit for.

Cody felt like he was ready to ask his father on what was happening. On what he had heard about where his grandfather worked. Then once he got the information, he was totally ready to tell Kari everything and he was going to be the big man on campus. He was going to really show Kari that he was actually more resourceful than she had given him credit for. But then despite all of this, and how tired he was, he was not able to get himself to sleep no matter how much he had tried.

...

As T.K. was walking along very slowly, he was feeling large surges of pain coursing through him. He was feeling as if he was about to fall over at any moment. He was feeling weak. In his mind, given the situation he was dealing with right now, he was indeed very weak. There was nothing strong about him. He didn't bother facing those people who tried to beat him up, and his head hurt a bit. Now all of this clothes were dirty as hell and there was nothing that he would be able to say to his family if they saw him in this condition that would make them feel like he was fine/. He knew that if his parents or if Matt saw him, they would be freaking out and be yelling at him as if this was exactly what they had been fearing from him. In all reality, he was not really wanting to hear any of it. But then as he was thinking about it, the more he was thinking that perhaps they were right. That he was creating more problems than good by doing this. He hated to admit it, but there was a small chance they were right.

Matt and T.K. had been at odds with the stuff he had been doing lately, and Matt had made it very clear that he did not really trust T.K. to be alone. As he was walking though, T.K. was starting to think more and more that Matt was right, and that he had over thought the fear that he had for him. T.K. just wanted to show that he can take care of himself, and here he was, limping across the street and having to live with some fear that somebody was going to just drive by and snipe him down.

Eventually, as he was walking, he was seeing a car coming up to him. T.K. was not really having any hope at that moment and he just simply turned his face to see what was coming towards him. He was taking a bunch of panted breaths as he started to see who indeed was pulling up to him. It was not the people that he was fearing them to be. Instead it was actually Harold.

As T.K. was looking at Harold in the car, T.K. was able to see that the two of them were both very worried about what they were dealing with. They were both very afraid of what these people were going to do to them. Neither one of them aware that Susan was shot and neither one of them knew if they would have been able to help her even if they had known this right from the start. It was something that they had no real way of changing even if they had desired to.

"I think that if we chase them, they might start to realize that we are being serious and that they can't really be messing with us anymore. They will see that they were messing with the wrong guys." Harold said and there was the faintest hint of a smile as he said this. As if he was ready to take down the people who had made the threat to kill his mother.

T.K. slowly got himself ready in the car and then he was taking a slow and deep as he was checking to see that his arm cast was practically tearing apart. "We need to get a new one. This one is not going to last much longer." T.K. said and he was feeling bad about talking about his arm cast when Harold was thinking about the fact that his mother had just almost died. But then Harold just glanced down at T.K. for a moment and then felt a little annoyed at that moment. Not exactly at him, but at the fact that he was having to wear this at all. Harold was feeling like he should have been more careful about the stuff he was doing normally.

Then again, at that time he did that to T.K.'s arm, how the hell was he supposed to know that he was going to still be seeing the guy after this? There was no way in hell that he was supposed to know if T.K. was still going to hang out with him or that they were going to see each other or not. He thought that it would have just been a one time thing.

There was the fact that T.K. did break his arm again anyways when he was skating during the race. So he was telling himself that it was nothing he needed to worry and beat himself up over with too much. But it would have only been one breaking as opposed to two if he didn't do it. But these thoughts stopped really coming to his mind when he was seeing what he was going to be dealing with soon.

He saw that the car who had been driving by earlier in the same street. Both Harold and T.K. knew that this was going to be the moment that they were fearing. The other car saw Harold's and for a moment, the two drivers were staring at each other and it was like they were getting themselves ready for a standoff at any moment. Which to some extent, they actually were. Then Harold started to drive and as he was driving, the other car started to chase him down as well. They drove for a couple of minutes in a fast and furious style speed chase and T.K. was wondering what he must have done in his life in order to make this where he had ended up being. He seriously just started to question what he had done to deserve this moment that he was going through right now, and why this was the fate that he had to suffer.

And the cars were bumping into each other, which made all four of the people in the two cars feel dizzy and light headed as both of them were thinking about stopping and that they were no longer needing to do this anymore. But then Harold decided to bring the speed up by another five miles or so in order to not deal with the speed anymore.

But as he was speeding up by another five miles or so, there was the other driver, who went up by ten miles and that way the other car was the one that was building up the lead. Despite the moment and despite how serious it actually all was, T.K. was actually starting to feel sick and then he rolled down the window and then threw up from all of the driving. Then he looked at Harold as if to show how disgusted he had felt by doing that just now.

"I never want to throw up again. I really hate myself right now." T.K. said and then he was looking to see if the car was too far ahead for them to catch up. They were ahead no doubt, but not so much so that the idea of catching up to them was just impossible. Harold must have been aware of this so he started to speed up as fast as he could and then they were pretty much neck and neck again.

The two cars were driving down the road for a while, and T.K. was catching himself thanking god that there was nobody around to see this as he would have been sent to prison and both he and Harold would have pretty much their entire reputation all ruined in just one go. T.K. was not really ready to see what was going to be happening next, but he was thinking more and more that this final confrontation was going to take place at the summer camp. There was the part of him that was just saying 'of course' as they were getting closer. It was like everything took place at that insane camp.

Harold started to drive a little bit slower, and he was waiting for the car to stop as Harold was starting to realize that the camp was where they were going as well, and he was telling himself that he could not believe that he was heading there again. After all of these years, of never even being remotely near it, he was finding himself back here. It was too fucking inconvenient for him to process.

Harold was wondering why fate had to be playing with him like this. He had to wonder if there really was something else going on here, and if he was just getting punished for something that he didn't even do. T.K. was seeing from the look that Harold had that he was utterly livid at what was going to be happening next. T.K. decided that for his sake, it was best not to say anything and just let Harold bask in the annoyance of what was going on. But eventually, both cars were near the summer camp and they all started to get out at the exact same time as each other.

...

As Sheldon was processing what he had been doing in the factory and the fact that he was not dead, he was standing up and then he was balling his fists. If he had a chance to pull this off, then he was going to take it. He was going to take the chance that he had to indeed do something good with his life. He then punched Liu right at the jaw line, and he knew that it wouldn't be enough to actually do something too big to him, but it would be enough to show some level of authority that he was having over Liu.

Despite his punch back, Liu picked up something that looked like a wrench that was on the ground. Probably left behind by a worker there before the day was over and that they didn't think they needed to pick up. Liu grabbed Sheldon by the arm and then Liu slammed the wrench down to Sheldon as the man screamed at the top of his lungs over the fact that he was feeling like he had just gotten something like one of his arm bones broken. Brad was grabbing the gun on the ground and he was aiming it at Liu before either Sheldon or Liu can process what was going on. Before either one of them could process the fact that Brad was going to fire, he pulled the trigger and hit Lit right in the ankle, which made him topple down right away.

Liu was dazed and couldn't believe that Brad had taken the shot. But then he was standing up and he was feeling like that after a moment, that he had enough time to process what was happening and then stood up again.

Once he was up and about again, Brad was looking at Sheldon was if starting to think that he truly was out of options. Brad was looking in the gun to see if there were any bullets left but before he could even start doing a count, Liu kicked the gun out of his hands and it feel down to the ground. Despite what Liu had said earlier, he did bring his pocket knife with him. He had been taught to always bring a pocket knife just to be safe in case something happened.

Before Brad could really process what was happening, Liu stabbed him right in the hand and there was a bunch of blood coming right out of the middle of Brad's right hand. Then before Brad could process the fact that he had been stabbed, Liu pulled the knife right out of Brad's hand, which made the pain even worse as Sheldon jumped right at Liu and made him fall down to the ground again with Sheldon right on top and ready to beat him up again.

As Liu had been getting beaten up, and as there was more blood to show of evidence for the fight, Liu got himself away from Sheldon when he grabbed Sheldon by the face and then dragged him to the wall where he got his face slammed into the wall once. It reminded him exactly of when he was dealing with his mother over two decades ago, and then Sheldon was wanting to fight back but at that moment he was simply in just too much pain to fight, so he just couldn't really say or do anything as he was slowly feeling himself sit down and cover his face from the pain.

Liu was going at Brad and then Brad had been thinking more and more about using the needle on Liu but then when Liu got close to him, brad sucker punched him in the jaw once. Liu got back for a second or two as Brad was starting to move his hand closer to his pocket, slowly giving into the idea of using the needle on him and getting this whole thing over with. But then Liu grabbed Brad by the leg and pulled him down like he had down once earlier in the fight. At that moment, Brad was telling himself that he needed to be much more cautious of his legs and not keep falling over again and again.

Brad was able to get himself up that time very quickly as he kicked Liu right in the side of the neck, which Brad was almost certain would have been able to break his neck. Liu was looking like he didn't really comprehend what had just happened, and then when the kick was over and Liu was left standing there, he was placing his hand on his neck and he was groaning and he was feeling some blood coming out of his mouth. Liu was starting to really see right then and there for the first time that he was actually possibly going to die at that night. And there as a part of him that couldn't even tell if he had hated the idea or not. He was just thinking that at least he went down with a fight if this was the end for him.

But as Liu was starting to finally think that, he used his left fist and balled it up and then he punched Brad right in the nose. Just a simple punch that didn't really have all that much power to it, but it was enough to get at instant reaction out of Brad as Brad felt like he had just been shot with pain a little bit.

Then as this was happening, Sheldon was looking down at the gun. He was grabbing it and then he was checking the bullets. There had been one single bullet left in him, and he was thinking that this was going to be the moment in which Liu can be defeated. So he was aiming the gun right where Liu was, and he was aiming right at the cheek, since that was the part of the body in which Sheldon had the best chance of hitting given his standing.

As Brad and Liu were fighting, Sheldon aimed harder and more precise at that person he was wanting to take down. After he had aimed for several moments and felt like he was starting to kind of get the aim that he needed, and as Liu was beating Brad up a bit, Sheldon fired the bullet and then the gun zoomed right through Liu's cheek and then he fell down to the ground.

Liu was not dead, but the shot had really hurt him so bad that he may as well have been soon. Liu was starting to feel the need to crawl away from both Sheldon and Brad, but he was feeling that he was not able to do it. The entire time that this happened, Sheldon felt the gun getting heavier in his hands and then it dropped down to the ground and the gun didn't fire or anything. But Sheldon knew that if Liu was found, that he was going to get traced and he would be arrested. Despite this, Sheldon was finding himself thinking that it was worth it. Knowing that he was able to keep his family safe for a little bit longer by doing what he had just done.

Brad walled right up to where Liu was, and then Liu was just staring at Brad if he was not able to say or do anything that he would be able to defend himself with. He knew that he was running out of time, and he was sort of starting to accept this. But as Sheldon stared at Brad for a moment, he was thinking to himself that despite how awful it was, he did not mind that Bad was going to do what he was planning on doing now.

With as much might as he would have been able to muster, Brad stomped his head right down to Liu's face, and he heard Liu's skull crack and the skull entirely break and then afterwards, Brad looked like Sheldon and smiled. The blood ad guys of Liu's face were now all over the ground. "We need that we had to do what we did. If we didn't, then he would have been a total sell out like what we have started to become. We had no choice but to do this." Brad said and then both he and Sheldon considered this.

Sheldon did consider that he was sort of a sell out. He did join Jimmy White. He did work with him for several years. He wanted to defeat Jimmy but yet again, despite his desire, he was finding himself not really wanting to do it anymore. He felt no need to do it anymore. Both Brad and Sheldon left the body in there as they walked out of the factory and then Brad looked at Sheldon for a moment. "How are you holding up?" Brad asked causally, as he was holding the needle in his pocket, ready to fulfill his contract.

...

Eventually, Joe and Yolei were at the police station parking lot, and Joe was glancing right at Yolei. "I am so sorry that I brought you into all of this. I feel like even though I didn't directly suggest it, that it is a part of my fault. That I should have been really against you going here. That I should have been siding with Davis, and talking like he was right. In hindsight, I am starting to think that maybe he was actually right about this whole thing, and that I just should have gone home." Joe opened up to Yolei, thinking about how much of a hassle this whole thing really was.

"I was the one that decided to go on and help Davis. I was the one who had felt like I was ready to take on adult responsibilities. Do not feel like you are at fault for me being here. You have nothing to do with my choice of the matter." Yolei said, and then Joe was thinking to himself that she was just simply trying to make him feel better. A part of him appreciated the sentiment that she was giving him, but he was kind of thinking that a large part of this was a load of bullshit.

"Yolei, thank you for the words. Thank you for trying to be kind to me. I do think that you are selling yourself too short. You are not giving yourself enough credit. You are acting like you were well aware of what was going on, and you weren't. I mean, I wasn't, so how would you have been able to?" Joe asked and then Yolei just decided to remain quiet at that. "You know, despite all of this, I feel like we should have been there for Davis. I feel like he is making the objectively wrong choice by doing this all on his own, and I can't believe that he was dumb enough to believe that he could do this alone." Joe said, and then Yolei nodded. She couldn't really argue with him on that.

"I mean, he just thinks that he can take on the world on his own. I guess I can respect that value that he has, but I think that he is a deeply flawed person when he is trying to do this." Yolei said, and both her and Joe was thinking about the one thing that they were supposed to do. The one thing that Davis had wanted them to do, although they were not really sure if they wanted to do it.

And that was simply made a report to David and tell him all about what had happened with Davis as well as Jimmy White. Surely no matter how annoying the situation was, there was no way that the guy was going to ignore them. He was going to hear the fact that the conversation was being recorded, and they were going to feel forced to check out what was happening at least to see the recording. Joe and Yolei got out of the car to get this report over with, hoping that this can help Davis a bit.

Once they were inside of the police station, they saw that the sheriff was busy talking already. The sheriff looked up and he just took a deep breath. He was clearly trying to hide his annoyance a bit. But then his wife Whitney noticed what was going up and in order to make her husband feel better, she got up as she walked right out and decided that she was going to talk to Joe and Yolei and keep him from dealing with this level of annoyance at least. "Hey, I saw that you were out here, and I was wondering if you needed anything. The sheriff is really busy right now." Whitney said, as she was looking at her husband, and purposely avoided that word to try and look at least a little bit professional.

"Well, I think that we have some pretty good evidence against Jimmy White. We have a friend talking to him right now, and he is recording the entire conversation. We are hoping that there is enough stuff exposed in the conversation that you guys will feel like you will have no choice but to look into it." Joe said, and he was staring at Whitney, as if to see what she was thinking, and he was really having a hard time to decide what she was thinking to herself. Especially when he was looking at David to convey a certain emotion to him.

"You know, I will go and check out what you are telling me. I think that if you are actually having some evidence against him, then there is nothing that I can really do besides look into what you are telling me. Besides, I am starting to get some evidence from different resources that might indicate that you are onto something right now." As Whitney said that, Yolei was starting to see Izzy there and she knew that this was what she had been talking about earlier.

"I think that the conversation has to be wrapping up soon. I mean, they have been talking for almost an hour now. I think that once we are there, you will have enough material to listen to in order to give it a valid chance and hopefully there is at least one thing in there that you have to take into account." Joe said, having his fingers crossed that Jimmy White didn't somehow corrupt Davis.

"Well, if we keep standing here, then there is a chance that the conversation is over and your friend might be dead now if the rumors of how he runs his business is true. So we should be heading out now." Whitney said and then she started to walk right out of the station. Once the three were outside, Whitney went to the police car while leaving Yolei and Joe right at their car. "Meet you there. I will see what I can find before you get there, and once you show up, just go right to me and don't talk to anybody else along the way." Whitney said, and then she went right inside of her car and started to drive away. Then Joe and Yolei got inside of the other car as well.

As Joe and Yolei were now in the car, Joe was thinking about what exactly was going on in the town now. He had been thinking about the battles that were coming up at any second now. He was just hoping that Davis was safe, despite not really even knowing Davis but he was thinking that Davis deserved much better than the fate that he was going to be given here. Joe looked at Yolei and then he took a deep breath. "It seems like you are starting to like the guy a bit. I don't want to get in your business about him, but I am curious to see why you are liking the man." Joe asked, trying to get to know Yolei a bit.

Despite barely knowing her, he was really wanting to make sure that she was safe, and that nothing could even remotely happen to her. For some strange reason, he was starting to look at her as a sister that he never got to have. "He may seem a bit out there, and he is really killing himself quickly with all the amount he smokes, but he is still basically a good guy. He does understand what it is like to actually be a real friend. He does have quite a lot of strong emotions. I mean, obviously, he does with how taken back he was by what happened to Kimberly, and how much he wants to make sure that I am safe." Yolei said, thinking about the amount of dedication that he had.

"Maybe I should try and get to know him a bit more before I say anything. You seem to be looking at him decently fondly. Maybe I should give him a chance before I judge him too badly. And like you said, I do hope and think that he does care, even if he had a hard time of showing it all the time. But I think that is just a bit of how he is as a person." Joe said and then he started the car to the office where Jimmy White was working at.

Once Joe was at the office, and the two had the ride mostly in silence, Yolei and Joe got out of the car and they were at the office door again. Joe placed his hand on the knob where Yolei decided to talk to him. "Thank you so much for being there for me. You barely know me, and yet you did the one thing that nobody else would have done. Please don't lose touch with me." Yolei said and for some reason, seeing her like this made Joe think that he wanted this. He wanted to be there for her to make sure that she was safe. He liked her a lot as a sister already, and he wanted to honor that a bit more. So he nodded and he was ready to do whatever it would take. With that, they went right inside of the office and they were getting themselves ready for what was going on.

...

In the police office, after Whitney left the station entirely, David looked at the three young teens in the room. "Look, even if I were to gather evidence that might be able to be enough to take down Jimmy White, there will be so many supporters of his that would go after me that it would pretty much start a war in the town. I have sent a few people into different businesses in town and told them to investigate, but there is nothing that I can do beyond that. Some of them do give me good reports and actually make me feel like I made the right choice in picking them. But some of them, as much as it is terrible for me to admit as it does quite often show bad judgment on my part, but they ended up joining Jimmy White for good. I don't care. He is just the mayor of town. There are things in this town that are a thousand times worse, and need more tending to over a mayor who just is kind of a asshole. Not like I have never seen something like this before." David said and then he wondered how the younger teens were going to react to his brutally honest way of looking at this whole case.

"But what if your wife got herself in danger by doing this? By going in there with those other people? Do you think that you would be able to forgive yourself if you wife did this? Do you think that if your wife got harmed, that you would really be as easy to throw this off as you are right now?" Matt asked, and he wasn't even trying to start a fight. He just felt like he needed to know. He was wondering if he really did love his wife or if there was just something sort of political about it. In the end, he really would not doubt it if this was the case. He would not doubt it if David was playing a bit of this political game that he is pretending so hard to not be a part of.

"She made her choice when she became a officer. I know that I would be terribly broken if something were to happen to her. But I can't make her choose something against what she wants to do. If she wants to help out and do something for this town, then I am going to be there for her and I am going to support the choice that she makes. That is all there really is to this." David said and then he started to think about his past a bit. "I mean, when I was there with my other rookies, trying to be a officer again for the first time, I was scared about how people would feel about me getting into this business. I was worried they would not support my choice to actually get into law enforcement, even though I was entirely doing it for the sake of the city because I wanted to do something good. I wanted to actually mean something. But then here I am right now, realizing that I haven't really done the job that I had wished I would have been able to do. But I am not going to beat myself over it. I think that in all reality, people just don't know what they are getting into before they actually get the job. Only when they get the job do they start to realize that this wasn't really for them. But I am here now, and I have a town to watch over. I need to do my best to make sure that I can fulfill my job to the best I can be able to." David relieved a large part of how he felt to the three teenagers, and they were wondering what made him suddenly be so open about how he was feeling on the situation.

"Here is this note. There is good evidence that you can take him down. This is something that most people will not be able to fight. Please, do your job and do something about him. If you are telling the truth about how you feel, then this is your best chance to do what you have been wanting to do." Matt tried his best to get David to see where they were coming from, but all that came was just a long silence on David's part. As if he was refusing to admit that he was starting to see the point of what these people were saying. To do so would be to concede defeat, and he was not really sure if he had wanted to do that no matter how bad the situation may have been.

"I guess that you may be onto something. But I don't want to get you killed over something like this. You guys have had a lot that you could have done lately. You guys still have a life to live for. Please, I understand that you want justice, but trust me when I say that this is not really worth it. This is not really worth the trouble that you have been putting yourselves into. I remember one time when a younger child, well not really a child, but a teenager I should say, got themselves into a rough patch like this, and that basically ruined everything about their life forever." David said, and then he was looking at the three teens and he was able to see from the expressions on all of their faces that they wanted to hear more, and they wanted to see where this story was going to go. David regretted opening this can of worms, but he was seeing that there was no way out of this one, so he decided he would tell them the story.

"Well, when I had started to work at this job, I met a teenager a few years younger than me. He seemed like he was having his life ahead of him and he was looking like he wanted to truly do something good for the people of this city. It seemed like he was being a mostly pure person and somebody who should be given at least a little bit of credit for what they have been doing here. But he was into drugs and he was pretty fucked up with the materials that he had been taking. As if he was not really caring what people thought about his habits. He was going around and partying all the time and just sleeping with women to spite the people that he liked, and to make them feel like they were not nearly good enough for him. It was something that strangely almost worked. He was being an asshole on purpose to make them jealous of him. But despite everything that had been done, he was still mostly a good guy. He was still somebody who seemed like he was actually trying to pull something out. I think that he should have been more focused on the main goal though. He kept getting himself distracted, and he kept postponing the things that he felt like were actually important for things that he knew damn well were at best superficially important. But he didn't really give a damn. In the end though, he did do his best and he had helped out quite a bit. Much more than I thought that he would have been able to. He was always pulling through at the end, because he knew that it was the one thing that he needed to do. It was the one thing that he felt like he had to do in order to do justice to the people that he did care about." David said, and then he just stood up.

"I understand that you guys have the desire to do something good, and I really do respect that from all of you. Really, I truly do. But this is time for you to head on out. This is time for you to understand that this is my job, and that I have to do it alone. Thank you for giving me this note and thank you for talking with me. But I am going to head to Jimmy White again." After David said this, he took a deep breath and then rubbed his fatigued eyes.

"But before that, I will drive you guys back to your camp. That is the least that I can do right now." David said, and then he walked out of the station as the three teenagers got back in the car and then David started to drive all the way down the road down towards where the summer camp was. Then he saw them leave the car and them go back to the cabin. This time, they actually did listen and this time they actually did stay there for the rest of the night. Then after a few seconds, David decided that he was going to finish this once and for all. He started to drive to Jimmy White's office.

...

Once Harold and T.K. got themselves right out of the car at the camp, in order to shave off a few seconds here and there, T.K. grabbed the skateboard and then T.K. started skating right behind the two men that were in the other car. T.K. was telling himself that this was seriously going to be the last crazy expedition that he was ever going to have in hie entire life. He was telling himself at this point, it really was not worth it anymore. That it was not worth all of the trouble that he had been going through. But he was seeing that Harold was right near one of them. He had his gun with him still, and T.K. was mentally preparing himself for what was going to happen. He was totally certain that bringing this was going to be a big fucking mistake. But he was also telling himself that it was better to bring this and have something he can use to fight with over nothing at all.

Harold was aiming the gun at one of the two men who were near by and he was looking like he was ready to take the shot and kill that person. T.K. was surprised to see the sudden dedication that Harold had to this despite the fact that juts a couple of hours ago he had never fired a gun before in his entire life. Maybe when things start to become life and death, morals do start to be thrown out a little bit and Harold was probably thinking about the best choice of things to do at that moment as well as compared to long term.

Harold fired the gun, but it narrowly missed the guy and then the one who had not be aimed at started to run towards T.K. as this time he was actually the one with the disc, and he was the one that they wanted to take down instead of Harold. He missed each time though as T.K. would just skate away a bit and he was glad that he had this type of practice by this point in time, as he was able to mostly move his way through this situation without any real problem. Then he took out a gun and he fired it as well and then T.K. jumped off of the skateboard and then he was running off with the disc in his right hand and the skateboard on his broken left hand trying his best not to think of the pain he was applying by doing this.

Then after this, the guy who Harold had aimed at tackled Harold down to the ground as Harold was trying to get himself off of the man. He was trying to make it so that he was at least able to wander around again. But this guy on top of him was really tough and he was having to put in much more effort then he had ever once in his life thought he would. It was now that Harold was wishing that he had a sibling, particularly a brother, so that way he would have been able to rough house a ton and that way he would have been able to win a fight. It would have at least made this seem like a somewhat more fair fight. Then as Harold was thinking about this, he raised his arm up a little bit and actually managed to get one single good punch in the face in there. Then Harold was now the one who was on top, and he was now the one who was having the advantage.

Then once Harold was on top, Harold saw that there was a rock next to him. He was ready to use it. He slammed the rock against the guy in the face, and he did it twice. Once at his lower jaw, in order to make him start to lose any train of thought and then again at the forehead to make him start bleeding.

Once that was done, the guy who was below him was barely moving anymore, and he was wondering if he had indeed done this guy in. But then just to be sure, he placed his hand on the guys neck, and then he placed his other hand on the nose and mouth. This would remove any form of breathing and make him lose himself even faster. Harold found a strange level of pleasure taking down this guy. Probably because they tried to kill their mother, and he was just simply getting his revenge out at this terrible human being.

Then Harold looked right up again as if he was starting to remember when he had split from T.K. He was worried about how T.K. was going to do, so he stood up and then he was ready to help out the guy who he started to view as a friend, and maybe even in a way as a brother of his own. Which was strange since he only knew him for a few weeks, and only actually seen the guy once of twice.

As he looked up, he saw that T.K. was right at a tree, and it was looking like he had gotten cornered and it looked like he was well aware of this fact. But he was thinking that perhaps he can pull off a crazy stunt even for his standards. So he placed the skateboard on his ground, which was heaven after holding it on his broken arm for so long, then he skated down as fast as he could, ran over the other guy, made him fall down to the ground and he was riding right towards the car. He was doing this on purpose, and he was hoping that by some miracle, Harold would know what he was trying to do.

Despite not planning this out and neither one of them thinking any of this trough, Harold did know exactly what T.K. was planning. The other guy stood up and started to run after T.K., totally forgetting about the fact that Harold was there and this was a good thing for Harold as he stood right up and then he fired the gun. The first time, it had missed and he saw as T.K. rammed right into the car and then the skateboard flew from under him and then T.K. was laying down against the car side in much more pain than he was still expecting. Then he saw the other guy right in front of him and they started to grab T.K.'s leg to make him struggle and drop the dvd. But then Harold fired again and this time, the bullet got lodged right into the back of this guys head. After this, T.K. took a deep breath and then he saw his skateboard slowly roll down to him and then he was sighing in relief knowing that this was over.

T.K. saw that the dvd was still in his hand, and it only had two or three scratches. Enough to make the playing of the dvd delayed, but not nearly enough to actually make things any worse in the long run. Harold started to head right towards T.K. as well. "Now that this is over with, maybe we should be heading back to the police station before anything else happens and we can show the sheriff this dvd finally." Harold said and T.K. was in so much pain that he had no desire in any way to argue this idea. So he stood up and they both walked to Harold's car.

"Are you going to head back to Clair after this?" T.K. asked, as he was hearing the skateboard settle down in the back and then he was looking at the quiet streets. He was thinking about how this was going to be the craziest event of his entire life, and that he was going to tell this story to so many other people once he had the chance, and that when his kids grew up and heard this story, that it was going to be one of those so out there stories that they would be thinking that he must have been lying. That he was clearly just saying that stuff for dramatic effect. He was thinking that they would just tell them to tell what really happened, thinking that maybe there was a small detail or two that was real like a serial killer killing one person, but that he just so greatly over killed the story that it was not even what it really was anymore.

"I will head back to Clair after this." Harold said, and then he was thinking about T.K. "Actually, maybe you should be going to the hospital first." Harold decided so they drove T.K. back to the hospital where he got his third and what they were both hoping to be final replacement of the arm cast. Then they drove to the station, where they were finally going to give the sheriff the information he desperately needed.

...

At the office of Jimmy White, Davis and Jimmy White had finished discussing what they were thinking would be the terms of agreement. Despite not wanting to really admit it openly, Davis was pretty interested in the business, and despite what the people in the area wanted, and despite what he was originally going to do, he was going to accept this offer. "You know, you have been listening to me a lot, and I have been very interested to hear what your final choice is. We can't stay here forever. You are going to have to choose now." Jimmy White said, and then Davis was placing his hand on the recorder. He turned it off and he was going to pretend that he turned down the offer when his friends would come by.

But Davis looked back and saw that nobody he knew was there, so that he had the chance to truly do what he had wanted to do. Davis held out his hand and then Jimmy White shook it. "You know, I was ready tow your brains out at first. But now listening to you, I think that I should have had a more clear mind on what you were going to tell me. I think you do have some good ideas, and you do have a bit of knowledge on the truths here. I guess that maybe you and I might actually have a decent working relationship here now." Davis said, as he was watching Jimmy White think this was the best news that they had heard all day.

"I was worried that you would not really see it my way. But I guess I thought that maybe you were more pure than I gave you credit for. Not that it really matters now anymore. We have ourselves a deal here, and I am curious to see where this is going to go now." Jimmy White said, and then afterwards, when Davis felt like he was ready to get into the stuff that actually mattered, he was ready to see what Jimmy White would have to say.

"You were probably going to have a contract ready for me I would assume. I am curious to know what this contact that you already planned for me would be." Davis said, and then after he had said this, Jimmy White was happy that he was getting right down to business and was not really wasting any useless time on useless information.

"Now that you are eager to get to it, I think that we should not waste any time. I want you to track down every single person who was involved with the operation tonight, and I want you to take down every single one of them. Tai, Matt. Sora, Izzy, Candice, Joe, T.K., Yolei, Kari, Harold, Cody, Sheldon, Brad, Whitney and David. Several of these people are already working for me, or have been working for me, but I feel like just like a relic, that their time is up. That they need to be deleted from the archives of this town. And then once they are dead, I think that you and I will be able to run the town just like how I want. Plus the sheriff and his wife are too involved with me. And then there is the young teenagers who just do not know what they are doing and I feel like are too incorruptible." Jimmy White said, as if excited to kill David and Whitney. He didn't to kill Brad, but after the Liu incident tonight and Brad deciding that he was now finally going to fulfill his contract and kill Sheldon, he felt like the man was now useless. Whitney was a beautiful young lady, but Jimmy could no longer be able to win her over and besides she was already pretty much solidly in the so called team good guy crew. He felt like she needed to go as well for his own sake. But there was Davis.

Young, out of the military training, dealing with loss, and finally seeing the truth to life. He felt like this was the thing he needed. Just how Sheldon was like originally, before he started to try and be good. Sheldon was the one he was most excited for, and now here he was, pretty much the one that he had feared the most and the one who had openly challenged his rule the most.

Jimmy White was happy for this though, and he was thinking that Davis was going to do a great job in his contract. He can see from the look Davis had that he was starting to think that he had made the wrong choice. But then he shook his head and realized that this was the best choice he could make. "I will start right away." Davis said, and then he was standing up and started to smoke a cigarette and then he was seeing from the corner of his eye that Whitney was near the office.

As she was getting closer to them, Davis was thinking about what it would be like to fulfill the first part of his contract right then and there. Then he was thinking that Joe and Yolei must have been close and despite not having any weapons, Davis felt like they were going to be more rough to kill for sentimental purposes. He would take care of Whitney, but only when he was certain that they were alone and he was going to be able to be fine with just her gone.

Then after he was thinking this, Whitney opened up the door and as Jimmy was looking away for a couple of seconds, Davis snuck the camera to her hand and she took it in her pocket. He knew he had no choice but to give it to her, so he was doing it now to still give off the impression of a good guy. Then he turned at Jimmy White and said "I have to go." Then afterwards, Davis and Whitney were away and then Whitney put her hand on Davis's shoulders.

"How did the meeting go?" Whitney asked, as if she was thinking that she was knowing what Davis had done and she was hoping to perhaps get him to not do what he was planning to do. Then Davis just looked at her and he was thinking about how she was too dumb to know what she was doing.

"You know, it was strange. I didn't know what he was telling me most of the time. I think that he was just a little bit crazy. But I think that you should know that he offered me to join him. Despite how tempting it was, I didn't say yes. Just listen to the tape, and you will understand it all. There is no real idea of false information in there." Davis said and then after he had said this, he was looking at Whitney as if he was trying to decide if she had actually believed in him or not. Despite the fact that he was thinking this would be a easy bust, he was starting to doubt himself. Maybe she knew exactly what he had done, and she was trying to hide the fact that she did not approve of what he had done at all. Not that it really mattered. It was his choice. He wanted to do a business offer, and he took it up. She should have just remained in her business about it.

Despite this though, Davis and Whitney were out of the building and they saw that Joe and Yolei were there. They had decided to wait until further notice before making a choice on getting in there or not. It had seemed like they were fine and right about this choice. He didn't think he would be able to handle the idea of lying to them too well, so he was actually finding himself glad that they were not there to listen to any of that. Then he was looking at Whitney and he was still not sure what to say to her. "I will be driving them back home. Just listen to the tapes when you have the chance." Davis said and then afterwards, Whitney decided to let it go and then she got in her car and started to drive back to the station. Then Davis got in the car that had been used by them lately.

Joe and Yolei looked at each other for a second as if to determine what Davis was thinking, and if there was something they could be able to say to him to make him feel better. But they decided against it as they got in the car and then Davis started up the engine and he drove Yolei home, then he drove himself to his house, and then let Joe use his car again in which Joe drove to the summer camp in fatigue and slept. Yolei was asleep the moment her bed hit the pillow, and Joe slept in the car alright enough despite his strange and in hindsight false dream. Once at his house though, Davis started to do something he never would have thought he was going to do in his entire life.

...

As David was about half way to where Jimmy White had lived, and as he was on the way to determine what in the hell he was going to do once there, he saw Whitney in her car driving by. He pulled over and then as he was doing this, he saw Whitney do the exact same thing and once they were both out of the car, Whitney was holding up her tape. The tape that he been given to her by Davis, and while she was not really sure where this was going to go, she knew that this was going to possibly be a very important piece of evidence.

"I was about to come by and see if you wanted to listen to this. I have no idea what is on it." Whitney said, and she was hoping that she can use this time to capture a few moments with her husband, thinking that she and him hadn't really gotten the chance to be alone lately.

"Yeah sure, but after this I think that I want to still go and meet Jimmy." David said, but he was thinking that this can wait for a bit. Whitney and David got inside of their car and then once they were in the car, Whitney was putting her hand on David's. Despite all the differences they had, she still found herself wanting to be there with him and supporting him in nearly everything that she had done as she did not think in any way that he was a bad man.

"I really hope that this guy has some damn good evidence with the note and this recording that people have been building up." Then with that David hit the play button and they were listening to the mans confessions in a strange way. As they listened, the more and more undeniable that it was that Jimmy White had done these things. But at the same time, they just wanted to know more of is reasons and why he was wanting to do this to everybody. It was a interesting character study in his opinion to be listening to Jimmy White at that moment and listening to Davis sort of start to understand it as he was listening and letting the words be absorbed.

Eventually, as the tape was drawing near an end, David was looking right at Whitney. "This is the strangest man that I have ever met. There is no way around that." David said, and then he was wondering what Whitney had been thinking.

"Do you think that maybe there is some level of truth to what he was saying? Do you think that maybe he was actually right? As I listen to this, I can't help but get that feeling." Whitney said, and then David was thinking about that and he was starting to agree with her on this.

"I mean, it doesn't in any way excuse what he had been doing, and he is still a criminal by every meaning of the word. But I can't help but wonder if perhaps had he been more legal about the way he was trying to work on his goals, and if he was being more morally correct, then perhaps I should check at least some of this stuff out." After David said this, he was thinking about what he had just said. As if he was not able to believe that he was almost conceding that Jimmy White could have been right about something.

"I just don't think that people really understand him. I think that as much as I hate to admit it, that we should have been more there and more willing to listen to him. That he had something indeed going in the right direction." Whitney was also letting the meaning of her words sink in a little bit and she couldn't believe what she was even saying.

"I never thought in a million years that I would be saying that about Jimmy White. I really can't believe how much the tides have turned in such a short amount of time." Whitney said, and she was clearly on the area of basically refusing to believe it. As if believing in it was just going to really kill her on the inside. But then she was looking at David, who didn't even seem to care of be thinking about it all that much. In fact, he seemed like he was thinking about himself in a way. And the fact that he couldn't even find himself able to argue with his wife. In fact, despite how awful it was for him to even consider admitting it, he was actually feeling the same way as she had. He had felt like this was something that was only opened to them very recently, and that they should be truly treading on careful water this time. That they should not be fucking around anymore. Then David looked right at his wife, and he was showing from his face that no matter how awful the whole thing was, he was glad that at least she was still there with him. That always made him feel like he was a little bit more secure, knowing that at least one person will be able to support them throughout this whole ordeal, no matter how inconvenient it really was for them to support him on their behalf.

"I just think that he should have talked with people about his ideas before he came here. Actually expressed his beliefs. Who knows, if he had actually talked with some people and been there for himself, he wouldn't really be like this now. I know that it sounds strange for me to be thinking of him like this, but given the recent evidence I can't really argue with it. I can't really help but at least consider the idea now." David said and then he was thinking about what he would do if he was ever caught admitting this to anybody besides his wife. His reputation would be dead in an instant.

"I would not really worry all that much about it to be honest. You already have a lot that you are thinking about. Don't beat yourself up over these small doubts that you are having. You've been a cop for nearly a quarter of a century. Of course you know about what to expect, and of course you are starting to wonder if things you have decided have been right. Of course you are going to be facing a real high amount of survivors guilt. There is nothing that you can really do about it now. Just get up, brush yourself off and then be ready to face whatever is going to be coming up. If it makes you feel any better, there is at least one person who believes in you and that you will be making the right choice. It may seem like the entire world is against you, but that is not the case. You do have people there with you. You do have people who care about it." Whitney said to David and despite the fact that she was clearly just trying to make him feel better, and David was well aware of this fact, he did like the fact that she was doing this for him and the fact that she was even trying to make him sound like he was a great cop. Which he knew deep down that he wasn't. But it was truly the thought that counted.

"Thank you for supporting me Whitney. I would not know how I would feel if you decided to abandon ship. I do not really feel like I would feel the urge to continue going anymore. I think that I would in fact find the idea of giving up to be very tempting." David said and he was meaning it. If and when she started to turn on him, there would be no point in even trying this. There would be no point in even trying to clear up any name that he had as the one person that he thought he would have been able to trust would have been gone on him by that point.

"I will always be there for you, even if it seems like the other people have already left you. I know that there will be times in which it will be rough and I think that we should not be doing this together, but in the end, even if I ever feel that way about my job, I can always just leave and I will still be there for you and I will still support you along your way of trying to make the city a better place overall." Whitney placed her arms on the shoulder of her husband as they started to share a romantic moment out in the car in the middle of a big case.

...

When Kari was alone home again, she was thinking about Cody and she was catching herself thinking that it was a good thing that Cody was no longer there because she wouldn't have to be thinking of that chasm or any of those other things anymore. She got that he was just trying to be helpful, but dealing with something like that was not helpful at all. In fact, dealing with something like that was the exact opposite of being helpful. It was annoying. She was just wishing that she would have been able to live a normal life but she was not able to do this when every other day, there was a person or something reminding her of the fact that she had a bunch of weird dreams and even a few strange nightmares. It was all that she was ever reminded of. Even her brother would sometimes mock her on her dreams and stuff. She didn't think he was meaning anything bad by it, but she was just wishing that more people treated her with at least a certain base level of respect and humanity but when this happens, it was fucking impossible for that to happen and in a way, Kari was just sick of it. She felt like she deserved something better, and she was desperately craving for something better.

But despite this, Kari knew that she was not going to get that. She was not going to get something that she wanted or deserved, because quite frankly life wasn't that polite to her. Nobody ever stopped her to ask her how she had felt. It was something she would never get, so there was no point in even fighting for it anymore. She just wished that she wasn't really born that way. That she was born with being able to live a natural life. But the most basic wish that she felt like she should have been able to have, she was not able to get at all.

It was like the world was against her at that moment. She had no idea why she had to be born with these types of problems. Why she had to be born as an abomination. But here she was, dealing with easily the worst experience of her life. She was dealing with the fact that she not only had these dreams, but the fact that other people had them. Which at first made her happen. Extremely happy to know this. But now she was scared. Knowing that these things were real then. There was no light place on earth at the end of the tunnel. It was all just a load of darkness, and that was all she was going to be able to get now.

There was then a part of her that was making a theory in her head. She was wondering if that was why this whole wheel chair situation was the case with her father. If he had known about this stuff before, and then he got himself punished or something like that. That in a way, Kari being born was a strange response to all of this. But then she quickly decided against it. She was telling herself that she was just being careless one day and that was why he had gotten he accident that made this happen to his legs. Simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less. But despite this, and now knowing with at least a slow certainty that this place was real, she was really thinking otherwise. She was really thinking that if she looked hard enough into it she would be able to find something to indicate his involvement earlier.

Having all of these thoughts were really making her start to think on several ways. It was starting to give her several different emotions. One of which was that she was not insane, and that this was totally explainable. But she was not sure, she just could not be sure no matter how hard she tried. She was always every single fucking time telling herself that she needed to talk with her father and then perhaps she was thinking that this was just something she would ask just to get some form of confirmation on and then when he brushes it off and acts like it is silly, then she can just drop the subject and tell herself that it was indeed silly and then she would be able to move on as simple as that.

Besides, she was thinking to herself, that if this was the whole course of reason to why he was like this, and if this was why he had been hurt all of this time, then she was thinking that maybe there was something else to it. She was telling herself that if this happened, then there would be no reason to settle down and have a family on the fear something would happen to them. She was worried that her father may not have really felt that way and that he was just making love to people when he felt like it, and that would explain why Tai and her looked different, if the had different mothers. In the end, she just never understood what was going on.

She was telling herself that all of this was something she had indeed been over thinking and that she didn't need to bother caring about it so much, but then as she was telling herself this, she was always thinking about Tai and what he was thinking about this. She was always telling him of her dreams, but he always brushed them off as make believe.

Had Kari grown a few years older, and had she actually been able to have a more objective view of life, then perhaps she would have been able to feel that way. But now, given the situation of what was going on, she was telling herself that none of this can happen. This indeed was happening, and these dreams were real. The worlds they were showing were real, even if she had no desire to ever admit such a thing.

Despite this, and despite all of her thoughts running through her mind all of the fucking time, she was still starting to get tired. She was still finding herself barely awake. She was thinking that it was time to go to sleep no and she was telling herself that no matter how bad they were, there was a chance that Cody was having the dreams as well, so in a way he can be able to share more of these thoughts with her. She told herself that she needed to be glad that he was there.

Cody was going to become either her biggest friend and ally, or her biggest enemy and the one person who she will never want to see again in her life. That was what she was thinking would be happening soon, all she had to do was wait for it to get to that point.

Even with all of these thoughts, she was catching herself going into a drift. Her eyes were getting heavy. Her thoughts were losing any form of coherent sign that thy were having, and here she was closing her eyes and heading off to sleep. As she was starting to sleep, she was thinking more about Cody and what their adventures were going to be like. In a way, she was embracing these thoughts and she wanted to be dreaming about happy adventures, and not crazy hellish nightmares that she was going to have to start living. This was all she had wanted. She just wanted a casual and happy adventure and she wanted friends who treated her with at least some respect.

In the early minutes of her sleep, she was seeing the dark void that she had been used to around her. Although now she was wondering if this was going to lead to the chasm again. She was fearing that the chasm was going to eat her up once again. She always had that fear, but now it was even worse.

…

As Sheldon and Brad were finally alone once again, Brad was looking at Sheldon to try and decide if he really was wanting to kill Sheldon or not. As he was considering it, he was telling himself of all of the good things that would have come along with it. But then he was thinking about the things that Sheldon did, and the things that he had contributed to the world, and then he was telling himself with each passing minute that killing Sheldon was the wrong choice. But then he was thinking about Jimmy White, and what was going to happen to him if Jimmy found out that he slacked off on the contract. As he was thinking about the fact that his life was literally on the line by not killing Sheldon, he was pulling the needle slowly out of his pocket.

"You know, I don't really know if I am going to be able to defeat Jimmy White. I am starting to think that perhaps it is not really even worth it. I think that if I tell Jenny that I didn't do it, she would respect me, and she would be thinking that I made the right choice. But thinking of all of the terrible things that he has done and what he is going to continue to be doing, that I am certain that I am making the wrong choice right now. Yes, leaving him alone and working with him is going to save my life. But would him saving my life by just having me work with him actually be even worse? I just want to save my family. But I don't think that I will be able to do this. I am starting to think that this is simply not for me." Sheldon started to think about the fact that he was not only failing Jenny but also failing Cody and he was also failing Brad. He had been failing every single person whom he had actually known.

"If Riley was there with me, and if I actually was able to see her grow up more, then I would be thinking that she was actually able to do this better than me. I think that Riley would have actually done the right thing. I really doubt that anything that I have been doing has been considered to be the right thing. I think that Riley would not be proud of what I have been doing right now. Just all the drugs that I have been doing. I don't even know why I care so much about Riley at all since she had been gone for over two decades, and even then I hadn't seen her in almost one. I haven't seen my own fucking sister in nearly thirty years, and I am still letting her haunt over me and her opinion." Sheldon was just wanting to get Riley out of his mind, and he was kind of tired of thinking about her all the time. But no matter how much he hated to think about it, the more that he was starting to think that Riley was the only thing that was going to be keeping any form of sanity to him.

"You shpuld not be so worried about thinking that this is stupid. She was one of the first people in your life that really tried to make you see the flaws that you had. She really tried to change you for the better. I think that there is nothing wrong with you feeling that way about your own sister. If Tucker was older than me, I am sure that he would have some opinions of me that would be hard to hear. I mean, sometimes with me being the older sibiling, I think about some of the things that he does and I do have some harsh crticisims of him sometimes. But I do know that this is not really entirely his fault." Brad said, and he was thinking about Tucker and he was just wanting to keep him safe, even if this did mean giving up his life by fighting Jimmy White.

It was strange how much he was worried about Tucker, and he was thinking that Tucker was able to take care of himself now. He had been thinking that he was able to take care of himself. But as he was thinking about the problems that had happened, the more that Jimmy White just was giving him the wrong ideas of life. He was making him sort of out to be a coward, which he really was every single time he had decided he would support Jimmy White and not actually support Sheldon.

He had helped out Sheldon just now, and while it did feel good, and while it did make him feel like to some extent that he had made the right choice, he was thinking about how he got himself almost killed. Brad never really wanted that fear again. And now he was thinking about the choice that he was going to be forced to make.

"I bet that my family is wondering where I am right now. I probably should not be staying here for too long. Or else they will be thinking that I died or something. Don't want them to think that." Sheldon said and then after he had said that, he was looking at Brad and he was seeing from the look on Brad's face that what was going on was going to be something that he would not really be excited for.

"You are wanting to kill me now? You think that you want to fulfill your contract." Sheldon said and then he was thinking about what it was going to be like if he was going to die now. He was trying to decide if this was actually going to be the best time to die or if he had wanted to die a bit later from then, and maybe do one or two more things before then.

"I don't know if I want to do it now. I mean, in a way I want to. I mean, it will keep me safe and Jimmy won't be after me anymore. But you are somebody who I have really grown to trust. I mean, I hate your father for what he did to Tucker, and I hate the things that you have done when you were very intoxicated. But I don't really know if this is all your fault anymore. I mean, some of it clearly was. With what you were doing to impress Jenny. But here you are, trying to take down our boss, and trying to set the town square, and you are here taking out Liu. This leaves a dilemma. I want to be safe, and as a result, I want to kill you. But I want to honor a friend, and for that reason, I don't. I think that you understand me." Brad said, and then he was totally ready for the next big debate between Sheldon and Brad.

"Do you think that killing me will actually make your life any better? Do you think that doing this is going to change anything? If you actually think that your life will be better by killing me, then go ahead and do it right now. Then keep the promise that you made me earlier about my family. But if you are starting to second think yourself, and if you start to realize that it is not really worth it and killing me is not the better choice, then please spare us both the fucking upheavel of what you are going to do and just let me go home." Sheldon said and then Brad was holding the needle out. As he was holding the needle out, that was when Sheldon and Brad noticed something that neither one of them were prepared for.

The liquid that was in the needle originally was gone. Instead, it was just replaced with normal heroin. The blue liquid was nowhere to be seen and Brad checked his pockets. There was nothing of wetness to show that it leaked. That mean that Brad must have grabbed the wrong one. Or maybe somebody managed to steal it and place in a new one without Brad even noticing.

"What the fuck?" Sheldon asked and Brad was also confused. Then after this, the two of them started to walk to Sheldon's car. "I don't really feel so good right now." Sheldon said and then he was feeling like his heart was giving out at that momet. "You should be driving this time." Sheldon got inside of the shot gun seat. Once Brad got inside of the car, he was seeing that Sheldon was clearly needing immediate rest. That or medical attention. Or or the other. He was clearly both tired and sick. Brad was thinking that maybe Sheldon placed in the needle and didn't even let Brad know so that way he can save Brad and make it seem like he did his contract. Brad started to drive off to Sheldon's house now.

...

As Candice was in the city, she was eventually picking up some hints here and there that made her think that she had finally found the place that she was looking for in relations to Mimi, and where she was actually located. She was hoping deep down that Mimi was there, and that she was actually thinking the camp director was totally telling the truth. It was hard for her to even comtemplate that he was telling the truth, but there was a part of her that was just desperately hoping that this was the case. No matter how much she was wanting to have this be the truth though, and no matter how much she was thinking that there was a small chance that she was, there was alsot a large part of her that was thinking that this was a lie, that she was told this just to make her get off his back for a moment.

Either way, the entire time that she was dealing with this, the more and more certain that she was getting really hopeful and was starting to grow a little bit insane. There was no way that she would have been thinking about this stuff if she wasn't at least a little bit insane. But as she was thinking about her growing insanity, the more that she was thinking that this was all a part of the plan.

But eventually, she passed by a house that she was starting to think was the exact one that she had been looking for, and when she was thinking this, she stopped what she was doing. This was her moment to shine. This was her momengt of redemption. This was her moment of doing something that she felt like really mattered. As she was thinking about this house, she ran up to the front door. Then afterwards, she knocked on the door several times.

As she knocked, she was certain that she was annoying the hell out of the people who were living there, but at that moment she literally gave zero fucks. She was there to help the woman who she was honestly starting to feel like was a friend, and that was the only thing that mattered. Was helping the person who had showed her a sign of kindness, and a sign of actual fucking humanity. As she waited for a moment, she eventually heard the door open and the person who was there looked exactly like they would be one of Mimi's parents. The more to be more exact. She just saw from the look on her face that this must have been the woman who raised her from birth.

Once there though, Candice was thinking about what she was actually going to tell her. What she was going to say. If Mimi was dead, and this was the real Mimi they were talking about, there was no fucking way she was going to break the news without breaking her parents at least a little bit. But she was telling herself that if the real Mimi was dead, she needed to know what t he hell happened to her daughter right away. She needed to have that chapter of her life solved.

As she was thinking this, and as she was coming to teh choice of what she felt like she needed to do, she took a deep breath and she was ready to pull the trigger. "Is your daughter Mimi home?" Candice asked, and she was getting herself prepared for the heart breaking news that she was almost certain she would have to deliver. As she was standing there, there was probably two or three seconds of silence. But in all reality it was actually feeling like it was twenty to thirty minutes of silence. It felt like the longest silence that Candice had to endure in her entire life, and she was hating every single second of this. Eventually, as she was ready for the response, the mother just simply said "Why would she not be home right now? She is asleep last time that I checked." She said and then Candice placed her hand right on the arm of Mimi's mother and was being extremely firm about this.

"Did she start going to a summer camp at any point? Did she ever express any interest in that type of stuff?" After Candice asked, and then after she asked that question she was just waiting. Each second of the wait that passed by, the more that Candice was wondering if either one of them were gravely wrong. She was thinking that one of the two of them were extremely off about this whole thing.

"I think she talked about wanting to go there a couple of times, but I don't think that she actually went to the camp." Her mother said and then after she had said this, both of them were starting to think that they were wrong. Because the look on Candice's face was showing she was absolutely certain that she did indeed go to summer camp, but the look on Mimi's mother face showed that she had indeed not gone to summer camp. There were two different stories of what was going on, and neither one of them were in any certain of how to feel anymore. In fact, both of them were starting to be more and more convinced that they were wrong.

"You know, only because of how certain you seem to be of this, I am going to give you a chance. Come with me, and when you see her in her room, you will be seeing that you are indeed over reacting." Mimi's mother said and then after she said this, Candice was thinking that this was the best thing for her to tell Candice, as it was neither debunking or confirming either one of their ideas. Besides, with the tone of voice she was having, the more that she was starting to show that she was indeed not all that sure of what she herself had been saying, and both of them were just feeling like more than anything else that they just needed some form of confirmation, so this was going to do just that for both of them and then it would be over with for good.

Once both of them were inside the house, the two of them started to walk towards Mimi's room. Then the mother slowly opened the door, and then as she was opening the door, both Candice and she were sort of preparing themselves for either one of the outcomes. But then afterward, the sight of the room is totally empty scared the shit out of Mimi's mother. Candice placed her fingers on her mouth and she was starting to hate what she was seeing. She had desperately hoped that she was wrong, but that hope was dying away and being replaced with the fact that she had been right. That she did see this whole thing. That Mimi was gone, and that the camp director was lying this whole time. Her level of disgust just grew with each second that she had been thinking about this.

Mimi's mother stood there in utter shock for a few seconds before she just looked at Candice. "How did you know that Mimi was going to be away at the summer camp?" She asked and then Candice told her everything that had happened, up until the moment when she saw Mimi get shot by the camp director, although she did keep in the parts about them both being scared for their safety as they were thinking this was going to help benefit the story a bit more, letting them understand what the context behind this whole thing was.

"I don't really know where she was. I just went back to the cabin for a couple of minutes just to grab some stuff. Then I talked to her cabin mate for a bit, and now here we are right now. I was wondering if you knew what she might be doing. I just had a feeling that you would have known." Candice said and then after she said this, before either Mimi's mother or father could say anything, she started to run out of the house. She could not handle looking at them, reminding them of the daughter that they had potentially just heard their death of.

As Candice was out of the house, she started to run right back to the summer camp. Either she was there and that this whole thing was going to start to fade away. That or she wasn't there, and she was going to have to face the truth right there and possibly lose any credibility that she was having. The more that she was running there, with each step, she was thinking of a different thing with Mimi, and she was thinking of the story she would tell the police in case they would come up to her and talk with her about what happened. Candice failed, and there was no way around this.

..

As Tai was at the summer camp, he was trying to get himself to go to sleep. The main reason he wanted to go to sleep so badly was that he had honestly thought that just going to sleep would have made all of his fears over what had happened to go away. He was actually thinking that sleeping was going to be the thing that he wanted more than anything in the world. Well, he also wanted a certain level of safety that he was feeling like being at the camp was just not going to provdie anymore at that point. Besides, he was so fucking tired that even if he wanted to stay up longer, there was no way in hell he was going to be able to do it. There was no way he was going to be able to keep his eyes open. So he was just going to take a bit of a sleeping break, and hope that Candice would come by eventually. He was also hoping that eventually, Candice would tell him that Mimi was indeed fine and that there was nothing for them to worry about anymore. This was the one thing that he had really wanted more than anything else. Was the idea and the confirmation that Mimi was not dead. If Mimi was not dead, then everything was going to be fine. Everything was going to be the way that he was not wanting it to go. This was in no way how he had wanted summer camp to go. The whole thing was pretty fun or the first few days that he had been there. Hell, even the first month in all reality was not all that bad. But it was all of these things that had been all built up that was starting to make this a miserable fucking experience that he had hated. Tai had started to hate the summer camp that he had been to, but despite this feeling, there were a couple of things that he did enjoy about it. Even if he had wanted to refuse to admit to it this whole time, to say that he had hated the whole thing was just plainly false.

There was all of the friends that he was gathering up. Despite the whole problem that he had gone through Candice, there was still a part of him that was starting to be friends with her. There was still a part of him that wanted to be with her, and that he wanted to be her best friend or something like that. He had only known her for about an hour or so, but there was still the part of him that was really starting to care a lot about her general safety for some strange reason. Some reason that he would not be able to really pinpoint towards no matter how hard he had tried to do so.

There was also hanging out with Sora, who actually was his best friend. He always enjoyed hanging out with Sora. No matter what the case was, hanging out with Sora was something that always gave him a bit of great joy. There was just the fact that she was such a nice and caring girl and the fact that she had never really judged him no matter what the case was that almost made him want to date her as well. At least back then he was thinking that he and she would be a good item. But now he was thinking about how much she was happy with Matt, and he was telling himself that there was no way he could be able to get himself into that. But he was telling himself that if Matt broke her heart, then there was going to be a really big fight between the two of them.

Tai was then thinking about the other campers that were in the camp as him. Even T.K. was not bad at all. Even T.K. was somebody who he was able to respect and appreciate as a friend to some small extent. He was not really sure why he was thinking of T.K. as a friend when he barely talked to them and there was a relatively big age gap between the two of them, especially at that age that they were in, and he was just thinking that he just needed to give T.K. a bit more respect. After all, he didn't really think about Izzy at first, and now he was actually finding himself respecting Izzy a bit.

After Tai was thinking about this, he was having a hard time having a good night sleep. He wasn't really having any nice dreams or anything. But he was indeed getting at least a decent amount of sleep. He was indeed thinking that any amount of sleep was better than what he had been running off of earlier. Even if it was just two or three hours in that one night, at least it would have been something. He wasn't really a man who needed a ton of sleep to function on a day to day basis, but when he goes twenty-four or more hours of no sleep, then that was when he was really starting to just purely run on exhaust fumes, and this was pretty close to where he had been now.

The whole thing went by fine enough, and it probably took about three to four hours from when Candice left the camp until when she had come back to the camp to find out more about Mimi. Despite how much he had wanted to get some sleep, and despite how much he was getting annoyed with all of these things, he was thinking about how much he needed to put the whole Mimi controversy to rest. Which was why when Candice had knocked on the camp door, Tai started to realize that everything was fine. Well, not really fine as much as something that needed to be done.

Despite this, it didn't change the fact that he was annoyed as hell when he heard the knocking on the door and since he was the one closest to the door that night since there was barely anybody there, besides as he would later learn Matt, Izzy, and Sora at that moment and by the end of the night, T.K., he was the one who basically was chosen by fate as the one who had to get up and answer the door.

As he was answering the door though, he was shocked to see what was standing there waiting for him. It was something that he never thought in a million years he would see.

He had seen Mimi standing right there. He was looking at her, and she was totally battered up, and there was something to her that made Tai think that this was indeed the Mimi that he had seen earlier, and that this wasn't some fucking replicant or something. Before anything happened and before Mimi could interject, Tai placed his hand on her chest. He was holding down on the chest very hard, and he was trying to feel for blood.

The dirt was there, and the looks were there, but the blood wasn't really there. Tai was looking right at Mimi and he was starting to look and see that there was something wrong about her. There was the color of her eyes. For some reason, her eyes were green. Tai was feeling like this was wrong. Tai was feeling like this was not what was supposed to be seen. Tai was then starting to think that this was a replicant. Or the one in the forest was a replicant.

"How the hell did you get here?" Candice asked, and she was right behind her and then Mimi looked back at Tai and Candice. "Your mother was worried where you were, and I ran here as fast as I could in order to see what the hell you were doing!" Candice said and then after she had said this, Mimi was just trying to wrap her mind around what happened.

"Last night my dad gave me the clearing to go to summer camp. I was just dropped off her by my father. My mother must have been asleep or something. I just tripped on my way up here, and now you guys are acting like you knew me this whole time." Mimi said and then Candice looked at Tai. This was indeed showing that once in for all, the camp director was telling the truth. And that the Mimi he killed was a replicant and they were later to learn that she was a Digimon clone and that they were now able to see the true one. Candice, Mimi, and Tai got inside of the cabin and despite that strange introduction, Mimi started to calm down and she was thinking that maybe they could be friends and she can get the truth out later of what was going on.

...

As Cody was at his home at last, he was thinking that it was about damn time that he put himself to sleep. He was thinking that in all reality, he was actually really fucking tired. He needed this sleep really badly. Much more than he had wanted to admit that he had needed it. He was thinking about how sleep was going to be the one thing that he had not been treated within much too long. But as he was inside of his bedroom a bit, he was thinking about his father for a while.

Cody was thinking about how tired and near dead his father must have felt. How much overworked his father actually was. Despite how awful that his father must have felt, Cody was still thinking that a large part of it was just due to stress. The stress of everything that was going on much have really started to get to him by this point in time. He did not really feel like he should have been too harsh on everything, considering what had been happening already.

But then Cody was starting to have the terrible theory get to his mind. Something that he never wanted to think of before, but the more that he was thinking about it, the less he was able to deny this, and the more he was thinking that this could have been the truth. He was thinking that maybe his father didn't actually want Cody at all. That he was thinking to bring Cody to this world was actually more of a hassle than anything else. Cody honestly was feeling like him being alive was something that was more of a burden than anything else.

Despite the fact tha the can talk with Sheldon and when he was talking with Sheldon a lot, it was actually clear that he liked his son, and that he was not wanting his son to die, and that he was going to indeed do his very best to make sure that his son was safe. But at the same time, he was also thinking that he was wanting his son to have never been born in the way that he didn't want Cody to suffer and he didn't want to make Cody exposed to the harsh realities of life. In a way, he was thinking that it was awful his father felt that way about him, but in a way it was also making him feel better knowing that Sheldon liked his son so much that the only way he felt like he could have been done justice was just if he had never seen the harsh realities of his world.

Cody was just wanting to make his father see that he was not a burden. He wasn't, no matter how much it may have looked that way at first fight. He was just thinking that his father was much to stressed. This was what he was thinking at that moment. But it didn't really matter at that moment. When he saw his father again, the two of them were going to have a serious conversation. Once that Cody felt like was much needed for both of them. One that he felt like if they didn't have, then nothing could really have been done. But then there was something that despite his feelings about his father, that he was extra certain about. Something that there was no need to theorize about. Something that even a ten year old would have been able to figure out right then and thereupon the first sight possible.

He was certain that Kari did not like him. He didn't need any theory about this. The idea that Kari did not like him as so obvious that Cody was starting to sort of feel like an asshole for even trying to get her to talk to him all of this time. He felt like he had honestly been wasting her time just by being there. He had wanted to make Kari feel better, but there he was doing the exact opposite of this.

It seemed like she had found him to be a nice relieve if anything when they had first seen each other, and even during the vision itself of the chasm where it had seemed like they had started to understand each other and they were going to be facing, but then once Cody started to talk about investigating the place, he was certain that this was when she was starting to look down upon him and was if anything finding him to be the biggest burden there could possibly be.

Cody thought that he was actually being a nice and helpful guy at first, and at the time he was thinking that this was an insanely good idea. But then afterward, when he was having time to look back at it, he was starting to think that this was a terrible idea that he put her through, and he was starting to realize that this was all his fault. That he should have been more respectful of what she would have wanted. He was finding himself wishing that he was having better thinking skills at that moment.

Cody was wanting to do something to make it up to Kari. To make her see that he didn't mean to make things ten times worse for her and that he was truly sorry for all of that. He was thinking that if they saw each other again, then him apologizing to her and trying to make things right with her was going to be the first thing that he was going to do. That was the one thing that he felt like he really needed to do anyways. Once that was done, then he can start to relax and look at other things. But all he needed to do was see her again and then have her be able to see him enough and give him enough of a chance to where she would be willing to give him a second chance, no matter how hard this must have been.

Eventually, Cody was telling himself that this was going to be the first thing he was going to do when he saw her again. Just apologize to her and saw that it was something he had no intention of doing. Then once he started to make her feel better, then he felt like he would be allowed to talk about the big stuff such as what she would think about going to the fucking chasm or finding something like that. Then when this was the case, he would clear up that he didn't think she needed to go down there, but that if she did, then he wasn't going to be opposed to the idea but that it was still entirely her choice. Then after he said something like this and cleared up some level of the mist between them at the situation, then he was feeling like this would be ten times better.

Then as he was thinking this, he was going to get himself more prepared for what he was wanting to do. But at that moment, he was telling himself that sleep was more important. That just relaxing and resting was the best thing that he would have been able to do for himself. He was honestly believing that this was the case. Then he was thinking that Kari must have been out by now. Cody was thinking that this was something he wished he was able to do so fast. Was just pass the fuck out and then just let the night go away.

Besides, he was thinking that both the situation with Kari and the situation with Sheldon weren't really all that bad. That he was just simply over thinking it. As he was over thinking this whole thing, in his opinion, he was telling himself that Kari was going to be his best friend eventually. It was strange for him to think about things that way, and in a way, he was doubting it, but he felt like he needed a friend that was even slightly closer to his age than the other ones that he had made. He felt like this was the one thing he really needed more than anything else. Was a friend who actually helped him feel like he was welcomed and feeling like he was not really an outcast and an minority due to his age. But as he was sleeping, when he finally got there, it didn't really cross his mind anymore and he was totally done by this point in time.

...

Eventually, Harold and T.K. delivered the dvd to the sheriff's room under his door after T.K. got a new arm cast, and then after they did they, Harold decided that he would do one final thing before he would fully go back to being with Clair again. He would drive T.K. back to the summer camp and then afterwards, they can talk for a couple of minutes and get one last good conversation in before T.K. would be back to summer camp for the rest of the summer, as T.K. was virtually certain that this was going to be the last time he would be leaving camp before the summer was over for any reason at all. He would later prove to be wrong, but at the time he didn't really know or even consider that.

"You know, I think that you do have quite the big set of balls for doing what you had just done today T.K. I really respect everything that you have done the last couple of days." Harold said, and despite the fact that he was indeed sort of forcing himself to say it, he did still mostly mean it and he did still mostly think that T.K. was a good guy. So it wasn't really all that far from reality for him to be saying this. He just hoped that T.K. would accept the comment, as it was still how he was feeling, despite all of the issues going on. "You know, I think that once your camp experience is over, I think we should be getting back in touch. You know, try and be friends again. I think that this would be a good idea." That was one part he didn't have to force out of himself and one part of what he said that he did actually mean.

"I would like to do that. It just really all depends on how much goes in or favor I suppose. I mean, I want to hang out with you more. But at the same time, we have gone on so many crazy adventures and I am starting to get scared that if we go on another one, it will be setting up sort of a bad omen and that we will be dealing with quite a bit more than we really should be bargaining for." T.K. was clearly at that point where he wanted none of this anymore.

"I think that you should just try and enjoy life for now. I think that you have certainly earned the idea of having the next few weeks off without having to deal with anything. I think that this life might just be really getting hard for you, and I don't blame you at all for that. I mean, you just had to see a bunch of people get killed, and you almost died." Harold said and then T.K. brought up a more funny thing for them, or at least he thought was funny.

"Let's just hope that this time, I don't fuck up my arm cast again. I am getting really sick and tired of going to the hospital for that thing. I mean, at the rate I am going I doubt they will even support giving me another one. I mean, I guess I would not really blame them anymore if that happens." T.K. said, and then after he was thinking this, he was considering what life would have been like if Harold and him had never met. It was strange that he was thinking so much about this, when they had barely known each other but meeting Harold had really changed everything about how he had been looking at life and all that.

It wasn't really even the act of meeting Harold himself that made a bunch of changes in his life, it was the stuff that followed up in his life after he had met Harold that caused these changes. The changes that he would have never in his entire life even remotely flirted with happening, but were now so painfully there that there was nothing he could have done about it at the time.

The entire time that he had been thinking about this, the more that he was thinking that in the end, he was just really glad that Harold was not a dick. If Harold had been an asshole, that would have made the entire situation a thousand times worse than it could and should have really been. So if for nothing else, there was at least that going on. But then T.K. took a deep breath and felt like he was going to ask a question that was more serious than he would have wanted. At least serious for a twelve year olds standards.

"Do you ever regret meeting me?" T.K. asked, and he was just ready for Harold to try and dismiss this as a serious question, but the silence that followed for several seconds afterwards as well as the whole thing about what had happened recently made T.K. realize that Harold was indeed considering this. Which was making T.K. feel fucking awful as he had thought that Harold otherwise really did respect T.K.

"You know, it is not like I don't respect you. I think though that just everything going on in our lives right now had made everything just really difficult to really comprehend. I don't really regret meeting you. If I said this, I would not be giving you nearly enough credit. But I do say that I do regret involving you in any of this. This I do regret and I will not even pretend that I don't. But the act of meeting you and getting to know you is something that I don't regret." Harold was feeling like this was the most honest while also being the safest answer at the same time, and the only answer that would not really anger T.K. or anything like that.

"I just have been thinking for a couple of minutes here and there about everything. Thinking about the stuff that has been going on in our life. I think that everything that has happened has just really put a different spin on life. I know that it sounds silly for me to be talking like this, but I think that you must be getting what I am talking about. I think you must be seeing where I am coming from." T.K. said, and then Harold nodded. He truly got exactly what T.K. was saying. he was always surprised at the lack of credit he was giving the guy. Despite his young age, he was more smart than people would think he would have been. Besides, with the stuff that he had been exposed to throughout the last several days and the couple of days they knew each other in skating, things really were starting to be much different.

"I think that people just wish that they would never get themselves into this type of trouble. But that will never fucking happen in the world. There is nothing that will happen that will indicate that life is going to be a smooth ride. If life was a smooth ride, then I wouldn't have had to try and save my mother." Harold said, not fully aware of the status that Susan had. He wasn't aware of the fact that she very well could have been dead this whole time. But nobody really knew if she was dead or not, and therefore it was at that moment an issue left to be resolved.

"And if your life was so easy, you would have never had to deal with the fact that you have a dead beat dad who rarely ever shows up. Hell, almost never even shows up." T.K. said, thinking about the wound he brought up and suddenly felt very bad for it. "Sorry for saying that. It was out of place for me to say that. I should have thought about what I was saying before I opened my big stupid fucking mouth." T.K. was starting to wonder what was wrong with him for thinking that he was allowed to bring up that subject at all. Considering the fact that it was none of his business in the first place.

"Don't worry about it. It perfectly does apply exactly to what is going on in all honesty." Harold said and then patted T.K. on the shoulders. "You should get some sleep. But seriously, we should hang soon." After Harold said that, T.K. smiled and then nodded.

"I would enjoy hanging out soon." T.K. said and then afterwards, he got himself out of the car after grabbing his skateboard and then he was starting to walk towards his cabin. The entire time that he was walking there, he was confused as hell and trying to wrap his brain around what happened. At least he can go back to his casual skating and at the very fucking least he was able to have a normal arm cast again that was actually going to be able to do its job and not fall out every fifteen seconds or something insane like that.

...

After Izzy, Matt and Sora were back in their cabins, Matt was taking a deep breath and then he was considering the idea of just passing out on the spot. It was honestly the nicest sounding idea that eh had at that moment. Was just to lay down, and rest. But there was a part of him that was thinking and still running on high octane fuel when he was on the bed just thinking about what he had been seeing.

"You know, I am glad that this all behind us. To be honest, I don't think that I would really want to handle any of that stuff that we had been dealing with anyways. It was getting really fucking old to be totally honest, I was thinking that after this is done though, that we can maybe all just hang out and fuck around." Matt was quietly saying, not really knowing or caring who was listening to him. He was just sort of letting his mind run at that point in time. He was just sort of letting his mind come up with ideas that he thought were good at that moment. Not really sure how well they would have held up or anything, but he was telling himself that at the time, they were totally sound ideas.

"I mean, I doubt that I will be able to really do a bunch of hanging out per se. I think my idea of hanging out has been a little bit messed up when I started to hear all of these things happening. Plus I have seen so many things that I would not really think that I would be able to look at life normally again. I know that sounds over the top, but I think that it is just how it really is." Izzy said, and he was thinking that no matter what happened, it was nice his family was not affected. Had something happened to his family, then everything in his life would have been totally fucked and everything he would have ever thought was good in the world would have been gone by this point in time.

He was telling himself though that there was nothing that could have possibly happened to his family. Despite everything that had happened, he was almost certain that his family had not once been targeted on that whole thing. And besides, even if there was something like that happened, he would not really get to know what it would have been like for another few weeks or a month or two. But then by then, he would probably just try and move into the house of somebody that he did respect. Then that way, maybe things would not really have been all that bad. Then perhaps he would have been able to turn the car of that disaster around and actually pull something good out of it. But then he was thinking on how stupid it would have been if he lived in the world of being a fucking spider man rip off. Parents died, then he tries to be a hero or something like that. It would be so over the top and generic that he wouldn't even enjoy it.

But then he was thinking about how Matt was a decent guy, and he didn't want to really brush off the idea of being friends with the guy just because of a couple of god awful events that have happened in the last few days. Despite all of the bad that had happened, and it being related to Matt, and Matt being involved with it, Matt had almost nothing to do with it at all. Then when he was thinking about how Matt actually in a way was barely involved, he was thinking about how much Izzy and Sora were still some people who were considered important to his life.

Despite the fact that Sora made total sense as they had been dating and Izzy was almost certain that they had fucked a couple of times by then, Matt being attached to Izzy and feeling like he was able to appreciate the company and values of Izzy was the one that got to him. That was the one that always made him feel like he was maybe placing his values wrong. Matt didn't really know what was wrong with being friends with Izzy, but he knew that if he was caught dead hanging out with a fourteen year old geek, he was going to lose any popularity that he had. Not only because he was only fourteen, but because of the fact that he was a nerdy geek.

Matt was thinking that if they did hang out again, that Matt would make an actual effort to be a real friend to Izzy, and not really somebody who just brushes him off and acts like he is there just to annoy him. He felt like Izzy did deserve better than this, even if he had a hard time showing the fact that this was the case. But then as he was thinking this, Matt turned and looked at Sora. She was fast asleep. Matt felt like he was so much happier just to see that she was fine. Just to see that none of this was affecting her all that much. Or at least he was assuming that it had not really affected her all that much, and he was thinking that she was fine. He was hoping that she would just be able to brush this whole thing off and just pretend that this had never happened. Matt was wondering if he would ever be able to pretend that none of this ever happened. He was feeling like this idea was impossible and that he was just giving himself a dose of fools gold, but he was telling himself to just think casually about it. All things go away with time. All things eventually move beyond the realm of fresh memory and eventually become distant memory and all of those things become lost in time.

The only thing that worried him was when he was going to see T.K. again. He was worried that T.K. was going to be broken and battered. He was worried that T.K. was just simply not going to be in the young healthy male condition that he had been in this whole time. His whole life. Then Matt was thinking that sooner or later, this was going to go away anyways and that this was just a matter of time before this actually happened. Matt was just thinking about how much he was going to have to explain any of this to his father or mother in case he did turn out to be in a worse condition though. But as he was thinking this, a total case of speak of the devil happened.

T.K. walked inside of the cabin and he was having his skateboard in his hand. His arm cast looked much better than he had expected it to. The only thing that would go to what Matt was thinking would have been the case was when he was seeing that T.K. was just really dirty and while Matt wanted to talk to his brother for a moment, he knew that he was just too tired and didn't want to deal with it. So Matt just let T.K. get on his bed when he flopped the board on the ground and then it was only loud enough to create a slight thud, and then he started to head on right to sleep.

Matt was thinking about the fact that T.K. must have gone through hell that night, and that the last thing he needed was to have him getting in his business about what he was doing out all night. Besides, Matt had done a lot of bad things that night, and he was thinking that it would totally not be worth getting into T.K.'s business about it and he was not really wanting to compromise any of the respect that he had been earning from his brother lately by asking him all of these questions. So he was just telling himself that he would leave it alone.

In the end, T.K. was just alright, and he had been safe. There was no reason at all to assume that T.K. was in danger anymore, and there was nothing that made him feel like he needed to question his brother all that much. So when he was feeling this way and he had seen T.K. there to confirm it, he closed his eyes and he was starting to bring himself into a slow and nice sleep. Something that he very much felt like he needed to have at that moment. This was the start to the next chapter in his eyes, the next step of this great journey that had been his life, and he was curious to see where this whole thing was going to go.

...

Brad was driving Sheldon back to the house. The entire time that this drive was happening, Brad was questioning to himself where the hell that needle had gone. The needle just suddenly vanished. He was seriously thinking that maybe he had grabbed the wrong one the whole time. As he was thinking that, he was thinking about how Jimmy White was going to truly have his head on a platter this time, and he was in no way going to be able to get himself out of this one he knew. This was going to possibly be the end of his entire career coming up, and he was telling himself that he just needed to be prepared for if something like this were to happen. Then as he was thinking this, the more that Sheldon looked like he was just slowly breathing during his sleep. It was slow breathing and most people would have thought that this was a sign of him losing his life force in a way, but Brad knew Sheldon would not give up this easily and he also knew that Sheldon had gone through much worse adventures than this one. That this was actually pretty tame compared to most of the ones that he had gone through in the past up until this point, which was crazy for Brad to be considering that, but it was the truth. That this was not the craziest thing that Sheldon had ever done.

No matter what Brad may be able to tell himself of Sheldon, and no matter how much he wanted to take the guy out for the sake of his own survival and his own contract, he was also telling himself that Sheldon was still a warrior and that he was not going to ever take that away from Sheldon. This guy had seen so much darkness and fought so hard on everything that the average person would fail to even remotely compare to him. That was really as simple as that. It was something that Brad had to always admire about the guy, and it was yet another reason along with all the others that he can never be able to find himself wanting to kill the guy. There was another part of him that was telling himself that Sheldon deserved a better fate than the fate that he had been forced to deal with all of this time. This was something that Brad always told himself. That this was in no way what Sheldon deserved, and to say that it was would have been some form of a fucking lie. There was nothing about this that he deserved. Absolutely nothing at all, and to even pretend that it was would have been the biggest lie ever. There was nothing about this cruel world that Sheldon should have been forced to live and face. He had lived some things that people would only be thinking of in their nightmares, and nothing that people would be actively thinking they would be doing in their lives. But he lived every single moment of it all. This was something that would never be taken away from the matter at hand.

This felt like the longest drive of his entire life. This felt like one drive that you would only hear about in ghost stories about road trips that they took and had to face this horrible monster during. That was all it had felt like. It was because the entire time that he was driving, Brad was forced more and more to question his loyalty. Question what he was feeling like was the right thing to do. Well, he knew what the right thing was. But it was more of a matter of if he was able to find himself morally just enough to do said right thing. And as this drive was happening, Brad was starting to think that perhaps he did. Perhaps he was actually able to do the thing that he knew he should have been doing. But he was also telling himself that this was just a at the moment thing. That this was something he needed to just be prepared for going away at any moment. Brad just wasn't too sure one way or another. He wasn't sure if he was giving himself the right amount of credit or if he was giving himself too much credit. It was one of the two. He was beyond the point where he was not giving himself enough.

Eventually though, when the car pulled up at the house and then Brad unseated his belt and then he grabbed Sheldon who was out by this point, Brad as telling himself that he can indeed be the good guy for one night. He can indeed be able to give Sheldon this at the very least. Even if he was not able to give him anything else, this was the one thing he would be able to give himself. The entire walk back, Brad was feeling that Sheldon was breathing and it looked like he was making a twitch every few seconds, so he was telling himself at that moment that he was alive. He wasn't sure if he had faced a heart attack or something was getting over it or if he just had a moment where he felt like he had a stroke, or if something else was what happened. If he just simply freaked out for a moment. That was also something that he was willing to admit to being the case.

Brad brought Sheldon right down on the bed of where he and Jenny slept together. Brad was looking at Jenny for a bit, and for a fleeting moment he was catching himself thinking about their young lives. Thinking about when Brad and her were in school. He was thinking about how Brad was trying to get her to like him, and how he was doing his best to make her approve of him. But he was just too casual, Sheldon was just too popular, and in the end, they just had a deeper connection. Despite this though, he still one hundred and ten percent cared for her as a friend. There was no denying that. But at one point, he was thinking it would have been something ore. That it should have been something more. But then when he was thinking that it was all in the past now and that he needed to get over it, he was starting to feel like eh was able to be at that point once again.

Despite this though, Brad was telling himself that one small kiss would not hurt. So he went up to Jenny and placed his mouth on her cheek and gave her a short kiss. Afterwards, he felt like this would be his last chance to show any love or affection for her, so to not think too much on that moment, he walked right out of the room and then before he left, he was thinking about Cody. So he walked to where Cody had slept, who actually was asleep for real this time, and he was seeing how Cody looked so casual and happy while he was sleeping.

As he was watching Cody sleep, Brad was starting to think about all of the things that he had missed out on in the past. He had missed out on being a lover, on being a father, and having a person care for him about what he would be doing. It wasn't even a child that he was sharing, but it was the fact that he was looking at the child of his friend... his best friend... that made him feel that way.

Despite the fact that he would have tried to say otherwise given the contract and given a lot of their conversations and situations, and other people Brad knew, he was starting to realize something he never could deny anymore. Sheldon was indeed his best friend. And if Brad killed Sheldon, he would be killing his best friend. A person who he was really finally after all of these years started to appreciate for all the values he had.

It was then that Brad truly realized for the first time what he had truly wanted. He wanted to be a father. He wanted to be loved. He wanted to have somebody be there for him, and he wanted to be there for somebody else. He wanted to have the responsibility and yet the journey of raising a child. Once he made that choice, he drove back to where he lived. Once he was home, he looked down and saw the blue needle there. Brad shook his head for his stupidity. 'Next time' he told himself as he went to his phone. Jenny was taken with Sheldon, and despite their fights and their huge differences the size of the fucking grand canyon, he knew Sheldon loved her like a goddess and that Jenny did love him back. Whitney was taken by the sheriff. A strange romance that blossomed when she had become the first ever female officer in Wayside history, and still the only on, and David tried to take her under his wing and instead, they fell in love and got married. Strangely fitting, and kind of disturbing, Brad thought. David had become sheriff the day that her mother was freed from the labyrinth, and had Whitney. So her birth was the first thing he did and witnessed as the sheriff. But still, compared to the shit Sheldon's father pulled, it wasn't THAT bad. Then he thought about Victoria, the younger of the two twins by seven minutes. She had a huge crush on Sheldon at first, and despite the fact that they were half siblings due to them having the same father, Sheldon never told her and decided to give her one night of love making to make her shut up. Brad told himself that it was not the worst thing since at least he used a condom and didn't try to impregnate her, and it was just one night. Brad also told himself that as long as Jenny would never learn, it wasn't too bad. But then Brad started to think about Victoria, and he was thinking about the strong woman that she had become and the things that she accomplished in her life. He thought about her good attributes, and the things that they said when talking to each other as well. Then that was when Brad started to realize he did care about her. Possibly more than he could have imagined. So he wanted to give this a shot. He dialed in the number and then waited for a bit and once the phone answered, Brad took the leap of faith as Sheldon had twenty years ago with Jenny. "Hey Victoria, it's Brad. I was wondering of you would like to go out to coffee." Brad blushed hard at this and when he heard her say yes, his world lighted up and he said they would do it tomorrow at four in the afternoon before he hung up. Then he flopped on his bed, for the first time in a long time feeling happy as he went to bed in that same position he was in already.

...

Once inside of his house, Davis was thinking about the offer that he had accepted. He was thinking about how this was going to boost his business, and the level of excitement that he had been getting over this was through the roof. But despite this, there was one single thing that he really needed to do. One thing that would not be allowed to be put off any more.

He needed to bring back the master that he had been secretly following and had been worshiping ever since he was just ten years old. Ever since that incident at the summer camp. The thing that had given him a reason to even live in the first place.

As he was thinking about how he needed to do this job, he started to his room. He was thinking about what he was going to do now in order to get his master to like him even further, and to show that he had been listening to what had been said, and that he still did indeed look at them as his prophet.

He was in his bedroom, he pulled out a switch blade that he had been keeping under there, and one that he had barely used unless if it was totally important. Then with that, he walked right to the kitchen sink.

Once at the sink, Davis held out his left hand and he was looking at his right hand. This would be the third time that he would have ever done this. But Davis brought down the knife to his hand and then he started to cut the hand open. As he was cutting his hand open, he was feeling the pain kick in. He was starting to feel like he was not really wanting this. But he didn't care.

As he let the sink get covered with blood, Davis placed the knife down and then he covered his hand with another napkin. Then he got rid of the current napkins and then placed a new one on his arm as well. Then when that happened, he placed the last dart of this pack in his mouth and he was ready for what was to come.

"Lord Daemon, I have gotten the names of several people who might be getting in the way of our success. I teamed up with a man who I think will be able to help us out. His name is Jimmy White. I believe that he will be a valuable asset to the team." Davis smiled and then he said "I hope that he will be able to help take care of the people who have been plaguing our progress for far too long."

He places his hands together as he was smiling a bit. The entire time that he was smiling, there was something in him that was thinking that this was certain to get himself a boost. "The Jeff kid is also done with. He will no longer be a problem that we will ever have to deal with." Davis said, finally going back to his deep anti Jeff roots, thinking of how much he had hated this man.

Then after this, he was remaining silent for a moment. H was telling himself that he needed to wait for a bit. He was telling himself that if Daemon didn't respond in a few seconds, then he would continue.

After the few seconds had passed and Davis was certain that Daemon was not going to respond, he continued. "I have no idea what this Jimmy White guy will really offer. I do believe that simply pledging alliance to him will be able to show that we do mean business, and I hope that he will be a mutual benefactor to what we have to offer and what we want to do."

Once he was done saying this and there was yet again no response, Davis felt like it was time to wrap up. "Thank you for giving me your time lord Daemon. I know that you have been busy lately, and I will not interrupt you further." After Davis said this, he washed the blood away and left it at that, knowing that this was the way to end the conversation with his master.

Davis went back to his room, and for some reason despite his contract to Jimmy and his allegiance to the great lord Daemon, he was telling himself that there was something he was missing. He had been telling himself that maybe there was something better about the people that he had met earlier. That this was real friendship, and not something that he told himself was friendship. He was thinking that maybe Daemon didn't really have what he needed. But Davis didn't let himself think too much on this as he got on his bed and then he went to sleep. Either way, this was over and the next stage of his life was to soon begin.

The adventure that would change everything was going to start in the next several hours. One that would not make anything that any of these people lived or do the exact same again, and one that would leave a bunch of scars and marks on their lives one way or another. One that would go down in history as what would be the greatest endeavor ever undertaken by humans.


	50. I move to a new town

Disc 1: The Labyrinth

Intro

Hi my name is Sheldon Oswald Lee, and I have a really long story to tell you. But it is one story I can almost assure you that you have never heard. One that need to be heard before I die. A story that you may hate to admit it, and may make you feel betrayed inside to consider it, but it is a story that is absolutely true, and one that the world needs to understand. It started in the year of 1956 when I moved to Wayside Minnesota with my family. My sister Riley, who was thirteen at the time, was really angry about moving over here, leaving her friends behind and her first boyfriend. I mean, I was just a ten year old boy at the time, so moving away from a school that didn't much like me was no real hassle.

I mean, I wasn't super close with Riley or anything at the time, but let me tell you if I knew what would happen ahead if time, I would have spent every single minute I could have with her. I would have made memories with her that I almost would have never even have come close to being able to forget about. And if I knew what would later happen, I would have made a fuss about moving so large that even Riley would have told me to calm the hell down soon. But despite the protests and despite making threats to run away, Riley gave in and we were at our house only a few days after moving.

Another good thing in moving was that it was the summer so I had some time to get to know the people in town better and maybe even make some friends who would help make the first days of the fourth grade at least less annoying. And I just was glad that after the second or third day there, that Riley stopped her whining and even she seemed to have mostly calmed down about the move. She clearly did not enjoy it but she decided that maybe she would be able to get some things out of this. Maybe even get a new boyfriend to make the experience less annoying.

I was at Wayside for about three days when I made one of my first friends there. His name was Dakota. He had red hair and was fat. He lived a few houses away from me, and I introduced myself. Afterwards, we decided to set off some fire crackers and then Dakota thought that was fucking awesome and then we became friends.

Once we were friends, that made the rest of the summer much more interesting and I didn't really have to deal with all of the idea of being bored and living a summer of mundanity. I was able to have an idea of what to do most days and I didn't have to deal with Riley bitching about how much she wanted to go back to where we originally lived and everything. She really seemed like she only wanted to go back because of her boyfriend. I never really talked with Dakota about Riley. In fact, I never talked much of her at all to anybody. As if her being around was a huge waste of time and it was a burden.

The summer was about another five weeks more after I moved there. Dakota pretty much showed me around to all of the places in town and I slowly started to feel like I had been there my entire life. I felt like after all of my time there at town, and see everything it had to offer, that I didn't really even miss my other town all that much. In fact, I almost forgot all about what it was like. Soon enough, to ten year old me, this basically was the life I had been living and where I grew up at.

When school was near the point it would be starting my fourth grade year, I started to dread the year that was to come again. But Dakota felt the need to make the last few days of summer worth it. Something I would never forget. And he was right. I never forgot about what we did that day. Maybe because it was one of the final times that I was able to do something I fully enjoyed that I was still innocent as a kid.

It was when Dakota walked right up to my house and he knocked really loudly. I was shocked he didn't wake up my family when he knocked that loud. I saw the clock and saw it was only like seven in the morning. I answered the door as I rubbed my eyes. I hated the fact he woke me up this early, but I didn't even mind all that much when he told me what he was planning on doing with me that day. "So I didn't show you one last place in town because I wanted to wait until school ended for you to see it." Dakota had such a excited look on his face that I couldn't stay angry at him forever. In fact, I was just curious what the hell he even wanted to show me now. I was thinking that it better be worth him waking me up at seven in the morning on one of my final days of summer left.

"Alright, but can we just get this over with?" I asked and I was trying my best to cover my annoyance with my fatigue since that was the main thing that I was feeling at that moment. I just didn't want Dakota to think I didn't want anything to do with him. I mean, that wasn't the case at all. If it was, I would have stopped talking to him weeks ago and be done with it, I just wished that he asked me much later. If he did then I would probably be more interested on what he was trying to show me.

Once he left my house as he was trying to show me this great thing. The entire time that he was in the lead, I was seriously wondering what part in town we were going to. I wanted to see what this was going to be.

"The first time that I found this place, I was confused what I saw, and I just wanted to figure out the truth of it all. I wanted to know much more than what I was able to ever really get the chance to figure out." Dakota had told me and I just wanted to see what he meant. "We are almost there, I think you will see what exactly what I mean. I don't know why the other names are on the list." Now I really felt like I needed to know what this was even more than ever.

After an hour or so after I left the house of walking, we were right where Dakota had wanted to show me. When I saw what they were wanting to show me, I was now even more confused at what I was seeing at that moment. I saw that it was just a tree and I was not even sure what the tree even was showing. I needed to know what Dakota was trying to indicate. The tree was just that, a tree. But before I can start to shit talk this enough, Dakota started to call out to me and get my attention. "Sheldon, here is what you need to see."

I was just going to go along with this for the time being. I walked to the part of the tree that was meant to be really important. I saw the part of the tree just was an exposed section. A part that was ripped up by a person. I felt that section of the tree with my hand. I looked right at Dakota and then I just said "I don't get it. I mean, it looks cool. But what are you trying to show." I said and then Dakota was pointing to that part again to prove his point now.

"Really pay attention to this part of the tree. Trust me when I say that this is worth it." Dakota told me, and then I started to look more closely. There was a bunch of names on the tree. I was confused at the names in the tree, and I started to read every single one if them. I saw that there was about forty or so names. Covering up almost that entire section of the tree. I look right at Dakota, and I was starting to give him a look on his face that must have made me look like a dumb ass.

"Why do you think that the names are on the tree?" I asked just being casual about this whole thing. Dakota gave me no real answer to this whole thing. He seemed like he was just trying to figure it out as much as I had been trying to figure it all out. But then I was also tempted to put my name on there just for the sake of finding it a bit funny.

"I have no idea what the names are for. I think that it would be pretty fun to figure it out with you as well. Do you want to help me solve the truth of the trees?" Dakota responded to my question, and then he was thinking about the exact same thing that I must have been thinking about at that moment. He must have been thinking that he would want to put his name on the tree so we can both be able to share the moment with each other. A moment that if we do this, we will never be able to lose and everybody else will be able to see. But then I was thinking about what it would be like if my parents or if Riley had seen this. They would probably tell at me for this, and treat me as if I was a terrible kid. A kid who was responsible than vandalism. But a large part of me was thinking that they would probably never see this, and that I was simply over thinking the entire thing.

As I was thinking that I didn't need to think or worry about it all that much, I was wondering what I can use in order to place my name on there. I wanted to put it on there and then I felt like I would be able to sort of have my piece in the history of the town.

"I want to find out the names on here, and then talk to these people. I want to see what the people want to say." Dakota said and then that was standing up and then I was looking right at Dakota. After a few seconds, I stood up and when I was looking away for a bit, I was seeing the names not looking nearly as readable again. I just looked at Dakota again and then I felt as if the two of us were probably needing to go back home in order to not get caught by the police for being nearly out of the city, and people trying to be accused of wanting to run away from the city.

As we were about to head home, there was something that got us both very interested in what we were starting to become a part of. There was a noise in the distance. At first neither one of us can really tell what the sound was. But it was clearly something like a person crying for help. It was either crying or it was screaming. I just couldn't figure out which one it actually was, but the prospect of it being either one of them really scared the shit out of me. Made me feel like I was starting to get a part of some dark secret.

I looked right at Dakota and I was just mainly looking to see what he was thinking about the entire situation. At first Dakota didn't seem like he was fully understanding what I was trying to indicate to him. But eventually Dakota heard a couple of screams and then I could see him getting a super pale white face. "Have you heard this stuff before?" I asked Dakota, and then he was looking right at me and I was seeing that he was getting a bit more serious. As if to get his point across but also wanting to make himself look like he was not really scared at all.

"I heard these before. Probably just people having sex all the time. That is what my parents say sex sounds like." Dakota said and then I was thinking about what he said. I barely knew what sex was. I heard the word before and knew it was what two people did to have kids. Riley told me before we left to move to Wayside, that she and her boyfriend had it as a way to share their love for each other. Even then I still barely knew what it actually was. I was wanting to learn more of it though. Not because I was some terrible and horny person, but I wanted to talk to Dakota and keep my ground.

"Do you think we should look to see what it is all about?" I asked, starting to sort of think that there were going to be some people who really needed our help, and us leaving them behind was going to be a massive mistake. Dakota looked like he didn't even want to consider the idea. As if this was going to get us killed or something like that. In hindsight, he was probably right. But at the time, I was feeling extremely weak by doing this.

After a few second though, I could tell that Dakota was not going to budge on this. I can tell that he was very firmly set on the idea of not doing this. So I decided for both of our sakes that I was just going to drop the subject. "Should we probably head home or something?" I asked and from the look on his face, I was starting to think that maybe this was the best course. Dakota looked like he was about to get fucking sick, although at the time I refused to understand why.

"Yeah, sure I guess we can do that." Dakota waited for a few seconds before he came to that answer. Once he decided that this was indeed what he had wanted to do, we started to head on back home. There was the part of me that wanted to know what exactly we got really close to encountering. I felt like the desire to know as bigger than the idea of knowing being a terrible fate.

What I was thinking was not nearly so bad of a thing to wonder was what we were seeing with the tree. I really wanted to know what the tree was going to be about. The idea of learning about what was there made me so excited to investigate that I felt like I was going to lose sleep not knowing why those names were on there. Or if I never got to put my name on there. I felt like putting my name on there would be such a cool and important thing to do that the thought of it was getting to me constantly.

The rest of the time that we were walking back, I could tell that those noises really shook Dakota up. I can tell that he was thinking that he was going to get in so much trouble. I wanted to help him. But I had no idea how I could have.

I thought that maybe in a few days, Dakota was going to go back to normal and that I needed to not worry about it all that much. That was the conclusion I was going to keep myself set on. But there was a part of me that feared that there was more to it than I was really letting myself to believe that there actually was.

As I was home that night, I was getting ready to go to sleep. I could see that Riley was in her room. When I saw that she was in her room, at first I didn't think or care much of it. But then I noticed something I never seen my older sister do in my entire life. I felt like this was such a big thing that I needed to learn more about what she was doing. But I didn't want to subject myself to learning of something that really was not my business.

I saw that she was crying. As I watched her crying, I wanted to help her out. I wanted to console her. I wanted to make her feel better. But no matter what I wanted to do, I knew I couldn't. For the reason stated up, as well as the fact that there was no way that she was going to accept the idea of her ten year old brother helping her as she was crying. So I just stood there and I just let her cry for a while. I was listening to the crying. I wondered where my mom and dad were. I wondered why they were not helping their fucking daughter. And it was then that I was starting to wonder for the very first time in my life how they can be so cruel. How they can be so much more focused on their job that they weren't even aware of what their daughter was feeling. Or if they did, they just simply didn't.

After about an hour or this, I stood up and I walked by her room and looked at her. Tears were covering her clothes. Her face was bright red. She looked up and saw me. She just looked away, as if she was disgusted. At first, I thought it was because of the fact that she hated the fact I didn't console her. I would later learn she was this way because she was not wanting to see me. She didn't want to see the young face of her father. The man she feared as I would learn in the future. All I can hear her say was "Get away from me dad. Get away from me." I went back to my room and fell asleep to her tears that night. At first I thought she meant Sheldon instead of dad. But I would later learn that she did mean to say dad, and she had meant calling me dad for a very dark reason.

I had pretty much totally forgot about the entire thing after a while, and I was just thinking that maybe Riley and dad got into a fight and that it was nothing that I needed to really focus all that much in. The biggest thing that was going on was when it was the actual final day of the summer. Dakota had wanted to hang out with me since he was bored and there was the fact that his parents were not home that day. Which for a ten year old, basically having the house all to yourself for a day, it was the biggest thing that could have possibly happen to somebody. So I went to his house, and I was wanting to see what he was wanting to show me.

Once I was actually at his house, Dakota was looking around as if he was still feeling a little bit unsure of what was going on. As if he was fearing he was going to get exposed at any moment considering what he was going to show me. I was now even more excited to know what he was going to show me. When I was thinking about what he was wanting to show me, I saw that he was leading me to his attic.

I have no idea why he was showing me his attic, but I decided not to really say anything at that moment. Eventually, we reached the top floor of the house and we were inside the attic. Once inside of the attic, I just saw that there were a bunch of random things in the house that I was not really all that interested in. I was about to tell Dakota that I was really all that interested in any of these things and I was going to tell him off, until he was showing me something that changed my perception on the entire matter. I was smiling right across both sides of my face when I saw what he was wanting to show me.

"I can't believe that my parents never took this out or drank everything." Dakota said and I was looking at a bunch of beer. I was excited to see what we were going to drink. What percent it was going to be. I was only ten years old, so drinking this was going to be the first time that I ever drank something. I was totally wanting to embrace every single second of this thing.

"Do you want some of it?" Dakota asked me and then I nodded. There was no way in hell that I was not going to have some of this beer. The fact that he was even thinking that I was going to say no was something that he was just giving me too much credit on. If I had actually said no at that moment, I still sometimes wonder what my life would have actually been like today. Maybe I would be at least a little bit more composed. But there is nothing that I really remember about anything at that moment.

"Oh yeah, I really want to drink this." I said and then I walked right next to the guy and then Dakota was handing me one of the cans of beer. I was holding the can as if I was holding the holy grail. I then opened up the can and then I started to drink it a bit. I was not really sure if it was actually tasting all that good. The more that I was drinking this, the more that I was thinking about how I was not going to remember any of this because of how hard I was going to be hit. I was also thinking that if I told anybody this stuff, and tried to let them know the story of how I drank beer for the first time when I was ten years old, that all the people I try to tell will not believe me. I don't really blame them if they did not believe me. It was something that would be pretty hard to believe under any normal case.

After I kept drinking some, Dakota was looking at me. He was drinking more and more, and I can tell that he was taking great pride out of every single gulp that he was having from this can. Dakota then started to place the can on the floor when it was all over with and then he burped for a bit. After he had burped, I laughed a little bit and then I was talking about girls that I wanted to date when I was at my older school.

Well, I didn't really say that I wanted to date them at the time. You know, since I was only ten years old and not really thinking about dating all that much at this point in time. But I was also thinking about what it would be like to kiss them and everything. I was now getting to that point where kissing was the thing that I wanted more than anything else.

Dakota talked about how he fucking hated school, and I started to go along with it for a while. I was thinking about how much school fucking sucked and everything. It was something I had no problem taking a part of since I was not really into school either. But then when we were talking about our classes that we were going to be taking this year, and I was wondering if Dakota and I were going to take at least one class together. Or if anything could balance that out. If I was going to meet a girl that I would actually like.

I was thinking about what it would be like if I had met a girl that I liked. If I was going to have the balls to actually talk with her or if that was going to just be something I can't do, even if I had wanted to.

"You know, I think that you will be rather popular at school. You already have drank your first time, and you are already thinking about dating girls and everything. Once these people start to get into that stuff themselves, they will notice you and they will wantto get to know you. These people will be all over you." Dakota said and then after he had said that to me, I was hoping to myself that he was actuallly telling the truth. But a large part of me was thinking that he was just saying this in order to be nice, and I was well aware of the fact that none of these things were actually going to work with me.

"I just want to fit in. I remember when I was back at my older school, and nobody ever really talked with me all that much. They were just too busy to ever give me the light of day. In fact, I think that these people just never really felt the desire to talk to me since they thought that maybe they were thinking that I was a bit strange." I said, as I was starting to think to myself what exactly actually made me be considered to be such a strange figure to the people there. I didn't really do anything to make them hate me. At least, that was what I was thinking. I didn't think that I ever did anything to make it worth hating me over.

I then started to think that maybe I should have tried to get to know these people more. If I had gotten to know them more, then maybe I could have been more popular and maybe my parents would have thought that there was a real reason for us to stay here. Which would have changed everything. "You will fit in just fine. Don't worry about it. Just bring some beer, and they will like you." Dakota said, as he was thinking this was a sound idea but I think both of us knew that it was going to be extremely hard for us to get beer since nobody would allow a fucking nine or ten year old kid to buy some.

"I wish that it would have been that easy. I am pretty sure that I will get expelled by the principal when they see me bring this stuff around." I said, as I was thinking that I was going to make a really huge problem with my family if I was expelled so soon after I moved here for bringing some beer towards school.

We ended up spending a large portion of the day just talking about adventures that we were going to be having at school. We just wanted to get some great adventures at school in which I could be proud of for the rest of my life. But then I thought that maybe I was thinking a little bit too deeply into the whole thing. And that was pretty much the way that my fourth grade school had begun.

At the first few days of school, I was getting used to things around town, and I was pretty sure that nobody really thought much of me. Nobody bullied me or anything, but nobody was in any way trying to actually talk with me. Nobody was actually caring all that much to get to know me. It was a sort of strange in between stage where you are not popular, but you are not hated earlier. You are just sort of there. You are just sort of the person that nobody really knows anything about, and as a result, they will just leave you alone as long as you leave them alone in return.

I pretty much did only the assignments that I actually felt like I had a chance of doing. But usually when I was starting to get a little behind, my parents wouldn't ground me or anything, but they would tell me that I was not allowed to hang out with friends until I was done with my school work. When I would do my work and be caught up, I would be allowed to go out and mess around again. Then I would have to do this whole pattern over again after about two weeks or so.

As I was setting down in school, and I was starting to feel like I was a generally accepted person there, and it was near the end of October, I felt like I was now finally able to actually get in the thing that was starting to get in my mind more and more every single day. Trying to impress a girl and trying to get them to like me. I knew that it was hard, maybe even impossible to do this. But at the same time, I felt like I needed to at least try and do this.

I had started to make some people here and there that I would start to call my friend. Not really people who I would hang out with during the weekend, as Dakota was mostly the one for me on that, but somebody who I was able to hang out with every day at school during lunch or right after school for about thirty minutes or so. I felt like these people who were actually not bad at all, and would not judge me over the girl that I was starting to have a crush on lately.

I was starting to like a girl named Nicole. I was wondering if I was going to be able to get her to like me. I had a feeling that she was not really going to enjoy my company all that much anyways. She was eight years old, meaning that she was two grades below me. I started to like her when I was seeing how much of a star student that she was and that she was just sort of the most popular girl in her second grade class. I was seeing her every once in a while, and as time was going on, I was starting to slowly grow a bigger desire for her.

It was near the start of November or so when I was feeling like I can try and get to have a bit of a serious conversation with Riley. Although it was sort of selfish and only for my own personal gain, I felt like I still needed to talk with her about Nicole and how I can get her to like me. So when I saw that Riley was not talking with her friends that day or not working on school work, I worked myself up. "Hey Riley, I was wondering if you would want to talk to me for a bit?" I asked as I saw Riley just look right at me and then she was looking like she was scared out of her mind.

I noticed that after she had moved here, she was always hanging out with friends every single day. Trying to make sure that she can be popular. She was always trying to get a boyfriend, which threw away the last one. She also seemed to be more focused on school and she would barely ever leave her room. I was figuring that this was a part of her simply growing up a bit. But I also found out that it was about our father eventually. That she was trying to just stay away from him as much as possible. "Yeah, what do you want to talk about?" She asked, and I could tell that she was not really wanting to talk to me. I wondered what I did to make her hate me this much. We were never really super close, but this was something I just did not really understand at all.

"I was wanting to know if you would give me some advice to impress some girls. There is one that I like." I said as Riley was starting to smile. As if she was thinking that it was kind of adorable that I was actually thinking about this. As if she thought that the idea of me wanting to date a girl was something that she was wondering about. Wondering what I was going to be like when this happened. But she was also worried that I was going to grow out to be the one person she hated more than anything else in the world.

"What is her name? Why do you like her? What do you think she likes?" Riley asked and then I placed my hand behind my head and I was starting to blush a little bit thinking about Nicole.

"Her name is Nicole. I like her because she is so popular with her grade. She is easy to talk with from what I understand, and it seems like she has a real work ethic. I really like that about girls. I think that she might like people who are a little bit of a dork." I totally winged it at that last person. I doubted that I was actually going to be right on that. Not only because I barely knew her but because this meant that I would have actually had a chance with her. Both of which I was feeling like was something that would never happen.

"I think that she probably doesn't really notice you. From what I can tell, you don't really seem like a popular guy. I mean, popular people only really date other popular people. So if you want a chance with her, you should try and become popular yourself." Riley said and she was thinking that it was simple enough. Then she was thinking about when I said 'with her grade'. She was wondering how old she was. Wondering what my tastes were going to compare to my father. "What did you mean when you said with her grade?" Of course, at ten years old, I did not really get why she was asking me this. But I thought it was harmless and simple enough to answer her.

"She is a couple of grades lower than me. Second grade I think." I said and I had no idea why I was having such a hard time saying this. I think there was a part of me that was thinking that if Riley heard this, she was going to lose a little bit of respect for me. I was thinking that I made a big mistake by telling her this.

"Sheldon, please stop liking her. She is not old enough for you. Please, start liking girls in your grade. Trust me when I say that." Riley said and then I was holding my hands up. I just didn't really get it. I sighed and then I was wanting to say something, but then I was seeing with the look on Riley's face. It looked like she was about to cry.

"I don't know what your problem with me liking a younger girl is. I mean, I doubt we are going to date anyways. It's not like I am going to force her on this." I said and then that was when Riley looked up at me. I could tell from the look on her face that me even saying this was the worst thing that I could have said to her.

"Sheldon, don't ever suggest of forcing something on somebody again. I don't want you hear you say that. Get the hell out of here! I don't want to speak to you again until you are one hundred percent over Nicole." Riley said with such clearness that I could tell that if I tried to argue with her, that she was going to get even more angry at me. I knew that this was something I needed to do for her sake and I left the room right away. I was wondering what happened to create a rift like this between us now.

It was one of the last times that I ever really goy to have a chance to talk to Riley in my entire life. There were the words every once in a while. Stuff such as 'hello' and 'good night' when we see each other every once in a while. But never really a full on conversation. I hated the fact that I didn't get to talk to her that much anymore. I wanted to be there with Riley again, and I wanted her to respect me more. But I never really got a chance and while I did eventually grow out of my crush out of Nicole, it was something that went away all too late.

What happened was when I was in school and it was the day before winter break. By this point, we were almost half way through the school year, and I was really excited for this. I was excited to know that I was only about six months or so away from being in fifth grade. Every single grade got me more excited than the last. Every single year of school I started made me more excited for what was to come, and excited to put that part of my life behind me forever. But it was ruined when I came home that day and I was seeing that there was my parents right there. They looked like they were crying. In hindsight, it felt staged. It felt like it was all too perfect and that they were just sort of crying a bit just to make them look like they were still mostly normal people.

All I did was just stand there in utter shock when my parents told me what was happening. "Riley hasn't been seen in school today. She left for school, and nobody saw her after a certain time in the morning. The police have been looking for her, but there is no sign of where she might be." My father was saying casually, as if he was planning this whole thing out. He also seemed like he was just sort of waiting for my own reaction.

I felt like the world was starting to break down. I didn't know what to think. I didn't really know why she was missing. I wonder why anybody would want something to do with her. I wanted to see her again, just to apologize for my crush on Nicole, and I was thinking that I needed to redeem myself or something like that. It was strange for me to act like this, and I knew that none of this really was my fault. That her missing had nothing to do with the fact that I had a crush on Nicole. But I still hated everything that I was doing.

I just ran to my bedroom and then after a couple of minutes of crying, I then laid down on my bed and then I placed my head on my pillow. I was hating the fact that I was feeling like this way. I barely even knew her all that much and we were never really close. But it was something that still broke me. I then closed my eyes a bit and then after an hour or so, I was starting to remember something that I had seen several months by that point in time.

For a while, I had actually forgotten about this place, and was thinking that there was nothing too big about this whole thing. I then stood up and then was walking out through the back door when I saw that my parents were not paying any attention to what I was doing. I knew for a fact that if my parents knew what I was doing, they would be getting fucking furious over what I was doing, and then I would be grounded for the rest of my life. But I was a ten year old boy, and I honestly thought that what I was doing was actually helping out. I knew in hindsight that it was a silly assumption I was making, but I needed to do this for my own sake.

I was running right down towards the tree that was near the exit of this town. I had a feeling that there was something that I needed to see at this fucking tree. When I was getting more and more convinced that something about this tree was going to give me some answers, I was thinking that once I came home, I would tell my parents exactly what I was doing and why I had been doing this.

It seemed like a smart idea at the time, and only in hindsight did I realize that I was kind of being a dumbass. I then was telling myself over and over again that I was never ever going to go out and talk to Riley again. I was going to tell Riley that I had gotten Nicole. I was going to lie to her if I was given another chance to actually make this better.

The more that I was thinking about Riley, the more that I was telling myself that I was having one single chance to tell her what I was wrong over. One single chance to find her. I was thinking that if I was not able to find her then, that I was probably never going to be able to do it. I knew even then that Riley needed my help. And the first thing that I can do in order to find Riley was in order to find the tree and see the truth of this tree.

I had no idea why I was doing this at all. I had no idea why I was being so convinced that there was something I can find here. I was thinking that if anything, I was being a bit silly. But who the fuck cared at that point? My parents were going to be extremely proud of me if they knew what I was doing. I knew that this was going to be the only chance in order to actually make them understand that I wasn't some boring old loser kid.

I then eventually was right where the tree was. It was really late at night by this point in time. I was certain that this was a huge problem. I was certain that if my parents saw me here, and I was thinking that there was a very high chance that they would this time, that I was going to get yelled out. I would get grounded for like a month. Then the entire winter break was gone. But I knew that it was going to be worth it if I was going to be able to find Riley. Finding Riley was the only thing that I cared about at that point in time. It was the only thing that I felt like was going to give me any form of sanity.

I was seeing the tree. I felt like there was barely any light around, and it was very hard for me to see the section of the tree where the names were. But I found the part of the tree that I was exactly looking for. I saw that her name was right on the end of the name section of the tree. I was in terror when I was seeing this. Seeing my older sister have her name on the tree scared the shit out of me. I was almost going to do it at one point. I was then thinking of what it would be like if I wrote my name on there, and I was starting to think that if I did this, that I would have been the one who had gone missing.

While I did feel terrible about this thought, I was starting to think that maybe it was better that it was her instead of me. That I should be grateful that I didn't do this. Then afterwards, I saw something I was too stupid to notice before the first time that I saw the tree.

Every single name that was on the tree was a girls name. There wasn't a single guy on the name list. I then was wondering how I never noticed it before. I had thought that there was actually a bunch of names of guys on there before, but then here right now, I saw that I was wrong. I then stood up and wanted to throw up.

Riley was only fucking fourteen when she went missing. She was a nice innocent girl. She deserved so much fucking better than this. I felt like if anything happened to Riley, that it was my fault. That I just felt like a coward and didn't look beyond the tree. That I told Riley about what I felt about Nicole. It was strange, but there was a part of me that wanted to yell at Nicole for her losing whatever relationship I had with Riley. But then I thought that Riley was just wrong for yelling at me for liking a younger girl.

Before I can think too much of this, my parents car pulled up and Dakota's parents pulled up. Dakota was standing next to his parents and then my father looked like he was utterly livid at me. I guess it was not really all that big of a shock considering the fact that I had almost gone missing as well. But then I was pointing at the tree. Both of my parents looked at the tree and were pointing at the names. They saw Riley's name on there, with her hand writing clearly not being the writing of her name.

"Dakota told me everything about what you guys have been doing when we checked on your room and saw that you were not there. You better be glad that we were more worried about finding you. Under any other case, you would have been grounded for several weeks for what you were doing. Drinking beer? Nearly leaving town, twice? And you talking about having sex with girls and the people that you like at school being younger than you." My father was ranting, and then after he was telling me this, I looked down. But then he took a long and deep breath.

"But since we feared that you were going missing as well as Riley, we are just more happy to see you here to punish you this time. We don't want you and Dakota hanging out unless if you tell us where you are going, and you tell us everything that you are doing before you go. And we want you at home by nine at the latest." My father finished and then I realized in hindsight that it was best for me to get off this easily with how livid that my father actually was at this point in time.

I actually thought that he cared for me at this moment. I was wondering why he was acting like this, and why he didn't just show his true self right then and there. Probably because he was in front of an audience. Then we went inside of the car and then I was in the back seat. I looked at Dakota for a couple of seconds before my dad started up the car and then he was driving off. Dakota and his parents got in their car as well and then they were starting to drive off as well.

Afterwards, I was at home and I cried once again. I wanted Riley back. I knew that she was never going to come back. A part of me was thinking that the police were going to save her. Or that she decided to skip school for a day and that she was going to come back tonight or tomorrow morning and then she would get grounded and then it would be all over with. I was thinking that at worst, it was going to just be a few days or a month or two at most. But nothing like what we were going to be going through for the rest of our lives.

The next few years or so went by like a haze. I would not really be able to tell you what happened during most of the next years. I mean, I can tell you a couple of things. I went by elementary school and went to middle school. I got over Nicole right when I came back to school after winter break. I could not even look at her without thinking about Riley and thinking about the failure that I had caused her. I also 'dated' a girl in seventh grade for two weeks. She was named Judy, and after two weeks she 'broke up' with me as she was saying that I was too uncommitted to her and then she was saying that she needed to have somebody who was there for her to make her feel better. I knew in hindsight that she was right. I was not good at relationships, and in hindsight, I am surprised that I was able to get myself to even date or get close to dating somebody who was in my same age range.

I was fourteen when one of my first real memories of that period of time came by. At this point in time, I was still friends with Dakota and I had a couple of friends here and there, and my parents seemed to forget all about that incident at the tree, and it had seemed like they had mostly moved on from Riley and were always declaring me as an only child when we were in the same area. I then started to think that Riley was somebody who had never really existed.

My curfew was now extended to eleven in the evening, and they were starting to get more relaxed about what I did with my friends. It was like they simply didn't care all that much.

I was out behind the middle school with Dakota that day and two of the guys that we were sort of friends with at the time. One of the guys who was with us took out a pack of cigarettes. "I found this in the kitchen counter. I even got a lighter." The guy said and then he was smiling so widely. "There are four of us, and there is a full pack. That is five for each one of us." He was now wondering if we were wanting to do this. "If my parents see the pack is missing, then my dad will probably just assume that my older brother stole it and that he will just have to buy another pack."

When he was saying all of these things, I started to convince myself that I was all fine by just doing this. It would just be this one time, and that nobody besides the four of us were really going to be aware of what was happening. So I accepted and then he handed me the lighter. I was the first one to light up since I was right next to him. I took a puff and then I handed one to Dakota, and then we went around and all four of us were smoking the first cigarette of our lives.

As like every addict, when you start to smoke, you never know when you are going to get extremely addicted. I was just thinking that it was going to be a one time thing. I thought that I was going to be able to restrain myself. But let me tell you something. Not that it really matters now.

I never broke it. I was addicted by the third one. The first one I felt disgusted by, and I coughed for about ten seconds afterwards. I then said that I was going to handle this like a man and that I just needed another one to prove my point. With each one of them that I smoked, the more that I was starting to enjoy it.

I found a way to smoke a couple of them every few days. I just needed to find one here and there. Needed to find a way to convince my friend to just grab one from his parents pack, and then I would sometimes use the money that I gathered up from different things such as house chores and good grades and spent it on a pack. It was something that I was really starting to get a bit of pride with each one. With each cigarette, I was more and more addicted. People in school knew more and more about my addiction. What I thought I was smart about hiding at one point I started to realize I was actually not all that smart about hiding in all reality. In hindsight, I am amazed that my parents didn't find out about it sooner. Or at least I assumed didn't find out about it earlier, which I knew in hindsight was total fucking bullshit.

I think that you now get the whole point of this so far. In short, I moved to a strange town when I was ten, my older sister grew to hate me even though now if I had another chance I would go out of my way to be her best friend in the world, and then my sister goes missing a few months after I moved here and never returned and then I got addicted to drugs.

Now that you get the basic gist of this whole thing, I think that I am ready to tell you the main piece of the story. The story which changed my life, and started when I was a sixteen year old teenager when I was in my tenth grade of school.


	51. I am Accepted on a Date

Part 1: I Am Accepted To A Date

After I had finally wrote the book that was about Misty (I will explain later), I felt like things were now finally able to be put to peace. I felt like I could at least start to function at the gas station on a normal basis without feeling like I was just losing all of my faith in humanity. I even started to open up to Wyatt again. Talking to him on a daily basis for several minutes at a time. I felt like a nice man again. I felt like a man who could actually hold his own. I felt like it was finally back in my favor. Even Wyatt seemed to see my improved mood.

"I'm guessing that now, after nearly six weeks, that you are starting to feel better again?" Wyatt asked one day, this time in a more playful manner. I smiled and then was budding out the cigarette I had currently smoked. I nodded and then explained to him the short version of why my mood suddenly seemed to have taken such a huge increase, thinking that he did deserve this at the very least. But I just didn't really know where to begin with my story.

"Well, I just started to think about the times that we did have. The good old times that made it all feel like it was worth it. I thought about the times where I felt like I had actually done a great job earning her friendship, earning her love and her trust. I felt like I finally was able to look at things with a real lens. I felt like that was the thing that I needed more than anything else. I felt like what I needed more than anything else was a clear idea of what it was like for Misty to have been in my life. I felt like I did something good for the first time since I have come to this city when I wrote that book I told you about over her. I would write about five or ten pages a night before I went to sleep until I felt like it was all told." I said and then I looked at Wyatt too see what he thought.

"About that, you did make a promise that you would tell me why you moved away from your original town, and why you moved here in the first place. Do you think that you would mind telling me the story now?" Wyatt asked and then I shook my head as if to signify 'not at all'.

"I did make a promise after all, you are right about that. So since we are here, I might as well get right to the details of it. It is a story that will take a little while to tell, so sorry if I kind of bore you with the details." I said and then I saw that Wyatt was still paying attention and when I knew he was still listening, I began the story of why I moved here.

"The whole thing started when I was sixteen years old. I had been living in the city that I eventually moved out of for about six or so years. I went there when I was about nine, closer to ten. I had no desire to move there. You know, to place behind the life that I had been making with my friends. To place behind everything that I had done by that point in time. I had no desire to start a whole new life that I knew I was probably not going to enjoy. But things slowly started to move out of that spectrum when I was there for a couple of months, and some of the friends I made there started to keep me entertained long enough to where soon enough, I had all but forgotten the entire living life I had before this.

I had lived there for a few years, and the longer I stayed there, the more that I grew the wrong type of reputation. I grew the type of reputation that many people would consider to be the easy to make fun of type. I mean, people would make fun of me, and I would not ever really try and defend myself. I felt no real need to defend myself. I knew that they were always going to be stronger than me, no matter how hard I tried to fight back. So I just sort of let them do what they wanted to me on a daily basis. However, after school when I would see some of my friends, I would never have to deal with that problem until the start of the next day at school.

It was all one day after school when I was sitting down next to my friend Dakota out at the baseball field. As we were sitting there, we were smoking some cigarettes and not giving a care in the world who was going to notice us. What were they going to do, confiscate them? Oh no, how terrible. We could have always just bought some new ones anyways.

Dakota and I started to get into drugs at a very young age. It started when we were fourteen, and we were hanging out with the popular kids for probably the only time in my life up until that point. It was out in the forest, where we thought we could not get caught and that we were these totally awesome people. One of them took out a dime bag of pot he split up the pot between the five of us. The taste was terrible at first, but the after affects made me want more. I knew that I had to have more. So I managed to find some for myself, and then I eventually went to cigarettes, and it just went on from there.

The point of me telling you this stuff right now is just to paint a picture of what it was like at first. Now that I think I have done that just fine, let's get to the meat of the story. It was when Dakota flicked his cigarette down to the ground and looked right at me. "Sheldon, I have an idea." I always knew Dakota had good ideas, so I instantly indulged him.

He could tell from the look on my face that I was already interested, and he went right to it. "So since prom is in a few days, I was thinking that we could go to the store. You know, get some suits for the dance, and who knows, maybe find a couple of girls that we can ask to join us. I think that there must be a couple of single ladies in there who wouldn't mind giving you or me a try."

I thought about it. I thought that they might like him, and that he could pull this off. But I was in no way going to get a date. I knew that the chances of me not only getting a date, but getting a girlfriend, were so low, that I was more likely to get into Harvard. By the way, now that I think about it, fuck Harvard. Small interruption aside, let's continue.

Dakota also could tell from how I was not responding right away that I didn't believe in him. "Come on Sheldon, I know that you have a hard time getting into relationships. But please, I don't want to be not ready for prom. This might be my last chance to get ready. Besides, school ends next Tuesday. This is the last chance for us to do anything in our tenth grade year. Don't you want to at least make the end of the year remember-able?" Dakota asked, and I thought of how boring the year has been before now. I realized that I really have not lived a full life this year. As annoying as it was to admit, the bro was right. The year had been pretty lame, and even a half decent prom night would be certain to slightly rectify that.

"Fine, you win. I will do it." I said and then I smashed the nearly finished cigarette on the ground by stomping on it. Dakota and I started heading to his car. As we got inside, I looked around just one last time to see if anybody would catch us. While I didn't care for the most part, I knew my parents would find a way to punish me for this act of personal enjoyment.

Dakota started to drive the car and as he was heading down to the store, he turned the volume up a couple of notches. "You know, I think that there are a couple of people out there who would like to try and have a relationship with you. I think you just need to try. I mean, you're a nice guy after all. You are pretty relaxed, easy to talk to, and have no real problems with your personality. The only thing that might be a little bit of a turn off to people are the things that you do in your spare time." Dakota said, referring to the games I played and the hours I would spend on random projects that would hardly go anywhere.

"I think that you give me too much credit. I barely have had anybody try and talk to me. Barely anybody ever notices me. I think that they probably just think I'm some weird dude who needs to get a grip on life. Considering all of the stuff I barely ever participate in, there might be a chance that they are right." I said, realizing that this might be a good reason to actually go to prom. After all, it could be a nice way to actually get out there and build up some form of reputation that would be beyond base line people making fun of me.

We eventually reached the store, and I looked at the money I had. I didn't have nearly enough to get a suit. Not even close. I doubted that Dakota would want to give me some of his money as he was going to use it for his own prom preparations. I did however think that I could use it to get some form of tolerable clothing. Something that would at least not look like it had been run in the washer fourteen hundred times.

Dakota spent probably fifteen minutes looking around for him getting a dress suit. He found a large, red button down shirt and some slacks. He decided that this would be what I wanted. I told him about my money situation. He said he barely had any and probably couldn't help me. I sighed and looked around a bit more. I eventually found a maroon jacket and I thought it would compliment my other attire decent enough. Which was almost exclusively white shirts with no buttons or anything. Realizing that this jacket was going to be my best thing for the most important dance of the year, I wanted to slap myself for not actually getting that job offer I was given a couple of months ago.

We just bought the clothes and started to head out of the store. As we were heading out, I put on the jacket since it was a pretty cold day anyways and I doubted that I was going to wear it again before prom. At the door, there was a girl who we went to school with that came in. It was Emily, the girl that I had a crush on.

I knew right then and there that my chances of getting a date that I wanted were totally fucked. There was a second girl who walked in, her name being Ashley, and Dakota looked at me. He gave me a 'I ask Ashley, you ask Emily' type of look as if trying to hook me up. I rolled my eyes at him trying to be my wing man, but I knew that it was better than nothing. So I went to Emily and then I placed my right hand behind my head and started to get a little bit of a queasy feeling. But I forced myself to say "Hey Emily..." It was good enough for her to turn around and at least look at me.

Emily looked right at me and she had a combination of a shocked look and a smile on her face. I was not really sure to register if this was a good first step or not, but I knew that I needed to continue going at this. "So Emily... Would you like to... Could you possibly want to... You know... Go with me... To the prom?" I was not even sure how I was able to get the words out of my mouth, but I fucking managed to do it. I knew it was next to impossible for me to do it without breaking down in some way. This however was the best I would be able to get.

I could see Dakota look at me as if he was actually impressed I was able to get the words out of my mouth. He must have thought that I would choke before I even got to the 'would you' and just leave. But all I had to do was just wait for the response. Emily stood there for what felt like to me a million years, even though I was well aware of how it was probably only like three or four seconds. But the answer that I never thought in a million years she would give me were the words that came out of her mouth.

"I think that would be a great idea. Where do you want to meet up?" Emily asked and then I gulped. I had no idea how the hell I was going to pull this off. I didn't have a place I wanted to meet her up at. So I thought about it for a couple of seconds before I came up with an answer that I knew would be able to at least somewhat suffice to both of us.

"How about we go and meet up at the skating park? It's pretty close to the school." I said and then I felt stupid for saying this. I shook my head and raised my hands up and shook them around like a fucking mad man for like five seconds. "No, just tell me where you live, and I will come to your house. I will meet me where you live!" I couldn't believe that in my mind I was fucking up this badly when I was not even at the date yet. Emily then nodded, as if she would be totally fine with meeting me up at her house.

"Yeah, let's meet up at my house around Saturday at five." She responded and started to walk away. But then she turned around and she asked me a question I felt like was sort of in the waits to be asked to me this whole short conversation. "Sheldon, do you need something to wear to the dance? Or do you already have something beyond just your normal clothes?" She asked and then I shook my head. I knew that this was going to be a problem right away, and that I needed to find something soon.

"I can always ask my father if he would be willing to give me something!" I said excitedly, not even really sure why I didn't think of that earlier. I could tell that Emily was buying it as she waved bye at me and she told me that she would see me soon. I was blushing to my core at this point. Fuck, she was one hell of a woman. And even asking her wasn't all that bad, once I over came the first hurdle of it all. I just needed to start saying the words, and then it had just come to me. I walked back to Dakota, thinking that this was my first win in the game of relationships probably ever.

"So Dakota, how did it go?" I asked, as if I was on top of the world. I could tell that Dakota knew my result right away, and that he seemed a bit proud of me for pulling it off like that. But I could tell that he was thinking about getting me set up with some prom gear before the dance. If it was just me, he wouldn't have thought of it too much, but then here I was, actually getting hooked up with any girl at all. This showed that I wouldn't be able to just go in blind to the whole matter.

"She said yes. But the thing between you and me is that I already have some material. You do not have any material at all. You have a lot of stuff that you need to get in order to pull this off. So I think that you need to talk to your dad about this now." Dakota asked and then we went inside of his car. As I got inside of his car, I opened up the storage cabinet that most cars had and I found his bong with a small amount of pot in it. I looked at him as if to silent ask if I could have it. "Go ahead, better to use it now than my parents find it and get in a pissy mood over it." Dakota decided so I lit up s he started to drive off.

I knew that my father would be shocked to hear that I was going to prom. I was one of the most unpopular kids in the school. I mean, nobody wanted to say it, but I could tell that they didn't think super highly of me when they saw me. Plus, there were some people that didn't hide it. I just think that if he heard me going to prom, he would have a little bit more respect for me. In fact, he might actually start to be a little bit honest with me about some of the stuff he does. That would be if I could lead him down that road in the conversation. Earn his respect and trust enough tow here he would feel like talking with me. I didn't want to force something that wasn't going to work, but if I was easy about it, then maybe it would work just fine.

"Sheldon, trust me when I say that this will be a turning point in your life. Once you get your first girl, then it will start to be a little bit of a natural instinct. Maybe you will see what I mean. Just be slow about this one though. Don't try to be mister Romeo on your first date with this girl. In fact, maybe at school tomorrow, you can suggest a way to get a date with her on Friday or something. You know, so that way you can have a night where you get to know her a bit better before the dance." Dakota said and I could tell that it was because he wasn't high that he was able to fully comprehend what he was saying.

"That sounds easy enough. Just find her at school. Talk to her a bit, then ask her on dinner. Then she will talk to me, and we can get know each other. Doesn't really sound like it would be all that hard. Just don't want a double date." I said, thinking about how that was going to be a nightmare.

I mean, if it was a double date, then there could have been a chance that Emily would end up liking the guy on the other side of the date more and then I would feel betrayed. I would feel like I went through all of that for absolutely nothing. But if Dakota was right, now that I did ask somebody once, all I had to do was just remember how to do it and things will be easier.

"I believe you can pull it off. I think you just need to remember like I said to not play Romeo." Dakota said and then before I knew it, I was at my house and I knew my father would smell me. "Well, just talk to your dad about some suit to wear for the prom and maybe get some money for a date." Dakota said and then I nodded as I grabbed my back pack which I had not touched in hours and then left the car to go inside.

In order to lower the risk of getting caught like this, I went right to my room and closed the door and decided to take a quick nap.

During that time napping, it was very blissful. As if I was floating in the skies. Everything was going to be just fine. All I had to do was talk to my dad and take it easy. It was a slow ride in a way. Not some high octane fuel situation where I needed to prove myself in less than a day to anybody. I slept for a good three hours or so before I got up and felt ready to talk to my dad about my issue at hand.

I saw that my father was working on some really important business stuff. I felt like I was doing the wrong thing by talking to him right at that moment. I felt like that if I started to talk to him, then he was going to get really angry at me. But I knew that I needed to actually take a chance on talking to him. I knew that he was able to take a moment to talk with me, and show me a bit of decency. I had no problem with my father. I respect the work he did, and the efforts he made to make sure that our family was wealthy and didn't ever have to have a problem surviving. But I was well aware of the fact that I needed understand that he wasn't always willing to talk to me on a normal basis.

I still sat down a few feet away. "Dad... I wanted to ask you for something..." I said, and I was really wanting to pick my words carefully. I didn't want him to get angry over what I was doing. You know, trying to get him to acknowledge me. My father turned around and he didn't give me a happy or angry face. He was just simply staring right at me.

"Yes Sheldon, what do you need?" My father asked, and then I thought about it. The carelessness of his voice was giving me mixed emotions. On one hand, he wasn't telling me off before I started. But I could tell that he wasn't really fully invested either. I was thinking about my next words. Once I carefully thought things out, and I felt like I had picked my words carefully, I was ready to go on and take the leap of faith.

"I asked a girl out to prom, and she accepted my offer. I was really happy. But then I realized that I have no suit or anything. I never thought I would get accepted to prom. I think that I might ask her on a date soon. You know, get to know her a bit better before the dance. I was wondering if you would let me have some money and borrow one of your suits for a couple of nights." I said, and now I had no idea why that was so hard for me to say. I pretty much just said it, and now all I had to do was wait for what my father was going to tell me. I could tell that once I had explained the situation, his expression went from annoyed at me interrupting him to actually being proud of me. As if he never thought in a million years that I would have been giving him this type of news.

"Yes Sheldon. You can borrow one of my suits. I am so proud that you actually managed to get a date. I was starting to think that maybe you were..." My father said and he shook his head. He didn't want to say it. I knew exactly what he was wanting to say. He feared that I was a faggoot. I told him that I indeed was not one and that he didn't need to worry about that.

"Well, we can't stay here forever. Give me ten minutes to finish the report I am in. Then I will come along and show you some of my suits that I think you will be able to fit." My father said and then I nodded. I was happy that my father was actually going to be helping me out right now. So I stood up and walked to my room. I sat down in my room, just thinking about the fact that I had actually managed to get not only a girl to like me, but to also get my father to even just look proud of me for a moment. I knew that this was going to be the turn around I needed in my life. This was the best day in a while. Plus, it looked like he didn't notice that I used to be high even just a couple of hours ago.

When I was walking back to my room, right after I stood up, I noticed something though. Just a few words that got me. "Missing Case Report." I knew that my father wasn't a cop, so I had no idea why he was looking at a Missing Case Report. Unless if it was the one that I feared he was looking at.

I feared he was looking at the one of my older sister. Her name was Riley. My family and I moved here when I was just about ten years old. She was thirteen. About six months after we moved here, and just a few weeks after she had turned fourteen, Riley had gone missing. I was so deep into my high state and my drugs and my friends that sometimes I forgot she even existed.

I know, I sound like a terrible brother for saying that, but consider this. I had been getting high on a weekly basis for a couple of years. Hell, I even went high just mere hours ago. I was also always working on school. I was also always dealing with friends and trying to earn my parents attention. I rarely had time to think about her. Besides, she barely even hung out with me or gave me much attention. It was as if she never cared about me.

But now that I was reminded very harshly of her existence once again, I knew that I needed to figure out what had happened to her. I needed to know why she had gone missing. I needed to know why my parents never talked about it. I felt like if I was getting along with my dad enough tonight, if we talked for a while, then I might be able to bring it up and actually not get him to be pissed off at me for doing this. I felt like I deserved to know. There is no way after six years, that he didn't get at least some evidence on the case.

The ten minutes passed and my father walked inside of the room. He saw that I was very deep into thought. He wondered what was bothering me, and he figured that he could help me out. I really thought that my father was a great man. I mean, how could I have known any better on the surface. I mean, the only hint that I could have possibly had was the fact that he was a big name businessman. If I did not have that going for me, I would have been just as blind to it as anybody else. It was hard to understand.

Sorry for jumping a bit ahead of myself.

"Sheldon, let's look in my room for the clothes that I think would best fit you. I will only be able to spend about thirty minutes or so with you. So we need to make this quick." My father said, and I knew that I needed to get the clothes as fast as possible. I went downstairs with my dad and he led me to his closet. I was wondering where mom had been. I mean, she was always out late at night every day of the week. I just assumed that she was working all the time, but now that I was thinking about it, I had a feeling that maybe there was something more to this than the 'official' story that my father gave me. "Here you go Sheldon, take any one that you want. As long as it fits your size obviously. I don't want you to grab something that is too small on you. That really would not be a sight that we would want to see." My father said, and he was thinking about something from my Freshmen year where my clothes were too big for homecoming.

"I know dad. I don't need to be reminded." I was giving off that smartass but also appreciation vibe. You know, one of those strange vibes that people can give off when they are trying to show which mix of emotions that was stronger. As of that moment for me, even I didn't know which one was stronger for me.

I went up and found a blue shirt. I had no idea why the blue shirt was something I was digging. But I grabbed it. I saw that along with the blue shirt was a black pair of dress pants. I grabbed it. I thought that blue and black was a interesting combination, but I was adventurous enough to try it out. Then I saw the dress shoes that I always wanted to try from my father. I grabbed them and tried them on. When I saw that they finally fit, I smiled and showed my father that this was the set that I really wanted this year. My father placed his hands behind his head and then he shrugged, thinking that it was better than nothing.

I sat down on my father's bed, and I could tell that my father was finding this to be a combination of annoying and strange. But he clearly was able to see that I wanted to talk to him. So he sat down next to me and then he took a long deep breath. "Sheldon, what is it that you want to talk to me about? I want to talk to my child, and I want to actually make you feel like you are cared about. But I want you to understand that I am putting your behind on a constant basis because I need to do my job. I have no desire to actually throw you away." My father said and then I held my hand up as if I was trying to signify that I understood why he had done this.

"That has nothing to do with it. I was wanting to just talk to you about your job. What exactly do you do at work? I know that it is none of my business. I know that you don't like to talk to me about it. But I feel like I deserve to know the truth. I mean, after all, I am your son." I said, and then my father thought about that for a moment and then he placed his hand on his face. As if he hated the fact that I placed him in this corner.

"I am a businessman. I know that you are aware of this. I work at a business in town that creates construction jobs for people in town. There several young men who work here after high school and in college on a part time schedule in order to make it so that people can actually have a place to live. I know that if I don't do my job, that people will not be able to live anywhere. I have one of the most important jobs in the entire city if you think of it for that very reason. I am providing housing for the people in the city. Is that really all that you wanted to know?" My father asked, and then I thought about it. That was all I wanted to know about his job. But there was now one thing that I knew I needed to know. One thing that I knew I needed to clear up right then and there.

"Tell me the truth about Riley. Tell me what happened to her. I tried hard to forget about her all these years, and I even almost did so. But here I am right now. I now look back and I can't deny that she was my older sister. That she did indeed exist. Please, just tell me what you know." I said, and my father looked like he was about to cry as if he couldn't handle the fact that this was now the thing that he was going to have to talk to me about now.

"You know, I felt like it was only a matter of time before I felt like you would have finally had the desire to know the truth. So I will tell you this only once. We will only have this conversation tonight, and we will never even so much as bring it up again. Am I fucking understood?" My father said, and I could tell that there was a level of edge to his voice. As if this conversation was going to break him.

I nodded, and then after that, my father sighed. He placed his hand on my shoulder, as if the fact that this conversation was the thing that would finally bring us together. The thing that would make me want to work for him.

"Well, I will tell you what the police say. The police had placed in a report that she had died. They said she died nine months after she had gone missing, at the tinder young age of fourteen. I can't really argue with the true story. But there is something to it that makes me think that he is lying." My father said and then I could tell for a fraction of a second that he was smiling. Then he looked at me and dropped his smiling persona and then he got back into his grief-stricken persona once again. "Tell me Sheldon, how did you not remember this? Do you not remember what Sheriff Garrett told us when she had been found. He told us the entire news report. Then he looked at you and said something to you before he left. As if he knew that this was a personal secret between the two of you."

As he had told me this, I realized that my father was right. I do remember Sheriff Garrett coming by that one night near Christmas of 1956. I remember when he showed up and gave us the news. I remember how my father was totally expressionless. As if he couldn't have cared less. Then he looked at me and told me that my career would be looked at with great interest, and then he left the house. I didn't think of it at the time, and I honestly thought that he was a bit crazy in all honesty.

But I knew that my father was telling the truth. According to the news, Riley was dead. But I didn't know if it was true or not. I thought that there was a chance that there was a level of lies to it. I thought that maybe Riley was alive. I wanted to figure out with Riley was alive. Even if this had meant that I myself was going to be the one who was going to die. Only if I kept looking into this any further.

"Have you tried to tell the officials what you think? Have you tried to tell people that you feel like she is alive?" I asked, hoping that he had been fighting for her survival this whole time. I was hoping that this was his last real attempt to be a good father to Riley. If that was not what the truth was, I didn't know how much longer I could have lived with these facts.

"I have tried. But nobody believed me. People thought that I was a father in mourning. I hoped that you would let the memories slide..." My father responded and then he looked at me quietly. That was when I was starting to think that he did indeed know of my drug use. As if he was hoping that the drugs would fuck me up just enough to make me forget about this. He didn't care that I was into drugs. In fact, if anything, I felt like he had wanted me to be into them. That was when I was started to wonder if he really did care about my best interest at heart. But before I would be able to question this further, he started to explain himself further.

"But it seems like you have not. It is honestly none of your fucking business what happened to Riley. You are now at least three years older than she would ever be, You get to live a fucking life. She does not. Drop the fucking subject as soon as possible, and I might be able to forgive you for even bringing the subject up." My father said, and then I nodded. I knew that he wasn't fucking around. I knew that if I continued this subject at all, that there was going to be a riff between us. "This is the one and only time I even want you to fucking say Riley's name again for the rest of your life."

I was fucking livid with my father. I knew that he was clearly doing this for his own personal gain. He didn't give a fucking shit about me. He thought that I was just a pawn to make him forget this. I then said simply "Yes sir," before heading out of the room and going to my own.

When I was inside of my room, I forgot about the prom clothes that I had in my hands. I slammed the clothes back down on the drawer right next to my bed. I then placed my head on my pillow. My fucking father hated me. My sister was fucking dead. I was a fucking social outcast. And my mother barely even was fucking here. It was like she didn't even fucking exist. I then cried as hard as I could.

I wanted to get high. I needed to get high. Getting high was the only fucking way that I could forget about the pain that was given to me over the fact that I knew my sister was dead plus everything else. Why did I not earn the idea of getting high? It was the one thing that would have soothed me. Just smoking a joint with Dakota in his car like I did about five or six hours ago.

I was catching myself just wishing that this was what I could have been given. I knew that there was no real reason for me to wish this more than anything else, but I could not get myself to think of anything different. It was fucking impossible for me to actually think of anything else. I had only been away from it for a few hours, and I was already feeling like I was starting to get some form of withdrawals. I knew that there would be a lot of people who would not really be all that proud of the fact that I am admitting this, and in hindsight even I am not, but nothing could have been prevented about it right there.

But before I could think about my desires to not have my withdrawls suffer even worse, there was a strange sound that I was not really ready for at all. I looked up and I saw that it was somebody who was staring at me right outside of my fucking window. I could not believe that a guy who looked like he was barely in middle school managed to find his way up here. I wondered why he was doing this at all anyways. Probably a strange prank that he was told to do. I rolled my eyes and then I was about to leave it alone.

I was about to head away and just pretend that I had never seen any of that before when there was a loud knock on the window to get my attention again. I then was actually getting a bit angry when I walked up to the window and then I opened up the window just to make him shut up. "Dude, I am really not in the mood to be dealing with annoying young kids right now. So can you please just me alone?" I asked, and then before I could even wrap my mind around what the hell was going on, the guy just walked right inside of my house and got in my room without even asking for my permission. Now I was starting to get a little bit annoyed at what he was doing.

"I have something that I think you should know. It will tell you a lot of information that is bothering you right now." The guy said and then I turned around and tried to hide my annoyance. I only then just realized that I had not taken off my jacket at all by that point in time. I took the jacket off and then put it away. I was really not in the mood to listen to this guy, but it was also very clear to me that he was not going to leave me alone until I finally indulged him.

"Just tell me what you so called know, and then I can send you off. I really have no reason to believe in you." I was telling the truth. The guy was raising his hands up as if to concede that this was indeed sounding a bit strange, and then he looked right at me as if he was going to get in his so called serious mode before I can even have a chance to still talk to him about how much I did not appreciate him being in here.

"Well, I heard about this place called the Labyrinth. It is a location under the city. I think that there is something about this city that you will really want to know about. Something that I am pretty sure will change your life forever." The guy said and then he rolled his eyes and then he held out his hand. "My name is Todd. I have only been in this town for about nine months or so. But I think I know more about this city than almost anybody else here." The guy said and I rolled my eyes, realizing that this guy was having an ego the size of the mono liza.

But there was something about the name that did make me stop. There was something about the name that did make me believe in him for maybe just a second. That maybe he actually did know something about this town that I had no idea about. I sighed and hated the fact that I was going to indulge him at all about this labyrinth, but I decided to give him a chance.

"What is the labyrinth?" I asked, as I was finally starting to piece together the details about what my father said about Riley. I didn't know why I was suddenly thinking about Riley all of a sudden, but I knew that there was something about this that might have been related to her. My father said that she had died nine months after she went missing. Todd had been here nine months. That is a whole school year. She died a whole school year later. Or even worse yet, the thought I should have never even wanted to flirt with. A whole pregnancy later.

"Well it is this underground organization. It is a very dangerous place. A place that we should be careful about. A place that can ruin your life if you are not careful." Todd said and there was something about what he was saying that did make me think that he was telling the truth. I decided that I did need to give him a chance to prove himself to be telling the truth.

"I can't tell you anything else about it unless if I show you it. Only when you see the labyrinth will you understand what exactly about this place that makes it so important to everything that is going on here. This is the most vital place in town, and I think that once you see it, you will understand why. I went down there once for a few minutes, and I escaped before anything could have been able to happen to me." Todd said and while I was so beyond confused at this, I could tell from the look at his face that he was not fucking around at all.

I then looked at my hoodie again. I then walked up to the hoodie and then I grabbed it and slowly placed it on my body. I then turned around and looked Todd right in the face. "If you're right, I think that we should probably try and let everybody know..." I said and then I started to zip my shirt up when I heard Todd telling me to stop. I could tell that there was some form of a trigger that I had crossed by even suggesting this idea to him.

"Don't you ever even suggest that! I know that if this was exposed to the public, people will think that we are fucking lying. They will call us the criminals. Don't take this risk. I want to show you myself. Then once you see what is going on, then we can slowly go in there and save everybody one step at a time." Todd said and then I sighed in annoyance. This fucking kid was thinking that he had the right to act as if he was running this whole fucking show. It was a little bit annoying, but I could tell that he did indeed have the best intentions in mind, and was worried for my sake.

I knew that whatever happened next was going to be something that even if I was trying to be prepared for, that I would not be even close to being ready for. Todd was looking as if to try and really understand the look on my face. I thought it was a bit odd he was caring so much about my expression, but I didn't really want to say anything.

"You know what, fuck this. Just show me what is happening, and I will see what I can do to help you out." I said and then I walked to my window and pushed myself through and got out of the house. Then Todd did the same thing and he looked at me. "Seriously though, why did you think that you should try and talk to me about this? What about me makes you think that I can actually help you out?" I asked, just trying to keep this at a relatively civil tone. Although I think Todd could tell that he was actually treading on some thin ice.

"I was wanting to show you something that I think you would need to know. Something about your family. I think that you will truly get it when you see what I am talking about. Trust me for the time being though. I don't want to explain any further though until you see what I am talking about." Todd said and then I just slowly nodded. Hoping my parents didn't see what I was doing as we walked down and I followed Todd.


	52. I Discover the Labyrinth

Part 2: I Discover the Labyrinth

We walked for a while, and the entire time that I was following him, I was thinking about how I was going to try and make small talk with him to get to know the guy. But I felt like it was just fucking impossible to do this, since he was too young to really connect with me. I couldn't really be able to fully connect with him since he was not nearly old enough to be connected with. He was just simply some form of young guy who didn't really have all that much to talk to me about besides this strange labyrinth. Maybe when I had done this activity with him a little bit, then maybe he will be willing to talk to me about what the hell was going on in his life. Maybe then he would actually be willing to give me a couple of details about how he had found about this so called labyrinth.

"I am going to be going to prom in a couple of days. That is going to be very exciting." I said, trying to make at least a tiny amount of small talk. I knew that this was going to be something that Todd probably didn't care about. I didn't really care though. There was just a part of me that was still letting this whole thing sink in. The fact that I was actually going on this date. I could really not believe it. I couldn't believe for a fucking minute that fucking Emily was willing to go out with me.

"That is cool. I wished that we were able to have prom at our school." Todd was just obviously lightly referencing his younger age, and I shrugged as it was something that was probably going to be over hyped anyways. Something that I would go to and then realize was a massive waste of time or something like that. I was fearing that this was going to be what I was going to be facing soon.

"Just find a girl you like. I think that you could have the skills to get a girl who you might like." I was saying, just trying to be nice more than anything. I didn't even know the guy. How the hell was I supposed to know if he was able to have actually have a good chance or not of slaying some fucking poontang? I didn't know any better, and there was no way that I could even pretend that I did.

"I already am sort of involved with somebody. As long as I don't ruin what I have with them in the next couple of years, then I will be set for life." Todd said, and I laughed a little at that. Not at him for saying this. But the fact that he was thinking that he could keep up something with a girl from middle school years down the line. I mean, I wasn't a fucking man who can have the best logic in relationships, but even I knew that this was virtually impossible. Even I knew that he was shooting for the fucking stars.

"If you can manage to still be dating her in a couple of years, then trust me, you really hit gold there young guy. I can't even fathom what it must be like to actually even come close to being with somebody for that long." I said and then I thought about Emily and I were probably only going to be a thing for tomorrow and then for the prom and that was going to be all that there would be to it.

Before I had even known it, we ended up talking for a while. I told him about Emily and then Todd was telling me about the girl that he was trying to date. In a way, it was almost a pleasant conversation. I was sort of forgetting that I was setting myself up for a giant quest that I was still thinking was probably at least a good chance at being a lie. I mean, this whole labyrinth thing was just probably a place in town that had not been talked about in years and now was found by this Todd guy. I thought that he was just excited to show somebody else his findings, and that was why he picked me. He must have read one of my school pieces or something. Or hell, he probably just randomly picked me for all I know. Or maybe he happened to be my next door neighbor and I never even noticed it before hand. Now that would be somewhat funny if it wasn't showing that I was kind of a dumbass.

Eventually, we had reached the front of the school that Todd was saying we needed to go inside of. "But seriously though, how the hell are we going to get inside? Have you even thought about that once?" I asked, wondering if this was planned out at all or if he was going in blind thinking that all the problems can be solved with just a bought of good luck.

"I have thought about it. I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't think of this." Todd said and I groaned in annoyance as he said this. It was kind of annoying that he was acting like he was some great planner. I seriously didn't think he was a great planner if he thought that bringing me along was a great idea. But then he proved me wrong when he told me to follow him for a few more seconds.

I didn't really want to follow him any further, but I thought that he must have been knowing what he was doing if there was one exact entrance that he knew all about. He showed me this area that was covered with grass and twigs. It was for all intents and purposes just a bundle of stuff covering something up. That or it was a giant large pile of sticks. Todd picked them all up and it took him about three minutes or so until it was done. WIth each branch he removed, what once started off as annoyance slowly started to turn into actual genuine interest. I found myself looking forward. Wanting to know what exactly he was wanting to show me.

Eventually, I found exactly what he was wanting to show me. It was something that looked like a escape trap door. My mouth dropped. Todd looked at me. "Now are you finally willing to listen to me?" He asked and he was being nice enough about it considering the case. I nodded, as if I wanted to desperately know any secret that was going to be shown down there. So with that, Todd opened the trap door and he looked up at me one more time before going in. "Just make sure that you are ready for what you see down here. You will probably not like what you will find." Then with that, Todd got down inside of the area below. I waited for another couple of seconds, debating if this was a good idea or not. But before I could have been too smart to tell myself off, I went right inside of the secret area below.

I looked around, trying to process what I was seeing. The reason it was so hard to process was because I could barely see anything. I really had to try hard in order to make the darkness mostly visible. I wondered why the area was so dark. Then I started to hear crying. I started to hear what sounded like pleading.

I looked at Todd, trying to show him that I was utterly confused about what was going on. But Todd held his finger up in a 'don't talk right now' way. I then kept my mouth shut. Not wanting to annoy this whole situation any further, I could tell that he was starting to feel a bit more safe and he lowered his finger.

"There are guards here. We have to be extremely careful about what we do here." Todd said, and that was the main thing he would be willing to say about it at the time being. I started to follow him further and every time we would make about five feet or so of progress, I could see that there was something of a door. I could hear that there was some form of disturbing silence in most and a sound of misery in others.

"What is this place?" I asked, wondering if I found a prison in this town. For the really bad people. For the people so bad that they deserved to be trapped here for life. I was terrified over what the answer was. I was even more terrified for Todd's lack of an answer. If even he could not tell me what was going on, then that was a good sign that this was something truly deeply too broken and too disturbing for the people to be allowed to know.

"I think that us even finding out that this place exists is pushing our luck. Fuck actually trying to figure it all out." Todd said, and for the first time in the entire time we were here, I could tell why Todd had taken me along. He was scared out of his mind, and he wanted to have at least somebody there to help him feel a little bit safe. Make him feel like he wasn't in danger at every second of the day. I was annoyed at the fact that he picked me to do this job, but I knew right then and there that no matter how annoyed I may try to act, I could not really get all that angry at him. He was just a scared middle school student.

But before I could let this fact sink in any further, I heard something that chilled both of us. Footsteps. I knew Todd told me that there were guards here. But I didn't really want to believe in it. I wanted to believe that I at least had a relatively safe bet being here. I wanted to believe that I actually had a chance of not getting in any real danger when I was here. I then looked right at Todd, and I took a long and deep breath.

"How the hell are we going to get the hell out of here? Have you ever even thought that detail out at all?" I asked, and I was being as loud as I felt like I could have been without going into a full on yell. Todd shook his head, and then I was getting really fucking pissed at him. He brought me here. Risked me getting in danger. Showed me the most fucked up thing in town, and then tells me that he didn't even come up with a game plan to keep us even remotely safe. How the hell was I not going to get angry at this guy for the way he was taking this whole situation.

"Listen Sheldon, it's not my fault that this is what is happening. I had no idea what this place is. We can always go up that trap door. But we both need each other to get up there. I can tell that neither one of us are nearly tall enough to get out of here on our own." Todd said and then I sighed in frustration. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew that Todd was right about that one. There was no way that we would be able to get out of here on our own.

"Well maybe we can both work with each other to get out. Like I step on your hands, and then I get up. Then I drag you up? I think that this is the best we can really come up with." I said, and I was thinking that maybe that would work. I just hoped that Todd wasn't some dumb ass who would try and claim himself to be a germaphobe.

Todd seemed to think about this for a moment. He was actually thinking that this may work out. Then he nodded, as if thinking that this was better than the alternative of finding a totally different escape. So with that, we were already starting to head on out of this scary place. The entire time we were heading to the trap door, I was telling myself that I was going to get my revenge on Todd for dragging me along for this ride, to make him understand that I do not appreciate people who throw my life in danger just because they needed some confirmation on some crazy conspiracy. Although now that I thought about it, the less certain that I was that this was just a conspiracy. And the more certain that I was getting that this was a fucking fact. I was no longer mad that Todd had led me down here. I was only made that he took away my innocence of not knowing that this was actually a real place in this city. That was what I wanted to get my anger out on.

As we were just about to leave the labyrinth, I heard a voice calling out to me. I knew that it was me. The fact that there was a woman who seemed to be my age, give or take two years saying "Sheldon... Is that you?" Really gave it away. I looked at Todd and I could tell that he heard this as well.

He gave me a 'please don't tell me she is trying to talk to you face' and then I thought that I would be better to just ignore this. But then I was thinking about how there was something of this voice that really struck out to me. I knew that I needed to find out who the voice belonged to. Even if the answer itself was going to kill me inside.

"Just give me one minute." I said and then I walked to the door that was about three away from me on the right. The entire time I headed there, I was trying to really point that voice down. I wonder how she knew my name. I wondered how she knew I was here. I didn't really think that I was being that fucking loud the entire time that I was down here. I thought I kept myself a relatively quiet tone.

Eventually, I reached the door and I looked through the tiny pupil. I could see that it was a woman that I went to school with. Either that, or now that I was trying harder, somebody I knew from years ago. Somebody that had been reported to be dead all this time. I couldn't fucking figure it out, and that was what was scaring me. "Sheldon, it's me, Gwen. Please, help me out." She said and it was nice to know that I was right about my first theory, but killed me to know I was wrong about my second theory. Gwen bullied me and was an utter asshole, but even she deserved better than this.

"I will get you out of here Gwen. Don't even worry about how you treated me in the past. I won't want anything in return. I want to help you. I just can't right now. I need to prepare myself. I plan to free this entire fucking place. Just... give me one week." I said and then I was staring at Gwen heavily. She was staring at me back, and we were having an unintentional staring contest. Then she nodded, as if she decided that she was going to believe in me. She made fun of me for sort of being a nerdy guy. But she never once said that I was a liar.

"Sheldon, I believe in you. If you can get me out of here, I will never make fun of you again." Gwen said and then I waved my hand down as if to show that I didn't really care about that right now. That this was totally not important to me at that moment. Saving her was a thousand times more important than the promise of her not making fun of me anymore.

"Sheldon! We don't have that much time!" Todd yelled, not even giving a damn that people can hear us. I then nodded and ran right towards Sheldon, I then saw him bring his hands up and then I stepped on them and got myself through the trap door. Then I brought my hand forward and I dragged him as best as I could up there through the trap door. I was having a decent work out as I was pulling him up. Try pulling up a one hundred and ten pound thirteen-year old from inside of a fucking cellar underground and tell me that it is easy. It really fucking isn't.

Once we were outside, I looked right at Todd. I now had a certain resolve to me that I never thought that I would have. I had a resolve that I knew nobody else would dare to have. "We need to go back down there some time. I need to save those people. They need to be saved." I said, and I could tell that Todd was scared of my reaction. He was scared of how much I was going to let this eat me up.

"I don't know if I ever want to go down there again." Todd said and I couldn't help but argue with that. We started to run away as fast as we could for about three to four minutes. Once we were certain that nobody was pursuing us any further, then I looked at Todd. "But I think that you feel like you have to go there..." Todd said, finishing the thought he had a moment ago and then I nodded. Todd knew exactly how I felt about the situation, even though he had no idea how he could help me.

"I hope that you don't try and get yourself killed from trying to save those people a little too hard. I mean, there comes a point when you just have to see that it is not worth it anymore." Todd said and I couldn't believe that he was the one who was saying that it was not worth it. He was the one who had brought me here. Now he was the one who was telling me that this was a bad idea. "I mean, do you really want to do something that let's be real here, will almost guarantee your death?"

I thought about Gwen a bit. I thought about the other people who had suddenly gone missing out of nowhere, or had been reported dead. I was thinking about how there could have been a small chance that they had been here the whole time. Just hidden from the general public. I thought that there was a chance that maybe Riley could have been there. I thought that if Riley was down here, then I should at least try and bring her out of there. I should at least try and make sure that she was safe once again. But at the same time, was it better to just believe in the official story and not test it any further, or did I want to know more?

"I get that you probably have no real huge real to be invested in figuring out the truth about that place, but I do to be honest. I think that maybe I actually have a chance on figuring out the truth of my family. I want to figure out if this can help me out. If you want to help me, that would be great, but I can see why you would not. As much as I would hate to admit it." I said, and then I thought on how it was probably going to be a foolish hope to find anything there. If there was something my father was right on, it was that she had been missing for so long that in all reality, she could have been dead this whole time.

"But would you want to be the next one who gets trapped down there? Would you want your family to wonder what happened to you because you were too unsafe and too big on the idea of being some great lord and savior that you end up being the one who dies?" Todd asked, and he was looking at me in a way that was showing he was wanting to challenge me to this dispute. I thought about it, and then I looked down.

"I don't really know if I would want that. But I want to be living a lie even less. If I can find out what is down there, find out why those people are missing, why they are down there, then I can finally be able to possibly move on with my life. Maybe I can actually be able to move on enough to where I can function like a normal fucking human being." I said, and then Todd decided that he was just going to remain silent on this one. He decided that there was no real reason to try and fight me on this anymore. As much as he had hated the idea of just letting go of the whole matter at hand.

"Fine. If you want to go around on a suicide run, then go ahead. Just know that I am probably not going to be going on even more of a suicide mission than I already have. Trust me, if you know what I have been doing lately, you would actually understand why I am acting like this. Why I think this is a terrible idea." Todd said and then after he had said that, I just looked forward. I knew deep down that this was a terrible idea, but I felt like doing nothing was even worse.

"You know, maybe whne you have something that can solve the fucking secrets of your own fucking family, then you would understand why I feel like this is so needed for me. Then maybe you would see why I care so much about this." I said, and then after I said that, Todd just remained silent. He decided that he did not really want to fight with me on this. He was, in fact, getting really tired that I was still on the subject. "I'm sorry. I'm just really riled up right now. There is a part of me that thinks that this is going to give the answers that I think I would actually need." I said, finally hoping that Todd would forgive for me for the way that I had been acting.

"Do you think that you will ever be able to forget about this stuff sooner or later?" Todd asked, trying more to just catch up a normal conversation, and he wasn't really trying to make me triggered. He was just trying to get a grip on his mind here. I thought about it. I guess that if prom went really well, I could have been able to forget about it. But I doubted that this was not going to be the case. There was no way that prom was going to be this amazing.

"Maybe some day down the road. Maybe if I just smoke myself away, just forgetting about all of the issues going on, then things can finally be forgotten. I doubt that I would be this lucky though. I don't really think that the lord would want me to have the blessing of being able to forget about this. I think that this would actually be the exact opposite of what the lord wants of me." I said, thinking about how much the lord must have hated me. As I was smoking a cigarette that was inside of my pocket this whole time, I had to ask the question I never really wanted to ask, but sadly had no choice of asking given what I had seen.

Was there even a lord after all? Was there even a person who had been watching over us? To care for us? To help us when the time was needed? I doubted that he was there, and I doubted that we would be lucky enough for him to come along in case something like that were to happen. I think that they probably approved of this entire situation.

After all, the lord, if there even was one, would probably have come down here and brought down a holy punishment to all of those would would dare do this if he didn't approve of this if he even existed at all. That was when I had to really accept the fact that even if he did exist, he didn't care for us. But I wanted to stick to the less evil alternative that he didn't exist.

Todd was looking at me. He could tell that I was having a bit of a personal crisis in my mind as I was really letting these thoughts come to mind. I could tell that he knew it was smart for him to just remain quiet about it. As if him even asking was going to open up the pandora's box that was my feelings.

"Want to come home? If you want to stay the night, it is late enough to where I doubt anybody would really object to it. But I think you would probably be smart to get out of my house when it is early morning. You know, to make people avoid questioning what you are doing in a guy's house who is like three to four years older than you." I laughed a bit, thinking that this would get me in so much trouble with the law if people found me with this guy in my house.

"Yeah sure, I would rather not have my parents wonder what I am doing. I think that they would probably just assume I am hanging out with one of my friends right now." Todd said, and I wished that I had that going for me. If I was out during the night, most people would assume I was hanging with Dakota. And if they found out that I wasn't, I would get in so much trouble for lying that it wouldn't even be worth leaving the house if it wasn't actually going and stay the night at Dakotas.

We started to walk towards my house, and we were mostly doing in relative silence to make sure that nobody was listening to our conversation. But once we were inside of my house, Todd got in first and I came in second. Then the two of us were considering the idea of talking even further on the matter. Although both of us were also fine with the idea of just letting the subject drop and just letting each other sleep.

"Todd, do you ever regret moving to this town?" I asked, finally touching a subject I felt like we could have actually been able to equally participate in. I thought about what my answer was going to be. I knew that there was some things that were not fucking perfect. But at the same time, I thought that maybe there was just too many good things in it for me to full on regret something. "I don't regret being here. I just wish that I knew about some of these things before I got to grow to love the town. I really did grow to love the place. As if it was the one town in the world that I was never going to think had anything bad going for it." I said, thinking that it was a little bit silly for me to feel this way. That it was something that was basically impossible to actually like in a place that had absolutely nothing wrong with it.

"I don't regret moving here at all. The people that live here are great people. I think that once you really get to know everybody who lives here, you will realize just how amazing that they all are. I mean, yeah sure, some of the adults are a bit scary, but the teenagers and young adults are nice people." Todd said and then I laughed at that. It was strange how in most places, the teens were the ones who were considered to be the troublemakers with no problems. But in this town, it was one of the few cases in which the teenagers were actually the somewhat decent ones. "I want to live here until the day that I die. Knowing that we live in such a great place."

I am pretty sure he was thinking that this place was perfect. Then again, he had lived here for less than one year, while I had been here for nearly seven years. And besides, I think that maybe he benefited from the reality that was just painted upon this town. The reality I was not really so sure if it was the truth or not anymore. As much as I hated to admit that.

"Do you have any fucking grasp on what is going on in this town? I mean, have you really talked to the people here? Have you actually really gotten to know everybody? Are you sure that you haven't been affected by the image that the people who owned this town have painted for everybody to see?" I asked, and then I was wondering what Todd was going to say. I didn't want him to feel like I was just trying to ruin something. But I wanted to make him aware that things were not always the way that they seemed.

"I think that despite the fact that I have been here for less than a year, I know more about it than you do. I have been aware of the problems going on in this city from the day that I fucking moved here. I am aware of what is going on here. But at least unlike you, I am able to see the good. The genuine good. Not the type of good that the people have been trying to set you up with from the day that you have moved here." Todd said and while I hated the attitude that he had, and the way that he was treating me, that perhaps he was right. That perhaps I did need to know more about the town and the truth of the town before I started to judge him the way that I have been so far.

"If you know what the genuine good of this town is, then would you mind telling me what it is? I feel like it is really hard to find something good about a place that seems like it is all a lie. But I guess that there is some. There is prom soon, and I think that this will be a good dance. There is also Dakota and the friendship I have set up with him. I have made many great memories of this town. I really appreciate the memories that have been given to me here if for nothing else. I also made a few other friends here and there, and they are also nice people as well. I have good memories of them." I said, and I was thinking about a few people that I knew back in the days of elementary school. And if prom went well, then there was the chance that my first kiss with Emily would happen. Hell, maybe even me having sex with her would be able to actually happen as well.

"Well, it is just that. The people that you made friends with, and the memories that you have made with them that really count. It seems like you actually do know what you are talking about. But those memories are pretty much the only good things about this town. The memories that you make with your friends." Todd said and then I could tell that neither one of us wanted to argue any further.

"I just wish that I can add prom to that list. I just wish that prom will be something that is even half as good as people want it to be. If it is not, then I would feel like I have been exposed to an entire culture of fucking lies." I said and I wanted Emily to like me back. I didn't want this to be a sympathy acceptance that she had given me.

"Just don't worry about life. Just enjoy the night. Have a good dance with Emily. Maybe if you just pretend for a couple of more days that life is the way that you think it is, then you will be able to have a good memory to add to it all." Todd told me thinking that this was as simple as it needed to be.

"I don't really know if it will actually be that easy. But if you really insist that it is just that fucking simple, then I will not really push the issue any further." I said, and then I was wondering how exactly he had been exposed to all of the problems in this town so quickly after he had moved here. I was barely exposed to it after all these years. How did he get exposed to it in a matter of mere months or weeks? It seemed to make no fucking sense honestly.

"I don't think it will work. But I think that it is worth the try. I think that you need to give it your best effort to just try and live a normal life." Todd said and I was just not really caring anymore. Besides, I really actually was getting tired at that moment. I decided right then and there that I needed to go on and get some sleep.

"Hey, I am kind of tired right now. I have had a pretty crazy day. I found out more than I really wanted to know. So please, we can continue this later. But I need to go to sleep now." I said and then I took off my hoodie and placed it on my floor as I laid down face on pillow and was asleep. I didn't even hear when Todd left. Although I could clearly tell that he did at some point as the window was now wide ass open when I looked up.

When I had woke up, and saw that the window was opened, I was starting to think that maybe I imagined the entire conversation. But no matter how hard I tried, I knew that it wasn't that way. I looked down at the maroon hoodie that I carelessly placed on the ground last night and realized I was right. I didn't imagine any of it. I didn't imagine getting accepted to a date. I didn't imagine getting the blue suit, as I saw when I looked over, I didn't imagine my conversation with my father, and therefore I didn't imagine the labyrinth.

I put the hoodie on and then I put on my back pack and then I started to walk out of the room. I saw that my father was looking at his reading materials and usually the only time of the day I would see my mom was her just sitting down and doing her own paper work. I decided not to say anything as I walked out of the house.

I went through the school as usual. Just the daily five class routine. Once school was over, I looked at Emily and I was ready to ask her on the date tonight. It would be sudden, but it was just to get to know her. I mean, tomorrow was prom. So pretty much everything was already going really fast in the first place.

I was considering what I needed to do next. I was considering if I needed to go along and just pretend that what I saw yesterday never happened, and just act like everything was still all nice and perfect. Or if I should actually try and figure out what the hell had actually happened. I mean, I knew that if I talked to my dad about it, he would be getting dangerously close to not wanting to even handle my sight anymore. But maybe if I had casually mentioned it. Pretend like it was a rumor I heard, and nothing like what I had dealt with in real life, then perhaps he would be more willing to believe what I tell him.

I did however think that I was probably getting into territory that actually was none of my business. That was another thing I needed to consider. As horrible as that place may have been and probably actually was, to be honest, was it really any of my business at all? Was it really anything that I needed to get involved with? Or could I have just pretended like it was all a terrible dream, even if I knew it wasn't. But then I thought about Riley and how there was the very small chance that this could help me find her. Or the truth to what happened to her.

If that was the, I had to tell my dad that I at least heard about it. I didn't care how he would react. I didn't care if he would not believe me. I didn't even care if he would get angry at me. I needed to let him know what I was aware of. I started to feel what I thought could have been hope on where Riley was this whole time. This was my first time I was even able to pretend and entertain the idea of having hope. And if it was true, and if I could actually be able to figure out what the hell had happened to my sister, then you sure as hell bet I was going to do it. Especially if it made my father actually get legit proud of me for once in his life. And not in the 'oh you passed a math test, I guess I have to pretend to be impressed' type of proud.

After I had made that choice to talk to my father about it, when I was home from school, I got out of the hoodie that I was actually starting to like and think contrasted well with my white shirt, and then slowly got into my dating suit. Then when I was done with that, I walked to where my father had been working. I was ready for any outcome, and I was ready to take it on like a man.

"Hey dad, I was wanting to talk to you before I headed on that date with Emily. I just wanted to have some time to really catch up with you." I said and while I was mainly trying to have the balls to tell him about the labyrinth, there was also a level of truth to what I said about just wanting to get to know him a little bit more. He was my fucking father, and the worst part was that I barely even really knew him. It made me feel terrible that I knew this guy for so long, and yet I barely had any real idea on his life before he had me. Or what his life was like when he was working seventy hours a week.

"Yeah Sheldon, what were you wanting to talk about?" My father asked, and there was the faintest hint of a smile on his face. I had an extremely hard time processing if this was a real face of happiness or if he was just pretending to be happy.

"Well, I was wanting to get some dating advice for Emily. I don't want to look like a utter fool when I see her soon." I said, deciding to play it in the safe territory for the time being. I felt like regardless of how he would feel about the whole labyrinth ordeal, that he couldn't deny me at least this. Besides, it was true. I did need a lot of help.

"If Emily talks about something that you are not interested in, just pretend to be interested. Don't plainly express that you don't care. And if it is something that you are currently not interested in, but you feel like you could be later, then truly express that you could get into this later on. Make her feel like her values and the stuff she enjoys actually matter to her. If you can do that, then she will really start to like you better for who you are." My father said and then I asked the obvious but silly in hindsight question.

"What do I do if I start talking about something that I am genuinely interested in, but she has no desire to hear about it? Do I expect to see the same treatment from her in return? Or is this a thing where it only is a standard for the man?" Okay, it felt like a decent question at the time. I mean, I was not at all well traversed in the dating scene.

"If she doesn't like the subject you are talking about, even if you like it, then just deal with it. You just have to accept the fact that she doesn't like the same stuff as you sometimes. I know that can be hard to adapt with. But when you are on a date, pleasing the woman is more important than making sure you have a good time. You are her date. You need to make her feel appreciated." My father said and I was letting the words sink in when he delivered the part that shocked me. "You do it because when she feels like she has earned your respect and trust, then you can be able to convince her she is ready to have sex with you. Then you bring her over and show that you are the alpha."

I was shocked that he was telling me to behave myself at a date just exclusively for the sake of sex. I felt like it was a bit of a mindset that I felt like could be a little bit dangerous. After all, he was basically telling me to use her. Or at least that was how I was taking the message. If that was not what he had meant, then he certainly worded it in a way that could make anybody feel differently. But then my father placed his hand on my shoulder. "Besides, she won't really know the difference on if you care or not. So even if you are phoning it in, then it will work out."

I thought about it, and then I took a long and deep breath. There was a part of me that felt the desire to change the subject before I would let this go down even further in the shit hole than it already has gone. "So dad, I was also wanting to ask you about this... But have you heard of a place called the labyrinth. It is a place that I heard about at school. Is it real?"

I saw the look on my fathers face turn from one of mild excitement and investment to one of pure dread. I could tell that he did indeed know about this place. I just felt like I needed to really egg him on a bit for him to tell me the information. "Sheldon, I don't know what has gotten into you the last couple of days. But I do not want to hear you mentioning that place again. It is a false rumor. There is nothing like it. But it is a false rumor that we are not proud of because when people hear about it, they associate the town with that and act like we are not nearly as desirable as we actually are." My father said and I knew I needed to drop the subject.

"I don't really think this is a rumor. I think that it is the truth. I feel like we just need to look for it." I said and I could see that my father was getting dangerously close to telling me to leave for good.

"I should be heading out soon anyways." I said, thinking that it was best to capture what little respect I had in my fathers eyes and walked out of the house. My father told me before I left that I was allowed to take his car. So I just grabbed the keys and got the hell out of there before he would be able to even consider the idea of telling me to just walk there instead as punishment for bringing up the labyrinth.


	53. My First Date

Part 3: My First Date

Emily and I were at our date, and as we were at the date, I started to almost forget all about what had happened at my father's house. I almost started to even think that I was just imagining how angry he was at me. I mean there was no way he could have hated me this much over just asking him a couple of questions. That was what I decided to tell myself in order to not believe in the idea that I had actually managed to piss off him so badly that I could have actually turned him against me.

It was the idea of having him turn against me that scared me so badly that I thought it would have ruined my entire perception of him. I thought that I would never have been able to really look at him the same way again if he had felt this way over something that in all reality was not really even my fault at all. But maybe it had been my fault. I was not really sure, and I was starting to second question myself a bit. I thought that as long as I didn't think too much about it, that I would be totally fine. That as long as I never brought it up to him ever again, that this would not bother him any more than it already had.

Besides, just being with Emily made me lose many of my silly fears no matter what. I felt like she was the one person who would have been able to place in at least a little bit of sanity left in me. I mean, I would not deny that running around and acting like the police were sort of out to get me didn't sound at least a little bit bonkers. In fact, it really did and if it was anybody else, I would have accused them of just being a part of a giant conspiracy and had it at that.

"Sheldon, you seem to be in a lost mind set right now." Emily said, doing her absolute best to make me not think about the fact that I was feeling like my parents might not have really cared all that much for me after all. That silly fear that even I could never really not be able to justify. I mean, it was one thing to hate on the police. There has been evidence of corrupt cops out there. But fucking hell. To accuse my father of actually be glad that I was taking these types of drugs. To even be thinking for a moment that he was a part of it just to hide away his fear of me finding something out. I think that was when it was much too safe to say that I was just being paranoid.

"I have just been thinking a lot about school lately. You know, what the finals will be like. I mean, I only really have a few days to get ready for those. And the fact that I have not is really starting to make me lose a little bit of hope." I said, feeling bad for lying about the family thing. But I was entirely telling the truth when it came to the matter of school. There was no way I could have lied about not being worried. I mean, I was half way through high school and still not too sure what my final grades would be.

"Well Sheldon, I think that you just need to go in there and give yourself a bit of a confidence boost. You need to not worry about what would happen if you fail. Just think about how proud of yourself that you would be if you passed. If you passed, then everything would be washed away. Think of it like that." Emily said and then I thought on it. I saw her point. She was being a optimist. I was being a realist. But then I held my hand forward.

"Want to help me out? You know, if you think that you could?" I asked, trying my best not to sound like I doubted her. But I needed to be extra sure that she knew what she was talking about before I even thought about dedicating to the idea. But if I could be able to get her help, then maybe I can be able to get even closer to her. To make it so that I can increase my chances of having her love me even further.

"I will see what I can do. I mean, we can meet up on Sunday. You know, after prom. Just study for a bit. And maybe try something else out in case you think that you need a break." Emily said and I knew what she meant. Even to me, a sixteen year old virgin, it was clear as day what she had meant. If this was the case, and she was even half way serious about it, I needed to take her up on her offer.

I was thinking very much in the mind set of my father, and as much as I would hate to admit that in the future, it was still true that sixteen year old me did think a bit that way.

"Yeah, I would love to do that. I think that it would be a lot of fun if we met up on Sunday." I said as I then placed my right hand under my chin. I was trying really hard not to look like an idiot while I was fawning over her. But I just enjoyed her company. I had a couple of classes with her, and she seemed to be get me excited when I would see her. "You know, I have never been asked to go to a girls house after school, after work, after a dance, anything. I have never had even the smallest hint of a chance where I can get people to consider me in that way. I think, no I know, that people just do not like me that way. I am just not good enough for anybody at the school. Every girl in this school is too good for me." I said as I wondered how my father and mother must have felt about me being like this. Probably very sad to see that their kid was nowhere near the social butterfly that they had to have been when they were in school.

"Have you considered that maybe you just haven't tried hard enough? Have you considered that maybe nobody has looked at you that way because you never even gave them the chance to? Or that you haven't put in the effort that they would like to see in a man, and that they would wish that you were just a bit more productive?" Emil asked and I felt awful for her saying this, and I felt like this was really getting to me now.

I then thought about it. I would have said that I tried before hand. I would have said that I did my absolute best. But then when I thought about it, the more I started to realize I had not really tried. I mean, aside from all the smoking and stuff, look at everything else. I barely had any friends. I barely ever talked with people. I barely ever did my school work. A lot of the time my room was at least in a little bit of a mess. I didn't really care all that much about my hygiene. I hated to admit it, but I was really not allowed to say that I tried.

And yet, I felt like even then there could have been at least one person who would have liked me. I thought at least one person would have been able to see my good traits. I had thought at least one person would find me appealing.

"I never really did try all that hard. I thought I did. I thought I was decent enough to say that I did. But I guess that I have not really." I said, finally coming to terms with the truth myself. I really looked at Emily and I thought about what she would be telling me. I was just as bad at reading faces as I was at putting in my best effort as I was starting to learn. But then Emily didn't say anything.

In fact, she seemed to want to avoid the subject. I could tell she was thinking that if she was what I scored on my no effort self, she thought about how low grade she would have been if I did try my best. How much I would have looked at her and totally dismissed her. I felt terrible for saying anything, and I wanted to slap myself for what I had just said. Hoping she would not take it the way that I had taken it.

"Emily, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry if I came off as an asshole. I didn't mean to come off that way." I said, and I was feeling such regret for saying something that I knew wasn't really even that big of a deal, but at the same time making me just feel like I really fucked up. I placed my hand on my face and was slowly waiting for the final strike to happen that would have Emily be telling me that this entire date was off.

Emily then looked at me and slowly forced a smile on her face. I could tell that she wasn't too happy about what I said. But I can also tell that she knew I didn't mean it in that context. "You probably weren't really thinking it all that well out. I can't stay angry at you for a small mistake that you make when you are talking with me." Emily said and then I took a long sigh and then I was trying to find a way to take the conversation I was almost certain would fall apart and die and try to rebound it a little bit to something that is at least tolerable.

"Well I guess I should have asked my dad for better advice before I headed off. I guess that I didn't plan this too well out." I said and then before I knew it, our food was placed on the table. I was tempted to get right into it. But I didn't want to come off as a slob, and I didn't want to take the first bite before Emily. Besides, despite the danger that I was in earlier and how I knew I needed to at least try and put that behind me and act like a normal person, I was just scared in a way to the point where I didn't even want to find myself eating something in the fear that I would throw it up.

"You look like you haven't slept in days. I don't get it. Did something happen to you?" Emily asked when she saw that I was starting to drift off again. I hated myself for having normal feelings and human emotions at that moment. I wished that I was just a fucking robot who didn't need to worry about expressions. You know, because a fucking robot doesn't have any of them.

"I just found out something about my family. I don't really want to go into big detail about it. Long story short is that something I thought was the case in my life, something I almost convinced myself was a true lie, was actually false. I fucked up my brain enough to make me believe that a lie I had been living all these years was the truth." I said, realizing that this so called short version wasn't even really all that short. Emily studied me for a bit as if trying to decide if she was wanting to make a conversation point all about my smoking habits or if she decided that she would rather spare me the fucking lecture this time around.

But she decided that while she didn't want to lecture me per se, she did want to find out if that was actually the reason that I had fucked up my brain. "Is it all the smoking you do? Or do you think that you just started to convince yourself of the more convenient truth?" Emily knew that I smoked. Everybody knew that I smoked at school. It wasn't anywhere close to a secret. I smoked probably half a pack a day before noon even took over and the other half by the time the day was over. I usually would smoke two to three in the ten minutes between each class at the direct outside of the school and then barely make it to class on time. Even the teachers have given up on making it so that at least I wasn't causing any trouble. After all, they did it too. My parents did it to sometimes. Everybody fucking did it. Everybody besides Emily and like three to four other girls. I think even Ashley had done it.

But nevertheless, I knew that Emily was trying her best to at least show some concern for me. So not showing any back for my general well being was something that even I couldn't stoop so low to. I then nodded. "I think it is related to that. I do it more than the usual person. Besides, I just feel so happy when I do it. It gives me a relaxing feeling. It also gives me an extremely short term boost in creativity. I know I feel like I want to throw up when I wake up in the morning. But honestly who fucking cares if Sheldon fucking Lee ended up dead? I'm not even all that popular to cause any real heart break if I died. So I just keep doing it." I said and then I could already feel my hand getting down to the pack I had in my pocket.

I really wanted one right now. No words would be able to possibly describe how much I wanted one. It was getting to me. It was eating at me. Sucking me in. But I knew that Emily would have said no. She hated the smell.

I could tell from the look on Emily's face that she was aware of what I was wanting to do. "Sheldon, I do care if something happened to you. Regardless of if you are popular or not, you are a human being. You are a person with feelings..." Emily said and then I coughed at that one. Which was a combination of the tar build up and me thinking she was full of it.

"My feelings are bullshit. I don't think a single person actually cares what my feelings are." I said and then I coughed again, this time feeling the urge to pull out some spit. But I didn't want it to get on my food. Emily kept her composure since I knew if she didn't, she could find a way to cry and show herself then.

"The point is... I don't want to see something happen to you. If you clearly know you're hurting yourself by doing this, there is no need to still keep doing it." Emily said and I shook my head. Maybe it was because she never did it. Maybe it was because she didn't get the feeling of excitement. The feeling of pleasure. The feeling of looking cool while you did it. But I did need it. I refused to fucking understand why she didn't get the fact that I needed it. I mean, she must have known other people who did it. Who needed it. Who couldn't handle themselves without the desire of a cig in their mouth at a constant basis.

"Emily, I hate to say it to you... But you are wrong. I do need it. This is not just a want thing. I don't even feel the need to want something. How can I want something when I am not even sure if I can tell myself from the real world? If I don't even know what the truth of the world is? No, it has nothing to do with wanting it. I just need it. And I need to take it. I need to have one sometime very soon. I promise you, I won't have one for the rest of the date. I won't even have one the entire prom. But when I am home again, and I feel like nobody cares, I will go into it. I don't even care what my parents think. Fuck what my parents think. They clearly don't care about me. They never even told me the truth about anything." I said and I was still mad over Riley, but thinking about it there were other things to.

I felt like my father was lying to me about his job. I felt like my mother was a terrible parent for never seeing me and always coming in home late, basically making me an independent teenager. I felt like I needed to know if Riley was dead or if that was just the news story. I felt like I needed to know why we moved to this town anyways. I felt like I needed more answers than I have, and that was not happening because I always just get questions.

"Sheldon, you clearly are struggling with something. I am not going to claim that I know you too well... But I know that look. I know that feeling. Do you think you could trust me?" Emily asked, and then I was silent for a bit.

"Maybe soon enough, I will feel fine with telling you. But right now, we are in a date. Let's just go back to normal conversation. Let's just keep talking. Let's just forget about the fact that we were even getting into this type of debate at all." I said, feeling and hoping that this can end the subject. It did... But only for the rest of the date.

"When Emily finally decided that she would let the subject go for the time being, I finally decided to ask her a much more simple question that would probably be what a real date should be asking and not talking about their smoking life. "So Emily, have you ever been to prom before?" I asked, hoping that she had. That way if I sucked, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. But then I was thinking about what it would be like if she hasn't gone before. That way if I sucked, then she would have no real standards to compare to and if I sucked, then the whole heart break of it wouldn't really be as bad as it would have been if she had. Either way, i was setting myself up for an answer I would hate.

"I did not o to prom before. I have however been to homecoming once. I also went to both of the winter balls so far." Emily said and I winced realizing that she had gone to three of the five dances that we had before this sixth one. I knew that while she never went to prom, that I need need to increase my standards a bit. I then thought of the next question that seemed like a simple ask.

"Have you ever been on a date for any one of those three?" I asked, and I was hoping that I was going to be able to be even half as good as those other guys that she has gone out with. If that was the case, then I would feel a little bit better about the situation. "I went to the first homecoming. Didn't have a date. Got lucky enough to have a dance with one girl. Just fucking one. But that was it. Nobody else even fucking looked at me." I said and then I looked down at the food. I could not out it off any longer.

"This years winter ball, I got a date. But not the other two so far. Well that's not true. Homecoming I did have a date, but he didn't show up. Got sick last minute. What a fucking prep. But the other one, the first winter ball, I didn't get one because I felt no real desire to have one. But this year, I would have gone in stag if you didn't catch me just a mere two days before the dance happened." Emily said and I shook my head as I finally took a bite out of my meal.

"Fuck, I have no idea how you don't have more people lining up and wanting to date you. I honestly think you are like the nicest person that I know who goes to this school. I feel like you should be having more people lining up to date you. But that is my opinion." I said, hoping that I didn't sound like a weirdo as I was saying this. I didn't want to come off as somebody who seemed to be a little bit obsessed with her or anything like that. I was just trying to be nice to her.

"Well, probably because I am always hanging out with my friends. I do a decent amount of school. Not enough to come off as one of those star students. Not even close to being one. But I just feel like it's better to be ahead of the game. You know, when you do stuff like this, then you don't really ever have the time to go out there and date guys. They are always too busy going out to try and get the other girls in the school. Then they start to forget me. That isn't to say that nobody has seen me." Emily said as she shot me a super quick look. I didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out right there.

"I don't think there is a single girl out there who looks at either me or my friend. I mean, maybe a couple think that Dakota is pretty chill. But that is probably the furthest that it goes with one of us. And I certainly don't think that anybody thinks that I am anything beyond just sort of chill." I said, and then I thought about the people who might like Dakota. There have to have been a couple of people out there. I mean, Dakota was actually almost a good guy. At least compared to how I was.

"I would be amazed if anybody likes Dakota like that. I mean, he is really not all that popular. I mean, I guess he might be more popular than you... No offense." Emily started and then I jabbed in a very quick 'none taken' and then she continued. "But he doesn't really have that much of a likable personality. At least in my opinion. You might not be popular... But you do at the very least have a likable personality." Emily said as I contemplated excessive laughter at that one.

But to avoid coming off as one of those assholes that she said I was not, I decided to keep my mouth shut. "And besides, I would not be surprised if Dakota has gotten in trouble with the law yet. I mean, if he has he has done a decent job covering it up. But I don't really think that he is somebody who never got in trouble before." Emily said and I wondered how he must have.

Before I could even ask, I would tell that once again Emily was reading my mind. "Well, I think that maybe the police have found his drugs in his car. I wouldn't be shocked if they were wanting him to at least clean it up and not sell it to people. I mean I don't know if he has sold any to you at all. But I feel like he must have sold some to people in the school. I mean, that can explain why so much of it has spread around in a short amount of time."

I thought about it and then I shook my head. I didn't think that she could have been too far off. But Dakota didn't really have that personality. "I just don't think he could be a pitch person. I think that might be a bit out of his ball park. Just in my personal opinion. I mean, if he was five or ten years older, I could maybe see it working. But not the sixteen year old version of him." I laughed, thinking that it was fine to just have a couple of basic disagreements on here.

"I just want to find a way to justify everything going on here. I mean, think about it. Everything here just seems so fake. As if it was put together in a certain way to make people not really question the town all that much." Emily said as she raised both of her hands forward. I could see from the way she was contorting her face that she clearly wanted something for me to say that would support her statement. But I just couldn't figure something out.

"I mean, I guess there is a lot of lies and a bit of pure and simple deception going on. But I don't really think it goes far beyond that. I don't really think that there is any grand underlying plot here. I think that to suggest such a thing would indeed be a little bit silly." I said, and then in hindsight I was the one who was feeling a little bit silly. Like I was the one who needed at least some form of a reality dose. "But seriously. This town is a great place. Even though I have been forced to think about some not so great things about the town lately, I still think the town itself is great." I said, still trying to convince myself of this, but thinking that I needed to stop being subjective to my own beliefs and objective to the facts.

"I mean, I can see why you like it so much. But I don't know. I guess that I am just getting paranoid. You know? Paranoia just comes and goes with time here. Some days I feel like I need to watch out for my life. Then other days I feel like I am totally fine and that I over reacted." Emily said and I wondered if she was just having personal problems or if this could be justified. I just wasn't really all that sure.

"I think it is just better to take it one step at a time. Don't worry about school. Don't worry about a year from now. You are at a date. I am enjoying myself. Let's just continue to enjoy ourselves at this wonderful time." I said, and then I was wondering who I was trying to convince more out of the two of us.

I then saw that Emily was doing her best to keep herself calm like I had said that she should. I could tell that even though she was doing her best to remain calm and collected as I had instructed her to do so, that it was still a bit hard for her to do. That she was still not fully convinced that she was going to be able to take it as easy as I was saying that she should. She still felt like she was playing with fate a little bit. But then she looked at my fingers tapping each other quietly and then she nodded as if she was going to play calm for my sake.

"Yeah, there won't really be anything too bad that will happen at prom. I mean, prom is considered to be the most special day of the year. It really must have stuck out to the people who went there before us if they love it as much as they said they did. If it made it worth even getting people excited for at all. I mean, as long as we are in it together, I will enjoy my time there with you." Emily told me as I had really wished she had not said that. As if she was now raising my standards even higher than I had wanted her to raise them, and that there was no fucking way I could meet them.

But I knew that she was wanting something out of this. That she was wanting some form of belief that I am going to pull through with making this the best night of her life. If anything, she was going to make it the best night of my life. Not the other fucking way around. But I knew that since I was the man of the relationship, that I was not allowed to back down. That I needed to be up for her challenge. That I needed to accept whatever was coming at me. Even if I was certain I was to fail.

"I think that when I told my father about the fact that I was going to prom with a date, that he got super into the idea. I think both he and I were afraid that I was never going to get one with anybody in my entire time of high school. So the prospect of me getting something going for me at all was able to get him up there in excitement. I just don't know why he would really care so much if his kid not really you know a player or something like that. I mean, I wouldn't really assume that this was his business." I said, and I knew that I was lying to myself even then. This was his business. I was his child. He was my father. He probably wanted me to be the biggest playboy in the world.

"I think that he just wants you to be like him. That way he can feel like there is a certain level of dominance that comes along with you and him. Something that he feels like he 'did right' during his time raising you. I think he was just thinking that if you were not like him, he would be thinking that the apple fell from the tree type of ordeal. He probably thought that you were starting to turn into a bigger disappointment with each passing year." Emily said and I nodded, not wanting to admit the faults of my father but slowly I was feeling like I couldn't be able to deny them.

"Sort of wondering what the hell happened to me to make me inferior to him. He probably feels like I am inferior. Getting one date by the end of tenth grade is probably bad compared to him. He probably had his first date by like fifth grade." I was pondering out loud, just utterly curious to know if he and my mother met in high school or later.

Despite the fact that he was my father, I wasn't really all that sure about him as a person. I was also not sure if he just tells me stuff to make me feel like he is this great freedom fighter. You know, if he has been lying about his life to me all along. I mean, I never really got that impression from him. But it was something that I did sadly had to consider.

"I think that he probably would want to look at you as an actual heir. Somebody who would be just like him. Somebody who he can see and feel like he can be proud of. If you get into several relationships, and sort of pick up the player life style, then you will probably be seen as a success in his eyes. He would probably look at you and think that he did raise you correctly after all." Emily said and I was not wanting to continue with my fathers mind set.

"I just don't care what my father says. He isn't even fucking me anymore. He is nothing like me. Why would I suddenly be so worried about what he says? It honestly is none of my fucking business. I just think that if he hates me so much because I didn't pick up his life style or something like that, then he needs to understand that not everybody is like him. That not everybody follows his way of living. I think that I shouldn't even care." I said and then I raised my hands up in defeat. As if trying to get him to like me should have never even been a debate. I am sure my father likes me. I feel as if he did. I just think that he didn't like one small aspect of me. If he didn't like that aspect of me, then I just can work harder. If he doesn't care, then I got myself riled up over nothing.

Emily was looking at me as if she was trying to decide what she was thinking about my personal out bursts right now. She was thinking that they were a bit sudden. But despite thinking that they were rather sudden and a bit strange, she was thinking that maybe if she was in my position, that maybe there was a certain level of validity to it all.

"Sheldon, are you sure that you want to talk any more right now? Are you really in the mood to keep going?" Emily asked and I was just not really sure what to answer. What answer would actually be the truth. I was thinking that there would be no answer I could give her that didn't seem like there would be something else to it. Something that I was lying to myself about. I did want to talk to her more casually. But I didn't want to if it had meant that I was going to be forced to think about my failures even more.

I then was thinking about the more honest answer. "I do want to talk. I just don't know if I am in the right mindset to be talking about that type of stuff. If you were wanting to talk more about that, then I am sorry. I guess that maybe I am not really as ready for this as I thought I would have been. I guess I should have not asked you out at all." I said, as I started to get up and then Emily called out to me. I stopped when she did so, and then I looked directly at her as if to try and see what she was going to try and say to make me feel better.

"This is your first time. You just have a lot that you are thinking about. There is nothing wrong with you being uncertain. Don't feel bad for being uncertain. Just think about what you do know. Think about what you do have. Then start to work from there." Emily said and then she looked down at the food that we were supposed to eat, but had not really been getting into this whole time. She felt like this could have been really bad customer service. But she decided not to say anything.

"Come on, I can drive you home. Let's just take a break. Just relax. I don't blame you for how you are right now." Emily said and I felt glad that she was being this way. But I didn't really want to feel like a burden. I felt like that was all I was being right now. A massive fucking burden that she was dealing with.

Emily and I went to my car and she got inside first. I took out a cigarette and smoked it to help calm me down a bit. Once I got inside the car and started it up, I was already feeling much better than I had by that point. I felt like I was more able to take on the fucking world. I felt like I would be able to deliver a better conversation with Emily.

That was one thing that smoking did for me. It made me feel like I was way more confident than I actually was. That was indeed one of the best things about doing it for me. The fact that when I had placed the dart in my mouth, that I actually felt like I was doing something that I was actually feeling like was totally in my power. As we were driving, I was saying to Emily "So Emily, even though the date didn't go super well, I do appreciate having your company. I do think that we should do this more often. Maybe if you enjoy prom, and I enjoy it as well, we can go out on another date?"

I didn't know why just smoking a bunch of cigarettes increased my confidence in the way that it did, but the thing had worked me wonders. When I saw Emily looking right at me, I could tell that she was able to see that I was being genuine. "Yeah, I think that you and me going on another date will be fine. As long as we actually still enjoy prom together that is. Don't want to force something that we end up not really enjoying at all." Emily said, and I was glad that we were able to agree not to force something that we both felt like had a decent chance at failing. It wasn't set to fail, and I wouldn't act like that was the case. But it did always have a chance to fail no matter what I would want to say.

"If it was any other person to be there on my first date, they probably would not have been nearly as forgiving of what was going on with me as you were. I am glad that you were able to understand me. I am glad that you were able to see the better side of what I was trying to aim for... I just wanted to really get to you. But I could tell that I had failed on even that most basic function..." I said, and I wanted to beat myself up for the failure that I set myself up for. But Emily was giving me that 'don't you start on that yet' look.

"I get that you didn't give me the best first time in the world, and that you were no Romeo. I think we can all agree and accept that. But don't get angry at yourself for actually expressing the way you truly feel about a situation. I don't want you to lie to me. I would rather have a truth that is hard to deal with than an all-out lie. At least when you were telling me how you had felt about things, you were able to actually express yourself as a person with emotions. A person who wanted to actually express himself to the girl that he was talking with at that very moment." Emily said and I could not understand how she understood so well.

"Either way, I do promise that next time, if there even is a next time, that I will be much more behaved." I said, and I was not really even sure if I was right or not when I had said that. But I was trying to make a decent promise to her. One that I felt like I had a small chance of actually going through with.

"Well Sheldon, either way, you were able to provide me for something better than I would have been given if I just stayed home all day. At least you gave me something that I could indeed consider and actually put into mind. You did something that I think was a good thing for that very reason. I think that if my parents meet you, they might actually get why I think you deserve a chance." Emily said and her actually saying that I deserved a chance made me feel much better. But I knew that she was probably lying to me.

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better. I really appreciate it." I said and then afterwards Emily placed her hands on mine and then she said something that I thought in a million years of my life she would never say.

"Sheldon, don't worry about your smoking habits. I mean, I don't like it all that much. But I do fully admit that it is none of my business. That it is something that I don't really need to get all that involved with. If you think that it is doing favors for you, then go ahead and continue doing it. Just make sure you don't spend too much money on it. The money is the only thing that worries me about your choices." Emily said and then I thought about the money. I was aware that it was not a good use of my money. But it was my money. It was my life choice. In the end, if I wanted to spend my money on cigarettes, then I should be allowed to do so.

Emily then left me alone. As she was walking back to her house, I was thinking more and more about the conversation that we were having. I was thinking about the stuff that we could do to actually further our bond. I was thinking about how I could get her to love me even further. But I thought that it wasn't all that big of a priority at that moment. I took out my next cigarette and then I started to smoke it.

I stayed at the front yard for another two minutes or so. Just long enough to finish the cigarette, and then I flicked it out the window when I was done and then I started to drive off again. I was thinking about what to tell my parents when I got home. Well, mostly what to tell my father since I really highly doubted that my mother was going to be there. I would later be proven to be wrong when I came back home and I walked right inside of the house.

I looked forward and saw that my mother was sitting down on the couch. I could clearly tell that she was waiting for me. I could clearly tell that she wanted to know something. I was annoyed. Annoyed that she had not really been there at all, and now that I had one date she was suddenly going to act like she was the most invested person in the world in my life. "How did the date go Sheldon? Your father told me that you were going to be heading to prom soon. I wanted to see how prepared you actually were for the dance."

"Well, the date actually went pretty okay. I mean, there were a few things that we talked about that I did have no desire to discuss. However, you know, that being said, I think that she actually liked me enough to want to see me again. I think that prom is going to be a success. I think that prom will be the thing that I needed in my life right now. Something that will make me feel like I actually did something good in my high school career. It sounds silly I know. But I don't really have too much of a clue I guess." I said and then after I said that, my mother stood up and walked closer to me. As she was walking closer to me, I could tell that I was going to have to calculate the next steps a bit better.

"I don't want you going and fucking this up now Sheldon. You are finally starting to be a normal man. You actually are becoming like a real teenager. This is something I am proud of. Something I want from my son. Don't fuck it up because you are getting in your fathers business on Riley and his business about the labyrinth. End your fucking petty ass investigation, and go back to dating girls. Go back to just being a normal guy. I am not going to be nearly as forgiving as your father if you continue these investigations." My mother said and I could tell that she was telling the truth.

"Yes mother. If you really want me to get out of your business about this, I will try my best to..." I said, and I was not really sure what to believe. I could not really understand why she was being like this to my own fucking mother.

"Because trust me, there will be more things that I can do to you than a simple little fucking lecture. I can make your life miserable shall you choose to get into things that are none of your fucking business." I heard my mother say as I went inside of my room and slammed the door shut. I took off my dress clothes and was only in my underwear as I went to bed and put the blanket over my body and tried to be at least relatively warm while I slept.


	54. Prom Night

Part 4: Prom Night

The next day, I was finally at the point in which I was getting ready for prom. I knew that I was supposed to act like a normal person. I felt like I was going to make my parents leave me alone as long as I was at least relatively normal while I was at prom. Besides, I was a bit pissed off at how they were. I was just fucking tired of them. I was tired of their utter bullshit. I knew that it was terrible for me to act like that to my parents. But it was really fucking hard for me to actually think of them in any form of a respectable light if it had actually started to show that I was fine with them treating me the way that they had actually treated me.

I was tired of them actually thinking that they could run my life. I was tired of them acting like the way that they treated me was acceptable just because they were my parents. I knew that I needed to be a bit more realistic about this whole thing. But it was just a bit hard for me to be able to act like I can look at anything besides the idealistic way of how to treat a child when I was thinking about them the whole time.

I eventually heard that there was a knock on the door. I had actually put on my suit again that I was supposed to wear. I put them on soon after I had woke up. I walked up to the front door. Wondering if I was going to catch Dakota there or if I was going to be somebody else. Such as Emily or somebody else like that. Hell even Ashley wasn't seeming all that strange considering what the situation was and maybe she would have wanted to get some more information about Dakota before they saw each other for prom or something like that. It was strange. But I thought that it was not all that far out of reality.

I opened the door and realized that I was over thinking it once again. The first theory that I had was the correct theory this whole time. I saw that it was indeed Dakota. I was thinking that maybe he just wanted to hang out with me one final time before prom. For all I knew, maybe even one final time for the entire school year. It was strange to consider that this may be the final time in the entire school year. But it was not really all that out there when I thought about it since we were close to the end of the school year.

I saw that Dakota was smiling. I knew that he thought prom was going to be the best night of the school year. I was thinking about how I wished I had the same enthusiasm. But no matter how hard I tried, there was just something in me that was forcing me to not feel that way. That I was going to be punished for feeling that way if I continued that pursuit.

"I just talked with Ashley for a bit. When I saw her, we were talking about what we were wanting to tonight after the dance was over. We were talking about the fact that we were thinking about going around and having sex. I think that I will tell you if I score or not. I think that I will indeed make the score. But I can't get myself too high up there in the level of belief quite yet. After all, for all I know, I could be thinking too deeply into it." Dakota said and I knew he was just desperate to finally lose his virginity. We were both alike on that regard.

"You know, I wish that Emily was willing to give me that same treatment. I mean, I am in no real rush right now. But if she had been more open about making love with me, I would accept it the moment she made the offer to me, and I would adore every second of it." I said, and I was actually starting to talk like a normal teenage boy and not like the disgusting guy that I actually was and had been hiding myself to be in order to prevent judgement from the people around me. Not even Dakota was fully aware of how much of a sick fuck I actually was. I was deeply glad that he was not fully aware of that quite yet.

"I think that you just really have to win her over during prom. I mean, we still have a whole night ahead of us. No point in not trying right now. No point in acting like it is a lost cause. Even if it may seem like it is a lost cause." Dakota said, and I was thinking that this indeed was a lost cause. No matter how much Dakota may be trying to tell me that it was not.

"I think doing something like this is much easier said to be done than actually being done. If it was so fucking easy, I would have had sex with Emily last night. But I was a social reject in every sense of the word. There is noway around it. There is no way that she is actually going to like me. I think that I just need to accept the fact that she doesn't like me that way." I said, thinking that maybe she did and that I really had been under selling myself.

"Whatever you say Sheldon. She must have liked you a little bit if she was actually able to accept your offer to go on a date with her. I think that she must have seen what you were able to present yourself as. And when she saw what you were actually like, she must have thought that maybe you really were boyfriend material in the end of the day." Dakota was saying as he was pointing to his car.

"I don't understand why everybody thinks that Emily thinks that I am such a great heart throb. She was nice to me one time. She was nice enough to give me a date because she pitied me. I don't really think that it was anything else beyond that really. I know that people want her to think that I am this great and desirable man. But I really doubt that this is how she had felt about me." I said and then I was realizing that Dakota was wanting to show me something. So I decided to remain quiet and let him show me what he wanted to show me.

"Want to just hang out for a bit? Just down at the skate park? I know that you aren't big on skating. But I thought that maybe you would just like to chill out there for a while." After Dakota had said that, I thought about this for a bit and then I shrugged. I figured that I might as well go along with this, and then I left the house after telling my parents that I was going to be out for a few hours and that I was not going to be coming by until prom was over.

Dakota and I walked inside of the car and then I looked right at Dakota. "So Dakota, what are you wanting to do now?" I asked, and while I knew he wanted us to hang out, I wanted to know a little bit more about what he would like to do while we were actually doing the hang out session. "What are we going to do once we are done chilling around at the skating park?"

"I just wanted to hang out. That there was no real reason beyond that. I don't know why you are thinking that there is some great scheme behind this whole thing." Dakota said as he was starting the car up. Then as he was starting the car up, we were driving around for a while and we were just heading on down to the skate park. I was happy to actually hang out with Dakota for a while, and I felt like he was right and that I needed to just be calmer and not be taking things so fucking seriously.

Eventually, we reached the skate park and then once Dakota parked his car, we got out of the car and then the two of us headed right to the bench at the skating park. "I just think that this is a good place to chill out at honestly. I don't really think that there is any real big explanation to this." Dakota said and then after he had told me this, I was starting to feel really tired for some strange reason. Even though I don't know why I was feeling so tired.

"Dakota, I wonder how you are able to still hang out with me after all of this time. I am not really all that good of a guy at all. And yet you are still going on and hanging out with me on a regular basis. I just think that you deserve better than me in all honesty. I know that it sounds silly for me to act like this right now. But I just am sort of listening to what my parents told me earlier, and the things that they have been saying to me has just been really getting to me. I don't even think they are trying to act like this around me, but it is still getting to me." I said and then after I had said that, I saw that Dakota was just sort of remaining silent. I could clearly tell that he wasn't fully into listening to me.

"Sheldon, I get it that you have made some mistakes in life. But why does it actually matter? Not everything is actually that big of a deal. You just need to relax a bit. You know, just accept the fact that there are people who care about you. Why would this actually bother you? You know, there are some people who feel like they are not cared for at all, and they feel like the people around them just actively make fun of them on a normal basis." Dakota said and then he was taking out the weed in his pocket. Once he took that out, my mind instantly turned on that and any doubt and regret that I had been forming by that point in time just fucking instantly died right away. I was not at all going to fucking feel bad for myself when I saw that there was the pot right in front of me. I held out my hand and Dakota gave me some of it.

I lit mine up, and then Dakota did the same thing. As I was taking in the relaxing killer, I didn't even remember the stress I was in on my previous conversation. I looked at Dakota and then I laughed a bit. "I can't believe that I actually felt that way just a moment ago. I guess I just needed to consider things out a little bit." I said and then Dakota placed his hand on my back and patted it a couple of times.

"Even if people didn't like you, just tell them to fuck off. They are not good enough for you. Not the other way around. Don't let the fucking preps get to you." Dakota said and then I laughed. I continued to smoke, and I always got a little bit worried when I saw a police car coming by. But they probably just assumed that I was smoking cigarettes, and therefore didn't really care all that much.

"Yeah. Those people are just fucking assholes. If they don't like me, I think that they are the ones with the problem." I said and the crazy thing was that I was actually believing in myself a little bit as I had said that. I thought that they were actually the problem. That I was still a decent guy. Yeah, a guy who was so addicted to drugs that he couldn't even fucking process without them for more than a couple of hours being the 'good guy' in the situation.

Eventually, everything I was thinking about was gone and I was just thinking about Emily. "I am going to make her feel like she is fucking special. I am going to make her feel like she is the most important girl in the world. She is the most important girl in my world." I said and as I had said this, I was actually thinking for a moment that I was being this really insightful guy and that I was actually breaking down and saying something that was really important. I could tell that Dakota somehow actually thought the same way as he had heard this.

"That was really fucking deep bro. I never thought that you actually thought that you can do that. I can't fucking believe it." Dakota said and then after he had said this, we started laughing our fucking asses off. We laughed for a good ten to fifteen seconds without a single break. I could not believe that we had been laughing that much. I bet we looked like we were fucking insane to anybody coming by. That they thought there was something really wrong with us.

"Emily is like the fucking apple of eden. You know what I mean? Like it is something I should not get. But if I am tempted to break the rules, I can reach my hand out enough and then start to mess with it and then I have it. Then once I have it, I can eat it up. You know, like eating her fucking pussy up." I said and then the laughter I was in afterwards was so deep and genuine that I actually had to stop in order to make my stomach not feel like it was about to burst for a moment.

"You know what, I feel even more tired than I was just a moment ago. I didn't even think that it was possible to feel even more tired. I thought that I was at my point in fatigue." I said and then I was starting to lower my head and I was trying to show that as a way of showing just how 'tired' I was actually and then I was done with my weed. Then I took out a cigarette and smoked it. I only had four left in my pack. One before prom. One during prom. One after prom. One right before I went to bed. I was going to have to make them fucking count. I knew that these were going to have to last me to tomorrow.

"Sheldon, you probably just need to go to bed early tonight. There is no fucking way that you should try and go to sleep before fucking prom. Just please don't try and crash at the fucking dance." Dakota said and then I still was laughing. It really wasn't that funny. I mean, I get that I was high and my standards were lower when I was high. But even I knew at that moment that I was kind of taking this a little bit too far with the laughing.

"Fuck bro. You think that I am going to give up right before the fucking chance I have to make Emily realize that I am a fucking hero." I said and then I was placing my right leg on my left leg on a position of a half way complete criss cross apple cause. I can't believe that I remembered that shit from when I was fucking in like kindergarten. But it was the one fucking thing I remembered.

The nictotine rush was killing me. Both literally and personally. I mean, it was literally killing me in terms of slowly giving me cancer. But then it was also killing me personally in the way that I knew that this was the way that I was at my peak of functionality. Where I was at my peak of actually doing something good. When I was at the post cigarette life, I was fucking unstoppable. But when I was not in that state, then I was basically just a weak man.

I finished the cigarette up and then I flicked it down to the skating ring and then I looked at Dakota. "I think it is time for us to pick up our dates for prom." I said and then Dakota nodded as he stood up with me. We were walking along, and I reached the car before Dakota did but that was only because I weighed about thirty pounds less. Then Dakota got inside of the drivers seat and then he started up the car.

Dakota then started to drive to Ashley's house and that was because she had lived closer to me. As Dakota was heading on to Ashley's house, I could tell that Dakota was trying to give off that lady killer impression by looking at this rear view mirror a couple of times. I could tell that he was going to knock it out of the fucking park. I knew that I was going to have to really try. I knew it was going to be really hard. But I was going to try my best anyways.

Eventually, Dakota picked up Ashley and then after he picked up Ashley, we went down and got Emily. Once all four of us were gathered up, we were ready to hang out for another hour or two before the actual prom night happened. As if we were going to fucking own the fucking city. I knew that we were going to be fucking winners.

I was shocked that I was feeling so excited about going to the school dance now. I think just having Emily right next to me the whole time made me feel so much better. I actually felt like I was really actually doing something that I was going to be proud of. That I was doing something that I knew was the one thing that would not only make my parents proud, but also just be making me proud. I was proud of myself. I knew that when I was not around Emily anymore, that it was going to die away very soon afterwards. But I knew that I needed to take advantage of the feeling while it was still there.

"I think that prom is going to be the best fucking day of my whole life. I am so fucking excited." I said and I was able to have my brighter mood get the attention of pretty much everybody else around me and they were wondering what had actually made me so happy right there. "I will not turn back at this dance at all. I made no fucking mistake going to this dance at all." I then started to place my hand on the window hand and then I was playing with the window a little bit. My fingers just tapping on the window and doing it in a way that I can not get anybody else in the car annoyed while also just having a little bit of a soothing exercise going on at the same time.

The longer that we were driving, that was when Dakota looked at the three of us who were sharing the car with him at that very moment. "So is there anything that you guys want to do right now?" Dakota asked and then I was thinking about it for a bit. Aside from just eating, I couldn't really come up with anything. I was going to just wait for what Ashley and Emily were going to do. Or what they said we should be doing if I was to be telling the truth a little bit more.

"I don't know. Maybe just go somewhere to eat. But we should make the place at least relatively cheap. Don't want to blow through our dancing funds before we actually get to the fucking dance and everything." Ashley said and then I could tell that she was just trying to sound like Dakota and I. Not even sure if she was thinking that we were popular and that she was just trying to seem popular like us. Then I shook my head. There was no way she would think that I was popular. She was just trying to probably have a bit if a similar talking demeanor that we actually had. But I was thinking that she didn't really need to try all that hard to do that. There was no real reason to do this.

"I think that this is probably wise. But I think that you just need to enjoy yourself a bit while you are hanging out with us. I wouldn't really worry about some of the superficial details in all reality. These superficial details such as the money are not really going to matter all that much. People may feel like it does matter. But in reality, it doesn't matter." Dakota said as he added in a little bit. "I have enough money to provide for a lunch for us. As long as you guys brought at least some money, I wouldn't worry about the dance."

I patted my pockets a couple of times, and I knew that this was going to just not really work with me. I then shook my head. "I don't have a single fucking dollar on me. I really should have thought about that." I said and then I realized that if I did have some money, it was probably just in the butt pocket. Not that it really mattered. Saying this would be able to at least not have the others expect me to provide any real funds or anything like that. So even if I was lying by mistake, I might as well just to keep it up.

But it seemed that either way Ashley and Emily were able to save us. "We have some money. I wouldn't really worry about it all that much. I just want enough to take some pictures." Emily said and I knew that if she took pictures, she was going to find a way to get me involved with them. I was not really excited for participating in these type of pictures. But if Emily was wanting it so badly, then I needed to at least pretend that I was going to be excited for this.

I just wasn't really a photogenic type of person. I think that there was nothing really wrong with having that type of personality. Just somebody who doesn't really want to take a bunch of pictures when I felt like there was no real need to be taking them. I mean, I guess there was a bit of the historical value to it all. But that was all that it was really going to give me. And besides, even the whole historical value thing was going to be pretty much invalid the moment that I died. No point in trying to go down in history when in reality I am a drug addict who just cares more about getting the next fix than anything else.

I then looked at Emily. "So at what point in the dance do you think we should be taking the pictures?" I asked and then Emily had just simply shrugged at that question. She clearly had not really thought about it all that much.

"I think that maybe after about three or four songs. Once we have been there for a while. Long enough to where a few people have taken pictures, and it is proven that the camera actually works. But also short enough to where there is not going to have some form of a giant fucking line that we need to wait for." Emily said and then after she had said that, there was a part of me that was really losing some of my concentration as a result from my sleepiness from all of my smoking and everything. The high that I had faced really was just wearing me the fuck down.

"Well, let's just get the fucking meal and go to prom. I am starving now." Dakota said and then after he had said that, he started to drive around for a bit. There was very little idea on where we would actually want to go. So eventually, he just sighed and then brought us to some random burger shop. It was really unprofessional for a fucking prom meal. But I could tell that it was just a way to get some form of last word on the subject before there can be any fight on it.

Once we were in there, we just ordered the meal, and I was impressed at how cheap it was. The food wasn't really great. But I would not say that the food was terrible either. I mean, for the price that it had, the food was actually decent. I thought that if I had a couple of dollars here or there and I was just starving, I can go along and grab the meal and then just have that be a quick fuel giver.

Once the food was done, we went to the car and then I felt like this was going to be the most unprofessional prom in the history of prom. I mean, how the hell can you actually pretend that this was actually professional when you would go to a random burger joint in the middle of town just because you wanted to keep things relatively cheap.

Eventually, we reached the front of the school and then I got out of the car. I grabbed the first of my final few cigarettes. One right before the dance. Then one during the dance. Probably around the crowning time. Then one after the dance. Then one right after the dance was over. I was able to smoke it quick enough to where Dakota and I can share a smoke, have the girls in the car in there waiting for us to do our thing and then we let them out without having them feel like they needed to wait for too long.

After the smoke was done and Emily was out of the car, I was really tempted to kiss her. But I knew that she was probably not wanting that. So I was forcing myself to wait a few minutes before she and I could actually share the romantic moment. Then we were actually starting to walk to the front entrance of where prom was going to be taking place. We placed in the money for the tickets, and then we got right inside.

I was ready to take the night to the dance floor when I was there. Obviously I would talk to people and still have a mostly normal presentation. But at the same time, I still wanted to let loose for a couple of songs here and there. Not that I was really going to make any real friends here. But I thought that I could get a little bit of last minute popularity before the school year had ended. I was hoping that this would work. Even though I was starting to think that it was a bit of a fools gold situation.

I was right inside, and then I was already getting tired of the clothes that I was wearing. I wanted to go back to my maroon hoodie, my fucking white shirt, and my fucking blue pants. Not this blue button down shirt and not this boring old fucking black pair of clacks. I wanted something else, and I was willing to do anything to get that normal set of clothes back. But then I was thinking about Emily. I was thinking about how I wanted to look decent before prom for my friends and for my date and for the people at the dance for my hope to get some form of last second popularity.

I walked right up to a guy who was friends with Gwen. I knew that being Gwen's friend, and Gwen being my bully, that I was going to be treading on thin ice a bit. But I really fucking needed to talk to the man about possibly figuring out some more clues on what happened to Gwen. I never thought about her going missing too much before since I hated the way she treated me. My selfish thought set was actually glad that she was going to leave me alone, and it was really as simple as that. But knowing what to expect, and knowing what I knew now, I felt like I needed to do something for her. I felt like she needed a real friend there. A real hero. I thought that if I could get on the good graces of her friend, even if it was random, and even if it was hard and forced, maybe I can get him to help me track her down.

"Hey Jack." I said and then I was trying to make it seem like a bit of a casual conversation at first. Jack looked at me as if not really sure what to say. Then I was holding my hand out and then Jack rolled his eyes and shook it.

"Sheldon, I have no idea why you are talking to me right now. I am in the middle of being with my date right now. You should go back to your date. If you even have one that is." Jack said and then after he had said that, I nodded and then I thought that if I tried a bit harder, I can get him to warm up to me. But as of yet, I was fucked.

I walked to Emily and then instantly felt bad for what I had done just there. Feeling terrible that I left her hanging to talk with the asshole who had bullied me. "I was just wanting to make some small talk. You know, try to heal some old wounds. I should have thought about you before I did something like leaving you hanging." I said and then after I had said that, I could see from the way that she was looking at me that she wouldn't be able to be angry at me forever. So then she sighed and then she held out her right arm to me.

I took her arm and then I went right to the dance floor. This was the first time in my entire life that I ever really had an intimate dance with a woman. It felt fucking amazing. I wanted to make her feel like she was the queen in the world. If there was one thing that my father was right about, it was that. I needed to make a woman feel like she is a treasure. Because for gods sake, she really was a fucking treasure. I hated treating her like nothing more than an object when I was doing this with her, but unlike other people, the idea was out of love. Not out of lust or making them feel like they need to be used.

I was then looking at Dakota and he was having the time of his life with Ashley. I could tell from the way that he was with her that he was having a fucking blast. But then when I looked at him, I realized that there was something to him that I was missing. A feeling of just letting go. A feeling that I just needed to just love the woman. Love the moment. Not force anything else at the moment. Just let her love me and I can love her back. It was really just that fucking simple.

After I started to realize that I just needed to have some fun and just enjoy the moment, I went back to looking at Emily. "Fuck this. I don't want to wear this. I am not enjoying myself wearing this pair of nice clothing." I said and then I could tell from the look on her face that she was thinking about the fact that I was just wanting to go back to wearing the casual wear that I was used to wearing by now. I was actually getting attached to that maroon hoodie from a couple of days ago, and then with the white shirt and blue pants, I thought it was one of my best combinations I could come up with.

"Well, I guess that you are going to have to live through a lie for just a little bit longer. I hope you can be fine with that for a little bit more." After Emily had told me this, I was sighing and then I realized that she was right. But then I decided to just think about the moment. I was thinking about kissing Emily. I really wanted to kiss Emily. I felt like I had earned the right to fucking kiss her. I just wish that she had felt the same way about me.

I placed my head on Emily's shoulder and then I smiled. I wished that Emily had accepted my offer of love and romance all of this time ago. I felt like she mostly did it out of feeling bad for me. I wanted to prove to her that I can do better than that.

But I was feeling like despite the fact that I wanted her to understand the fact that I did care about her, I did not want to do it in such a manner that it comes off as me using her as an object. If I used her as an object, I would be the worst person in the world and I should feel like I should be ashamed of myself forever. I just wished that Emily knew that I didn't really mean anything by my advances if she was thinking that I was doing it in more of a way to treat her as a object. But I don't even know why I was so worried about that type of problem, when I never did look at her like that. At least I have not looked at her like that so far. And I was hoping that I can continue that streak of not looking at her in that regard.

But as I was thinking about all of this, I then was thinking about how much I was actually enjoying prom as a whole. I thought prom was going to fucking suck and that it was going to be way out of my lead. But here I was, actually sort of enjoying myself and thinking that I did make the right choice in going to it after all. I felt like I had just been worried about something that really wasn't anything I needed to worry all that much about. I just was scared of something, and in all reality I didn't really need to be scared of this at all. When I was starting to realize that there was no real need to worry about anything, I started to calm down and then I was getting back in the zone.

I did dance to a couple of the songs, but for the most part I was just trying to enjoy my time with Emily. I was wanting to show her how much I cared about her by just taking things steady. By not forcing a single damn thing in the world at all. Not even something like a kiss, which I knew I really wanted.

Eventually though, we were getting at that crowning point in prom. I knew we had no chance in winning, so that was when I got out and took a smoke. I felt like nobody would really care if I was gone for a minute or two. I just told Emily that I was going to be out for a moment. Once I was done with my cigarette, I saw that there were two left. One for after prom and one right before I go to sleep. I was going to make them both count.

I went back inside of the school, thinking about how I was going to be a bit disappointed with the fact I was not going to win. I knew for a fact I wouldn't really win. But it was still something that was going to make me feel a little bit. I did wish that I could have won. I wanted to show people that I did have what it would take to have a nice life at school. But I knew that the people in the school didn't like me. They would just view me as an asset to their over all enjoyment. Actually probably more of as an distraction.

I looked up and saw that the person who had become prom king was Jack, and the person who became prom queen was his date. They went up to the podium and then despite all of our bad history, all of the anger that I had towards him and Gwen before, I was able to look at things with a more objective eye. Those two really were a great couple. They really did feel like they could own the entire dance scene. I actually started to feel happy for them. As if I was the one who was on the wrong end of the spectrum this entire time.

Then with that, I actually clapped a couple of times. Then I held up a thumbs up stance and stayed there for a couple of seconds. After that was done, I went back to Emily to be back in the zone of enjoying my time with her once again. I felt like I had done enough of praising this guy, and that I needed to get back to being with the person that I told myself I would be the moment I started this date.

Once I was with Emily again, I placed my hands on her sides and then I was ready to have another slow dance with her. She went along with it, even though we had already slowed dance to two songs. I just really wanted to make her feel special. The more that we were dancing, the more that I started to think that she really was girlfriend material after all.

Eventually, most of the night had passed and there were just a couple of songs left. Emily and I decided that we were just going to take in the moment with each other. I was just wishing in all reality that I could be able to be with her for another few more minutes. Was that really all that much to be asking for? Maybe if Dakota and Ashley came by, they can be with us as well. But only if they had wanted it.

"I really did enjoy spending all that time with you Emily. I am still surprised that you wanted to go with me at all. I thought asking you was a lost cause from the start... I just thought that nobody would have ever looked at me like that. I thought people would have just thought that I was nothing more than that one random annoying kid. I know I stated this last night, but I just feel like I might not be good enough for you. I feel like you can do better than me..." I said and then after I had said that, I was looking right at Emily to see what she was thinking. To see if she was actually going to be playing along with this. Then as I was thinking about this further, I was thinking about what I had wanted to do and was only not feeling like I could get away with asking her about.

"Do you think that I can come over and stay the night at your house?" I asked, hoping to god that Emily would say yes. I was wondering if she was thinking about what I was asking. Then Emily still pondered it for a bit and then she nodded.

"Yeah, I think that you can drop by my house. I just wasn't really sure how my parents were going to feel about the guy I was going on a date with stopping by. But I don't really think that it will be all that big of a problem. They might be shocked to see you there. But I think once they get over that shock of seeing you there, they might be able to move along and be a bit more cordial with you." Emily told me and I was thinking that this was going to be a great night. I just hoped that my parents were not going to be wondering what I was doing. That they weren't going to assume that I just dropped off the scene.

That was when Dakota and Ashley came by. Dakota kissed Ashley in the lips. Then Dakota looked down at me for a second since Emily and I were both sitting and then Dakota looked at Ashley ready to ask the question he had wanted to ask for the last couple of days. "Do you want to be my girlfriend Ashley?" Dakota was bracing himself for the worst. As if he was worried she was going to really reject him badly.

"Sure thing Dakota. I mean, I wouldn't have considered you to be boyfriend material when I first saw you. But I think that you are nice enough to possibly fit the bill." Ashley said and she was thinking about how she was actually starting to like the idea of dating Dakota. It was something that was strange to consider at first. But after thinking it through, she thought that she was actually going to be in a relationship that had felt right. One that she was going to maybe even be excited for once it really started.

"Sheldon, do you want to head out now?" Emily asked and then I nodded. I really was ready to spend the night with Emily. Actually possibly have sex for the first time in my life. I knew that it was a bit of a stretch to shot for, and I was thinking that I would have to be really lucky. But I was lucky enough for her to accept going to prom with me at all. So in all reality, I thought that maybe she was going to let me have a moment in seeing what my moves were.

Emily and I were walking outside and we were at the front of the school when Jack called out to me. I was hoping that this going to turn out well. But at the same time, I was well fearing that it wouldn't be that way. I looked at Jack and then he was placing his hand behind his hand. He was thinking for a moment. Once he was finished thinking about what he was going to say, he then spoke. "Sorry for being kind of a jerk to you over there earlier. I just never thought that you would have wanted to talk to me. I mean, that is a reasonable thing to assume. But I guess maybe I was wrong about that. I guess that maybe I should have been a bit nicer. I mean... If you want to talk to me at some point... You can..." I knew that Jack was not really to thrilled about the last part of his suggestion. But we both knew damn well that he felt like he needed to say that to me. I didn't really feel like it. But I was able to appreciate simple kindness when it was offered to me.

"Yeah thanks. Maybe I will eventually. Sorry about Gwen. I know that we never really got along or anything. But she deserved better than this. I want to help you in case you need it." I said and then I was totally telling the truth on that one. I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her. Or nothing more can happen to her I should say.

"Yeah, it really did hurt when it happened. I am surprised that you of all people would express your condolences to me. Like you said, you and Gwen never really got along..." Jack said and then he looked at me straight in the eyes. "But I think I need to go back to my date. Have a nice night." Jack then headed off and then I was feeling glad that this was starting to be put behind us. I then walked out of the school and took about three minutes or so to smoke that cigarette and then I went to my car where Emily was leading me to her house.

Once inside of the car, I was really thinking more about what I was going to do when I get home that next morning. What I was going to tell my parents in case they were wondering what the hell I was doing out at night so late. Yet there was a part of me that was thinking that if anything, they were going to be fine with this. They had wanted me to do something like this. I was almost certain that they had wanted this of me. They must have thought that me doing this was going to be one of the best things that would come out of me. That I was finally going to be the son that they wanted. The alpha male. The man who didn't care at all about what was going on. What was being presented to me. I felt like they were thinking that being aggressive would be the best way for me to live life. That saying 'fuck the world' was going to be the only way I can do something they would actually be proud of.

I was ready to go on and prove them wrong. But I wanted to develop a bond with Emily first. No matter what would happen, still make something out of this that I think would have been worth it. "Emily, so when do you think that you will tell your parents about me?" I asked, and I was still sort of meaning it in the selfish context. Well, selfish in the way that I was wanting her to tell me everything about her life and that I had hoped she would leave me a review of flying colors next time she had talked to them.

In all reality was, there was a large part of me that just simply didn't care. I went to prom, and I had my date with her. I am going to be spending the night with her. Once the night was over, if it goes the way I think it will, I will have hit the home run and I don't need to pursue it any further.

That was how I had felt about the matter. That I did not need to pursue it any further. It seemed like this would have been the truth even a few days ago. That just the date would have been good enough and that I didn't need to force anything on her. But now I was starting to feel like I wanted something else out of this. Like I needed something else out of this. Not just the idea of going on a date and then calling it good. I felt like I deserved to know if she had liked me or not. That I deserved to know if her parents had liked me or not. That I deserved to know if my parents had any shred of being proud in me left at all.

I guess it didn't really matter if they were proud of me or not. I was going to be leaving in about two years anyways. And once I was gone, I was thinking that I was going to have to just put them behind me. Even before the last couple of days, I still did in all reality want to start something new with my life after high school. It was just this started that feeling even more.

I was now at Emily's house and then we went out of her car. Once we were outside of her car, she looked at me and she looked like the time we were having together was going to be a utter joy. I knew that she did like me. I could tell from her face that she did like me. But there was still that part of me that thought that there was still some deception going on here. That it was all a big fat fucking lie.

We went on into her bedroom. Once inside of there, I started to look around it for a while. I thought about what I wanted to tell her. I felt like I was able to trust her enough to tell her what I wanted to say. I didn't feel like I was ready to say the 'l' word in terms of love. But I felt like I was ready to tell her the 'l' word in terms of like.

"Emily... I really like you. When I saw you in school, I felt like there was somebody who didn't make fun of me. Somebody who at least cared a little bit about me. A little bit about what I was dealing with and what I had wanted my goals to have been. I felt like when I was talking to you before, that you seemed to really get me. I felt like you actually did care about what I had to say. I really just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate that. How much I feel like this has helped me out. I know this seems a bit sudden for me to start talking like this. But I felt like you really needed to know how I did truly feel. Not the feelings I put forward because I am a bit worried or what you would say to me. Nothing like that. I think I just didn't know how to say it. I was always busy telling myself how to say it. Rehearsing the confession. But now I realize I don't need to. I can just be honest with you. I can just let the words flow through me. If I do it this way, then for once I am really letting the actual truth come forward. Not this truth that I set up telling myself..." I said and I felt like this was all I needed to really say.

After I was done, I was looking at Emily and I was waiting for her to say something. I was waiting for her to laugh at me. To tell me how stupid I was. I was just waiting for something to happen. But she was just sitting there. I wondered if I had gone too far. I wondered if I had fucked up when I was doing this. I felt like I wanted to die when I was letting this idea come to me.

"Sheldon, I knew that you liked me. It was really not that hard to figure it out. I mean though, I was not expecting you to say it in this context. I was not really expecting you to feel this specific way about the whole thing. I thought that you had just simply liked me and that was all that there was to it. I never knew you felt any way deeper than just that." Emily said and then I nodded.

"I guess that you do know now. I didn't want to let it go by the rest of my life totally unknown. I felt like I needed to tell you. I felt like telling you was the only way to get you to see what it was all really behind me." I said and then after I had said this, I waited for the next bit.

I was waiting for her to tell me off. I was waiting for her to tell me that I was just being over the top. I knew in a way that I was. I knew that I was acting like this was the biggest confession of all time. When in all reality it had not really been all that big of a deal. I just let the words out and she seemed to actually listen to me.

We were fine for a while. Then afterward, I was thinking that this was the moment I needed to leave. But then Emily placed her hand on my suit. Then she placed he on the bed and then she started to unbutton me. I was at a full rager now. I knew what was going to happen.I was not really ready for it. How to perform well. But I was ready to be in the moment. I was ready to show her that I was willing to at least bring a level of passion to it.

And that was how my first time had went. We went about it for about ten minutes or so before I was bone tired and needed some sleep. I felt like I could and should have done much more. But I didn't really care.

We were laying together and I closed my eyes. I was asleep instantly. I think Emily stayed up a couple of minutes longer. Maybe a quarter of an hour. Probably to wonder why she did that with me. Why she would be giving herself the dishonor of being the first person to have it with me, and that it was going to be much worse than it should have been. I felt terrible for having this with her because it should have been better for her.


	55. Investigating

Part 5: Investigating

After prom was done, I was taking a deep breath and I got myself out of Emily's bed. I was looking down at her. Seeing her naked body in bed was a beautiful sight. I was going to probably remember the time I had with her until the day I had died. Seeing as it was the first time that I had ever had it with somebody. I was letting that thought sink in. The fact that I never had it with anybody until the very end of my tenth grade year. That was much too late in my opinion. But then I couldn't force myself to think about it any further as I forced myself out of the house when I put on my prom clothes.

I drove back home and the entire drive back was a very peaceful one. Probably only one that took maybe ten minutes or so. Maybe a couple give or take. But not nearly long enough for me to think that I needed to cut ties with Emily for reasons on purely just the driving level. I didn't get any where close to thinking this way. But the entire time I was driving home, I was thinking about what Dakota must be doing and if he was enjoying his first time as well that night. It would be a little bit of an embarrassment to lose the contest to me after all. But then I was telling myself not to think of it as a contest and just think of it as a moment of sharing love with somebody at a time of bliss.

I got back home, and I went right into my bedroom. I didn't want either one of my parents to know what I was doing. I was inside of my bedroom and then I took off the suit clothes. I was beyond tired of wearing those and then I sighed as I placed on my blue pants and my white shirt and my maroon hoodie that I had started to get attached to in the last couple of days. Once I laid down on my bed, I was taking a deep breath. If my parents found out I was having sex, they would probably be in my business about it until the day I had died and I feel like it would have been the most embarrassing thing that I could have ever dealt with.

I didn't hear my parents stir for about another half hour or so. During that time, I had almost gotten to sleep naturally from the fatigue I somehow got from the adrenaline rush just now.

Before I could have gotten too much of a chance to rest, I heard a knock on my door. I placed my pillow over my head to avoid any of this, or at least to give me the feeling I was avoiding them looking right at me. But then I told them they can come in and I knew for a fact that this entire thing was going to be a nightmare. They have to have known. There was no fucking way that they did not know.

I heard the voice of my father speaking to me. "I guess that because you had one good night that you think that you don't even have to look at me anymore? You think that after one good night, you can just brush me off and act like I am not even here? Do you know that you are playing on really thin ice when you do stuff like this to me?" My father asked and I could tell that he was giving his best attempt to give a cold voice.

I didn't respond though for a couple of seconds. "I just am tired. Can you give me a moment?" I asked and my father almost seemed to believe it. He turned away as I went into my pocket and played with fire a little bit. I took out the final cigarette in my pack and started to smoke it. I kept the window open as my attempt to not really get rid of the smell, but to make it a little bit less annoying and maybe cut the lecture I was about to get from my father down by a sliver of a margin.

Once the cigarette was done, I threw it out the window and then I looked right back at my dad. I saw as he was looking at me through the corner of his eye that I was now as ready as I could have been. "What were you wanting to talk to me about?" I asked, and then I was waiting for some form of a stern lecture and him yelling at me about not being home last night.

I saw him looking right at me as he said "You think that you can hide these things away from me forever? I think that you are not nearly as clever as you may believe yourself to be. One day, you are going to take over my job and I think that you are really going to have to shapen up the way you handle yourself when you take the job over." My father said and I didn't really even know what his job was, so I held out both of my hands.

"Oh my fucking god dad, stop with the job thing. I am not going to work at your shitty business. There is no point to it. I would rather not have you just give me a job." I said and I was telling the truth. But I could tell that my father was not pleased with the answer that I was giving him. I could tell that he was thinking that the answer I gave him was if anything a little bit of a disgrace. "Besides, I can't work at your job when I don't even know what the fuck your job is? You are just pointlessly telling me stupid shit I know or care nothing about." I was finished and then I could tell that my father was at a loss of any words for nearly five seconds.

On one hand, he was very impressed that I had the balls to speak to him in this regard. It was the first time that I ever did so. He was thinking that it did deserve a little bit of respect. But then he was getting over that mentality really fast, and he was getting back into the mentality that I was all too familiar with. One of anger and one of him showing that I was crossing thin ice. A familiar tone I didn't even think was possible on him until a couple of days ago. When I started to break and ask him about Riley.

"Don't you ever tell me that you are not going to get in my job again. Don't you ever act like you have a choice. Because guess what young man, you fucking don't. I have no interest with you playing with the idea that this work force is anything of your choosing. I am not going to listen to you rant at me like this again. I have no idea what has gotten into you lately, but it needs to stop." My father said and then I was ready to punch the guy.

"Nothing has gotten into me. All I did was ask you about Riley and ask you about the labyrinth. And then I tell you that I have no interest in your shitty job. There is nothing that has 'gotten into me' as you put it besides maybe me finally just having enough and just wanting to finally express my opinion of what it truly is." I said and then I saw my father was not wanting to deal with me anymore, so he just walked out. Once he was out, I looked around my drawers and found half a filled dime bag of pot. I needed it. I wanted to just move on from that.

So I took out the bag, my lighter, and my small blue bong and then I started to smoke the weed. As I was smoking it, and I was blowing the weed outside of my window, I was acting like I was able to at least relieve the feeling I was gathering. Maybe not get rid of it altogether, but at least make it less bad.

I went through the entire half of the dime bag in about fifteen minutes. By that point I was so high that I crashed pretty much within seconds. I didn't wake up for a few hours and when I did, I could tell that my room did not have the weed smell anymore. I needed a new pack of cigarettes so I walked out of the house and I was going to go and buy another pack. This time just walking there. I was probably going to actually get two packs this time.

As I was heading down to the store in which I would normally get my cigarettes, I was ready to figure out which ones I wanted this time. I never had been to picky on which one I wanted to get when I would go out and buy some. The only times I were ever really picky was when it was the super expensive ones. But then again, they were all kind of expensive so if it was more if it had fit my price range more than anything else really.

Eventually, I reached the gas station in town, where I was thinking that it could be a decent place to work. I mean, there was nothing about the place that seemed too far out there. It seemed like the only real problem about the gas station was that it was basically on the other side of town. So I would have to walk nearly forty five minutes to just get a fucking pack of cigarettes. Not to mention that the next town over was only like an hours drive away and had a way cooler crew at the gas station. When I was given the permission to drive around my fathers car, I just made a three to four hour trip out of it. I would get up, drive there, go to the station and buy the pack and then eat lunch there or something and then head on back to town where I would fill the gas up in order to not get in trouble and then return home.

Although I was pretty sure that my father and mother were both well aware of what I was doing, they probably just didn't really care all that much. They were rich people. Any time I said I was going to hang out with friends or something, they would usually give me twenty or thirty and then minus the cigarette packs prices, I would still have nearly twenty five dollars left over to fuck around when I was seeing Dakota and everything. If I did actually hang out with them. Or if I wasn't really doing that, then I just did stuff in the other town and used the remaining money for gas.

I was thinking about prom and some other things when I finally reached the station where I was going to buy my two packs for about six bucks. I went in and just asked for them and they handed me them. They knew exactly what I had wanted. I had done business there so many times that they could almost read my mind about it before I even asked them what I wanted. It was kind of funny.

Once I was outside of the station, I took one out and started to smoke it. I was glad to finally have a fresh new pack, in which I would be able to not worry about going through at least for the time being. Once I was done with the cigarette, I let the bud hit the ground and then I stomped on it. I was tempted to have a second one. But I didn't want to get too risky with my health. Not that I really cared. Then I just started to walk back home. While I was on my way, I saw that there was Jack and some of his friends in a car. Jack was the one driving and then he pulled up when he saw me.

"Hey Sheldon, seriously tell me something. Why were you trying to be so nice at prom last night? There was nothing that would really suggest that you needed to be..." Jack asked and I could tell that he was just voicing his confusion. He was right. There was no reason for it at all. But I was just thinking that it would be better to have somebody at your nice side and not somebody who was pissed off at you for no real reason.

"Because I just didn't want us to be on bad footing anymore. I just thought that it would be good for us to have at least some form of clean track record. Is that really too much to ask for?" I asked, as I was staring right at Jack in the face. I was seeing that he was considering what I was saying. Considering if he should believe in me or not.

"Okay fine, whatever. But one more question... What do you know, or even care about Gwen being missing? I mean, it was really none of your business. Why are you talking about it now all of a sudden?" Jack waited for my answer and I thought about it. I didn't know if I could tell him about the labyrinth. Or if he was not going to believe in me when I told him about that. I was waiting for a moment for him to just leave but when I saw that he was not going to leave until I answered and that the others in the car were getting really annoyed at this dialogue, I figured it was best to get it over with.

"I just heard about something is all. I thought that maybe you knew more about what happened. I mean sure she was kind of a dick to me... But come on, I don't have no soul. I care enough to know if something bad happened to one of my fellow class mates. Is that really too much to ask for? I mean, I don't want anything to have happened to her..." I said and then after I said this, Jack remained silent and I was seeing that he was trying to decide if he was going to go along with it or not.

"Sheldon, if you know something about how my friend went missing, I think I deserve to fucking know. Can you please tell me what you know about her?" Jack asked and he was not annoyed with me anymore. In fact, he seemed more somber. As if he was pleading that I somehow had the answers. But in all reality, I don't really think that I did have the answer. It was fucking impossible for me to say it to him without having him accuse me of lying through my teeth.

"Well, I heard that she had-" I started and before I was even given a second to continue, there was a girl next to him in his car, not the date he had the previous night, telling him that it was old to have this conversation and that they needed to go. Jack looked pissed at this woman for telling him this. But he knew that he was not going to get himself out of this one. So he took a deep breath and then he looked directly at me.

"Alright Sheldon, I will leave you alone now. But if you see me again, please fucking tell me what you know. Please let me understand what happened to my friend. I lost sleep many nights over what happened to her. If you can help me find her... I will never say a terrible word to you again. I will even be your friend if that is what it takes for you to get that I am sorry." With that, Jack started to drive off and I remembered this was the exact same thing I was told by Gwen earlier.

I was left there for a bit, wondering who exactly was my friends and who exactly was my enemies now. I felt like everybody I had known was really starting to mesh these two things together for better or for worse. But then afterwards, when I was bored of staying there not knowing what to say, I continued my walk home. I didn't know what to do. Walking was just sort of the thing that came to my mind to do. It was like I was sort of going on auto pilot.

I was thinking about Gwen. I was thinking about her desperate face. Her face that made it very clear that she was miserable. As if she was going through a living hell. I mean, Gwen hated me and then she acted like I was going to be her hero. I told her I would need one week to save her. If I didn't save her by then, I don't know if I would be able to ever be at peace with myself again. I think that I would want to die. That I would want to smoke even more to make the death of mine even faster. Anything to hide away from the disgrace I had gone through.

Eventually, I went home and I was inside of my room once again. I was wondering what my parents were thinking of me right now. I smoked a cigarette in my room and didn't even bother to put it out. I just let it simmer down on its own. I then closed my eyes a bit and then I decided to stop as I wanted to hang out with Dakota for a bit.

As I finally decided that I wanted to hang out with Dakota, I stood up and then I was walking out of the room. I then was in front of the door to the house. "Will be heading out to see Dakota for a while." I said and then I opened the door and walked out and I was ready to just have a relatively casual hang out with my friend. I didn't really think all that much about it. I thought that there was no real way that I was going to have anything else happen to me. If I just let the subject go about the labyrinth, then perhaps I could be able to slowly and eventually get on my good graces with my parents again and everything. I just didn't want them to be mad at me anymore. Having them mad at me made me mad as it was really not at all in my power that they were feeling this way towards me.

Eventually, I was taking out another cigarette and I started to smoke it. I was thinking that maybe after I hung out with Dakota, I will try and maybe actually talk to Jack now. I thought that maybe if I talked to Jack enough, then not only would I be on his good graces, but then he might tell me what he knew about Gwen and I can tell him all that I knew about Gwen. As a result, us both actually helping each other out a bit.

I thought that I just needed to know what happened to Gwen. I felt like if I didn't know what the hell happened to Gwen, then I was just not going to be able to rest and justify it. I felt like if I never found out what happened with Gwen, I was going to let these thoughts truly get to the best of me. I was honestly feeling a bit sick over even the thought of anything happening to me. But I was even more sick over the idea of something happening to Gwen. I didn't know why, but every time I thought about her, I was thinking about her in a better light. As if I was thinking that in the end of this whole thing, that I was being way too harsh about her and that if anything, maybe I needed to give her another chance to show that she was actually a nice girl after all. I was feeling sick to myself that I never really gave her a full chance.

I didn't know why this was affecting me so much. Gwen never even liked me. But I guess when you have this happen to you, and her looking like she would look at me as an icon if I helped her out even this once, I think that then it starts to get a bit more justifiable how I was feeling this way the whole time.

I was getting more and more convinced with every single minute that had passed, that she needed me really badly. I was convinced that she had needed me. That if I had failed her, I was going to make the worst mistake of my entire life. I was entirely certain that this was the fucking case. But I stopped thinking about this when I knocked on Dakota's door and I saw him open up. I saw from the look on his face that he was ecstatic to see me.

"Hey, I had a great night with Ashley. It was fucking awesome. I really wished that I had asked her out sooner. Then we could have had this amazing night sooner. But that is not what really matters right now. I assume that you are here for a reason." Dakota said and then he closed the door. I took out a cigarette and then offered a second one to Dakota. Then we were starting to smoke up a bit.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. Nothing really too big. I just wanted to see how my friend was doing before I went to bed. I just didn't really know when I was going to see you and Emily again." I said and then Dakota looked over at me and then he chuckled at that.

"Bro, we're going to be hanging out tomorrow. I don't know why you would even try and think other wise. I mean, come on. There is no real reason to think that we aren't going to see each other tomorrow." Dakota said and then he was looking at me down a bit and then he laughed. "So I can tell that you are really getting attached to that jacket?" Dakota then finished up his cigarette and then threw it forward. I could see him take the deep breath of the after math of the cigarette. I was almost done with mine and I was going to probably do the exact same thing. I loved smoking with Dakota. It was a lot of fun to do it with him.

"I think that I just have had a lot of stuff to think about lately. I know that this is really fucking vague for me to say. But I just feel like I need to start to be more realistic about the things that are going around here in town. I mean, we are going to be leaving high school in two fucking years. What the hell are we going to do now? I mean, I can always become a cop. But it seems like there is no short supply of police. There are a bunch of men who join the police force here on a monthly basis." I said and then I looked at Dakota and then I finished my cigarette and did the exact same fucking flick that he had done earlier.

"Don't worry about that too much. It is too years away from now. That is a long time. I know that technically it flies by. But that is only if you actually make those two years actually fucking worth it. And I plan on making every fucking minute worth it. Trust me Sheldon, there is nothing that I am going to do that would even remotely hint at me just wasting this time away." Dakota said and then I believed in him. He was a drug user, but he did have a relatively decent work ethic.

"Well, I mean with you and Ashley, that you might be able to pull off a couple of good years. I think that you and Ashley really are sort of meant for each other. I mean, you really seem to be happy when you are around her. I mean, I don't know how she is around you, but I am going to try and assume the same." I said and then I was tempted to start smoking a second cigarette. But then I was thinking that I can wait on it for a little bit longer.

"Sheldon, I really do think that you are going to find somebody soon. I think that maybe Emily has a good chance of being with you. I think you just haven't really been trying hard enough. I know, I shouldn't fully say that since I'm not you so I don't really know how you are. But seeing how you have been social lately, and the fact that you went on a date, I think you got in under the bag." Dakota said and then he was patting me on the shoulder. I could tell that he meant every single word that he had said to me. I was thinking that maybe he was actually right.

"I think that I have been doing pretty good lately actually. I feel like I have been really branching out. I thought you would have been insane a while back. But now I am thinking that you are exactly right. You are capturing what I have missed out on doing before. Now when I am with Emily, when I started to talk to Jack now about Gwen, I think I am onto something." I said and then Dakota stopped me there.

"You have actually been talking to Jack about Gwen? Damn, you are making even more progress than I thought you were. Now I am certain that you really are doing a good job here. Damn, I am pretty impressed actually." Dakota said and then after he had said that, I saw Jack's car pull up. I then looked at Dakota.

"Yeah, we live like three houses away from each other. I am kind of surprised that you didn't know that already. Well anyways, I think that maybe he wants to talk to you or something." Dakota said and I could tell that there was a part of him that sounded a bit disappointed. As I started to rise up in popularity, the previously more popular Dakota was slowly starting to fall. But then I thought that I could bring him along with me.

"Sheldon, I want to talk to you about Gwen right now. I hope that you are free." Jack said and then after he had said that, I was thinking and then I nodded. I did indeed have the time to hang out with Jack. But I was well aware of the fact that this was strictly business and that he had no real desire to make a giant friendship out of this. I was looking right at Dakota and I was thinking about what I was doing. I was thinking about him. I was thinking about much he must have felt like I was just leaving him behind.

"Fine, I will talk about Gwen. But he is coming with me. I need somebody with me to make sure that this isn't a hoax." I said, and I could tell that Jack was not very happy with this. But I could tell that he was thinking that I did have a relatively justifiable feeling. Then he nodded and he told me that Dakota can come along. I then waved Dakota over and then he stood up. He was now starting to feel like he was a little bit less left out. I had no idea why I was starting to get more discussions with the popular people than he was even though Dakota was a thousand times more popular than I could have ever been.

I got in shot gun seat and then Dakota got in the back seat. As Jack started up the car, he was clearly getting a little bit less annoyed. "So Sheldon, what exactly do you know about Gwen? I mean, I won't judge you if you talk a little bit badly about her. I mean, you do not in any way have a good history with her. There is no way that I can even remotely pretend that your feelings aren't at least somewhat justified." Jack said, and then I raised my hand to tell him that it was fine, and that I wasn't really on that right now. I had totally moved on from that. I did not in any way care about that any more.

"Look, I found out about a place that I think has been covered up from the general town population. Something that I do think can help us find Gwen and some other people. There is this place called the labyrinth. I think that once we go down there, that we will find the answers that we need. I was told about it by a credible source recently. I even know where one of the entrances down there is. But the thing is, I want to know more about it and why she went missing before I go down there again." I said and then I was looking right at Jack. I was ready to challenge him with this if I needed to. I knew that he was going to try and go down there right away. I was not going to let that happen. I needed to know the details before I went down there again. I needed to be prepared before I went down there again. I knew that I was not really ready to go down there again. I was too weak to go down there again. I needed to be stronger before I even considered it.

I took out the next cigarette and then I was smoking it casually. "Sheldon, what is this labyrinth? Do you actually think that it will help us with Gwen?" Jack asked and I knew that it would. I knew she was down there. But again, I wanted to know more first.

"I am certain that it will unless if something changes soon. But listen Jack, you do not want to go down there unprepared. That thing down there... that place... is pure fucking evil. Everything about it is pure fucking evil. I need to make sure that you are willing to fully work with me in order to make sure that everything is going to go well." I said and then we eventually reached Jack's house after about a minute of driving but what felt like an hour.

"That is alright. I just wanted to talk to you about her as well. See what you really thought of her. See if perhaps I can help clear up some of the problems that you had with her. See if perhaps you and her once she comes back, if she comes back, can maybe mend the wounds. And besides, I want to give you an actual chance first. Get to know you first. And most of all, I think that I want you to go to a party with me after finals on Tuesday. I never considered inviting you before, but after the stuff you did at prom yesterday, and what you know of Gwen, I think that maybe I can help invite you." Jack then looked at Dakota.

"Same rules as this hang out. I will go if you can promise that Dakota can come with me. If he comes, I will go. If not, the deal is off." I said and then I thought that sooner or later, my loyalty to my friend was going to get the better of me. But then I felt like I needed to do this for his sake. I felt like I needed to show everybody that he was still a friend of mine no matter what was going to happen.

"Fine, that is something I can perhaps arrange. But let's get inside before people start to wonder what we are doing." Jack said and I was able to find myself actually agreeing with him on this one. After we got out of the car, I could see that Dakota was looking right at me. As if he was wondering just what I was getting myself into. That I was getting myself into a mess I might not be able to recover from.

We started to walk right to the front of Jack's house. Once inside of his house, Jack called out to his parents. "I have some class mates over right now. We are just going to be doing some school work right now." Jack said and then we walked right inside of his bedroom. I was ready to try and discuss some things with him. To make him feel like he can trust me.

Once inside of the room, Jack looked at us. "So I think that in all reality, we probably have at most an hour or two here. Nothing too much. But I think that it can be enough for us to get to know each other a bit. You are probably right about one thing. We should get to know each other a bit first." Jack said and then he was looking at my maroon hoodie. "You have been wearing that a lot the last couple of days? Is it like your new attire?"

"I like it enough. It is warm and it just looks nice on me in my opinion. I think that it is something that I actually feel like is mine. Strange enough since I only got it for prom and everything since that was the only thing I have the money for." I said and then I laid down on the bed. I was then staring at the ceiling for a while.

"Sheldon, what really was the thing with you and Gwen anyways? What made her want to make fun of you so bad anyways? I mean, you are no social king or anything. Not at all, but you are certainly not like a terrible person or anything. You seem like you are actually a pretty nice guy over all." Jack said and then I thought about it a bit. I had to really think about the first insult that she had ever thrown at me. Which was a lot.

"She just started to call me a pervert one day. I made a joke about a ten year old girl when we were fourteen. When she had heard that joke, she started to think that this was what my style was. You know, the ten year old girls. I thought that she was going to try and arrest me or something. Honestly though, this is all water under the bridge. I don't really care all that much anymore. I think that if I find her again, I am going to actually try and be a friend with her. A real friend. And if she wants to be, that is great. If not, then at least hopefully she won't call me a pervert anymore.

"I think that it was much more than a joke though. I think I remember that situation. The way that you were saying it, the way that you had your facial expressions, it seemed like to some people that you were being serious. Even I thought for a moment that you were." Dakota said and then I didn't want to say it, but there was a level of truth to them. They were cute. But that didn't mean I wanted to do something like sex with them.

"Besides, I think there was just something about my personality that she personally found easy to make fun of. I guess that this is true under most cases. But that doesn't mean that I wanted to actually have people make fun of me over it. I didn't really think that I deserved even half of the shit talking I was given by Gwen and her friends. I mean, there is nothing that I could do about it now. I feel like if she saw me again, she would feel the desire to change how she was around me. I think that she would actually want to change. I just have the feeling that this is the case." I said, and I was totally referring to that period interaction we had down there where she said she would totally change how she was if I had been able to save her.

"Well, the thing is people just mature. They grow out of the ideas that they had when they were younger. Many of them see the many faults that they had when they were younger. I think that even you would look back at yourself eventually and see that there were many things that you would do differently if you had another chance to make things different." Jack said and he wasn't really trying to exactly defend Gwen when he had been saying this as much as him just trying to be a bit more realistic about the whole ordeal. Something that I was able to understand and to some extent even appreciate a bit.

"Yeah, I have to admit that I am not perfect. I have made a lot of choices that if I was allowed to try again, I would have done differently." I said and I was thinking about Riley. God fucking damn it, if I knew what would happen to her, I would have spent every minute I would have been able to with her.

That is one of the main things that hurts me more than anything else. The fact that I know I would never be able to make things right with her. The fact that I will never be able to make it seem like we got along. I just wanted to see her again, and try to make her see that if things could have been repeated, I would not have made any of the stupid mistakes I made when I was just a ten year old boy who wanted to get attention. I would not have done any of it.

"But that is all about the process of getting older and wiser. You see the fuck ups you make in your life, and you go do your best to change them. You know, you just need to accept the mistakes that you make, and then go and do your best to make sure that they don't get made again. You are not perfect. There is no need to try and be that way. It will always fail if you try too hard to be something that you just simple are not." Jack said and I wondered to myself how many times he thought about this to himself in passing.

"What is the party going to be like?" I asked, desperate to change the subject and not be thinking about Riley and how much I ended up failing her by not trying to find her earlier. By not questioning the 'official' story earlier. I felt like an asshole. I felt like I had betrayed my older sister. And that was a feeling I would not be able to forgive myself on. No matter how much time had passed, I was always going to get that feeling of dread every single fucking time I would even come to think of her.

Jack looked at me a bit confused about my sudden change in the subject, but he got over it quickly and responded. "Well, it is just going to be a party with all the popular kids to celebrate the end of the year. There will be a bunch of weed there and some alcohol. There will probably be a lot of sex there. I think that if you are lucky enough, you might be able to score some pussy there." Jack said and he winked at me as if to show that this was his way of trying to make me get at least something for my efforts to help him out. I didn't want to tell him that I had it with Emily. I wanted him to think that he was doing something good for me.

That was when Dakota looked like he was now suddenly paying attention again. "Oh, I am already dating somebody. I think I might still go... But I won't be able to do anything too crazy..." Dakota said and then Jack looked at me as if thinking that things were going to be so cool if Dakota wasn't there and he wasn't just around to be watching over me like a fucking hawk. I then thought that if Dakota went, he will be too busy playing normal to care about me and if he didn't go there in loyalty to Ashley, I was free to do anything I wanted. Either way, I was fucking winning.

I was finally getting somewhere here. Yes, this was the end of my tenth grade year and it will be much to late to change anything this year. But for fucks sake, if I can start to get a reputation going when I was at the end of the year and starting next year, then I was going to be able to just ease right in. I knew that this was my chance to get popular for next year.

"Do you think that there is a chance that I will be able to score anybody?" I asked, wondering if there were any attractive freshman girls who were going to be there. I thought that they must have all been virgins, and besides, they were pretty attractive. I felt like they might have been the group I would shoot for the most.

"I think that you will be just fine. Just don't over think it. Go in there casual. Go in there ready to take on the world. Then you will be ready for anything. Seriously, it is nothing you need to worry about. I think that you just are over thinking things. I think that you are just going to create more problems for yourself when you over think like this." Jack said and then I started to think that maybe he was right about that.

"Yeah, you are probably right. But I don't know, I just have never done this before at school. I never even have been invited to one of these. So this is all a bit strange and new to me. That is most of the reason that I feel this way right now..." I said and then I felt like even jack wouldn't be able to shoot me down this. I never went to a single high school party. But then I thought of something else. Something that was really going to seal the deal with me. Something that was going to make the people there love me and act like I was the fucking coolest guy in the world.

I was going to steal some money from my parents. They have so much they wouldn't even care or notice at all. Then when I did that, I would going to go to all the drug stores and the liquor store and I was just going to rack up on supplies. Then I would tell my parents I was hanging out with Dakota that night. And I tell them that I needed the car since it was going to be at night and I was staying there. Then I would drive to Jack's house, or where ever the party was, and then use what I had to bring down the house and make the people love me even more. I was in the perfect situation. I knew that this was my biggest chance, and maybe even my only chance.

I was fucking pumped. I was going to solidify my position as one of the coolest guys in school and it only took a popular guy one offer, one chance he would give me to do this. In the end, Jack may have actually been my fucking hero on this whole ordeal all along. He may have done the one thing for me nobody else would have or could even have.

"This is going to be fucking awesome. I am super fucking excited. I will actually feel like I am fitting in." I said and there was no way that I was going to let this down. I knew that this was going to be the best chance that I had ever. There was no way in hell that I was going to let a single thing get in my way. Not even fucking Gwen and her missing, or not even fucking the labyrinth or even the fucking Emily situation.

I was going to go to this party, and I am going to talk them. I am going to make friends there. I am going to go in there with a level of authority that shows that I will not fuck around. I will show then that there is no longer any form of anomisty that I had towards them anymore. We are fucking teenagers. We do stuff that is a bit annoying. We do stuff that we are not proud of. I was going to go to this party and I was going to enjoy every single minute of it. But when it is all over, I will continue my search for her. I will continue to help find Gwen and save the labyrinth.

"Alright guys, you said that you were going to help me investigate for Gwen, and it is time for you to hold your end of the promise." Jack said and then I was starting to think that nothing was going to be perfect forever. I figured that it was a good idea to get this over with though. I thought that even if I wanted to think about the awesome party coming up, then I am going to have to do the thing that had made Jack want to talk to me in the first place. And that was making sure his friend was even alive. Which after about four days or so, I realized could have been a real possibility.

We got inside of the car and Jack was looking at me. "Gwen really liked to go down to the beach. I think that maybe if we go there, there can be any clues. But Sheldon, you were telling me that you actually knew where this labyrinth entrance is. Can you at least give me a general idea on where the entrance is?" Jack asked and then I hated the idea of telling him this. But I was also thinking that he was not going to let it go until I told him where the entrance was. I just hoped that Todd was going to forgive me for this.

I didn't even know why I was suddenly caring so much about what a young guy was thinking. But at the same time, I was thinking that this guy would have been a formidable ally or a person who was going to show every single mistake that I have ever made during my time here.

"Yeah, it is near the large school in town. There is a place in the school yard that has a door that goes down. Although I would be lying if I told you where it actually was. I have honestly mostly forgotten where it actually was..." I said and the I was hoping that he was going to take this as an indicator to leave the situation alone. I took out a cigarette and started to smoke it. "Besides, even if I did know where exactly it was, what part of the school yard that it was at, I would not really be sure if you would be safe enough to go down there."

"But Sheldon, if she is needing help, then I feel like I will not be able to go and actually live life normally anymore if something will happen to her and I could have done something to actually help her. I get that you are scared of me going down there. But will you be willing to actually let me search the school yard with you when you try and go down there again?" Jack asked and then I looked at him as if he was fucking insane for suggesting the later part of this.

"If you actually think that I am going to go down there, then you are fucking insane..." I said and then I let the words sink in for a moment. But then after I let the words sink in for a moment I took a deep breath and then I continued a bit. "But that being that, if you actually really want me to help out, I will see what I can do. I won't make any real gurantees on what I can do to help you out. I do plan on maybe going down there. I made a promise when I was there last... And when I go down there again, I will bring you along. Only because you claim that you really want me to do this..." I then was feeling like I was going to regret this. That I was going to get Jack killed by this agreement.

"Sheldon, thank you. I want to free her. Or at least contribute to freeing her." Jack said and then I saw that there was the faintest attempt at smiling towards me. I could tell that he was really forcing it upon himself. I was then nodding at this, hoping that I would be able to actually go through with the promise.

Dakota got inside of the conversation again. "If you two are going down there, you know to increase chances of survival, should I go down there and help you guys as well? I mean, I won't really know what I can do to help you out a ton... But I think that I can at least you know, be a distraction and provide for you guys being able to make the situation a bit less risky. I think that if you don't want to get in trouble, you might need to bring a small group of people with you." Dakota said and I thought that Dakota was actually right about that. There was so much that you can do in order to make sure that the police don't notice what we are doing. I had a feeling that perhaps the police were really going to be the people that I needed to be worried about. I had no idea why the police were worrying me so much, but for fucks sake, there was something about the way that they were presenting themselves on a daily basis, that always made me feel like I was treading on thin ice every single time I had seen them.

We eventually reached the beach and then all three of us got out of it. I was staring at the water of the beach. I smiled as I was looking forward. I had no idea why staring at the beach was making me so happy all of a sudden. But just seeing the casual ripple was really relaxing.

Even with all of the stuff going on, and even with all of the things that I wanted to do at the party in order to give me some form of popularity, I still had to take in the fact that the beach was always a really nice place. As if when you are there, you can sort of forget about everything going on.

I sat down on the car, and I was hoping that Jack didn't mind me doing this. I didn't need to worry for too long as Jack sat down on the car right next to me. Dakota then sat on top of the car and then all three of us were relaxing like a bunch of teenage dudes who were breaking the law and acting like we had nothing to worry about while we were breaking the law. I looked at Jack and took out another cigarette and started to smoke it.

I think that this may have actually been the first time that I had smoked on the beach. I was taking in the moment. As I was sitting there, I was actually thinking that there was a chance that this could be able to actually start a friendship with Jack. I was honestly believing that I could become friends with him. I just needed to get through these first few days. I just needed to through the party, and help him find Gwen and then I was now his friend. It didn't really seem like it would actually be all that hard.

I then flicked the done cigarette right on the beach and then I was breathing a little bit of the smoke out. I was feeling like my stomach was hurting a bit. I was thinking that maybe I did need to stop for the rest of the day. I thought that once I slept it off, then I would be totally fine and that I just needed a good nights sleep.

We took about ten minutes just talking casually and acting as if there was nothing about the labyrinth. We talked about school and prom and what our plans for the summer were going to be. We talked as we got in the car all the way until he pulled me up at me house and then I got out of the car and waved him good night. I then went right to my room and then I really was still in the thought set that this was going to be the start of something good.


	56. The Party

Part 6: The Party

The next two days passed by like a breeze. I did my finals just fine, and I didn't know if I did good in him or not. I did a bunch of late night sessions on those final two days. Even staying up another hour or so after I got home from hanging out with Jack. I just wanted to make my grades at least passing. I just wanted to get the credits, and then move on with my life. Once I had made that choice in order to actually make the last few days of my year be my final grab of grade glory, I just studied. But now it was over, which means the part of the week I was most excited for was coming up. I was going to go to that party in town. That was the only thing that I was really excited for. I had been so focused on school and the party that for those two days, I had almost forgotten about Gwen and the labyrinth.

I had no idea how I had been able to forget about that stuff after just two days. Maybe it was all the smoking weed that I did with it and the drinking I did both nights right before I went to sleep when my parents were down and unaware of what exactly I was doing. I was feeling like I was becoming more and more secretive about my drinking habits.

Once the two days were over, I went right through my plan. I got home after finals were done. "Hey mom, I was going to go and hang out with Dakota for the night. An end of the school year sleepover." I said and then I saw that my mother was looking up from what she was doing and she seemed like she was not really all that worried about what I was doing.

"Alright. Just know that your dad thinks that he might have found a nice job for you. So when you go home, maybe you should be talking to him about that." My mother said and while I was confused about the whole job thing, but there was the part of me that didn't really think too deeply into it. I just said that it was something I would deal with when I got there. So I went right to my room. I was looking at my clothes. I replaced my sort of professional black shirt that I wore for the sake of the end of the year finals and then got back to my white shirt and then I placed my maroon hoodie on. I felt like I was ready to go back to being casual. Before I had left, I snuck around and grabbed a bottle of my parents alcohol, and then I grabbed a bunch of weed from my room and shoved it in my pocket. Probably enough to a hundred or so puffs on the bong. I kept the bit of the dime bag for myself since I thought that it was better to have that for myself when I was home.

I then walked out of the house, and I went to the car. I started to drive the car and I still had about fifty or so dollars on my person. I had enough to buy a couple of packs just for myself. Then once I was done with that, then I could go and buy a bunch of liquor and weed.

I went around and I was at the liquor store. I bought three bottles and saw that I had about thirty dollars left out of my fifty. Then afterwards, I went to where my usual weed buying spot was. When I was there, I saw that there was a guy there with a bunch of supplies there. I talked to people about this on Monday, that way I can have this be ready in advance. I gave them the thirty dollars and I was given another thirty dollars of weed. Which added to my amount that I already had probably was a decent starting point for the party.

Once I was done getting the supplies, I was excited. The hype that I was gathering up for this party was something that I thought was totally unrealistic. There was no way that I was probably going to be fully satisfied compared to the hype. But it was something that I was totally ready for. Even if it only gave me half of the popularity boost that I am hoping for, then it was going to be enough to get me a legit start up. A start up that was actually going to mean a lot in the long run.

I eventually pulled up where the party was. I was looking for the address the entire time I was in that neighborhood. Once I had eventually found it, I grabbed the bottles of alcohol and then I had my pockets filled with cigarettes and weed. If the police were going to find us, we would be so fucked. So I should take this back and say that I would be so fucked. But I was totally ready for any punishment I could get. Even if my parents found out what I was doing, I can just tell them that I got invited to a big party and decided to go. Which to a large extent was true.

Dakota was already there at the party, although he was just at the front of the house. I saw people looking around and seeing what I was doing. They were shocked that I was this ready to bring down the fucking house. I then placed the alcohol bottles on the countertops of the kitchen, in which there were hundreds of people in there. Well, maybe not hundreds, that was a little bit of a stretch, but dozens of people to be totally sure.

Once I was there, I saw that Jack was right next to me. He smiled as if he was really excited to see that I was bringing the big stuff. "Damn, I thought that you were only going to bring in some supplies. I didn't think that you were going to bring so many things here. You're like the coolest person ever." Jack said and then I took all of the weed I had out and then slammed them on the counter top as well. All of the people who were in the kitchen with us looked at us.

"Let's get it started..." I said and then I grabbed a shot glass from where the cups were. I started to open up the bottle and then I filled up one of the shot glasses. I then took the shot and then I made a loud hollering sound. I saw that Jack was wondering why I had never been invited to parties before. I could tell from the look on the other peoples faces that they were regretting not inviting me to parties before. That they thought I was going to be the highlight of this party.

After I took that first shot, I then grabbed some of the weed and then I took out my lighter. I then looked around for an empty soda bottle. I grabbed the soda bottle and went right to the couch in the house. I used a knife that was on the table and then I cut a hole in the soda bottle. I saw that there was about six or seven people watching me. I then saw that there was some tape on the table in front of me. I stabbed the bottle top with the knife and then tapped the bottle cap on to make sure that it wouldn't fall over. I then placed my mouth on the hole after I placed the weed on the bottle top and then I set on the lighter and then as the weed was burning, I took a long and deep breath.

I then held in the weed for a couple of seconds and then I released the smoke. I managed to pitch it just enough to where I was making a ring out of it. I was shocked that I did this, as it was really hard to make a ring out of weed. Then I laughed and then somebody asked if they could use the bottle as well. I handed them the bottle and they used some of the weed that they had to start their high.

I stood up and then I was feeling so relaxed already. "Oh man am I fucking stoned..." I said and then I laughed and then I placed both of my hands on my knees and then I pointed my index finger on my left hand forward after a few seconds. "Oh god, you really know how to party." Then with that, I was ready to get down to business. I looked and saw that Dakota was looking at me, as if wondering if I was making a big mistake.

I didn't think about it all that much when I saw him. I was here to party, and he just needed to accept the fact that I was wanting to do this with my time. I just got right back to the party and then I saw that there was some people who showed me to a giant bowl that was filled with some form of beer. One of the students said "Dude you should totally drink this fucking beer, that will be fucking sick." After he had said that, I was ready to drink the fucking beer and show people that I was totally ready to bring down the house. I grabbed the beer bowl and then I looked at everybody at the party, or at least in my eye sight and I started to speak out loud.

"I am going to chug this whole fucking bowl down and I bet fifteen dollars that I can do it without having to take a single break." I said and then I saw that there were a ton of people there who were cheering for me to chug down the beer. I was totally into it. I put the bowl right to my mouth and then I started to chug down as fast as I possibly could. I drank the entire bowl in the course of about twenty five seconds, as I was taking two of three mega gulps per second. Then when I was done, I threw the bowl at the ground and then I saw that everybody was cheering. I didn't even care for the fifteen dollars. I just wanted to get people to see that I could do it. I was an expert on drinking and smoking. This was no fucking problem. Most of these people here were probably newbies. I was a veteran.

After that, I saw that there was a couple of people who were getting right next to me trying to get my attention. "Dude, you should totally drink straight from a cut section of a beer can next time." Somebody said and then I was feeling like my quest for popularity was finally going on my favor. I felt a couple of the people grabbing me and then they were lifting me up.

Everybody who was under me started tossing me up and down several times and I felt like I was the biggest guy on the block. This kept up for nearly thirty seconds until they placed me down to the ground. I started to stumble around for a few seconds and almost tipped over a couple of times and then I stood up to get back in full motion. "Oh my fucking god, you should totally try that. It is fucking sick!" I said and then I saw a couple of people holding their hands out and I was high fiving them every chance I could get. I had no idea how I was not on the verge of throwing up. But I didn't care.

I got on top of the couch and as I was standing above everybody I did a little bit of a break dance on the couch. I didn't even care that it was unsafe. I was just feeling like I wanted express myself. I wanted to show people the creativity that I had. I then felt that the couch was starting to fall over and then I jumped down as if I was getting down from a burning building.

"You know, when you aren't even in control of what you are doing, you don't care what anybody ever thinks of you." I said and then I walked up to a girl who looked like she had black hair. "Want to have a dance? You are fucking gorgeous."

The girl looked at me and then she was smiling. She laughed a bit, and I could tell that my compliment, albeit in a drunk state, was something that can still boost her confidence. She held out her and then I started to dance with her. I started to pull out the moves and I was swinging her around and moving her in a way that only a professional dancer could. I had no idea how I was able to do this when I was drunk. Maybe there was a small part of me that was just sort of a natural player when I was at state that didn't really fully function. Like when the switch was off, I can bring her down.

We danced for what seemed like twenty minutes even though I knew that it was probably only two or three. When the dance was over, I brought her to my face and then I kissed her in the most passionate way that I could possibly have been able to do. As we were kissing, I held for about ten seconds or so and then I let her go. Once I was done, I saw that everybody was egging me on to do something else. As if they were wondering how crazy my exploits were going to get. They were wanting to see how much more insane I could possibly be able to get.

I saw that there was Dakota coming up to me. "Sheldon, I think that you need a bit of a break right now. You are really drunk right now." Dakota said and then the people were around me were telling him to stop being a party pooper. I was shocked that I was in a situation where he was the one who was looking out for me. Not the other way around, which I felt like would have been the situation that we would have normally seen. I thought that we would have been in a place where he was the one who was terribly drunk and then I would have to watch him. But I was in a state where I merely just didn't give a shit at all.

Eventually, I looked at Dakota and he was just looking down as if he was just wishing that I would turn this whole thing around. But then he was walking away, as if he was thinking that he just knew that there was no way that he was going to get me to stop what I was doing, no matter what he had thought of the situation.

I would just find a way to apologize to him later, and that would probably ease tensions between us. That was all I needed to do. That made me convinced that I was totally fine right now. Then when I was done thinking about Dakota for a couple of seconds, and then I was getting back to the party. But then I was looking for other things that I needed to do now.

Despite what anybody would have thought at first, and what would have really been realistic to what we been seeing in prior history, I was the one who had been really stealing the show. I knew that now that the people in my class knew how I partied, that they really wanted to bring me into future parties. I thought that I was going to really enjoy future parties, and that I just needed to get out of this one and tell my parents that I was fine if they found out about this one and we were worried about me for anything that could get me killed from dancing too hard or something insane like that. Which let's face it, we all knew was not actually going to happen. They were just too worried about me. I was fine, and that I was doing good on this party was showing that I had been managing myself just fine.

Eventually, I was back in the kitchen and there was a person who was sending me a couple of beer cans. I was given a knife and then I placed my hands over the sink. I stabbed the beer can on the side and then I started to drink it off the side of the can to help enhance the flavor a bit. Then when I was done, I took out one of my packs of cigarettes and then I took out two cigarettes and started to smoke them right at the same time.

I was seeing more and more people going around seeing what I was doing. Cheering me on and telling me to do this, and do that, and get more things done to make me rise even more on the social status. I knew that I was going over board. But I was not going to let this new found popularity die so quickly. I wanted at least one fucking night.

Then when I was smoking, I threw them both down the garbage disposal and I was totally convinced that the only two people who hated what I was doing this party were Dakota and then the person who had owned this house. Dakota I wasn't too worried about, but the other person I was.

After I had started to come to a bit of this realization, I realized that I needed to be a little bit more careful. But I was too wasted and high to even remotely give a shit about this. I then was in the middle of continuing my dancing and partying when I was tapped in the shoulders by a guy who looked like he was really pissed off at me. "So you come to a party one time, and now you think you are suddenly the most popular kid in school? You should be taught a lesson in how to actually handle yourself with proper respect." The guy was saying to me and then after he was telling me this I slapped him right in the face, which I would not have done if I was not so wasted.

"Fuck you. I am having the time of my life. You are a stupid jerk." I said and I didn't even know who was talking to me. I was just saying something that seemed like it would be cool, even though I was slurring up my words quite a bit as I was saying this. If I wasn't wasted and if I was just a general spectator, I would have actually find it a bit amusing.

"You do not get to act like you are better than me after one day because you decided to be a bit tipsy." The guy said and then he punched me right in the face. I then stepped back a couple of steps and then I was looking right up at the guy and then I saw that everybody in the party stopped doing what they were doing just to see where this was going to go. I then balled my fists and given how drunk I was, I felt like I was about to fall over and just pass out at any second.

I then punched the guy three times in the chest and with all three of them, I was placing in the most jammed packed strength that I would have been able to put it. I saw the guy groan a bit and I knew that he was not able to for even a second actually believe that I was this strong, and if I was this strong when drunk, it was scary to imagine how much I could have kicked his ass if I was sober and actually in the right state of mind.

Then he grabbed a knife and he swung the knife. I kicked him right in the lower chest and then he fell down to the ground. I saw the knife slide across the ground. I then grabbed the knife and threw it right at the wall, and it landed where it was just stuck on the wall. I took a moment to point at the wall and then I screamed "Holy fucking shit that fucking rocked!" I then looked at everybody and they actually looked really impressed at how I did that with extreme accuracy and then afterwards, the guy I was fighting with started to stand up a bit.

Then when I saw that he was standing up, I knew I had to get right back into my fighting mindset. When I saw him balling his fists together, I then kicked him right in the face and he fell down once again and then I then stood back. I was wondering when he was going to give up on this and when he was going to see that I was going to beat him no matter how hard he was going to try and fight me. That this fight was honestly kind of pointless and that I was ten times better than him.

"Now imagine this fight if I was sober. You would be bleeding to death right now." I said and then I took out a cigarette and started to smoke it. I really enjoyed smoking. Even when it was in a serious moment such as this fight, I was able to find a moment to catch myself a smoke. Then when I smoked it off a bit, I saw that the guy was coming right towards me. For the first time in my life, I left a unfinished cigarette on the table top. I was going to finish it. But I needed to finish it in a little bit.

Then the guy actually got a good hit on me when he hit me right in the eye. I placed my left hand on my face and then I was feeling like I actually might have a chance of being beaten. Then I punched him a few times in the chest with my right fist when I finally got my mind on the right direction. Then I kept hitting him enough to where he wasn't even able to continue this fighting anymore. Then I saw that after I was done, he looked at me and he was giving me a face of complete and utter anger. I knew that I had beaten him, and that he had hated to admit that I had beaten him.

"Why the hell are you so strong? It makes no sense that you are this strong. I just don't fucking get it." The guy said and then he started to walk away from me. I took a deep breath and then I finished up the cigarette I had, which was mostly burned down by that point. Which really made it feel like a shame and then afterwards, I placed it back down the garbage disposal and then I sat down on the counter top.

"That was more than just a little bit annoying. I really don't know what he was thinking that he had the place to do that with me. I guess it doesn't really matter now. He was beaten, and I am done with him forever. I think that he will never have the same reputation anymore. I mean, he got his ass handed to him by a guy who was totally fucking wasted." I said and then I laughed my fucking ass off at this.

Then I grabbed the knife on the wall and then I was looking right down at it. "I got to admit though, his knife is actually pretty good. That is like his one good thing." I said and I felt like I was on the verge of being black out drunk. I grabbed another beer can and the chugged the entire can down in a matter of seconds. I was wanting myself to be totally black out drunk. I was really needing to be black out drunk. Being black out drunk was the one thing that I absolutely wanted more than anything else in the world. As I said, it was the one thing that I needed more than anything else.

I saw that there was a girl who had walked right up to me. She then placed her hands on my shoulders and then she was saying "Want to come to my house tonight?" I didn't even understand what she was saying, and I just thought that it would be cool to get laid with somebody like this. So I looked right at her and then I nodded. I knew that I wanted to get laid with her, and that she was going to feel like she was a fucking goddess as I was doing this with her.

Eventually, I was looking around and then I saw that there was a bunch of food on the table. I grabbed the food and then I started to slam the food down my mouth. I was ready to just shove this whole thing down. I probably ate like a quarter of a pound of random snack food. I could tell that everybody was thinking that they wanted me to be at every party for the rest of high school, thinking that I was going to be the only one who was going to make this any bit more exciting.

I really wanted to throw up. But in order to be the black out drunk that I needed to be, I needed to keep it inside. I was not allowed to throw up, since if I did, I was going to lose all the progress I made and that I was going to come back to just being randomly sober. Besides, the people loved me when I was drunk. When I was high. They wanted me when I was in this state. I was not going to get myself out of this state as I was finally respected for once in my life.

I then was looking around and I was thinking of what to do now. I saw that there was a small dance floor. I bounced my way to the dance floor and then I started to dance around a little bit. I looked like a dumb ass when I was dancing around. But I didn't really care who thought I looked like a idiot. I just wanted to look like this.

I had no idea what I was doing, and honestly I had no idea who was even really aware of the fact that I was not normally like this. But what did it really matter in all honesty? I mean, I was dancing and partying. I was having a great time right now. That was all that mattered. And since this was the last day of school and there was summer right after this, I would not have to deal with people making fun of me for the rest of the school year. At worst I might hear some comments about it during the summer. But this would be the worst I would have to deal with, and in all honesty that is not really all that bad.

I was feeling the urge to pass out a bit. I was thinking that there was a chance that I was getting close to being black out drunk. I was getting close to being at the level that I so desired to be at. The level that I had been shooting for since this party had started. I was starting to be a bit disjointed while I was walking and there were even a couple of points when I was tempted to just throw up all over the place. But I was telling myself that I couldn't because if I did, then I was going to lose it. I did not want in any way to lose it. If I lost it, then everything would have been ruined. And besides, it would ruin the mystery of what it would be like to have a one night stand. I wanted one that not only gave me the thrills of being with somebody I would only see once, but the thrill of doing it with somebody I would only see once while I was wasted. It was a great idea. A great thrill. And I wanted every second of it.

I knew what I was doing was bad for myself. I knew that I was damaging my body while I was doing this. I knew that there was a chance that I was going to get myself killed from all of this. But who really fucking cares? If I did die, then it would be something that I could be able to say was a good and relaxing death. Not one from a car crash, or worse something related to Riley.

Right when I was hearing Riley's name echo in my head, I was starting to lose all form of sanity I had at that moment. I started to walk to the bathroom where I had moved away from everybody in the area who had wanted me to do something. I felt like I needed a moment to think about it. Where I heard that name before. Why that name mattered. I knew it was important, but for the life of me I just could not remember where it was from. I was starting to wonder if perhaps I had imagined this young woman and that she didn't even exist.

As I was starting to come to my own personal conclusion that I had imagined the whole thing and that Riley didn't even fucking exist in my drunk ass mind, I was still finding myself staring into the mirror as if I was not really able to believe what I was thinking. There was still a part of me that was thinking that this was wrong. I placed my hands on the bathroom counter staring at the mirror for a moment. The entire time that I was staring, the more that I was starting to imagine the face of a young fourteen year old girl staring at me.

If fake people can have emotions and be judgmentive, I could have sworn to god that she was doing exactly that to me. I could swear that she was judging me and even possibly pissed at me. I had no idea why she was acting like this to me. I was finding it to be really strange. This girl who I had no idea about was doing this to me. I was telling myself not to really think about it all that much as I shook my head a couple of times.

Besides, even if this girl did exist, she was a fourteen year old lady. There was no reason to worry about what a fourteen year old would be thinking of me. She had no right at all to judge me. She was being a dick even if she was real. Besides, I was my own man. I should choose to do whatever the hell I had wanted.

Once I was finding myself in a spot where I was telling myself that this was all just something that I was thinking about and that it was nowhere even remotely as bad as I was thinking that it actually was, I found myself getting calmer and I found myself feeling the side affects of being drunk once again. For some reason, as I had been thinking about this Riley, I was finding myself not in that state too much. But it was over just as quickly as it had started.

I then looked at the toilet. The entire time that I had been staring at the toilet, I was wondering if perhaps I should throw up. But then I decided against it as I was opening the door knob to the bathroom to get back to where the party was being held. I knew that I had made the right choice when I left the bathroom the way that I had done.

As I was getting out of there, a large part of me was feeling like I was about to trip over, and my walking slurred. My idea of what was going on slowed down. I was feeling like I was getting really close to being black out. All I had to do was just find a woman. A nice young woman who was willing to give her man a night of happiness. I was going to just have to find somebody who would be willing to be used by me.

I started to scout out the entire scene, and I was looking like I was doing some form of dance as I was walking. I went right to a beer can and saw that there was still about half left. I grabbed it and then started to drink it up. The entire time that I was drinking, I felt even better. I felt like I was loving everybody here even more than I had loved them before. I felt like these people were my true friends. Almost even like they were my true family. My new fucking family.

I was placing my arms around two people next to me and I felt like my walking was getting closer to the ground. I felt like I was making people wonder how much longer I was going to go. I felt like everything that I was starting to remember was just becoming a blur. All one big hodgepodge of things being thrown together. I was looking at Dakota and he looked like if he had some money and could have called my parents, he would have done so and he had been hoping that if he had the chance to do so, they would have actually listened to him and cared about what he was saying. But both of us knew for a fact that was not going to happen, so he was forcing himself to remain silent on the issue. Even if he had wanted to, he had no money so it didn't even matter.

I saw the girl who had been talking to me earlier. I felt like she was even more sexy than she already was. I felt like she was going to be a gold mine when I saw her. She was on fire. I saw her looking right at me and I could tell from the smile on her face that she was thinking that I was the best comedian in the world. I have to say that I probably was just that.

I then reached right in front of her and then I placed my hand on her breast. She was quite the smooth lady. I could tell from her angered eyes and mouth but the blush on her face that she did indeed enjoy the thing, but she was wishing that I didn't just do that. I wondered why she had hated it so much. In all reality though, I knew it really didn't matter. I was the man in the relationship and I was allowed to do anything that I had wanted.

Despite everything going on, I felt like I was able to still mostly get it. I then started to stand up straight again, and then I was coughing a bit. I felt like I was going to get back in business. I just needed to find a bit more weed or something to make the thing more entertaining for my own sake.

I was then walking outside of the house. I felt like the people who were outside would not be able to fully understand what the awesomeness of my state was like. So I was going to help them see just how great it was. So I went around and as I was outside, I started to glance around at everything. I was wondering what I was going to be able to make out of the situation. I felt like being outside was going to add another level of epicness to the whole thing, and that all I needed to do was just push in a little bit more effort to make it work. So I went to the pool at the back of the yard. Once I was in front of the pool I was looking around at people.

I bet I can swim across the fucking ocean. I feel like I can become an Olympian athlete." I said and I was just trying my best to give off that charming bloke persona. I didn't really know how well it was working. In all reality, I didn't even care how well it was working or if it had been working at all. I wanted to just enjoy the moment. I saw that people were looking at me and hearing the massive slur to my words. They can tell that this was going to be a massive ride from start to finish. So I jumped right into the pool and then I was flailing around while slowly moving my way across the pool. When I look back at it, this was really the only part of my whole show that I feel like I had indeed messed up on. I felt like I was doing pretty fine with everything else besides just this one part of the whole thing. I then gave up after like ten seconds and then I got out of the pool and then went for my lighter and grabbed one of my cigarettes that was shockingly not too wet from what had happened. I lit it up and then I was smoking it while laying down on the ground right next to the pool.

"I fucking did it. I swam across the entire pacific ocean. I just won the whole race." I said, knowing that I was heaving a giant load of bullshit but also not giving a damn. I was just way too fucking in the moment to even give a damn about how dumb I had sounded. I didn't even really think that I was sounding all that dumb. I thought that at that moment that I was actually telling the truth when I was saying this.

But then I was feeling like I was about to close my eyes and take a nap. But then I saw that Jack was coming to me. He was picking me up by my arms and I realized that I smoked the entire cigarette without even taking it out so I was just having a huge amount of tobacco build up being in my mouth as I released it all. I then looked right at Jack and smiled.

"You know, that was quite the fucking performance. I did pretty good given the odds that were laid out against me. I went in and just gave it my all and then fucking won." I said and I was slowly starting to think more and more that this was actually what had happened. Nate was thinking about this and he was finding my reaction to the whole thing to be amusing as hell. But there was a part of him that was starting to worry a bit about the way that I was presenting myself. Thinking that maybe I was indeed taking this too far and needed to relax.

"Yeah you did amazing out there. I had no idea that you really had it in you do to this, But you managed to surprise everybody by the way you went in there. But come on now, I think that you need to go home now." Jack said and then I shook my head. I was thinking that this guy must have been insane. There was no way that I needed to go home. I didn't need to go home. I was at the my peak. I was doing great. I had no need to do this. And when I was showing just how much I was shaking my head, I was seeing that Jack did not know what to think of this at all. In fact, he was thinking that the way I was acting was indeed almost troubling. As if he was almost regretting bringing me along to the party at the end of the debate.

"I am just thinking that you need a bit of a break. I mean, you did work really hard just a moment ago. And you look like you are actually getting pretty tired. I don't think calling calling it a little early is going to be too much of a hassle." Jack tried to tell me but I was really not having it. I was not even close to fucking having it. I was so far away from having it that I was wondering what his problem even was.

But then I was putting my hands on his shoulder and then I was nodding really badly. "Jack, everything will be alright. You don't need to worry about me. I can handle myself just fine." I said and then I started to go back inside. I felt like I needed to find the lady I was going to fuck and then I can bring her back to my house. Or hell, she would be able to bring me to her house so that way we wouldn't be caught.

God, she was fucking amazing. I loved looking at her. She was young, she was amazing, and she was something that I think people needed to be more like. I knew Emily should be more like her.

As when I was thinking about Emily, for just a few short seconds I was wondering what she must have been thinking about me right now. I almost caught myself actually wondering if this was a huge mistake. I almost caught myself wondering if I should have thought about this more. I was even thinking that I was being a dumb ass for not thinking this out more. But then I found myself thinking it didn't matter.

She and I were just a couple of nights. She knew that we were just a short fling. I knew that we were just a short fling. No need to worry about trivial things so much. I think that she probably didn't really like me all that much and that she was just doing what she did because she had felt bad for me. Yeah, that must have been it. She doesn't care. She must actually be happy for me that I am doing this. Actually fucking enjoying my time here. So just enjoy your time, and let her react the way she does later. If I even talk to her again later.

I then found the girl that I was going to have a arrangement with. I was seeing that she was sitting down. I sat down next to her, and then I felt like I was totally ready to lay my moves on her. I felt like she and I were going to fucking own the scene. That I just needed to take it easy, and then when I took it easy on her, we could be able to move forward a bit here.

I didn't even know her name, and there was a part of me that didn't even think it mattered. She was just a woman. She didn't even probably know who I was. If she probably didn't even know who I was, then there was certainly no need to worry about things such as this. I can just go back to doing whatever I wanted, and then I think she would just go along with it.

I remember her placing her lips on mine and I could feel the strawberry taste of her make up on me. I was fucking aroused. I thought that this was amazing. I wanted more of this. I was so much in a desire for more of this after just a few seconds, I was catching myself thinking about every single woman I can do this with. I wanted more people like her to have sex with me. That way, this wouldn't be a thrill I would get only once.

I then woke up that next morning not knowing or remembering a single thing of what was going on. I just woke up and I was seeing that I was totally naked on the bed. That I looked down and then saw that there was a black bra on the bed, which instant aroused me, and then I saw that there was a filled condom. I knew that I had scored, and that this was already my second time in a week. I was feeling proud of myself.

I eventually got on my clothes. Just the usual blue pants, white shirt and maroon hoodie that accompanied me for the last several days. I was quick to throw away the condom. Didn't want my parents seeing that. On one end, they would actually probably be proud of the fact that I am no longer a virgin. But jesus, I bet they would be wondering what the hell was wrong with me if they were seeing me like this after I had a party and was massively drunk and high and buzzed as a kite. They would probably not want me to party again. And seeing as how I was the start at the party last night, I was in no way ready to give up my mantle. I was just getting started. Those people had seen nothing yet if they thought that I was crazy then. They just needed to get ready for what was really going to be ahead of them. I was ready to rock their fucking world in all reality.

Once I was out of the room and I was ready to sort of go back to thinking like a normal person, I was looking back at the night. I didn't remember a single thing about it then, and it would only be a couple of details here and there I would remember over the course of several months or so, but after about a year or so, I think I had most of the important stuff back in my head. But even then, I did not remember the name of that intoxicatingly beautiful woman. I knew that I was probably never going to remember any of it. The fact that this was the case made me feel annoyed. As if the one thing I was wanting was the one thing I was not going to get.

Once I was back in the mindset of just enjoying myself and not thinking too hard, I was then thinking about what summer was going to be like now. I had a few months ahead of me. I knew that Dakota and I were probably going to hang out probably about twice or so a week. But I was wondering if I can be able to get myself something more than just this. I was wondering if perhaps I can be able to actually pull off something really big. If I can pull off a few more sex sessions.

I thought what it would be like to have more of that casual sex. I really enjoyed it the first two times. Well, Emily wasn't so casual, but with the other girl it was. But I was wanting more of it.

I knew that I was not going to get in any real full on relationships, but I felt like I needed to continue my habits. I thought that this was exactly what I had wanted. I then wanted to plan out the next few months to have at least one or so every month or twice a month. Enough to make me feel like I was getting my hunger somewhat often fed.

I was in the living room, and I saw that neither one of my parents were even home. I was used to not both of them, and it almost always being only one. But seriously, both of them not being home was something that I was not super used to. I mean, it was something that happened enough to where it was not hugely mind blowing. But it was enough for me to wonder if perhaps there was something else going on here. Something else that I was not being told. Something that I felt like I needed to know.

I sat down on my couch and then I took a long and deep breath. I took out one of my cigarettes and started to smoke it for a while. The entire time that I was doing this, I was thinking about what it would be like to have a woman actually present me with some real love. Like the type where she was with you, and started to treat you like you were something special. You know, that type of stuff. I wondered if she was really a woman that was real, or if she was something that was made for the intents of make belief.

I smoked the cigarette and then I put it in the ashtray that was out in the living room. I never seen my parents smoke, but my parents probably knew that since I did this decently often that it would just be easier to have it out for me rather than fight me on it. As I was thinking about this, I was thinking that this was yet another thing I can be grateful for in my life. That at least my parents were not always in the way of what I was doing all the time.

Well, they were on a lot of things but on stuff like this, they really were not. They were honestly pretty lax given what I was doing to myself. They probably just saw that it was not worth fighting me on this. They probably just saw that at the end of the day, it truly was my choice. I wondered if they were going to maybe even share a bit of their addiction with me a bit. I wondered if they were going to be those type of parents. You know, the really cool and helpful ones. All I had to do was just talk about my approval of the situation, tell them how much I wanted them to share their habits with me, and then maybe they might start to see me as mature and responsible enough to if anything, they might actually be respecting me as a result of this.

I was wondering what they were going to actually say to my questions at all, considering Riley and such, who I was now in my sober state sadly remembering was indeed real and not something that my mind made up just to be fucking with me, but before I could get too much into these things, I heard a really loud knock on the door. I stood up and answered it to see that Dakota was right there standing in front of me and I can tell that there was indeed something going on.

"Sheldon, I have some awful news." Dakota said and my thoughts were instantly coming to a thought set which I was going to see how I can try and make his situation at least a little bit less awful to be dealing with. I placed my hand on his shoulder as if to make him feel better. He was then able to get out the words of his mouth. "Ashley has gone missing. She has been gone for about eight hours or so now. And worse yet, her mother was found dead just about twenty minutes after Ashley was reported missing."

I felt like this was way too much for me to take in so I was doing the slow down motion with my hand as if to try and get him to calm down a bit. "How exactly was she found dead?"

"Stabbed in the chest. Looked like she had been dead for about two hours when her body was found. Her father was the only survivor, and he claims he doesn't know why he was left alone, since the was the one who was making money in the family." Dakota told me and then I was wondering what exactly to say to this.

"I was also wanting to tell you something that I feel like you really did need to know. Her father talked to me about it. He said that you were not invited to the funeral. Said that he never liked you, and said that you reminded him a bit of a creepy asshole. I don't know what his problem really is. I don't know if you did something just to really piss him off. But when I tried to convince him to change his mind, he was very firm on the idea that he had made his choice and that this was not going to be negotiated. I really did try though. I really did try my best to make you be seen by him in a positive light again. If you ever really were seen in one by him." Dakota said and then I was wondering what happened to make him hate me so much.

He seemed like a nice enough guy on the two or three times I saw him when I was around town or at school. I never once thought that he hated me. Maybe found me to be a bit of a silly man who did not really have his priorities straight. But not a guy that he would simply out right hate. I felt like I really needed to know what the truth was to this whole thing.


	57. Finding out the Truth

Part 7: Finding Out The Truth

After Dakota and I were standing there for about two minutes or so in total silence, wondering what we were going to say next, I was finding myself looking right at him. I was not really too sure what I was thinking. Hell, I was not really even to sure if I was thinking at all, but then I came up with what I knew even then was going to be the best or worst idea I would have ever make in my entire life. Something that would change my life either for the better or so the worst. "Dakota, do you want to help me figure out what is going on with Ashley? I think that maybe if we look around a bit, and if I can get some real information, then maybe her father will grow to like me a bit better, and then if he does, then I can be able to actually help out and get invited to the funeral. But beyond even that, you might be able to actually find out the truth of what is going on, and you can be able to find some peace with not only what happened to Ashley, but as well as her mother." I was saying this as if I was talking in the perspective of her being dead. Which I think both of us knew we needed to look at as at the very least something that can be the case.

Dakota was still thinking about this, and he was truly thinking to himself on how much of this was actually going to be worth it. As he was thinking that a very large portion of this was not going to be worth it, he was looking at me and then he was wondering if he cold get himself to say no. But then he was thinking about Ashley again and he was thinking that there was no way in hell he was going to let this thing slide if she was in danger.

"Yeah, maybe we can go to the police and ask them what they are thinking. They must know some things." Dakota said and while there was a part of me that really hated the idea of going to the police, a part of me was thinking that maybe this was what we were going to have to do. So I found myself agreeing with this and the smart part of me was telling myself that I just needed to be careful.

"I doubt that they will listen to us though. They will probably just brush us off as some annoying teenagers who are desperate for attention." I said and I was mostly thinking the truth when I had said this, and I thought that Dakota and I were going to just need to be ready for anything that was going to be a unsatisfactory turn out.

We went right to Dakota's car and then he started up the engine. I could tell that he was just sort of going along with what was needing to be done when you were driving, and I could tell that he was just not really caring too much about the routine of it all. He was driving down as quietly as possible. As if any noise was going to get him going. As if any noise he made was going to make him pissed off. Was going to kill him inside. Because it would remind him that Ashley was not win him. I wanted to make him feel better, but I was thinking to myself that this simply was just not going to happen.

Despite that though, and despite me thinking that this was in every way against my better judgment, I felt the need to start a conversation with him that was going to be about Ashley. "So Dakota, when you started to get to know her, what made her really stand out to you? What made you think that you wanted to date Ashley?" I asked, thinking it was off I was calling her his girlfriend when in all reality they had only been together for a couple of days. Something like four days. But at the same time, they were official so I had to say it as if it were. I had to speak like this.

"Well, I think it was the way that she didn't really think down on you at all. I know that it is odd having my first impression of a girl be what she thinks of you, and not even me. But you are a really good friend of mine. She saw you and saw what you were like. Yeah sure, some things about you were off, but that is natural, and then she got over it. She didn't think any less of you. I really appreciated that. I really appreciated the fact that I was friends with you and she respected that." Dakota said and I think it was just strange to me that I was a part of his affection to her.

"But in all reality, it is more than that. It is something deeper. She seems to understand what I want in my life. She seems to understand what some of my goals are. I really liked the fact that she was like this. Not even thinking of them as dumb." Dakota felt like this was the best part.

"I guess that when you have some goals in your life, it is best to have somebody who at least doesn't judge you for them at your side. When you see what they are like, then you can help them out as well." I said, wondering on the idea of if not only if Emily and I were going to continue, but if she was going to be like this with me if we continued.

"I think that you seem to get it. I mean, I see that you don't really have all that many goals right now. But you keep saying that it is just not really a concern for you at this moment. If Ashley was with you, I think she would be understanding and fine with the fact that you are not to sure where you want this to all go. I think that you get it just fine." Dakota was thinking as we were now in front of the police station.

"I just don't see any of the famous negativity with her. Yeah, she is open about if she thinks something will be a big mistake. She will be open if she thinks there is a problem. But overall, she is a nice and gentle person who is good to be around. I want to see if perhaps I can make this work. I want to make this work, even if it gets really fucking hard to. I think that she deserves a man who will actually be there for her. And I know that I will be. If I find her, or anybody finds her, I will be there for her right away and I will stay by her side for as long as she wants me to be."

I was thinking that this was the best I can get of it. I was thinking that this was going to be very hard for me to fully understand since I wasn't with anybody right now. But even then, I felt like these things were very easy to follow. I felt like these were all things I got. That these were all things that even I, a person who was not popular all that much and had no real dating life, can figure out just fine.

"Dakota, I promise you with every cell of my body that I will do anything I can to make sure that she will be fine. I will do everything I can to make sure that nothing happens to her. I will not stand down and let you do this all alone. I think that you have found somebody that matters to you, and that you need to really show them how much you actually appreciate them." I told Dakota, feeling like I was totally ready for anything that was going to come out of this. I then looked forward and then I was thinking that it was probably time for us to go in there.

"I think that we have talked about this for long enough. Let's get the hell out of here." I said and then I stepped out of the car and started to take out another cigarette. Smoking was the one that I needed more than anything.

Dakota waited for a few seconds, as if to really think everything we had talked about out and then he stepped outside of the car and then we were not really ready for what was going to happen. But we were both knowing that there was no putting it off. So we went right inside of the office and then we went right to the deputy's room since he was free and the sheriff looked extremely busy.

As we walked right into his room, I could see that he was looking right at us and he was just wondering what the hell we were actually doing there. He was probably wondering what we did in order to get in trouble with the law, and what he was going to have to do in order to make us on the good graces of the law once again. I saw from his tag that his name was David. "Hey, we were wanting to talk with the sheriff right now. But it seems like he is really busy right now. Are you free to talk to us for a moment?" I asked, and then he was looking at me as if shocked over the fact that if for nothing else, that I was still trying to be polite to him.

When this was something that he was thinking about, David nodded and then he started to pay us a little bit more attention. I was wondering what was going on with his arm, and I was wondering how long he had been wearing that hand cast, and what had caused him to have that hand cast in the first place. "I was wanting to talk to the sheriff about this place called the labyrinth," I said and then I felt dumb for saying this.

"What he had meant to say was that he was wanting to find this girl who had recent gone missing. A girl named Ashley. I was wondering if you had the time to help us find her." Dakota said and I could tell from the way that he was saying this that he was really just regretting the fact that he was asking this younger deputy around for the advice. He was wondering if the deputy was actually going to do any good here. David was taking out a cigarette of his own and then he started to smoke it. He was getting himself ready for the story that we were going to be presenting him with.

"What is the thing with Ashley?" David asked, and he was sounding totally serious. He was sounding like he was not going to let either one of us fuck around, that he was not wanting us to even try and delay the conversation at all. "This is not the first time that a story of this has come up. I want to be able to help you guys. So just tell me what is going on, and I will see what I can do in order to help you out." David sounded like there was a small hint of grief as he was telling us this.

I knew that it was going to be very important for us to actually tell him everything. "Well, she had been missing for several hours now. Her mother has been dead. I don't know. Maybe it was a suicide. I am not too sure with the full story in all honesty. I came down here after my friend told me what happened." I said, telling the truth on that level.

As David had been listening to me speaking, I was wondering if he was going to produce any form of a verbal response, or if he was just going to continue looking at us like we were a bunch of dead people. It was honestly getting a bit strange that he had been looking at us like this for so long. But before I can try and speak to add a bit more to the story David said "You were saying that her mother was dead as well? It seems like this is going to be a pretty rough situation that we will be in right now. I doubt that any sort of search and rescue operation will really help your friend Ashley, as much as you may not want me to admit this."

Hearing David say it like this was terrible enough. I mean, I was kind of expecting that this was going to be a bit of a lost cause. It just gave off that impression, that this was something we were not going to get any real success on, and that we might as well have just given up right then and there. I was wondering what Dakota was thinking about this whole thing. I was wondering if he wanted to just throw in the towel in the way that Davis had been suggesting, or if he was going to try and do something that he knew he was probably going to regret. The more that I looked at him and the confidence start to cover his face and not fear, the more that I started to realize that it was indeed going to be the latter.

"She is my girlfriend. She will need me to go out there and help her. This is something that I feel as if I must actually do. I shouldn't just sit here and wait for her to come along. That is not going to happen. I don't want something like this to just go by. I don't want her to be wondering if somebody is going to help her just because I decided to listen to what the police tell me I have to do. I bet that you are a nice guy, and I don't want you to feel bad for trying and get me to stop. But this is my girlfriend that we are talking about, and I will do whatever it takes for her to at least be somewhat safe." Dakota decided and then David was having a small hint of a smile on his face.

David knew that this was going to be tough, and given how the sheriff was, he knew that doing a case behind his back was going to probably get him fired, or at least demoted from deputy.

David respected his boss just fine. Sure, he gave off a bit of odd vibes here and there. But it was nothing so bad that David thought that he was some evil mastermind overlord. That was just fucking silly to even assume. Or at least he was thinking that it was fucking silly.

"Well, I may not approve of your idea to just go around looking all over town for something that might not even work in your favor. But you seem like you have already made your mind. I will do what I can to help you out. Besides, I had nothing too big going on today at the shift. So I think that there will be no real conflicts that I will create by going with you guys. I am mainly just doing this to make sure that you guys don't get yourselves killed." After David said this, he was looking at us as if he was thinking that this was a perfectly valid mind set to be having.

I thought that a little bit of search and rescue would not have been all that big of a deal. But in hindsight, if I knew exactly what was going to happen, I would have let Ashley suffer and I would have tried my best to put it all behind me and live a small image of a normal life. Just saying this makes me feel like a utter asshole. However, I think that you will understand why I feel this way when you look back at what the story fully is at the end.

David stood up and then he was holstering his gun and then he stared outside the window for a couple of seconds. "For some reason, I have a feeling that this might be the last time I ever enter this room. I just want to take one more moment to take in thew view of this place." David told us as he was sounding extremely wistful saying this. I wondered why he was having this feeling and I was thinking that maybe he was thinking too deeply into this whole thing. But then after a few moments of looking, he seemed to regain himself and then he walked right out of the room. Dakota and I soon followed him as we went right to the deputy's car.

When I had a few seconds to compose myself and think about all that was happening, the more I was wondering how he was able to become the deputy. He was honestly just barely older than me at all, probably only nineteen or so. A nineteen year old deputy just seemed to be a bit too outlandish for me to really believe. He really must have solved a couple of bad cases if he was able to rise up the second highest ranking office in the station at his age. Or maybe his parents were rich and he was able to buy himself the promotion. But given how he looked, and how he looked like he was a mostly ungroomed man and still had a decent amount of acne on his face, I started to think that maybe it wasn't the second option. If he had been super rich, then he would have had way more than enough money to make his face look decent.

Yet at the same time, I was starting to think that I was really going to have to get used to this man. That he was going to be the guy who I was going to trust with all of my life with very soon. I just felt like he was going to be the difference between me living and me dying in the next week at the very latest. When I had started to think this, I was wondering if I could be able to really get on his good graces so that way I can be able to have him sort of help protect me. It was silly, but I was getting paranoid easily.

"I want to talk to this girls father first. That is the first clue to go with. I don't know if I will suspect that he is involved or not. I need to see him talk to me first. But I think that at the very least, he can give me some information that I can base some beliefs on. Like if he tells me what she liked to do in her spare time, where she goes, and some other things that would on any other basis seem to be totally superfluous but in a missing persons case is extremely important. I have had one person who was reported missing because they were not home for a whole day or so, and then when I looked around, all I did was just ask around where the person usually was. Sadly, it didn't end very well for me or his parents. I found his body and he had been dead for probably about two days or so. He was found not where he usually was, but within a three mile radius hidden one of those really large trash holders you would see next to a bar or something. I couldn't believe that he was there the whole time, since I looked in that area two or three times. I think that if he was there for another day or two, it would have been very hard to not notice, but damn that really got to me. How close I was to busting the case a few times, and failing. Or maybe he wasn't there before, and if I had expanded my search a bit, I could have saved him. That was my second real case that I personally solved." David said and then he was shaking his head as if he could not believe that he had told us this story.

"How old was he at the time?" I asked, thinking I might have heard about that. But I couldn't remember. I think maybe I fried my brain a little bit afterwards from smoking some meth.

As I was thinking about smoking, I took out yet another cigarette from my pack and I offered one to both David and Dakota. Both accepted it. Then I was imagining how we must have looked. Three young men, one of them being a cop, in a cops car, smoking while we were in the middle of the case. In any other good town, this would have been reported right away. But here in this place, nobody gave a damn.

"Fifteen." David replied and I tried really hard to think of something with a fifteen year old recently but was failing.

"What was the worst case you had ever looked at?" I asked, thinking it was innocent enough.

"The thing is with that question is that there are too many to choose from. Like if you are talking about how much it messed me up when I look back at it? I guess I can answer that. I heard about a case where a teenage girl went missing. Fourteen I believe." David started and I felt a surge of mental pain as I heard the age fourteen, remembering that was how old Riley had been when she went missing and according to the police, died.

"Like I was looking into it and I was in an area near where the exit of town was. I was sitting down taking a short break as I had been looking in the area for about two hours then and I was starting to think I can just call it quits and head out to look somewhere else. But then I was hearing screaming followed up by crying. I was wondering what the hell was going on down there. So I followed where the screaming and crying was. But then I eventually saw that there was something like a hole in a tree right next to the sign that says 'You are entering Wayside'. I saw that there was something that looked like a ladder going down that hole. I considered going down it. The screaming and crying, from what sounded like several different women, were scaring me so badly that I was a coward. I then ran off and got back in the car and drove back to the station. That was the first time in my entire work experience there that I called in sick the next day. I was having terrible nightmares that night of hearing women down there hurting and getting abused and then me just freaking out and leaving. I feel like if something went on down there, it was all my fucking fault. I live with the fear that something like this happened every other night now." David looked like he was done talking about this story and that if we were to pursue it any further, he would just kick us off.

Not that it really mattered. Turns out we were right near where Ashley had lived.

I wondered how he knew this already. But then I was thinking that with the small difference between us in age, that he was probably a senior when I was a freshmen. If he was, he probably saw Ashley's house once or twice just in passing.

"I don't know if her father is going to really work with me or not. If he does, then that's great. But I think that maybe he just doesn't want anybody to be keeping him company. Just stay back and let me do the talking. This will not be the first time I talk with reluctant parents." David said and then he got out of the car and took a long and deep breath.

Dakota and I got out of the car as David said "I am really going to hate this" and then he went right inside of Ashley's house, ready to get it over with more than anything else.

Once inside of the house, I was feeling like I really was doing something wrong just by being here. That my being there was already a huge risk. I was thinking about leaving. I was thinking about just letting David do the job and then come back out when it was all done. I was thinking that I should just go home and then pretend as if none of this was ever happening. But I was also telling myself that Dakota really needed me. That if I were to leave him, then I would only be making matters worse for him. I was thinking and decided that I would stay there just to be there for Dakota, even if I had no other real desire to be in the place at all.

I really just wanted to talk to Ashley's father honestly. I was hoping to try and clear some things up with him. To make him see that there was nothing for him to worry about. That he was going to be fine with having me at the funeral. That I would really help him with finding his daughter. Just to make him feel like at least part of his hatred towards me was not really all that justified and that he was wrong about me this whole time.

I was also just wanting to talk to him. Just to see what he hated about me and what I can possibly do to clear things up between us. Make things a little bit less toxic. I was thinking that all I really needed to do was just talk to him for a bit. Once I talk to him for a bit, then everything would be good. That we were going to be on the same page once again. I thought that things just needed a simple calm down. I couldn't really think that it would be anything beyond just this.

We saw that Ashley's father was looking down and seeing all three of us. I could tell that he was not happy to see me. I was extra certain of my beliefs now that I should have just stayed behind. But before he can say anything David raised his hand up. "I just want to talk to you about your daughter for a bit. I was hoping to get some information about her."

I could tell that Ashley's father was wondering if I had some kind of death wish being there right now. I can tell that he clearly did not want me within a mile of this house. I was thinking that every minute I was here, was a mile that he was going to be closer to kicking us out. "Fine, but I only am available for a few minutes. I have a lot of funeral arrangements that I need to make quickly. And I need to make some plans to move out of this god foresaken town." I was wondering why he would want to leave town entirely because of this. As if I was wondering if perhaps he would like to stay if we did find Ashley. I mean, despite the fact that this man was giving me death glares, I was thinking that it would be taking this way too far to just leave town all together. But I knew that I needed to just keep my mouth shut for anything in the future. As I was keeping my mouth shut, David seemed to get right to the questions.

"So I was wondering what your daughter usually liked to do after school? Like where does she go? Does she usually hang out with her friends? Just simple things like this." David started off cordially enough, thinking that these were going to be nice and basic enough questions to where even the most annoyed version of Ashley's father would be able to give him those.

"I don't know where she likes to hang out. That shit is none of my fucking business. All I do know is where some of her friends live. She usually sees and talks to them for about an hour or so after each school day." Ashley's father said as Dakota was trying to keep his slight annoyance at bay. He did not really appreciate the way he was being told to basically fuck off. But then he was getting himself more calm and focused.

"Can you tell me where they live? I can't exactly talk to them if you don't even give me this information..." David said and then I was wondering how much more of this conversation I was going to have to endure before I felt like it was just fucking enough. Ashley's father was just looking right at David and I can tell that he was doing his best to just pretend like we didn't even exist.

"I think that one of them lives about two miles from here. A blue house if I remember correctly. I have only been there once or twice. If that doesn't work, there is another house about half way between here and the school. Ashley usually liked to stop off there when she walks home for a few minutes to sort of take a break and hang out with her friends there. That might be a place worth checking out. But aside from those two places, I can't really think of anywhere that she would be right now. If she comes back here and if you find her, tell her that we are leaving town right away and that she shouldn't be messing around. I want to get out of here in the next three weeks." Ashley's father just now sounded more scared than annoyed. I was now wondering more than ever what the hell was going on. Why he was acting like this. At first I thought it was because of me. But now I was thinking that maybe there was more to it than just this.

"Alright, I will check those places out. Now will you be willing to tell me what she was like the last time that you saw her? Maybe she was giving off some impression that she was in danger. I don't know. Just anything to get me to think in her mindset. Was she mentioning anything that you think will be important?" David looked as if he was trying not to show his boredom on the questions. He had only cared about the answers. He had never cared about the questions all that much, thinking that they were just a bit of a waste of time.

"Well, she did talk about what she wanted to do during the summer. She was telling me that she was wanting to try and start applying to colleges. She was hoping that her boyfriend or something like that would help her. Drive her around all the colleges in the state. Do a summer long state wide road trip. But then she was talking about how her boyfriend would not like that and how he was probably going to think that this was nothing more than a simple waste of time. But there was something else now that I think about it. She was talking about how there were some people who were really scaring her. Like people at the school. She said her male teachers were looking at her and they seemed like they were excited. As if she was a part of something they were aware of but that she wasn't." Ashley's father said and then David got a bit more interested yet again.

"A part of something that she was not a part of? Do you think that you could possibly explain that a bit more? This can actually be really important right now. Please try and remember." David was holding his left hand forward a bit, and I could see that some of the cast was worn down and starting to break off a little bit, and I was thinking that he needed a new one soon. But he seemed like he either never noticed or simply never cared.

"Well, she said that since her birthday was coming up soon, maybe they had some knowledge of a celebration that was coming up soon. In fact, I was so deep in all of the arrangements and everything, that I forgot that today actually was her birthday. I was going to actually wish her a happy one but then I saw that was missing. At first, I thought that maybe she was just hanging out with friends. But then I started to think about two or so hours later that there was something going on. That was when I soon found out what happened to her mother. Then I started to call her friends to learn of the current word going around. And I suppose that it finally reached the office." Ashley's father told David and I could tell that he was totally uninterested in any of this. As if he was thinking this conversation wasn't even all that interesting and that David should just go back to his job. I was then starting to wonder if he knew what was going to happen to her all along, and that this was a planned event.

"Thank you for the information. I will check her friends out right away. I will come back if I find anything or if I find your daughter." David said and then he walked out.

"He is not going to find her." Ashley's father said under his breath.

Dakota was out of the house as well and I was thinking it was best for me to go as well when I heard his voice calling out to me. "Hey Sheldon, you better talk to me right now. Don't you dare think that because I didn't talk to you a moment ago that I was going to let you slide off so easily." I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was going to make my life a living hell if I even tried and go away. So when I was thinking about this, I was really tempted to just leave. But then I nodded and told myself it was better to just get it over with and have him rat me out once and then I can move on with my life.

So I looked right at him. "I seriously do not know what you have against me. I was just wanting to support my friend at his time of helping your daughter. I really was planning doing nothing more than that..." I said and then I heard him clear his throat and I knew that was my hint to shut the fuck up.

"I said that I was wanting to talk to you. Not the other way around. You better just shut the fuck up young man and listen to me." Ashley's father said as I was balling right fist a bit. I wanted so bad to punch that look off of his face for talking like this. I did nothing to deserve this.

"I was wanting to talk to you about how you have been behaving in general, and how much of a fucking creeper that you are. I have heard a lot of stories about you and you should be glad I haven't decided to fucking kill you or report you to the police. Because you are a god damned disgrace." Ashley's father said and then I raised my hand up and before he could even think of telling me off, I spoke and snuck in those words as fast as I could.

"Man, I am actually telling the truth. I have no idea what is going on. I have no idea what I have been doing that pissed you off so much. Can you please tell me what I did so that way I know that I can actually change it? So I can make myself a better person? I want to find your fucking daughter, and I think that the only way we can really do it is if you actually work with me on this one. Please, so just let me know. I want to find your daughter, you want your daughter. So let's just please work together on this one..." I said and then after I was saying this, I could tell that Ashley's father was actually listening to every single word that I was saying and he was actually considering the points that I had made.

As he was looking at me, he was seeing the desperate look on my face. As he was looking at me, I could tell that he was actually listening to me for once. He was actually realizing that I was telling the truth. That I was actually totally unaware of every single thing that he had been thinking that I was doing. He then sighed and then he was waving his hand forward as if trying to indicate that he wanted to talk to me.

"Well I had been hearing rumors about what you did to a girl when you were babysitting her. That is just one of the things that I have heard that just scares the shit out of me about you. But if you seem like you don't know what I am talking about, then I guess that maybe I can talk to you about this. Maybe you will tell me if what I have heard is actually true or not. That is, if you decide to actually be honest about what you are telling me and you actually want to really help me out here." Ashley's father said and I could tell that he was not really fully sure if he was believing that I had the best intentions or not. But I could tell that he was willing to give me the benefit of a doubt now.

"I have no idea what anybody is talking about with me babysitting. I don't think that I have ever babysat in my entire life. Where are you actually getting these rumors from?" I asked, hoping that maybe he can clear some things up for me in order for me to fully understand maybe why some people were looking at me and thinking that I was this gross human being, which in all reality I was starting to realize that perhaps I actually was one.

"Well, I heard that you were babysitting a young girl named Tiffiny. About ten or so years old. I heard that you did something to her that I don't think anybody should be able to forgive you on..." Ashley's father said and then he said "I heard that you sexually groped her and told her that this was all normal behavior. I don't really know if this is true or not, but if it is, I think you can understand why I do not want you around my daughter."

After he had told me this and I was forced to think about it all, I was trying my best to remember if what was being told was actually the truth. I really didn't know or remember if he was telling me the truth. I don't know if I had actually babysat Tiffiny or not and if I did this act to her. I didn't think I did, but there was a part of me that really did not know. I was starting to think that maybe there was actually a small chance that he was actually telling the truth. I wanted to see Tiffiny and talk to her personally. But if I didn't even remember if she fucking existed or not, then how the hell can I actually be able to talk to her and apologize to her for anything that might have happened.

I was just staring at Ashley's father and both of us were giving each other a look of uncertainty. I can tell that this look was really starting to scare Ashley's father. As if wondering how the hell Ashley had gotten to know me if I was really one of these type of people.

"No matter what happened, this is not important to the matter at hand right now. I want to fucking help your and your daughter. That is the same no matter what the case may be. And if I can help you, all that I want you to do is just tell me where she is, and just give me a general fucking hint. I need to be there for Dakota. He may seem fine now, but I know what it is like to have somebody you care about go missing. It starts to fuck with you. I got into drugs partly as a reason to get away from these facts. I just hated what happened. And I wanted to get my mind off of the truth. I do not want anything to happen to her that will be like what happened to my sister Riley. If that happened, then I will feel like it is my fault. It would be a thousand times worse than anything that I did to Tiffiny, if I had actually done something to her after all." I told Ashley's father, and then after I told him this, I was hoping that he would understand that I was just telling him the truth and that every word of what I was telling him was real.

I was seeing from how he was looking at me that he was actually starting to believe me. It was the tone of voice that was really pushing him over. As if he was starting to realize that he couldn't stay angry at me forever. He then nodded and then he was ready to start to work with me a bit.

"Yeah, I just want her to return home. I have just been so busy setting up the funeral though that I haven't really been given a momengt to ponder what is happening. I feel broken. My daughter is missing. My wife is dead. I can't believe that any of this is actually happening. I wanted to have a normal family. A great family. And here I am, setting up funeral arrangements and fearing every minute that my daughter is dead. It really fucking hurts. What happened with you and your family?" Ashley's father tried his best to have a normal conversation with me and then I sighed and then I looked directly down at the ground as if finally forced to put into words how I really felt about Riley this whole time.

"I had a sister named Riley. Was a couple of years older than me. I never really was close to her. I thought that she was a bit annoying. I thought that she didn't like me, and if she didn't like me much, then why would I be nice to her? I know that is a terrible mentality, but when I was only a ten year old kid I thought that it made sense. She went missing a few months after we moved here and the news reports say that she is dead. I don't really know if that is the truth though. I am starting to think that the news report is lying. That she might have died, that might be true, but not at the time that it was stated for it to be. I am also thinking that maybe she is also alive and safe. Well, not safe, but at least alive. If she is alive, then I would do anything to get her back. Anything to show her that I feel sorry for anything that I said to her in the past. I want to make her see that I do care about her." I said and then I was starting to feel the tears coming down my face as I went deeper with what I was saying.

"The first few years after she had gone missing, I was feeling like a huge part of my life was gone. I tried to convince myself that she never existed. I tried to tell myself that she was something I imagined and that I was the only child. I even almost actually did just this. I was just too convinced that she never existed. But soon enough, I was at the point I could no longer deny it. I knew that she did exist. I knew that she was my sister. I knew that she was gone and that I was probably never going to see her again. It broke me, and I started to get into smoking. Partly to look cool, and partly to get my mind off of things. I guess it worked out too well though. Now I can barely even think or fucking function. I don't even know what is going on anymore. I don't even remember more than a couple of days ago. I am even starting to forget a bit about prom night. All I remember was that I lost my virginity there." I said and then I said "But if I did that thing to Tiffiny, then I guess that I didn't lose my virginity to her after all, as terrible as it is to admit."

"I think that if Ashley doesn't come home in a month, I will have no choice but to leave. And it would kill me to do this." Ashley's father said and then I was wondering what was the reasoning to this belief.

"Why do you need to leave anyways? And if you do, why not just wait long enough for her to come home?" I asked, hoping that I would actually get a real answer.

"I feel like I am being watched. I feel like I am going to be the one who is going to die if I don't leave. I feel like I have a month at best to get the hell out of here. By this point, I am fighting for my own survival. I might just have to accept after a month that she is dead." Ashley's father said and I was still just not understanding this.

"I need to go for a bit. You can leave if you want. But if you stay, then I guess you can talk to me more." Ashley's father said and then he was walking out. I felt like I needed to leave. Not only for his sake, but for the sake of David and Dakota who were probably waiting for me. But I felt like I would stay an extra couple of minutes to look around. I saw from the look on his face that he still didn't trust me and that he was only talking to me because I was just the only one who was right there at that moment, so he felt like he had no real other choice but to be talking to me.

Afterwards, I started to look around the room a bit and there was a large piece of paper that really confused me and when I was looking down, I was disgusted at what I was reading.

I saw a giant list. A list of named. A list of over eight hundred women. Next to each name was a year between '1948' and '1963'. next to them was a bunch of numbers, between '11' and '41'. Then there was another number at the end ranging between '1' and '12'. I was confused at all of these, and yet I would later learn what every single one of them had actually meant.

The thing that really made me sick was the final detail. On the end of the list, the final name was Ashley.

I wondered if Ashley's father might have actually known about what was happening ahead of time. I was sort of wondering if this might have been the case with how much nicer he was being to me in order to try and lower my guard. But this was making me think that this really was actually the truth. I saw that Ashley's father was looking around and he saw me. I looked away from the paper to try and look like I had not seen this.

"Sorry to be doing this right now, but I don't really feel so well right now. I need to go home now." I said and then after I had told him this, I started to run out of the house as fast as possible. There was no way that I was going to indicate that I had known what was going on. I was not going to let him know that I saw the list.

I went right to the car and then David was looking at me. "You were only in there for about five minutes. You look like you saw a ghost or something." David said and there was a part of me that didn't know it then, but as I would later learn, I actually kind of did when I saw that whole list.

"Let's get out of here." I said and then David was telling from the tone of my voice that I was being one hundred percent serious. David started the car up and then he was starting to drive away. Once he was several blocks away, he was wondering if he should ask me what was going on, or if he should just leave subject alone. He was also trying to figure out which one would have been better for my sake. In all reality, I wasn't even aware what was going to be better for my sake.

It seemed as if he was not wanting to pursue the subject further, as he was seeing from the look on my face that I was just not feeling well. The more that I was thinking about this, the more that I felt like I was wanting to just throw up. I wanted to release everything in my body. All of the food, the liquid, and the tar build up that had been going on in my chest for the last several years. I didn't even give a damn though, as it was hurting me so much to be looking at this.

"Sheldon, seriously, you need to tell me what you saw in there." David said when he was at my house staring right at me. He was having his hand firmly on my shoulder. I was looking at him and Dakota and then I was just able to only get a few words out of my mouth as I had been staring at them. I had hoped that my expression really would have been enough to make the whole point made fine enough.

"I saw a list. I hate that list. The list makes me want to die." I said and then I got out of the car. Once I was out of the car, I had been thinking about this for a moment and then I was pointing my finger down. This was my way of trying to show Dakota that I wanted him to lower his window. He seemed to get the indicator, and lowered the window. Once he did so, I spoke to him. "I will tell you everything that I know when we see each other again. We have a lot that we need to talk about." I said and then Dakota nodded as if he understood that he was probably going to get himself ready for tomorrow.

David started to drive away and then I walked inside of my house. Once I was inside, I saw that my mother was standing there, waiting for me. I knew that she was preparing for what was going to happen. What she was going to yell at me about. I braced myself and decided to get it over with. But what she said confused me. "Your first night at your new job is soon. You need to get ready."


	58. Questions and Answers

Part 8: Questions and Answers

I had no idea what the hell my mother was talking about, and there was a part of me that was thinking that she was just being fucking insane. I wanted to call her out on this, but I was thinking that it was better for me to just try and remain relatively cordial while I was going through this whole thing. "What job should I be going to? I never even applied to anywhere. Or did you guys force something on me without even asking for my permission?" As I asked the question question, there was a part of me that was extremely annoyed by this whole thing. I understand that they were my parents and everything, but they really did not have any right to just do this shit behind my fucking back. And the thought that they were allowed to do this pissed me off even more.

"I didn't apply you anywhere. Your father just suggested you somewhere after he said he thought you would be perfect for the job. I think that if anything, you should be thanking your father, not be treating him like some terrible person for actually going out and looking after you." My mother said and I was wondering what the hell was causing any form of this insanity. But then I took a deep breath and I was thinking that it was better to just ask and be as cordial as possible.

"Where did you submit an application at? There is not really any place in town that would probably want a sixteen year old high school student with below average grades." I said and I was thinking that this sounded like a relatively sound argument, and I was thinking that if I was going to be able to keep this up, I can be able to talk my parents out of this insane idea.

"Oh, we applied for a place that would be perfect for you to work at. Something that would really fit into your level of expertise. In fact, if anything, I think that you will be one of the top performing workers there, considering your history and everything. You are going to be working at the labyrinth. Your father said that you would be extremely ready for the job, and some of the people who worked there after hearing of your history seemed to really agree with your father." My mother said and then I was thinking that maybe this was how Ashley's father found out. I realized then and there that there was a very good chance that he was not only involved with how Ashley went missing, but the fucking fact that he was actually a part of the labyrinth.

"Why the hell did you apply me there? I barely even know what the hell it is. I think that you guys just applied me to a place where I don't even know if I am going to even enjoy it. Besides, what history of mine are you even talking about?" I asked, and then my mother was just staring at me as if wondering how I was not able to pick up the answer already.

"I think that you just need to put some thought into it, and you will figure out the exact reason why we placed you in this job. Just think about it for a moment, and think about the things that you have done with girls in the place." My mother was saying and then I was starting to feel a little bit annoyed. I was then thinking about the conversation that I had with Ashley's father, and it was the conversation about Tiffiny.

"I didn't do anything about Tiffiny. I have no idea who the fuck this Tiffiny even fucking is. So please just stop spreading those lies about her." I said and then my mother was just looking at me as if wondering how I was able to think that these were a bunch of lies. But then she was thinking that it was just better to pretend that I was right, and better to just let me live as naive as I possibly could on this matter.

"You know Sheldon, maybe instead of making some claims about what you have done in the past, maybe you should stop fucking yourself up on drugs and actually start to look at the truth of the matter." My mother said as I was just getting tired of this. I then just thought that I had enough of people just acting like I was some horrible human being, and that I was actually a decent guy. Yeah sure, I was not perfect at all. I still did a lot of drugs. I made a lot of fucking mistakes. But this was too much for me to believe. I wasn't somebody who would do this to a ten year old girl, could I? I just wanted my parents to see that there was nothing really wrong about me.

But then I was thinking more about what I can say in order to change the subject of Tiffiny. Something that I think I could be able to actually get a decent conversation with in order to actually make some progress in not only the job, but what my parents must have known about my drug addiction. I mean, I was kind of aware that they knew of this before hand. But I just wished that they had gotten me in trouble over it. Anything to make it feel like I actually was living a normal life.

"Why do you never do anything about my drug addiction? Why do you never yell at me for smoking, or drinking, or anything? Why do you just let me do this? I mean, most parents would at least try and lecture me about this stuff. But it seems like you just don't really give a fuck at all. And I feel like I deserve to know more." I said and then my mother just had a totally careless look on her face.

"Why would I get in your business about this? I mean, you are sixteen years old. You are pretty much a fully grown ass man. You are almost an adult. You should be allowed to make some adult choices in your life. So in all reality, I just don't really care. You are almost a young adult, and you are making some young adult choices. If you were only like ten or twelve then maybe I would care more, but you are sixteen. I did a lot of things when I was sixteen. I was even having sex by the time I was sixteen." My mother said and I think she was putting in extra emphasis on that last sentence because she must have been aware of my increasingly big sex life.

"But you never even show anything like concern. You never even try and indicate the fact that there is something that you might find to be a little bit worrying about this. You just don't really care. I think that you probably just think that it is better that I do this. Better for you to use me like this. To make me weak. You and dad must be looking at this as some fucking game. As if you don't want me to do something. Like you are hiding a very big secret from me, and that if I knew, then I would expose the secret to the entire world. How close if this to being the truth?" I just didn't really know what they were wanting to hide, as this part made no real sense to me. But I was totally convinced that they were indeed hiding something from me.

"I will admit that you are starting to pick up on some of the pieces of the truth. I don't really know if it would really be all that hard though. I just think that you finally are able to figure out everything. Maybe that is something that comes along with age." My mother said and then to prove my point from earlier, and to confirm what my mother had been saying, I took out a cigarette right then and there and started to smoke. She looked at me, not giving a single fuck in the world.

"I already told you Sheldon, I really could not care less. Don't suddenly think that just because you are doing it right now that suddenly I am going to care." My mother said and then I was just casually smoking it and then I threw it on the ground when I was done, wondering if there was a small chance that the lit part of the cigarette could set the house on fire. In which case, maybe there could be something good to come out of this.

"Mom, I really can't believe any of this. Even you must realize just how fucking insane this whole thing is. I guess that maybe there was something about Riley going missing that just broke you. If that is the truth, you can talk to me about it and we can actually make this work out." I said, and I was wishing that this was the case so I can be able to help her out in all reality.

"You should not even dare to mention Riley if you know what is good for you. If I hear you ever mentioning her name again, I will slap you across the face and punish you like the piece of crap teenager that you are. You are nothing like her. She was a great girl, and she would never even dare go down the same paths that you have gone down." My mother said and then I looked up at her as if I was wanting her to slap me in the face. If she had done that, then I would have every right to hit her back for her and my fathers dysfunctionality. At that point, it would be self defense and there would be no way that anybody would be able to tell me off.

But I was thinking that now was not the time. I needed to get to know more from her. I felt like I needed to get more information before I would feel the desire to do this. As if the only thing that was keeping me from starting this fight was just wanting to know how much more she was going to tell me about my family.

"What exactly makes you think that I would be able to do a good job at the labyrinth? What exactly do I do when I work down at the labyrinth?" I was hoping that she would be able to at least give me this. If she was not able to, or not even willing to tell me this simple bit of information, that would make me want to help her even less than I already was not wanting to. But I was thinking that if she did a really good job convincing me, then perhaps she might be able to help me see what is so 'great' about actually working down here.

"Well, it is very good for helping the city make a good amount of money. The financial gain of this town is well worth everything going on down there. Maybe if you actually heard your fathers side of the argument, then you would actually see why this job is so brilliant. I mean, I was thinking at first that maybe he was wrong. But when he presented me all of the information about the job, I realized just how brilliant it really was." My mother told me and then I was sighing in annoyance.

"Look, I don't really give a damn about any of that. Those are lies to make the town seem impressive. The people here are what makes the town so great. Not these fake statistics that nobody really actually gives a fuck about." I said and then I was telling the truth. I didn't give a damn about the money here. Why the hell would I give a fuck about money? Money was in no way that big of a deal. And anybody who disagreed needed to actually go out there and get a real form of a life.

"Well, if it weren't for how well this town was doing on a business level, then we would have never moved here. This is the only reason we moved here in the first place. Maybe before you jump to conclusions, you should actually look at the real evidence. If you look at the real evidence, then mayne you would be more inclined to be keeping your fucking mouth shut." My mother said as I was thinking about what had gotten into her. She was a messed up person. There was no real way around that now. She had been showing how little she cared for me. How little she actually cared for anything such as the law. How little she even cared about Riley. I wondered if my father had cared just as little, maybe even less than she had.

The idea of the fact that neither one of my parents had actually cared what happened to Riley made me scared. Just even the basic idea that they had not scared made me want to give up all hope in humanity. I was hating everything about this world. I was wanting myself to die at the suggestion of this realization.

I was wondering what the hell was wrong with them. Did they actually move to this town actually knowing what was going to happen. Did they know that they were going to ruin Riley's life by actually doing this? I think that they must have been well aware of what was going in. I wanted to have them tell me the truth of what we were doing here, but I had no idea how I was going to be able to break the information to them.

"Mom, I am curious to know something. I know that you are going to probably hate me for suggetsing this to you, but I feel as if I really need to know..." I was saying and then I was preparing myself for what my mother was going to say to me. But I needed to be prepared for the idea that she wasn't going to say anything at all and that she was just going to simply shoot me down.

"When you moved to this town, did you do it because you wanted to make everything that you guys do seem more acceptable? Did peope, parents, teachers or anybody else start to see the disgusting pattern of the way that you were raising Riley and I? Was moving away from our previous town the only way to actually not get in trouble with the law. You know, since everybody else here is just as fucked up as you are." I said and I was waiting for my mother to slap me for mentioning Riley's name. I was thinking that after she had not done it that perhaps she was actually lying about doing this.

"I never want to hear you accuse us of not actually caring about you. We knew what we had to do. We knew that this was the best way for you guys to enjoy your life. We knew that your life was not going to be very nice if you just stayed back there. Here, everything is great. Everything goes well, and there is nothing that you need to worry about here." My mother said and then I was wondering what the hell was even so bad about where we had lived back in the day.

I had a really hard time coming to some form of conclusion. I was realizing that no matter how hard I tried, the conclusion was impossible to fucking make. I had no idea what was bad about that place, and I was thinking that they were lying through their teeth. I mean, I enjoyed this place. I thought that this was a great place. But maybe what Todd had told me earlier was true. That I only look at this fondly because of the fact that I personally made some good memories. Not because the events were actually any good. I was thinking that if a twelve year old kid was actually to figure this out before me, I wonder why the hell people were able to get away with any of this. Like I said, a twelve year old figured it out. Everybody else should have been able to figure it out by this point in time.

"I think that everything you are telling me is a giant fucking load of horse shit. Even you must be thinking that you are lying through your fucking teeth. So please actually step the fuck up and tell me the truth about what the hell actually happened with Riley. I feel like I deserve to know what the fuck happened to my fucking sister." I said and then I was getting ready for the slap. I knew it was coming, and in all reality, I honestly just didn't give a damn.

After I had braced myself for a few seconds, I had it coming and then I felt the surge of pain coming through my cheek. Under most cases, I would have been made. But in this case, I was actually welcoming it.

"We did nothing to Riley. She went missing. We were hard to notice what happened. That is the truth. But don't you ever dare again suggest that we did this in purpose. Nothing about what happened to her was on purpose. To even suggest such a thing shows us just how uninformed that you really are." My mother said and then I shook my head. I knew that she was lying, and she had known that I knew and we were both getting ready for what would come next.

"Look, she and I deserved nothing that had happened to us since we moved here. We should have been living normal and peaceful lives when we were young kids and teenagers. Nothing like this. I feel like we have been living in absolute hell lately, and you have done nothing to actually show you care at all. Every time I feel like I want to talk to somebody about these things, or hell even need to talk to somebody about these things, you guys always shoot me down and act like I am causing a big deal out of nothing. You act like I am just being nothing more than a worry freak." I said and then I was even to myself sounding like I was starting to lose it a little bit. I didn't really care though. I just wanted to show her that I had indeed been paying attention, and that nothing she was doing was flying under the radar anymore.

"I think that you are just not really handling the pressures of what comes with adult life too well. I can't even blame you. I mean, it is hard to get used to adult life. I am sure that if your sister was here right now, she would have said the exact same thing. But since she isn't here, I guess what she thinks will not really be all that valid anymore." My mother said and then the way she was saying it made it sound like she was just pointing out not only just a casual fact, but as if she would not be able to muster herself up to care no matter what the case may have been. I was wondering why they didn't care what happened to their fucking daughter. They would say that they were broken over it, but their actions really seem to prove otherwise.

"I don't want to be working down at the labyrinth. I have no desire to work at a place that seems like it doesn't show any form of care for the real justice system in the city. I mean, if I had actually wanted to work there, I would have started the day I found out about it." I said and then my mother considered this for a moment.

"But you were never really supposed to figure out about it when you did. That was a mistake nobody could have calculated. We could have never figured out that there was going to be that one annoying twelve year old who would have shown up to tell you all of those things. If we had known, I am sure that he would have been taken care of long before." My mother said as I was hearing the indirect tones of what she was meaning when she had been saying 'taken care of'.

It was at this point that I seriously was starting to question everything I even knew. Everything that I thought made sense. Everything that should have been the way that it was, but wasn't. I should have had parents that seemed to care for me and weren't a part of some mixed up crew. I should have had my sister at my side. I should have had a real girlfriend that cared for me. But I didn't get any of these. I don't really think that I was going to be even close to getting any of these things. I was starting to accept that. It wasn't really bothering me all that much. I mean, I can live with below average parents who didn't really care all that much. In a way, I was dealing with that my mother this whole time. I mean, my father seemed like he was there and that he cared for me, but my mother was always out doing stuff, never paying me any attention and mind. I doubt she would have cared even if it was my life at stake and I was going to die at any minute. She just simply never fucking cared.

I was thinking about this, and I was wondering what I can do to make her show any sign of anything that was beyond indifference. I wondered if I was going to actually get something through to her. But I don't think I really could have. But then I was thinking about something that would be sure to get her to react to me. That would be able to make her shut up and realize that she was sort of fucked right from the start.

"You were always telling me that you thought that Riley went away to do her job. That she had a purpose that she needed to fulfill when she was gone. Was this related to the labyrinth? What kind of job would a fourteen year old girl need to do in order to make her parents actually more proud of her? I mean, she was a star student." I said and then my mother started to think that once again, I wasn't as dumb as she was thinking that I was.

"It seemed like you really were paying attention. I never thought you would noticed, since you were only ten when it had happened. But if you seem to notice the small details, then maybe once again I was not really giving you enough credit. Yes, she was sent down to work at the labyrinth. I think that your father was very happy to see her go down there. I never seen him more excited to go to work as he was that night." My mother was answering in a way that was making it sound like she was aware of some random inside joke that I didn't really get.

"What was she doing down there?" I asked, trying to keep my tone calm an casual, but even I knew that I was not really doing a good job given the situation.

"I wouldn't tell you the truth even if I had wanted to. It is something that you should see for yourself. I think that when you see it, you might be shocked or even disgusted at first. But you will get used to it soon enough. After all, you have a unlimited sperm bank." My mom replied and then I was wondering where that last bit would even matter. I was a male, of course I had a unlimited sperm bank in me.

I was just trying to figure out where the entire context of this really was. I felt like if I didn't get this cleared up, then I was going to just run away from home. I was starting to think that running away from home was going to be the biggest thing that could get me out of this insanity. Steal dads car, drive off with it, and then go to the next town over, stay at the hotel for a while and start to figure out what I am going to do with my life then when I had some time to actually process all that was going on. When I was done thinking these things out, then I would go and get a job. Who knows, maybe going to that town would be just far enough away to where my parents do not see the merit of going after me and that if anything, they will take this as a sign to just leave me alone. To just let me actually try and start a new and better life somewhere else. I was just hoping that it would have been that simple. But a part of me was worried that nothing would have ever been that simple.

"Mom, how would you feel if I just left Wayside? Like moved out and never had any intention on coming back? Would you really care all that much about what I was doing?" I asked, hoping she would say no so that way I can start to plan things out right away.

My mom was just looking at me as if trying to figure out what my big plan was. She knew that I had something up my sleeve. She knew that there was something I was hiding from her. She just couldn't figure out what it was and why I asked this.

"I mean, if you had the money to leave, then I guess I wouldn't care. But you don't have the money. You don't even have a job. Besides, you don't have a car. You are still in school. So there is no real way that you are going to be able to get yourself out of here. You might as well just give up on that idea right now." My mother said and then I decided to shoot down all of those points.

"I can just get some loans from you, I can borrow a car or use the bus to move out, and I can always just drop out of school. None of these really seem like they would be that hard." I said and even I knew that this was a load of horseshit. It was going to be fucking impossible. But I wanted to give off that look of confidence that would make her almost believe in me for a bit.

The way she reacted to that was much different from what even I was expecting. I thought she would just laugh it off and tell me to dream on or something like that. To show she didn't believe me and just leave it to be as simple as that. I never thought that she would slap me across the face three times. One for each one of those 'terrible ideas' as she had worded it when she was done.

"Just because you're our kid doesn't mean that you can take our money from us. Not even just to borrow any. You know that we want you to actually earn your money. This is not fucking earning. Leeching if not earning. Leeching is the worst thing that you can do off of your parents." My mother said and then she was looking at me as if she was wanting the words to sink in. She if she wanted this to prove that she was the 'superior' one to me. Although if she slapped me one more time, I was going to hit her back. I was going to defend myself from her. I mean, I did kind of egg her on and maybe did actually deserve the first one when it came to Riley. Even if I didn't deserve it, I was trying to make it happen. So I was able to roll with that. But it was the fact that she had done it three more times over what seemed like at the spot perfectly valid point that really pissed me off. I did not deserve that second one and I have no idea where she thought that I did.

"I can't believe that I am saying this, but maybe it is better that Riley left. That way she would never have to be dealing with you fucking psychos. I would have left if I knew what was going to happen. I don't even think you are telling the truth about this labyrinth place. I think she just saw through the truth before I did and ran away." I said as I was placing my hand on my face to cover up the bright red spot that was on there now.

"If you keep mentioning your sisters name like this, I will do much worse than just slap you." My mother said as I started to laugh at that one. I thought that she was being really funny by now. I couldn't believe that she was being this way. Acting like this around her own son just because I didn't agree with her ideas.

"You know, and if you try to do something like that to me, I will fight back. I will not stand around and let you abuse me any further just because I am pressing your fucking buttons. You need to get a fucking life." I said and I took immense pleasure out of telling my mother that she needed to get a fucking life. I felt like it was the biggest achievement that I had ever made telling her this.

As I was looking forward, I was waiting to see what my mom was going to do next. I was waiting to see what she was going to say. I was wondering if she was going to act like I was being a 'trouble maker' again and if she was going to try and punish me further. I didn't really care though. I was ready for anything that was going to come my way. If she wanted to cause a fight with me, then it was a fight she was going to get. If she wanted to actually be respectful and talk with me like an actual fucking son, then I would even give her this. I would do anything if she was actually going to be clear on it.

Again, like I was saying earlier, I admit that I deserved the first one. Maybe I really did take it too far. But the second time around was totally unjustified, and the way she was acting over the mere mention of her daughter really started to get me to think that she was aware of something behind my back, that both her and my father were aware. That I was going to find out soon enough what the entire truth was. And I was going to hate every single minute of it.

"I wonder why you even had kids when it clearly shows that you can't fucking handle them. You clearly do not know how to raise them. You have been treating me like garbage this entire conversation. I think that I am just going to go to my room, and I am just going to get the hell out of here. I am going to go to Dakota's for a while. Maybe when you are willing to talk to me like a real person, I will actually be willing do just this." I said, and I meant every word of that second part. If she wanted to talk to me normally, I will be happy to do this. But just not the way that she had been doing.

"Were you not listening to me earlier? Your first fucking day at the job is starting soon, and you are thinking about partying with your friends." My mother said and she grabbed my arm really tightly as I was walking away. I knew that we were both being terrible. We were both on the wrong end of this argument. Neither one of us were being just with what we were doing. But I still think that even with the way that I was acting, that she was actually still worse than me. I felt like I did have a semi good reason to be acting like this.

"Let me go. I don't even want the job. I don't want to do anything down there. What don't you fucking understand about this?" I asked and then after I asked this and gave off a slightly threatening tone, as if to suggest she needed to let go of me, my mother slammed me against the wall and my head started to ring as I felt that happening.

I looked right at her after the ringing to my face was done with and I was now feeling the pain turn into anger. I was now feeling like I was having every desire to fight back. Even if I deserved the first one, hell even if I might have deserved the second one for some fucked up reason, I really fucking did not deserve that third one. Regardless of if I deserved any of the five offenses she took against me, she was now at that point where she had been taking this way too far. I turned around and then I pushed her down to the ground.

"I am tired of you abusing me like this. I am tired of your lying to me about Riley. I am tired of you just acting like I am a fucking idiot. I am tired of everything. I am going to go to Dakota's house and I am going to fucking call the police on you for hitting me five times. Which honestly was four times too many." I started to walk back to my room and I was wondering how my hoodie didn't get at least slightly torn with the force that she had applied. Not that I really minded, I just thought it was odd.

Once I was in my room, I was really ready to just blow off some steam. I took out a cigarette and started to smoke it while I was looking for some clothes. I took out all of my school work from tenth grade from my back pack and put it in the trash. Didn't need that regardless of what happened anyways since the school year was over. Then I was filling up some things that I thought I would want in there.

I took out a knife that Dakota gave me and I never used. I thought there was a chance I would need this soon, so I put it in the back pack. I took three white shirts and three blue pants and put in there. I took every single drug I still had and put it in there. Then I was looking around for loose money. I saw that fifty dollars were in there from a birthday card Dakota gave me on my sixteenth birthday that I totally forgot about and then I was thinking that there was really nothing else.

I was right at the door to my room when I saw my mother right there and she pushed me down to the ground.

I could not believe what this entire situation had become. I couldn't believe the fact that she had been doing this to me. The fact that she had been treating me like this. I was going to fucking report her to the police. I was going to tell David about this. I think that he would have been the only one who would have believed what I had said. I think that it was good for him to listen to me and actually support me and then maybe if he was able to make a good bust, then more people would feel like he should be the one who should have been sheriff and not Garrett, who honestly was giving me a bit of strange vibes just by looking at him.

I started to stand up and then I was starting to realize that I needed to fight back. It wasn't a matter of if people would be supporting me or thinking that I had a right to do this. I knew that I just needed to do this. I knew that I really did have no other option but to do this now. I balled my first together and then I punched her right in the face. She fell down to the ground and then she yelled at me saying that I had hit her too hard.

"Maybe I wouldn't have hit you so hard if you actually treated me with respect and if you actually had been listening to me. But here you are, trying to fight me and act like you actually have a right to treat me like crap in the way that you have. You deserve to be going to prison." I said and then I was stomping away and then she grabbed my foot and then pulled me down where I flopped on down to the ground. I could tell from the way that she was moving my right foot that she was trying to break it. I knew that this was exactly what she had wanted. I was not going to let her do this. I kicked her right in the face and then I could see the grime of my shoe right on her face as she landed on her ass. Under any other case, I would have thought that this was kind of funny, but right now I thought that I was basically running for my fucking life and that I needed to get the hell out of here. I got my back pack right on my back and then I was starting to head to the front entrance of the house as fast as possible.

When I was at the front of the house, I felt her grabbing me once again. This time by the neck. She was trying to fucking choke me.

I then struggled and then I grabbed her and then pressed her right down on the ground and then I could hear with the loud thud that I really did bring her down. The loud thud made it sound like I had broken her back. Fuck that, she fucking deserved it to be honest.

I then got out of the house and decided to ditch the idea of grabbing and stealing a car. I was just running as fast as I possibly could to get out of the area. I needed to just be away from there. I didn't know or really care how I was going to get away from there. I just knew that as long that I was away from there, that I would be fine. That I would be closer to being safe. I doubt that I would be fully safe. But at least I would have been closer to being safe. At the very fucking least.

I looked behind me and I was seeing that my mother was not in eyesight. I was thinking that for the time being, that I was finally safe. So when I was starting to think that I was actually safe, I was starting to calm down a bit and then I was now actually walking. I was about a tenth of the way to where Dakota had lived, and I was starting to feel the sweat coming down my body. I felt really gross by doing this and wondered how the hell anybody enjoyed any fucking physical education classes.

I eventually would reach were Dakota lived and then I knocked right on his front door. The first couple of knocks I was doing it rather weakly. I couldn't really get the strength to make it a strong knock. I was just wanting Dakota to get my attention, and I didn't really think that I needed to be too loud about it. I waited for about five or ten seconds before Dakota actually answered the door and he was looking right at me.

"I thought that you were just going to try and go to sleep right now. What are you doing here right now?" Dakota seemed actually concerned for me. I was not really sure if he was going to believe in the story that I was going to tell him. I was not even sure if I was able to believe in myself. But I didn't really care. I needed to just tell him the truth. Maybe when I would tell him the truth, then he will be willing to actually work with me in order to expose what this labyrinth was. Since he had barely even really known about it. Hell, I barely really even knew what the hell it was. If I barely knew what it was, then how the hell was I going to expect somebody who knew nothing at all about it to help me out?

"Something really crazy happened. My mom tried to get me to go down to this strange labyrinth place, saying that I needed to work there, and then I got into a fight with her about it. Not one of those verbal fights were we just both scream at each other and then after a while, we would eventually make up. No, she actually got physical with me. She actually started to fight with me. She tried to hurt me. In all reality, I was not really even sure if she was going to care if I had actually died. If anything, there is a part of me that thinks that she was hoping that I would actually die. Which is extremely beyond fucked up." I said, and then I was seeing from the look on Dakota's face that he was really having a hard time processing this whole thing.

"I think that you should try and report this to the police. This is serious stuff. Do you think that they would actually believe in you though? If they believe in you, then you can really bring her down and she would deserve every minute of the punishment that she would get for what she did to you." Dakota said and then I felt like he was just being a little bit rash. I was just not really sure what to think or what to believe. In all reality, I just didn't really think it mattered all that much anymore. I don't think that even in the most serious of cases, I could be able to actually give a damn.

"I want to tell the police. But I am almost convinced that they are going to think that I am lying to them. That I am just somebody who is trying to make some big news story. I don't really think that they will listen to me or even care about what I have to tell them. They will just look at my mother as the victim, as much as I hate to admit it. They will see that I hit her, and not even care that she had hit me nearly five times before hand." I said as I threw in one last bit "Besides, they would try and say that this was a part of discipline. That she had every right to do what she did to me in order to teach me discipline."

"If they think that way about you, then you need to be much more serious about what you are telling them. They need to believe what you are telling them. They just have to fucking believe in you. If they don't, then I think that they just don't care. Not that they don't think you are telling the truth." Dakota tried to make me feel better but I felt like it was too good to be true.

"I would honestly be even more bothered by the idea that they just don't care. That would fucking disgust me. The idea that they just think of this as nothing more than a minor incident report." I said, telling myself that I needed to think about that only if they had actually believed in me, which I was still highly doubting that they would.

"I think that I am going to talk to David, and then when I talk to him, I think I will just tell him the truth and see what he can be able to do in order to actually help me out. I think he is the only one that I will be able to actually trust. That he will be the only one who will actually listen to me. If he doesn't listen to me, then I don't think that anybody else will. I will have no hope that anybody else will. I will just have to accept the fact that nobody fucking cares if I get abused." I said, thinking that maybe this would be a result of what I did to Tiffiny. I hated to admit it, but with each progressing second, I was starting to realize that it was true. I did babysit Tiffiny. I did use that as a chance to prove my alphaness to her. I did sexually grope her. I was a fucked up man.

"Sheldon, I am only going to say this one, and I hope you listen to me, but you need to take the risk." Dakota said as I was telling myself that maybe he was right.

As I was thinking about this, and as I was thinking about my next course of action, I took out my next cigarette and then I started to smoke it. Smoking the cigarette was the only thing that had made me feel like I was fucking safe. I didn't feel safe, and even if the police did believe me, that was not going to fucking change at all.

"I want to just feel like I can be here without being at risk for something to happen to me. I can't do that anymore. Every minute that I am here, I feel like I am going to get attacked. I feel like I am going to have to get into a fight at any minute. I love this city, and I want to be in this city, but for fucks sake, just being here scares me. I think that I am being watched." I said, and I felt a bit dumb about the last bit, and I was thinking that I just needed to be more realistic, but I was thinking that this was the most realistic that I was actually being here.

"Sheldon, if you can't even be here without feeling like you are in danger, then you need to just actually get the hell out of here. Sure, I will really miss you, but I am not going to judge you if this is the real reason that you are doing it. That you are not just lying to me in order to get the hell out of here and start a fake new life." Dakota said and then I was feeling like Dakota just needed to chill. I had a good reason to do everything that I was doing, and that was something that I think he still understood even if he was just going to have to accept the fact that we were getting possibly very near the point in which we would not be hanging out anymore.

"Dakota, I think that I will not be able to leave though. I have a very good reason for that. It is a one word reason. Labyrinth." I said quietly and the word made me quake with fear, as if the very idea of it made me want to die. "I need to go down there. I need to go down and actually see what is going on. I don't care if I am putting my life at risk. This is something that I absolutely have to do." I needed to find out the truth of Riley. I needed to free Gwen. Oh my fucking god, I had totally forgotten about Gwen.

"Sheldon, I get that you feel like you have some form of big revenge story going on here, and I am not going to act as if I get it, but can you please tell me that you think that Ashley will be found here? If you think that you can find Ashley here, then I will be at your side one hundred percent." Dakota told me and then I was thinking about it for a moment. It had only been a day or so. I felt like she was the only even relatively safe bet.

"I feel like we will find Ashley. I want to find Ashley. I need to find out what happened to her and if her father was involved with what had happened. I have a feeling that maybe he was aware of what is happening, and I think that he deserves to get his ass kicked for what he might have been doing to his own fucking daughter." I said, and I was meaning every single word of this. I knew that Dakota was thinking about what it would be like if her father was involved.

"If her father is involved with her going missing, then I am going to beat his fucking face in. You sure as hell bet that I will do this." I said and then took out another cigarette and got right into it. Usually when I was getting riled up, I was going through multiple at a time and I was throwing away any small care that I was having in saving my health. Not that I really cared at all.

"I doubt that he is, but in the way that you are saying it, and when you were talking to me about what your mother did, maybe there is a small chance that he is aware of what is going on." Dakota said and then I nodded, glad that he was starting to see where I was coming from at the very least.

I then was looking forward, and then I was thinking about what I would tell David. He was seriously the only one that I was thinking would actually listen to me. I was thinking that he was the only one who would actually care about me. Maybe it was because he was my age almost. Maybe because he was the first I talked with. Maybe it was just because he was a good man. I didn't know what it was. But either way, I was wondering what he was going to say to me.

"If you really think that this will bring Ashley back, and if you think that you can actually find Riley by doing this, which will help you find peace with the fact that these things happened I presume, then I will do anything that I can. I just need to make sure that you are aware of the risk that you are going to be placing yourself in if you do this." Dakota told me and then I nodded.

I still was glad that Dakota was even giving me a chance on this at all. He was one of the few people who actually knew Riley personally in any way. He had seen her for a bit when she was here for the first few months that she was here. When they saw each other, from what I knew, they barely ever talked to each other. I can only recall one actual conversation that they really did have with each other. And I think it was about how much they both hated school. But even then, Dakota must have been aware of how much this was really hurting me inside just thinking about and dealing with.

"I am one hundred percent convinced that if we find out what happened to Riley, then we will be able to find out what the hell happened with Ashley, or perhaps the other way around. And if I can save Ashley, then I sure as hell hope I can save Riley. If I can save Riley, I know that I can save Ashley for sure. I just hope that the labyrinth is what I am starting to fear that it is. Even if this idea really scares me." I said and then I was really not wanting to say what I thought it really was. If I did, I felt like I would want to throw up.

"Well, if you are sure that this is going to be the case, then I guess that we should be heading out now." Dakota said and then afterwards, we were starting to head on to Dakota's car.

As we were heading to Dakota's car, I held up my back pack a bit. "Want to have some weed before we start our search?" I asked, and I was just being innocent enough when I was asking it. I could see from the look on Dakota's face that he did actually indeed want it. So I went in the car and he got in the car as well and then we were starting to light it up.


	59. The Sheriff

Part 9: The Sheriff

As we were in the car just smoking some weed, I was starting to feel a little bit relaxed, and I was thinking that I was actually going to be able to fine with Dakota. I was thinking that for a short moment, that I was not really needing to worry all that much about the labyrinth. I almost considered this as I was getting my next high. The whole time that I was getting this high, I was looking at Dakota and I could tell that he was getting tired. But at the same time, I was seeing that he was starting to get a little bit more focused on what was going on as well. As if he was getting the exact opposite effect of it that I had been getting.

The drive was a little while, and the entire time that the drive was happening, I was starting to wonder what was going to make Dakota a bit more calm. I think that if I just had Jack with us, and he was able to see how much longer that Jack had been looking for Gwen than Dakota had been looking for Ashley, then Dakota might start to see that he was not really having it all that badly. I was then thinking that it was terrible for me to be thinking this way. That I needed to be more respectful to him. But when I was in the state of high, I was thinking that he was getting out of this rather easily. He didn't know what it was like when he was next to me, and he was not aware of how awful it had been to deal with Riley. Nobody really would understand how awful it was with Riley.

I was wondering what had made my parents so insane to actually think that Riley had deserved any of this. I was wondering if they were really fully involved with this in the way that they had shown me that they were, or if they were basically paid to be acting like this. If it was the latter, then maybe I can have a small amount of respect for them. But a large part of me was really doubting that this was the case.

I started to remember more and more of the way that they were around me. All of the hints of them not really caring. I was eventually realizing that this was planned from the start, and that they were just staging this thing around me. When I first came home and they were acting like they were devasted that Riley was gone. This was something that they were just acting like. They didn't really feel that way. They couldn't have cared less.

The fact, as well as the realization that they had not cared, was something that had been just really haunting me this entire night. It was the thing that was going to actually make me start to trust the sheriff. I can't believe that I was thinking about breaking to the sheriff. But he was supposed to protect the town, and maybe I did need to give him a chance to show that he was not all that bad of a guy and that I was miserably wrong about him.

Before I was really able to comprehend what Dakota was doing, he brought us to Jack's house. I had no idea why this was strange to me, since we lived so close to him. I was trying to remember if we had planned to bring him along. But since he was here, I guess that there was nothing that I could really do about it. Dakota got out of the car and then he slowly walked on towards Jack's front door. Then he knocked and then after a while of waiting, Jack answered the door and then he was looking right at Dakota.

"Sheldon and I are going to be looking into the labyrinth. Want to come with us?" Dakota asked and when I was seeing that the car window was lowered, I was finding it funny the way that he was sounding like he was slurring and he was about to laugh at the entire situation. I didn't really know what was funny about the way that he was asking the question, but then that started to make me laugh.

"Are you fucking high?" Jack asked, and the idea of us being high was sounding really funny to him, and he was looking like he was going to start laughing himself. It was like it was just causing a giant streak of finding this hilarious for all three of us. Then Dakota nodded after the question was asked to him, and then Jack closed the door. He was looking behind him and he was just making sure that his parents were not seeing what he was about to do.

"Okay, I will come along with you. But just to make sure that you guys don't get yourself in trouble." Dakota said and while he was finding it a little bit funny, he was also just a bit worried about us. He was clearly hoping that we were actually not planning on doing most of the things that we were going to do. Not that he minded going to the labyrinth. But he was also thinking that it was a terrible idea for us to sort of go in guns blazing with no plans at all.

The three of us got inside of the car and then Jack was at the back of the van. I was then trying to remember where the hell we were actually going to go. I knew where the labyrinth entrance was. But it was hard for me to get my mind on the place when I was high as a kite. Damn it the one time I get high in recent time is the one time I actually needed to figure something out. The one time that I was high was the one time I needed to try and do something better for the people. Something better for my friends. Something better for my family. I sometimes hate myself even more than I fucking did already when I start to look back in hindsight of how I was and everything.

After Dakota stopped driving at the fucking school parking lot, Dakota was looking right at me. It seemed like after a few minutes, that he was getting a bit more serious about the matter at hand. I knew that this was going to be something that I needed to be ready for. Once I was seeing Dakota look right at me, I was wondering what the hell he was going to say to start his delivery.

"Okay, it is time to be serious right now. I want to find Ashley right now. You want to find Riley. And Jack wants to find Gwen. We all have a girl that we want to find. You have a sister, I have a girlfriend, and Jack has a friend. For all six of our sakes, can you please tell me the truth. Where is the labyrinth?" Dakota asked, and I had to think about it for a moment but then I remembered after a bit and I felt like I could easily tell them.

"I remember finding out that it was in a sort of bush from the middle school. I can't remember the bush, but I do remember the general area. I think that you just need to get in the general area, and you will need to move the bushes around and you will see what exactly I am talking about. I mean, I don't want to go down there, and I think that the idea of going back there will actually lead to both of our deaths." I said and in my state of being high actually forgot about Jack being there, and then when I remembered him being there once again, I then quickly thought about how to make it still something with him in there as well. "Well, all three of us actually."

"If there is something that is happen to my friend, then I deserve to know what it is. Please, find the area where it is. I will look around with you. I want to make sure that I can find my own friend. If we can never find Gwen, I don't really know if I will be able to live normally anymore. I think that I might start to feel like I would be slowly losing the will to live." Jack said and then he was starting to realize how silly this whole thing was actually sounding.

"I think that Gwen is fine." I said, and I was feeling bad for saying that. I knew for a fact that she was not fine, but at the same time, I was just sort of telling myself that she was. But then I decided to actually get my shit together for once in my life. "We need to fucking go to Wayside. Not the town, since we're here right now. No, I mean the school literally called Wayside. The thirty story one." I decided and then once I started to get a little bit descriptive on which school it was, since there was another middle school for certain students who barely were passing classes. So in a way, for troubled students.

Dakota started to drive the car right to Wayside school. I was starting to get more and more worried about this drive. I was wondering when we were going to get in trouble with the law. I was starting to become convinced that we were going to get exposed for this at any moment. That if we were found down there, we were going to get arrested. I was certain that if we were going to get arrested, then there was absolutely nothing that we would be able to do in order to actually defend ourselves to the officers. They would look at us as three troubled teenage boys and we would be forced to get a job and do community service. Then there would be me, and I would now be more forced than ever to go and work down at the labyrinth. This made me utterly terrified.

I was not wanting to go down there. Not in the fear of seeing what I was going to see there. In all reality, that did not bother me so much. Could not have been worse the second time around. What was scaring the shit out of me was the idea of me having to go down and working at the labyrinth once again. That is the thing that would break me. To do something to those women.

Eventually, before I was able to really to think about this all that much, we were at the parking lot of the school. It was sort of like when I had been there the first time with Todd. I was thinking that this was so long ago. Like a million years ago. But in all reality, it was actually only six days since I had last been there. So many things happening in these last six fucking days. My life honestly changed way too much for it to actually make any real sense.

We were slowly getting out of the car and then I started to grab my drugs a bit. I knew that I personally needed them. I took out yet another cigarette and then smoked it. The more that I was smoking it, the more that I was starting to feel the feeling hit me in the stomach a little bit. But I honestly didn't give a shit.

"Do you know what the labyrinth is actually like? It seems like you have been there once before. What did you see when you were here last?" Jack asked, and then I shrugged, and then I was trying to find a way to describe the pure evil of what I had seen there. In order to make the two men understand what the problem of this was. I think that if I just described it well enough, they would finally understand me and they would actually start to side with me.

"I barely saw anything. It was very dark when I was down there. I could barely even understand what was going on. I think that there were some things that I heard down there that reminds me of what I heard..." I said and I was remembering the tree from years ago. I was remembering how I didn't get it back then, and then I was thinking about what Dakota had told me earlier all those years ago. Just that the noises sounded like there was a bunch of people having sex. I knew that the labyrinth was pretty much a strange sex operation. I didn't need a genius to figure that out. But for some reason, I didn't do the math in my head that the noises we heard were the exact same noises that I heard down there. I forgot about it and even if I had not, I was thinking that it was just people making love in the forest. No, the sound of the labyrinth was so loud that I was able to hear it all the way there.

I was looking right at Dakota. "Hey do you remember the tree we found at the edge of town, and the sounds that we heard there all those years ago? How you were saying that it was sounding like people were having sex." I said, and then Dakota nodded when I asked him this question.

"God damn it, I can't believe that I was not making that connection. Oh my fucking god." I said and then we were walking right in the direction of the bushes that I was thinking that they were at. "I wonder how long this labyrinth has been forcing people to do this." I said, and then I was thinking about the years that I was seeing on the paper. 1948. For fifteen years, this operation had been going on and nobody had ever decided to try and say or do something about this. I was wondering what was wrong with the people in this town to be letting this whole situation be working underneath our noses.

I was now utterly pissed at the entire situation that I was now presented with. I was moving my hands through a bunch of bushes in the yard of the school and then Jack was thinking that he had found something. I can tell from when he was looking right at us. Dakota and I looked up and then we were seeing from the look on Jack's face that he was utterly terrified at what he was seeing. As if he was regretting coming along at all. Which I was trying to warn them about.

Knowing that this was the thing that the three of us needed to see, Dakota and I were walking right towards Jack and we were getting ourselves ready for what we were going to be seeing. I knew that we needed to be strong for Jack. Jack and Dakota needed to be strong for me. And Jack and I needed to be strong for Dakota. It was beyond strange to be seeing three guys acting like this over something that we should have tried to convince ourselves never existed.

Jack was showing something that looked like a trap door. I was thinking about what I saw six days ago. I almost forgot about what it had looked like with all of the recent events plus the fact that I was extremely fucking high, and I was thinking that I was perhaps not really sure what exactly I was seeing. But then I was telling myself that this was the correct place. When I was telling myself this, I opened up the trap door.

I was looking at Dakota and Jack once again. I was sort of silently telling them that they had one more chance to get the hell out of here, and pretend as if they had never seen this. I was thinking and sort of hoping that I was able to do this all alone. But I felt like they were not going to be convinced out of this situation. I knew that they were too much in the idea of being heroes and saving the girls that they knew were missing.

"I don't know what you are going to think when you see what is down there. Trust me, I doubt that you will be fine with what is going to be presented." I said and I was thinking about what I had seen down there and how only being down there for a few minutes had really badly wanted me to pretend and forget this entire thing. I was trying my best to pretend that none of this had ever happened. It was hard for me to do this, but it was my only way of having any sanity left. "Do not be surprised if what you see down there changes your perception of everything related to life from here on forward."

I was seeing that Jack and Dakota were just trying their best to sound like they were ready. They were trying to keep themselves composed. I can see that they were trying their best to look like they were keeping it together. I was able to see also that they were not really keeping it together though, and that they were about to freak out at any moment.

I didn't really blame them. Despite the fact that I could not blame them at the slightest, there was a part of me that was actually kind of annoyed that they had not really listened to me earlier, and that they were thinking that they knew this whole thing better than me. Then again, they were just teenage guys, and they felt like they were sort of the superior people even if everything else was starting to clearly show otherwise. But before I was allowed to think too further on this whole thing, I got right inside of the place that I had now called the labyrinth. The worst place that I had ever seen in my entire life.

Once were inside of the labyrinth, I was looking around at the others and I was seeing very little of their faces. I could tell that they had been really happy that the place was so dark, since I would not really have a chance of seeing what they were actually showing on their face. Once I had given up on trying to figure out their expressions, I started to walk down the pathway. The entire time that I was wandering down this pathway, I was getting a huge sense of dread. The feeling that I was having kept getting worse with every minute that I was down there. I then was placing my hand on a door knob. I then grabbed it and tried to open it. I saw that I was able to actually open the door. I then walked on inside of the room. Dakota and Jack were right behind me, and I could tell that with each second that had passed, that they were losing any form of being the great heroes to save the people down there.

I was inside the room that just looked to be very empty. There was only one bed there, and then a tray of food. I was then placing my hands on the bed, not really even sure why I was doing it. But I was just wondering if there was something on the bed that can give me any form of a hint on what I was able to use for my favor. I looked under the bed and there was nothing at all. "What the hell is going on down here? Why the hell is there just a tray of food and a bed?" I asked, and then I was hearing a bunch of foot steps that were coming down the hallway. When I heard the foot steps, I started to get utterly freaked out. I stood right up and then I ran out of the room as fast as possible. Dakota and Jack did so as well and we hid ride on the sides of the wall. hoping that the person was just skinny enough to not touch any of us and that the place was so dark that they couldn't see us with like any form of night vision.

Eventually, we were hearing a bunch of noises. We were about fifteen feet away from the room we found earlier, which we saw was just barely enough to not get seen by the darkness. I then heard that there was two very distinct voices. One of a woman and one of a man. The man sounded a bit familiar to me, although for some reason I was not able to figure out why I was feeling this way.

"When will I be able to leave? I'm already eight months in." The woman asked and the man just laughed a little bit as if he was thinking that this question was hilarious.

"You will be taken to the hospital for one night when your time comes. Once the delivery is done, and we are certain that we can make a profit out of your production, we will set them away. If it turns out that we don't think they will be able to be sold, we will just leave you alone with the product, and we will wait until they were old enough to be used. If you have a good result, and if there is nobody willing to pay for you, then we will just throw you back here and you will have to get back to work." The guy said and then he slammed the door shut. I was wondering why there was something related to babies going on here. Even I was able to figure out that this was what they were talking about.

The guy was walking by us and I was feeling his heat right near me. I was utterly convinced that he must have known that the three of us were there. I was holding my breath the entire time that I was seeing him come by, and I was thinking that he was indeed going to report us. I could tell that Dakota and Jack were following my example.

Once he was several feet from us, I started to feel like I was able to actually at the very least breath. Once I was starting to breath, I looked right at Dakota and Jack and I was wondering what they were thinking about this whole thing. "Oh my god, he must have known that we were here." I said, and the idea of him knowing that we were here was just scaring the shit out of me.

"Do you think that we should go and save that woman who we just heard earlier? I think we should do this at least." Jack said and then after he had said this, I was thinking that he was right. I hated the idea of being down there anymore, but I knew that there was something that this woman needed. She needed the freedom. She needed something for her child.

I started to walk off and the more that I was walking in that direction, the more that I was prepared for what I was going to be seeing. Eventually I was back to the original room and then I placed my hand on the door. I started to take a deep breath. I was utterly scared of what I was going to be seeing there. I knew that I was going to be seeing a pregnant woman. But I was not ready to see the condition, and how badly she was abused.

But I saw that when I opened the door, which I was shocked was not locked since that meant that the guy was just careless or planning to come back, I saw that barely anything was wrong with her. At the very worst a couple of bruises here and there. But she was looking physically fine. Just a bit awful over what she was going through, and I did not feel at all willing to judge her for what she was dealing with.

"What the hell do you want? I already got fucked today." The woman sounded like she was going to scream at the top of her lungs. She was seeing me and for a second she was confused. Then she was telling herself that I just must have been a new guy who she never saw before. I saw that Jack and Dakota were right behind me and they were wondering what was going on. They were wondering if there was anything that they could really do to actually help her out. Which I was starting to be convinced there was nothing that they can do for her.

"I am not here to fuck you. I just want to save you. I heard you down here, and I thought that I can save you." I said and then I had meant every word of what I said, and I was seeing that the girl was just trying her best to believe me, that she really wanted to believe me, but that she could not get herself to do this. That she was feeling like every bridge had been burned.

"There is no escaping this place. If they found out that I was missing, they would want to kill me. If they see that you are here, then they will kill you and your friends." The woman said and I was seeing that she was just wanting to believe me. She was just doing her best to believe me because if she did not, then there would be no hope that she would have left. I was holding my hand out forward, and then I was starting to want to cry over what was happening. I wanted to save her, but she was making this fucking impossible.

"Please, trust me. Give me a chance to help you out. I can't do something for you if you won't even give me a chance to prove myself." I said, and I was hoping that she was not going to argue with this logic. I was hoping that if anything, she was going to find herself actually agreeing with me. The more that I was staring at her, and the more time that passed, with the look of sadness on my face, I was seeing that she was finally starting to believe that I was telling the truth.

"You better be right." The woman said and then she started to hold my hand. She got herself up and then she hugged me for a moment. As if she had seen her long lost son for the first time in years. I never met her, and she was most certainly not my mother, but I felt closer to her in that one moment than I ever felt to my mother. I wanted to keep her safe. I felt like I can love her as a guardian figure. But in all reality, I realized that I was her guardian. As strange as it was for me to even consider.

Once she broke apart the hug, the three of us left the room and I closed the door as quietly as possible in order to make it so that nobody would know what we were doing. I remembered the trap door that I went down. I knew that this was going to be the only way that I would be safe. The four of us were walking down the hallway to get there. Dakota and Jack were leading the way. I was holding the womans hand in order to make it so that she was never able to get away. I was not going to let the one woman I could save here get away. She was the one person I was able to save, and I was going to fucking save her no matter what happened to me as a result.

The entire moment was one of the scariest things I had ever dealt with in my entire life. I felt like I was literally in a high speed movie. I felt like this was going to be the one moment in which everything in my life was coming to a head. That I was going to see if I was actually a good person or not. If I had actually done something that would have made me a hero.

I felt jack punched the trap door open and then I saw that he got himself up first. He was the tallest, so it made sense that he went first so he could be able to get us up as well. Dakota was next since he was right behind Jack. Then when it was me and the woman, I knew that I had to do this. I knew that I had no choice but to do this. I looked right at the woman.

"You better go first. You need to be taken to the hospital. I need to see what else I can do." I told the woman and with all of my might helped get her up. I was desperately hoping that I was not causing a miscarriage when I was doing this. I then looked right at Dakota and Jack and I was starting to become more and more of a leader figure in this situation.

"Take her to the fucking hospital. Drive her there as fast as possible. I need to report what I saw to David. He will be the only one who will believe me. I am certain of this." I said, as I was starting to feel like I was going to get arrested tonight. But I was going to put up a fight. I needed to do this. I needed to go out guns blazing.

But then I saw Dakota shake his head. Jack seemed to listen to me about the hospital at least. He was leading the woman to the car. Dakota held his hand out forward and then I was thinking about what was happening. I knew that there was nothing that I can do but accept him. I was thinking that if I did not accept his offer, then I was sort of putting us both in danger. And at that point in time, I was creating a huge problem. Because at that point, I would never be able to actually feel like I did something right if Dakota got himself hurt because of me. I grabbed his hand and I was telling myself that tomorrow, I was going to go down there. Alone. And I was going to kill the men and I was going to free the women there. I was going to save them all or die trying, and I was not going to wait even another day on this.

Once I was outside, I shut the trap door as hard as I possibly could. Then when the door was closed, I saw that Dakota was looking right at me and he was just trying to wrap his mind around all of these things. He was wrapping his mind around the operation. I didn't blame him. I felt the exact same way when I saw that area for the first time. It made me start to lose any form of hope of humanity as I knew what was down there.

Jack and the woman were now in the car. He was in the drivers seat and since Dakota didn't take out the keys, he was able to start it right away. The woman was looking like she was stiff. I was wondering if her water was breaking from the pressure that I just applied to her, and I was feeling bad if I was forcing something upon her that she was not really ready for. Dakota and I were right near the car when Jack told us something that was annoying, but when he said it even at that moment I knew he was right.

"She needs to go right to the hospital. If people find out that she is about to go into labor, they will help her right away. Besides, I don't want of the guys down there seeing that she is missing and go after her. You two just wait here and when she is in the hospital and being tended to, then I will come right back here and I will bring us right to the sheriff's office." Jack said and I was thinking that going to his office was a terrible idea. But he was just trying to be as helpful as he could, so I was keeping myself quiet. I can tell him why this was a bad idea to go to him later, but for now, her labor was more important.

So with that, Jack started his car up and then I was looking right at Dakota. "Oh my god, every time I even think about the place, it makes me more sick. I promise tomorrow, I will go down there and I will save every single person there. I will do it even if it puts my life at risk." I said and then Dakota was just remaining silent as well.

"Do you think that Gwen is pregnant? Do you think that somebody did something to Ashley tonight that will make her pregnant?" Dakota asked after nearly two minutes of silence between the two of us. Then when he said that, I didn't really know how to answer.

I was certain that Gwen was pregnant. When I was thinking about how she looked again, there was no fucking way that she wasn't. But for fucks sake, I had no idea about Ashley. If she already was, then I was wondering what was wrong with these people to start hurting a woman right away after they took her. Then I was thinking about how Jack was going to take the Gwen news.

I was thinking all about the things I heard about Riley. My father said she died nine months after she went missing. One full pregnancy. I was hating this fact, and I kind of knew that this was what happened before, but I hated the revelation of it coming back again. Riley must have become pregnant, had a child but since she was fourteen died in child birth. God, I would later learn that if this even was what happened, then even that would have been less evil. But when I found out what really happened, the truth of it all, I was then thinking about how much even that would have not looked for bad anymore.

"I would not think too much about it. I doubt that it really is all that bad." I was saying and I meant it more to myself. I knew that I was not convincing Dakota. He knew what was down there, and he knew that we were dealing with pure evil. I knew that even if he wanted to think that these woman would be safe, that he couldn't lie to himself. I was just hoping that Ashley was safe, and that I didn't make Gwen feel like I had failed my promise to her by leaving this place. I wanted to fucking kill myself when I thought about the promise that I had failed to keep to Gwen. I thought that killing myself was a favor to the world. That I deserved to do it for everybody to be safe.

"Sheldon, do you think that you will ever look at what happen to Riley the same way again? Do you think that you will ever think about this town in a positive light again? I think I am going to move the fuck out of here the minute I turn eighteen. I just hate this place now." Dakota said and I was hoping that I can help him feel better, but I knew that it was not possible.

I was feeling terrible for this entire situation, well aware of the fact that I was not going to be able to do a damn thing about anything going on. There was no way that I was going to realistically go down there and then bust some heads in the way that I had wanted to do this. I was hating every minute of the realization that I was failing Gwen. I had promised her that I was going to help her out by the end of the week at the absolute latest, and that when I was right there. I was just thinking about how much I was just wanting to save her. I was thinking about Gwen, and the look on her face. I had almost wished that I would never fucking see Ashley as I would never have to worry about what I am going to have to witness from the look on her face.

"Dakota, I am going to do my absolute best to fulfill the promise that I made earlier. When I do this, if I die, I want something for you to remember. I want you to remember that I did the one thing that I felt like really mattered. I did the one thing that I thought I would be able to do. I did something that I felt like would actually make a real difference." I said, and I was thinking that even with this one woman that I had saved, that I did indeed make some form of a difference. I saved a womans life and gave her the chance to actually have a family.

I had done at least one favor for the people down there. There were so many women down there though, and I just wanted to do more. One woman was not nearly enough. I just wanted to do something for the others. I just wanted to show them that I really truly did care, and that there was nothing I would do that would show that this operation would be able to continue. Dakota was just looking right at me and then he took a deep breath.

"You know, it will be hard for me to talk about you to other people. But when I do bring you up to others, I will do my best to show them that you are not a bad guy. That your drug addiction really should not let people determine everything about you and all that. You did everything that you thought that you could in order to make yourself a good person, to do the right thing." Dakota said and then we were looking right at the sky the entire time. If I wasn't a sixteen year old man, I would have started to cry and think about the fact that this was the last time we were going to be able to have this conversation. We both knew that this was going to happen, and no matter how much we may want to pretend that we were going to see each other again, we knew for a fact that it was not going to happen at all.

Instead, to do something that had a slightly higher sense of honor, I took out a cigarette and started to smoke it. "You know Dakota, I just wish that I had never seen that paper with Riley's name on it. If I had never seen that paper, I would have been able to just pretend that she never existed and I would have never been able to see this place. In a way, despite how awful it is, I do think that it was going to be the best thing for me. I just wish that I was not feeling that way, and that I was a good man. I know I say this and that I felt this way a ton for the last few days, but god damn it every time I think about it, the more I feel the need to express my disgust at myself as a human being." I said and then I was finishing up the cigarette soon enough.

Dakota was thinking about how it was making sense. "I never thought that I would understand what you are saying back then, but seeing what I saw down there, I don't really even blame you anymore. I honestly wished that I never talked to Ashley, and that I was able to just go along for the rest of high school. I mean, when I heard what happened to Gwen, I simply thought she just ran away. But here I am, seeing that I could not have been more wrong." Dakota felt just as bad as I had earlier for feeling this way.

I was flicking the cigarette on the ground and then I just stomped the cigarette down on the ground when it was all done. "God, I just wish that I had a greater sense of honor. I have no honor. If Emily knew how I was really, then I think that she would have hated to see my very presence now." I said, and I was thinking that I was actually right on that. I didn't want to know want Emily would think of me now.

"You know what, I just wish that there was something that would have been exposed about this earlier. If that had at the very least happened, then I feel like this would not have been all that big of a problem. But none of that was given to us. Nothing shows that the people here know or care. Which means that either it is the most well hidden secret in the world, or that the people know all about this and don't care." Dakota said and my father helped me know what it was.

I knew for a fact that these people knew what was going on, and if anything they actually liked it. They fucking loved it. I had no idea what made this so great for people, but they must have been thinking that it was a financial jack pot, and they just kept supporting it no matter what the cause was. I knew for a fact that I needed to show people what was going on, but that nobody who didn't know would believe us until they saw it.

But it helped make me wonder how the hell my parents knew about this. Not only that they knew about it, but that they had actually liked and accepted it. That was the part that pissed me off.

I will never understand until the day I die why they were so fine with what was going on. Why if anything, they were actually feeling support for what was going on, and what had happened to Riley. She deserved so much better than this, and the fact that she was given this type of treatment made me utterly sick to my fucking stomach.

When I was thinking about Riley again, I wanted to shot myself in the fucking head. I wanted the pain to go away. I wanted to live in denial still. I wanted to pretend that everything that happened here was no real big deal. I wanted to pretend Riley ran away. I wanted to go home and smoke and have sex. I wanted to be a teenager. Why couldn't I have just been a normal teenager? Why couldn't I have gotten the one fucking thing that I deserved?

I then looked right at Dakota. "I think that the people here just look the other way. They must be thinking that there is a financial benefit to this. That they think that this was actually the best choice out of everything. I know that it is disgusting, and I hate everything about this town when I think about them, but what can I do about it? They are a bunch of adults, and I am just a sixteen year old teenager who just doesn't really understand what I am doing here."

"Sheldon, even if you are able to convince the police to look into this, they will be able to change everything. There is no way that an entire force can't change this. They have to change this. They must be able to change this for the better." Dakota said, and I knew for a fucking fact he was saying this for himself, and I had no fucking ability to blame him here. But then before we can think about it, there was a car that was pulling up. I was thinking that it was Jack ready to take us to the police. But it was the police.

I saw that it was Sheriff Garrett and that the person in the car next to him was probably the new rookie. His nametag said 'Walker' on it, and I was thinking that he was just tagged along to do this in order to see how the job was done. I saw from the look on Garrett's face that he was clearly thinking that he had been hitting gold with this. He got right out of the car and then he slammed the car door shut and then he popped all of his fingers.

I was really not excited for what was going to be happening next. "Sheldon, your parents have been telling me what you have been doing lately. You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent." I heard Garrett say and then he told me to put my hands up. I did so without arguing and then Dakota was just remaining quiet, as if he was just trying to wrap his mind around what was going on. I didn't blame him for remaining silent like this. And then he was throwing me right in the car. Then Garrett was looking right at me when I was in the back seat.

"You know, you should be glad that you are just coming off with something like this. In fact, your father is actually willing to give you a chance to explain yourself to him and I in my office. You should be glad that he is willing to give you the chance at all. Any other parent would have thrown you away like the pile of filth that you are." Garrett said and I knew for a fact that I was not able to argue with him at all on this. I knew that everything that I had done, that I had actually deserved this. I deserved to be arrested. I was a fucking asshole. But I was going to give the case of my life when I was seeing him in the office.

Garrett walked up to Dakota, who at this point seemed more in the idea of protesting this. I hated the idea of him doing this, as I knew he was not going to get out of this fine. I knew that there was going to be some punishment for what he was going to say now, and I was hoping that he was able to pull himself out of this. "He did nothing wrong. Did you at least try and listen to his side of the story?" Dakota held out his hands and then Garrett just laughed a bit as Dakota said this.

Garrett grabbed Dakota's leg and then he moved it in a way that would instantly break it. I almost heard the crack, and if the window was down another inch or so, I would have heard this and then eventually Dakota fell down on the ground.

Dakota screamed out loud and I did indeed hear the scream. I was feeling fucking awful for the scream and then Garrett kicked him in the chest and then he fell right down on the ground fully. Then Garrett started to stomp on his chest several times. The first time and the second time and the third time, I heard it even more and then I just decided to zone it out after the fourth time. I think he did it a total of nine times. Honestly, it was a miracle that Dakota didn't die from what had happened, and it seemed like the sheriff was actually going easy on him.

Then afterwards, Walker was holding out both of his hands. "What the fuck Garrett? Dakota did nothing wrong? Sheldon I could understand, considering what I heard about him, but Dakota was innocent." Walker was saying and then afterwards Garrett started to walk towards him. Then he pointed at Walker several times and started to point at his chest a few times.

"You do not tell me what to do in my job. Dakota was working with Sheldon, and he clearly involved with it. He deserved everything that happened to him. He will live. Just wait for his friend to pick him up and he will go to the hospital. But if you try and defy me again, I will start to question how you stand with me. I will start to think that you are actually going to not be ready for the job." The sheriff told his new worker and then Walker was just remaining silent for a moment, as if he was thinking about what he was going to have to do next.

"Fuck you." Walker said and then after he had said this, he took out his gun and then afterwards, the sheriff took out his own gun. Walker was starting to shake and I knew that this was something he didn't want to do, but he was feeling like he had no real choice but to do this. Then Walker fired the gun and then it hit Garrett in the chest. But nothing happened as Garrett fired the gun and then it hit Walker in the chest like Garrett. Then Garrett emptied out the other five shots on Walker. Meaning that even if there was a slight chance that he survived the first one, there was no way he could survive the other five.

Once Garrett was in the car, he took off his bullet proof vest that he was wearing underneath his shirt and then he flopped it down on the shot gun seat. "He should have gone for the head. I can't believe he never figured that out." Garrett said and I knew that he was able to use this to my advantage. Not only did I hurt my mother, but I broke this operation in a way, but the police would say I killed Walker and beart Dakota to near death. It was a perfect situation. Plus, the operation and the woman's pregnancy might be framed on me raping her and then Jack saw what I did and then decided to be a hero and save her.

Then Garrett started up his car and then afterwards, he began to drive right towards the police station. I had no idea how the hell I was going to be able to save the operation down there when I was going to be in jail. I had no idea how I was going to be able to do anything in jail, how I would be ready for it. And how I was going to be able to actually convince the people there that I was innocent.

I was thinking that this was going to be fucking impossible. I knew that this was a case that was just going to be working against me. I knew that nobodyw anted to hear the true evidence. They would not really even give me a chance. They probably just wanted to see me freak out. This was going to be used against me. I knew for a fact that this was their plan. Their fucking sick ass game. I knew that this was all just a part of things. I knew that I was going to never be allowed to see Dakota anymore, as his parents would not trust me and Dakota might not trust me.

Eventually, I was starting to think that this was going to be a lost cause. I knew that there was no point in even trying anymore. I hated this. I was just getting myself ready for prison. I was ready to accept the fact that nothing I can do would be able to protect me. I was only sixteen. So the worst that can happen was them keeping me for about fifteen months, when I turned eighteen. Then they would have to release me as that would be the age when I would be given another chance at life. I was ready to be given the maximum fifteen months, and then when I turned eighteen, move the hell out of Wayside and never be able to look back on here again. I thought that if anything, this was a blessing in disguise.

But as I was thinking about this, the car pulled up at the station. Garrett got out of the car and then he opened my door. He grabbed my arm and then I got out of the car. He started to lead me right towards the office where I would be questioned.

I was walking to the office where I was going to have to somehow convince my father that he was wrong. That he was a disgusting man. I was going to find a way to destroy his reputation, even if it was going to be considered to be a bit weak and pathetic.

Eventually, we were right at the office and I was thrown into one of the seats there. I looked right at my father, and I knew that the two of us were going to be ready for a massive debate coming up. I was willing to challenge him. I was ready to destroy him. But then I thought about the fact that I was only sixteen and nobody would believe me. "Sheldon, please tell me why you did this." My father said, and that was how the interview started.


	60. The Interview

Part 10: The Interview

Once I was in the sheriff's office, I was staring right at my father. "You weren't even there. You don't even know if she was actually telling the truth or not. But here you are, thinking that I am responsible for something I didn't even fucking do." I started to snap and I was totally defenseless over anything that would be done to me, as I still had my cuffs on. They were put on really fucking tightly, and it was actually starting to turn my hands a little bit blue. I was trying my best not to think about how much pain I was in, but I was just more focused on the pain that my father was bringing me onto me by reporting me to the police over something that I had not even fucking done in the first place.

"I am not going to believe in the words of a drug addict. You guys always fucking lie about everything. You lie about being fine, and that you don't have an addiction when we all know that you do have an addiction, and that you are not fine. But you don't fucking care. You just say and do what works for you. That is all that you can be able to do. Just work on what is best for you. You only care about getting your next high, and you can't even think for more than a few minutes without having the thought of your next high getting to you." My father said, and I hated to admit it, but he was telling the truth on every single word that he had said. It made me wonder if he was actually speaking from experience. If he had actually suffered from an addiction back in the day, and that he was able to use this to go against me. Able to use this as a weakness to me. I wondered if this was just something he was excited to tear me apart on.

"I did not mean to get addicted. All that happened was that one of my classmates showed me a cigarette when I was in eighth grade. It wasn't even peer pressure. I just decided to try it out once. I thought that nothing could come of it. How was I supposed to know what was going to happen next? How was I supposed to know of the addiction that I had been getting myself into all of those years ago? It was just a nice and fun moment that I had with my friends. Nothing more, nothing less." I said and then I was looking down. I knew that it was indeed a lot more than just this. But I wanted to perhaps get my father to believe that there was a level of innocence here. My father was just looking at me, and I could tell that he was not really willing to jump on this bandwagon quite yet.

"You should have just stopped there. You must have felt how much it was hurting yourself when you started. But you didn't stop. You kept going on here and you were doing this over and over again. You know for a fact that if Riley was around, she would never have done something like this. She would have looked at you like you were a disgrace." My father said and then I slammed both of my fists on the table.

"At least Riley didn't hate me. She treated me like a brother. Her being gone has been hurting my mind and making me hate my life more and more with every day. I should have treated her better when she was here. It was one of the things that I regret the very most in my entire life." I said, as Garrett was just sitting there and he was listening to the conversation as if he was actually thinking that this was mildly fun to listen to. I was hating him for this, and I was hating the fact that he was not supporting me and listening to how my father was just trying to one up me.

"Well maybe you should have talked with her more when you were with her. And not be talking about the crush that you had on a first grade girl like a fucking pedo." My father said and I was thinking to myself that it was second. But then I was trying to remember if it actually was second grade, and that was my way of trying to make it a little bit less bad than it already was. But then I was thinking of how stupid it was he was calling me a pedo.

"How could I have been a pedo when I was ten fucking years old? I didn't know what that word fucking meant when I was ten. So please don't call me that. I am better than that." I said, and I was thinking about Tiffiny, and I was thinking that if this was true, that I was no better. In fact, I was much worse than this. I would be so much worse than a pedo. Not only would I be just simply one, but I would have been a molester. I would have been the lowest denominator of a human being possible, and I deserved every second of my jail sentence. I just needed to think about it, and then maybe if I thought about it long enough, I can be able to find the truth.

"You know that you are worse than this. At least I do something that is considered to help out the town." My father told me and then I was thinking about the labyrinth and I was thinking about everything that I had seen, and I was pretty much piecing it all together.

"You know, at least I don't rape women and then get them pregnant. At least I have some sense of honor with how I have sex with people. I really tried to earn Emily's respect, and I started to make her feel better and she decided to give me that great night. Then there was the party, and the girl there seemed to love what I was doing, and if anything, she was the one that was using me." I said and then I was thinking about how she seemed really into having sex with me even though I was both intoxicated and extremely high at the time. I mean, it was totally worth it, but that doesn't change the fact that it was something I would probably never do on a normal case. Especially when I was still mostly involved with Emily.

"You should have been more thoughtful on what you were doing before you went to that party. You have nobody to blame besides yourself for everything that happened at that party. You did give me a good laugh when I heard what you were doing at the party. That was a fucking hoot honestly. Maybe you should continue your habits to continue to be the embarrassment that you are." My father said and then if I had no cuffs on, I would have punched him right in the face. I would not even care if it extended my sentence.

"You know, at least I did something that I enjoyed doing. I didn't have to listen to anything that anybody was telling me to do. I did something that I felt was going to give me a thrill." I told my father, and I was just wondering how much longer we were going to be going along with this dance. I felt like this was one of the longest things that I had done in my life, despite the interview being less than ten minutes so far.

"I have nothing against the fact that you went to an after-school party. In fact, I was proud of you when you did this. You were no longer the beta loser geek that people saw at school. Now you are becoming the popular and threatening man that I was wanting in my son all along. Somebody that people will be forced to respect. You have done the one thing that I thought you never really had the balls to be able to do. I want you to continue this up as long as you can." My father said and then I was starting to think that being popular would not be worth it if he was just going to be using me like this.

There was nothing that would have been worth it about being popular if my father was just going to be acting like I was becoming more and more of this dominant asshole who did not care about anybody at all. Maybe in a way, he was right. Maybe I really didn't care about anybody else besides myself.

"I care about Emily. I care about Dakota. I even am starting to care about Gwen and Jack. These people at school really made me start to think about things in a better light." I said, and I clearly was just saying this in order for my father to leave me alone, and to actually try and see that there was some form of compassion inside of me.

"You are not really convincing me. You care about a girl that you cheated on with a random loser at the party. Besides, you are not really going to go anywhere with her. You know that when you get into something when you are in high school, you start to think of the first girl you see as the woman who you fucking love, who will change everything. We both know that this is not the case. But you are just trying to make me impressed." My father said, and I was wondering what he had hated about me dating so much.

"I wanted to date her. I wanted her. I wanted to show her that I cared. I knew what I wanted, and I knew how I was going to get it. I asked her to the dance, and she accepted me. It was the best thing in my life. That dance that I had with her at prom changed everything." I said, and then my father was just remaining silent as I was saying this, wondering how much longer I was just going to keep this ranting up.

"God damn it, Sheldon, how am I supposed to believe that you cared about this girl when you soundly rejected her for some other random girl at a party? When I met your mother, I started to love her and I showed the fact that I truly cared about her. I loved Riley. I loved her even more than anybody else could have possibly been able to love her. I can't even think of what life would have been like if she was never born. I don't really think that I would ever be able to look at life the same way again." My father seemed yo leave me out of this entirely. As if thinking and saying that he cared about me was just wrong. I knew right then and there that my father didn't care about me. If anything, he fucking hated me. I think that he was wanting me to be something different. A different and more respectable man. But then I was thinking about something else, and I came to the even more disturbing conclusion.

He had not wanted me to be a man. He had wanted me to be a second daughter. I had no idea what he wanted from me as a daughter. Maybe he was wanting me down at the labyrinth. Then I was wondering if he knew what the labyrinth was this entire time, and if he brought me down there to be abused.

"You know, I thought of you as a role model. I thought that you were a hero. I thought that you were going to be the one man who I could be able to look up to. And here you are, telling me all of these things and just acting like the worst person I could have possibly ever had as a father. What did I do to deserve you to be my dad?" I asked, and then after I had asked him this question, I was waiting for my father to slam me. I was waiting for him to tell me that I went too far.

"I provided money for you to grow up. I helped you become the man that you are. This is how you are paying your respect for me? This is how you are paying me back? By treating me like garbage? You know, you should be lucky that I am your father. If I was not, I would have hit you up aside your head several times in this conversation alone. You are one of the worst things that I have ever had to deal with. You are a god damned disgrace." My father told me and then I was feeling the statement hit me really badly. I was thinking that my father was not a huge fan of me. But to call me a disgrace was just terrible, and made me want to run away.

"Dad, if you had wanted me to grow up and be a better person, maybe you should have actually talked to me and been there for me. You should have actually fucking raised me instead of just leaving me to be alone at school all the time and be with friends. You never really cared where I went and what I did. All that you wanted me to dow as just simply say what I was doing, and then afterward that was all you would get into. You let me do anything. You let me just go around and have anything that I wanted. I mean, it was fun when I got to be independent. But now here you are, telling me that you hated this from me. You should have been there to raise me better." I said and then I was thinking about how much the tides have turned.

I just wished that he had actually loved me. When I was a kid, I thought that he loved me. He was always giving me the impression that he deeply cared about me. I thought that he had cared about me more than anybody else. But here he is, telling me that he never cared about me. And the idea of this being the truth really hurt me. It made me want to die even more than I had wanted to die. Everything about the last several days has made me want to die.

I was wondering what god had against me to do this to me. I was certain that god just hated me, and that he was wanting to make my life the worst thing in the world. That he was wanting to have the title of 'most hardship of a man ever'. But then I was looking at the sheriff, and I was wondering what was wrong with him. I was wondering why he had hated me so much that he would not even try and supoort me at this.

"Sheldon, I just wished that you turned out to be better than you were. Now here you are, nearly killing my own fucking wife, raping a woman to get her pregnant and having a friend save her. Then you killed a rookie officer and then you almost killed your own friend." My father said and then I was wondering how he knew about the last two parts, but I was telling myself that perhaps both my father and the sheriff had discussed this before and made a plan to make me look as bad as possible.

"I will do my best. I want to be a better person if it makes you respect me better." I said, and I was almost meaning it, I just wanted this to change.

My father was just listening to me, and he was seeing that there was a level of honesty to what I was saying. He smiled widely at this.

"You know, if you want to have me respect you more, than maybe you should go down and do the job at the fucking labyrinth. With your sexual experience lately, I am believing very much that you are able to do wonders there. You can be the nest hero in this town." My father said, and I was wondering if he was just wanting to make me something like an heir.

"I don't want to go to the labyrinth. I will do anything else. I will go and get better grades. I will become the popular kid that you want me to be. I will do anything. But not working down there. I don't want to be associated with that evil." I said, and I meant every word of what I said. I wanted nothing to do with that. I thought that being down there was nothing I deserved.

"You know, you can't take back what you already said. You already made a promise to me that you would do anything for me." My father said and then I shook my head. I was ready to do anything now.

"I take back what I said. I will go to prison and stay there for life before I even think about working down there at the labyrinth. I honestly would rather be doing that than this. At least that can give me time to think and I wouldn't be able to do something else that would be considered evil in the eyes of the law again. Something that is an abomination and makes me want to kill myself." I said, and I was thinking about Tiffiny. I wanted to die before I could even try and do something like that to anybody again, or at all. Even if I had not done it, the idea of doing it was scaring me.

"I think that prison is too good for you. Nobody would actually respect you there. They would think of you as a waste of time, and they would make you feel like you are the lowest level of dirt." My father said and I was wondering why he was insisting on something like this. I was wondering what made him hate me so much. I just wanted to make him not hate me anymore, but I was thinking that something like this was just never going to happen. From the way that he was looking on me was something of pure evil. Something that made me realize that I was only at best a tool meant for his sake. I was wondering what he was going to try and use of me when I was down at the labyrinth. I wondered what the first girl he was going to force me to screw would have been.

"I just want you to tell me something right now. What were you thinking when you decided to move here? Were you actually wanting to start a new life here for us, or were you just using this as a way to benefit your business? Do you even remotely care about what you have done for this family? I just wished that you had seen what it would have done to us. How much it had fucked us up. But it seems like you just don't really care. If you knew how we would be affected by this, if anything you would actually think that it was a blessing in disguise. You must have thought that me getting into drugs was actually going to be the best thing to happen to you, since in all reality, you would be able to use me for your own benefit. You would make me useless. You didn't supply them, but you want me to be weak, and you want me to do this as it would be easy for you to win at the end of it all." I said, and I knew that I was right. I knew that this man who I used to know and love as my father was just using me.

"I think that you are over thinking this a bit. And despite that, you are not even entirely right. I think that you just don't realize the benefits that came out of us moving here. You probably refuse to see the benefits. In fact, you would probably be in denial of the benefits. I mean, this is one of the few towns in america that has perfect peace prosperity. And I knew that this was the only way to keep you safe." My father said and then I was thinking that he was insane.

I was hating this whole thing, and then I shook my head. "You know, if you had told me this a few years ago, I would have started to believe you. Or if I was the only child. But there is Riley. You did not keep her safe." I said and I was wondering how much my father was going to punish me at this.

"I did everything I could to keep Riley safe. There is nothing that I can do about girls who feel the need to expand their life and do something. She thought that she could be able to leave this town, and she believed that she had a chance. I couldn't convince her out of this. She was too dumb to believe that I was right. After all, she was only fourteen." My father said, thinking that he knew something I didn't and he was saying "I talked to her many times before she went missing and she told me all of her feelings."

"And you didn't once think to help her out. She fucking hated you. She thought that you were a disgusting man. I saw the way that she was when you were not around her. She would talk about you and wish that you would go away. She even called me dad. I didn't understand it at the time, but I get it now." I sighed and then continued.

"She called me this because she had started to remember pictures of you when you were younger. She realized that I just look like you. Almost to the dot of when you were younger. With each passing day, she sees that I am more like you. With each day, she wanted to get the idea of being like you away from her mind. I know that it is awful for her to think of me like this, but I don't blame her now if I knew what you were actually like from the start. And how I am like you." I said, hating the fact that I was admitting that I was like my father.

Admitting to myself that I was like my father made me feel awful inside. It made me realize that my father had already won. That he was well aware of what was going on. That he was doing this from the start. I wanted to run away. I want to run away. Not just wanted, as that would have meant that I no longer felt the desire to do so.

"I can do nothing about what a fourteen year old thought of her father. She thought that I was a bad dad. What can I fucking do about that? She was going through a phase, and I saw that she no longer thought of me as a hero. She thought of me as some villain. Which is totally silly. I am not a villain. I never have bee a villain, and I never will be a villain no matter how much she may want me to be." My father told me and then I shook my head at him.

"No, you really are the most basic definition of a villain. There is nothing that will make me think otherwise. I am convinced that you are the worst possible father that I could have had. That you are the only reason that I was never able to actually get anything done in life. You know that I am right. You know that if I had been given a better chance to do something like being a popular kid from the start, I would have had you help me and it would have been done with ease. You could have helped me. And you didn't." I was thinking about how much I wanted that distinction, but was seen as a loser instead.

"I wanted to see you try and do this on your own. I thought that it would be a good challenge for you. Seems like you did not really appreciate what I was doing for you. Soon enough, you will see that I did the right thing." My father said and then I was thinking he was giving me a bigger load of bullshit.

"You did not do the right thing. The right thing would have actually been there for Riley in a way where she didn't get scared of the mere mention of you. If you wanted to do the right thing, you would have sent me help for the attractions that I had. You would have sent me to therapy if I did what people say what I did to Tiffiny. But if I did that, then you don't care, because you want me to be like you. From the moment I was born, you have been fighting this war with me." I said, and I wondered how much longer he would be able to try and deny these facts. They were facts now, not just theories.

"I had no power of what Riley thought of me. I loved her, and I just helped show my love. I loved her as no dad could have, and I wanted to make it obvious to her how I had felt about her from the start. You should understand what it is like when you become a father of your own." My dad said and then I started to piece together different things. But nothing can make me ready for what the truth was that I would find out later.

"I want to make a time machine. Go back to when we first moved to this town, and have been there in the few months we lived here. That way somebody who have supported her. Somebody better than you. Then maybe she would still be here." I said, and I was thinking I was wrong about that idea. I was having a feeling that nothing would have made her still here. That she was still going to be gone no matter what happened.

I was thinking that she would only be here with me if we had never moved to Wayside. I had a feeling that as long as we had been at Wayside, that I was never going to be able to see her come back. I was hoping that maybe she was only a town or so away and that she was just somebody who I needed to try and find to actually find.

I just wondered how we would have gotten along if I was still able to be with her. If she still lived with us. If she would have been there to give me advice on girls, and if she would have helped me with prom. If she would have helped me with my drug addiction and be possibly the only one who would be able to actually try and get me out of my addiction. I was thinking that even if one person who had tried to help me, then perhaps I would have been able to get myself out of it. I was wondering if she and Dakota would have been able to bond better. I was thinking about her friends that I would have been able to meet, that was older than me that I could try and date in order to wipe away the fact that I was a fucking pervert. My father was right. I was a perverted asshole who liked that type of girls, and women deserved better than that from their lover. They didn't deserve me.

Riley was my sister, and as a result, somebody who I would never dare try and be romantic with. But even if we were not related, and she was just any other girl, she would not deserve me if she knew me then. Nobody on earth deserved me. Emily was a thousand times better than me, and the idea of me being the one she dated was a disgrace to her and everybody that cared about her.

I then was listening to my father get me back to the moment, before I can beat myself up any further and actually try and be truthful to myself. "Sheldon, I hope that your time in prison will be able to change how you think about reality. I think that it will be able to really keep your perspective on life different." My father said and then I nodded.

"If being in prison kept me away from you, I would take the offer in a picosecond. I would want nothing to do with you. I want to never see you again. If I had never see you again, then I think that my life would be ten times better." I said, and then I was thinking that my father was going to hurt me from what I was saying.

"You are my son. Even if you do not like me, and even if you somehow think it is alright for you to be thinking of me like this, I will not be letting you go around and spreading shit about me. We are family, and you are going to have to deal with me forever even if you don't want me anymore." My father said, and I knew he was going to force me to see him every day in my sentence to make fun of me. To make me feel like shit.

I knew that this was going to be a game that he was wanting to play with me, and that I just had to play the game in order for him to feel like I was actually partaking what was going on. I felt like in order for him to actually leave me alone at prison, I just need to be well behaved. If I become well behaved, then he will think that it is no fun to be getting in my business anymore, and he might actually give up on this and then move on and harass yet another person. I was scared at who he was going to do this to. But at the same time, there was a part of me that was taking a decent amount of relaxation at the mere idea of him just leaving me alone after this. "How long do you actually want me to be in prison for? How long do you think that I really actually deserve this fucking sentence to be?" I asked, and then I was placing my hands on my face, thinking about how much everything was fucked up. I just wished I never found that fucking paper. Every single time I thought about what was going on, this was the thought that I was always going to.

I looked right at Garrett, and I was wanting him to say something. Even if it was against me and for my father, I was wanting him to speak to show that he was indeed aware of what was going on. That he was actually paying attention to this conversation. That is all that I wanted from him. "Why don't you ever say something? Why are you just letting him say all of these things to me?" I asked and I knew that it was a big mistake, but at that point I was honestly just not caring anymore. I just wanted this over with.

"I have no idea how long your sentence is. I am not a police officer. How the hell am I supposed to know this stuff?" My father asked, as if thinking that he had been able to beat me yet again. At this point in time, I was just not even paying attention to him anymore. I wanted nothing to do with him. I wanted him gone, and this was the best way that I can do this.

If I just simply did not say anything and pretended like I was not hearing him, sooner or later he was going to give up on me and he was just going to let the sheriff do his job and then I can just be thrown to prison and then it would have been over with for good. I was just wanting this to be done and then I can go to the cell where I was going to spend possibly the next fifteen months of my life at.

Fifteen months sounded like it would have been a nightmare, but at the same time, it would have been fifteen months in which my father would not have bothered me. Fifteen months in which he would not be able to be the winner, and where he would be able to just let me live my own life was better than being in the same house as him. Better than being in the labyrinth. I never thought I would say this in my fucking life, but I DESPERATELY wanted to prison. If anything, the arrest case Garrett gave me was actually a blessing in disguise. It was the only way that I was going to be able to turn things around with.

I was just wanting him to make it the longest sentence he would have been able to do it. But I was having a feeling that he was not going to give me that pleasure.

As I was seeing Garrett look at me and deeply think this whole thing out, I was seeing him smile. I knew that I was not going to get what I wanted. Please just give me the fifteen months. I want the fifteen months. Then I would be eighteen and then I can be able to move out of Wayside the day I was released. I remember when this wait was happening, and I was just having this thought set beat in and out of my mind non stop. It was all that I could be able to think about.

I was looking right at my father. And I saw that both Garrett and him were looking at each other. I saw that they were thinking about this, and that they were aware of what I was actually wanting, and they knew that this was going to be the best way to throw me at a loop yet again. I knew that they were going to do the one thing that they had wanted to do. My father nodded and then he looked right at me. He just gave me a blank look on his face.

"How the hell did I feel the need to argue with you? You were totally right. Everything that you said makes sense, and I was wrong for ever trying to say anything against you. I hope that you forgive me for the way that I was treating you." My father said and then I saw him looking right at Garrett for a moment and I saw that my father was winking in his direction, as if this was going to be the verdict that they wanted.

"After listening to your cases, I think that Sheldon has the more compelling one. I am sorry, but your call is invalid. You were probably thinking about a different person who had done that to your wife. There must have been a different cause to what was going on with Dakota." Then he looked at me and I knew that he was just doing this to spite me. I knew that he was just wanting me to hate life even more. That this was the best way that I can hate life even more than I already had hated my life. "Sheldon, you are a free man. You will go right back home, and perhaps tonight you can think about this conversation that you had with your father. I think that you should think about accepting his job though. I mean, you would be able to really do great at it." Garrett had said this, and then I kept my head down. The one person who had wanted to go to prison for the longest sentence possible was the one person who never got even a day. I fucking hated what happened there. I hated my father even more for not letting me go prison. I hated Garrett even more for not letting me have a huge sentence. God damn it, I deserved to be in that cell. What was wrong about being in that cell.

Then Garrett took the cuffs off of me and then once he had done this, I stood up and then I slammed my head against the window of the office a couple of times. "Why couldn't you have done it? Why couldn't you have given me the sentence I deserved?" I asked, and then I started to confess to crimes that I never did, just to get myself in prison. "I almost murdered my mother. Why couldn't I go to prison for that? I raped a ten year old girl? Why are you not sending me off for that? I almost killed my friend Dakota? What about that makes you think I am an innocent man? I shot Walker in the chest six times, and loved every single shot and would do it again? Why am I free on that? And I impregnated a woman who didn't want any babies? And yet you are not even locking me up for this. I deserve to go there for years, and you are not giving me any of it. What the fuck is wrong with you?" I asked and then my got up and then he put his hand on my shoulder really hard and forced me to look right at him.

"Don't you ever lie about those things again. You know that you didn't do a single one of those. You know that you are a innocent person, and yet you are confessing to crimes other people did. You know that lying is one of the worst things that you could possibly do to police?" My father asked, and I knew that I was actually lying about most of those things, but I fucking confessed.

"I gave a confession. I should be locked up forever. I should not be given any form of a second chance. You ruined everything." I said and then my father opened the door and let me go in such a strong wind that I fell down to the ground, and then I had to start to get myself up. I looked right at my father and then I started to walk away.

Once I was outside, I was smoking a cigarette and then I was looking around for a car that could drive me away. Possibly to the hospital where I can actually be there for the woman. If I was going to be let freed, then I was going to do the one thing that I needed to do in order to possibly redeem myself. Look at that raped woman, and be there to make it clear that she was safe.

I wanted to be there for her and see the birth of her child. I wanted to make sure that those children were safe. Despite the fact that they were not even born, there was something else to it. I wanted them. I wanted them and be their savior and their protector. To be the man who they said took care of them. Be the man who they looked up to and had a crush on and loved. I wanted these children, if they were girls, to love me so I can love her and then be a good man for her. I needed it. I needed their love. In fact, their love was going to be the only thing that would keep me safe.

As I was finishing up the cigarette, I dropped it right on the ground and then I was seeing that my father was coming right out fo the police station and he was looking right at me. "You should be lucky that you were let off." My father said and then he pointed right towards his car.

I knew that there was no way that he was not going to let me go away on my own. He was going to force me to do this. He was wanting to do something that would force me to deal with him even longer. He was a smart man, and he was also an evil man. And besides, there was a part of me that was thinking that if I was alone, then I would have something happen to me. I would not be ready to go on and take on the labyrinth. So I had to go home, to gather stuff.

We were right inside of my fathers car, and I was just staring forward. I was thinking that nothing would ever be in my favor again. I was thinking that maybe Riley was in the right place. That she was not going to ever have to deal with my father, and my mother, and the labyrinth. I then just didn't want to say a single word to my father.

If my father talked to me, then I feel like I was going to get punished even more for this. I was just thinking that with every word that he gave me, he would start to make me feel even worse.

My father started up the car and then he was driving off. I was just waiting as long as I can for when he was going to start talking to me. I knew he was going to. But every minute that I could put it off was what I needed. I just hoped that he would save it until we were at the drive way, and then we could get it over with then.

The drive was very long. Or it had felt very long. I wanted this to be over with. I wanted to be home. When I would be home, then I could just think about the stuff that I knew that I still needed to ponder. I still needed to figure out what I can actually do in order to save those girls, I needed to figure out the truth of Tiffiny, and I needed to think about how I could be able to rededicate my life once again to do something that would make me a much better person. I just wanted to go to become a good enough man to where nobody would actually want me to be in prison. I needed to change myself so that way eventually people would be able to look at me as the person that they knew only from this day forward, those people who meet me from this day forward not seeing me before and thinking that for all they knew, that the stuff that I was told to them was a lie.

Eventually, the drive was over, and we were right at the front of my house. "Please Sheldon, I need you to get your shit together. You are going to start working tomorrow. You need to get yourself in a situation where you are willing to commit to the job. None of these things of trying to argue with me. I do not want to hear that anymore." I heard my father tell me and then I looked right at him.

"I don't really get this. I just need to focus on my school work. I am so done with all of this. I am not going to go to your job. What do you not fucking understand about it? I do not want to work at the labyrinth. I never have wanted to work there, and I will never want to work there. Never in my life will you change my mind." I said and then after I said that my father was just wanting to break this info to me that I really had no choice but to do what he was wanting me to do.

"If you actually had a choice, then you would have actually taken a hold of your life. But you never have a choice because you don't actually think things out. You never have the balls to make the leap of faith. How am I going to think that you can do anything when you can't even ask people out on proper dates?" My father asked and I looked at the other side of the car.

"I thought that nobody would like to talk to me. It is only when I started to talk to other people when I saw that there were actually some other options for me. Now that I know this, I am doing my best to get to know all of them." I said and then I was starting to open up my car door and then I was getting ready to go to my room.

When I was out of the car and right at the front door, my father was out of the car and then he was going to make my life even worse. I just knew that he was going to find a way to make things even worse for me. To make me hate everything about life even more. "You know Sheldon, I was trying my best to do something for you. You always talked about how you wanted a job. And here you are, acting like the effort I made was a huge problem." My father said and then I rubbed my head.

"I did want a job. But seriously, nothing like this. I would have worked at some stupid fucking fast food store. I would have been fine with something like this. But this is something I would have never considered. Nothing like sex trafficking." I said and then my father was shrugging as if he thought that I didn't fully understand what I was saying.

"The labyrinth is not sex trafficking. There is more of an art that is applied to it. There is more that actually goes to this than just that. But you seem you do not understand that. I don't really blame you for not getting it. But maybe once you are actually at the job, you can see the values of what I have been doing here." My father said and then I put both of my hands in my hoodie pockets.

"I don't care what it is. I found a woman in there, and she was eight fucking months pregnant. I have no desire to ever hear you talking about how there is some art to this when I see shit like that. You are fucking sick. And yet you are telling me that I am the one who is a disgrace. At least I actually have a proper idea on how to treat people I care about. You never did that with your son. You never did that with your fucking daughter. You never did that with anybody. Because you don't care about anybody besides yourself." I knew that I was probably taking this too far, but I just didn't care.

"I do care about other things. But I don't really think that you would know or care. You just seem like somebody who doesn't care at all. What can I say about you other than that?" My father asked, and then I was thinking about other things that I could do. I was thinking about how I could just run away.

"There is something that I have to give you credit for. You were telling me how I should get my life together and do something of value. Well, I think I know what exactly I am needing to do. I need to go and find that labyrinth again, and I need to destroy all of it. I need to punish the sick people of this fucking town for what they have been doing to the women here." I said and I was not going to let him stop me. I was walking down away from the front door and then my father was getting a face of pure evil as if he was going to find a way to stop me from my plan.

Eventually, when I was near him, he was placing his hand on my shoulder once again and then I looked right at him. "I don't know why you are doing these things. I do not know what has gotten into you if you think that you can bad mouth the sheriff, come up with confessions to crimes that you had nothing to do with to make me look back, and then you are telling me that you are going to ruin my job. Don't you ever dare suggest that you are going to ruin my job." My father said and then I shook my head at this, thinking that my father needed to go away forever.

"That is not a job. That is a sick and disgusting fetish that you are having. A fetish is not a fuckin job. Don't you ever tell me that this was a job again. I don't even want to look at you anymore." I said and then after I had told my father this, I was placing my hand on his and I was starting to put a little bit of force onto it to make it clear that I was not going to go out without a fight.

There was a silence between us for a bit, and I could tell that both of us were wondering what we were going to say next. Then I forced his hand off of me and then I was walking in a fast manner to make it clear that I was leaving him alone. Then when I was well out of the yard and near the end of the block, I started to run down. I was seeing my father just staring right at me.

Once I was gone from his sight for a while, I was then thinking about where I was going to go next. I was then thinking that I was going to just need to find a place that I needed to relax at. I was then thinking that perhaps I was going to just relax at the beach for a while when I was alone. I was just going to wait until both of my parents were asleep, and then afterwards, I was going to go and save the women from the labyrinth after I gathered up my supplies from there.

The more that I was walking down there, the more that I was starting to think that this was just going to be a huge problem to be dealing with. I was just wanting this whole thing over with. I was wondering if I was just going to go to bed and then I can wake up and then I would be able to pretend that none of this had ever happened. I was then thinking that all of these wishes that I had were just sort of never going to happen. I was wondering if Riley would ever see me. I know that the story was that she had died and everything, but I was starting to think that this was a lie. I was wanting it to be a lie. I was just wishing for this to be a lie.

I was wondering when I can just have summer be over. Then I can go back to school and then just dig deep in my studies and then pretend that everything was all fine. I was thinking that school was going to be the only way that I was actually going change my life. In order to just wrap my mind around something else. As if this had never been a conversation. I was just in a position where I was actually wanting to be in school. Not only was I wanted to be in school, but there was the fact that I had wanted to be in prison. I had been wanting to go to two different places where the mere idea of it used to give me a huge sense of dread over even the very mention of the word.

I am so sorry. That was what I had wanted to say to Riley. Just a simple apology. For everything that I had been doing lately. I just wanted this to be over with for good. I just felt like if I had been able to see Riley one more time, things would have been better. If I had apologized to her for the fact that I made her scared over my attraction to girls, if I had told her that everything was fine, and that I was feeling fucking terrible for not being nice to her and then I was wanting to be there with her again. This was all that I had ever fucking wanted.

It was just too much for me to be thinking about this. I just wanted to make everything fine. I just wished that Riley was there for me, and I would have been there for her.

Eventually, I was at the beach and then I sat down on the beach and then I was staring at the water. I then started to place my hands on my face and with the sight of nobody seeing what I was doing and feeling like I could get away with it, I was crying as much as possible. I hated the crying, but I hated my father even more. The labyrinth needed to be destroyed. At any cost.


	61. The Truth

Part 11: The Truth

As I was sitting at the beach, I was thinking quite a bit about everything that was going on. I was thinking all about what was happening now. I was thinking about what I was going to do when this whole labyrinth thing was over. I didn't really know what my goals were after this whole thing was over, but I did know for a fact that I was wanting to get this whole thing over with. I was wanting to have Gwen at my side. When I was thinking about Gwen, I was thinking about how much she needed me and how much she needed to be around in the outside world. Thinking about her honestly broke my fucking heart.

I didn't know why Gwen was breaking my heart so much when she was such a terrible person and treated me like such shit before hand. I was thinking all about this world, and I was still thinking that there was a chance that Gwen and I were going to get a genuine new start in life. When I get a new start in life, I was going to try my best to connect with Gwen. I think that Gwen and I really do deserve that. I feel like I deserved to get to know her much more than I had started to know her and everything. But in all reality, I was highly doubting that we were really going to get something new now. I think she would be able to really appreciate the fact that I saved her life and everything, but I felt like this was really the furthest that it was going to go. I felt like life was not really going to be in my favor. There was even a part of me that was thinking that she was going to find a way to give herself the credit, or give Jack the credit.

Despite the fact that I was thinking it would have been kind of annoyed that Jack might be getting the credit for the situation and not me, I was thinking this was going to be the best for him. I think that if people just heard that I saved her, then people would start to create false rumors around us. Stuff about us being involved and dating, and that we were having an affair. And despite the whole thing with Emily and the party, I did care for her. I really did honestly still care about her, even though I wasn't really loyal to her.

When I was thinking about my lack of loyalty I was defending myself for a moment thinking that it was just me being stupid at a fucking party, and that it really was not that big of a deal. I was thinking that she was going to forgive me if she ever found out, and that she didn't even know what happened. But school had already been out for over a day, and word travels fast, especially during the summer, so there was a valid chance as much as I hated to admit it that she had already known this.

As I was thinking about this, I started to think all about the rumors that had been spreading around me. All the rumors of what I did to Tiffiny. I hated the rumors of them. I wanted those rumors to die so badly. But then I was starting to think about it, and I was thinking all about what happened. I was thinking baout Tiffiny, and the only day that I babysat her. I was trying to gather up loose money from weekend jobs annd I met with her mother one time to discuss the terms.

As I was discussing the terms with her, she and I had come to the agreement that I would show up every saturday when she was at the store from one in the afternoon until seven in the evening. She said that she was going to give me two fifty per hour. It was fifteen dollars once a week every week for just babysitting a ten year old. We also agreed that for each hour over time that she was still out, she would increase the hourly wage by an extra fifty cents an hour, capping at midnight, for a possible five dollars an hour for eleven hours, for a maximum of fifty five dollars in that shift. She said that her babysitter had to move away the previous week and that she needed a new sitter. I thought that this was normal enough, and I accepted the offer.

In all reality, I wished that she had given me a small increase in wage, like maybe five dollars an hour right from the start, mainly to get myself more drug supplies. But money was different back then. Money was way bigger back then, and the individual dollar meant more. Anyways, so when I accepted her offer, I went to her house that Saturday six minutes early thinking that it was better to give her a few minutes out of the house, thinking that it was going to be nice if she did go a bit over time. But then I was thinking that if Tiffiny was going to be a pill, then maybe even six hours was going to be a bit of a overload.

As I showed up, she gave me the simple rules of how to baby sit her, and she told me that she was going to be back with dinner for her and maybe something for me to eat as I drove on home, using my fathers car. Then she left the house and I was left to be there with Tiffiny all alone. When I was alone with Tiffiny, I saw that she got out of her room and just waved high at me. She said that she wasn't really the social type, and that she was not really one of the popular kids, so she just went back to her room. After I was left alone in the house, I went to the living room and sat down on the couch where I was thinking about the idea of fifteen dollars by seven in the evening, and I was thinking about what I would use with that money.

The first hour was fine and nothing really happened. Tiffiny just remained in her room, and I was remaining in the living room just sitting on the couch watching some random television programs. I didn't realize that it had already been an hour since I had been there until I started to think of the fact that I remembered the start of the episode and now that the episode of the random show I was watching already finished. After I realized that this program was finished, I got myself up.

I decided that I would check on her once every hour or so, just to be somewhat annoying on keeping up with her, but also just making sure that she was indeed alright. Once I started to check on her, I knocked on her door and I didn't really think anything was going to come out of this. I didn't really think that I was going to open any real can of worms by doing this.

Once the door opened, I saw Tiffiny on her bed just staring at the ceiling. I looked at her for a moment, and I was thinking about how cute she was. I am not going to deny the fact that I had found her cute, and I was thinking that she should have been popular as the guys were missing out by not looking at her. I was thinking that if we were older, than I would not mind giving her a try. But once I got that thought over with, I stuttered for a moment and then I said "Hey Tiffiny, how are you doing?" I thought that it was a simple enough question.

"I just want to get guys to notice me. All of my friends have guys who like them. But I don't have that with any guys. There haven't been any guys who have shown up and shown any real interest in me. I am wondering why am I so ugly in their eyes? Have I not tried hard enough to get people to like me?" Tiffiny asked, and she was looking at me as if somehow thinking that I was going to somehow help her.

I was wanting to help her, and I had been thinking that she needed the help, but I was not in any way sure how I was going to do this. I was thinking that it was going to be fools gold to somehow expect me to help her out. But I was sixteen, and she was only ten. I think that I was going to be able to use my... prior knowledge... to show some light upon her. That I would be able to boost her experience and her playability by just helping her out a little bit. By just giving herself a bit of confidence.

I was then thinking that this was going to be one of the few good things that I would ever do. I had the good intentions in mind when I sat on her bed. I mean, I guess I could have asked her for permission when I sat down on the bed, but again, I didn't really think all that much about it. "You know, I think that people just are too scared to admit what they like. I mean, there are probably some people out there who think that you are very hot. Very desirable, but they are just simply too scared to admit that that fucking like you. They are chickens honestly. If they knew how to express what they felt about you, then it would be fucking game over lady. It would be game over. There would be nobody that stood a chance against you." I said, and while there was a large part of me that was mostly saying it to make her feel better, I was still having a part of me that meant every word of what I was saying. In hindsight, that may have been one of the bigger alarms in the situation. I didn't really think all that much about it though.

"Do you really think that people actually might be thinking of me like that? Do you think that I actually have that type of chance?" She asked me, and then after she asked me this, I nodded. I was thinking that I was honestly doing her favors by doing this. I was in no way thinking that this was going to end up the way that it would.

"People would look at the people that they like, and they are thinking that they would do anything to tell them the truth of how they might feel. They might even have the guts to try and confess what they feel. But in all honesty, guts don't really change anything. If anything, guts are what is going to keep a person away from you. I should know that by now." I was thinking, and I was thinking about the past of my love struck and horny self. The self that I had that in all reality, I should have been ashamed of, but didn't really think was actually all that bad of a think.

"How much do you really think that I can get these people to admit what they think of me? Do you think that if I tried to talk to them for a bit, that they would be able to like me better? That they might find me sexier?" I was shocked at the fact that a ten year old girl was thinking of herself like this, but then I was telling myself that she was just confident. That she just wanted to have that feeling of assurance. I was thinking nothing really of it. I then nodded as a way to show that I understood what she was saying, and I was just mostly giving her my honest thoughts.

"Well, I think that all you need to do is just give a little bit more effort in your looks to make even the most scared of people to open up and admit that they really like you. Once they admit that they like you, then you are fucking golden. You are going to be able to crush the competition." I said, and then I placed my hand on my knee, mostly as just trying to be nice. I wasn't really meaning anything of it. Truly, I honestly... honestly wasn't thinking anything else of it.

"But you see, the thing is, when I was your age, I was having girls that I was really in love with. The girl that I really liked back in the day was named Nicole. I admired pretty much every single thing that there was about her. I thought that she was the perfect example of a stand up girl, and that if anything, there should have been more girls just like her. I was wanting to tell her how I felt, and I tried to get some advice on how to make her see me and like me. But in all reality, most people didn't really know how to help me out. In the end, I was sort of on my own. I was going to be the lone boy who was forced to try and admit how he had felt to her on my own. But I never really got the chance. But that part has nothing to do with you. In all reality, everybody should be allowed to have the chance to tell the person that they like how they truly feel about them. I know that it sounds a bit like the perfect woorld situation, but I still do feel this way." I said, and there was a part of me that wondered how different things would have been if I had at least told Nicole what I had thought of her. She probably thought that I was crazy. Probably would have rejected me resoundingly. But at least if I told her, then I would not really be able to tell myself off anymore. I would be able to tell myself that at least I had indeed tried to get her to like me, and that she just didn't really accept me.

As I was thinking about this, I was looking right at Tiffiny. "Trust me, it may not look like it, and I can see how you must feel like you are beyond the point of despair on getting people to like you, but there must be some people out there who think that you are this lovely girl. Who thinks that you are some fucking hot ass stuff. Trust me, there are people out there like that. You just need to really wait and see what I am talking about. They will come to you eventually. Soon enough, people will not be able to fucking resist you at all." I said, and then after I had told her this, I could tell that I was getting Tiffiny a bit excited in her mind. I could tell that she was starting to really truly believe what I was saying. There was a part of me that was believing in what I was telling her. I didn't really know why I wouldn't be able to believe what I was saying to her.

"I don't really know if I would have the confidence to tell people who I like how I feel. I think that there are some really dreamy guys in the school that I go to. That I have class with. But I am too scared to admit what I really think. If I tell them what I really think, they would be laughing at me. They would be telling me that I should go to some of the nerds. That the nerds are the only people who would like me." I heard Tiffiny say, and I was thinking that there was nothing really wrong with being a nerd. That being a nerd was just a part of what some people were like.

"You know, there are some people who are nerds that are much nicer than the people who are popular. I think that maybe you should give them more of a chance. Do you think that giving them another chance would really be all that awful of a thing to do?" I asked, and then after I had asked her this, I was waiting for her response. I was partly wanting to make her feel better, but at the same time, there was a part of me that was kind of defensive over the way that she was treating everybody in the nerd group. I felt like she was not really giving people like me enough of a chance. Not that it really mattered. She was just a ten year old girl.

As I was looking at her, and as I was thinking about the fact that she was ten years old, I was thinking that she did look pretty hot for a girl of her age. I was thinking that it was extremely odd how people were actually not showing more feelings towards her. As I was thinking about this, and as I was thinking about what these people were missing out on, I was thinking more about how I was going to make her experienced and good enough for the guys, as I was thinking that I was indeed going to be the one who was going to turn the tides for her. Yes, I was feeling that confident about myself. I was thinking that I really was the one who was going to change things for the better for her. It was a bit egotistical, but I thought that I could work magic a bit in a way.

"I think that you just need to be aggresive. The more aggresive that you are, the more that you are going to make people jealous of you. The more jealous of you that people get, the more that they wished that they would have never questioned you and the more that they would start to wish that they had started to reach out to you more. Then once they start to want to reach out to you, then you would be able to be the most popular girl in the fucking world. Honestly, you are not giving yourself nearly enough credit. if you actually understand what people really like when they start to look for a girl, then you realize that you would actually have the fucking perfect chance to pull out something." I said, and I was honestly not even caring if she was going to be triggered over me swearing and I didn't really care if people were going to want me to limit my language down. I was just wanting to talk the way that I had felt, and by doing so, I would be able to get her to see that I was indeed being serious. I was indeed telling the truth on how I was feeling. By doing so, to a large extension, then she could get herself out there and be with some guys. I was honestly trying to be a nice guy. I was trying to set her up with somebody. In no way was I actually trying to ruin her life or anything like that. I really hope that people would actually believe in me when I say that. I had no real bad intentions at all.

But as I was thinking about this, and I was thinking about how much I had been setting myself up for something else, and how much I was trying to make her feel better with little to no success, the more that I was feeling like I was getting into dangerous territory. The more that I was feeling like I was going to sort of fail at everything. But then I was seeing from the look on Tiffiny's face that she was actually starting to believe me a little bit better. As I was seeing that she was beliving in me, the more that I was feeling like this was the one good thing that I would have done. But then I was thinking about what she would have wanted.

I didn't really know much about her, and I was not even going to pretend that I really understood her. But I was wanting her to feel better. I was wanting her to feel like she was being rejected by everybody. "Do you really think that guys like girls who play aggressively?" Tiffiny asked me, and I was able to tell that she was starting to sort of believe in what I was telling her. That she was starting to sort of warm up to the idea. As I was thinking about her warming up to this idea, I was thinking on how successful I had actually been. I was complimenting myself. I was thinking that I was actually doing the right thing. As I was telling myself that I had been doing the right thing, I was getting ready to keep going even further and deeper into this. I was wanting to do more. I needed to tell her more.

"Yeah, guys like girls who seem to really understand what they want. I mean, I know what this girl I am seeing wants. Well, I am not seeing her per se. But I want to be seeing her. I think that if I just had the balls to say something to her, that I might actually have a small chance. She understands where she wants to head in her life. I think that this is the one thing that I would really respect in a lady more than anything else. A lady who was all business and no fucking around." I said, and then I was thinking about how much I was wanting Emily. I was genuinely and truly wanting Emily. I was thinking that Emily and I would be great friends. And maybe something better than that. I was actually thinking to myself at that time that I truly had a chance with her.

As I was thinking and still longing for her, I was then thinking about what I could be able to do in order to make Tiffiny feel better. That was the one thing that I really wanted to do more than anything else. I wanted to make her feel like she was better than what she was telling herself that she was.

"I think that people just are scared to think about what they actually want in life." I said, and I was being just in general realistic there, and not trying to boost Tiffiny up. Despite the fact that she was only ten years old, and not really in my age range or thought set range, I was starting to get a small part of me that was in general wanting to be around her. In a strange and fucked up way, actually wanting her as a person. It made me feel wrong, but I was starting to think that in a way, she was the person that I wanted the most.

Then as I was thinking this, there was something in my mind that was telling me to stop this. I was telling myself that this was dangerous. That I was treading on thin ice. "But I want to know what I want in life. If you think that this is what will get people to really appreciate me better, then I want to find something right now." Tiffiny said, and then I was thinking about what I needed to do in order to make her chill out a bit better. Despite what I was saying to her and in a way, sort of trying to do, I was not wanting her to be forced into something that she was just in general not really ready for.

"Well Tiffiny, the thing is, that people will never figure something out until much later. But if you are starting to think that at least you can be able to get something together, then I think that maybe you and I are able to at least talk about your interests that you are having." I said, and then after I had said that, I was thinking about what Tiffiny wanted, and I was thinking that I could be able to help her see how she was going to be able to get this. I was thinking that if she had wanted something, then I could be the one who would be able to give that thing to her. At least on the surface, I feel like I would be able to give to her.

Despite what I was doing, I was waiting for her. I needed her to support what was going on. I felt like I still needed her to get on board. If she was not fully on board, then I was going to be thinking that maybe I was still taking this way too far. "You know, I think that when I grow up, that I might to be a model. Or a really hot actress." Tiffiny said, and then I nodded. I felt like she was just trying to be able to capture something, but there was the part of me that was still thinking that maybe she was indeed just trying to capture a little bit of a fantasy for herself. Not that there was anything too wrong with that. It would just require more effort than I expected to make her see and feel that there was more to this than she had really expected.

"In all reality, what you can do as a first step is get into an acting club. If you can do that, then you can be able to pull out a performance where you feel like you will be able to at least pretend that you will be willing to reach guys that you don't like. At least pretend like they can be your boyfriend. Sure, you won't get the popular guys. But if they see that you are taken, then damn girl, they will start to look at you longingly and they will start to realize what they have been missing out on. That much is for sure." I said, and I was telling the truth. They would truly be missing out on something if they just simply turned away from her.

As I thought about what I had been telling her, I can see that her gears were turning in her head. I was seeing that she was actually considering what I was saying. That she was actually in a way believing in every single word that I was saying. That she now wanted to do this to get herself into a better position.

As she was thinking about how she was going to turn this around to be in her favor, I was then thinking that she was going indeed follow my advice. As I was thinking that she was going to follow my advice, I was smiling at her, and I was thinking about what she was going to do in order to really boost her popularity as well the fact that she was actually thinking that this was what she really had wanted more than everything else. As I was thinking about what she had wanted, I wanted to really make her as proud of me as humanly possible. "So if I can get one guy to like me, or at least pretend to like me, and then even if we pretend to be in a relationship, then you think that people will start to look at me and wonder what was there for me that made me so likable instead of them? Then once they feel that way, I can just have them start to line up around me. I think that you are making a lot of sense actually. I think that you probably know what you are talking about much more than you might be thinking that you do." Tiffiny said.

"Well, at least on paper it sounds like something that would work. In execution, I am not really sure what they are going to really fall for. If they don't fall for you, then just try another guy. Just keep going with every single guy until they feel like they will not be able to look away from you. Then when that is happening, you will be able to really change your entire popularity in the snap of the finger." I said, and the entire time I was saying this, I was actually believing in what I was saying. But at the same time, I was still not really meaning anything out of it. In a way, I was just sort of leading her on. Just sort of making her think that she was having this in the bag. As I was doing this, I was thinking about what she was going to want now.

But then after I was saying this, I was looking at the look on Tiffiny's face started to get brighter and the more that I was thinking that she was going to start to look at me as some form of a god. She placed her hand on my shoulder and despite what I was expecting, and despite what I knew was right versus wrong, I felt her place her lips on my cheek. She held on for a couple of seconds, and despite the age that she had and the age I was, I was still able to really feel myself falling for her. Falling for her amazing kiss and her grace. It was something that was taking me over.

As I had seen her let go against my mouth and then I was wondering what else to really be thinking at that moment. I was thinking about what else I was actually wanting. I was thinking about if I was going to be able to really get her to do that again with me again. I didn't really know what was taking me over at that moment, but I really truly wanting more of that. But then as I was thinking that, I was thinking about what I was doing and I was thinking about what people who were older than me would really feel if they knew what I was actually doing.

As I was thinking about what I was doing, I was then thinking about the fact that this was a huge mistake. I was then thinking that I had really done something bad by signing up for the baby sitter job. I didn't want this to continue, but at the same time, I was feeling like I wanted something more out of her. I was wanting to see how much more I could be able to push this. As I was thinking about how much more I was wanting to push this, I was thinking about how much I would be able to push this and be able to get away with it. Then as I was thinking about how much I could pull this and get away with it, I was then thinking about how much the people in the town would hate me if they knew what I was doing. I then thought that any chance I had of Emily being able to like me would be gone. As I was thinking about that, and I was thinking about how much I wanted her to like me, I knew that this was wrong and that I needed to regain myself. I got myself off the bed and then I looked at Tiffiny.

"Thanks for that and everything, but I don't really think that you should do that again. For both of our sakes honestly. I think that this should just be a one time thing." I said, and I was feeling like this was a decent way of being able to put the entire thing to an end right then and there. I felt like I was actually doing a good job keeping myself composed, and I felt like I was doing a decent job at what I said. "Besides, I am too old for you. I think that you would be able to enjoy guys in your age range much more than you would be able to enjoy me." I said, and despite that, I was still thinking what the idea of having sex with her would be like. It was a fucked up thought, and there was a part of me that was telling myself that this was not okay for me to be thinking. Then with that, despite what I was thinking she would say or do when she saw me pull this out, I took out the cigarette and then I started to smoke it casually.

"I'm sorry, I was just excited at that moment and I wanted to show how much you made me happy." As she was telling me this, I was starting to think and maybe even feel a little bit bad about her. I was then thinking about what she must have been going through. I was thinking and feeling about how I was in the exact same spot as she was back in the day. Somebody who was not popular and not really able to really respect me all that much. As I was thinking about how awfully people treated me, I was then thinking about what I had really missed out on. I truly had missed out on way too much. I had missed out on a bunch of golden chances.

I was then starting to try and wonder why I had felt this way about anything right then and there. I was not really sure why I was thinking that my chances had been ruined. I was not really sure if these chances were really in my favor. I was then starting to think that maybe there were one or two things that happened in my younger life that ruined my perception of what happened. I didn't really know why I was still feeling like this.

Despite what was going on in my mind, and me trying to remember what about my life had made me not really pursue love, I was then thinking about the fact that no matter what happened, at least Tiffiny had a better chance than me, barring some really horrible instance. I then thought about how much Tiffiny just needed a spiritual guide. Then I was starting to wonder how much time that really pass by since we had started this conversation. The more that I was thinking about it, the more that I was thinking that the people around me would not really care if I had one careless moment.

Once I was thinking about this, I was then starting to realize that no matter how hard I tried, I was never going to be able to give myself actual natural thoughts. That the thoughts I was having would never be normal. That I needed to just accept that and deal with it right then and there. As I was thinking about my missed chances on having normal thoughts that would be like a normal human being, I was then thinking about if Tiffiny was thinking even half of the things that I was thinking. I was wondering if she was starting to realize that this conversation was wrong. This conversation was every single fucking definition of wrong. I was certain of that, and yet I still couldn't stop.

I was then starting to realize that in a way, this was all a part of my biggest sin. My biggest sin being that I didn't really understand what it was like to be a real human being. A human being that actually thought things out and actually didn't regret the things that he did. I then was thinking that I was just needed to wipe my life away with more drugs. That the drugs were the only friend that I had in my life. As I was thinking about how drugs were my only friend in my life, I was then thinking about Dakota. As I was thinking baout Dakota, I was starting to wonder to myself if we were actually friends or not. It seemed like a silly thought, but in all honesty, I was starting to think that perhaps he didn't really like me all that much, and that he was just acting like he was cool with me in order to make me not feel like a terrible person. I was thinking that in a way, he was a clever and sly bastard. Maybe if I remembered to do this later on, I would go on and ask him if he truly actually looked at me as a friend, or if he was just doing this to restore a small amount of sanity in me.

Then after I was thinking about this whole thing, I looked right at Tiffiny. "If you have any friends that you fully appreciate and that you think really do care about you, then you should try and get to know what their strategy is a little bit more. I think that the idea of making people tell you what they do in order to get guys to like them, then I think that you will be able to really use this to your own advantage." I said, and then I was not really wanting to give her too many ideas. But what I didn't want to tell her was that I was really not sure if she was going to use this properly. I was thinking that if anything, she was going to be a bit of a liar and that she was going to just try and manipulate those people around her into something much worse.

As I was thinking about what I could be able to do in order to make things at least a little bit less of a problem for those around her, I was then starting to think that in all reality, it was still not really my business. That in all reality, it was all just about what she had wanted.

Despite all of the stuff going on, I still did feel proud of Tiffiny. She was looking like she was really going to grab the situation by the horn and that she was going to go all out. The idea of her really going all out was something I was indeed excited for her to do. I was indeed thinking that she was going to win no matter what. As I was thinking about how she was fucking set like a stone to win at everything, I was then thinking more and more about what else I can do to make her see that she had come out of this as the major winner and the only real player to get a victory here.

"You seem like you know how to get the people to like you very well. Have you gone around and been with other girls already?" Tiffiny asked, and there was a part of me that was wondering what she was meaning when she said 'other.' Despite the fact that there was most likely nothing really coming and meaning out of it, I was still wondering if there was something else that she was hinting at in this. That she was indeed thinking about the two of us being some form of an item. I didn't really even mind the idea all that much, but I knew that it was objectively false. It was genuinely false for her to be saying that we were an item. But then I was thinking about other things in the conversation, and then I started to piece it all together like one big mega fucking dumb ass.

Of course, she had assumed that fucking Nicole and I were involved. As I was thinking about how she was thinking Nicole and I were involved, and that we had been together at one point, I was going to have to try and find a way to make it clear to her that this was not the case. Nicole and I had never really been together. But despite the fact that we had never been together, I was still finding myself with a real yearning towards the idea that we would have been together. I was thinking that the idea of us being together was the one thing that I would have wanted in my child life that I never really got.

As I was thinking about this, and the one thing that I really wanted, I was starting to think that my life really did miss out on more chances than I ever really thought that I thought that I had missed out on. I was then thinking that no matter what happened in life, she and I were going to really get something else out of this. That Nicole and I were together. That we were the cutest couple. That was what I was telling myself. As I was telling myself that Nicole and I had actually had something more to this than in all reality, I was then thinking that this entire thing was just a huge load of bullshit.

"Well, I never really seemed to get anything that lasts more than a couple of days. The most that I can keep something going on for about a week or so." I said, and I had been thinking about this thing that I had built up for one summer. When I was forced to go to boys scouts in between sixth and seventh grade, as my father forced me to do. I didn't really know why my father cared so much about me going to boy scout camp, but I was clearly able to tell that he was not going to fucking take no for an answer, and even fucking twelve year old me was well aware of this fact.

As I thought about that year at boy scout camp, I came home, and then afterwards my father was telling me that I had all I really needed to come off as a massive player. Somebody who can really get the girls to fall in love with him. I was then thinking that I should give this a chance. As I was thinking about giving this life a chance, I found a girl who was about a year or two younger than me named Susan. Susan and I kept up for about a week or so, but we pretty much saw about I think it was nine days that this was not really going to go anywhere. I lied to my father and said that she needed to move to another school. A lie that he seemed to believe. After I told him that, and after the whole thing broke off between the two of us, that was pretty much all that there really was to it anymore. Then when I was thinking that this whole thing was pretty much over with, I never saw Susan again or even tried to see her again.

"Is there anything that you think that I should be prepared for if I ever do get a boyfriend?" Tiffiny asked me, and I was totally brought back in the moment. I had forgotten all about the conversation going on, and I felt like a loser for not understanding that this was what she had wanted of me. Then after she said that, I was thinking about something that she was going to be exposed to sooner or later, and that it was not really something that mattered all that much if I told her about it.

"Well, there is this lovely act called having sex. My god, if you ever get to that point, and you have sex with a guy, then your entire situation with him is going to increase ten fold. Trust me, I have heard all about it, and people who have had it. I never had it, but trust me, from what I heard, it is worth it. It is the best thing in the world." I said, thinking about what I wanted more than anything. I wanted to make love more than anything. I was then wondering if there was a chance that Tiffiny wanted a demonstration. I was then thinking about if I should show one to her, and I was thinking that maybe I was going to come out as the winner if she wanted this.

But then as I was thinking about this, there was a part of me that was deciding that I needed to get back to some form of compotence, and to tell myself that I needed to be normal. I was wondeirng if it was ever even possible for me to be normal. As I was thinking about how hard it would for me to be normal, I took myself out a second cigarette and already started to feel the sinking in effects of doing more than one in a short period of time sinking in. But I didn't really care as I flicked the lighter on and I was starting to smoke it without a single care in the world what I was doing anymore.

As I was thinking about the entire situation, there was a part of me that wanted to go through with what I was thinking about doing to Tiffiny. There was the part of me that was thinking it really did not matter at all anymore. I was thinking that if I just went through with what I had been wanting to do, then nobody would relaly notice or care. I was too old to have people think that I wasn't the authority on the subject if something were to happen, and she was much too young for anybody to take her seriously. In all reality, this was the perfect situation. This was my one chance to take things and use it for my own favor. As I was thinking about this though, I was thinking if it was even possible for me to go through with this. I was wondering if it was even possible for me to actually be a good person or not. I was starting to see that perhaps it was not fucking possible for me to be a good person no matter how hard I tried or how hard I had wanted to be a decent guy. Maybe it was a part of my destiny to be this horrible person, and as I was thinking about this, the more that in a way I was starting to actually accept that idea. Maybe even embrace it as something that I wanted to fully be enveloped in.

As I was thinking baout the idea, and I was starting to think about what it would be like, there was the part of me that started to get right back to being normal again. There was always the part of me that was seeing that I needed to stop acting like this, and stop even considering what I was thinking, and that I was better than this. "Well, if you want to know what sex is, I can show you what the basic first step is." I said, thinking that I can give into one tiny thing that I doubted would really get me into all that much trouble. Nothing wrong with showing her a very small demonstration. I just didn't really think, in all honesty, that it was going to be anything more than this. How the hell was I supposed to even think for a second that it could have been something more than this.

Despite the thoughts, I took off her shirt very simply. She had a bare chest. Then I took off my shirt. Once both of our chests were exposed, there was a part of me that was wanting to continue this. But then after I thought about it for a second, I stopped what I was doing and then I put my shirt on again. "That is a small first step to how it goes. In all reality, it can get much deeper than that. But I don't really want to be taking any risks. Just for my sake honestly. If I show you anything else, I think that it would be a very bad thing for both of us." I said and then Tiffiny put her shirt on when she was seeing the sudden anger on my face. Then with that, I left the room and I was not going to even dare to continue this.

As I was trying to give myself even one last little bit of diginity, I was telling myself to be proud of what I had done. I was telling myself to be proud of the fact that I had actually pulled myself out of this place. I was in the living room, and I realized that there was only twenty minutes left of the shift. That I just needed to handle twenty more minutes and then I could get the hell out of there and then pretend that I had never done any of this. As I was thinking about how this was going to be something that I could get myself out of, I was then thinking about getting my fifteen dollars and never coming back.

I clearly did not rape her. No matter what I tried to think, I didn't do it. Unless if there was another week that I was there that I could not remember. I was trying really hard to recall of these things, or if she had stayed another hour or so. The more that I was thinking about this, the more that I really was not sure. I was really unsure if I didn't do anything, and then I was starting to think that I was just fine. That I didn't do anything wrong. I was then thinking that either I did something terribly wrong and I was brushing it away from my mind. Or maybe Tiffiny told her mother what happened and then she started to freak out. Either one of those two things were possible, but no matter what happened, I knew that I had fucked up.

As I had been thinking about how much I had fucked up, I was thinking to myself that if I just did not do anything to her that day. If I had not talked to her that day at all, then nobody would have thought that I did this terrible thing to Tiffiny, and then perhaps I would have been able to leave with at least a little bit of honor to my name. I was wondering if it was even possible to have any honor on my name or not, or if this was something that I needed to give up on, just by even getting close to what I was doing.

The very fact that I considered it for a moment, the very fact that I was thinking that it was in any way okay for me to even get these thoughts in my mind, I knew that I fucked up. I knew that I was the one who was wrong. Tiffiny did nothing wrong. She was a fucking hero for being able to handle me the way that she had been able to. I realized that nothing I would be able to do would be able to truly redeem myself for anything that happened. I was a terrible person, and I made the biggest mistake of my life by being there that day, and that there was nobody to really blame for this entire situation besides myself.

Eventually, the woman came home and then she gave me my fifteen dollars and I told her that we talked a lot about her at school and that she was talking about how much better school was going to be for her. But then after I had said this, I just left the house and I did not turn back. I refused to turn back. If I turned back, I knew that I was going to be able to never forgive myself. I was out of the house before she was really able to get a chance to get the details on what had happened and why she was feeling this way about school and everything now.

As I had gone home, I was then putting the fifteen dollars away. I blew them away in the next day on a couple of packs of cigarettes to further support my drug addiction. That was all that I had wanted. Then I smoked so much weed the next night that I literally felt like my brain was on fire. I literally felt like I was getting close to exploding. I didn't really care all that much.

As I was fucking up my brain, and trying to wipe my memory away, I realized that there was still probably something that I killed in my mind that was relating to this moment. But I didn't care. I was going to find a way to save the labyrinth, party like a rock star until I forget about her, and then never deal with the need to apologize as I kill myself. As I was thinking about doing this, I was thinking that nothing I did really mattered anymore.

When I was done thinking about this, I heard that there was somebody calling my name from behind me. I turned around in a huge sense of dread, not really sure who I was expecting, but I was aware that either way, it was not going to be a joy ride. I saw that it was David standing there with Todd, a young guy Todd's age who I had no clue about, and I was seeing that David was looking like he was about to get arrested and get killed, which was odd since he was a cop himself.

"I was looking for you, and eventually found you here. We have a lot of stuff that we need to talk about and a lot of stuff that we need to do. I hope that you are willing to talk with us right now." David said and then after he had said that, I nodded a bit. I was willing to do this, even if I was unsure where this was going to go. But I was thinking that either way, I was getting close to the final battle. The final battle of the labyrinth at least. Even though I was not really sure if there was going to be more final battles beyond that, and in a way, I really was not wanting one.

Eventually, I nodded and then I said "You know, I have a lot of demons that I have to fight. Hopefully, this can help my battle a bit." I said, thinking it was way more badass in my mind than it was actually saying it. But I didn't really care all that much. We started to walk closer towards the police car, and the entire walk there, I was thinking all about Tiffiny and everything that I had done to her. I was thinking about everything that had happened to her, and how she did not deserve anything that happened to her, but that there was no real way that I was going to change these things. I was thinking that no matter what I did, this was something I was never going to be able to fully redeem myself on. And I was thinking that it didn't really matter all that much. It was still a way to give me some motivation to keep going, and the motivation to even keep going was the only thing that really mattered. And I was getting ready for the final battle in terms of just mental preparation. I thought about the final battle and if I would survive or not.


	62. Preparing the Game Plan

Part 12: Creating the Game Plan

It was at this point in time when I was one hundred percent ready to make the game plan and destroy the labyrinth down there. In all reality, I knew that I was probably at least two or three hours away from even starting this. But when I was thinking about this, I was thinking that this 'at least' was not counting for if we actually did not come up with a plan, and that these plans were just going to be all over the place. I was sort of expecting it to be this way by this point in time. I had been very much used to by now. I had been used to nothing going my way really. I was used to having to actually have to fight for the things that I had wanted now.

"You know Sheldon, I know that you really want to go down there all gun ho and you think that you can just take down those people without a moments thought. If things were really that easy, then I would be willing to just let you go down there and let you go around killing as many people as you want." David said and I was still finding it a little bit amusing even with all of these things going on, that a police officer, the deputy none the less, was actually saying that this would have been fine. But then before I can get myself thinking about how funny it actually was for too long, I heard him continue what he had been saying.

"But you and I both know that this is not really how it is going to be. You know damn well that there are going to be hundreds of fucking officers down there, and that they are not going to let you do the things that you have been wanting to do without putting up a very good fight in the process. You know what these people are like." As David had said that, I was thinking about what he had been saying, and I was thinking that as much as I hated to admit it, and as much as it was just going to be very hard for me to face the truth, I did know that everything he was saying was true.

"Yeah, I know that they are probably waiting for us right now. In a way, that is indeed very scary. But in all reality, I want to do something. I feel like I actually am the only one who will be able to have the courage to go down there and do what is right. Even you must be thinking that I am right. Even you must see that these things are not really going to go the way that they should have been going." I said, and I was thinking all about that problem. I was thinking all about what we were going to be getting ourselves into.

"But despite the fact that I am aware of the fact that I am going to be getting myself into a suicide mission, I am still convinced that this is the right thing. That I am doing the one fucking thing in my entire life that will be able to actually redeem myself. I have done many horrible things in my life." I said, and then as I was saying that, I was thinking all about Tiffiny once again. Despite how much I had hated to admit it and despite how much I wanted to pinpoint all of this as being false, there was a part of me that was starting to accept the truth for a second time. That I really did do what people had been saying I did to Tiffiny. I was thinking that even if we didn't really have sex per se, the things that I was doing and the way that I was egging her on, was almost like I had raped her in a way. I had started to get rid of her innocence by the things that I had been saying. In a way, if that wasn't really full on rape, it was getting pretty close to it. It was getting as close to it as possible without actually saying that I had fully done it. But when I was this close to doing it with a ten-year-old, then it might as well be true.

But then I was thinking about several different things in my mind. I was thinking about the fact that I was thinking that I had seen her without her shirt on for much longer than I was thinking that I had. That maybe we put our bodies up against each other, even if it was only for a couple of moments.

But then I saw Todd and his other friend. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked, just being more curious than anything else. I wasn't really wanting to come off as a dick or anything, but there was a part of me that was thinking that these two were going to be more of a problem than anything, and that neither one of them were going to help me all that much. Maybe Todd could be able to help me out. I mean, I had seen how he was able to run business a bit better than the other one. But the other guy looked like he was totally out of it. I was thinking that there was no way in hell that he was going to actually help us out at all. I was starting to think that he was going to be fucking useless. And then as I was thinking that, I decided that I was going to give him a chance before I started to totally shit talk him to the level that I had been. I was thinking that maybe he needed a bit of a difference.

But before I could think too much into it, the other guy started talking. "My name is Kevin. I started to help out my friend Todd when I realized how much trouble he was getting himself into, and I was wanting to help out my friend as much as possible and not get him in even more danger than he has. Plus, I think that in all reality, I could be able to actually do something better. I think that the people that I have met could always be able to use my help." Kevin said and then as I was thinking about telling him to go home and stop getting in the business of adults, there was the next part of what he was saying, and something that made me actually start to consider him a little bit more.

"My brother has been acting differently lately. Not quite at all the way that he usually acts, or if supposed to be acting. Usually, he is somebody who is such a fucking dick that his ego would be the size of Mount Rushmore. But then lately, he seemed much more refined. Much more willing to accept the idea of the things that I have been telling him. I think that maybe there is something that must have happened to him that started to change him as a person. I am starting to feel a bit worried about him. As if there is something that he should tell me. Something that I feel like I need to help him out with." As Kevin had said that, I thought about what he had said for a bit.

It made me think a bit of Riley. As I was thinking about Riley, I was thinking about how I was thinking at one point in time, that I could have been able to really help her out here. I didn't really know if I could have actually been able to help her all that much, if she was around anymore at all. But there was the part of me that was telling myself that I should have always tried to be there for her.

"I guess that this makes sense. I used to have a sister around me. I didn't really treat her well at first. Sort of like how your brother is treating you if what you are saying is true. But fuck, if I was given another chance, I would have been there for her. I know exactly what I did wrong, and I want to change things right now as much as possible. Maybe your brother is now at that age that he is starting to see what is wrong with what he had been doing. I think that he is seeing that he should have been better for you. I just wish that I was able to really describe it better than that. But if I did, I would have to be telling you all about my life, and that would literally be a long story, and not even saying that just to not tell it. We would be for a very long time." I said, and then I was thinking about my father again. I was convinced he was the answer to everything relating to Riley.

As I was thinking about my father and what he must have known that he didn't tell me, I was ready to go up to him and go on and bash his fucking head into the wall. I don't really even feel like I would have regretted this all that much. I felt like it would have actually been the best thing that I could have done in my life. Was to give him at least some of the pain that he had caused to others. But then as I was thinking that, I was wondering to myself, if even through all of the things that I had been saying, and the more that I had been thinking about it, the more that I was just thinking that maybe I was the one who was evil. That I was the one who had the problems. That I had actually been thinking about what I had wanted to do. I was planning to hurt a man who despite how much I had hated to admit it, I was still not really sure if he was guilty or not. For all I knew, he could have actually been very innocent and everything that I have been doing to him and thinking that I wanted to do with him was all wrong.

Despite how much I was wondering all of these morals to myself, I was looking right at Kevin. "I don't really think that you will be able to actually fight anybody at all. I think that you will just get in the way of what I am doing throughout this whole thing. I know that I sound like your dad right now or something, but seriously don't get in the way of me. I have to do what I am going to do." As I said that, I was looking at Kevin and the more that I was staring at me, I was thinking that maybe I should have been treating him a bit better. But the more that I was thinking about this, the more that I was telling myself that the thoughts that I had were indeed very valid.

No matter what I did or said, I then decided that I was going to be extra firm on this whole thing. "I don't want you to be liable to anything that I do. I can live my whole life without having to deal with you acting like you suddenly have the right to try and help me. I don't think that you will help. In fact, I just am refusing in my mind that you could help me. Just a twelve year old kid. Besides, you are going to get yourself in trouble and there is nothing that I can do about it." Even though I was saying this, deep down there was a part of me that was really worried about what would happen if he did get himself into danger like the level that I had been describing.

Then after I said that, and I was thinking that I was one big bad guy for rejecting his help, I was then thinking about something else. I was thinking about what I was really saying. I had been thinking if what I was saying was actually what I had been wanting to tell him. I was thinking that despite how much I hated to admit it, that maybe there was a part of me that really wanted him to help me out. No, not just wanted. Needed to help me out. That in a way, if he weren't there to help me then things would have actually been ten times harder.

But then as I was thinking about how strange it was for me to be acting like this, and that I was over thinking it, I was then starting to get my pride back up to normal functioning once again. Or at least normal functioning when it comes to me, if that is even possible. But then despite all of this, I was planning out my plan. "If you don't want me to go down there and just start to kick ass, then I guess that you are going to be very disappointed. That is exactly how I am going to do the thing. I am going to go right down there, and I am going to kill all the police that are down there, and I am going to save every single woman. You are the only officer who is remotely worth saving, and that is because you seem to be the only one who understands what you are supposed to do. What your job actually really fucking is. You seem to get that everything that is going on here is very wrong. There is not a single thing that is happening in this town that is even remotely close to what I would be saying is actually correct."

But then as I was saying this, there was a part of me that was wondering if I was going to really be able to push this thing forward as much as I had been saying that I could have. I was thinking that in all reality, David at the very least was going to be somebody that I would need at my side. Even though saying that he was going to be needed at my side was going to be fucking impossible since it had seemed like he had no real interest in actually helping me out if this was the plan. I was then thinking on how I can get him to see that my plan was not all that awful after all. "Trust me, I am not even asking you to go down there and do the fighting for me. I just want to be able to do something that I feel is right. That I know is right. Just keep me safe is all that I really want you to do."

As David was thinking about that, and the fact that at least on paper, my request was simple, I was thinking that maybe he was going to actually be fine with this. "You know, I don't like the idea, and I think that the idea is honestly pretty fucking crap. I am not even going to pretend that I don't. But you seem really on the idea of doing this. So for your sake, I guess that I will be going with it. I will accept it. I will not go down there with you. But I will stand guard at the entrance, and do so in a way to where nobody is really seeing that I am there, so that way nobody really starts to think that we are connected. We need at least one of us to actually survive." David said, and I knew that he was right. One of the two of us needed to make it through this, in order for us to actually be able to report this to the public media and then that way the entire operation can be able to be exposed. But I was thinking that neither Todd or Kevin were really all that important. If anything, I was thinking that they were actually kind of expendable. I was that kind of guy when it came to this level of planning, even if it sounded totally awful for me to be speaking like this.

But I knew that this was going to be the only thing that I would really pull out of the man, so for that one reason alone, I was telling myself to relax and accept the thing that he was telling me. I mean, there were worse things that he could have told me. It could have turned out that he was actually a part of the entire operation, and that as a result, he had actually been leading me down to my death this whole time and then he was going to give me a long speech about how I was stupid and fell right into his trap or something like that.

Eventually, we pulled up at the soccer field of the town, and then we all got out of the car. Despite the stuff going on, I was still able to get distracted by just how big that this place was. This place was one of the biggest parts of town in my eyes. Well, in reality it probably wasn't, but it just felt that way given the general scope of the entire situation and the fact that there was just three people here at that moment. "So I wanted to tell you the real reason why I am here with David right now. I have something that seems really crazy even for this entire town." Todd said, but he was trying to just sound as respectful as possible at this.

I was thinking that even though Todd was probably thinking too much into what he had to deal with, I was also telling myself that he was indeed the one who brought me into all of these things, and that there indeed was a chance that he did know more about this than I did, as much as I hated to admit it. As much as I hated to admit that he was better than me, and had a higher ground than me on any of this. But then when I was forced to consider these things, I took a deep breath and I was waiting for him to explain what he had been dealing with lately. "Well, there are these monsters in town." Todd said and I was thinking that I already knew this, and that I didn't need to be told this.

"Can you tell me something I don't know." I said under my breath, sort of being like a smart ass, but I was not trying to make him get any more annoyed or anything, so I was telling myself that I needed to tone down on the shit talking for a little bit. At least long enough for him to actually explain his side of the story.

"Well, there are literal monsters in this town. Like stuff that you would hear about in fucking story books and everything. Stuff that I never thought would be real. I mean the stuff in the labyrinth is awful, but none of it is so far out there that you would be able to say that you never saw it coming. This is something that I would have never expected to be true. Like monsters that can destroy buildings and everything. It is something that really makes no sense and I still don't really understand the whole point of it all, but let me tell you, there is something indeed going on here. The world is against you and me and Kevin and even David to some extent." Todd said and then I shook my head.

"Look, I don't really know what you are talking about, but I have a feeling that I really don't have all that much to do with it, so can you please just sort of keep me out of this one? I don't want to come off as a jack ass or anything, but I really do have other things that I need to worry about right now. I have people that I have to repay my debt to. People that deserve to fucking die now. I need to find the labyrinth, the place that you showed me, and give those people what they truly deserve." I said, and I was meaning every single word of it. I was not going to let these people continue to do what they have been doing lately.

"I think that you have every right to be pissed at what is going on, but that is all stuff that can be resolved soon enough with the exposure of corruption. None of this is stuff that can really be resolved. None of this is stuff that you can just wave away with the flick of a finger. This is stuff that might be going all around the fucking world. I think that if you saw what I was telling you, and if you were able to really take a look at it, you would be understanding everything that I am saying." Todd said, and then I was thinking that maybe soon enough, I would give him the chance to prove himself. But right now, I had a clear goal in my mind, and I was not wanting to really be distracted by other things.

"You know, maybe when I destroy the labyrinth, I will look into what you are telling me. But right now, I have a lot of stuff that I need to focus on right now. I have some things that are just too big for me to brush off. I can't put these things off any more. No matter how much I want to help you in your crusade against these monsters, as you like to call them, I can't really do something like that right now. I think that these monsters are much more of a thing that I don't really care about or want to care about right now. But that being said, I do hope that you are safe, and I think that maybe I might go to my house and get myself some weapons to fight with right now. And maybe I can give you something in there. Like a blade or a gun or something. I don't know, but mayybe that can be the least that I can do for you." I said, and I was meaning that. I wasn't really trying to make him feel forced to be fighting or anything. "You know, I don't want something to happen to you, so I might look for something that you can use. But that is the most that I will be willing to do right now. I don't even know if you feel good using weapons of any kind." I said, thinking about that problem. For all I knew, he was extremely anti weapon and even the thought of using one was just going to make him even more scared than before. But then I was thinking that this can be a good exercise to help him change that idea of life.

"I am not really worried about my self to be honest. I am more worried about my friend Kevin. I think that he is in danger just by being here. I mean, I think that I can be mostly fine with what I have. But he can be a bit of a problem." Todd said and then looked right at Kevin. "No offense or anything."

"If you think that he is going to be a problem, then please just tell him to go away. I don't want these people to be going around and causing any more trouble than they already have." I said, and this time I really was not caring all that much if I was sounding like a dick. If even Todd was admitting that this was huge probem, then I was going to be fully open about the way that I had felt.

"But Kevin can't really do that. He is sort of forced to be here because of a certain situation that he has with a man wearing a purple jacket." As Todd had said that, there was the part of me that was thinking about what I had been seeing throughout my time here. Despite the fact that I wanted to be in staunch denial of these things that Todd had been telling me, there was the part of me that knew he was right. There was the part of me that knew there was this random guy in town, and that if anything, he needed to be taken care of.

"I think I have actually seen the man in the purple jacket, as much as I hate to admit the truth. I don't really want to admit that I have seen him. But I thik that now that you have pointed it out, I have actually seen him around a couple of times." I said, and then after I had said that, I was then thinking about what exactly I had seen of him. That was the part that I was not really sure of what I could say.

Despite everything that was going on, there was a part of me that was thinking that maybe I shoudl actually try and help them out after all. That being there for them and making sure that they were fine was the only thing that I could really do. It was the least that I could have been able to do.

"You know, even though all of this sounds like total lunacy, and there is nothing that I can do to pretend otherwise, I do think that as much as I hate to admit it, that you might be right. God damn it, I can't believe that I am actually subscribing to this theory right now." I said, and then I looked right at Todd. "Well, either way, as I said, I was going to go to my house and grab some weapons. Maybe when I do that, we can go along and just see what will work for you." I said and then I looked at David.

"I know that carrying unconcealed weapons is kind of a no no, but will you be willing to let it slide this time considering the case going on?" I asked, and I thought that it was a simple question, and I thought that as far as my requests had gone, that this was actually pretty tame. I was actually thinking that there could have been much worse things that I could have been asking him, and that I was being very lenient on this whole thing.

"Yeah, even though I don't really like any of these ideas, and I certainly don't like giving these young men weapons to be fighting with, I do accept the value of you at least getting something. I might be fine with giving the twelve year old guys something as long as it's only like a blade or something." David said, and I knew that he was talking about swords, knives, and switchblades. I had no idea why he was being this broad about something as simple as this, and I was thinking that most of this was not really going to go the way that they were fearing, but I was also telling myself that it was better to at least be somewhat safe. That it was better to at least make sure that there was something that they had. I wanted to do at least a knife. When I thought of that, I pulled out the pocket knife that I had and handed it to Todd. "You know, I don't need this right now. I think that I already have something much better for me." I said and then after this, we went right to David's car and he drove all the way to where I lived. I saw him pulling up right up behind the yard. I was getting myself ready for what was to come. I knew that this was going to be a very hard encounter that I was going to have with my father. As much as I have hated what he has done recently, he was still my father and there was still a small part of me that didn't want to let him down. That felt like doing all of this was going to make him think less of me. But then as I was thinking this, there was a part of me that was thinking that it was better if he had hated me, as it meant that I didn't have to follow through with his strict and terrible standards.

When I was thinking this, I was then thinking about one small thing. If my father had wanted to fight me or something down there, that I had no real chance of beating him. He pretty much was going to have the upper hand at me for the rest of my life, and that was what made me scared. The fact that no matter what I did, that he seemed to know how to work around the police better than me and that he was going to have the massive advantage just because of that.

I hated this fact, and I was feeling like I was going to pretty much have to accept defeat if this was the case, but then as I was thinking about this, I started to consider what else I could really do. "I will be back in life five minutes," I said and then I ran out of the car and I went right to the house. Despite the situation, I was in, and despite how much I was not wanting to be in it, I was thinking that I would rather just get this over with now rather than placing it off any further. I honestly did not want to keep this going on any further, and I was thinking that I would rather just see what he had to do with me, and then afterwards just go away and then be able to go back to living some form of a normal life than any of this. But then as I was thinking about this, I was starting to consider what else I could be doing right now.

Once I was inside of the house, I was preparing myself for what was to come. I felt like I was inside of a trap zone, and that from this point forward, I needd to be very careful. But as I was walking, and the more that I went around, the more that I was seeing that maybe I was the only one around. That there was nobody here to try and challenge me even if they had wanted to. When I was thinking that I was safe and the only one here, I then decided to relax a little bit. I was thinking about where this was going to go now.

I then looked down into my parents' room and then when I did so, I was seeing that there was nobody else in that room. Then when I thought that, I was thinking that maybe my father took my mother to the hospital to help her recover from what happened. As I was thinking this, there was a small part of me that was thinking that I did the wrong thing. But then as I was thinking that, I was then thinking about what they were probably actually doing right now.

As I was starting to think more and more that I was indeed alone, I started to relax a little bit and then I walked out of the bedroom and went to the living room. In the living room, I saw nothing really too big at first. Well, that is not exactly true. I did see a note left for me. I was wondering why they would do this as I grabbed the note and started to read it a bit.

"I know what you are doing. I know that you think that you are going to be the biggest man on campus by going down there and killing all the people who are working hard down there. Well, let me tell you that this is not going to go the way that you think it will. But despite this, if you actually feel like you can make any real difference, if you actually want to go down there and try to kill off those hard working men and free those fucking slaves, then I will not try to stop you. In fact, just this once, I will actually be here to help you. On the kitchen counter, I have some money left for you, and I even have a gun that I just bought there with a few loads or bullets, and I have for you a machete. In a small box, I also went into your room and piled all of your current drugs as well as some new ones that I bought for you. I want to make this at least a little bit fun, as watching you just die right away would not be all that fun. I mean, with how little training you have, and how many people you are going against, I would say you have a ninety-seven percent chance of death. But know, on the three percent chance that I am wrong, you can keep everything on the counter and you better be leaving town right away. And never fucking come back. I never want to see your face anymore. I never want to see you try and do anything again in this town. Go on and try to live a new life. As long as you never come back, I will not even get in your way." My fathers note said and then I realized that everything I put in my backpack was useless now considering the fact that it was where Dakota lived, or maybe Jack's car, I can't remember. Either way, it was nowhere near by, and there was nothing that I can do about it. I was going to just have this stuff for now.

Once I was getting that fact in my mind, I went right to the kitchen and saw everything that my father did leave there. There was a machete as he promised, with about two feet in length and it was totally clean and not at all rusted. Then there was the gun with about six reloads worth of ammo. Then I saw the money and saw that it was six thosuand dollars worth or money. I was shocked at this, and then I put it all in my money, knowing that I needed every single penny of that money soon. Then I saw that there was a bunch of drugs in the box. So much heroin, several packs of cigarettes, and then a bunch of weed. There was even some crack and cocaine in there and what it looked like one small dose of LSD. Probably to see if I lifed it or not. I put all of the things in one pile, aside from the money as that was in my pocket and then I got right out of the house. Then I walked right to the car and then placed the stuff under where I was sitting.

"I don't really think that I will have anything for you Kevin. Sorry." I didn't really think anything too bad of it and I was thinking it was better he didn't have anything as he couldn't be able to get himself in danger. But I would later regret this very much, and it would turn out that would be one of the biggest mistakes that I could have made.

Despite my comment, I did actually think I was making the best choice by not giving Kevin any weapons, and to be totally honest I was not relaly sure if I was wanting to trust him yet. I mean, I barely even knew the guy to be totally honest. Then David started up the car and then as he was driving down the streets, he eventually pulled up to where Todd and Kevin both lived. As he was going this, he was telling them that it was best for the two of them to be able to at least get a little bit of sleep before they were forced into any thing thatw as ghoing to go down soon. Despite the fact that they probbaly wanted to argue, I was thinking that in all reality, they didn't really think that they could have been able to argue with David anymore considering how tired that they were. As they were thinking about this, the more that they were actually enjoying the idea of sleeping for a bit. Todd was dropped off first and then Kevin about three or four minutes later. Once Kevin had been dropped off, it was just David and I now. David looked right at me. "Do you feel confident about our chances at all?" David asked, and I was able to see that he was just scared about this. He was wanting to see if anybody was as scared as him as this.

I was then thinking about lying as a way to boost up his confidence and make him se3 that things were not all that bad. Then I thought against it, thinking that he probably wanted me to be totally honest with him. As I was thinking that he just wanted me to be honest, so I decided that I was just going to tell him the truth. "No, in all reality, I do not really feel confident about my chances of survival at all. I think that in all reality, that I might actually have no chance of making out of this at all. If you want me to tell you the truth." I said, and then after I said that, David took a long sigh of relief.

"I was wondering if you were just going to lie to me and tell me that I didn't need to worry about things and just trying to make me feel better. I am glad that you are being honest about your feelings of our chances. It does make me feel a little bit more relaxed, knowing that there are others who feel this way about our odds." As David said that, he was looking at me. "I just don't want my family to feel down about this. I don't wany my family to think that I didn't try hard enough at the job and that I just got myself kiled. I have a feeling that they will think that I should have not gotten into this job, and that it was just my fault that I did any of this, and that if anything, maybe I did have this coming to me. I know that it sounds strange for me to say this, and that I sound a bit stupid even for saying this, but I can't help but feel like they don't really care for me. You know, I think that they just wanted me to go to some random job that didn't really have any value to it at all, and just let my potential go away. I can't help but feel that was what they had really wanted from me, and here I am right now, giving them the exact opposite of what they would really be wanting." David was saying and then as he had said that, there was a part of me that was feeling like I could be able to slightly relate to that idea, considering how my parents actually were, I was thinking that it was not that far out of being realistic at all.

"Well, I don't really think that you should let your family be getting in the way of your success at all. If you feel like you are actually getting somewhere with your job, then you should just keep going at it. You should just not care what the say, and let them see the good things that you have been doing. Maybe when they see teh good that you have done, they will be much more accepting and supportive of what you have been doing. I feel that could be the case." I said, and I was thinking that there was no way that this man could be any worse than my father. Well, not this man per se. I didn't have anything against this man. I mean the family of this man. For all I knew, his family could be full of absolutely vile people that are actually just as bad, if not even worse than my father had been. As I was thinking about the idea of them being even worse than him, I was then telling myself that this would be the scariest reveal out of them all. The fact that maybe in the grand scheme of things, as much as I would hate to admit it, that my father would not be all that bad in comparison to the others. I was then thinking on what it would have been like to be raised with a parent worse than my father.

"You know, I think that despite all that is going on, that there is nothing we can really do about it. They must see that they are just doing this because they want to gain some favors by the police force. That they care for nothinbg more besides what they are going to be granted. That is the only reason they are doing this to you. They see that this is a winning situation to be pushing your back the way that they are, and then when you are down and when it looks like you won't be able to help out anymore, they will think that maybe they got what they had wanted in their life. That they are now going to be the winners here." I said, and then I thought about my father.

"In all reality, my parents used me for nothing more than personal gain. I think that you must see that this is awful. To know that yous parents literally do not care at all for you. To know tha they would rather see you be miserable rather than going out of their way to try and help you out. When that shit happens, and I start to see them for what they are really, that is when I feel like any hope that I could have been able to have for this place goes away. It is disgusting the way they treated me and my sister Riley. Absolutely vile and there is no excuse for it at all." I said, and then after I had said this, I wondering and thinking about what David would say. What he would tell me, and if he was going to try and make me feel better at all or if he was going to resign this debate as well.

As I was thinking about the task ahead of us, I took a deep breath. "Besides, I doubt it really matters anymore soon. I mean, either we are going to have to fight for our lives and hope that we don't fucking die, or that this is going to be the worst day of our lives. I mean, what can I really do now besides just hope and pray to a false god that there is something that I can do in order to save myself and the people that I care about?" I asked, and the people I cared about that I was talking about was Emily, Ashley, Dakota, and even Gwen, Jack and David to some extent. These were people that I did not want to see get hurt no matter the cause.

Then when I thought about what I was wanting to do.

"You know, when this is all over, my father wants me to leave town as soon as possible. If this was even a couple of weeks ago, I would feel like this was taking it to the next level. But fuck it. I am so glad that he is telling me this. That way I can get the hell out of here right away. I never want to be here anymore. I don't even think I can convince myself to stay here if it had meant that the world was going to end and that this was going to be the one safe place in the entire world." I said, and I had meant every single word of it. I had wanted nothing to do with them. I wanted them all gone. I wanted the one thing of my life that I failed on miserably to be at least somewhat justified, and that was the fact that I was never really there for Riley and that I treated her like crap. I wanted her to feel like I did something fight if she knew what I was actually doing.

As I was thinking about what I was setting myself up for, I was then thinking about how likely it was, or unlike it was I should say, that David would really get how important that this was to me. How important it was for me to make something about Riley and the fact that she was gone be justified. She had something that she didn't deserve happen to her, and I was thinking that this was the only way it would be redeemed. Knowing that every single person who was there and who had been partaking in what had happened to her was gone.

As I was getting the extra resolve to do this, and as I was thinking of how great it would be to see the fake empire of my father fall down, I was then thinking about what it would be like if I was not able to get my wish. As much as I hated to admit it, I did have to realize that the chances of me getting my wishes were very low. Maybe even next to none. As I was thinking about that fact, I thought about what else I can really do for her sake. I was thinking about what I can do to make Davis understand the truth of what I was coming from, and the truth as to why I was doing these things. As I was thinking about how hard it would be for him to see why I was doing this, but I was thinking that if he didn't get it, then none of this was something that he could really understand. "Besides, I was just tired of everything. I was tired of the crap that people were giving me. I was tired of the fact that nobody really liked me. I was tired of the fact that I was one of the most unpopular people in school. I didn't want to be dealing with it anymore. It was because of this that I decided to go out and go to prom. That was all I wanted to do. I just wanted to go to prom and hopefully catch one last chance of being popular. Despite this, I feel like maybe me getting that moment of happiness was what made the world decide to flip me off and not help me anymore. The world fucking hates me, and I fucking hate it back. It is a perfect relationship that just works off of each other. Life doesn't work for me, and I don't want to be working for life either. But I feel like this is my one chance to do something that can at least put my thoughts of Riley to peace, and that is something that I feel like I will never be able to pass up on. When I see her again, either in the afterlife or if I am lucky, after I bring her out of the labyrinth, I am going to change everything about this and I just hope to god that she would be there for me and accept my advances to actually make things right between us. You know, if we will be able to make amends, then everything in life would be so much better. Everything in this world would feel like it was going to in my favor for once. You probably don't understand what that would mean for me." I said, as David and I pulled away from Kevin's house, realizing how insane that it was that we were still there. Then as we were driving away, David was slowly driving me right towards Wayside school. I felt like this was going to be the worst choice that he would have made, and I felt like he was setting us up for a suicide mission right away. But as I was thinking this, there was the part of me that was thinking that everything could have been worse. I was telling myself that at least I wasn't heading right back to my house again. I would not be ready to go right there. I would never want to see that house again, and if I lived through this, I was going to leave right away and not even go back to this house that I called home for so long but now grew to absolutely hate. There was nothing good about this place, and there were no good people living there.

If Riley had been here, I would have felt some desire to come back eventually, I would have eventually felt the need to come back and see her again. But she was not here, and the more that I was thinking about it, the more I was forcing myself to accept the fact that she was really dead. Not that I would have been able to save her, as much as I hate to admit that I would not have been able to. But then as we were on the parking lot of the school, David looked at me. "You know, this is really unsafe for you to be here right now when I think about it. Are you sure you want to go right down there? I mean, there is probably going to be a bunch of people waiting for you right now. Hell, I would not be in any way shocked if the sheriff is already down there, waiting for you to show yourself." David said, and then I nodded. I knew that there was a part of him that was right, and that this was going to be a big risk. But I didn't care. I wanted to go down there and end this thing once and for all. It truly was now or never. And this time I wasn't just saying that to sound cool. This time I was saying it because if I didn't do it now, I would never have the chance to as I would be spending the rest of my life in prison.

"I have no choice. I need to go down there. I don't care how risky this is. I need to do it." I said, and then after I had said that, I saw David look like he was accepting this. He was thinking to himself that he at least tried to get me out of this. But then I got out of the car and then I slammed the door shut. I was seeing that David was wondering what the hell he was going to do now.

David stood up and then he said "You know, I think you should go right down there if you feel the need to get this battle over with. I have some things I want to check out. I will be back in about an hour. I don't really know how well things are going to be down there." David said and then after he had said this, I grabbed the gun and the machete. I saw that David was considering moving the drugs away from me, but then I was thinking that he was just going to let it go now, thinking that they were really none of his business.

Once I was alone, I was looking right at the labyrinth entrance. I placed the machete very tightly in my left hand as I put the gun in my right pocket and the bullets in my left pocket. Then after this, I opened up the hatch with my right hand and then I was going to go right the fuck down there. No distractions. No time to waste. This was the one thing that I needed to do right now.

As I was down there, I was looking around and then I placed my right hand on the wall and I was dragging it across as I was walking until I eventually felt there being a door knob. When I was thinking about this, and piecing it all together, I figured that this was my best hope. This was the one with Gwen. I opened up the door and then I saw that Gwen was there, looking like she was several months pregnant, and I was getting scared of what happened to her down there. I wanted to figure out who the father was.


	63. Moving Away From Wayside

Part 13: Moving Away From Wayside

As I was seeing Gwen realize that it was indeed me, she seemed really fucking happy. In fact, it had seemed like I had made her entire world by doing this. "Sheldon, you actually kept your promise to me. I thought that maybe you wouldn't be able to keep it." As Gwen said this, I was holding my right hand forward and then I was waiting for her to grab my hand. She got right off of the bed and then she grabbed my own hand and then I was staring right at her, and she was staring at me back. We were both looking like we were about to cry considering the entire situation.

"You know, I told you that I was going to do something, and when I make a promise to somebody, you sure as hell bet I am going to do the best that I can in order to keep my promise. You deserve better than an asshole who can't keep true to what he says he is going to do." I said and I was meaning every single word of what I was saying. Gwen was just seeming so happy that she felt like the entire world was now finally going to be nice with her again. I didn't want her to be thinking quite like this yet, but then I was telling myself that considering the situation that she was in, that this was the least she can do for herself in order to make herself feel better.

As she grabbed my hand, I led her right to the top trap door of the labyrinth and then I placed my hands down a bit and then she got herself right out of the labyrinth and I said to her "The deputy is going to be here in an hour. He will see you and take you right to the hospital. There... you will be able to give birth fine enough." I said, and I was hating the fact that I had been saying this, thinking that even just saying this was fucking disgusting.

As I was taking Gwen out of there, I knew that there were indeed other people that I needed to take out. When I was thinking of all of the other people that I needed to take out, I went right back to business. I then saw that there was a police officer near me and then he took out a gun. Despite the fact that he had a gun out, I could tell that he was not really sure if he wanted to fire it or not. Before I could give him too long of a time to choose, I grabbed his hands and cut them both off with my machete. Then I kicked him down and he was on the ground and with both hands bleeding out, I knew that he was going to bleed out to death and that I better not worry about him too much. Then afterwards, I was looking right at the next target.

I then was at the next room and I kicked the room down. I saw a woman who looked like she might not have been all that far in her pregnancy. Maybe only a month or so. I felt like at least I had one person who I could be able to save with her being able to still at least somewhat me, so I told her to come forward. She went right out of the room and then we both went to the trap door where I needed to do a minimal effort on getting her up.

As I was thinking about the fact that there were some people who seemed like they were not far enough in their pregnancy that they could be able to go home and still have a mostly fine time going through it, I was actually getting a little bit of hope in my mind. At least one of them was fine, and that was making me feel so much better. The fact that at least one of them was fine.

Then as I was thinking about that, I kept continuing my crusade on freeing every single one of these women. I knew that them being safe was the one thing that I could do now. I knew that there were still hundreds of women to be saved, but that these three that I had brought out tonight was at least a small start to this.

I saw that there was another guard that was coming close to me. Before anything could happen between us, I just grabbed the gun that I had and then fired it once at the guard, taking him down before he could even bring his hand down to the gun. Once I was done with that, I was getting right back to work on freeing the others. I freed another room, and then another one after that, and yet another one on top of that before the next cop came along.

That was sort of starting to turn into the trend. Every three to six people that I was able to save, I had to fight a guard. One of them got a good hit on my leg and I fell down for a moment. I got myself up though and then forced the machete blade right through their chest, killing them in a really violent way. I was waiting for them to drop their weapon. But it seemed like I was not going to get that pleasure, so I just released the machete from their body and they fell down dead this way.

For a while, I was pretty much limping my way across to helping the others out. I was feeling like the gun shot was going to really put a weak spot on all of this. Well, there was no real reason to feel that way. It was just simply the truth of the matter. There was nothing about this whole situation that was in any way pleasant, and the fact that I was now having a limping body was going to make things even worse.

I was telling myself that as much as I hated it, all I needed to do was just free enough to last one fucking hour. Then once the hour was done, I was going to just get out of here. I would use about twenty dollars of the five thousand to get a hotel room. Then just add another night over and over again until I was free and then once that was done, I was probably going to be a tenth or so through my six thousand, and then at that point, I would just go down and finish the job. But despite what I was telling myself, a part of me knew that it was not going to be this easy.

I knew, even though I hated to admit that, that in all reality, it really did have to be today. There was no fucking way around that. I was going to have to do this today or else the town would be aware of me, and that I would have probably at best three days to get the hell out of here. That was something I needed to accept. That this was going to be my final night at Wayside, no matter what the situation was, and no matter if it was going to end with my death, or if it was going to end throughout a different method, this was now officially going to end tonight with how far I had gotten. I mean, I had probably saved about thirty or forty women by this point in time.

When I was thinking about it, there was a part of me that was thinking that I was now probably five or ten percent of the way there. That I was now a decent part of the way through my job. I then took out a cigarette and smoked it as I was freeing the next woman. I was able to free her with little to no trouble but when I was freeing her, I was budding out the cigarette I smoked and I was shot right in the hand. It was right on the lower part of the hand, and I felt a giant surge of pain was I let the shot absorb in my mind a bit more.

When this happened, I sliced the guy right down the chest and then he fell down to the ground before he even had a moment to comprehend this. Then when he was gone, I looked up and saw that David was there. But despite David being in the area, I saw that he and Garrett were having an argument. It was in the only part of the entire place that I was able to relatively see fine enough. I was wondering what the hell was going on, and I stopped to listen to what their argument was, and if I was going to be able to save David or something.

"You were my deputy. You were supposed to support my ideas, and you were supposed to take the business over when I was gone. God damn it, you had a perfect chance to take over the entire business. You could have been a fucking king. But here you are, throwing this away. You are throwing away the best chance that you have to be the greatest player in the history of this town." Garrett said and then David seemed like he was having this argument for two reasons. One of which was to let me continue my freeing of these people, which was not really happening anymore, as much as that was going to piss him off. Then there was the fact that I was thinking he was also just trying to listen to the perspective of the person who had been his boss. To see if perhaps listening to him was going to change how he had felt about this entire situation at all. I was hoping that it would not. But at the same time, I was telling myself that I needed to keep myself an open mind. Now I was sort of listening, sort of wondering if any of this was going to make sense now. If any of this was something that I just didn't fully understand and listening to Garrett break it down was going to suddenly open up my mind to everything even more.

"I never understood what the point of this entire operation is. You know, it just seems a bit unneeded to be doing this. Don't you think that there could have been a better way to run a business, or hell maybe even a better business to run in general? I just don't really understand to be honest." As David had said this, I was listening to what David was saying and I was able to tell that he was meaning it all. He was aware of what he was saying, and he knew the ice that he was treading on was very thin. That if he said even one word that was off, then he was going to get himself killed, and as a result, I was going to lose the one ally that I had in the entire police force. And I was not really ready for something like this.

"You know, maybe when you say stuff like this, you should actually think about what you are saying, and you should have actually considered all of the things that come out of this job. This job and the business that comes out as a result of this job is the one fucking thing that is giving Wayside even a small chance to actually function. Please, even you must be able to understand that this must be done." As Garrett had said this, I was thinking that this was a really lousy way of explaining it, and that he was probably just trying to stall out, or say something that would make David stop his ego and actually ponder what was being said.

"You know, maybe if this town was having such a bad time being able to function without creating even more crimes, then this town should have been destroyed a long ass fucking time ago. Maybe this town should have never been created. It certainly would have been better than what you have been doing to these nince young women all of this time." David said and then Garrett yawned in boredom, and he was creating the yawn in a way to show that he was just trying to antagonize David further.

"I am not here to be lectured by my fucking deputy. I don't care about what you are trying to tell me at all. The thing is, this town is here, and there is nothing that you can do about that now. Besides, it is not like I am the only person who is doing all of this. The entire city is involved in some way. People agree to this, and they see what value comes out of it. Please, actually think about what you are saying before you decide to act like you are some holier than thou man by saying this stuff." As Garrett said this, he was considering taking out his gun at the spot and just killing David right there and getting it over with. It would be more productive than having this conversation that he was having at that moment.

"I am not some holier than thou person. I am just a person who understands basic morals. I am somebody who came into this job with the actual intentions to do something good, not just give my honor to the idea of mass sex. I can always just go to the strip club if I wanted to get somebody pregnant so fucking badly. I think that you must see what I am saying here." David said, and then he was knowing that this was going to come to a head soon. He knew that the longer that he kept this up, the more that Garrett was going to just lose his patience with the situation and that he was going to eventually be killed by the sheriff. But at that moment, he was not really caring what he was doing. He was not really wanting to push this any further than he was going to have to. But at the same time, he felt like the more that he pushed this guy, the more that he was going to be so angry that maybe in reality, he wouldn't even be able to fire the gun and then that can be the way that he could be able to save himself.

"Listen, you should have considered what you were getting into before you did this. You must have heard stories all about what people do with their jobs at police officers. You must have been aware of the corruption going on. I mean, you are acting like this is a big fucking reveal, when in all reality the big reveal is the fact that you actually did not know what you were getting yourself into from the start." Garrett said and he was thinking that there was something sort of cute to the fact that this guy was unable to piece these things together.

"You are the fucking sheriff. Even you must see that you should have been more true to the job than this. There is nothing that can excuse the way that you have been acting right now. When you got into the job, you must have been aware of what was going on here and surely you must have tried to stop it. I don't understand how you can act like this is all just a part of the business." David said and then Garrett slapped David really hard in the face. So hard that I was able to sort of feel it myself and I actually put my hand on my face for a brief second to sort of take in just how hard that slap really must have been.

"I don't care for your lectures on how I should have done the job better. I liked the stuff that was going on down here. I wanted to do this job, and when I saw what great things it had to offer with the women and the sex, I started to realize that there was more to this job than I ever expected. I wanted to continue this job. Not for the morality of it, but for the sex. The sex is the only thing that I care about. That much is for damn sure." Garrett said and there was something about the honesty of it all that was really breaking David down.

"Besides, there are more things than just the sex that I like here. It is the fact that I can get away with any crime that I want. I mean, the law fucking sucks. Fuck the law. I have killed children for less of a deal than I am going to be dealing with you on. At least with you, I am almost thinking about the things that I will be missing out on. With children, they have barely started to go anywhere and if anything, killing them is doing a favor to both me and the parents." Garrett told David, and the more that I was standing there, and letting the words sink in, the more that I was starting to think he was telling the truth.

This guy did indeed kill children as he said, and there was a part of me that was thinking to myself that there was more than just this. That he probably had been supplying people with drugs. For all I knew, despite how silly it sounded, he could have been supplying the big name drugs to. Despite this, and the fact that maybe I understood it then, I would, later on, learn that it wasn't that fucking simple.

As I was starting to think that Garrett had been the one who was supplying me, just even the thought of it was what made me want to take care of him even more. That was what made me want to blow a hole through his fucking head even more than I had sort of wanted to by this point in time. Once I had decided that this was what I really wanted to do, I was telling myself that I just needed to aim really carefully, and just take a deep breath and then just fire the fucking gun.

Despite this whole thing, I was thinking that I was going to wait long enough to see what else these people had to say. Maybe if I just waited long enough, and gave this sick fuck enough of a chance, then everything would make sense in hindsight.

Once I had decided that I was just going to give this guy a small amount of a chance, I heard that David and Garrett were still talking. "It really doesn't matter what you tell me now. Your operation had started to go down now. You know, once my friend brings all these girls out, they will report you and every single other man who decided to use them for their own favor. You know, I think that even you must understand that this is going to not go the way that you want to." David said, and he was ready to see just how Garrett was going to react and if he was going to break and start to show that he knew that he had made a big mistake.

Despite what he was wanting Garrett to feel and the way that he was wishing Garrett would start to break down, he was seeing that there was nothing like that going on. He was seeing that no matter what he had wanted to see Garrett say, that it was not really going to go this way.

"You may think that this is the end of the labyrinth. But even if this underground part of the operation is finished, there is still more to this than you may think. You may think that this is over with for good, but despite what you may think, it never has and it never will be that fucking simple. The labyrinth, even though it sounds generic to say this and you might not get it, is an idea. The labyrinth is the thing that keeps this town running. It is the thing that makes this town thrive. Even you must deep down see that this is the truth. But I guess that you must be in denial about this. I don't really blame you for feeling that way. I think that once you see how important that this operation really is, then you won't really be able to deny the work that we do. I think that you just simply are too young to fully grasp what we are really doing. Maybe when you are older, you will be able to actually understand what makes us feel this way about the entire situation." As Garrett said this, I was wondering what the hell was the problem with Garrett. Why he was always just sort of fighting for the sex and the women. He didn't say it publically, but it was very clear that this was the only thing that he cared for. In fact, there was a part of me that was kind of disgusted over the fact that he was feeling this way.

No matter what I could really say, and no matter how much I wanted to save the women right now, there was something about this conversation that was keeping me from going away entirely. There was just something about how awful it was to listen to this guy act insane and act like he was in the right that was just making me want to listen to him even more. I wanted to know what was making him feel this way. So the fact that I was wanting to listen to him more, and the fact that I was actually becoming interested, as much as I hated to admit it, was what really kept me from just killing the man right there.

Besides, if what this man was actually saying was true, there were much more and much bigger problems that we were going to have to be dealing with. There was something else that we were going to have to deal with soon. As I was thinking about this, and as I was thinking about how awful this situation had been, I was actually considering just giving up on this whole thing. I was actually thinking about how awful it really was that there could have been more to this than meets the eye. I was wondering why this world had hated me and the rest of the city so much that it felt like it was alright to actually do something like that.

"You think that this is the end of the thing. Well, I will explain to you exactly how you are wrong. Every single fucking business in this city serves us. Every single thing that we have been doing is related to the operations down here, and throughout the rest of the town. Even many of the women who work here see the value of this job, and send their daughters down here for the production here." I heard Garrett say and then David stopped him in order to get more.

"You know, as much as I hate to say this, I can almost be willing to listen to you if you were actually able to do something for me right now. If you were able to actually tell me why you are doing this. Why this is such a great idea for you to be doing this. If you can possibly explain all of this to me, then despite how much this would kill me to say it, but maybe I would be able to actually see where you are coming from." David said, just waiting for what Garrett was going to say next. The two of them were staring at each other for a bit, and then Garrett was thinking that while this was annoying, he can go along with this for the time being.

"You know, this is just how it must be done. You know, we do make some great money off of this. It is really the money that drives everything forward. Without some real money, and without some real goals of where we are actually taking ourselves, then there is nothing that we really can do. You must understand that we are in this for economics. We are really in this for that. Nothing more, nothing less. We really are the heroes of this town when you think about it." Garrett said and then David shook his head.

"You guys are not the fucking heroes here. If you were the fucking heroes of this town, then you would actually be doing your damn fucking best to be looking at alternate ways around this. You would be going out of your way to understanding that this is not viable the best option, and that for the sake of this fucking town, that you would actually be going for something else. You would not be looking around and just going along with this. You have no fucking excuse for what you have been doing now. You have no fucking excuse for why you are having this drive your business. You deserve to have a bullet to your head. At least then, I would be able to take the job over and put in a real effort." As David this, I was really feeling some respect for the man. I was really starting to think that this guy had everything going for him. A good attitude, and a fucking real mindset of what it is like to give up everything for your job. He was giving everything that he had, even his fucking life on the line for the job. He was something that I had pure respect for, even if I was utterly disgusted with every other person in the entire city.

"You know, you are making threats to the sheriff. Death threats at all are a fucking crime, and worthy of sentencing you to death. But then you are doing this, and this is such a big no no that you are really setting yourself up for a jail sentence." As Garrett had said this, I was really wondering just how much further this was going to go before this was going to come to the head that we were all really expecting it to go. Then as I was expecting this, I was wondering what I can do to help out now.

The more that I listened to this conversation, the less that I really wanted this to continue and I wanted this whole fucking thing to get destroyed. I wanted to end this investigation right now. I wanted to go home and then act like this never happened and then try and pretend that I can make this shit up with my father and mother. There was a small part of me that actually thought that there was a small chance that I could be able to turn things around with them, and even maybe make them love me again. I knew that it was a loose hope. But it was indeed the only thing that was giving me any form of sanity left.

As I was thinking about what I was going to do, and then I was placing my hand on the gun, there was the real and natural part of me that was growing more and more tired of this whole thing, and the part o fme that was thinking that I needed to just get this fucking thing over with. I was thinking that this conversation had gone on for too long. That the longer this conversation went on, the longer that I was going to increase the chance that this man would indeed be able to get away with what he was saying as I would start to slowly actually believe in him more, and I knew that this was not acceptable under any front.

"I think that you really did have potential. I mean, you were young, you were not really listening to the established law. You were able to understand what the appeal to just saying fuck the rules were really like. I mean, don't pretend that you were some really great law abiding citizen here. You know that you were not." I heard Garrett told David and David decided that he was going to defend himself more here.

"But you want to know something. At least I actually understand what I am doing. Every time I did something that would be considered breaking the law, at least I did it under of helping the town. I never did it for the idea of me just becoming powerful. I never once did this for fucking power. You seem to not understand this. You seem to fucking refuse to get the idea that there are some good people here who do not really care for their power and actually care for the people of the city." David said, and then after he said this, the more that Garrett took a breath and was feeling like he was never really going to break through to this guy. He was feeling like there was no real hope in any of this. Not that there was any hope left in David, but he was thinking that maybe he could have broken through to the guy a little bit more.

"I think that you just will never understand what it is like to be a full on alpha. I guess that there is at least some amount of beta left in you. I guess that if why you never seem to understand the job. But do you really think that I care what you say. Do you really think that I actually want to listen to you talking on and on about how you were doing the right thing, and that I was doing something wrong?" I was seeing that Garrett was getting clearly bored of this subject, and I was just thinking that Garrett was the biggest asshole in the history of the entire world, and that the sooner this guy died, the better that it would have been for literally the entire world.

As I was thinking about what to say next, I was then telling myself that this was not my conversation, and that I needed to still show at least some respect, and that perhaps maybe David can be able to take care of this whole thing on his own. I needed the hope that he got this under control.

"I just want to do my job. I have a job that I mostly enjoy doing, and you are making me start to lose that enjoyment that I had been able to get out of it. And you don't seem like you have any fucking remorse over what you are doing. It seems like you just think that if anything, this is kind of funny. That seeing me lose all hope in you if the best part of your job that you have had all day." As David said this, I was seeing that Garrett was now finally starting to think that the boy was getting this.

"Maybe you are not as dumb as I expected. Maybe you actually do have some understanding of what you are talking about. I mean of course seeing you lose hope in humanity if a great part of this. Once you started to act like the general good guy, I was then thinking about how I could be this great bad guy, a foil for you. As I decided that I want to be your foil, I feel like you and I were starting to fulfill a bit of our destiny. You know, I do believe in the idea of destiny, probably much more than you think that I do." As Garrett had told David this, I was wondering how he was able to believe in such a subject when this was what he was doing to the people who had worked with him. He was treating David like crap, and he was acting like this was the whole art of the deal. I wanted to shut him up. In fact, I needed to shit him up. I knew that this had to be done. But then as I was thinking about this, I was feeling that my hand was not wanting to touch the gun and not wanting to do it. I couldn't kill him no matter how much I felt like I needed to do it. No matter how much I desired to do this.

I was then thinking about what David himself needed. He looked like he was starting to piece together that this was quite possibly going to be his final minutes on earth, he was slowly starting to accept the fact while also looking like he was just wanting to get this whole thing over with. "You know, if you had wanted to kill me so badly, you would have fired the gun on me. This clearly shows that despite you coming off as the big guy, that you do not want me to die. You want me to be around. There is something about me staying alive that is fulfilling your desire. You know that I am fucking right." David said and then he continued.

"You want me to be broken. You want me to see that nothing in this world is going to change anything. You want me to think that this was what I earned in life. This is exactly what you want of me, to lose anything that is driving me forward. If you get what you want, then you will be feeling like you have won. Don't you feel like you are actually winning right now?" David then felt like this was going to be his way of being able to just live a while longer. To make this guy mock him, and gloat at him, and act like this was the greatest moment of his life. Treating David like garbage and running his entire life.

"You know, despite the fact that you don't understand the majority of this, I do see and have to admit that you do know some of what I am doing. You do know a few of my plans. I think that you should be proud of yourself. You actually are not able to fully fall for the idea of you being too much the hero. But please don't let this get in over your fucking head. I can't handle what it would be like if you actually start to act like you figuring this all out is going to suddenly make you like a fucking god." Garrett said and then David laughed.

"I am no fucking god. I don't even try and pretend that I am a fucking god. That is where you are wrong. You actually think that I only care about that stuff, and then you are the one who is acting like that in all reality. You are spitting the words that you are truly meaning about yourself to me because you are too scared to admit that this is the way that you are. You are too scared to admit that you are the fucking guy." David said, and then Garrett took out his gun and pointed it right to David's chest.

"You just never know when the hell to shut the fuck up. I guess I have to admire the strength that you have a little bit. But I guess that you just don't seem to understand what we are trying to accomplish, and I think that this will forever be the biggest weakness that you have. That no matter what we tell you, you will never be able to fully understand why we are doing these things." Garrett said and then he smiled after he had said that. "Despite how much of a shame that it will be to see you go, I will have admit that it does not really bother me all that much. I mean, I can just get rid of you and then get a new deputy that will be able to appreciate the job and what it does have to offer." Garrett said and then after he had said that to David, he was clicking the gun back and I knew full well what was going to happen now. I had no desire to find out what he was going to do now. But it was not really going to be all that hard to piece together.

"Got to give me credit, I gave you a pretty good fight. You don't want to admit it, because it would be ruining your ego, but you actually thought for a while that I was going to destroy your business. You actually thought that I had a chance of bringing down everything that you had been working for. Despite the fact that you will hate to admit this, you do actually respect the challenge. You are amazed by the challenge, not expecting that I would have been able to do something like that." As David had said this to the sheriff, he was seeing that the sheriff was just not wanting to say something. Despite the fact that he didn't want to say anything, he was aware that what David was saying was true.

"I guess you did give me a decent run for the money. But I would not let that get to you too much. I am not going to let this boost up your ego too much. I mean, I don't want you to be getting in over your head." As Garrett had said this, David just laughed a bit as if thinking that this entire dialogue was pretty fun, and almost something that he was going to miss once this was over with. David was somehow thinking deep down that he had a chance of being able to win here. He thought that I was going to be able to come along and be the hero that was needed. Be the hero that was going to turn things around for the better.

"Despite the fact that you probably put up a better fight than anybody else, I do not really think that this is a very high bar. I think that it is easily something that you should not be letting yourself be too proud of as well. I do think that it is fine to have a good contest every once in a while. Helps make this whole thing just a little bit less boring I have to admit." Garrett said and then after he had said that, David was wondering when I was going to come along.

"But you know, despite the good conversation that we have been having, and the fact that I think that both of us have been opening our eyes up a little bit to our different views, I think it is time to finally silence you. I think that we have been keeping this up for far too long." After Garrett had said this, he fired the gun. After he fired the gun, he was smiling and then David was feeling a large wince of pain. But then after he had felt this wince of pain, and there was no blood coming out of his chest, that was when Garrett started to realize something very important. He had messed up. He made a grave calculating error.

"Oh my god, I can't believe that you actually were smart enough to bring one. God damn it, I might not have given you enough credit after all." After Garrett had said this, he was standing up and he was slowly walking back. After this was happening, he was thinking to himself that maybe he had actually fucked up. "I thought that you were just going to be going in here guns blazing. You can't be serious. You actually planned something out."

After he was saying this, and the errors of his ways were finally starting to get to him, he looked up and saw the one person that he thought would be a lot of fun to see at first, but was now starting to realize that the sight of was possibly going to be his death sentence. He was seeing me. Before he could even say anything, I took my gun out and fired it.

I realized that this was going to be my only chance. But I didn't really give a damn. I knew that this was something that I needed to do. I saw that the bullet went right through his neck. As the bullet had gone right through his neck, I was smiling. I had killed the fucking sheriff of this town. I knew that this was going to be the best thing that I had ever done in my entire life. Once he fell down to the ground, David stopped everything that he was doing and then he looked right at me. "Tell me the truth Sheldon, how long were you there actually waiting for that shot?"

"About that entire conversation. I just really wanted to listen to him. I was thinking that perhaps if I had actually listened to him enough, then maybe as much as it would be fucked up to say, I would be able to see his perspective. I have to say, I never really got that." I said and then I was looking at the sheriff. "Well, we have to get out of here before we get suspected. Once people see the sheriff is dead, you are going to be promoted. And then you will be able to turn this thing around. But first, we need to free the other women as well." I said, purely being in business. I was only focused on the goal at mind, and destroying this underground segment of the labyrinth, even if what Garrett was telling the truth and there was more to this than just the labyrinth.

After I had said that, David nodded, thinking that his time as Deputy was going to be over with very soon, and while there was a faint level of excitement that he was having over this idea, there was the vast majority of his mind that was terrified at this. That he was now going to have to suddenly bring down this entire thing on his own, and he was thinking that in reality, there was no way in hell he would be able to do this.

Once we were getting right to business, I was opening up all the doors and freeing the women while I gave all the bullets I had to David and he was shooting down any officers who were trying to take us down. After all, they were a part of the group and were in the corruption and they needed to die as well. Once this was over, he was going to find a new crew that would change things, but for the time being, he sadly knew that this did not matter all that much.

Eventually, we had freed up every single woman who was down there, with about another six officers of David taking down along with my like eight or nine and Garrett. Once we were at the top and outside, I realized that it was well into the morning now, probably seven or eight now. I had been down there for probably nine or ten hours and not even realized it. "I will bring you and three women to the hospital. Then I will keep driving back and forth and be bringing the next four to the hospital and I will be doing that until I get every single one of them there." David said, realizing that this was going to be the entire fucking day ahead of him. There were probably between five to seven hundred women in there. That means that about a hundred and sixty or so of the women who were down there had died by now. At the very least.

As I was looking around, and I was checking every single one of the ladies out for a moment, none of them were Riley. She really was dead. It was time for me to accept it. My older sister, one of my companions, my allies, was dead. I was pretty much driven to the hospital with me thinking about what I was now going to miss out on and how terrible of a human being I actually was. I wanted to kill myself now and punish myself for not helping her sooner. But I knew that there was a job left as I took out a cigarette and smoked it casually.

Eventually, the first trip made it to the hospital, which was the trip that I was in. Once I got out of the car, I helped David bring one of the really pregnant women in there. I was then just helping carry one of the lesser end of the spectrum into the hospital and David did the same for the third one. Once all of these people were coming in, plus the other like thirty people that had been freed earlier, the doctors were entirely ready for what was coming up, and I could tell that we were already vastly starting to run out of room to bring more people inside of the place. I was thinking that this was going to be terrible, and how we needed a larger space for the people here.

"You know Sheldon, despite everything that has been going on, you really are a fucking hero. You did the one thing that I don't really think anybody else would really have the balls to do. So I thank you for all that you have done here. I think that you should be honored in this town as one the greatest heroes that we ever seen." David said and I smiled and nodded slightly, which was just me trying to feel better about the fact that Riley was dead, which was something that was going to ruin my entire perception on reality as it would be forever.

I knew that there were two people that I had to visit. First one was Gwen, the classmate that I had as an enemy, and despite the problems that we had in the past, was now my ally, and now the one person who I felt like could be able to make me feel like something good came out of this. I walked right up to her area where she was giving birth. I saw that Jack was there as well, and I could tell that they were sort of having a deep moment of being with each other. I was wondering if they were thinking about the idea of hooking up with each other. In all honesty, given the situation, I would say that both of them had honestly earned the idea of being in love with somebody else.

Once we were all together, I looked right at Gwen. "Thank you for helping me Sheldon. You did the thing that nobody else could. You gave me hope, and you made me start to think that there was some good in this world." Gwen said and then after about another ten minutes or so, she was seeing the baby come out and I was starting to see that I was going to be witnessing a birth for the first time in my entire life. And I was wondering how many more times I would see it today alone.

After I saw the baby come out of Gwen, I was looking down at the child. As I was looking down at the child that she had just given birth to, I looked down and saw that it was a boy. After I looked at her and told her the gender, I saw Gwen smiling a bit as if she knew what she had to do. "I think he should be named after you Sheldon. You were my hero, and I hope that he grows up to be like how you are." After Gwen had said this, I was smiling and for once it was genuine. I really did something good for her. I really did make her feel better. "Besides, it will remind me of the person who had saved my life."

As I was looking at Jack, I was seeing what he was thinking of this situation. I was wondering if he was thinking that Gwen was just being far too sentimential, and the more that I was thinking that this was just silly, I was then looking at the child. I was thinking that I must have been named after somebody else as well, so I decided that maybe this was something better for me to have. At least I can have one person who would be able to appreciate me.

Eventually, Gwen was looking at Jack and I. "This is going to be a long ride ahead of me. I wish that I didn't have to do this for a while longer, but now that we are here, I guess that there is nothing that I can do about this now." After Gwen said this, I was then placing my hand on her chest and I was going to try my best to make her feel better.

"I think that you will have this decently handled. I have no doubt that you will be able to pull this off." I said, and then after I said that, I walked out of the room. Right before I was out of the room I said "I need to figure some things out right now. I need to see that some other people are having their child properly delivered."

As I said that, I was going right down to the room in which the woman I saved first was giving birth to the child. I was getting myself ready to see what was going to happen now that she was going to be giving birth to this child. If she was going to be ready for this challenge. David was inside of the room as well, as if he was thinking about the idea of helping her out before even I had considered it. But it didn't matter as we were both there, and we were both ready for what we were going to be exposed to. "I was wondering if you were going to show up. I am thinking that she was wanting to see you."

After David told me this, I was thinking about how I was not really going to be the person that she was hoping that I would be, and that if anything, I was going to really under perform. But then I was thinking that there was a chance that she didn't even care all that about my drug addiction and what I had been doing on a natural basis. Then I saw that she was looking right up at me. When I looked down, I was seeing that she had already given birth to her babies. Yes, babies. She had two children. As I looked at them, I was trying to determine them since they were covered in blankets. But when I saw that they were pink blankets, I figured out exactly what they were. "Twin daughters?" I guessed and she nodded.

"I named the older one Whitney and I named the younger one Victoria. I am going to be heading back home tomorrow night, and I am going to show them to my family. I already have a daughter named Jenny. I bet she will be surprised to see that she will be having a couple of sisters now." She was saying, and I could tell that there was something else to this that she had wanted to say, but she was much too scared to say. As if she was worried that it was going to lead to the death of her and her family.

"Was Garrett the father?" I asked both feeling a twinge of regret and happiness. Regret that I got rid of their true father, but happy that I was able to make sure that he didn't do this to any other women for the rest of my life, thinking that this was making the entire thing worth it. Making sure that this rape empire did not really continue at all.

"Yes... he was." After the mother had said this, she was seeing from the look on my face what I did. "Please don't worry about it, young man. You made it so that no other women would have to suffer what he wants to do with them. You did the one thing that should have been done years ago. Maybe this town will start to get some form of sanity back. But now that Victoria and Whitney are here, there is no reason to not have them and raise them now." The mother was sort of feeling ready for the task, even though she was thinking that this should have never even been a debate that she was having to have. That she should have never even been forced to even consider what she was going to do with these children, because despite what none of us wanted to admit, these children should not have even existed.

When I was thinking about this, I thought about what I needed to do now. I both wanted and needed to do this next bit. "You know, even though I have a lot of hope that these children will grow up to be great people, I can't be here anymore. I am literally putting my life at risk just being here right now." I said, and I was telling the truth. I was thinking about my father as well as the fact that the cops were probably going to be after me right now. I didn't want to be dealing with the cops, and I certainly didn't want to put these people in danger. I got myself out of the hospital, forcing myself not even to look at the other people here, as I was certain that if I did this, then I would keep getting distracted and checking out the other people in the hospital and seeing what they wanted to say to me, if they even cared to see me at all.

Once I was out of the hospital, I took a long and deep breath. I was ready to leave this place. I went right to David's car and saw that the doors were unlocked. So I grabbed my drugs and then with my gun and machete, walked all the way down to the nearest car that was being for sale on the street. I saw that it only cost two hundred dollars. I walked right up the front door and knocked. Once I knocked on the door, the owner of the house answered me and I just handed the two hundred dollars needed for the car and I was given the keys and I was told that the gas would have to be filled up. I nodded and brought my machete, drugs, and gun with one set of reloading in the trunk. Even though I gave David the majority of my bullets left, I kept one set of six round reload in my pocket so that way I could have something to defend myself with in case I needed it. Then I turned on the car and I started to drive away. I lasted right to the edge of the town before I needed to refill. So I filled up at the gas station and at the gas station bought a bag of chips, an energy drink and one pack of cigarettes and a new lighter. I now had about five thousand seven hundred and eighty-five dollars out of my six thousand. I knew that I was going to be going through my money fast if I didn't get a job soon.

I kept driving, and as I was driving, I was thinking about the life that I was going to have to start up. I drove all the way to Tremorton, which was the other city in the county. As I was there, I realized that while I had only drove for about an hour or so, due to how long I had been awake, and how much stuff that I had done lately, that I was fucking out of it. I went to the hotel that was closest to the entrance of the town and then I paid for one night there, which was twenty-five dollars. Now I had five thousand seven hundred sixty dollars of my money left. I was in the room and when I was there, I strongly considered suicide.

I mean, I had already considered it before, but now I was really wanting to do it. I looked right at the gun on my bed, and I was thinking about pulling it. I put it to my head and then I was placing my finger at the trigger. I was ready to fire it and get this over with for once.

I thought about Riley, and I was telling myself that it was time for this to be done. I was thinking that it was time to find Riley again and that I should apologize to her now rather than later. I think that it was about time for me to go on into the afterlife. As I was thinking about what to do, and I was just sort of saying my apologies in my mind to the people who were going to have to smell my body and who were going to have to clean my body soon, I felt like I was now totally at peace.

When I was thinking about how I was now finally at peace with myself, I decided that it was time for me to take the shot. I fired the gun and I was feeling nothing. I wondered why I had felt nothing. I wondered why the world had hated me so much that they didn't give me a chance to feel anything at all. I was wondering why the world had hated me so much that they were forcing myself to still live now. I looked at the gun and then I took a look at the ammo. I saw that there was no ammo left in the gun. And the bullets were in the car. And I was much to tired to grab them and I was thinking that I needed some sleep now. So I took out a cigarette and smoked it while I was laying down on the bed and then when I was feeling the cigarette coming right to the end, I spit it out and it landed on the ground where the flame died off after only a couple of seconds.

Once that was over with, I closed my eyes and I was right asleep. As I was asleep, I was thinking about how Riley was going to have to wait a while longer before she would get to see me again. I was thinking about how I did not deserve this moment of getting another chance of living. Despite how much this was pissing me off, I knew for a fact that this was also the world giving me another chance at life, and another chance to possibly make things right this time.

The more that I was sleeping, the more that I was starting to think about all of the things that I had done wrong, and I was thinking about the very couple of things that I had actually done right in my life. I had defeated Garrett, and I helped some people give birth to children and these children experience the first day of their entire fucking life. When I was thinking about the children that I had saved, and the fact that they were the people that I can look at in case I was thinking that I had ever done the wrong thing, and the fact that they were alive at all, I was thinking about the fact that maybe I had actually done some things good. That maybe I did earn this second chance given what I was actually able to do.

As I was thinking about the fact that I was alive, I decided that tomorrow I would start to shapen myself up a little bit more. I was sleeping through the day and when I woke up, I saw that I had slept about nine or so hours. When I woke up, I brought the gun to my pocket and I was giving the hotel manager the key and I told them that I appreciated them giving me a spot to sleep for the night. Then I went right to the car and sat down in it. I was staring at the hotel for a while. I finished the last couple of sips on my energy drink as I started to drive away. As I was driving away, I started to look for an apartment that I could live at.

When I eventually found an apartment that I could go to, I talked with the owner of the house and talked with him for a while. He was expecting five hundred dollars a month worth or rent, and that would help pay off the mortage that I would be gathering up by living there. I gave him five thousand dollars, which was enough for ten months of living. I kept the other seven hundred twenty five dollars for myself, which was to start bringing the house together, and to start getting food and everything. But until then, my first few days at the house was just going to be me sleeping on the fucking ground, which would really suck.

I went around town for the next few hours, and the more that I looked for jobs, the more that I started to think that I was not going to get anything at all. Eventually, I found a job at the local gas station. When I talked with him about the fact that I needed a job and had just moved here, he was talking to me about how barely anybody worked there anymore and how he really needed to get new employment. He said I would start work that next morning and that the job would be from eight in the morning all the way until eight in the evening, saying that while the shifts were twelve hours, it was needed to be done this way in order to actually have somebody here at all times in the day. Then my boss said he would be taking over for me from eight in the evening until eight in the morning, when I would take over. And despite the fact that most work weeks were five days, I was set up to work all seven days of the week every single week unless if I needed to take a day off suddenly.

As I was getting ready for what I was going to have to be doing for the next several months of my life, I went right to the Tremorton High school and processed who I was, and after I did this, I became an enrolled student. I did that so that way I would be able to drop out there instead of at Wayside. Right after I was accepted into the school, and the person whow as working with me left the office, another person was in the office where I submitted my drop out and then I just simply left the school. I was not going to be allowed to go to school, as I had a job and a life ahead of me. And I was willing to accept this fact of life.

That night, less than a day after I had the house for myself, I got a knock on the door of the house when I was getting ready to go to sleep. I opened the door and saw that it was just a guy wearing black. He handed me a note and told me I had to read it. I was confused at this but told him I would read it as soon as I could. Then he closed the door and I sat down on the empty room and started to read the note for myself.

"Dear Sheldon, I was told by my mother what you did for her and everybody else. I really appreciate everything that you have done of the city. But you must know that you are now going to be in danger and will never be allowed to go back to the city again. I just hope that wherever you live now, that people are going to be nice to you and you will be able to take advantage of the clean slate that you have. But that is not important, and what is important is the stuff that I am telling you. Before you ask, we have never met, so don't bother looking for me at all. You only barely know my mother.

As you can tell, the labyrinth is a sex organization. It is a sex organization that started up by Hubert Humphrey when he was first elected to the senate of this state in 1948. When he was elected to the senate, he saw that there was barely any money and posperity to this city, and he wanted to grow this business. So he came up with an idea. He came up with the idea of forcing the women of the town to get pregnant and sell the babies to rich businessmen, who would pay them a hefty sum in order to have their children. Either due to them being old or them not having the time to get married and have children biologically or the fact that maybe they just wanted to expand their family or their wife being infetile. It was something that worked though, as the children were considered to be high functioning, and within the first year of this plan starting, nearly half a dozen babies were sold.

Once this town started to become more rich, there were people who moved here with their families. When they moved here, the parents usually had to sign a agreement form with the mayor of the town. The agreement form was that once their daughter was of reporudction age, she would be brought down to the underground organization, called the labyrinth, to have children there and create revenue. Once their son would turn eighteen, he would either have to work at the labyrinth or be given enough money to move out and never be able to come back to the city. The mothers were usually let free, but there was a compromise made. The compromise was that every year after the daugther was of production age, the parents would have to pay a fifty thousand dollar fine to keep the daughter safe every year on her birthday, and if this doesn't happen, the parents were allowed to send the mother forward one year to have her be the bearer of the children. Once she had her children, she owuld be released and if they failed to produce the money again, the daughter would be taken anyways, the mother would be considered obsolete due to her already doing it one year and she would be killed to prevent her fighting for her child, and the father would be given ninety days to move out of town in order to start a new life or else he would be killed as well. This is the situation that happened with your friend Ashley and her mother. Her mother failed to pay the fines on her twelfth birthday, and she was sold where she had a son named Carter who was sold away, and then the family produced enough funds to last her thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth birthdays, but not her sixteenth, and as she was killed as a result of this, and her father now has eight seven days to move away or else he will be killed ans Ashley is gone.

Once the women down there had children for a long enough time that she was considered too old or her babies were getting weaker or she not producing as fast anymore, she would be killed as well to prevent her from spreading the word around anymore. This situation usually happens once a month or so, which is what you hear those screams in the town are. Most of the time it is them having sex, but there is the screams every once in a while of turanchal pain, and that is the mother down there getting killed.

You may be wondering how I know this and why I am telling you this. I am telling you this because you need to know what is going on the town so that way eventually, you can save the city. And I know this because when my mother was freed, she told me everything. She has two daughters now as a result of saving my life once. Two twins named Victoria and Whitney. You know who they are, as you met them for a bit. And you may not want to hear me tell you this, as it would ruin your opinion of him even further, but your father was the dad of these twins. He raped my mother and produced these children.

I was able to hit puberty very early. I hit at the age of nine years old. When I was hitting it, I was now of production age, and on my tenth birthday, the sheriff wanted me to go down to the labyrinth. But my mother decided that she was going to take the fall for me this year, and that was what she decided to do. She went down there and she had the children for me instead, as opposed to me becoming a mother at the age of ten. That was why that guy you knew Todd wanted to figure this out so badly. I was a friend of his. And he was not a product of the labyrinth as he just barely moved here about eight months ago, although he is probably going to have to work at the organization soon enough. And that friend of his Kevin, he is a product of the labyrinth. There was a twenty one year old woman who had a son named Sam by natural non labyrinth related reproduction, and then three years later, she was brought down to the labyrinth and the at the time Deputy Killian had sex with her multiple times and she had a son named Kevin, and there was a sixty seven year old businessman who met her and her sons and was instantly in love and wanted to make sure that they would be safe forever, so he bought them with a huge sum of ten million dollars, and he now had her and her two sons. Despite his old age, he was given into power. He was told about how he can expand his empire and he was accepted to the police force as the oldest worker there, and he has been working at the labyrinth now. He has prduced one child a year. He can't do too much more due to his age, as he is now eighty years old. But every time that his children are sold, due to their high quality, he gives several hundred thousand dollars to the town. Despite this, it would be a lie to say that he didn't love Sam, his wife that he married and Kevin. You can tell that he meant every single cent that he invested to that family, and while he is a horrible man at the job, at least he was a good family man. The same thing can not be said about your father.

Your father used this job as a method to gain his own power. You know that your sister Riley is dead. You must have figured that out by now. But her death is not what you expect it to be. In fact, it is much darker and more sick than you may imagine.

She was killed about three years ago after her babies were considered faulty. Her babies were all disabled, and they were not able to really sell. Due to the problems that her babies would be having, Garrett would just simply eliminate them. However, before she died, she was able to produce one final child, a boy named Tucker who suffers from walking disabilities as well as problems talking with people. The reason her childred were like this is probably as you imagine.

Your father loved Riley. He loved her so much that he wanted to show it to her in person. He sold her to the labyrinth right away and every night before he came home, he would go to her room and he would have sex with her, and throughout many of these things, he was able to get her pregnant, and due to their relation, she gave birth to weak babies. The only reason the final child was safe was because Garrett was tired of these children and decided to eliminate her as she was barely being a benefit, and he struck a deal with your father that this final child of theirs would be safe at least.

Tucker was sold to a family that lives where you live now. He was sold to this red head boy named Brad, who is about my age, and the family just wanted another child so bad and due to the failure lately, they just bought him regardless of how developed he was. If you wanted to, you could be able to find where he lives and be there for him, if you choose to do this.

I think with all of these things that you now know, you realize that you need to go down there and fix this problem. But if you can't, and you just feel like there is nothing that you want to do there in order to avoid remembering what happened, then you failed the one thing that you needed to do. Sheldon, we need you. This entire town needs you.

From Jenny."

After the letter was over, I took out a cigarette and started to smoke it a bit, comtemplating what I had just read and letting the fact sink in that every word of this was true. It made too much sense to be a lie. And that was why I hated my father so much. For what he did to Riley, when she was his daughter.

I was starting to think that maybe Jenny was right. Maybe this city needed me much more than I could even dreamed that they had needed me. Maybe I really was the only hope that this entire town had left. I was thinking about how fucking sad that was, and how awful it must have been for this city that I was considered to be the best hope that was there. But then before I could think about this too much, there was yet another knock on the door. I decided to answer it, thinking this was was going to be much more pleasant news than the one that I had just dealt with.

As I answered the door, I saw that it was David. I was looking down at him and I saw that he now had the sheriff tag. "So there's a new sheriff in town?" I asked, being a bit playful. David laughed and then he handed me a sleeping bag.

"I thought that you might want this." He said, still wearing his hand cast that I pretty much was used to him wearing by now. "You know, you put up a pretty good fight whne you feel the need to. I mean, you took care of Garrett like he was nothing." He said, as if he was going to be able to look at this somewhat playfully. He took out a bottle of wine and then pulled two small shot glasses out of his pocket. "You know, I know we're not relaly old enough, but I think that given the situation we went through, and our victory, that we warned the right to get a little wasted this once."

As he handed me the shot glass, I filled it up with some wine and then I took the shot as if it were nothing. "I feel kind of awful for that whole thing though. I mean, I should have been there for Dakota, made sure that he was fine. But I didn't even fucking do that. I should have done that, and been there for my friend, but I didn't do that. You know, I think that this will be the one thing that will make me regret my choices that night forever." I said, and I was meaning it, I really made a huge mistake by not seeing Dakota that day to make sure he was making recovery. "I should have stayed at least to see that. I feel like I should see him again soon, just to make sure that he is fine." I then looked at David.

"I think t hat he knows what happened and why you had to leave the way that you did. I doubt that he will be too angry at you. I mean, just don't do that every time you need to leave town." David said and then he seemed to get much more serious. "I heard the news about your sister. That seems like it would be really rough to go through."

"It's not even her death that gets to me, it is the fact that my father did that stuff to her. He is a disgusting man. I want to get my revenge out on him soon. That fucking asshole deserves to die." I said, and I had no care in the world what David would say. But he seemed almost to agree with me on what I was saying.

"Her name was Riley Kendall Lee. Such a great name. Looking back at it, she was a good student. She was a good girl. She was a good sister. If I had known she would die at such a young, I would never ever think about being mean to her. She was about the same age I am right now when she died. I read a letter saying she died three years ago, which was the age gap between her and I. That means that starting next year, I will now be older than she will ever get to be." I said and then I looked right at David. "That really fucking sucks to think about."

As I said that, I took out a cigarette from the carton in the box that I took with me and then I started to smoke it. As I smoked it, I was taking in the entire moment. "So Sheldon, do you really think that this is going to be the place that you will settle down at now?" I mean, I wouldn't realy blame you or anything, it would just kind of be shocking is all." David said and then I nodded.

"Yeah, I even got a job. I am going to be starting my first day tomorrow. Should probably go to bed soon. I am going to honor Riley's memory soon." I said, and then as I said that, I was looking right at the window and staring at the sky. One of the most beautiful places in the world was the sky, and it was one of the few places I could never reach.

"You will do the right thing eventually. I have no doubt that you will do the right thing. I think that you just need to find the motivation." David said, and then the two of us walked outside of the house and looked at the sky and I was wondering what travels would be ahead of me. What the start of my story would be. The start to the life story of Sheldon Oswald Lee.


	64. The Lovely Night

Wayside Part 3 - The Tournament and the Labyrinth

The Lovely Night (1962)

Things had been perfect for about the next week or so, not until Friday of the next week before something else came up that was really noteworthy. I was really starting to get more committed with Dana and I was thinking that I was a terrible man for ever getting sort of involved with Maurecia as well as Jenny, and I was starting to fall in love with Dana all over again, and I was wanting to show her how much I had cared for her. We were walking out of the school when the day was over and Dana said "My parents have agreed to let you stay the night at my house tonight to give you a chance as long as the door if opened the entire night so they know what I am doing. I think it would be nice if you accept my offer."

I thought on that and then I said "I would love to do that." I was honestly meaning it and it was in no way an attempt to try and seduce her or anything like that. I was honestly feeling some love for her once again, and I was starting to think that I would love to spend the night with her and everything. So with that, Dana and I were starting to walk on over to her house as I was thinking about what we were going to do and where I was wondering how I was going to prove to her parents that I was indeed a man good enough for Dana to like me.

"I wonder why your parents actually agreed to let me stay the night here." I said and I was honestly meaning that since none of this really made any sense, I mean there was no real reason for me to actually be there, unless if there was some form of test that was going to be coming up once again. But then Dana was remaining silent as I was saying that, as if she had known something that she did not really want to tell me.

"I think they just want to actually make sure that you are not a bad guy or anything. As annoying as it may be to deal with, I guess that I might be able to see the point of it." Dana said and then I was starting to think about that and I sort of nodded, thinking that while it had sucked ass, there was nothing that I can really argue about it all that much.

I started to kind of really think about the subject and then I said "Perhaps I can actually start to earn their trust if I just act like a normal and rational man. I just need to do it for one fucking night, and then once I am normal for one night, then they might be able to actually trust me and then maybe even to the point where they can let the door be shut and we can actually talk to each other for a while." I said and for once I was in no way talking about the idea of sleeping with her, but more about what it was like to just talk about school stuff and the monsters.

Eventually as I had said that, she opened the door to her house and then afterwards, we went right to her bedroom. Once we were inside of her bedroom, I could tell that her parents were looking forward and then I decided not to say anything and then they were walking towards me. They held out their hand and then I shook their hand and then they said "Mr. Robinson, I am interested in seeing how you are tonight. Dana has told me a lot of good things about you. Just enough for me to finally give you a chance." After my girlfriend's father said that, I felt terrible for him saying that, since I had barely done anything that was considered to be good at all, and this was just messed up since I knew that I was a liar and that I needed to shape up a bit.

"Yeah, I was not aware of this arrangement until I was talking with Dana earlier." I said and then the certain uncomfortable tone that I was giving him made him nod and I could tell that we were both making a little bit of progress. Then he started to walk off and he looked right at me as he was heading back.

"I will stay out here in the living room. I will be checking in on you two every hour. So don't act like we will just forget about you for a while." Dana's father said and while he said that, I was thinking that there was a tone in his voice that was showing that he wasn't really too worried about me as much as Dana, while her mother gave me that look that showed that while she was silent, she was going to be a even bigger challenge for me than her if I was not really careful enough.

I sat down right on the couch and then I was looking right at Dana and then I said "So I was hanging out with Myron a little bit earlier today, and he seemed to have known some things that I never even considered for a moment that he would have actually known about. He knew about the monsters." I said and I was trying my best to be quiet, and I can tell that Dana thought this was a big deal, and she was looking at me as if she was wanting to know even more details about this.

"Dana, I am sorry for everything lately. I never really wanted to make you feel scared about these monsters. I hope that you forgive me, and see that I have nothing against you on this. But what do you think about Myron with this knowledge? In fact, we were both dealing with the police a bit that night." I was saying and I was still thinking that it was crazy that I had dealt with the police, although I had been doing my best to actually keep my promise a bit.

"I think that Myron just needs to be careful. You seem to actually have been taking a break from these monsters. I wonder what is contributing to you guys taking a break from these monsters." Dana said and then after she had said that, I was considering what to say since I did not want to have her parents check in on what I was saying and then throw away any chance on making them like me just because of something I had to deal with.

"Well, I was dealing with some officers. They told me that they would take care of the monsters, but that they want nothing to do with me getting into these fights. That is what they told me to promise for them to do this, and I eventually decided to try it out and see if I was able to actually live a normal life." I said as Dana thought that this was insane and then we were quiet a little bit and then Dana thought about that for just a little bit.

"I can't believe that you actually talked to the officers about this. I thought that this was one of the things that you would have hated to do. I guess that maybe you see that when worse comes to worst, you just have to break what you are not really comfortable with." Dana said and then I nodded and I was thinking that this detail was still innocent enough to where nobody would really be wondering what the context of this part of the conversation actually would have been.

"Honestly, I hated the idea of this, but I knew that there was nothing I can really do about it anymore and that there was no point in what I was going to try and hide anymore. I knew I needed to get the balls to do it." I said and I was just leaving it right at that and then with that, Dana thought for a second and then she wrapped her arm around my shoulder and then we were both laying down on the couch and we were just looking at the wall. "I just think that this is a good chance to try and finally live a normal life again."

"Yeah, I guess that you just have to make some choices that you need to deal with later. I just hope that you do not end up regretting what you have decided to do. If you do, then I think that there is not really anybody besides you and maybe me I guess to some extent that you would be able to fully blame. I guess you can blame me a little bit, but not really too much though."

"I am not really going to blame you for anything that is going on honestly. I think that in all reality, you didn't really do anything wrong. I was the one who had done something wrong and not really you. So don't really worry all that much about it?" I said and then after I had said that, this was when Dana was thinking about what I was saying and then I could tell that we were just really having a nice and comfortable just happy relationship just between the two of us in all honesty. "Dana, do you wonder what this year would have actually been like if you had never told me about the monsters? I have nothing against what you tell me at all, I just feel like I need to know what your ideas are."

"Well, I think that maybe we would have never started to date. I think that if anything, we would have just remained at most friends. So I guess that if for nothing else, I am glad that I told you about this since it did help us get together and everything." Dana said and I was starting to think that perhaps this was a good point, and I didn't really feel there was any way I can argue with her on that, so we were just thinking about that for a moment and then I was the next one who had spoken.

"Do you regret ever telling me about the monsters? Do you think that us dating was making this all worth it?" I asked, and I was not wanting to make her feel bad for any answer that she was going to give me, but I just needed to know the truth one way or another. I was not going to judge her, but for god sake, I just wanted to fucking know. Then she was thinking about that as she shook her head.

"Even if you are not doing it anymore and even if that did risk your death a couple of times, your really did help out the town give us at least a couple of moments of short term safety. This at the very least you need to be proud of." Dana said and then when she was telling me that, I was thinking about this and I was trying to figure out if I was proud or if I was glad or maybe just a little bit of both. I was going to go with that one.

Eventually I was thinking and then I had said "So Dana, are you thinking that either of your parents will actually be able to actually get along with me? I want you to be honest with me on what you saying there." I said and then I was watching as I was letting Dana really piece this all together, and then there was a moment of silence and I was thinking that she was not really wanting to tell me anything, and then I was thinking that there was maybe a two or three percent chance that we could, and left it right at that.

"I just hope that your parents will like me enough to at least not want me to fucking leave and die the moment that they see me in the area. That is the very least of what I want. I really hope that this is not all that much to be asking for." I said and as I had said that, this was making me feel a little bad since it was kind of getting me to sound a little bit whiny, but I was just tired of her parents hating me and I was wishing that there was something that I can do to make them start to like me more.

"I think they will maybe not like you as much as just simply accept you after all. You know, maybe once you do some things for them, then maybe they will be able to start to trust you a bit more. Maybe when you actually work with my dad for a couple of days or something like that, then they will not really hate you as much. It is a simple idea, but I think that we can both agree that this would be amazing." Dana said and I was nodding and I was totally agreeing that this was too much for me to handle, and that I just wanted to actually get them to at least tolerate me and I didn't really know what was so hard about this idea, and that I just needed to get them to accept me, and not even a wanting thing as much anymore.

"Well, I think that he might eventually give me a chance after all. That is the least that I can ask for." I said and I was starting to feel like I was just going to keep the starting point a bit low, not wanting to really shoot for the stars, if that was something that I was going to really be able to do for myself.

"I sort of just think that my parents are a bit rough on you. They have barely even met you, so there is no real reason that they have to just not liking you besides the lack of being able to adjust." Dana said and I was thinking that maybe we should keep it small with the conversations about her parents since I didn't really want them to hate me so much due to the fact that I was talking shit about them behind their back and everything.

"I will just see what I can do. Nothing more, nothing less. I think that this is a fair way of looking at this." I said as we started to calm down a little bit and I was just starting to become more into the happy go lucky self that I was trying to usually be in my life, and nothing like the Wayside monster fighting guy that I was.

"You know, I think that our friends are probably thinking that we are doing some crazy things right now. Turns out we are doing the most basic thing that somebody can really ask for. I guess that there is some tiny level of irony to it. Not really enough to make a huge story out of it, but enough to make it seem a little bit funny." I said and then afterwards, I was thinking more and more on this, and then Dana considered how strange that was. The two people that were dating were the only ones that had any sense of a normal hang out.

"I think that we just have a little bit of a relaxing feeling to all of this. There is nothing really wrong about just wanting to relax for a little bit." Dana said as I was not really sure what to really say to this and then when she was thinking about this, she had said "I just wish that you just had a easier time hanging out with Myron, and I just wish that we were able to have all of these easy hang outs right from the start. I think that there is nothing really wrong with all of this. I think there is nothing wrong with just wanting something normal every once in a while."

"Well, I think that there is something to write home about in a way about just not having a bit of a normal life. I think that there is something about a normal life that isn't really all that fun. It is nicer and everything, but that doesn't really mean that it has to be fun. I think that even you might have to be able to believe me a little bit when I say something like that, even though you clearly want to have a normal life as well." I said and then Dana was thinking and then she was reluctantly nodding to this.

"I just wish that we could have a little bit of both. But it seems like you and I are starting to really get a bit of my wishes on that level with the fact that you are starting to retire from all of the monster fighting. You know, I think that monsters are a bit strange and I am just wishing that they never existed, and I think that you should find out where these monsters come from." Dana said and I figured that this was a good point and I nodded at that bit.

"Yeah I think that I should really look into it. If I look into that, then perhaps there is a chance that I can close them off forever so that way they can't take me down. I just am going to tell you one thing. I am no longer going to risk my life on it unless if there is literally no other choice to it." I said and then after that, we were sort of remaining quiet to it a little bit.

As we were quiet, I was thinking more about this and then I was wondering what Myron would be doing at this exact moment in time. "So Dana, why do you care so much about your success of school? I don't really get it. I mean I understand that you don't want anybody to get in your business and talk about poor grades and everything, but at the same time, I was just curious. I have nothing in my life that can get me to care about school. I mean I can sort of get it in a certain context, but whatever." I said and then after I had said that, I was thinking that Dana was just simply never going to really get why I am not a good student at all, and I don't understand why she wants to be one. So it kind of evened out in the long run.

"I just enjoy doing the world. There is something that is exciting about doing all of the class work. I know that this is strange for you to hear probably, but at the same time, I am just saying it as it is." Dana told me and then I was just thinking that it was odd that she was feeling this way at all, and I just simply could not in any way get why she was actually enjoying the work in class. I was just going to pretend that it made sense, even though it was not even close to making sense.

"I think that you and I are just totally different on a lot of levels that makes this whole pairing between us very interesting. I think that there is no way that there can be arguing any of that stuff." I said and then when I was thinking that the idea of us being together made virtually no sense and I doubted that even Dana was able to understand it as well. The two of us were just together, and the only tiny explanation that could work is the whole 'opposites attract' thing, if any of it works at all.

Turns out she was thinking the exact same way that I was when she had said "I guess that maybe opposites attract. I know that it is a cliche, but maybe there is a level of truth to it." Dana and I were finished thinking about that silly stuff and then when she had said this, I thought that it was a annoying that we were sort of living in a bit of a crazy cliche.

"Well I guess we would rather live in a cliche than in a world where we are going to be risking death at every moment." I said and I was feeling strange for being the one that had said that since I was the one who was fighting all of the monsters and getting myself into totally insane situations. "But in reality, I guess that everything we do is going to be a bit of all of this in some fashion."

"I think that living in a cliche is not really going to be all that fun. I mean, say what you will about every single thing that has happened in school lately, but you can't really say in any way that our school is a cliche. We are the exact opposite of a cliche, and I really appreciate the fact that the entire school is just something that we can say is something we would have never really expected to be happening in a normal casual life." Dana was saying and I was wondering how she can hate all of these things so much but still not want a cliche life. She wanted a normal life but at the same time, she wanted something that was not so normal that it was a cliche. It was a little bit hard for something like that to happen.

"I guess that no matter what happens, we are never going to get what we fully want. I just wish that school was not really such a long and tedious process. I hate how long and fucking tedious school actually is in all reality. I don't have a desire to spent nine to ten hours a fucking day every single day dealing with stuff on this." I said and then I was thinking that maybe Dana and I were sort of agreeing on that regard.

"Do you know what is able to make a long and tedious day a little bit less tedious? I think the only way that you can actually have that happen is just to do something while class is going on. Even if it is not paying attention and doing something like drawing throughout the class or doing nothing but reading, but then at the very least at least it would be a little bit different. At least you can actually say that there is something going on." Dana was listening to herself, and she was surprised that there was nothing going on and then as the two of them were talking, Dana's mother made a calling that gave both of us a bit of an excited moment.

"We're going to go out and get some dinner for the night. We will be back in half an hour. Don't get into any trouble you two." Her mother said and despite the fact that this was a silly comment at least on the surface, this was still a serious thing she was saying and she was meaning every possible indication of what could happen if I was not careful with what I did.

The two of them were gone from the house and after about two minutes or so of them being gone and us thinking that we were fine for now, I looked right over at Dana and then I was thinking about what I was going to suggest to her next. "Dana, do you have any idea what I want to do right now?" I asked and then she smiled and I knew exactly what I was wanting to do. So with that, the two of us put our lips together and then we kissed for about five or six seconds.

The two of us were thinking of what to do next. "Hey, I got an idea. Want to go to the living room and watch about twenty minutes or so of television." Dana suggested and then after this, I nodded a bit and then the three of us walked to the living room where we sat down for a bit. As we were sitting down for a while, I was wondering what Dana was wanting to show me.

The television was just going by like normal for a while, and I was just thinking that we were watching the first few minutes of a couple of minutes of a movie that looked like some form of James Bond movie. I think it was the first one, Dr. No, and I was thinking that it was a interesting movie. I thought that it was having a good few performances, especially from Connery, and I was wondering if this was actually going to start a big franchise, which at the time I didn't really think was actually going to happen at the mean time. I was just then starting to think that maybe it was going to be a shame that we were going to lose our progress on this soon enough. I could tell that Dana was getting mildly interested in what she was watching, but not to the extent that I had been so far.

But after the first ten to fifteen minutes, and when the driving of her parents was about half way through, there was a eleven minute broadcast interruption that made Dana and I both question what the hell was going on in our life at all. It made us question the validity of humanity a little bit.

The first few seconds of the interruption was a bunch of static that was going on for a while, but then once the static was over, I could see that we were seeing something that looked like we were getting something from the future. Dana and I were both starting to realize that this was indeed something from the future, and we were wondering what the exact stuff that we were watching actually was, and what the predictions were actually going to be.

Dana and I looked right at each other and I was starting to lose any hope of this actually going to be something that we can show to others, as they would probably not really believe what we are doing. They would probably think that what we were watching was just one big publicity stunt, and I was starting to think that maybe this was not even true, but I had seen it, and I knew for a fact that this was indeed real.

The television was showing a guy wearing a gas mask that was partially broken. He was holding his hands together and it had looked like he was on the verge of crying, as if he had seen something that he could not have believed that he had seen. I could see through a small bit of the broken part of the gas mask that this was somebody that we had known. It was Kevin, except when he was a bit older. He was holding something with the hands that looked like a stuffed animal. I was wondering why he was holding the stuffed animal, and I was confused as to what would make him actually so sad about holding this. As he looked up, I could see that there was a guy staring right down at him.

The guy looked like a black haired younger teenager, probably twelve or thirteen or so looking right at him and he was wearing a arm cast and then he was holding his non broken hand forward. Kevin was staring at the guy and then he grabbed the hand and then he was standing himself up and then they looked at the fire that was going on at the building that was close to them.

Eventually, the two of them saw that there was a black car that was parking up and when they saw this, both of them must have known that something was coming up, and that they were going to have to lie to the person who was here in order to make them feel protected. The two of them were starting to walk away from them and then the car door opened and then the door had slammed shut. The man was walking closer to them and I was seeing with the red hair that they had which was making me think that perhaps this older man was actually me, as it would line up with the age that Kevin had when I was able to see through the one small part of the mask that showed Kevin's face.

Eventually, the guy with red hair was right in front of them and then he was holding out his hand in a way that would make me think that I was one of those people who would be considered like a super stereotypical politician and then he said "My name is Todd Robinson, one of the senators in this state. I think we have a lot of business that we need to discuss."

I looked right at Dana and I was confused as to what I was seeing and then the broadcast interruption took something that was totally unlike what we had been seeing earlier. I saw that only about a minute or so had passed, so there was still nearly ten minutes left of the broadcast and I was seeing that the broadcast had taken us right towards a late night walk and then it was still showing the older version of me and what had followed was ten different small clips of me going around the city for some strange reason.

The first clip is me driving a eight year old child to their house and when I was at his front entrance I knocked and then eventually, the woman, his mother, answered the door and then she was staring right at me for a few seconds. I saw the look on her face and as I was seeing from the look I could tell two small things. One was that this was Jenny, and that she had a child with a man who was not me, and probably not Kevin with the look that the kid had. Second was that with the tears running down her face that the man that she did love was now dead, and I could tell that she was not taking his death super well.

Second was when I was driving back and then I was in front of the guy with the gas mask and I was staring right at him, not really too sure what to say. I then told him that I was now running the entire operation, and that he needed to do everything that I had told him to do and he nodded before I started to walk off.

I was in the car again and the entire time that I was in the car, there was a guy who was speaking to me as if he was wondering where I was really going to go with this idea. I told him about this strange place that was like a digital world, and that I was wanting to make the digital world not invade earth anymore, to make the place safe again for everybody. I said that in order to do so, I had to arrest somebody who was very involved with this digital world to make it so that he could never bring it to light once again.

The fourth clip was me walking to the front door of somebodys house and I was calling 911 and then I knocked on the door as I was waiting. Then when he had answered the door I saw that the police officers were coming along and pulling up. The guy was wondering what the hell was going on and then I told him that he was under arrest for his involvement of the digital world and the invasion that had happened, and as he was looking at me I could tell that he was not even going to try and argue with it. He knew that I was right, and he knew that there was no way he was going to be able to justify the idea of trying to get away with it.

The fifth clip was of me sitting in the interrogation office with him and I was asking him why he was trying to bring the digital world back to earth again and that he should have learned his lesson by this point to just leave our world alone. He seemed to understand that I was right and I was able to see that he was just wishing that I would leave him alone about it, but there was no way that I was going to let this happen now. I told him that he better not let his world invade our again while he was in prison.

In the sixth clip, I was seen looking right at a group of eight younger children as well as Kevin. I was pulling out of my car again and it was at a building somewhat close to the where I had first seen Kevin. I told them that they better do their job on stopping the invasion this time, and then I told them that once they returned to earth, they were going to pretend that they didn't know a damn thing about what happened and they better just go back into a seemingly normal life after this again from that point forward, since if people tried to expose it, nobody will believe them. I could tell that they hated the idea, but that I was right.

The seventh clip was showing me returning to Jenny's house with the eight year old son answering me and this time they seemed to be much more accepting of me being there. I was telling them that I wanted to hang out with them and catch up with her. She seemed to be really excited about this idea and she let me inside of her house.

In the eighth clip, it was showing the two of us catching up and she was telling me about her son Cody and her husband who killed himself in the last few days, Sheldon Lee, and i was making her feel better while I was telling her about the invasion that had happened and my attempts on making the public less aware of what was going on. The clip ended with me asking her on a date and she accepted my offer.

The ninth clip was showing me lining up at an airport and I was getting ready to head to New York City. I was not really sure what the hell was going on, as I was getting inside the plane and I was seeing that there were some people looking right at me wondering why I was heading to New York, and I was just not saying anything besides the fact that I was doing something for business.

In the final clip, I was talking with a slightly older man about what was happening, and he told me that he was going to protect my city for me as long as I gave him a fraction of the money I earn every month, while I also had to promise him the protection was also with the case of me letting him be a political partner of mine for the rest of my political career, and I eventually agreed, and we both started our working relationship from that point forward, and I could tell that all of this was going to happen even if I didn't like it.

"What the hell did we just watch?" Dana asked when the entire broadcast was over with for good, and I was terrified at what any of this was meaning, and if there was a chance in which this was going to get me killed if I was not really careful enough about any of this. I was wondering what any of these clips were meant to make me realize, and I was thinking that I was going to maybe have a chance of being able to change what the future was going to be so that way I can actually be able to make any of this right, such as the fact that I can maybe make it so that the Sheldon guy might not die after all.

"I think we are watching what can be a trailer for what things can be in the future if I am not really careful enough." I said and that was all I can really say that was making sense to me, as there was nothing else I can even remotely think of that would make this fully coherent and I said "Maybe I am supposed to find a way to make it so that Jenny's husband might not die after all. That is one of the small things that I can think that can really change all of this. It is a small idea, but it is the only thing that I can think of right now.

"I think that she might not be fully excited to know that she might marry some random person that she has never even heard of in her entire life by this point in time. I guess that maybe this must really be one hell of a man in order to make her fall in love with him and be so heart broken over his death and everything." Dana had said and I was thinking that it was a sad thing to know that I did not marry Jenny. I mean I wasn't dating her and she wouldn't even really be my second choice or anything, but I felt like the idea of me not getting her at all, such a confirmation over the whole thing was a little bit sad for me to consider. I mean, I would have at least preferred for there to be a small chance of it happening.

"I think that you should be perfectly fine with what you are seeing. I mean, there is nothing too much about your status one way or another. After all, it must be better than Kevin wearing a gas mask for the rest of his fucking life. I feel really bad for him over that, the idea that he can't even be able to breathe properly or anything like that." I told her and Dana was not too sure what to think of that, although she knew that I wasn't totally wrong on that.

"I am not too sure about that. I mean, for all I know, I could be dead by then, and then that is why there is nothing of me. At least Kevin is still alive, if all of this is true." But before anything can be said or done about this, her parents had come inside of the house and the James Bond movie started right where it had been left off before the interruption had started and they were looking at us.

"The food will be ready in twenty minutes. Once the food is ready, I will let you guys know so you guys can be ready to eat." Her father said and then afterwards, the two of us nodded and went right back to her room where I was just glad that there was nothing that can make them think that we had basically just watched a huge attack on our home town first off.

"So Dana, I just don't really know how to feel about the fact that I might actually know where my life is going to be going now. It just seems strange that I can't really even come up with the idea of me just doing whatever anymore since I guess I am just going to become a politician that is going to try and come up with this great idea of saving the entire city and something about some strange world that I am doubting actually does exist." I said and then I was shaking my head and then I looked right at Dana and was wondering what her opinion on this actually was.

"I think that you shouldn't really be taking this as some form of totally certain thing. I think that maybe you still have a chance on changing this, and that is what you should be doing right now. There is no real reason to see this if there is not even meant to be yet another chance of actually changing things for the better of us all." Dana said and I was not really too sure of what to say to that since I was knowing she was right but I didn't know how any of these changes would actually make any real sense.

"I just don't really know. I feel like this entire thing is just one really big sick prank, and there is nothing else to it that can make this whole thing actually make sense to me. I hate the fact that I am making this whole thing a bigger deal than normal, but then I think that maybe I should just try to tell myself that it doesn't really even matter anymore." I had decided that I was going to try and pretend that I should just drop the subject and act as if this was something that had never happened.

When this was all done with, I was thinking that Dana was just trying to figure out her place on this and there was also a part of her that was wondering why Kevin was looking like that, and what happened to make him think that wearing a gas mask was better than having a exposed face.

"So Dana, when it does come to that time, and all of this actually happens the way that the show made it out to be, what do you really think you would make out of all of this?" I questioned and then Dana was thinking about this, and she was thinking that there was not really all that much she would be able to make an opinion out of this, thinking that this was just something that was not really going to happen, and she seemed that was all she wanted to think of.

"Well I would be impressed that you would have been a senator. I will give you that much. I don't really know about anything else, but the idea of you being a senator would be really impressive, and I wonder what you would have done to get the people to vote for you." After Dana had said that, I nodded and I was sort of thinking about that as well, thinking that if they voted for me, I must have really changed how I was as a human being to make my case actually that type of convincing.

"I guess that I really knew how to start to lie by then." I said and when I had said that, I was thinking about how funny it might have been to start to become a super professional liar. I was knowing that this was basically what everybody imagines a politician to be, and I guess that maybe there was something that just really made people not like their politicians to make them think that way about them all the time, but then I was saying "Or maybe I am one of those people who actually doesn't lie and this was what was able to get people to vote for me as they would be able to appreciate the fact that I didn't lie to them."

Dana and I both knew that this was a big load of crap. I was a huge liar, and we both knew that I was one. I was just wanting her to not say it before me, I wanted her to pretend that I was this good guy. "Maybe you just have a bit of a idealistic mind when you were younger that made people want to give you a chance." After Dana said that, I thought that maybe that can be true.

We were thinking about this and then as that was happening, we were called to have dinner and then we were grabbing the food. Then we went right back to the bedroom and then we were just eating the nice food that they had made us, and I was thinking that her parents really did a good job at making stuff to eat and everything. Then when the food was done, we were both just sort of wondering what to do next.

"Want to go out on a walk for a little bit?" Dana asked and then I was thinking about that, thinking that while I did want to go on a walk, I was worried about what the hell her parents were going to do and what questions they were going to ask me. I was really not wanting to ruin any sort of build up that I was indeed having by this point in what I was doing. Then I looked out to the living room, Dana got up after I nodded and then she walked right towards them and then she said "I am going to be taking a walk with Todd for a little bit. We will be heading out for about an hour or so and then we will come back." Her parents were unsure what to say to this, but they decided to say nothing against it.

So we walked right out of the house and then after we were outside of the house, I looked right at Dana and I was shocked that she was suggesting that we were actually doing this, and I was wondering if there was something that was going on and she felt the massive need to get the hell out of here. I thought that we needed to talk more about this, but she said nothing about this, and I was just thinking that we should just talk about normal stuff. "Hey Dana, where do you want to go?" I asked when I had finally dropped the subject and we were about three or four blocks away, and then she thought about it and then she said something that was not really all that expected for me.

"I have something that I want to show you. I want you to see the back side of the school right now. There is something here that is really exciting." Dana said and then after she had said that, I nodded and was unsure where she was going with this as we started to walk on towards there.

While we walked on there, I said that "I wonder what you want to show me. I never been to the back side of Wayside now that I think about it, which is a lot stranger than I could really think that it is. I think that there is no real need to try and act like this is some really strange thing though, I guess I just haven't had the need to go there." I said and I was not really sure why I was trying to justify this so much but then Dana kept it up.

"Don't worry about it all that much Todd. I just want you to see something that I want to show you. Then we can head on right back to home right away." Dana said and then we were walking more and I was wondering what exactly it was, as I was just starting to piece together some ideas. I thought that maybe she was going to just show me something as a piece of a special night or something like that.

As we were getting closer to the back yard of Wayside school, I was getting myself more and more prepared for what I was probably going to be seeing at any moment. I was thinking that if her parents knew what the hell we were doing, we were going to get in so much trouble and I am pretty sure that the three of us would get into some form of argument over what was going on, even though it was in no way my fault for what was happening and she was the one who had been suggesting this to me the entire time.

"I really am glad that you were able to have such a easy time getting along with my parents. It seems like they are actually doing a good job giving you a chance after all. I have nothing that I really need to worry all that much about anymore." Dana said and I was thinking that this was actually going to be a good thing, and that after they start to give me a chance, I can show them that I have nothing to worry about and the two of us were getting very close to where the school was and everything.

The more that we were getting closer to the school, any fear that I was having was pretty much fading away and all of this stuff. I only had a couple of things that were really in my mind at this point in time. Then with this, Dana and I had a lot of really nice conversations about the school and Myron and Kevin as well as the party that was coming up and I was telling her about this knight armor that I was planning to wear during Halloween this year and Dana had told me that Halloween was the only time during the year in which Steven actually wore normal clothes and everything.

The entire time that we were talking about Steven and that holiday there was a very small feeling that there was something watching us and everything, but at the same time I was just telling myself that I was just over thinking it and that there was nothing really going on that I really needed to worry about. I was thinking that it was just us being out late at night that was making me get this worry in my mind, and that it was just me having a bit of a creative mindset to the whole thing.

Before I even knew it, I was right at the back side of the school and Dana and I were getting ready for what she was wanting to show me, and while I wasn't really sure what she was going to show me, I was just excited enough to see it that I had no real desire to protest anything going on. Besides, I was wanting to see what she was wanting to show me so badly that there was no real way that I was going to get myself to start to protest this, even if there was a little bit of me that was saying that I should at the very least ask a couple of questions here before hand, but I didn't care.

Dana had just walked me over to a tree and then at the tree, I was wondering why this was the place that she was showing me of all places. I was getting ready to ask this and then she had said "People go here for dates all the time, and I heard about the stories of how romantic this whole thing is. I hope that you will see why this is considered to be so romantic like the others say that it is." Dana had such a innocent tone to it that I did consider it for a moment.

Before I was able to say anything, I was hearing a couple of things out in the distance that was scaring me and making me think that if we were going to do anything, we needed to get it over with so that way we can get right back to the house and everything. but after a little while, I was not really too worried about it anymore and then Dana was placing her arms on my shoulders and then she was smiling and I was starting to feel really aroused by this the whole time that we were looking at each other.

"You know, I really wish that we have had more time to go out on dates and everything. We have not really had enough chances on this idea yet." Dana said and then after she was suggesting the idea of us going on some more dates, I was thinking about that and then I have a response to her.

"I think that maybe we should go on a couple of dates soon. I will just take some of my parents money and we will be well supplied. Besides, I think that you need some cool down time. Fucking forget about school for one fucking day." I said and then after I was telling her that it was alright to take a break some school, Dana said something that was really hot at the time.

"I am taking a break right now Todd. You are letting me take one." Dana said and then after she had told me this, she placed her lips on mine and we were holding on for a kiss. This was the hottest kiss that we had up to this point in time, and I was really starting to regret ever bouncing around to other girls and I was really feeling the need that choosing Dana was the best part that I had made to that point in time. The entire time that we were kissing, I was one hundred percent certain that we were being watched, but I simply just did not care at all while we were being watched.


	65. The Lovely Night

Wayside Part 3 - The Tournament and the Labyrinth

The Lovely Night (1962)

Things had been perfect for about the next week or so, not until Friday of the next week before something else came up that was really noteworthy. I was really starting to get more committed with Dana and I was thinking that I was a terrible man for ever getting sort of involved with Maurecia as well as Jenny, and I was starting to fall in love with Dana all over again, and I was wanting to show her how much I had cared for her. We were walking out of the school when the day was over and Dana said "My parents have agreed to let you stay the night at my house tonight to give you a chance as long as the door if opened the entire night so they know what I am doing. I think it would be nice if you accept my offer."

I thought on that and then I said "I would love to do that." I was honestly meaning it and it was in no way an attempt to try and seduce her or anything like that. I was honestly feeling some love for her once again, and I was starting to think that I would love to spend the night with her and everything. So with that, Dana and I were starting to walk on over to her house as I was thinking about what we were going to do and where I was wondering how I was going to prove to her parents that I was indeed a man good enough for Dana to like me.

"I wonder why your parents actually agreed to let me stay the night here." I said and I was honestly meaning that since none of this really made any sense, I mean there was no real reason for me to actually be there, unless if there was some form of test that was going to be coming up once again. But then Dana was remaining silent as I was saying that, as if she had known something that she did not really want to tell me.

"I think they just want to actually make sure that you are not a bad guy or anything. As annoying as it may be to deal with, I guess that I might be able to see the point of it." Dana said and then I was starting to think about that and I sort of nodded, thinking that while it had sucked ass, there was nothing that I can really argue about it all that much.

I started to kind of really think about the subject and then I said "Perhaps I can actually start to earn their trust if I just act like a normal and rational man. I just need to do it for one fucking night, and then once I am normal for one night, then they might be able to actually trust me and then maybe even to the point where they can let the door be shut and we can actually talk to each other for a while." I said and for once I was in no way talking about the idea of sleeping with her, but more about what it was like to just talk about school stuff and the monsters.

Eventually as I had said that, she opened the door to her house and then afterwards, we went right to her bedroom. Once we were inside of her bedroom, I could tell that her parents were looking forward and then I decided not to say anything and then they were walking towards me. They held out their hand and then I shook their hand and then they said "Mr. Robinson, I am interested in seeing how you are tonight. Dana has told me a lot of good things about you. Just enough for me to finally give you a chance." After my girlfriend's father said that, I felt terrible for him saying that, since I had barely done anything that was considered to be good at all, and this was just messed up since I knew that I was a liar and that I needed to shape up a bit.

"Yeah, I was not aware of this arrangement until I was talking with Dana earlier." I said and then the certain uncomfortable tone that I was giving him made him nod and I could tell that we were both making a little bit of progress. Then he started to walk off and he looked right at me as he was heading back.

"I will stay out here in the living room. I will be checking in on you two every hour. So don't act like we will just forget about you for a while." Dana's father said and while he said that, I was thinking that there was a tone in his voice that was showing that he wasn't really too worried about me as much as Dana, while her mother gave me that look that showed that while she was silent, she was going to be a even bigger challenge for me than her if I was not really careful enough.

I sat down right on the couch and then I was looking right at Dana and then I said "So I was hanging out with Myron a little bit earlier today, and he seemed to have known some things that I never even considered for a moment that he would have actually known about. He knew about the monsters." I said and I was trying my best to be quiet, and I can tell that Dana thought this was a big deal, and she was looking at me as if she was wanting to know even more details about this.

"Dana, I am sorry for everything lately. I never really wanted to make you feel scared about these monsters. I hope that you forgive me, and see that I have nothing against you on this. But what do you think about Myron with this knowledge? In fact, we were both dealing with the police a bit that night." I was saying and I was still thinking that it was crazy that I had dealt with the police, although I had been doing my best to actually keep my promise a bit.

"I think that Myron just needs to be careful. You seem to actually have been taking a break from these monsters. I wonder what is contributing to you guys taking a break from these monsters." Dana said and then after she had said that, I was considering what to say since I did not want to have her parents check in on what I was saying and then throw away any chance on making them like me just because of something I had to deal with.

"Well, I was dealing with some officers. They told me that they would take care of the monsters, but that they want nothing to do with me getting into these fights. That is what they told me to promise for them to do this, and I eventually decided to try it out and see if I was able to actually live a normal life." I said as Dana thought that this was insane and then we were quiet a little bit and then Dana thought about that for just a little bit.

"I can't believe that you actually talked to the officers about this. I thought that this was one of the things that you would have hated to do. I guess that maybe you see that when worse comes to worst, you just have to break what you are not really comfortable with." Dana said and then I nodded and I was thinking that this detail was still innocent enough to where nobody would really be wondering what the context of this part of the conversation actually would have been.

"Honestly, I hated the idea of this, but I knew that there was nothing I can really do about it anymore and that there was no point in what I was going to try and hide anymore. I knew I needed to get the balls to do it." I said and I was just leaving it right at that and then with that, Dana thought for a second and then she wrapped her arm around my shoulder and then we were both laying down on the couch and we were just looking at the wall. "I just think that this is a good chance to try and finally live a normal life again."

"Yeah, I guess that you just have to make some choices that you need to deal with later. I just hope that you do not end up regretting what you have decided to do. If you do, then I think that there is not really anybody besides you and maybe me I guess to some extent that you would be able to fully blame. I guess you can blame me a little bit, but not really too much though."

"I am not really going to blame you for anything that is going on honestly. I think that in all reality, you didn't really do anything wrong. I was the one who had done something wrong and not really you. So don't really worry all that much about it?" I said and then after I had said that, this was when Dana was thinking about what I was saying and then I could tell that we were just really having a nice and comfortable just happy relationship just between the two of us in all honesty. "Dana, do you wonder what this year would have actually been like if you had never told me about the monsters? I have nothing against what you tell me at all, I just feel like I need to know what your ideas are."

"Well, I think that maybe we would have never started to date. I think that if anything, we would have just remained at most friends. So I guess that if for nothing else, I am glad that I told you about this since it did help us get together and everything." Dana said and I was starting to think that perhaps this was a good point, and I didn't really feel there was any way I can argue with her on that, so we were just thinking about that for a moment and then I was the next one who had spoken.

"Do you regret ever telling me about the monsters? Do you think that us dating was making this all worth it?" I asked, and I was not wanting to make her feel bad for any answer that she was going to give me, but I just needed to know the truth one way or another. I was not going to judge her, but for god sake, I just wanted to fucking know. Then she was thinking about that as she shook her head.

"Even if you are not doing it anymore and even if that did risk your death a couple of times, your really did help out the town give us at least a couple of moments of short term safety. This at the very least you need to be proud of." Dana said and then when she was telling me that, I was thinking about this and I was trying to figure out if I was proud or if I was glad or maybe just a little bit of both. I was going to go with that one.

Eventually I was thinking and then I had said "So Dana, are you thinking that either of your parents will actually be able to actually get along with me? I want you to be honest with me on what you saying there." I said and then I was watching as I was letting Dana really piece this all together, and then there was a moment of silence and I was thinking that she was not really wanting to tell me anything, and then I was thinking that there was maybe a two or three percent chance that we could, and left it right at that.

"I just hope that your parents will like me enough to at least not want me to fucking leave and die the moment that they see me in the area. That is the very least of what I want. I really hope that this is not all that much to be asking for." I said and as I had said that, this was making me feel a little bad since it was kind of getting me to sound a little bit whiny, but I was just tired of her parents hating me and I was wishing that there was something that I can do to make them start to like me more.

"I think they will maybe not like you as much as just simply accept you after all. You know, maybe once you do some things for them, then maybe they will be able to start to trust you a bit more. Maybe when you actually work with my dad for a couple of days or something like that, then they will not really hate you as much. It is a simple idea, but I think that we can both agree that this would be amazing." Dana said and I was nodding and I was totally agreeing that this was too much for me to handle, and that I just wanted to actually get them to at least tolerate me and I didn't really know what was so hard about this idea, and that I just needed to get them to accept me, and not even a wanting thing as much anymore.

"Well, I think that he might eventually give me a chance after all. That is the least that I can ask for." I said and I was starting to feel like I was just going to keep the starting point a bit low, not wanting to really shoot for the stars, if that was something that I was going to really be able to do for myself.

"I sort of just think that my parents are a bit rough on you. They have barely even met you, so there is no real reason that they have to just not liking you besides the lack of being able to adjust." Dana said and I was thinking that maybe we should keep it small with the conversations about her parents since I didn't really want them to hate me so much due to the fact that I was talking shit about them behind their back and everything.

"I will just see what I can do. Nothing more, nothing less. I think that this is a fair way of looking at this." I said as we started to calm down a little bit and I was just starting to become more into the happy go lucky self that I was trying to usually be in my life, and nothing like the Wayside monster fighting guy that I was.

"You know, I think that our friends are probably thinking that we are doing some crazy things right now. Turns out we are doing the most basic thing that somebody can really ask for. I guess that there is some tiny level of irony to it. Not really enough to make a huge story out of it, but enough to make it seem a little bit funny." I said and then afterwards, I was thinking more and more on this, and then Dana considered how strange that was. The two people that were dating were the only ones that had any sense of a normal hang out.

"I think that we just have a little bit of a relaxing feeling to all of this. There is nothing really wrong about just wanting to relax for a little bit." Dana said as I was not really sure what to really say to this and then when she was thinking about this, she had said "I just wish that you just had a easier time hanging out with Myron, and I just wish that we were able to have all of these easy hang outs right from the start. I think that there is nothing really wrong with all of this. I think there is nothing wrong with just wanting something normal every once in a while."

"Well, I think that there is something to write home about in a way about just not having a bit of a normal life. I think that there is something about a normal life that isn't really all that fun. It is nicer and everything, but that doesn't really mean that it has to be fun. I think that even you might have to be able to believe me a little bit when I say something like that, even though you clearly want to have a normal life as well." I said and then Dana was thinking and then she was reluctantly nodding to this.

"I just wish that we could have a little bit of both. But it seems like you and I are starting to really get a bit of my wishes on that level with the fact that you are starting to retire from all of the monster fighting. You know, I think that monsters are a bit strange and I am just wishing that they never existed, and I think that you should find out where these monsters come from." Dana said and I figured that this was a good point and I nodded at that bit.

"Yeah I think that I should really look into it. If I look into that, then perhaps there is a chance that I can close them off forever so that way they can't take me down. I just am going to tell you one thing. I am no longer going to risk my life on it unless if there is literally no other choice to it." I said and then after that, we were sort of remaining quiet to it a little bit.

As we were quiet, I was thinking more about this and then I was wondering what Myron would be doing at this exact moment in time. "So Dana, why do you care so much about your success of school? I don't really get it. I mean I understand that you don't want anybody to get in your business and talk about poor grades and everything, but at the same time, I was just curious. I have nothing in my life that can get me to care about school. I mean I can sort of get it in a certain context, but whatever." I said and then after I had said that, I was thinking that Dana was just simply never going to really get why I am not a good student at all, and I don't understand why she wants to be one. So it kind of evened out in the long run.

"I just enjoy doing the world. There is something that is exciting about doing all of the class work. I know that this is strange for you to hear probably, but at the same time, I am just saying it as it is." Dana told me and then I was just thinking that it was odd that she was feeling this way at all, and I just simply could not in any way get why she was actually enjoying the work in class. I was just going to pretend that it made sense, even though it was not even close to making sense.

"I think that you and I are just totally different on a lot of levels that makes this whole pairing between us very interesting. I think that there is no way that there can be arguing any of that stuff." I said and then when I was thinking that the idea of us being together made virtually no sense and I doubted that even Dana was able to understand it as well. The two of us were just together, and the only tiny explanation that could work is the whole 'opposites attract' thing, if any of it works at all.

Turns out she was thinking the exact same way that I was when she had said "I guess that maybe opposites attract. I know that it is a cliche, but maybe there is a level of truth to it." Dana and I were finished thinking about that silly stuff and then when she had said this, I thought that it was a annoying that we were sort of living in a bit of a crazy cliche.

"Well I guess we would rather live in a cliche than in a world where we are going to be risking death at every moment." I said and I was feeling strange for being the one that had said that since I was the one who was fighting all of the monsters and getting myself into totally insane situations. "But in reality, I guess that everything we do is going to be a bit of all of this in some fashion."

"I think that living in a cliche is not really going to be all that fun. I mean, say what you will about every single thing that has happened in school lately, but you can't really say in any way that our school is a cliche. We are the exact opposite of a cliche, and I really appreciate the fact that the entire school is just something that we can say is something we would have never really expected to be happening in a normal casual life." Dana was saying and I was wondering how she can hate all of these things so much but still not want a cliche life. She wanted a normal life but at the same time, she wanted something that was not so normal that it was a cliche. It was a little bit hard for something like that to happen.

"I guess that no matter what happens, we are never going to get what we fully want. I just wish that school was not really such a long and tedious process. I hate how long and fucking tedious school actually is in all reality. I don't have a desire to spent nine to ten hours a fucking day every single day dealing with stuff on this." I said and then I was thinking that maybe Dana and I were sort of agreeing on that regard.

"Do you know what is able to make a long and tedious day a little bit less tedious? I think the only way that you can actually have that happen is just to do something while class is going on. Even if it is not paying attention and doing something like drawing throughout the class or doing nothing but reading, but then at the very least at least it would be a little bit different. At least you can actually say that there is something going on." Dana was listening to herself, and she was surprised that there was nothing going on and then as the two of them were talking, Dana's mother made a calling that gave both of us a bit of an excited moment.

"We're going to go out and get some dinner for the night. We will be back in half an hour. Don't get into any trouble you two." Her mother said and despite the fact that this was a silly comment at least on the surface, this was still a serious thing she was saying and she was meaning every possible indication of what could happen if I was not careful with what I did.

The two of them were gone from the house and after about two minutes or so of them being gone and us thinking that we were fine for now, I looked right over at Dana and then I was thinking about what I was going to suggest to her next. "Dana, do you have any idea what I want to do right now?" I asked and then she smiled and I knew exactly what I was wanting to do. So with that, the two of us put our lips together and then we kissed for about five or six seconds.

The two of us were thinking of what to do next. "Hey, I got an idea. Want to go to the living room and watch about twenty minutes or so of television." Dana suggested and then after this, I nodded a bit and then the three of us walked to the living room where we sat down for a bit. As we were sitting down for a while, I was wondering what Dana was wanting to show me.

The television was just going by like normal for a while, and I was just thinking that we were watching the first few minutes of a couple of minutes of a movie that looked like some form of James Bond movie. I think it was the first one, Dr. No, and I was thinking that it was a interesting movie. I thought that it was having a good few performances, especially from Connery, and I was wondering if this was actually going to start a big franchise, which at the time I didn't really think was actually going to happen at the mean time. I was just then starting to think that maybe it was going to be a shame that we were going to lose our progress on this soon enough. I could tell that Dana was getting mildly interested in what she was watching, but not to the extent that I had been so far.

But after the first ten to fifteen minutes, and when the driving of her parents was about half way through, there was a eleven minute broadcast interruption that made Dana and I both question what the hell was going on in our life at all. It made us question the validity of humanity a little bit.

The first few seconds of the interruption was a bunch of static that was going on for a while, but then once the static was over, I could see that we were seeing something that looked like we were getting something from the future. Dana and I were both starting to realize that this was indeed something from the future, and we were wondering what the exact stuff that we were watching actually was, and what the predictions were actually going to be.

Dana and I looked right at each other and I was starting to lose any hope of this actually going to be something that we can show to others, as they would probably not really believe what we are doing. They would probably think that what we were watching was just one big publicity stunt, and I was starting to think that maybe this was not even true, but I had seen it, and I knew for a fact that this was indeed real.

The television was showing a guy wearing a gas mask that was partially broken. He was holding his hands together and it had looked like he was on the verge of crying, as if he had seen something that he could not have believed that he had seen. I could see through a small bit of the broken part of the gas mask that this was somebody that we had known. It was Kevin, except when he was a bit older. He was holding something with the hands that looked like a stuffed animal. I was wondering why he was holding the stuffed animal, and I was confused as to what would make him actually so sad about holding this. As he looked up, I could see that there was a guy staring right down at him.

The guy looked like a black haired younger teenager, probably twelve or thirteen or so looking right at him and he was wearing a arm cast and then he was holding his non broken hand forward. Kevin was staring at the guy and then he grabbed the hand and then he was standing himself up and then they looked at the fire that was going on at the building that was close to them.

Eventually, the two of them saw that there was a black car that was parking up and when they saw this, both of them must have known that something was coming up, and that they were going to have to lie to the person who was here in order to make them feel protected. The two of them were starting to walk away from them and then the car door opened and then the door had slammed shut. The man was walking closer to them and I was seeing with the red hair that they had which was making me think that perhaps this older man was actually me, as it would line up with the age that Kevin had when I was able to see through the one small part of the mask that showed Kevin's face.

Eventually, the guy with red hair was right in front of them and then he was holding out his hand in a way that would make me think that I was one of those people who would be considered like a super stereotypical politician and then he said "My name is Todd Robinson, one of the senators in this state. I think we have a lot of business that we need to discuss."

I looked right at Dana and I was confused as to what I was seeing and then the broadcast interruption took something that was totally unlike what we had been seeing earlier. I saw that only about a minute or so had passed, so there was still nearly ten minutes left of the broadcast and I was seeing that the broadcast had taken us right towards a late night walk and then it was still showing the older version of me and what had followed was ten different small clips of me going around the city for some strange reason.

The first clip is me driving a eight year old child to their house and when I was at his front entrance I knocked and then eventually, the woman, his mother, answered the door and then she was staring right at me for a few seconds. I saw the look on her face and as I was seeing from the look I could tell two small things. One was that this was Jenny, and that she had a child with a man who was not me, and probably not Kevin with the look that the kid had. Second was that with the tears running down her face that the man that she did love was now dead, and I could tell that she was not taking his death super well.

Second was when I was driving back and then I was in front of the guy with the gas mask and I was staring right at him, not really too sure what to say. I then told him that I was now running the entire operation, and that he needed to do everything that I had told him to do and he nodded before I started to walk off.

I was in the car again and the entire time that I was in the car, there was a guy who was speaking to me as if he was wondering where I was really going to go with this idea. I told him about this strange place that was like a digital world, and that I was wanting to make the digital world not invade earth anymore, to make the place safe again for everybody. I said that in order to do so, I had to arrest somebody who was very involved with this digital world to make it so that he could never bring it to light once again.

The fourth clip was me walking to the front door of somebodys house and I was calling 911 and then I knocked on the door as I was waiting. Then when he had answered the door I saw that the police officers were coming along and pulling up. The guy was wondering what the hell was going on and then I told him that he was under arrest for his involvement of the digital world and the invasion that had happened, and as he was looking at me I could tell that he was not even going to try and argue with it. He knew that I was right, and he knew that there was no way he was going to be able to justify the idea of trying to get away with it.

The fifth clip was of me sitting in the interrogation office with him and I was asking him why he was trying to bring the digital world back to earth again and that he should have learned his lesson by this point to just leave our world alone. He seemed to understand that I was right and I was able to see that he was just wishing that I would leave him alone about it, but there was no way that I was going to let this happen now. I told him that he better not let his world invade our again while he was in prison.

In the sixth clip, I was seen looking right at a group of eight younger children as well as Kevin. I was pulling out of my car again and it was at a building somewhat close to the where I had first seen Kevin. I told them that they better do their job on stopping the invasion this time, and then I told them that once they returned to earth, they were going to pretend that they didn't know a damn thing about what happened and they better just go back into a seemingly normal life after this again from that point forward, since if people tried to expose it, nobody will believe them. I could tell that they hated the idea, but that I was right.

The seventh clip was showing me returning to Jenny's house with the eight year old son answering me and this time they seemed to be much more accepting of me being there. I was telling them that I wanted to hang out with them and catch up with her. She seemed to be really excited about this idea and she let me inside of her house.

In the eighth clip, it was showing the two of us catching up and she was telling me about her son Cody and her husband who killed himself in the last few days, Sheldon Lee, and i was making her feel better while I was telling her about the invasion that had happened and my attempts on making the public less aware of what was going on. The clip ended with me asking her on a date and she accepted my offer.

The ninth clip was showing me lining up at an airport and I was getting ready to head to New York City. I was not really sure what the hell was going on, as I was getting inside the plane and I was seeing that there were some people looking right at me wondering why I was heading to New York, and I was just not saying anything besides the fact that I was doing something for business.

In the final clip, I was talking with a slightly older man about what was happening, and he told me that he was going to protect my city for me as long as I gave him a fraction of the money I earn every month, while I also had to promise him the protection was also with the case of me letting him be a political partner of mine for the rest of my political career, and I eventually agreed, and we both started our working relationship from that point forward, and I could tell that all of this was going to happen even if I didn't like it.

"What the hell did we just watch?" Dana asked when the entire broadcast was over with for good, and I was terrified at what any of this was meaning, and if there was a chance in which this was going to get me killed if I was not really careful enough about any of this. I was wondering what any of these clips were meant to make me realize, and I was thinking that I was going to maybe have a chance of being able to change what the future was going to be so that way I can actually be able to make any of this right, such as the fact that I can maybe make it so that the Sheldon guy might not die after all.

"I think we are watching what can be a trailer for what things can be in the future if I am not really careful enough." I said and that was all I can really say that was making sense to me, as there was nothing else I can even remotely think of that would make this fully coherent and I said "Maybe I am supposed to find a way to make it so that Jenny's husband might not die after all. That is one of the small things that I can think that can really change all of this. It is a small idea, but it is the only thing that I can think of right now.

"I think that she might not be fully excited to know that she might marry some random person that she has never even heard of in her entire life by this point in time. I guess that maybe this must really be one hell of a man in order to make her fall in love with him and be so heart broken over his death and everything." Dana had said and I was thinking that it was a sad thing to know that I did not marry Jenny. I mean I wasn't dating her and she wouldn't even really be my second choice or anything, but I felt like the idea of me not getting her at all, such a confirmation over the whole thing was a little bit sad for me to consider. I mean, I would have at least preferred for there to be a small chance of it happening.

"I think that you should be perfectly fine with what you are seeing. I mean, there is nothing too much about your status one way or another. After all, it must be better than Kevin wearing a gas mask for the rest of his fucking life. I feel really bad for him over that, the idea that he can't even be able to breathe properly or anything like that." I told her and Dana was not too sure what to think of that, although she knew that I wasn't totally wrong on that.

"I am not too sure about that. I mean, for all I know, I could be dead by then, and then that is why there is nothing of me. At least Kevin is still alive, if all of this is true." But before anything can be said or done about this, her parents had come inside of the house and the James Bond movie started right where it had been left off before the interruption had started and they were looking at us.

"The food will be ready in twenty minutes. Once the food is ready, I will let you guys know so you guys can be ready to eat." Her father said and then afterwards, the two of us nodded and went right back to her room where I was just glad that there was nothing that can make them think that we had basically just watched a huge attack on our home town first off.

"So Dana, I just don't really know how to feel about the fact that I might actually know where my life is going to be going now. It just seems strange that I can't really even come up with the idea of me just doing whatever anymore since I guess I am just going to become a politician that is going to try and come up with this great idea of saving the entire city and something about some strange world that I am doubting actually does exist." I said and then I was shaking my head and then I looked right at Dana and was wondering what her opinion on this actually was.

"I think that you shouldn't really be taking this as some form of totally certain thing. I think that maybe you still have a chance on changing this, and that is what you should be doing right now. There is no real reason to see this if there is not even meant to be yet another chance of actually changing things for the better of us all." Dana said and I was not really too sure of what to say to that since I was knowing she was right but I didn't know how any of these changes would actually make any real sense.

"I just don't really know. I feel like this entire thing is just one really big sick prank, and there is nothing else to it that can make this whole thing actually make sense to me. I hate the fact that I am making this whole thing a bigger deal than normal, but then I think that maybe I should just try to tell myself that it doesn't really even matter anymore." I had decided that I was going to try and pretend that I should just drop the subject and act as if this was something that had never happened.

When this was all done with, I was thinking that Dana was just trying to figure out her place on this and there was also a part of her that was wondering why Kevin was looking like that, and what happened to make him think that wearing a gas mask was better than having a exposed face.

"So Dana, when it does come to that time, and all of this actually happens the way that the show made it out to be, what do you really think you would make out of all of this?" I questioned and then Dana was thinking about this, and she was thinking that there was not really all that much she would be able to make an opinion out of this, thinking that this was just something that was not really going to happen, and she seemed that was all she wanted to think of.

"Well I would be impressed that you would have been a senator. I will give you that much. I don't really know about anything else, but the idea of you being a senator would be really impressive, and I wonder what you would have done to get the people to vote for you." After Dana had said that, I nodded and I was sort of thinking about that as well, thinking that if they voted for me, I must have really changed how I was as a human being to make my case actually that type of convincing.

"I guess that I really knew how to start to lie by then." I said and when I had said that, I was thinking about how funny it might have been to start to become a super professional liar. I was knowing that this was basically what everybody imagines a politician to be, and I guess that maybe there was something that just really made people not like their politicians to make them think that way about them all the time, but then I was saying "Or maybe I am one of those people who actually doesn't lie and this was what was able to get people to vote for me as they would be able to appreciate the fact that I didn't lie to them."

Dana and I both knew that this was a big load of crap. I was a huge liar, and we both knew that I was one. I was just wanting her to not say it before me, I wanted her to pretend that I was this good guy. "Maybe you just have a bit of a idealistic mind when you were younger that made people want to give you a chance." After Dana said that, I thought that maybe that can be true.

We were thinking about this and then as that was happening, we were called to have dinner and then we were grabbing the food. Then we went right back to the bedroom and then we were just eating the nice food that they had made us, and I was thinking that her parents really did a good job at making stuff to eat and everything. Then when the food was done, we were both just sort of wondering what to do next.

"Want to go out on a walk for a little bit?" Dana asked and then I was thinking about that, thinking that while I did want to go on a walk, I was worried about what the hell her parents were going to do and what questions they were going to ask me. I was really not wanting to ruin any sort of build up that I was indeed having by this point in what I was doing. Then I looked out to the living room, Dana got up after I nodded and then she walked right towards them and then she said "I am going to be taking a walk with Todd for a little bit. We will be heading out for about an hour or so and then we will come back." Her parents were unsure what to say to this, but they decided to say nothing against it.

So we walked right out of the house and then after we were outside of the house, I looked right at Dana and I was shocked that she was suggesting that we were actually doing this, and I was wondering if there was something that was going on and she felt the massive need to get the hell out of here. I thought that we needed to talk more about this, but she said nothing about this, and I was just thinking that we should just talk about normal stuff. "Hey Dana, where do you want to go?" I asked when I had finally dropped the subject and we were about three or four blocks away, and then she thought about it and then she said something that was not really all that expected for me.

"I have something that I want to show you. I want you to see the back side of the school right now. There is something here that is really exciting." Dana said and then after she had said that, I nodded and was unsure where she was going with this as we started to walk on towards there.

While we walked on there, I said that "I wonder what you want to show me. I never been to the back side of Wayside now that I think about it, which is a lot stranger than I could really think that it is. I think that there is no real need to try and act like this is some really strange thing though, I guess I just haven't had the need to go there." I said and I was not really sure why I was trying to justify this so much but then Dana kept it up.

"Don't worry about it all that much Todd. I just want you to see something that I want to show you. Then we can head on right back to home right away." Dana said and then we were walking more and I was wondering what exactly it was, as I was just starting to piece together some ideas. I thought that maybe she was going to just show me something as a piece of a special night or something like that.

As we were getting closer to the back yard of Wayside school, I was getting myself more and more prepared for what I was probably going to be seeing at any moment. I was thinking that if her parents knew what the hell we were doing, we were going to get in so much trouble and I am pretty sure that the three of us would get into some form of argument over what was going on, even though it was in no way my fault for what was happening and she was the one who had been suggesting this to me the entire time.

"I really am glad that you were able to have such a easy time getting along with my parents. It seems like they are actually doing a good job giving you a chance after all. I have nothing that I really need to worry all that much about anymore." Dana said and I was thinking that this was actually going to be a good thing, and that after they start to give me a chance, I can show them that I have nothing to worry about and the two of us were getting very close to where the school was and everything.

The more that we were getting closer to the school, any fear that I was having was pretty much fading away and all of this stuff. I only had a couple of things that were really in my mind at this point in time. Then with this, Dana and I had a lot of really nice conversations about the school and Myron and Kevin as well as the party that was coming up and I was telling her about this knight armor that I was planning to wear during Halloween this year and Dana had told me that Halloween was the only time during the year in which Steven actually wore normal clothes and everything.

The entire time that we were talking about Steven and that holiday there was a very small feeling that there was something watching us and everything, but at the same time I was just telling myself that I was just over thinking it and that there was nothing really going on that I really needed to worry about. I was thinking that it was just us being out late at night that was making me get this worry in my mind, and that it was just me having a bit of a creative mindset to the whole thing.

Before I even knew it, I was right at the back side of the school and Dana and I were getting ready for what she was wanting to show me, and while I wasn't really sure what she was going to show me, I was just excited enough to see it that I had no real desire to protest anything going on. Besides, I was wanting to see what she was wanting to show me so badly that there was no real way that I was going to get myself to start to protest this, even if there was a little bit of me that was saying that I should at the very least ask a couple of questions here before hand, but I didn't care.

Dana had just walked me over to a tree and then at the tree, I was wondering why this was the place that she was showing me of all places. I was getting ready to ask this and then she had said "People go here for dates all the time, and I heard about the stories of how romantic this whole thing is. I hope that you will see why this is considered to be so romantic like the others say that it is." Dana had such a innocent tone to it that I did consider it for a moment.

Before I was able to say anything, I was hearing a couple of things out in the distance that was scaring me and making me think that if we were going to do anything, we needed to get it over with so that way we can get right back to the house and everything. but after a little while, I was not really too worried about it anymore and then Dana was placing her arms on my shoulders and then she was smiling and I was starting to feel really aroused by this the whole time that we were looking at each other.

"You know, I really wish that we have had more time to go out on dates and everything. We have not really had enough chances on this idea yet." Dana said and then after she was suggesting the idea of us going on some more dates, I was thinking about that and then I have a response to her.

"I think that maybe we should go on a couple of dates soon. I will just take some of my parents money and we will be well supplied. Besides, I think that you need some cool down time. Fucking forget about school for one fucking day." I said and then after I was telling her that it was alright to take a break some school, Dana said something that was really hot at the time.

"I am taking a break right now Todd. You are letting me take one." Dana said and then after she had told me this, she placed her lips on mine and we were holding on for a kiss. This was the hottest kiss that we had up to this point in time, and I was really starting to regret ever bouncing around to other girls and I was really feeling the need that choosing Dana was the best part that I had made to that point in time. The entire time that we were kissing, I was one hundred percent certain that we were being watched, but I simply just did not care at all while we were being watched.


	66. Half Way There

Half Way There (1962)

When I eventually woke up, I was stretching my body out a little bit and then I placed my hand on my mouth as I took a loud and deep yawn. I was ready to just go home. I mean, I like Dana and all but I needed to get the hell out of here eventually and just go home to relax every once in a while. As I placed my shoes on, I was seeing that Dana was still asleep, not even knowing that I was getting out of here. I walked down the hall way, wondering if I was going to get seen by Dana's parents and for the first time that I had been in that house in my entire life, I really didn't care if they had seen me at all. They would probably just tell me not to ruin any of the small amount of trust that they had been building in me.

I looked up a little bit right when I was at the front door, just to see what they would say to me if they would see me at all. When I had seen that they had not been talking to me or even been up at all, I just turned the door knob and then I started to head out of the house. As I was out of the house, I held my hand out to see if there was any rain or not. There was nothing at all, and that was a good sign for me since I didn't have to deal with my clothes getting drenched.

The more that I had been walking, the more that I was just thinking about the fact that I was finally getting a real life. I had not been fighting the monsters, and I had been indeed fulfilling my promise so far. I was actually being a nice guy for once. For once, I was no longer getting in trouble anymore. I then placed my hands inside of my pocket, just trying to get used to the fact that I had to get myself to trust in the police.

I just was worried about them. There was something about them that just really worried me. I didn't know why I was so worried about the police, but I had a fear that perhaps I had actually gave them way to be able to work with the monsters. I know that it is silly to assume that they will earn the trust of the monsters, but given where I was, and how the monsters were being run by another person, I guess that it was not the most unrealistic fear that I had come up with.

I thought that the younger guy who had his hand broken and had a smoking problem was actually a decently fine person. I thought that there was a chance that in real life talk, he might be the only one that I didn't really fear all that much. But then I thought that it was really the sheriff that had me worried. There was something about a sheriff that always gave me the idea that they were just hungry for power and nothing else at all, that they didn't give a single shit about the town that they were supposed to be leading.

Eventually, I reached home and then as I was inside of the house, I walked around for a bit as I realized that the house was extremely quiet. I realized that despite how quiet the house usually was with the fact that barely anybody did anything else, including my parents, there was always at least a little bit. Such as the television playing in the back ground, or there being some form of walking around, but I usually have never heard nothing at all.

I was in the living room and I saw that there was nothing. I then went down to my parents room and then when I was looking around there for a little bit, I also saw that there was nothing. I seriously wondered what my parents were doing. But I didn't continue my investigation since I really wanted to just continue my streak of not having to deal with my parents at all. My parents and I were in a perfect relationship when I didn't talk to them and when they didn't talk to me. They just were gone and away, and that was the way that I had liked it.

I sat down in my room and then I was staring at the ceiling. I had really started to let a strange thought set get to me right then and there. I was really missing Joy, and I thought that we should try and recapture the bonds. There was a part of me that had wanted to 'run away'. Not really in the general sense. But in the sense in which I would leave the town for just the weekend or something and then return home after I talk to Joy for a bit. My parents talk to me so few times and the school gives so little of a crap about me, that I don't really think that they would care if I was gone for a couple of days.

I thought about that for a bit. I wondered to myself if I should actually do this, or if I should actually not do this and pretend that Joy and I got on a good end and everything. I then stood up for a bit, and then I looked outside of the window for a bit, thinking about the idea of not returning home for a few days. I thought on how much I had desperately wanted to see Joy now.

I placed my hand on the window and then as I was thinking about the blissful body of Joy, that I was thinking that nobody would miss me if I was gone for a couple of days. So then I placed my back pack after I filled it up with supplies to last me a couple of days, and then I went down to my parents bedroom and since they would never know or care what I would be doing right now, I went to my mothers wallet and stole a hundred dollars. They were rich. They were millionaires. There was no way in hell that they would notice or care if a hundred was gone.

I then walked out of the house as I was ready to finally go through with my desire, hoping that this would not be the time my parents finally notice that I am not here. That would really piss me off if this was the one time that they had decided to notice. It would be like fate was trying to fuck me up right now.

I was walking down for a while, and I wondered if I should try and tell somebody what my plans were just in case somebody would notice that I was gone and that way the would tell everybody was going on so nobody would try and look for me and everything. I thought that maybe Kevin would be the one who would support my idea the most out of anybody, so I decided that I would talk to him first on what I was doing. Hopefully he wouldn't tell me off.

I walked for a while, not really sure how long this was going to go on that made me think this was a good idea. It was an idea I don't really regret, but it was idea I knew even then that was stupid. I reached Kevin's front door and then I knocked on the door for a few knocks and then Kevin opened the door to see that I was there. Kevin was rubbing his eyes and I could tell that I clearly had woke him up. I felt a little bit bad over that, but not enough to feel like I needed to regret what I had done.

"Todd what are you doing here this early in the morning? You know I don't really hang out with people until like noon or one usually." Kevin said and then I held my hand up, wanting him to calm down a moment and then I was ready to go on and tell him what my plans were, hoping that he wouldn't try and tell me that this was something I shouldn't do because I was well aware of this.

"I am going to go back to my previous school for a couple of days. Just to remember what it was like to be there again. I will come back in about two to three days. If people are wondering where I am, just tell them what I am doing and tell them that I am prepared for any danger so that I will be safe." I said and then Kevin was taking a few seconds to process what I had been saying, but when it seemed like he had finally processed this he was closing the door as if he was going to try and lecture me about how terrible this idea really was.

"Todd, you really need to think about this a little bit more before you actually try this. I think that if you don't consider anything out a little bit more, you are going to get yourself in serious danger no matter how much you prepare yourself." Kevin said and then I waved my hands down as if to tell him off. I was just wanting him to stop all of this lecturing, and then I told him that it was all fine.

"Besides, it is not really like I am actually going to not consider everything that I am going to be doing in the last few days and everything. I just want to go and see my friends for a day. I will just be on the bus the whole time unless if I am hanging out with people that I care about. Then when I have a day or two to feel like I have seen them enough, I will just go back on the bus and come back here. I will tell you everything that had happened right when I came home and I will make you understand that everything is all fine." I said and then before I had been able to continue this a little bit more, there was a loud noise that made any plans of me going away stop for a bit.

I saw that Kevin was getting a look of terror all over his face. He looked like he was seeing something that was going to be the end of his world. I didn't really blame him for what he was feeling. I mean, there was a giant bug like monster. The monster was a giant black bug that looked like there was some form of thunder coming out of it. When I was talking to some people in hindsight about what I had seen right then and there, I found out that this thing was called BlackMegaKabuterimon. I then opened my back pack and I held up the sword that Dana had given me to hunt these monsters.

"Didn't you and Myron promise the police officers that you would not be pursuing this whole monster thing anymore?" Kevin was asking, as if he didn't want to be fighting monsters and he was coming up with some excuse for me to not fight monsters. I looked at him for just a moment and then I reminded him what the exact deal was.

"I promised him that I would not fight monsters unless if there was another monster that came out to fight me. Now that the monster has found me, I am not breaking my promise right now. I am actually telling the truth." I reminded Kevin and then Kevin was looking like he still really hated the idea, but then he nodded as if he realized despite how much he hated the monster fighting, that he hated the monsters damaging the city even more.

I then started to walk down the stairs as if I had only one chance to fight this monster. I then swung the blade at the bug like monster and then the monster punched me right in the chest after I slashed the blade down again. The slash of the blade barely made any difference at all. I could see that the monster didn't seem phased at all and then the monster raised their first up and then they were about to slam their first down to the ground once again. I then barely moved away as there was a small like hole right in the yard.

Kevin was feeling like this was when he had finally needed to contribute a little bit in the battle. Kevin looked around in the yard and he was hated how much there was barely anything in the yard. He then remembered his basement and then he ran right to the entrance of the basement and he was looking around for a bit. The monster kicked me with their foot and then I stabbed the monster right in the foot. I then heard that the monster was feeling a little bit in pain over this, not exactly screaming at all, but they were wincing a small bit.

The monster just then decided to rise up and then they were holding their arms out. When I saw what they were doing, that was when I was giving up all hope on destroying this thing. They were starting to create a couple of lightning balls out of their hand, and while I did find it a little bit funny in hindsight, at the moment it was easily the scariest thing that I had ever seen.

The lightning balls hit the ground and I barely dodged it and I saw that there was just a bunch of pieces of the yard that flew all over the place. I saw that there was some dirt that hit my clothes, which made my clothes dirty. That was when Kevin had come along and he had been able to be the hero for just the short moment. He had been holding something that looked like a slingshot. He grabbed a couple of rocks and then he was pulling it back on the shirt piece that he placed in there. He then fired the sling shot and then the monster got hit right in the side of their chest. The monster started to scream a little bit over how annoyed they were over being distracted.

But before anything else could happen at all, I saw that there was a couple of cars that were driving by. As the cars drove by, the monster started to fly away from Kevin and I. That was when Kevin had walked right up to me again and then he took a long and deep breath.

"Holy shit, how the hell did you not die from that? I am surprised that you didn't get killed." Kevin said and then I nodded, as if I was not really able to argue with her all that much on that one. Kevin walked up to me and then I was looking all over his yard, wondering how much I was actually going to be able to shapen this place up a little bit. "Todd, don't worry about that. We can clean this up a little bit when you go home today. I guess that this monster is sort of rejecting your chances of seeing your older school again?"

As much as I hated to admit it, I nodded. "I guess that you are right. I don't want to place this off anymore. But since we are dealing with this, we need to track down this monster and make sure that they don't hurt anybody else. Or at the very least to tell the police so that way they can kill the monster. The police should try and do this if they want to be able to have a chance to prove themselves that they can take care of this alone." I said and I was still feeling like the monsters had no real chance of being taken down by the police.

Kevin and I were walking well out of the yard, as I was wondering what the hell was going to happen if these monsters continued to violate the street a little bit. My head was hurting a little bit. I saw that Kevin and I were just being looked at by everybody as if they were wondering what the hell had happened to us. They were probably thinking that we had a big round of rough housing and that was why we were so dirty.

But after I had given up on looking at others for a while, I saw that the people were only actually looking at us for a couple of seconds or something small like that. Eventually, as we were walking along for a while, I saw that the monster was heading right towards the direction of the park. I wondered why they were even heading towards the park at all, and and I was wondering if the monster was going to try and kill a bunch of children or something like that.

Once we were within a block or two away from the park, I saw that there was a couple of people in there and they were just hanging around for a while. I then saw that the closer we were getting and the closer the bug was, the more scared that these people were over the monster that was coming towards them. They were even starting to scream a little bit, and I really couldn't blame the for this reaction and I wondered if this was when I can finally defeat the monster.

I saw that the kids were now running away from what was going on. Kevin and I reached the park and then Kevin was so tired from the running that he fell right down to the ground and then I felt like he needed to just take a small break. I then held my blade out once again, and I needed to take this thing out right now. I knew that the police were not going to finally help me out this time, and that I pretty much I had to do this all on my own. I honestly didn't even care if the officers were going to be pissed at what I was going to do. I knew that I needed to do this for the sake of my own fucking city.

I jumped right at the monster and then the monster didn't seem to process what was going on for a moment as I stabbed right into their back for a moment. Kevin stood up then and he felt so stupid for not even bringing his slingshot with him. He knew that he wasn't really going to help out all that much with the slingshot, but he felt like he could have at least done something for the greater good of this city.

My back pack fell down to the ground and then Kevin realized that this was his chance to actually help me out. The monster grabbed me and then threw me right down to the ground and then I was dragging across the ground and then I felt like I was having some blood coming out of me. I even rubbed my face just to be sure that I was actually right about what I was thinking. Kevin saw that there was a flare that I placed in there on the off chance that I was going to get attacked. I placed that in there when I was inside of my parents room, and I knew that my parents usually kept a couple just in case something happened. Kevin then grabbed a lighter and then he started to set off the flare. Once the flare was being set off, he was jumping up a couple of times while waving his hands around to make people see what he was doing. There was a single police car which had been casually driving by earlier, and I saw them parking the car.

The flare was running out, so Kevin threw the flare down to the ground where the flare was killed off. The police officer got out of the car and then he was holding out a gun as he was seeing the monster and I was finally standing up holding the blade with both of my hands, ready to fight myself in case the gun had failed to go off.

Before the monster was able to continue, the police officer was firing a couple of bullets at the monster. The monster was hit a couple of times with the gun and then the monster turned around and looked right at the police officer. When that was done, the police officer got inside of his car and fired a couple of more bullets at them to get in at least a little bit more damage to the monster. Then the guy started to drive off, leaving us to fight the monster alone.

I rolled my eyes and I was feeling like this type of behavior was proving the entire point of how terrible the police officers actually were at this job. I then went to my back pack and during my time running, I slipped a couple of times and then after I slipped a couple of times, and then I grabbed my back pack and quickly placed it right on my back.

Kevin was seeing that the monster was starting to pursue the police car a little bit and then Kevin yelled at me to follow him. "If the monster finds the police car, we are going to get framed for what happened. You know that I am right." Kevin said and then I nodded as if I knew that deep down, he was telling the truth and that there was no real way that I can try and argue with him on this.

Kevin and I were basically on the running scene once again, and I was barely energized by this point. The time when I got carried by that monster for a couple of moments, that pretty much took out a lot of the personal wind in my own personal body. As Kevin and I were running, I was just hoping that the police car had not only enough of a head start, but was also just fast enough to either build distance between them and the monster or at the very least keep the distance between the two moving forces.

Eventually, we were within about a hundred or so yard from the police station when I saw the guy get out of his car and reload his bullets for a bit and then he fired the gun several times and it was not really doing all that much damage to the monster. I was at that point where the running had made me so beyond tired that I couldn't keep up anymore. So I sat down on the ground and I felt like I was finally about to vomit and I was ready to puke up the few things that were actually in my body.

Kevin looked around and he was seeing that Maurecia was coming closer to us. She wasn't even trying to see us on purpose, but she was just confused out of her mind why I was at the police station with Kevin. I then got the blade out again and then I was walking closer to the monster, starting to feel more and more dizzy, and I was feeling the limp of my body finally becoming to much as I was only taking a couple of steps every few seconds. I was just watching as a couple of police officers got out of the police office and then they were firing at the monster the entire time. The monster was swatting at a couple of the officers and threw one of them right to the wall where I could clearly hear his head cracking a bit. I felt even more in the desire to vomit when I had heard that cracking noise. I saw that the other officers had no time to check him out as they were too busy firing more and more bullets at them and the ground was getting covered with monster blood. Another one of the officers was grabbed and then his body was slammed right down on the ground and there was his face that seemed to explode like an apple getting crushed by a hammer.

I then eventually reached the monster and I saw that there was some part of their back that wasn't covered by armor or whatever the bug version of armor was, and then I started to stab them a couple of times in the back and the blood was also falling down to the ground and then the monster grabbed the blade with one of their four arms and threw it on the ground and punched me down to the ground again with one of their arms.

With another two of their arms, they grabbed two of the officers, and then they slammed them both into each other and the two people sounded like all of their bones were being broken. Four young men were killed by this monster in the course of just a minute or two, and I knew that it was entirely my fault because I wasn't able to take this thing out soon enough.

That was when the sheriff and David got outside and they both were holding a straight up shot gun as opposed to just casual pistols like the other officers. The sheriff started to fire a couple of the bullets in his shot gun and then the monster was starting to fall down to the ground with them starting to dissolve into dust. David fired another bullet and they hit the ground this time.

The sheriff walked right up to the monster and aimed the gun right on their face. He took a deep breath and then he fired the gun. The bug was now dead right the and there. Then he looked at the damage and then he pointed at all of the other officers aside from David and one other random guy. "Clean up the fucking area. These people shouldn't have become cops if they were going to fall to a fucking bug. Throw their fucking bodies in the trash can. Hose down the wall, and throw the monster in the same trash can as those other fucking useless officers." The sheriff said and I was starting to slowly see the colors of the sheriff when he had said that. David and the other officer were right behind the sheriff. I slowly placed my blade inside of my back pack, pretending like I didn't have that with me.

"What the hell are you three doing here right now? You know that you are not meant to be here right now. Did this monster find you first?" The sheriff asked and then I nodded when the question was asked. I wasn't saying that to just not in trouble with the guy, but because I was actually telling the truth.

"I was talking to my friend Kevin, and he saw the monster first at his yard. They were coming at us and I felt like I had no choice in defending myself." I said and I was just doing my best to not even remotely hint at the plans that I had to just leave the town for a couple of days. I had a feeling that David would have brought the issue up to hand with my parents.

"Fucking hell guys. I thought that when the monster was getting out of your sight, you would have just left it alone. I thought that you would have started to keep your promise when they were gone." The sheriff said and then that was when I was ready to defend myself a little bit.

"Oh my god, listen here. I thought that if we just left them alone, they would have found the others in town and would have caused havoc. I thought that I would have actually a chance to take down the monsters. I thought it was a golden fucking chance. And you are lecturing me for actually trying to help out this town." I said and then the sheriff placed my fingers on my chest and he did this a couple of times to prove his point to me.

"I told you to do something, and you went out of your fucking way to not listen to me when you had the chance to do it. Don't you fucking try and defend yourself. You did the one thing that I didn't want you to do, and I don't want to hear any excuses for your behavior." The sheriff said and then David placed his hand on the sheriff's shoulder to try and get him to calm down even for just a small moment or two.

"He thought that he was doing the right thing. Let him off this time. I can understand if you were angry if he did this over and over again, but you should let it slide at least this time." David said and then the sheriff looked at his much younger officer as if annoyed at the fact that he was basically being told off by a person who was working for him. But then he was seeing that there was no way he was going to win this one, and that the other officer either was on David's side or just simply did not give nearly enough of a shit to say anything.

"Fine, if you think that he should be let go of this mistake this time, I will give him just that. But I am not going to let this go. I am going to make sure that he remembers this mistake for the rest of his life. I want to make sure that he remembers that he disobeyed my very orders and doesn't even give a shit that he had done so." The sheriff said and then he was walking back to the office. David was looking right at me and then he placed his hand behind his head. He was trying to find a way to make me feel like it was alright, but I felt like we both knew that it was not alright, and that anything he would tell me was just a lie.

"Just don't worry about him. He is very stressed. I think he will let this whole thing go in a couple of days. He says that he will not, but I wouldn't really believe him. But the guy is right on one thing. You do need to be much more careful about this. We are supposed to do this job since we were hired to do so. Just go around and dick around like you guys normally do. Don't do our jobs for us anymore." David said and then he was getting back to the police station. But before he was gone for good, I tried to talk to him once more.

"David, are you glad that we helped you out at least? Did we actually do the right thing this time?" I was hoping that he would say yes, but I was just watching him stare right at me for a few seconds.

"You did what you thought was right. I don't know if it was right. But I certainly wouldn't say it was wrong either. You did actually bring the monster here and we took care of it. So I guess to some extent, you did do at least some right thing." Then with that, David went inside the police station and then I knew that this was the best that we were actually going to get out of this.

Once we were just the three of us left alone, I looked right at Maurecia and I was smiling as if to pretend that this was just the normal everyday life. "Yeah, sorry about all of that. I doubted that you wanted to actually see that whole thing. I should probably be heading home now though. If you guys want to come along with me, then that is great. But if not, I will probably see you when school starts again." I said and I was thinking about the whole plan that I originally had. That plan was basically dead now. I was probably not going to go back to my previous town in a very long time. Hell, there might even be a chance that I might never even go back there for the rest of my life, which made me feel a little bit sad.

I was starting to walk away and then Kevin was following me and then Maurecia was following me as well. Eventually, Maurecia was placing her hand on my shoulder. "Todd, are you alright? You seem like you have a lot of stuff going on in your mind right now." Maurecia said and then I thought about that for a moment. I took a long and tired sigh and then I decided that I would tell her the truth. The story took about ten minutes for me to explain and then when the story was done being told, I saw that Maurecia was just shocked that I even considered running away like this at all.

"Todd, I thought that you would have liked Wayside. I thought that you were finally used to being here now." Maurecia just said that and then I just didn't know what to say. I was used to being at Wayside, and I had liked Wayside, but at the same time, I felt like there should have been nothing wrong with me wanting to go back to where I lived before.

"I think that it is just a normal human expression for me to actually want to go back to where I have lived before every once in a while. Has nothing to do with me not wanting to be here anymore. I think that Wayside is a great school, but there comes a point where I do have to state that there is a lot of stuff that leaves me to be desired." I said and then I was getting ready to be home, but at the same time, I was thinking that Maurecia and Kevin would never get it since they were never at a different school, so they would never really get the point of why I actually feel this way.

"I guess that Wayside is just too good for me to consider leaving. I wish that the students would have been able to appreciate Wayside as much as we do." Maurecia said and then I thought about that. I thought that she was just having a excited feeling about her school. But then I didn't really want to tell her off, since I was glad that she had liked this town enough to defend it even when I wasn't even saying anything that was remotely me talking crap about the city.

"You guys would just never understand. There is nothing wrong with that. But that is the truth. Maybe if you actually did understand, then you wouldn't be so in my case about this. But until then, I think I should be allowed to have my own feelings on the matter." I said and I was hoping that this would just end the conversation for good. But the two of them were sort of considering defending themselves a bit.

I wasn't really wanting to hear any of it, and I could tell that they were able to pick this up with the way I placed my hands in my pocket and I was taking a long and annoyed sigh that I was not really wanting to deal with their defenses. So they just remained quiet and let the words sink in, wondering if they were the ones who had made the mistakes here, and if so, what they can do to try and make up for what had happened. I wasn't angry at them at all, I was just annoyed at their insistence of understanding exactly how I had felt and how much I had wished that I would have been able to reunite with Joy and all that, even if it was just for a couple of days. Or hell, maybe even just a day.

I don't really blame them though for not getting it. The previous school I had gone to really did give me a lot of good memories, even if the school itself was nowhere near perfect, I far from hated it and everything. I just wished that Joy had treated me better than how she did up until my last couple of months there, when she had finally decided that she would start treating me like an actual human being. But I was glad that she had opened up to the idea of changing how she was at all, so I wasn't really going to complain all that much about it.

"Sorry Todd, I just thought that you had moved on from there was all. We had no real intent on getting you angry or anything. Will you be able to forgive us?" Maurecia asked and then I thought about it for a moment. I nodded and said that I shouldn't have been so harsh about it, and it seemed than then we were able to finally place this shit behind us once and for all. I was getting a little bit tired of being angry at them anyways.

"I just wish that people knew what normal life was like. That way they can compare to what I am thinking. As fun as this school may be, there is nothing normal about the life here. It is the most abnormal life style that I can possibly imagine. I guess that maybe this is a little bit of a good thing. I mean, it does give me a chance to open up my eyes and see the world for what it can actually be like. I don't have to think that I don't understand what this world was like, since I have seen every possible outcome of it." I said, thinking about how there was just no way it can get any more odd than this.

"Do you even think that people you used to go to school with would even believe in you when you try and tell them your stories? Or do you think that they will just accuse you or making fiction up?" Kevin asked and I had to consider that for a moment. In reality, I really didn't know who would or wouldn't believe me.

"I am not sure. I guess that if they don't believe me, then they don't believe me. There is nothing that I can really do about it. That is honestly their fucking choice at the end of the day. I am not going to force them to think that my stories are true when I know for a fact that they are, and if they think I am lying, then that is just because they weren't really there to see what actually happened. So in the end, they can go fuck themselves if they want to act like they can judge me." I said, and for a brief moment, I was actually really angry there. I had no idea why I was so angry, but the idea of them accusing me of being a liar when they knew nothing about me just really set me on edge, and I was ready to take down anybody who would actually challenge me on that regard.

"I think that people just need to have some solid proof of stuff before they actually subscribe to the idea of that being the truth. I don't really think that there is anything wrong with that. I think that if you had some proof of what was going on, they wouldn't challenge you. But how are you going to be able to get the proof? You might as well just accept the fact that this is going to have to be the life that you will live." Kevin said and then I sighed and nodded.

"Well, I guess it is better than being told to not help out my fucking town by the sheriff when he is supposed to let that type of stuff happen the most out of anybody in the city. Honestly I have no idea where the sheriff thinks that this is a good idea, to just have me sit on my ass all day doing nothing when I have a better idea of what to do than even he does. I bet that he is just afraid to admit I have a better grasp of his job than even he does." I said and I almost laughed at that.

"He is probably very stressed. Just needs to really accept the fact that he is dealing with this type of stuff." Maurecia said and I had to consider that for a moment. It actually was a lot to take in on all fairness.

"I just wish that he would have accepted my offer to help more. Being here all day and doing nothing makes me feel like I am doing nothing. Makes me feel like I am totally useless." I said and then I was remembering the kiss I had with Dana last night, and that was something special I tell you. That made all of my anger in this town totally worth it for that one single moment.

"I was hanging out with Dana a little bit earlier this morning, and she had told me that you had stayed the night at her house. Is that actually true?" Maurecia asked, and I was feeling like she was somehow able to read my mind when I had thought about Dana, and then I was making a confused sound, as if I was trying to figure out why they were talking to each other in the first place. I was also wondering why I was even thinking that way when they were friends with each other before I even came to Wayside.

"Well, that is true. We talked a lot about school and the police, and we were watching some television." I purposely let out any part of the story that was relating to what exactly was on the television, as I didn't want them to think that I was fucking insane. I was considering talking about the kiss, but decided against it. But I did decide I would tell them about the school trip. "We just went down to the school for a bit and we stood under a tree for a while where we watched the moon." I had hoped that this would be enough to satisfy Maurecia and make her not wonder any further what exactly we were doing.

"So was the stay over fun and exciting?" Kevin asked, getting much more to the general talk that you would expect friends to have when they were talking with each other. I nodded and I relay did have a good time there, even if there were a couple of things that I wished didn't happen, such as the fact that I saw a part of my future, or what I was feeling like I was supposed to assume was my future, and the fact that I was convinced that we were being watched while we were kissing. That didn't scare me as much as made me confused about as to why there was somebody at that field in the first place to watch us.

"Well, I just think that if I stayed around for too long, her parents were going to start wondering what we were going to do, so that was why I bolted the hell out of there. It had nothing to do with her, if she was worried about that at all. Maybe next time I see her, I might try and clear that up." I said as there was a small part of me that did feel bad for just sort of randomly leaving like that. But I just didn't want to push my luck any further.

"I just wish that her parents were more accepting of my company. It seemed like they started to warm a little bit when they saw me this time, but I am still not super sold on the idea that we're going to be some form of like buddy buddy people now. I think you might get what I mean." I said as I rubbed my hair a little bit, to hide my embarrassment a little bit, although I wasn't really sure exactly was doing that for me.

"I think that now that her parents have seen you a couple of times, they don't mind you so much anymore. They may not like the fact that you may be dating their daughter. But I think that they have learned to just accept it and not fight it anymore. They will keep the fact that they don't like it to themselves, and as long as Dana is happy with you, they will just turn a blind eye. But if something were to happen to you, I bet that truce would be gone in no time at all and they will start being as bitter to you as they already were." Kevin said and I was gulping at that fact.

"It is really hard to imagine them being even more bitter towards me than they already are, but I do think that you may be right on that one. I don't even want to imagine how they will treat me if we break up. They would probably make my life miserable. Hell, they would probably never even want me to talk to her again. Now that would be a pain in the fucking ass." I said, thinking of how annoying that would actually get very fast.

"Well, I think that it is just a matter of them being protective over their daughter. I don't really even think that it is as much against you per se as much as the idea of people getting close to her and then breaking her heart. I think it is really more about that than anything else." Kevin said, as I was just forcing myself to think that it really was just that simple.

"So if you did break up with Dana, do you think that in a couple of months or something, that her parents would then be willing to give you another chance? I mean, after a while, I would assume that they would forgive you and bury the hatchet. I don't know though, I think that it would take a little while for them to fully place their trust back in you. But do you think that you would be able to keep this up anymore with her? Like being her friend?" Maurecia questioned me and I didn't answer for a few seconds.

"I don't know. I think that it is all a matter of just how bad the whole break up really is. I doubt that it would really be bad enough to ruin us hanging out ever again. But say if the monsters place her in danger and she nearly gets killed, I bet then she wouldn't talk to me anymore. She would look at me as the guy who put her needlessly in danger, and that would be why she wouldn't talk to me anymore. But I am going to try and be more careful than just that." I said, not wanting to have that be the reason of a break up, fearing that would be the only way she would never talk to me anymore.

"I think that Dana will be able to see that even if something comes up, that you did at least try to help out. She will see that regardless of what happens, there was nothing that you really could have actually make things better, shall something fail. I don't really know if that makes you feel any better, but I don't think that she will blame you. She might be disappointed in you sure, but I don't think she would ever out right blame you, because I think that she is well aware of the risks that are happening even going into all of this. That is what I would assume at least. I could be wrong though." Maurecia said and while she did like me in the lover way, I could easily tell that she didn't want anything that would make me feel terrible happen. She didn't want a terrible break up between Dana and I. Even if it did mean that there would have been an increased chance of getting her to love me, she realized that it was not even fucking worth it at the end.

"I am going to take every moment that I can be able to get with her, and I will cherish them all since I know for a fact that something can happen at any day, and I don't want something to ruin the bond that we do have. I want her to see that I do appreciate her, even if it does show that we are putting ourselves a little bit in danger." I said, as I was thinking on how risky this whole ordeal actually was.

"If for nothing else, I think she will always appreciate the fact that you did help defeat a few of the monsters here, and that no matter what happens with your relationship, there will always be that going for you." Kevin said as I wondered if she was just saying that to make me feel better.

"I hope that you are right. If you are wrong, then I really failed badly, even worse than I could have even hoped for." I said, and I thought that the idea of failure was going to be even worse than the idea of us breaking up, although both ideas were utterly terrible.

"It looks like I'm going inside now. If you want to stay, then just come in." I said as I let the dread of failing really get to me, and I was also thinking about Dana and I would be able to show her that I really did appreciate her, but then I was at my front door and I decided I would give them maybe ten seconds or so to decide if they want to come in or not.

After about ten seconds, when they weren't going forward, I just nodded and I was totally fine with that being the end of the road to be totally honest. I just opened my door and walked right on inside of the house, going right to my bedroom where I felt like I needed to really wind down after all of this time. I felt like it was finally a good chance to finally get a bit of a break. I almost forgot what it was even like to take a break after the last few days of school, staying at Dana's house and then my original plan to leave Wayside for the weekend and had to deal with monsters instead.

I looked around the house for a bit and saw that I couldn't see my parents still. So I grabbed the hundred dollars and slowly placed it in my mothers wallet, hoping that they wouldn't notice the money was gone, and I went back to my room where I decided that I was going to go and sleep for a while. As I was finally dozing off, I felt like I was going to be able to capture a bit of a blissful nap.

Holy fuck, I needed that nap more than I had needed anything else at that moment I found out. That sleep was really important for me honestly. I had been so hyper active and doing stuff this entire last couple of days that even just a few minutes to close my eyes were something that could have been able to give me a much needed break from the reality that I had been facing all of this time. I still did have a hard time believing that this was indeed the reality of my life, but I knew that being in denial was not really helping me at all, and that acceptance of the fact that the sheriff not only didn't want me to help out, but was basically going to hate me if I did help out settle in. It was not really my fault though.

I didn't really think about it for too long though. I was out before I even knew it, and I was sort of in my dream land state of mind, where nothing really mattered and I was just sort of on top of the world.

I must have been out for a while because when I opened my eyes, I saw that it was totally dark out. I opened my window and let the cool breeze come in. God I missed the sights of where I had originally lived. The sights there were something truly to behold. It was one of the best parts about where I had lived honestly, just looking out over the city before I would go to sleep and letting the cars passing by be sort of a melody. It was strange to think of it as a melody, but in a way it really was.

The next day, Dana had showed up at my house before the night fall and before the next school week would start. I answered the door when she had knocked on the door, and I was really happy to be seeing her there. I sat down next to her when she was with me in my bedroom. "So I heard about what had happened to you and Kevin and Maurecia to some extent yesterday. Do you think that it was smart to actually pursue that monster? Do you regret the choice that you had made?" Dana asked me and as she had asked me this, I was thinking about how lovely she would be without her clothes on, and I was gulping really hard to hide my thoughts, to make sure that they didn't know that I was thinking about her in that regard.

"I thought it was the right choice at the time. Obviously, the police sheriff doesn't really think that I am right. I am kind of annoyed that they feel that way honestly. I really did my absolute best to do something in my life when I saw that the monster was around. I wanted to destroy the fucking monster, and I didn't even get the satisfaction of destroying that thing. But at least I did lead them to the police station, where the officers took care of the job for us." I said thinking that at least one of us was actually going to pull something off here. I thought that Dana would be on my side on this one. I didn't even pursue the monster, and I thought that I was doing the right thing.

Dana was placing her hand on my leg and I was starting to feel the feeling of an erection coming along. "Todd, don't worry about what the police tell you. There was a choice that you had to made, and you made your choice. If you didn't make that choice, there is a very good chance that the monster would have kept pursuing the people of the town and that they would have probably killed some other people in the town without there being a chance to do something." Dana said and then I shook my head.

"But what if the sheriff was right? What if the only reasons the monsters cause trouble is because I keep fighting them, and making trouble out of it as a result. From what I understand, it seemed like the monsters never really did anything too bad alone. But then once I showed up, they start doing these things on a daily basis. It is kind of hard not to be making at least some of these connections." I said and then I felt bad for even the remote idea of me being responsible for what had happened.

"They would have done something like this sooner or later? Just because it happened after you showed doesn't mean that they would have never done something like this on their own. There is a very good chance that this would have gone down. So no I don't blame you Todd. There is no real reason for you to blame yourself either." Dana was really trying her best to make me feel better, but I doubted that it was actually working.

"I am going to try and feel better. I don't really think that it will work though. I don't even know what else I can actually say to the matter now. I am kind of done talking about it now. I don't really ever want to talk about this anymore." I said and then I was standing up and then I looked at Dana. "I am sorry if I am coming off as a bit rude right now, and I hope that you forgive me for that." I then was wondering what else could happen now that we could talk about.

"Sorry Todd. I am sorry that you are still dealing with all of this stuff right now. I think that you just are trying to really not get yourself in trouble anymore. I think that if you just keep yourself away from this stuff, the police will be able to forgive you eventually and you will finally be able to continue your job later on. There is no way that they will keep you holding to this for the rest of your life. That is what I would feel like at the very least. I just don't really see how they would continue to judge you throughout these choices anymore." Dana said and I could tell that this was the last thing that she had wanted to say on the matter.

I then was looking at her and then I smiled at her quite a lot. I walked up to her and then I sat down on her chest. Dana was smiling as I did this and I could feel her wrapping her arm around my chest. I was feeling a single tear coming down my chest. "I fucking love you Dana." I said and then I placed my mouth on her lips. Her glasses were starting to fall down a little bit and I could tell that she was wanting to kiss me back.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds, and then she kissed me back and then her glasses were totally out of her face and then she was placing me down onto my couch and she was right above me. I was totally erect by this point in time, and I felt like I was old enough to get into this type of stuff. I was almost thirteen years old after all.

She took her shirt off and she was just only wearing her bra and then she started to take off my blue over shirt and there was only my white under shirt and then she placed her mouth on my neck and then she started to suck my neck for a while and then I was groaning and grabbing the couch a bit. I needed to have my dick released so badly that I just knew that I only had a few more minutes I can handle before I was going to cum as a result.

When she was done, and I felt my hickey really starting to settle on my neck, she was ready to go on and give me another one, or hell maybe even suck me off, I could hear that there was a loud knock on the door. I knew that there was something that we had to do. Dana got up and then she placed her shirt on her body and then I placed my blue shirt on myself. Dana was getting annoyed that the moment was totally interrupted. The two of us were standing up, and we were looking at each other for a moment.

"I will be back in about a minute or two. I really hope that it is just my parents coming back from work or something like that." I said and then I placed the over part of my shirt on top of my hickey in order to at least somewhat cover it up for a moment. I walked to the door and opened it up.

As the door had opened up, I saw that there was nobody there, I looked down at the ground. I was kneeling down and then I found that there was a note left for me. I opened up the note and Dana walked down the stairs and got to the front door and then she was right behind me to see what this note was. I wasn't even paying any form of attention this whole thing. I saw that the note was from a guy who I had no relation with, and I was starting to think that maybe it was the guy who had been spying on Dana and I when we were making out at the tree.

"You guys are really hot when you are going at it. But you should be more careful. You should enjoy your next few days. I will start to be much more relentless with the monsters that will be attacking you soon. The police will never believe that you had no intention of fighting them." The note said and then I shoved the note right in my pocket and I felt like I was on the urge of throwing up when I had read that. I looked right at Dana as if wondering what the hell I was going to do now if these monsters were considered to be even more powerful than the ones before.

"I think that maybe I should see the police. Maybe just explain that I have a feeling more monsters are coming. Maybe tell them the not that was taken." I said and then I couldn't believe that I was actually considering this since I barely knew how they were going to feel if they found out that Dana and I were having a bit of some personal one on one action. They would be accusing us of being much too young, which was kind of annoying, but I felt like it was better than not telling them anything and it was better than us just pretending like the dangers of the town were not going around.

I then ran right to my bedroom and I grabbed my skateboard, thinking that the skateboard was going to be a good method of transportation to the police station and that it was better than just simply walking around. I then went right to the front door and then I placed the board right to the ground and then I got on the board. I saw that Dana got on the board and then she was wrapping her arms around me. I got out of the house and I locked the door before I started to ride on over to the police station.

As I was riding out towards the police station, I was thinking about the wrapping Dana had around me when I was skating. I was totally shocked that her weight and my weight was not enough to actually get us to trip on the board. I was thinking that one of the two of us, if not both of us, were actually extremely underweight. Or this was the heaviest board in the world, and I had never realized just how heavy that it actually was up until this point in time.

I rode around for a while, and I eventually had gotten to the point where I was in front of the police station. I felt the grip of Dana let go as she was now behind the board and then I jumped off the board as well. I could feel Dana place her hands on my face and then she kissed me at the cheeks. One kiss for each one of them. I was really glad that she was with me, since that way no matter what there was at least some form of love given to me throughout all of this insanity.

"You should tell them what happened right away before they try and tell us to go back home for it being too late," Dana said and then I nodded. I grabbed the board and then I opened the door and saw that there was a bunch of people were walking around the station not even paying attention to what we were doing.

I saw that David's room was not taken, and I thought that this was the only guy who would actually trust me. I walked right inside of his room and Dana was right next to me as I was sitting down in front of him. David yawned as he covered his mouth a bit and then he looked at me. "So what are you guys doing at this point in the night? I mean I used to stay up late all the time when I was a teenager like you, but I was never going to the police station for any reason." David said and then I could tell that Dana was looking at me as if she was hoping that I would actually speak the story in a way that was convincing enough to where the guy would have to believe in what I was telling him.

"So Dana and I were hanging around and we were... about to have some sex, and then I heard a knock on the door and there was a note at the door. I grabbed the note and read it. Here is what it says." I said and then I grabbed the note out and handed it to David. The young officer was wondering why I had to mention the fact that we were about to have sex and then he rolled his eyes and then he started to read the note.

As he read the note, he looked right up at me and Dana as if he was unable to believe what he had read. "God damn, it feels like I am going to have to be fighting these monsters until the day I leave this fucking city. Aw well, at least you actually told us the truth this time. I don't really think that my boss can really get too angry at you this time since it was pretty much not your fault at all." David said and then he placed the note on the table. "I will give him the note before I head home tonight. You guys really need to go home. Besides, you are going to school soon. You need to get a good amount of sleep before school starts." David said and then I nodded. It was kind of annoying that he was telling me about how to handle my sleep schedule, but I could tell that he was just having my best interest in his mind and that he wasn't trying to annoy me. So I was going to pretend that it was not annoying me either. I walked out of the station with my board and Dana was with me.

"I am honestly pretty impressed that you decided to tell him the truth about the fact that we almost had sex. I thought that you were going to keep that part to us. I guess that you have more balls than I thought." Dana said and then he placed her hand on my balls. "Can't wait until I get a chance to see what they are like."

I skated all the way to Dana's house since it was a little bit closer to the station than my house was to the station. She then got off of the board and gave me one more kiss on the cheek and then she ran right to her house and yelled at me good night and that she as excited to see me at school again soon. I then started to continue my riding back home.

I eventually had got right to the front of my house and right before I got inside of my house, I sat down on the front step. I then placed the board down below my feet. I was staring out at the dark night, wondering how much longer this was going to continue.

I thought that the monsters could have been able to actually stop attacking us when I take out the guy who is leading them. I felt like it was a little bit silly for me to assume that this was the thing that was needing to be done in order to save the city, but I didn't think it was really all that far out there.

I didn't know why, but I was just really tired that night right there. I saw the mostly exposed moon out in the sky and I was thinking about what Dana had done to me earlier. I laid down on the front of the house and I was still having my feet right down on the board to make sure that it didn't move at all. I placed my arm on my face and then I was feeling the sleep was coming onto me.

I fell asleep and I slept there that entire night with my arm over my eyes to help the eyes get covered and not having the light get exposed too badly over the moon and eventually the sun. When I woke up, I was shocked to realize that there was no real pain in my back and I saw that there was the board still right under me. Nobody got in my way about this at all, and I thought that my parents really must not give a crap about me if they didn't even wake me up when I was asleep out at the front of my house. Hell, they probably thought that it was utterly hilarious.

I then placed the board on the ground and then I started to skate all the way back down to the school. I thought that wayside was only a little bit away from me, so I was skating as fast as I possibly could. I eventually reached the front of the school and saw that the wheels on the board were actually starting to really get worn down. I could tell that we should probably stop using them and replace them soon. I don't really know why I said we this time when, in reality, the real answer should be I.

I then walked inside of the school and didn't even think of my old worn down board as I was heading to class. I went to my class and saw that for the first time in a very long time, maybe even ever, that I was the first person there. I saw that the teacher was just getting ready for the day and I walked over quietly to my seat in order to not get exposed for what I was doing.


	67. The Not So Guilty Hang Out

The Not So Guilty Hang Out (1962)

Once I was through all that stuff, things seemed to be mostly fine for a little while afterwards. I think that those fights were just a bit of a rough phase. Nothing that really actually was all that awful. I mean, I did make it through all of that insanity. Whatever that really was. Now I just needed to make sure that I wasn't getting myself killed any more. But despite that thought set, I thought that I could still go around and have a bit of fun. I hadn't seen Jenny in a while, and I was starting to catch myself missing her. I thought that I would be able to see her for at least a little bit. To sort of clear up any of the fog that was going on around us. If there was any at all. Which I didn't really know if there had been since all of the stuff that we had gone through. I didn't want to be taking any risks with Jenny and my relationship with Dana. But for gods sake, I should allowed to at least hang out with her. I should be allowed to have at least that going for me... right?

So once I decided and justified my choice in hanging out with Jenny, I decided that I was going to go see her right away. I mostly remembered where she had lived. So it wasn't the hard part of getting there. The hard part was getting there and being able to convince her that I was calm around her and able to actually be in the same room as her and not be creating any real dangers by doing this. I wanted to make her see that we were all good. If that was even really possible. But fuck it. I needed to try.

I grabbed my skateboard and then I started to skate my way down to where she had lived. I always liked hanging out with people if for nothing else for the skating that it would allow me to do. I did feel like there was a ton of freedom I can have by my skating, and I felt like I was always going to be able to appreciate that if for nothing else.

Before I even knew it, I skated all the way to her front house. I then knocked on her door for a moment. I then was wondering a strange thought. I wondered what it would be like if Davis shared me one of his cigarettes. I mean, those must have been pretty cool if he was smoking them on the job. I knew I was too young and would be for a while. But I felt like I could be able to maybe sneak one of them in if I had wanted to. I felt like I could even convince them that I deserved it as an award in a way for my good work in the city. I wondered how well this could really fly.

I saw Jenny get out of the house. I could see that she was having a mix of emotions. On one hand, she was clearly happy to see me there and was very happy to have the idea of hanging out. But she was also clearly worried of how Dana, a person she respected, would feel if she found out about everything. I hated the fact that I always had to play this standard when I was with Jenny. But I really could not resist it. I wanted to hang out with her so bad most of the time that I couldn't get myself away from her for more than a short period of time. It was like she was my drug. She was my cigarette. Being around her and her giving me her sexy company was me smoking her up in a way. I wanted her, and I needed her. I couldn't go away from her. I was wondering what was wrong with me and my extreme desire for the dare devil girl in Wayside. I knew that I wanted her more than I wanted Dana, more than Maurecia, more than even Joy. More than anybody. I could see why Ken was enveloped in the idea of her liking him. I couldn't be around her without wanting to earn her attention. I never felt that from the others. I respected them greatly and I would do nothing at all to hurt them. At least not on purpose. But Jenny... I felt like I would throw my life on the line for her if it meant that she would notice me.

"Hey Todd, do you want to hang out?" Jenny asked, and then after she asked that, I could feel like my heart was pounding and I nodded. It was really all I can do.

I seriously did not get it. When I was with her, it was like my heart was drenched in gasoline. She was like a fucking queen. Her chair was like a fucking throne.

Once Jenny got her roller bike, I was ready to get back into the normal mindset. 'Todd you are dating Dana right now. Dana is the one you love. Stop having these thoughts about Jenny. Please stop having them. They are eating you up.' I kept telling myself, and I eventually started to calm down.

We were going around for a while, and I was looking at her. I was wondering how I can start a casual conversation about really anything. Anything to keep my mind off of the adultery I was committing against Dana in my thoughts.

We eventually made it down to the school, where it felt like I had started most of my hang outs with people. It was strange how I always ended up here. I didn't quite get it, and I don't think I ever would get it. But it was just a nice and simple place. I think it was really just as simple as that. I think it really was nothing too much bigger than just the fact that it was a easy place to go to. It was a place we all been to. It was a place we can just feel like ourselves in. It was strange I felt that way about a fucking school. A school that had no real course of action and actual running. But after the amount of weeks and the hundreds of hours I have been in the area, it was hard not to feel at least a little bit attached to them.

"So Jenny, I am very sorry that I haven't seen you lately. I really do feel bad for that. You deserve better than this. You deserve to have a better friend than me." I said, and I totally meant it. I did not want to just say that to make her feel welcome in my life. I said that because I truly one hundred percent wanted to make her feel loved.

"Don't worry about it Todd. I think it was better that we took a little bit of time off from what was happening. I think we can both agree that we were getting pretty risky with the times we were seeing each other. That we were really tempting fate here." Jenny said and then I nodded. That was the one thing we can both agree on. Even if it was something I was not proud of.

I thought for a while, and I remembered the one place that I thought she could like. The one place I think anybody would like. "Want to go to this tree that Dana showed me? I think that maybe you would like it. One of the best places in the school yard honestly." I said, hoping that Jenny would be cool with my offer.

She thought on this for a bit and then she nodded. "Sure, let's do it. I want to see what the tree is like." Jenny said and then we started to head down there. I was thinking how great it would have been if we were dating. The fact I could kiss her. But I was telling myself that I needed to be behaved. I was telling myself there was nothing I was doing for myself by trying to wow her. I was just trying to be a friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

We reached the tree, and I placed the board right next to it. I didn't want to sit on it to make it even weaker than it had slowly been growing. I sat down right next to it instead. I held out my hand to Jenny. She sat down next to me. We were staring off at the sky. I then wondered if Jenny as able to appreciate me as much as I appreciated her. Or if these were feelings that were starting to slowly get further between the two of us. Which I had to admit was possible.

I didn't want to think about the idea of Jenny not even looking at me in that context anymore, but it was something that I was indeed forced to think about. It was something that I indeed was forced to possibly accept if it was actually the truth. But considering the difference between the two of us, and the difference between what we feel about life and our relationships, that I felt I needed to start being more respectful for the great woman that I had actually been dating. Dana really didn't know my feelings towards Jenny and I was not really sure how she would have reacted if she had actually knew what I had been feeling about Dana and everything. I thought that if she knew, she would probably never want to talk to me again.

"So Jenny, I have been thinking about things lately... and I think that I might want to meet your family soon." I said and then after I had told Jenny this, she looked up at me as if she was thinking that I was making a virtually impossible request. I had no idea why she was feeling this way and I had no idea if I was just a terrible person or something like that and I needed to be more careful about what I was saying. But I thought that there was nothing wrong about me just wanting to go on and meet her family. I thought that if anything, I was actually making a relatively reasonable request.

"Todd, I was never wanting to tell anybody this, and I was especially not wanting to tell you this... But I think that you might be the only one who would be able to hear me and know what I am dealing with." Jenny said and then I was wondering why this was something she felt like she needed to preface the way that she had done. But I could tell that Jenny was not in the mood, and that I just needed to be quiet and let her talk. So I was just remaining quiet and I was going to just let her tell the story. No matter how scary it was going to be. No matter how much I feared that I was going to regret this whole thing.

"My mother has not been around for a while. No she isn't dead. At least I don't think she is dead. But she hasn't been seen in weeks. I think that she has been kidnapped. She has been missing ever since like the first or second week of the entire school year. That is why I don't think that you should come to my house. After all, my father might get pissed off at seeing you. They might just think that you are taking advantage of me when I am at my weakest moment." Jenny said and then after she said that, I was not really too sure what to say, but I just decided to remain quiet to respect what she was saying.

"But what if I am able to help you find your mother? When was the last time that you have found her?" I asked, and I was wondering if there was something that she wasn't telling me. Some really simple piece of the puzzle that even I could figure out. That I could use in order to really put this whole thing aside. I didn't want to pester her or anything, but for gods sake, I needed to know something.

"Look Todd, I don't really know if you can help me here. I really do appreciate the fact that you like to help everybody. But please just understand I don't think that you would really be able to pull this off. Besides, my father would probably think that you are just a trouble maker. I bet that he would rather have her not be found than concede to the idea of letting you help out. As terrible as that is to even consider. And besides, I don't really even remember when the last time I saw her was. It just is all like a fucking blur." Jenny said and then I wondered if I could get more information.

But I was seeing that if I pestered this any further, she might actually start to cry. I knew that no matter how much I wanted the information, that I was not wanting to let her ruin any respect that she did have of me. I wanted her to understand that I was wanting to help. But I didn't want to come off as a dick about it.

I also was thinking that she knew exactly what the case was, and that she was probably being forced to be quiet about it. I felt like she was just wanting to keep me away from the controversy. I felt like she was doing this for my simple best sake.

"If you really don't want me to talk about it any more, then I will force myself to be quiet. Besides, I don't really know if I could be able to help out. As much as I hate to admit it. I think that if I tried to help, then people would probably just think that yet again I am making a bigger deal out of something than it really is of being my business." I said and then I could tell that Jenny was getting less stressed. As if me finally letting the subject drop was making her feel more at peace. I could tell that there was something going on. And I felt like I needed to know. But I knew I needed to be quiet.

"Todd, I really do appreciate you. I do appreciate what you want to do to make things better for me. I think that you are a great guy. You really are one of the best people at this school, and you have been a massive freedom fighter. But please Todd, I don't want you to do something that is beyond your power. This entire thing is beyond your power. I think that you really are just too good for this school. Too good for this town. Too good for anything that goes on here." Jenny told me and I was wondering why she had felt like I was too good.

"Jenny, I would not go that far. If I was too good for this school, then I would not have been here. I would not have fucked up my life and gotten stuck in here. But here I am. I made a couple of terrible mistakes, and here I am. This is my punishment for the crimes that I have made. Well, maybe not crimes. But the mistakes I made at the very least." I said and then Jenny just didn't know what to say. She was obviously not believing in me. I was thinking that she felt like I had actually been lying to her or something like that. Which was not the case. But I knew I was not going to really get her to think that I made a few terrible mistakes. Even though I actually had made several terrible mistakes.

"I believe that you are the reason that most people actually can get things done here. They feel safe when you are here. Please don't try and under mine that success. Please don't try and act like you are worse than you are. You really did the right thing by coming here." Jenny tried to make me feel better and I just remained silent.

I just realized that I was not going to get her to see my side. I knew that trying to get her to see my side was fucking impossible. So with that, I just decided to remain quiet and I just decided to let her live in this world that I was this great fucking flawless man.

I was wondering if that was why she didn't want me to date her. She was worried that I was going to fall into a lesser grace of a man when I was around her. If that makes sense. I doubt it does. Nothing in this fucking school makes sense. Why the fucking hell would it actually make any fucking sense? This entire school has from start to finish been the strangest thing that I ever seen, and I don't think that this was going to change any time soon.

"Jenny, I do think that you are a great girl. I think that you are one of the better people here. You, Shari, Maurecia even and Dana have changed my view. Kevin and Myron have made me see the different sides of devotion. Even Steven I guess is not a bad guy. I just wish that I knew how Joy was doing. Joy really did change my life. I think that Joy really was a lovely girl." I said, thinking about Joy all over again.

I was then thinking a bit on the idea that I didn't even know if Jenny actually knew who the hell Joy was or if she was some name that I had thrown around. I was then thinking if I should have just explained in a few sentences what she was like and everything. But then after I thought about it for a bit, I felt like it actually didn't matter all that much what I did. I think that she was probably going to be able to pick up the fact that Joy was just somebody that I had known at school, and that in all reality, it wasn't really all that big of a deal if I had explained this all to her.

"I think that you just need to look around and appreciate what is there for you when it is there. If you don't, then you will start to feel like you are making a huge mistake in your life. If you feel like nobody is actually there for you, then you will start to get progressively more isolated on how you are feeling in life. Then when that feeling comes along, then you will feel like you are kind of helpless. Sometimes I feel like I am a little bit helpless right now when I talk about the stuff that I have been doing in school. When I think about my friends, and how much I actually hoped I can be able to trust them to help me with my parents and everything." Jenny was starting to feel even worse about her mother.

"I know you said you don't want my help and everything, but please think about it a little bit. If you feel like you actually want me to help you, then just come talk to me and tell me what you think you know. I will see what I can do to actually help you out. I think that I can be able to make a difference in the long run." I said, and then I could tell that Jenny was forcing herself to think about this a little bit.

"I just want to enjoy my time hanging out with you. I think that this is one desire that we can both agree on. I don't want to do something that can really make this time with each other lose a bit of its luster." Jenny had said and then after she had said that to me, I nodded. I did want to enjoy my time with her.

"I already do enjoy hanging around you. I feel like when I am around you, that perhaps you and I can just be able to talk about life. Talk about the matters going on with us right now." I said, and I felt a little bit silly when I said that just because I doubted that we would actually get really deep into our conversations about life. I mean, I kind of knew her, but I didn't really think that we were that well aware of how we had felt about everything.

"So Todd, if you think that you can talk about my life with you, and your life with me, do you think that this makes us in a way even closer to each other than you are to Dana and Maurecia? I mean, I feel terrible for asking you this. But I am just really wanting to know the truth." Jenny said, and then she started to go along and she said "But want to know is not that big of a deal. I don't have to know. I just want to know."

"Jenny, I think that there is something about the two of us that does make things much better than it would have been if I was talking about this to Maurecia. You know, if I talked with Maurecia, we would probably stop talking about real life for a bit and we would probably start to talk about minute things such as our crushes or how my relationship with Dana is going. I mean, I already know what her crush is. It is really fucking easy to figure that out. But I was just saying this just to make my point get across." I said kept my hands away from Jenny as best as I could. I knew that if I touched her even once, that I was going to get fucked.

"I think that when you talk with me, that there is something about life that I just don't understand. I feel like there is something in my life that I need to question now. Like I feel like I need to question if I actually care all that much or not." Jenny told me, and I wondered how her talking to me was giving off the impression that some people really do not care all that much about her. I think it is kind of stupid that me talking to her would make her think that people don't care about her.

"Jenny, I do care about you. Even if nobody else cares about you, then I think that they just need to get out of your life. I care about what is going on with you. Please don't think that there are those people who would use you. I think that you just need to be out there, and that you need to be a bit more social. I mean, you do just go around in the motorcycle all the time. As if that is the only thing that really is there for you in your life. We all know for a fact that you have other things in your life." I said and then I was wondering if I was telling the truth, or if I was taking her out of context.

"Todd, I just want to be extra sure of these type of things. I just don't know if you are just trying to use me or not. I just don't really know if Maurecia is just using me. I would never have said this. I don't really even try to show this to people. I think that it is nobodys business what I fear. I just worry that there is no truth to it all. Have you ever felt like there was some lies to things?" Jenny was asking as I was starting to want to close my eyes and take a little bit of a nap.

"I thought that maybe Joy didn't really care all that much about me when I started to talk to her and she was starting to be nice to me. In all reality, I thought that she was just trying to get me to warm up to her so she could use me. But then when I was talking to her more and more, the more that I started to realize that she actually really did care. After I went out of my way to save her that one time, she never looked at me in a negative light again." I said, and then I was thinking about that day once again.

"I bet that you just need to put those days behind you. I think that you need to stop thinking so much about Joy. That is all behind you. The more that you think about that, the more that you are going to feel like you are going to waste your life away on something that really is not all that big of a deal." Jenny said and I could tell that maybe there was something she was trying to indicate there. As if she was trying to hint that there may have been a small amount of feelings that she had to me.

"I don't really think it is that fucking simple to just say 'you know what, fuck this whole thing' to people from my past. I mean, Wayside is great and I have to tell people this all the time to the point where it is kind of annoying, but I can't just wish something away like it had never happened." I said and then afterwards, I took a long and deep breath. Trust me, if I can just forget about my pre Wayside life that easily, I would have done it already.

"Sorry if I am coming off as a bit of a dick to you. I should be more polite. But I am tired of people just telling me to place my life behind me." I said and then I decided to relax. Then with that, Jenny and I were just staring forward again for another few seconds.

"Don't worry about it. I don't think you are being a dick to people on purpose. I wouldn't really even say that you were a dick. I just think that maybe if anything, that I am being a bit uninformed and that I am just making some mistakes on my life. That I just need a bigger context." Jenny said and then I felt like she and I were getting along just fine again.

"I can't get too angry at you. There were others like that with me. You were not the only fucking one who is acting like this. If it was just you, then I would be assuming that you were too uninformed. But honestly, when other people are like this, I can't really make that statement." I think that it is more of a matter of just how it is to be living at a new place. I think that when I have my birthday here, and I see my friends coming along and celebrating it and everything with me, and not the others from where I had once lived, then I think that everything will be like it was meant to be. That if I just have a party with you guys, that there is no real need to look back anymore." I said and I was totally meaning it. I just knew that I had to wait some more days before I can have the party with Kevin and Maurecia and Jenny and Dana and Myron.

"I am glad that you aren't mad at me. I wasn't really sure if you were or not. I don't really know what you are like when you are mad or when you are in a fine mood. I think that either way, you must just do a good job hiding your problems from other people." Jenny said and then she said "I think that I like that about you."

"Honestly Jenny, I think that I just do a good job hiding my feelings when I am angry. There is no real reason for me to show my anger to others unless if they have been the one who went out of their way to do me wrong. If they didn't do me wrong, or if they did and I can tell that it was an actual mistake, then I can't be too angry about them. I just know that it is them just being themselves, and expressing their feelings to a subject." I said and then after I had said this, I started to stand up a bit. I didn't want to go anywhere, but I did need to stretch my legs a bit. I think Jenny was able to figure that out herself, so she said nothing and just let me walk around casually without saying anything.

"I don't really know how you can be able to avoid getting angry as well as you have. I would have been much more pissed at people if I felt like they had actually done me wrong." Jenny said and then I didn't feel like saying anything. I didn't feel like there was the need to actually say anything. I just placed my hand on my face and scratched the itch a little bit before I looked right at her again.

"I just think that there is nothing good that will come out of having negative feelings towards a person. Especially if I feel like it is not their fault. So I am not going to make them feel like terrible people just because they don't really fully understand me. I think that if I get angry at others for simple mistakes, then that means that I am the one with the problem, and that they are the ones who are starting to slowly become more and more of the victims of the entire situation. I don't want them to become the victims. You know, when they have done nothing to actually deserve it." I finished my thoughts and took a long yawn.

"Were other people like this when you were around them back in the past, or is this just something that you have gathered on your own? Is this something that you feel like you have fully formed by yourself for the best sake of a normal interaction?" Jenny asked and I was not really sure. There was a part of me that was thinking that maybe it didn't really matter all that much hat the truth was. I just remained silent as I was actually starting to feel like I wanted to go out and go somewhere else.

"I just don't really care all that much honestly. I think that it is just more of a common respect ordeal than anything else." I said and then Jenny had just remained silent for a bit.

"Does it really matter all that much in the long run? I mean, there will be the fact that most of the people you know back in the day will never see you again when school is over and all that stuff. I think that there is no real point in trying and make them feel like they are respected when you are never going to see them again." Jenny told me and then I wondered where she had suddenly got that mind set, when I thought that she would have never gotten it before.

"I don't think you should think too deeply about that. You should never try and say that it doesn't really matter just because you won't see them again. If you actually think that way, then you are setting yourself up for failure and you are setting yourself to be hated by others around you." I said and then I felt like Jenny was just looking right at me, not really knowing what to say about my feed back.

"Jenny, I am sorry that I am acting like this to you right now. I just wish that I could be able to talk to and trust everybody here, and then afterwards, then I can pour down all of the thoughts that I have to them. Then when they trust me and they have been exposed to everything that I have been feeling, then perhaps I can have them trust me enough to where they will be willing to expose their feelings and their thoughts to me because they will actually trust me as a good man." I said and then I felt like I had finally expressed the truth to Jenny. I didn't know why it was hard for me to say this to anybody else, when I knew them as much as I knew her, if not even more than I knew her. But at the same time, when I told her this, I finally relaxed a bit.

"Todd I think that you can trust me. I know that I have not really been talking with you all that well, and that I should express myself to you better. But when I think that when you talk to me more, and when you do somethings for me, then I will actually be able to fully trust you." Jenny told me and then I was rolling my eyes. This made me think that I should help her with the whole mother thing.

"If you feel like I need to help you in order for you to trust me, then let me help you with your mother. Give me a chance to prove to you that I can help you. If you give me a chance to prove to you that I can help you, then you will see that I am not a bad guy at all. That I will be the only one who can be abe to help you. Since you know, there won't be any form of bias that I would have towards or against you. I will tell you right now that I am going to try my best to be as objective as possible." I said and then I took a long and deep breath. Then after I had told her this, Jenny was just looking at me as if she was considering what to say to me.

"Fine, if you think that you are actually going to help me out here, and you are certain that this is the only way that you can earn my trust, then fine. I am not going to be able to fight you hard on this too much longer." Jenny said and she was seeming extremely defeated.

I knew that there was nothing that I could do that would fully get her to actually fully believe in me. But I just decided that this was better than nothing. "I think that if I am going to be able to help you out, then we should get started right away."

"Let's get it started." Jenny reluctantly agreed and I could tell that she wasn't really into the idea. I could also tell that she knew that I was right, and that there was no way she was going to be able to argue with me for too long. So with that, she started to stand up and the more she did so, the more that she was starting to think that she would actually like for me to do this.

We started to do our search around the school yard, trying to see if I could find anything that would be able to indicate any sign that Jenny's mother can be found. I was pretty much on the verge of giving up on this whole thing after about twenty minutes, thinking that maybe Jenny was right about me and that I am a terribly pathetic guy at this whole thing. I wanted to tell Jenny that I was ready to give up when I started to think a bit more. I then started to realize when I was thinking that I was going to get Jenny really annoyed with me actually suggesting me giving up on finding her own fucking mother. I then was thinking that I was going to look like an asshole who deserved to get punished for not getting anything accomplished.

"I think that I may actually know where she may be. I can't believe that I was stupid enough to actually not believe this at all." Jenny yelled and then she looked at me. I was wondering what the suggestion was going to be. But it seemed as if I didn't really have to actually wait for that long as Jenny just explained to me what the whole deal was.

"If you know where she is, can you please tell me so that way I can know if I will be able to help you out at all or not?" I asked, and then Jenny thought about if she had actually wanted to tell me or not. Then when she thought about it for a bit, she nodded and then she brought me behind a tree and then she decided to tell me what her theory was.

"I think that she might have been in one of the places that you and I looked at earlier. Maybe if we look hard enough, we can see something like another cave nearby. I mean, we fucking destroyed that one. So there is no point in even trying to go back to that area ever again. But if we try hard enough, I think we can actually find something that is at least a little bit similar to the one that we have seen earlier." Jenny suggested as I thought about that for a little bit. In a strange way, I guess it did make some sense. But I doubted that I could actually find somewhere that even remotely insinuated the idea of this actually being the case. What seemed like could be a good idea for a short moment, seemed like it was actually not a good idea at all.

"I don't really know if this is a good idea honestly. I think that we should probably just people around town. Maybe if we ask people around enough, we might actually be able to find something that could hint at what we can be able to use to pin point where your mother is. As long as they are telling the truth. As long as they don't lie to us in order to make themselves safe or something like that. If that happens, I guess we will never know. But that will make the entire search even more annoying." I was thinking out loud and then I was wondering if either my idea of Jenny's were better. I guess that on both ends of the spectrum, we needed to be open to what can actually help us out.

"You know, how about we just spend an hour or so just looking around to see if we can find any other entrances to some form of under ground places. Then if it seems like we can't find anything, then we will try your idea. I mean, I don't really think that either plan will give us anything. Which scares me even more than anything else. But what the hell am I supposed to do now besides just follow one of these plans?" Jenny asked as I thought about it for a moment. I was starting to think that maybe I was going to be a little bit of a hypocrite and then probably get her even more angry at me.

"Jenny, are you really sure that you want to do this? Maybe the idea of not knowing where she is might actually be better than finding something out. Then you end up regretting the search. You end up thinking that you made the wrong choice because what you end up finding is going to just fucking break you." I said and then I was waiting for her to lecture me about being a hypocrite and everything, but honestly, I didn't really care. I needed to express my opinion, and that was exactly what I had done.

"Todd what the heck is wrong with you. First you are acting like we should go around and search all of town. Now here you are acting like the search is one of the worst ideas you can come up with. That is really fucking annoying actually." Jenny said and then I raised my hands up.

"I never suggested that it was a terrible idea. I was just wanting to suggest that maybe you should think this out a bit better. Maybe neither one of us have actually thought this one out to well. I mean, we need to consider that option first before anything else." I said and then I felt like I was able to safe myself from her judgment for a little bit longer.

"If you are suddenly trying to act like you are the smart man of the group, then you are the one with the problem. But there is no time to discuss that. There is something else that we need to consider..." Jenny said and then I was waiting for her to say what we needed to consider. I was scared of what she was going to tell me. But at the same time, I was having the fear that I knew exactly what she was going to tell me.

"I think we need to consider the idea of if she had simply run away. Or that perhaps she is actually dead. I don't want to really think that she is dead. But then if I find out that maybe she just ran away. Or that she is gone on a short business trip and that she will be back soon. Then I guess that maybe I will be able to live with it for the short term." Jenny said, and then I was considering this a little bit. I was actually considering the idea of what it would be like if she was just going out on a short business trip.

"Well, what does she work at? It would make no sense for her to be on a business trip if it doesn't line up with the job." I said and then Jenny just shook her head. I was thinking that we were back to square one, and that was annoying me. How she would even suggest something like that if this was just going to be a fucking waste or a suggestion. But then she started to say something that anybody should have figured out, but for some reason could not have suggested and should have considered a little bit first.

"I mean, she doesn't have a job that I know of. Every time I talk about her job, she says that there is nothing and that I need not worry about it. But then I am thinking that maybe she has just simply lied to me. Like me knowing the truth was going to lower my opinion of her. Like if I had known, that maybe I would never really want to see her again. I think that maybe she just is working at home and everything. That may be the job she has is something that she is not even proud of... I mean, it is not really impossible. As much as I hate to admit it." Jenny said and then I just didn't say anything. I was not really too sure what the hell to say.

"Honestly Jenny, I don't know why she would be lying to you. That would mean that she was making an even bigger problem out of things than it should have been. I think the truth is, as terrible as it may be, is that in all reality, she did go missing. That we do need to find her. Yes, she may be dead. But I think that she is going missing now." I said and then eventually Jenny just stood silent and didn't even show any form of expression.

Jenny was placing both of her hands together, and then she was looking like she was going to cry. "But for fucks sake, I don't want her to be dead. I would rather have any answer over the answer that she is fucking dead. If she is dead, then I will only have my father left and that will be terrible."

"What would be so bad about only having your father left? I mean, you will still be able to actually have somebody at your side. That is not so bad. I mean, don't get me wrong at all when I say this, having your mother gone would be utterly terrible. But at least you would still have somebody with you. So it couldn't really be getting any worse. I am sorry if I am sounding like a jack ass when I am saying this. But I am just trying to put it in a perspective. A perspective that maybe a little bit crappy, and that I think you should be open to telling me off right now." I said and then I was getting ready for what Jenny was going to tell me. I could tell that she was going to be extremely pissed at what I was saying.

"Todd, I don't get how you can fucking say this. I mean, I get that you never have had any problems with your family randomly going missing or anything like that. But for gods sake, at least try and consider my fucking view point here right now." Jenny said and then she placed her hands on me and then I could tell that she was going to start crying. I knew that I should have never even gone remotely close to opening that can of worms.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to get you angry. I was just trying to put in a different view point in your situation. I wish that you won't stay angry at me forever." I said and then I was starting to feel like she was going to be upset at me for a while for the fact that I had been even starting to suggest that there was nothing too wrong with her mother actually going missing and everything.

"I don't know how I am viewing you right now. I don't know if I am angry at you or simply thinking that you are a bit uninformed. I think that if you had a family member going missing like this, you would understand why I feel like this. I don't care about how close you guys are to each other or anything like that. But when you have something like this happen to your family, then all of those feelings will go away. Nothing will fucking matter when your fucking family goes missing." Jenny said and then I was starting to try and actually understand what she was saying, and I felt like I was a dumb ass for not getting it fully. But eventually when I started to get to know some other people who lived here and had similar problems to say at the least, the more that I started to realize that I was wrong. And that Jenny was right about every single word that she had been saying.

"Todd, when all is said and done, do you think that you will be able to actually help me find my mother? Do you actually think that it can be done? I really don't really know if you can. But if you actually think that you can help me, then I will be happy. But I need to know that you are fully willing to actually commit to helping me out and everything." Jenny said and then I thought about it. I wasn't really sure if I could exactly help her. But I needed to do my fucking best in order to contribute at least something.

"I think that I can put in a good effort. If I can't help you find your fucking family, or I should say your mother, then I am the one who has the problem. I feel like I would have fucking lied to you. I would hate the idea of lying to you. But I just don't really know if any of the promises that I make can actually be fulfilled. But there is one promise that I can make that I know I can fulfill. I promise I will do my absolute fucking best in order to help you out in finding your fucking mother." I said and there was nothing that I wanted to say that would make her think that I was not going to do the one thing that I said I can do.

"If you can do your best, then I guess that this is more than how some other people will do. I guess that I need to accept that. I am glad that you are wanting to help me out at all. You really are a decent friend. I should treat you with some form of better respect. I just don't really know how I could." Jenny said, and I could tell that she was trying her absolute best to be frank with me. I knew that if she was doing this, then I needed to try and be frank with her as well.

"Well, it is going to be really hard either way. But I think that I need to at least try and help you out. The effort is going to be the one thing that will make me feel better." I told her and then I could feel her letting go of me. There was a part of me that was so used to the extra weight she had on me that I forget she was actually on me this whole time. Besides, there was a part of me that welcomed and even desired her angered feeling to me. Any normal Jenny feeling was going to make me happy. But even the angered feeling was able to still get me to feeling like she mattered.

Jenny was just looking right at me in the eyes. I could tell that the entire time that Jenny was looking at me, that she was thinking that she had been wrong about me. That she really did not have any problem with me. She was the one who needed to look at things with less anger. I then placed my hands on her shoulders and then I sighed.

No matter how hard I tried, there was nothing in me that can be angry at her. No matter how much she had wronged me, I could never lose faith in her. Maurecia and Dana were different. But she was perfect.

"Todd... If you and Dana ever break up... Do you want to spend the night at my house. Let us be together for a couple of nights so that way I can feel like there is somebody that cares about me at my side. I think that I do trust your company. But I don't want Dana to have any bad feelings. So that is why I think that we should wait until you and her break up..." Jenny said and I felt bad for these plans. But it was a chance to get closer to her.

"I will do anything for you. I will help you out as much as I can. I can promise you that much. No matter what else happens, I will be there for you no matter what happens." I said and then I could see from the look on her face that Jenny actually believed in me. That she actually felt like I was telling her the truth. When she looked at me, I could see that she was getting slightly less antsy with me with each passing second.

Then I was thinking about Jenny. I was thinking about what I can do in order to make her trust me. In order to make her not think that I was the asshole who just thought that her parent being gone was fine. I was fucked up. I was a terrible person for having these thoughts when I was still dating Dana, and when I was still with Jenny as a friend and when Jenny was going through a rough phase.

I knew then, and I knew right there, that I needed to do everything I possibly could in order to make her understand that I would do anything to save her mother. Her mother was a vital woman, and there was no fucking way that I was not going to help her. I was going to make her feel like she was the one person in the world I cared about when I looked for her mother. I cared about the others, but when she was with me and we were looking, it was only her.

That was the choice that I made. I didn't know how well it was going to work. But Jenny and I needed to work together. Jenny and I needed to be happy. Jenny and I needed to find her mother, and I needed her to understand the fact that she and I were going to save everything. I then started to think of the theory that she had made earlier about where her mother was, and compared it to mine.

I felt like despite the fact that I didn't really fully agree with what she was thinking, or entirely her assessment of the issue, I was thinking that maybe she was onto something. I mean, there were enough strange things about this town that I would really not be able to put it too far out of the realm of reality. But that didn't really mean that I wanted to try the other routes first. "Well Jenny, where are some places that your mother would really like to go? If we find some of those places, maybe one of us can look for something that can look like it would lead down underground in that area. Then we can start to get some clues by doing this..." I was saying, thinking that it was better than to just roam all around town like two chicken with both of our heads cut off.

"Well, about once a month or so, she would go down to the hair saloon and then she would get a hair cut. I mean, the last time she went there was about fie days or so before I had last seen her. There is a chance that there could be somewhere in that area. Maybe she had forgotten to place in a tip or something and then she got distracted and then something happened to her then..." Jenny said and I could clearly tell she was just playing with ideas in her head. Not even sure which ones were going to make the most sense. Not really even sure if any of them were going to make any sense at all. But she wanted a place to start, and I knew that it was better than nothing. So I shrugged and figured that we might as well check it out. Then if that failed, we can find another place and just do it one place at a time.

"We can check there. If after about ten minutes or so of us looking and we find nothing that would be like what you describe, then we can talk to the people who own that place and then I can get my interview in. That way, we both get what we want out of this. It will sort of be a compromise." I said and then after that, Jenny nodded and then we started to head off.

We were heading over to the hair saloon as she was just telling me which ways I needed to go. I was not really sure where any of this was going to lead us. But I felt like there was some thrill out of this adventure.

We were sort of acting like normal teenagers again. Nothing like the fucking monster fights that we had to deal with on a constant basis. Fuck those. I really had been getting sick and tired of those after a while. Maybe it was better that Garrett told me off from looking into those any further. Or else I may have gotten myself killed by doing that stuff.

I was really starting to realize that none of this was worth it. I really thought that this pursuit of monsters and fighting them all the time was such a pointless hassle that I was surprised that I didn't get myself killed beforehand. Honestly, I should have probably been dead by now. But because I found a way to mess around with fate on a constant basis, that I was able to survive throughout any of these encounters at all. I really should not have been able to survive as long as I have. But I found a way. It was like this was a part of my destiny. Like this was something that was meant to happen to me. I felt strange for thinking in this regard. But at the same time, when you have this type of life heading for you, it was hard not to think this way.

"So Todd, have you ever gone to a hair saloon before? Or have you just gotten your hair cut at home? I am just a bit curious. You know, since we are heading in that direction right now and everything. I thought it would just be interesting to compare between the two of us and everything." Jenny said, and I could tell that she was clearly just trying to find some nice conversation between the two of us.

I thought about it. Not because I didn't know the basis answer. It was because if I wanted to get more into details, I needed to give more information than what I was going to be able to easily give. "Well, I usually get it cut at home. I mean, I only get it cut once every three to four months. But once every couple of years or so, when my parents are just really busy, they just throw me some money for me to do it at the shop. But given how I have not spoken to them literally at all lately, that this is going to be the new norm. Just wake up and see like ten dollars for me to go down there and have a nice day with friends. It is strange, but what can I do about their schedule?" I asked as I myself was wondering if it really was as simple as a schedule.

"I think that they just don't want your looks to be decided by some people who you might have never met in your life. I don't know. Doesn't really make sense to me. But I mean, it is their life style. Nothing I can really do about it besides just say that. I mean, if you decided you needed to get a hair cut soon, I will be more than willing to do it for you. Or at least go down with you to the saloon. If you want to that is. I mean, I think your hair is just fine the way it is. But I don't really get to make the choice for you." Jenny replied and then we were at the saloon already. I didn't realize how much time had passed. Probably had been half an hour or just talking about other topics as well as this one.

Once we were there, I started to look around. I looked under the trash dumpster. I saw what looked like was just a sewer entrance. I didn't really think too much of it. So I didn't even bother going in that direction. Plus, I didn't want to get my clothes wet and dirty and smelling terrible. I mean, as much as I cared about helping Jenny out, I was not really willing to go that fair into it all. Which makes me sound like a terrible human being.

Eventually, I started to look around and saw that there was a small door at the other side of the building. I tried to open the door but it was fucking like sealed shut to the point where I wouldn't be able to open it no matter how hard I tried. After a couple of minutes of that, I was looking to see how Jenny was doing.

I could tell that she was not making much more progress than me. But I could tell that she was thinking things out a bit. She expanded her search area by a little bit, thinking that maybe adding another ten to twenty yards could be able to help her out more. I didn't really know what difference something like that would make. But I thought that maybe if she went one way and I went the other way, then it would be able to help me out there.

I then did just that. I started to expand my search horizon on the other side. I added another ten to twenty yards as well. But in all reality, it was looking like that this extra amount really was not going to do much for us. So I kind of just gave up on that. I was thinking that there was no point in trying to do something that clearly was not working. I started to walk back to Jenny.

Once Jenny seemed like she was giving up on this as well, she walked to me and then she was placing her hand on her chin. I was really digging the pensive look with her wearing that blue glove she always wore. "I thought that there could have been something here. I just guess that I over thought it a little bit. But now I really don't know where to be going now..." Jenny said and then I reminded her of my side of the coin and then after she thought of it a bit, she gave up on it and she decided that she was going to go along with the idea for now. So we walked to the front entrance of the hair saloon and after a moment of thinking about it, we went right inside.

Once inside of the saloon, there was just a younger woman, probably about early twenties just cutting the hair of what looked like a sixteen year old high school student. I didn't think too much of it at the time. I mean, for all I knew, this was just a random guy. Jenny and I waited for another couple of minutes until the hair cut was done and then the guy left the shop. Then the lady looked at us.

"How may I be able to help you today?" She asked with genuine niceness that I didn't even want to ask for a moment.

"My friend and I were going to need to ask you a couple of questions. I was hoping that you would answer me." I said and then I felt like this was still basic and decent enough as to not really come off as being forced. The girl thought about it for a moment and then she nodded. She didn't really see any point in not answering my questions. Even if she felt like she might not know all of the answers, she felt like she can at least try and help me out.

"Well, what is it that you needed help with?" She asked me back and then I went right to the questions.

"This is my friend Jenny. She has said that her mother has been missing for a while. I was wondering if she had said anything to you last time she was here that would indicate where she had gone? Any amount of information would be greatly appreciated. Even if you don't know everything. If you even just know a couple of details, that will really help us out right now." I said and then I could tell from the look on her face that she was thinking about something. As if the very fact that I asked her these fucking questions was such a major deal. I was hoping she wouldn't just reject us in a moments notice. But I was also starting to think that it was quite possible.

"Well, I don't really know all that much. I mean, if your mother is who I think she is, then I can't help you too much. She just kind of comes by and gets the hair cut. From what I understand, she actually talks with other barbers more than she talks to me. Probably thinks that I am too young to really be at this job." I heard her say as she was looking down and I could tell that she was clearly hiding something from us. But I was also thinking that if I pushed this any further, that she might actually start crying. I didn't know why she would and then before I could even think of it more, she continued. "Besides, she will back soon anyways. This really is not all that uncommon of a practice. Unless if you haven't been paying attention to the news."

"What do you mean about the news and if we had been paying attention to it or not?" I asked, wondering if this was the break that I needed in order to make this case so much easier. I needed to know if this was the one thing that I needed to know. Or if there were other details that I had to examine. I then looked at Jenny and I was seeing from the look on her face that she was wanting to get the answers right away. I was hoping that the woman would be able to give us the answers right away.

"Well, on the news, it just seems like there is nothing about the town that gets reported. Seriously, just watch it for a couple of hours someday. When you do, you will see exactly what I am talking about. There is no context to any of the terrible things going on. It is like the people who are owning the news don't really seem to care all that much. That is anything, they find the idea of reporting it to be a bit of a hassle. I think that it will be really hard to not notice once you actually look into it for a bit. I don't dare go into it any more, for my own safety, but I think that this is a detail that I will be able to give to you sort of for free." The girl had told me and I knew for a fact that if I pressed her any further, that she was going to get really sad. She would probably start crying. I didn't get it still. Why she looked like she was on the verge of crying. I then looked at Jenny and I was ready to leave.

"Yeah, it would probably be best for us to head out now." Jenny said, picking up on my signals and then we started to head on out. Once we were outside, I looked at her and was totally confused. "Do you have any idea what she was talking about there?" Jenny asked and then I shrugged.

"I'm no expert on figuring out what you girls are thinking all the time." I said and I wasn't really meaning anything out of it. I didn't really even think that there was anything wrong with me saying that. In fact, I was actually still telling the truth. I could tell though that Jenny had mixed reactions to these statements. On one hand she was looking like she had to accept the fact that I was telling the truth. She also looked like she was annoyed at my terrible sense of humor. She also looked like she was trying to consider this very problem a bit herself. She then looked at me and then she was thinking about where to go next.

"I thought that this surely would have been a good spot to look. But I guess that I was wrong. I was wanting to get this whole thing over with. Just even kind of pretend that this was all one terrible nightmare. But I guess that asking for that was simply too much." Jenny said and then she was thinking even harder. She clearly was tired of this. Anybody with any form of attention span would have been able to figure this out right away.

"I think we just need to walk around for a bit. I don't really know where she would have gone. I mean, I know nothing about your mother. I mean, how else would I have known about her? You have barely told me anything about her. I don't even know her fucking name for fucks sake." I said as I was just holding up my hands as if I was ready to give up. Jenny looked like she was about to yell at me. I stood there, waiting for her to get this over with. I was wanting her to hate me. I was wanting her to yell at me for the stuff that I had been saying. I didn't even know why I was being this way, but it was just how I was at that moment.

But I never got that. In fact all I got out of her was just a simple long silence. As if she was not wanting to say anything. As if the silence in the moment was going to be absolute enough for her to get her emotions across. In a way, it was but I still wanted the words. I needed the words said to me.

"I just need some time to think. Give me a moment to think. When I know what I want to do, I will tell you. Please don't pester me about what I need to do though. I won't really work all that well under pressure." Jenny said and I was thinking about that for a bit. I was thinking that maybe there can be a part of me that was still cruel. That still needed a better understanding of basic emotions. Something that I totally lacked.

Then when we were done with that, I was sighing. "I just wish that I knew how to help better. I just don't. You know, it is just impossible for me to say anything without having it be a comment over the edge. I will never be able to say anything that will actually help you." I said and then I was thinking about how helping her was impossible.

I was letting that sink in. The idea of helping her being impossible was hurting to me. Something I never wanted to think. Something I never should have thought and here I was now indeed having that thought. It made me fucking feel like a useless pile of dirt. It made me feel like I never did anything right. That I was just wasting breath in a way. I hated it. I wanted to do something better. But I didn't know how I can do any better.

I could tell that Jenny was immensely disappointed in the answer that I had given her. Yet there was a part of her deep down that was glad that I was actually telling her the truth. If I had been lying to her, I think that this would have been even worse for her than it was for me to tell her the brutal truth. But then as I had told her this, I was raising my hands up and then I said "I think that I can at least be able to try and get the other members of the group to help you out a bit. If I can get them to work with us to help you out, then I think that a total combined team effort will be able to actually make this whole thing pay off." I said and I was actually starting to believe what I had been saying. I was just hoping that Jenny would have been able to believe in me as well.

I was telling from her look that she was really wanting to believe me. As if her believing in me was going to be the one thing that would have helped kept her sanity. But that her believing in me would have been a bit of a lie. As if her saying this was setting herself up for even more heart break than normal. I was not wanting to consider this. I hated considering this. But I was ready to consider the entire thing now.

"Jenny, just tell me a good place to find her. Just tell me something. Tell me fucking anything, and when you tell me, I can see what I will be able to do to actually help you out. I want nothing more than to fucking help you out." I said and I did mean every word of what I was saying. I meant that I totally had every desire to help her out on any regard. But I was wondering if Jenny was wanting to do this anymore. I can see from the look on her face that she felt like she was pushing her belief just one step too far. One step in the way of just natural unrealism. I hated to see where she was coming from.

But I always had to try and force myself to be logical. "Todd, I just want to have hope. I just wish that we can fucking find her. I just wish that we can actually put this whole fucking dumb ass investigation behind us for good. But I don't think we can get anywhere even fucking close to it. I fucking hate it. Nobody helps me. Nobody wants to help me. Nobody fucking even cares to help me." Jenny said and then I was getting kind of annoyed that she had told me this. I was wanting to help her, and her saying this sort of pissed me off a bit.

"Jenny, I do want to help you. It is only when you say that I don't care to help you that I get pissed off. I mean, I get it. You are in a tough place. You are in a place where it looks like nobody will believe in you. But I do fucking believe in you. That is why I want to help you. There is something about this town that just gives me the wrong vibes. I just don't get it. There is something ever since I moved here that gave me a bit of a strange vibe. Even beyond the monsters. I really like this place. This is a great town. But come on, you would have to be fucking retarded in order to not see that there is something clearly going on right now." I said and then I was wondering what Jenny would try to say to me.

"I think that there is just nothing that you can even fix. Everything and anything that is wrong with this town is just too much for you to take care of. I think that you are just too young to actually make any real difference. There is nothing wrong with you not being able to take care of something on your own. In fact, that is perfectly reasonable and actually realistic for you to admit for. You just need to relax. You need to let the police take care of the issue for you." Jenny said and I was wondering if she was trying to convince me or if she was trying to convince herself. I think it was a little bit of both.

"Just because I can't do something on my own doesn't mean that I shouldn't at least fucking try Jenny. Please, let's just continue looking." I said and then we were walking along and I was looking around to see what everybody was thinking when they were seeing us pass by and just possibly listening to us a little bit.

"I don't really want you to do something that you will end up regretting doing. I know that you said that you want to help me out. But there comes a line that no matter what happens, I will never want you to pass. I care about seeing your over all health and success too much to see you do something that you will end up regretting doing.

We were eventually reaching the area that looked like the movie teather. I was not really sure why we were here. It wasn't like it really mattered all that much. I then thought that if there was any place that can really help us, it was going to be this one.

I then was placing my right hand on my chin and I was rubbing it a bit. I was looking at Jenny and she was seeing that I wanted to find something here. She was thinking that it was a better place than some in order to start the search. So she was willing to go along with it if I was actually certain that I can help her out here.

I was wandering around the parking lot and I was well aware of the fact that I probably looked fucking stupid to most people in the area. But in all reality, I didn't give a fuck what people were thinking of me. I was wanting to do this job. I was thinking that Jenny was going to get her first real clue here. Jenny then saw that there was something that looked like a giant bump right at the side of the building. She was waving her hand forward for me to get to her. I was looking at her for a couple of seconds in some for confusion on what she was trying to show me. Then I rolled my eyes thinking that this better have been worth it. Once I had done my eye roll, I was ready to be proven right or wrong about my theory that this was a terrible idea.

Eventually, when I was next to her, she was showing me what she had seen. At first I wasn't really sure what to think. I saw that there was something that looked like a door for us to go down. I placed my hand on the door handle and then I was grabbing at it for a while. I was really trying my hardest to open this thing up.

I was getting a little bit annoyed over how hard this fucking thing was to open. I then stood up and let Jenny have her turn to try and open it. She placed her hands on there and then she was pulling a little bit harder than I was. When I was done, she looked right at me and she was showing a little bit of her annoyance at the situation. "I know, I have no real fucking clue why any of these places are so hard to fucking open. Maybe if we both went at it together."

As I had said that, I saw that Jenny was considering this a bit. Then she nodded and then she placed her hand on the handle and I did the exact same thing. I was pulling a bit harder, and as I was pulling harder, we were starting to make a tiny bit of a budge. The budge was enough to make it move up a fraction of an inch. But then after a while, we saw that we were making no real actual progress, so we just gave up on it after a while. "God damn, I have no idea..."

Jenny was just as confused as I was. She was wondering what the whole point to this was. She was wondering why there was such a need to rust these doors so badly that nobody could actually be able to go down there. She looked at me and then I shrugged. I then was trying to look down to see if I can see something through a small crack.

I was trying my absolute best to see through there, but no matter how hard I was actually trying, the more that I was seeing that it was just not going to fucking work. I then looked at Jenny and then I shook my head. "I don't really think that this is going to work. I was kind of hoping that it would have been opened up a bit in order for me to see through there. But I guess that this is not going to work. Might as well just give up on this area entirely." I said and then I had started to walk away from the area. I was seeing that Jenny was looking at me in the distance. She was thinking that I was not wanting anything to do with her anymore. There was a level of truth to what she was thinking. But I didn't want to be a total fucking dick about it.

Every time that I was thinking about what I wanted to do that day besides just looking for lost people, I was thinking more and more that I was just being selfish. I wanted to hurt myself for my thoughts. I wanted to punish myself for even trying to think that looking for Jenny's mother was not worth it. It was worth it. There was no way I can even try and pretend that this wasn't worth it. But there was nothing that I could do about it now.

Jenny was just getting further and further away from me. The further that I was getting away from her, the more that I was starting to get a little bit happy that I didn't have to do this search anymore. But there was a bit of me that was getting more and more selfish for doing this. So there was nothing that I would be able to do about it.

The more that I was doing this, the more that I was thinking that Jenny didn't need me. The more that I was thinking that me being by Jenny's side was actually going to be more of a problem than anything else. I felt like her actually having me around was going to be a liability. I was tired of being treated like one. I was tired of being one. In all, I was just simply fucking tired of the entire situation and I felt like people deserved better than me. People were nice to me and acted like I was a fine guy. But I knew for a fact that I really was not a fine guy. I was a guy who had not really done anything good for the people here, so there was nothing good to be saying about me.

As I was getting away from Jenny, I was thinking about how it was better for her to investigate this on her own. I was thinking that I was doing her a favor. I was thinking about how I had not done a single thing in this investigation that actually was going to help her out. I mean, what about me just yelling at her a bunch was going to help her out. I was starting to think that maybe me hanging out with her was something that I didn't deserve. I know that sounds a bit of an exaggerated statement, but who the fuck cares anymore.

I then sat down at a bench. As I was sitting down at the bench, I placed my hands on my face. I was not crying. Nowhere even remotely close to it. I was just taking the moment to think about what was happening. I was thinking about how these were all a bunch of big mistakes. I then thought that I had done better to help out Kevin here than I had done to help out Jenny. Not that this was a really huge bar for me to over come.

After about two minutes or so of me staying there, I then looked forward and I was looking around to see what people were thinking of me doing this. I must have looked like a fucking idiot doing this. I just didn't really know what they were thinking of me. Should I really care what a bunch of random people I was never going to meet actually think of me? I don't really think that I should care at all. I mean, like I said, I was never going to meet them.

I was then breathing hard. Nothing that I was saying actually fucking made any sense. None of this was usually the way that I would think on a normal basis. I was thinking that I needed to get out of my depressed mood and state. So then when I was telling myself that it was time to get over it, I then quickly nodded and then I stood up. As I was standing up, I started to walk down the street a bit. Thinking that it was going to be nice to just do a casual stroll around at the very least.

The more that I was doing this walk around, the more that I was thinking that maybe I should try and see Jenny again. See if perhaps she can give me a second chance. See if she can be able to forgive me for the way that I was acting around her. I was thinking that I was feeling like a fucking asshole for doing this. When I tell her this and I show her that I was truly sorry for this whole thing, then I feel like she would be more willing to forgive me for the way that I was acting.

I was also considering the idea of just trying to hang out with Kevin more. I then was thinking that I had still had set myself up with Jenny. I really liked Jenny. So this whole thing going on with me right now as a giant conflicting feeling. But this whole thing was just hard for me to wrap my mind around. Then when I was done considering the idea of hanging with Kevin, I was thinking at the side walk. I was thinking about my couple of options.

If I decided to go back to Jenny, I can try and clear things up. I could try and make her understand how sorry I was. I was thinking that this was the obvious option. But there was a part of me that thought that I would be able to just go home and then stop causing any trouble that way. Jenny didn't have to deal with me anymore. Nobody would have to deal with me anymore. I was thinking that maybe this was the thing that I could do.

But then I was thinking that I needed to go to find Jenny even if it was hard for me to. I felt like the idea of her going missing was going to really break me down. When I thought about how much I was going to break down, and how much her being gone would affect me, I decided that I was going to go right back to the area I had left her out last. I was then running as fast as I possibly could in order to get to her in a decent speed.

I eventually reached the area where she was before once again. I was trying to piece it all together. I was disgusted at myself. I was disgusted at the failure of a man I was slowly becoming. I had made a bunch of mistakes. But nothing I can do would make me feel like it was remotely able to justify the mistakes that I had made. Before I was ready to give up on any of this, I then looked forward and then when I was looking forward, I saw something that scared the living shit out of me.

I saw that her blue glove was on the ground. How the hell did I not notice this any earlier? I felt like I was a dumb ass for doing this. I then grabbed the glove and then I placed it in my pocket. I was going to use this in order to try and find where she was. I was going to see if she was fine and if she was, give it back and apologize. But then if I don't find her that easily, I was going to take the search to a city wide level. Maybe not for her mother. But for her at least.

I then was walking along as fast as I could. The faster that I was walking, the more that with every single seconds, I was getting more and more worried about what the hell I was doing. I was more worried about if she was going to be saved or not. I was thinking that this was one thing I needed to do alone. One thing I needed to do alone to redeem myself for my actions.

Now I was stuck in a spot of trying to figure out where Jenny would have possibly gone. I had no idea, and there was nothing about what was going on that would have been able to even slightly indicate a road for me to take in order to figure out finding her. I then was thinking that I just needed to try hard to remember places that I had gone with Jenny back in the day. The first place of which was a place I had not wanted to ever really go back to, but was now finding myself in a spot where I had felt like I had indeed needed to go to. The place where Devon was designing those androids. I had only been there twice, and both times that I had gone there, I hated every minute of it. The place just simply scared the shit out of me.

But I knew for a fact that if I wanted to make sure that Jenny was fine, and that nothing had happened to her, that I needed to go on and at least give the place a look. So I started to head down the path that I did not want to in a million years head down. I was starting down the path of reaching the worst place in all of Wayside. Or at least at the time I thought it was the worst place in all of Wayside. How little I knew when I had made that decision in my mind that I was going to be forced to change my mind relatively quickly.

Eventually, I was thinking to myself that it couldn't really be all that bad. I thought that maybe it was going to be a bit annoying to go down there, but that I have already done much worse in my time at Wayside and that I just needed to take it easy. I needed to just think about what it was going to be like when I would indeed find her. How great that was going to be for me.

I was also thinking about how the school would feel if they saw Jenny was not at school. If it was just one or two days, they would assume that she was sick. I think however, starting the third day, they would begin to wonder what the hell was going on with her. They would surely think that something was going on. And when that happens, I knew that I needed to be on the look out and I needed to resume the vigor of my search. Not that I was going to give up on the first and second day. I just would probably not spend the entire day on it if you get what I mean.

Eventually, I had reached what was looking like would be the proper path way to being where Devon had worked. As I was starting down that path, the more worried I would get. I had a feeling Devon was going to try and use me for some form of experiment. That he was going to use me as a way to create more androids. That scared me. I didn't even want to consider the idea of an android being made off of me. Yet knowing the insanity of this town, and everything that has been going on here, I was forced into a spot where I did indeed believe it at least a little bit. Enough to where I did have to indeed consider it a valid option above anything else.

Once I had gotten used to this being something that I had to consider, I was thinking about running back and just pretending that none of this ever happened. But then I was telling myself that I had already started down this path. That I could not just pretend that I had not been up in the open about it before. Then when I was telling myself that it would not be all that hard to just pop in for a few minutes, I willed myself to go through with it.

I got inside of the pyramid like building and I saw that Devon was sitting down in his same chair right in the center of everything. I was wondering why he had placed the chair right there. It just honestly seemed really random in my opinion. Then I was thinking that since he was talking to somebody already, that maybe I could just use this as a chance to head out and act like I was never here.

"You see, I have been making them at faster rates. I know that the demand for them has increased. People who want children. People who want fighters in war. I get that. But here is the thing, the police are now on us. Besides, there is always the labyrinth working. That has been doing a good job helping us out where we have started to lose a bit of our footing in the project. Besides, the boss has got to consider that. He has got to consider the fact that the funds I have are running out. I can't do this job forever if I don't have money." Devon said and then he took a deep breath. He was staring at the person above him who was looking down at the sitting man.

"We can always just burn this place down and start all over. We don't really need you all that much. Your knowledge and memories are getting a bit repetitive and archaic." The guy who Devon was talking to said and then Devon held out his hands in annoyance.

"Well you see the deal is if you would let me hire some people, I can use their memories. It is not my fault that I am aging. Just fucking blame biology on that one. Besides, the thing is that I already have made a large amount of investments in this. Don't throw me off because I am simply fucking getting old. That is beyond fucked up." Devon said and then he was holding out his left hand still. The guy was just staring down at Devon.

"The boss wants more models. You have been spending a lot of time on this models already." The guy said and then Devon stood up finally from his chair. He was looking at the man eye to eye and I could tell that this was the sign that Devon was not wanting to be fucked with anymore. Devon stared at them for a while and let the silence grow eternal in the metaphorical sense before he decided that he wanted to continue talking.

"Listen here, I will not let this company be compromised because you want more products. Quality over quantity is more important. If you do not feel that way, or your boss tries and insist that this is wrong, then he needs to grow his standards. But I have already said this once and I will say it again... I will not change my style and my methods for you. You need to give up on that idea right now. If the boss fires me, then go ahead. I can do the job on my own." Devon said I was wondering who this boss was. I was honestly sure that Devon was the one who led this whole thing. Then here I am, learning that there was indeed somebody even higher than him on the chain in command.

"And besides, like I said, there is already the labyrinth. Shouldn't that be giving you guys a fucking fortune as it is? I mean, look at all of the people who are making money off of this. I mean, look at all of the people who are happy with the results of that place." Devon said and then after he said that, the man he was talking with just remained silent. Devon thought that he was finally getting in a spot where he might be able to win this whole debate after all. He was thinking that he really could convince him to stand down and let him get back to the job.

"Fine, I will try and tell the boss what you think. He will not be very happy though. He will think that you are being a fraud right now." The guy said and then Devon shook his head. The next thing he said was really going to increase the chance of him losing his job.

"If anybody in the business is a fraud, it is him. He is the only one that is a fraud. He doesn't understand the business. He doesn't understand the workings of the business. I don't care for the opinion of a man who knows nothing about how to properly finance his own organization." Devon said and then the man was just staring blankly at Devon before they started to walk off. Once the person was leaving, I was standing there utterly shocked at every single thing that I had just learned at that moment. But before I can consider this for too long, I then walked up to Devon and I was ready to talk to him about what was going on.

I was right behind him before I was even able to get the balls to talk to him. "Hey Devon, I know that you probably don't want to see me right now... But I think that I need your help at the moment..." I said and then Devon looked over and he was staring at me intently. As if he was waiting for what I wanted to say. I was then thinking about the best way to start. I mean, I didn't really trust the guy and he was well aware of this fact. So I needed to talk in a way that would at least pretend to indicate that I was over those 'petty' thoughts that I was having.

"Well I have a friend who had gone missing just earlier today..." I said not even fully sure that she was missing. But I thought that there was a pretty good chance that she had been the more I thought about her mother and everything. "I was wondering if you can help me out. She was that Jenny girl who I was hanging with earlier. I think you might remember her... The girl that I was hanging out with the first time that we had ever met." I said and I was just hoping that the whole thing would jog up his memory a bit. But he as staring at me as if wondering when I was going to get to the point. He clearly did not care what I was telling him. But I needed to find a way to make him care.

"I think she was a big fan of your work. She had seemed mostly impressed by it from the things that she did see. I think that maybe the two of you can talk about your business." I said, not even remembering if she had or not. I just needed to get the guy to not look at me like I was a dumb ass.

"Look, I am sorry that this happened to your friend. But the thing is, I am very busy right now. I can't focus on that right now. Maybe some other time, I might help you out. But I am in the middle of a bunch of bad business... Nothing that you would understand."

After Devon told me this, I was thinking that maybe there was actually a small chance I might actually understand this whole entire thing. I was thinking that if he had let me talk about my family for a couple of minutes, then perhaps he might actually be more open to the idea of talking to me. I just needed to get him to believe in me. "Well, when I would talk to my parents back in the day, they would tell me about the business that they would do. Simple stuff really. But they were always talking about their stocks and how much they were making or losing as a result of these stocks. I think I might have a little bit of an idea what you are dealing with."

Devon shook his head and he was looking like it was kind of lame that this was the best that I could do. "Look, if this whole thing was just about money, I would not feel like I would be anywhere close to losing sleep over this whole thing. Trust me, I have dealt with losing money all the damn time. The thing is much beyond that. Nothing that you could understand even if you had tried to. But please Todd, I really don't want to deal with any of this right now. So please don't try and act like you are some form of magic fucking magician who can solve all of my fucking problems. Because guess what, you fucking are not."

"You know, I was just trying to be helpful. I thought that maybe you would have appreciated the offer that I made a little bit more. Not just shot me down. I was trying to be nice to you. I was trying to work with you. I thought that maybe we can pull something off here. But no. You do this. You give me such a huge feeling of 'I am better than you' and you just walk all over everything I say." I gave a short rant and then Devon looked at me as if he was wondering when I was done.

"You are a seventh grade student at the strangest school in the history of any school ever. You really think that I am going to be hugely worried about your opinion on a matter? In all reality, I will not be. I will not care. You can cuss me out all you want. But when I tell you that I want nothing to do with your random retarded adventures, you better fucking believe that I am telling you the truth. Now for fucks sake, get out of my business. Leave me alone, and just let me get back to work." Devon was seeming as if he was truly on the 'this is final' stage of this whole thing and then I nodded.

"Well maybe your business can go to hell. Never thought that it was a good idea in the first place." I said and then I started walking away from the scene.

Devon placed his hands on his face and then he rubbed his eyes again for a brief moment. He really was getting fatigued. He could feel the tiredness getting onto him. He felt like he needed to sleep. But he knew that he had several hours of work against him coming up soon. So he stood up and walked around for a bit to let his now stiff legs get a little bit of exercise. He didn't even realize how long he had been sitting on his fucking ass until he felt the stiffness come in.

Once I was outside, I was thinking about how much I was really starting to dislike the guy. I was thinking about how much he would deserve it if his business was actually shut down. Then I was thinking about how much it would have meant to me if he had actually helped me out. Something he did not even try to do. Would giving me even a small hint actually have been all that bad of an idea? Would giving me even one idea of what the fuck was going on be all that awful? Was it really just something he wasn't allowed to do? Just giving one one fucking indicator. I felt like I deserved something like that and it was taken away from me.

I then wanted to punch the guy right in the face. I wanted to destroy his androids. I felt like if he wouldn't help us, why in the fuck would I be the one to help him out? It seemed like it would be counter productive and I wanted him to see the problems of him ignoring my help. My need of help that is.

The more that I was thinking about it, the more that this guy was just pissing me off. I do understand that he was having a hard time in his job. It was not hard to get that. But seriously, not even fucking one indicator of wanting to help? Not even that. He could have fucking given me this, and he didn't... I just don't fucking get him. I just don't fucking get where he thinks he is coming from.

And the more that I was thinking about it, the more that I was growing to despise the whole idea of a android business. Why the fuck was he trying to play god? Why the fuck did he think that playing god was a great idea? I just didn't fucking get it. He felt like he was good enough to basically create humans and these humans working for him as if they were his fucking slaves. That much have been the only thing that he was thinking of them as. Not even something like his own children in the loosest of senses. At least that would have made it feel like he did care a little bit. At least that would have made it feel like there was some form of investment that he was getting here. But I didn't think he had even that.

But as that was happening, I decided that I would give Jenny's house another go. Maybe she really was just there and that I had pissed her off way too much for her to even want to look at me anymore. I didn't know how to deliver the apology though if that was the case. Maybe just a simple sorry and then leaving can suffice there.

As I was walking to Jenny's house, I was thinking to myself about a interesting what if case. I was thinking on what would be worse to do. You know, if you did something that you don't feel sorry for and don't regret it. Would it be worse to not apologize at all when you don't mean it, therefore showing that while you may be an asshole, at least you are still showing that you are being truthful to what you believe in, or apologizing and actually fucking lying about it? I think that in all honesty, it was worse to just apologize and not mean it over not doing it at all. At least when you are not doing it at all, you might get people to be pissed off at you and think that you are being a really shitty person, but at least you are showing them how you truly feel. I think that as a result, this may be the better out come. I would rather just not say I am sorry when I don't mean it and have them live with that fact, then say I was sorry and be lying through my teeth. I just don't really get why there is a need to say a emotionless word. I mean, when you apologize that is to suggest that you are going to at least try and change it later. That you really do want to change it. But when you don't say it, and you just show the fact that you have no desire to show even a fake amount of remorse, then at least there is still one bit of truth left in you. I mean, there is no point in saying sorry when you don't have any plans to change. I mean, that is almost being even worse than any of the other things. Then not only are you saying that you are sorry when you are not, which is already a lie, but then you are lying about the idea of actually wanting to change about the idea of actually caring, then you are just being a fucking asshole. Plain and simple you are being a fucking asshole. So at the end of the day, and this is entirely just what I think about the whole matter, and what I think one should do when they are confronted with this type of thing, is to just plain and simple keep it to themselves. Let there be the tension that might get set up with the fact that you don't mean it, but once that is over with, they have to have moved on eventually. There is no way that they will be angry at you forever. They will eventually just let it go. They will eventually just realize that it was one bad deed you had, and then they will sooner or later see that it was wrong for them to have these high standards of you right from the start of the whole thing.

That turned out to be a much longer thought set than I had ever thought it would have been. I just really had been getting lost on these thoughts, and thinking about all of the different levels that came along with it. I felt like there needed to be something to always consider about these types of things.

Eventually, I did reach the front entrance of Jenny's house and I knew that neither side of the debate mattered right now since if I was given the chance to say sorry, I did really mean it. There was nothing that I felt like would have been lying when I would talk to her. But I didn't get that chance. At least not then.

Instead, I was seeing what must have been Jenny's father standing there. He looked like he could not have cared less that I was here. In fact, he was looking like me being here was actually being more of a burden than anything else. "Hey, are you one of Jenny's friends?" Her father asked and then I nodded.

"I was wondering if she has come by recently. I kind of need to talk to her. You know, about just things between us. I feel like I just need a couple of minutes with her." I said, and I was trying to be as nice as I could about it. But I could see from the look on his face that he literally gave zero fucks.

"I have not seen her lately. Probably is hanging out with one of her friends. Honestly, you think I keep a track on what my fucking daughter is doing? She is old enough to do things on her own. Seriously. As long as she comes home tonight, I don't give a shit what she does in the day time." Jenny's father said and then he slammed the door on me. He must have really been a nice guy when there were guests over.

That wasn't fucking annoying at all. Now I see that she has a father who doesn't even remotely care what she does in the day time. He even fucking said so. I then placed my skate board down on the ground and then started to skate a bit. I was doing it partially to relieve myself and partially to make the tracking faster. I kept forgetting that I had it. I had no idea why I would forget about this all the time. What was even the point in having the board if I rarely ever used it?

I skated for a few minutes as a casual level before I felt like it was time for me to get serious about trying to find her yet again. I then thought that with her roller skates, that maybe she was out down at the skating park. I laughed for not thinking about that earlier and then I started to head on down there as fast as I could.

I eventually reached the skating park about ten minutes later. But once there, I saw that nobody else was around. Not even fucking Jenny. Now I was starting to get a bit more worried. I was starting to think that maybe there really was something that I was missing. I just couldn't fucking figure out what in the hell it was.

I sat down for a bit, and then I was thinking as hard as I could think when I was having this annoying urge to scream and die fulfilling most every thought I had. I thought about the stuff that Devon was talking about earlier. I thought that maybe that stuff might give me a clue to figure out where she may have been. If I could just remember it all.

He mentioned something like a place called the labyrinth. It was a strange name, to be sure. But I thought that maybe this can be the place that I can go and explore. I thought that maybe I just needed to find a really fucking illusive ass place named the labyrinth.

I just didn't know at all where I can start that would actually feel like it was going to help me out. But then I got back on my board and was thinking that if for nothing else, this can give me a good chance to get up and go around a bit. So I started to skate around a bit.

Maybe if I had asked the town library about the place, they would be able to help give me some hints on what to say. After all, that was a large beacon of information that if used correctly, I could be able to actually use to help me figure out what the hell was going on here. So with that, I was heading there as fast as I could. I didn't think Jenny would go there, but I thought that maybe she would have a greater chance of being found if I used it.

I skated for about forty minutes or so until I reached the library. Once I was there, I got off the board and then I went right inside. Once inside, I was looking around and I was just trying to figure out what section could really help me out. I was thinking that I should have thought that one out a bit better. Then I wanted to hit myself for my stupidity. Then I just walked up to the librarian.

"Hey, I was wondering if you had any books or articles about this place called the labyrinth. I heard about it earlier and was wondering if you would be able to help point me in the right direction of getting me some information relating to it." I said and then the librarian looked at me as if wondering what business I had about figuring that place out. She then shrugged and then looked at me right in the face as if she was going to try and make this interaction as clear as day.

"Listen here, you are young. You are supposed to be out there hanging out with friends. You have no real reason to actually do anything right now related to library reading. Plus, do not go on and actually look into these things related to the labyrinth. It is a thing of the past of this town that many people are not proud of. We do not want you to bring back the whole debate again. In all reality, it is not really even any of your fucking business what went on down there." The librarian said and then I had to think about this for a bit and I was wondering if I can actually find a way to get her to let me look into this stuff and not have her think that I was trying anything too deeply into this.

"Well, I need it for a school project. I was going to do a report on this place. When I heard about it, I thought that I needed to do a report on it. Please, I need to go and get some information about this." I said and then after I had told her this, the librarian was just looking right at me. She was thinking that I was lying through my teeth. I could tell that she had not believed a single word of what I was saying. "Listen, if you do not let me read this stuff, then a lot of stuff going on in my school would get fucked up. Can you please just let me have one book about this information? One article. Is that really too much to ask for?" I asked and then afterwards, I could tell that I was slowly winning in her eyes. I could see from the smile that she was going to let me get something after all.

"Fine, I will give you one article about it. Nobody even gets these articles at all. So you might as well keep it. Don't tell a single person of what you are going to read. This is going to just be information relating to your school life." I could see her face showing to me that this was not going to be negotiated. I then nodded to show that this was totally what I was going to do with this.

The librarian left the room for a couple of minutes. I was thinking about what she was doing, and what I was going to do once I actually had the information. I was thinking that I was going to get in a lot of trouble if I had shown this information to anybody else. Then when I had waited for a couple of minutes, I saw her walking back and I could see from the look on her smile that this was just a whole big ruse against me.

I saw her bring the paper down to me and then she shook her head. "Thank you for helping me right now." I said and then I walked away and then after I walked away from the library, I was starting to think that I might have been played this entire time. That indeed her doing this was actually going to fuck me up and help out the people who were related to the labyrinth. I was starting to think that she was showing me this one article to confuse me. Despite this, I knew for a fact that this was better than nothing. I was not going to let her win against me.

I walked down to the normal park. Not the skate park, just the regular park. I skated all the way to the park, and then when I was at the park, I sat down on a bench. Then I opened up the article, I was reading what was on it to see what the actual material was going to be in order to help me out and everything. I then started to realize that from the reading that none of this was actually going to really help me out at all.

I saw that the article was just a giant mess. The article was just a bunch of material relating to a under ground place that looked like a prison. That there used to be people down there for several years and that the place finally got cleared up in the nineteen twenties. The article, which came out in later 1948, was saying that for the first time in about twenty or so years, the place was going to be open to have people tour it. I thought that this was kind of a boring read, and I figured that this was just not going to help me out.

I then sighed in annoyance. I was annoyed that she must have given me this one article. A really unhelpful article. This must have been on purpose. I then stood up and then I crumbled the paper up and threw it away. I then shook my head and started to skate around a bit. I was just mainly doing it now just to get my mind off of what was going on.

I was wondering if it was possible at all for me to actually find my fucking friend Jenny. I was starting to think that there was no fucking way that I was going to find her. I wished that I could have been able to find her. But I just didn't think that it was even possible. But then when I was starting to think that I just needed a bit of a break before I did anything else.

I then was down at the exact same spot in which we had started our hang out. The tree in which I was staying under that Dana had showed me. I was thinking that I just needed to think things out a bit when I was down there. I then stared forward ahead a little bit. I was thinking about everything and I was thinking about how it was not really going to work to even be trying this anymore. But then eventually when I thought about this a little bit more, I started to look around a bit more. I thought that maybe I actually had a chance of finding out where I can find Jenny. I had a terrible feeling that the answer was right here all along, and that I just needed to look a little bit harder in the one obvious area in the entire world to have looked.

I started to get more convinced that the place that I needed to be was at the fucking school. I just needed to find where in the school it was. Then I saw that there was a giant set of bushes. I then walked right to the bushes. As I was right in front of the bushes, I then started to mess around with them a little bit again.

I then started to move the bushes around as much as I possibly could. I then saw that under the bushes, I saw that there was a small door. I then gulped as hard as I possibly could. I then opened the door up and then I saw that there was a deep drop down there. I knew that if I went down there, I was probably not going to be able to get out since I was too short. I then thought about it a little bit. I thought about wanting to go down there and see if Jenny was safe down here and everything.

I then started to realize after a few seconds of staring down there that I might figure out the answers of the labyrinth down there. I then started to go down there. I looked around a little bit, and saw that there was something that looked like hundreds of cells. I then saw that there was one girl wandering around about a hundred feet or so ahead of me. I then started to look forward a bit and saw that this was Jenny.

I ran right towards Jenny and then I placed my hand on her shoulder and then she looked right at me shocked. She was shocked to see me there. She was trying to decide if she had believed the fact that I was here for not. Then she shook her head and then she said "There is no way that you can be Todd."

"Jenny, it is me. What the hell are you doing down here? We need to get the fuck out of here." I said and I was needing her to listen to me. I could tell from the look on her face that she was having a hard time with all of this. "I get that you need to find your mother. But this is not going to help. I feel like we are in danger just by being down here. Let's get the fuck out of here." I said and I was starting to get more and more firm with what I said and then I saw Jenny starting to reluctantly agree with me.

"There is something about this place that just gives me the feeling of pure fucking evil. I think that if we are going to be here, then we are going to be in danger of getting arrested. Or even worse, maybe even actually fucking die. If we died, I would really not be shocked over what I was actually around." I said and then I was grabbing Jenny really hard by her hand. I could tell that Jenny was shocked over the force that I was starting to apply to this. She was wondering why I was thinking that she would actually be on my side if I was being this aggressive. But then she started to follow me. She was not really wanting to do it. She in fact hated to do this. But she knew that she needed to do this. That she needed to fail her mother once again. Which was something that made her fucking disgusted. The fact that any chance she had of finding her mother down there was going to fail.

I brought her back to where I had come down. I still saw it since I didn't fully close the door, and there was a small amount of light there. I placed my feet down about two feet above the air. I told Jenny that she needed to get on my foot and then move herself up to the surface again. Jenny knew that I was right and she started to move herself up. I then looked around and was seeing that nobody had been actually seeing what I had been doing. I was glad that nobody was seeing what I was doing. I was glad that nobody was following us. I was glad that there was nobody who was actually going to fucking attack us. Eventually, Jenny got herself outside and then I saw her bring her hand down for me. I grabbed her hand and then she helped pull me up to the outside.

Once we were outside, I slammed the door shut and then I looked right at Jenny. "What the fuck was any of that? Oh my fucking god, that was too much..." I said and I had hated every single second that I was down there, and there was no way to other wise place it.

Then with that, we were just looking at each other for a moment. "So Todd, thank you for saving me down there. If you had not, I would not known what would have happened to me." Jenny said and I could tell that she was having a hard time admitting this. I waved my hand around to try and act like it was no big deal.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were fucking safe. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't care about you." I said and that made me sound like a massive fucking asshole. But I told myself not to worry all that much about it.

As I was telling myself not to think too much on it, and that Jenny would get what I was saying, I could tell that we were all thinking about different things. By we were all thinking, I had actually meant that she and I. You know, since we were the only ones there and everything... But you must have gotten what I had meant by that. Anyways, I was wondering on how I can get Jenny in the mood to have more conversations with me. Or if she was just simply out of it by now. I was fearing that she had started to want nothing to do with me anymore. I was thinking that I was starting to get closer and closer to the end of the hang out for today. Not the end of our friendship, I think that might be taking it too far. Just the end of hanging out today. Which I guess was something I sort of had to be prepared for.

"Todd, I am just scared. All the things that I have seen lately. These things have just been scaring me lately. I think that I am going to get killed or something. For something that really is not at all even my fault at all. Nothing that I really had any power in at all. I just wished that people were not so cruel. I just wished that people would have had some compassion to them. I have no idea what was going on in there, but what I did feel in there was nothing remotely close to actual passion. Nothing close to actual feelings." Jenny said and then I was starting to think that I understood what she had meant here.

"I felt like there was something there as well. I didn't really know how to describe it. In fact, I thought that it would have honestly been impossible to describe. But I think that you are getting it quite right now. I think that you understand exactly what it was like." I said and then I placed my hand in my pocket and then I showed her the blue glove she had dropped.

"I saw that you had dropped this before you left. I was wanting to give it back to you. I really think that it suits you quite well..." I said and then I was waiting for her to grab it. Eventually, she grabbed it and then I smiled as she started to place the glove back on. Then before I could even process what was going on, she had hugged me.

It was a hug of friendship. Nothing more beyond that. There was nothing that would even suggest that it was more than this. But still, having her hug me like this was still enough to make me feel happy. I started to blush, and then I was thinking about how much I was going to miss this hug even though it wasn't even one out of romance. I was telling myself to let the moment stay for as long as possible.

"You have always been there for us. Thank you for being there for me Todd. I never thought that there would be somebody who would actually care about what happened to my parents. I thought that you would have shown some sadnesss, or some compassion for a brief moment and then the next time that you would see me, you would act like you did not really care at all anymore. That was what had scared me more than anything. But to know that you were not that type of guy, it makes me feel much better. In fact, it makes me feel like there is somebody that actually cares about me now. I would never forget what you did for me today." Jenny said and then she had let go after she was done with her talk and then she was looking at me to see what my reaction had been.

"Well you know, I just wanted to do the best I could. I said that I was going to do my best. And I did do my best. And while I didn't find your mother, I think I do know where she might be. I think that this will give me a clear idea of where I am supposed to go in order to find her..." I said and then after I had told her this, Jenny was just excited to see that I was no liar.

"I just never knew what your best would have been. I just thought that your best would have been just providing some basic support for me, and that this would have been just it. I mean, I knew that you were a good guy, but I didn't really think that there was actually anything you could have done in order to actually save her." Jenny said and then after she had said that, we were looking forward and then I was wondering what to do now.

After we were done with that, I was looking forward. "How about we just forget this whole thing about your mom for a little bit? I think we should go back to it later. But for now, I think we need to just relax and just go pretend that none of this ever happened." I said and then after I had suggested this idea to Jenny, she thought about it for a couple of seconds and then she nodded.

"I think that maybe I can just use a hour or two to just forget about this stuff." Jenny said and then after she had said this, we started to head on down to the skate park. She was watching as I was lightly skating on my way towards there. As we were on our way there, I was thinking about how I was going to get Jenny to respect what I can do to save her mother. Maybe if I had gone down there, and then found her mother and then got her mother out, then I could save her that way.

If I could have been able to save her this way, then I think that perhaps Jenny would have been able to be so impressed by me that way even if she didn't want to like me, then she would grow to like me that way. I mean, I liked her well very much. And I knew from the one time when she had declared me as great looking, that she had liked me. I don't know if her liking me still held up after all of this time. After what I had to deal with today. But if she didn't then I can do my best to be able to get her to like me again. I think that it would been extremely exciting if I was able to get her to like me again. I just wanted to have her like me again. I don't even know if she had not liked me. God damn it, I don't even know why I was still thinking so much about this.

"Jenny, I was wondering, and I know that it sounds insane that I am asking this right now considering what happened earlier, but do you still like me? I know that you used to like me. And that you thought that I was this really great guy. But I was just wondering if you had still felt that way about me now." I said and then after I asked her that, Jenny was looking at me and I could tell that she was shocked that I was asking her this question. Shocked that she had thought I needed to ask her this question at all.

"I think I do still like you. I mean, you have proven to be very loyal. You have helped me out more than I could have ever imagined somebody to do it." Jenny said and then I was wondering if she was going to drop a bomb on me or not.

"I don't know though if I am going to try and impress you enough to want to date me. I mean, you are dating fucking Dana and everything. I am not going to steal Dana's thunder. If I did that, I would never be able to forgive myself. I think that you shouldn't really think too much about it Todd. Just look at me as a friend. A friend who will never be able to show how she really feels to you..." Jenny said and then I smiled. I felt like it was better than nothing.

"Yeah, I guess that I can go along with that. I think that I can just act like you are just a friend. And nothing really more. I will still know that you like me and everything. But I will do my best to hide the fact that I know this in order to avoid any problems with people in the future. So I guess that this is how we are going to see each other." I said, taking a deep breath.

"Todd, what made you date Dana so fast after you came here anyways? You were starting to date her when you were only here for two weeks. That is really fast actually. I thought that you would have waited maybe a month or two before you jumped to do something like this. I mean, I know that it really is none of my fucking business, but I just can't help but be curious." Jenny told me and then I didn't really know what to think about it. I think in the end, the answer was really something simple. But something that was a little bit silly in all honesty.

"I just liked how she was nice to me right from the start. She gave me real respect. She treated me like a real guy. I really respected her for this. I respected how there wasn't somebody who just made fun of my opinion. I was happy to know that she had taken the stuff I thought, the fears I had, and actually showed that she cared enough to try and help me through it all. I think that this was the real reason I was able to take such a liking to her right away. Besides, when she had kissed me, I thought that it was game over. I couldn't think at all beyond that moment. She had showed her love to me, and I just went along with it." I said and then after I had told her this, I was well aware of how dumb that I had sounded by saying this. But I felt like she had wanted me to tell her the truth, and I did just tell the truth to her. I didn't feel the need to not do it.

"So are you saying that if I was nice to you right away, and if I had shown you compassion right from the start, then you might have liked me back right away. That we could have been the ones who ended up together?" Jenny asked, and then I could tell that there was a little bit of a hopeful sound to her voice. That maybe one day, if Dana and I broke up, that if she was the first person to have been nice to me from the bat, that I would have started to fall for her and not anybody else. She felt like she could be able to 'win' the game in the long run if she had timed everything out just perfectly.

I thought about it for a bit. I thought that she might be onto something. "You may be right. But I would rather not rush a break up just to see if that is what is going to happen." I said, and I was meaning it mostly jokingly, but there was a level of truth to what I had been saying. If this happened, and it was after a break up, then I wanted it to be dragged out.

Besides, despite all of these discussions, there really was a huge part of me that was still liking her a lot. That was still wanting to be with Dana for as long as I could have been able to be with her. I didn't want to break up with her. I was willing to break up with her if things simply just did not go well. But no way in hell was I actually going to try and fuck up everything. That would have been really fucking annoying.

"I can tell that Dana still really likes you. It seems like there may be the small moment here and there where there might be a slight strain upon you two. But it always seems like you guys get over it soon enough. That you feel the need to try and make things up with her. I think that this does require a huge level of devotion if you guys are able to always get back on good graces every single time something that looks bad starts to happen." Jenny said and I was able to agree with this.

"I mean, I think that when you two care for each other, you just do what you can in order to make things work out. I mean, I do my best to make things work between us. Sometimes, it works out and sometimes it does not. It all really depends on the mood of us at the moment. But every single time it looks as if we are starting to lose graces with each other, we always find a way to get back with each other and start to support each other once more. Because we do really care about each other." I said, and I was glad that I had somebody like Dana with me. Even if it was in hindsight not my first choice.

"I think that she also does a good job making sure that you follow the basic rules. You know, to not always get in trouble or fuck things up. To make sure that you are at least relatively composed." Jenny said and I nodded to that.

"Yes that is true. I mean, I don't really care all that much about rules. In the end, those do not affect me at all. Rules are boring. Rules are not what matter. But she does make sure that I don't mess up on them so badly that my parents will feel like they need to come talk with me. If they did, then that would be a huge problem I would not want to deal with. I really do not want to deal with what my parents may say to me if I started to do some 'bad stuff.'" I said and I wondered if they even cared.

After all of the times I missed school, all of the times that I did things that would be considered bad behavior, and the fact that they have never once lectured about this to me, I was wondering if they knew or if they did know, if they were even able to pretend to care.

I mean, if my parents didn't care, then it was nothing I was losing on my part. In all honesty, if anything, it just gave me more time to fuck around and just do stuff with my friends. Not that it was really going to come to the point where this wouldn't happen. Besides, it wasn't really like what I was doing was their business anyways. It really was not. None of this was their fucking business. I can go around and do anything that I wanted, and they really had no real right to tell me off. Even if they had not agreed with everything that I was doing. Besides, if they had wanted me to change how I was, they could have told me this earlier. But they had not. So what can I really say about it? Just assume that they cared? Just assume that they would have done something to make me stop if they knew? No, I was not going to make assumptions I knew were probably not true.

They didn't care, and I didn't want or need them to care. They can and should just be able to live their own lives. They can and should just be able to assume that I will be fine without them. In all reality, I was fine without them. I didn't really ever get anything out of them that would make me feel like I would not have been fine without them. They were fucking frauds.

When I moved away from my previous school to Wayside, they just simply didn't care that it was the result of me being horribly behaved. It wasn't even the fact that I had almost done a crime that got them to care. In all reality, they just looked at me and probably saw me doing this and them being forced to move away as a chance to go on and start anew at a different job, and probably abuse the power of this job and climb their way up the working ladder. In a way, they were probably looking at what I did as a sort of blessing in disguise. I fucking hated their way of looking at it. But they knew what they were doing. They were in the business industry.

I hated to think of the fact that I was probably just an asset to their lives. Nothing more, nothing less. They just saw me as a tool to get better at their job. That must have been why they never really talked to me all that much. Because I was just a fucking tool, and they had gotten all the use that they needed out of me. I wondered if they were just going to go back and use me again or if they were going to find a different person to use.

Hell, for all I fucking knew, we were going to be at this school for so long that I was going to be old enough by the time they needed to leave again. Then by that point I was entirely just disposable. I felt like this must have been the case. That if they were here for at least another five years, and I was out of school, or at least eighteen, they were probably going to just leave me the house and move on. Which seems like it would have been a nice gesture, if it weren't for the fact that they were probably just doing it as a way to have a easy dispose of me.

I was sort of letting all of these facts sink in. My parents really must just not have given a single shit. They probably didn't care what happened to me. On many respects, this pissed me off. I had wished that I had somebody who was even remotely invested in me. I mean, they were the ones who were responsible for me even being alive and they just simply didn't care. They didn't really even put the fact that this was the case into any form of consideration. Why would they? It would have meant that they would had to actually show that they knew I was there at some point. Which was probably a fucking crime to their business life. They must have just thought that as long as I was alone, I was either going to be fine, or that I was going to die eventually and they would just have to put up a funeral, shed some fake tears, pretend like they cared, and then move on as if I had never even been born. I was almost certain that this was going to be the way that would feel around me.

I just was pissed about it, but there was the part of me that was just thinking that if they could not muster up any real emotion around me, then I should not even try with them. I should not even pretend like I cared. I did care, but I should just not act like it.

As this fact was settling in with me, I then felt like I was able to place these fears behind me. I felt like I was finally able to see what the truth really was. The truth of the fact that I had terrible parents. The truth that there must have been a part of me that wanted to refuse to admit, but now was forced to just accept and go along with. And when I was doing this, I almost found myself at a strange level of being alright with it.

I mean alright with it in the sense that I was sort of free to do whatever. I mean, no matter how terrible this revelation was, there was actually something about that thrill that did almost make this feel like it would be worth it.

I felt like I was able to think about this in a more objective eye. I was thinking about when the last time they actually paid any real attention to me was. Like they actually cared about what I was saying.

I had a really hard time coming with the real answer. I was thinking super hard about it. I felt like there must have been a time. Maybe it was back when I was in my previous school. I tried hard to think of a time. There a part of me however that was wondering if these memories were even real. Or if I was just lying to myself. I felt like and I was starting to get more and more of this feeling that these memories were not real. That any of the memories that I had of them caring was nowhere even close to being real. But then I was thinking that maybe this was not really a problem at the end of it all.

They had their own jobs that they were doing. They had their own lives they were living. I really did get it. I mean, sure it was a little annoying. It was odd to say the least that they barely paid me any mind.

But it was still something that didn't get to me. I was thinking that everybody had different styles of raising their kids. They style just wasn't as refined as the others, but it wasn't really awful either. I mean, I couldn't get angry at them over a different style. I mean, I was not going to get in the business of Jenny's dad for openly saying that he was not worried with what happened to Jenny unless if she wasn't around at night. I mean, he was probably still going through that phase where he was in the stages of hating life for the fact his wife wasn't there with him, and that this was just how he normally felt about his daughter. But compared to my parents, I had no real spot to complain about. At least he was aware of the fact that she was alive.

In a way, I had to wonder if my parents even knew I was alive anymore. I never really made any messes, I hadn't spoken to them once since we moved here, and in the end, I haven't really even seen them. For all intents and purposes, I was actually living a independent life. I was living a life in which nobody was really going to be able to make the choices on what I was going to do or not do. It was a good life. It was a nice life. It was most of all though a very peaceful life. One that I didn't really have to work all that hard in.

In all reality, they might not even care that I wasn't doing too well in school. They probably would see my report cards and just think of them as mere letters, and then maybe get annoyed if they were all really bad for like five minutes, and then they just move on and not even give a crap anymore. At least I didn't have a mega strict set of parents on that regard.

I was just thinking that if one day they wanted to talk to me and try and act like they were sorry for the way that they had been sort of leaving me behind all of these months, days and years, I was going to go along with it. I might even actually think they were telling the truth with the way they might present their delivery. I was not really going to place it too out of the realm of possibility. It was going to be hard for them to play that type of light. But they were business pitchers. They knew how to sell a product. Chances were they might know how to be able to get me to believe in them if they tried to pull off the remorse card, even if I had hated the fact that this was the case.

I thought about Kevin's parents as well. I mean, they were old and they both looked like they had one foot in the grave, especially his fucking father. Oh my fucking god with that man. It would be amazing if he made it even another ten years. Much less a whole ton after that. But they did seem like they still cared. It seemed like they still wanted the best out of Kevin and Sam. No matter how bad their bodies may have been worn down by age and how little they could do, there was no way around that. There was now way around the fact that they did care. I mean, though, I was in no real rush to have my parents by like that.

In order for my parents to be like that, they would have to age at least another twenty to thirty years. Maybe even thirty five. Then with that, we would be in a situation where they were just retired and couldn't really do anything even if they had wanted to do stuff. I thought that this would be even worse for a fate to have. I would rather just be the one kid who didn't have super involved parents over being the guy who had two parents who were there every day but only because they were too old to do anything else.

But then I caught myself thinking that maybe I was being a bit hard on the whole family. Maybe one of them, especially the father, just couldn't really have the time to go around and procreate when he was at his peak. Maybe he just was too busy and couldn't find a time until just now to settle down.

If that was the case, I would almost start to feel bad for the guy. It wasn't like he wanted to be lazy then. By that point, he almost had no real choice but to be that way. Then I thought about how awful it would be if I was that way with my kids down the road. If I ever even had them.

Well, the thing was that I did want to have kids. I didn't know when that was going to happen, but I did want them eventually. Maybe not something like super early like my early to mid twenties or anything like that. But at some point down the line, I did truly have the desire to have them. Even if it was a process that was going to take forever to actually happen. Even if it was going to be a process that would take until I was in my mid thirties to early forties to happen though. I did sort of decide though that if I was at least fifty and I didn't have any kids by fifty, then it was just not going to happen. I was just sort of destined to not have them. Clearly fate didn't want it. I felt that way because I didn't want to have my children be dealing with a father like Kevin's but with me instead. I thought that the idea was too terrible to even consider.

There were many things that I did want to do with my life though. Many fucking things. So many that I didn't want to even dream of being in a place where I was going to have to throw that all way because I got a girl knocked up when I was a teenager or something like that. And there was a part of me that thought that even if this happened, my parents would still not give a shit. They would still probably just roll their eyes and act like it was at worst a minor annoyance.

That is if they even found out. When I was thinking these things all out, I was thinking that it might not even be worth letting them know if something like this were to happen.

They would view it as a distraction. If anything, I was also fearing that they might be resentful for something like this happening, not happy. They would see this as a fact that they needed to stop doing their job and actually act like real people. Like this was some horrible offense that I was doing. I thought that if this was the case, it was not worth getting them through this. They clearly didn't care. Why the hell should I care?

As I was thinking all of this out, I was going through so many emotions of feeling pure rage for my parents while also facing just pure carelessness. There was rage in many aspects. But on just as many, I found myself not giving a crap what they thought. They didn't like me, so why would I have to like them? Hell, I didn't even know if they actually didn't like me or if they actually were just so busy that they couldn't be able to talk with me on a normal basis even if they wanted to. It was thought and an idea I did have to consider.

That maybe instead of them actually this feeling of hating me that I was starting to really hype up, that maybe they were just legit too busy to notice or care. It was something that I was thinking would be the truth. Or at the very least could be the truth. I just wished that they would have even taken five minutes out of their day here and there to say something. But after a good month or so here, I just found myself not caring. I found myself thinking that even if they did say something, that there was a part of me that was thinking that this whole fucking thing was a big ass fake situation.

I was thinking about that as well. That maybe in the end, it was better than them talking to me. I felt like if they talked to me, that this whole thing would end up worse than where it was when it started. I just didn't want to deal with that. I did not have the strength to deal with that. I was not really ready to deal with fake care. Fake love in a way. If they talked for a few seconds here and there, then yeah it would feel real. But if they started to talk to me for several minutes on end, trying to get to know everything that I was thinking, I would think that there was clearly ulterior motives to it now.

And if that was the case, despite them being my parents and that always giving me at least some strange messed up version of respect towards them, I was not always going to fall for it. I was thinking that I just needed to be real here. I felt like after all of this time, I was starting to actually get it all in my head.

I felt like that after all of this time, I was finding out how my parents really were. I didn't even know if I cared at all anymore. I just thought that this was how they were, and I was going to find myself dealing with the idea of settling with that. Which I had no idea if it was going to be really hard to do that or not.

But one thing was for sure though, I was not really ready for what was going to happen at the very end of the school year. No matter how hard I tried, or how much I prepared myself for anything, I would never have been ready for what I was going to deal with then. But that is still a huge amount away in this narrative, and I have gone on way more than long enough about my fucking parents to last you a bunch of material. Probably way too much material in fact.

Now that I have gotten that very passionate rant out of my way, I was thinking about what I was going to do now. I was thinking about what I needed to do in order for Jenny to see that I was now fully devoted to her and making her feel a little bit better on her final hours of hanging out with me that night. I was thinking that I needed to show her that I was not going to make her feel like I didn't really care about her and everything. So when I came to that thought set, I was standing right in front of her as I was smiling a bit doing this.

"So Jenny, I know that today has been very rough, and I know that you said that it is all fine and everything, but I was wanting to try and make this at least feel good on the final few hours that I have here with you. You know, I am wanting to do something for you that makes you feel like you are special. I was just thinking for a while about my family, and these thoughts make me want to be with you even more tonight. To make you feel more special and everything." I said and then I was wrapping my mind around the fact that I was just looking like a total dumb ass the entire time that I was smiling in front of her.

"I don't know what you can do that will make me feel better." Jenny said and then after she had told me this, I was thinking and then I just thought that I can do something that was going to be really simple and would do the job. I went right into my pocket hoping that I would have some money.

"Well, if I take you out somewhere to eat, then maybe you and I can have some dinner before I head back home? You know, something very simple. I think that it should be where you would want to go. If you even want to go somewhere at all. I mean, I know that you might not want to go somewhere. But I just wanted to bring up the offer, in case that was all that you wanted." I said and then I felt like I was just a bit of a terrible pick up and everything. I mean, only when I was really trying to be nice was when I was bad. But when I was trying to be romantic and not just a nice guy, then it seemed like I was a bit unstoppable.

"I guess that going out to dinner is not that bad of an idea. Sorry if I am not really giving off the impressionable type. I am just still thinking about my mother. I hope that you don't mind this too much." Jenny said and there was in no way me minding this. The fact that I would even be able to mind this would have been totally disgusting.

"I have no problem with the fact that you are more worried about your fucking mother than you are about me. It makes total sense that you are more worried about your mother. If you weren't, then I think that there would be a little bit of a problem with that. I would start to wonder what was wrong with you if that was something that was going on." I said, and I was hating myself for how much of a dick I was sounding like when I said this, even to myself. I hated the fact that I was telling Jenny how to feel and how she must be taking this. Well, I wasn't really doing that. But maybe in an indirect way, I sort of was.

"I just hope that she is safe. I wonder if she is down in the labyrinth or not. I wonder if there even is anybody down there at all." Jenny said and I was thinking that maybe there was. I mean, I didn't really think that there was. I mean, I heard that there was some noises down there and it looked like maybe there was something this time that would indicate a thing down there. But that being said, I was still thinking that maybe I was hearing something like ghosts. Which considering the whole monster situation, I guess the idea of ghosts being real were no longer out of the realm of possibility.

"Jenny, I have no idea if there is anything down there. I mean, it is possible that there is something down there. But I would not really say that it was a sure thing either. I think that maybe there could be something down there. But I don't want to think about that. If there is something down there, then we are dealing with a lot more than just monsters and that scares me. The idea that there is more than just fucking monsters." I said and I was truly wondering what I was going to find down there, and I was hoping that Jenny would see the fear in my voice and actually be taking me a bit more seriously.

"But if there is something down there, shouldn't you want to show people what is down there? In order for them to understand what is going on in the city? I mean, if there is something down here, then it is obvious that there are a bunch of corruption going on and that you were right this whole time about the police." Jenny said and I shook my head.

"I really doubt that the police would actually be involved with this. The police are not perfect by any means of the word, and there are some good ones, but I doubt that they would really sink as low as what you are thinking. I would have possibly agreed a few weeks ago, but I don't really know anymore." I said and then afterwards, I just wondered what Jenny was thinking now.

"I don't really think that you of all people should try and take out the idea of the police doing this away from the possibility. I think that you need to at least plan this whole thing out. I mean, if the police are actually doing this, then you need to make sure that they are not able to expand their reach as much as they might have already been able to. I mean, I should live in a place where the police are fucking heroes. But here we are, in a spot where they are not fucking heroes. Where they might actually be pure evil and the worst people in this entire city." Jenny said and then I was wondering why the police were in this occupation. I felt like Jenny was totally right about what she was saying about the police. But I was feeling as if we were just not going to get that. As if we were just in a spot where they were not going to give us any help. That we were going to do this job all on our own.

"So when you think that there are not that many monsters, and that there was just a place that we can pretend is a normal city, then do you think that the police would actually be taking the job more seriously? I have a strange feeling that the police don't really help out on the personal people level because the sheriff is more focused on the monsters. Which I guess would have made sense if we were just going by today and recent weeks. But before hand, I think that they were just being lazy. You know, before they learned of monsters." I said, thinking about exactly this.

I was thinking that the police just didn't care nearly as much as they should have. That they just looked at this as a way to increase their pay check. Nothing more, and sure as hell nothing less. They would help us if it gave them a pay raise. But if not, they were just going to look at the idea of helping us as a bit of a hindrance more than anything.

I mean, I guess that while I would have probably done a better job helping out the people of the town than the police, that I may have been over all worse than the police if I was actually trying to be a police officer. If I was trying to be a police officer, I would have probably been ten times worse than they would have been. I would have tried to be a good helper, but the idea of just not helping would really start to bog me down a little bit and then people would just think that I was too young and good for the job.

At least, that was what I thought. What I thought of the situation, and I was thinking that perhaps Jenny and I needed to consider this thing a little bit more now.

"I mean, the thing is, I am willing to understand that there is something going on with the whole fucking police force. But despite how negative I feel about this whole situation, I still do want to at least give them a honest chance and I want them to actually suspend my disbelief a little bit so that way I can actually feel like I might be at least a little bit safe while I live here." I said, and I was thinking about how I was going to try and give them a chance. I didn't really know if I was going to regret the idea of giving them a chance. In all reality, I really was probably going to regret the very notion of giving them a chance. But I was wanting to show at least a little bit of optimism when I was looking at everything as a whole.

"I get that you think that the police are suddenly decent now since you are starting to become friends with one of them, but let's not forget that just a few days ago you were really unsure of them. I don't know why one officer if starting to suddenly make you feel like they are not so bad after all. It just feels wrong to suddenly try and be all friends with them." Jenny told me and then I just refused to say anything at all.

"You know, I just feel scared about what it would be like if the police do not support me. If they do not support the town, as I have said thousands of times before, then they would be even more dangerous than just some monsters going around. They would actually present a real fear to the town. They would present something to the town that even the monsters can't be able to bring forward. Something of desperation. Something of distraught. Something of us fearing about what it would be like if these people were going to actually go around and not give a shit about us." I said and then I added in the extra bit of "Even I don't want to actually ponder this idea."

"But you should at least think about pondering this idea. You need to actually be open about what could happen. You need to understand that you have no real idea of what this town is actually like." Jenny was saying and then she took a deep breath. "This is not really a normal town after all."

"Nothing about this situation is normal. But I do believe that this town is just not really any different than any others in terms of how the place is run. Yes, there is a strange school and yes there is some strange people here. But at the same time, I think that monsters are really the only really out there things about this town. The people in this school are mostly normal given the situation. The people who live here and are students or other workers are possibly normal. So for all I know, the police might just be normal and that I have been fearing about things that are not going to happen and everything." I said and then I felt like I just needed to at least give them an actual chance. An actual chance of proving themselves to be good people.

"Besides, I think that people should always be given a chance to prove themselves to actually be helpers in the city. You know, they became police. Which means that they must have done something right when they were applying to the academy and everything like that." I said as I felt like this was all that I needed to just leave the situation alone from this point forward. But then I was thinking about Jenny and how much she was just wanting to go home now. How much she was probably starting to get burnt out by my company. I didn't really blame her if she was getting burnt out by me. There was a lot of stuff about me that can burn her out.

I mean, there was just a lot about me that can burn anybody out of me. If people were just getting burnt out by me, I would not really be able to blame them for feeling like that. After all, I am not really all that perfect of a guy. I mean, Jenny was saying that I was a good guy. But I didn't want that to really let me get all that big of an ego for any real reason.

"Todd, I don't really think that there is any level of real concern that you need to show about me. You really do not need to worry about me all that much. I know that there were a lot of things about my life that may seem like you need to be there for me. But in all reality, I really don't actually need it all that much. I am mostly fine without all the extra help coming to me. Not to sound like a dick or anything like that." Jenny said and then after she had told me this, I was just telling myself not to say anything.

"I will worry about you. I know that you don't think that you are having all that many of problems. But in all reality, your mom is missing and then you went away for a while. When you were gone, I thought that you were going to actually die. I thought for a decent amount of time that you were going to die. I hope you understand the fact that the idea of your death getting to my mind was something that should have never even come close to happening." I said and then I saw that Jenny was just trying to make me feel better, and she was able to see that she was not really doing a good job making me feel good about anything. So she was thinking that she needed to just give up on the whole thing.

"I was just trying to make you feel better. I guess that maybe it wasn't going to work as well as I had hoped that it would have been. I just thought that you should have been told that I was not really wanting you to try too hard." Jenny said and then I just thought that I needed to remain silent. I just thought that neither one of them us were actually going to make each other feel any better. So it was just a matter of which one of us were going to give up first and accept the fact that it wasn't going to work.

"I think that this is just going to come off as a loser situation for both of us. Neither one of us are really going to make the other feel any better. I think that just either way, we are going to be in a spot where we are going to fear every single thing in the world. I mean, as much as I say that the police don't bother me, there is some level of fear that I am getting out of talking to them. I do fear them a little bit. I do worry that they do like to abuse their power a bit. But I was just wanting to make you feel better." I said and I was telling the truth. But there was still a part of me that wanted to believe that David at the very least was good.

I don't know how I would react if it had turned out that David at the very least wasn't good. I don't really think that I would have had too much hope in this town given to me if he at least didn't help.

So I found myself sticking to the idea that there was him at the very least. One good cop, even if the others were as bad as I fear.

"You know, I just think that given a couple of days, I will trust you as much as I wanted from the start. The more that I trust you, the more that I will be willing to call to you for help. Then the more that I am willing to call out to you, the more that I think that we will actually work together as well as possible." Jenny said and then she was blushing.

As I was looking at her and I was seeing her blush, there was a part of me that was thinking that even with all of the stuff that was going on, that she was still thinking that there was a chance we could end up together. When I realized that she had thought we can still have a thing going, then I think that I was doing the right thing after all. That I was actually going to get her to fall in love with me after Dana and I were over with for good.

Eventually, we reached the place where we were going to be eating dinner. Once I settled down and I was ready to be eating my dinner with Jenny, I was thinking that despite all of the stuff going on and all of the fact that I was still involved with Dana, I was thinking that there was still something at least a little bit romantic about what was going on. I thought that there was nothing wrong with trying to be a little bit romantic with her. In fact, I was telling myself that it was perfectly fine to be feeling this way about a really attractive girl.

I sat down and I was staring right at her. I was wondering what she was thinking. I was thinking about what I can do in order to make her feel better. I was thinking about how I can change the subject to make it at least a little bit better. "You know Jenny, I think that we are going to have a real good friendship honestly. I think that our friendship is going to be one of the things that makes me more excited about being in this town. I know that you want me to not feel this way. I try my best to not feel this way, but I have a very hard time not feeling this way." I said and then I just wanted to save myself from making this situation any worse for myself. Not to make her feel like I was just trying to change something that just was already too messed up from the start.

"I think that we are going to be good friends. I mean, you and I have already talked a bunch, and you and I seem to have a good connection going on here. You and I seem to be heading in the right direction. You and I are going to be much better friends than I ever thought that we could have been. That much at the very least I can say for sure." Jenny told me and then I felt better that she was telling me this. That she was telling me that there was even a small chance of us getting somewhere. Even if she had not wanted to say it right on the spot. I knew that this was what she was thinking. Or at least what I was hoping she had meant.

"I just don't really even know what to think anymore. My brain just feels like it is being really fried right now. I have a bunch of things that I am being forced to think about. I have a bunch of things that I just don't get at all." I said and then I was hoping that maybe Jenny would at least start to understand how I had been feeling about this.

"I think that we both have a lot of things that we have to think about. There is nothing about this entire situation that is even remotely close to being natural. Nothing about my mother going missing should be normal. I know it is normal for people to have their parents go missing. I think on that regard, my life is sadly normal. But in all reality, there is no real reason why this should have been considered normal at all." Jenny said and I understood right away that she was right on that one.

"Yeah, I do see where you are coming from on that one. There is no way that there should be anything even remotely considered to be normal with what is going on in this world. I don't know why the idea of people going missing, losing their parents, losing their children should just be considered a natural part of life where people just simply don't care anymore. In all reality, people just don't really care anymore. When something bad happens to people, it is like people care for a couple of days and that is all that they care about. That is all they even pretend that they care." I said and I was wondering if it was just impossible for people to actively pretend as if it was something they cared about after a while.

"I think that if something really awful happened, like Kevin died, I don't know how much I can be able to think about it. I think that I would break down after a while. But I do not want people to just act like they cared, but in all reality they don't give a single shit. In all reality, they will think that they will just get a ride by acting like he was this really cool guy for a couple of days." I said and then we got our food after we ordered it and waited for a couple of minutes.

"Todd, I like your compassion. You really do have a lot of compassion for people that you know. I think that this is something that everybody should be like. You should show that compassion to others. Even when they seem like they want nothing about it. Even when they act like they don't care about what you are showing them, once you start to break through them, they will respect you for the good guy that you really are." Jenny told me and I wondered if she was talking about herself as she was telling me this. That she was thinking that knowing how I was actually made her sort of change as a person as well.

"I think that there is just no real point in taking out your anger to other people who in all reality do not deserve it. People do not deserve the way that I treat them if I was a dick. They do not deserve cynicism." I said, not realizing what was to come soon.

If I really knew what was coming ahead of me at this town, I would not have complained at all. I would not have complained about any form of cynicism going on at all. Because in all reality, what I thought was dark now was nothing compared to what really was dark in the grand scheme of things.

"So Todd, do you actually think that Maurecia still likes you? I mean, she has been obsessed with you at first in the year. But I don't really know if she still feels that way. Do you think that she still feels that way about you? I mean, I am just curious in all reality." Jenny said and then I thought about that for a bit. I thought that she did, but I was not really one hundred percent sure either. I mean, I wasn't sure about how Jenny felt about me either. I was feeling like she was going all over the place with how she had been feeling about me.

"I think she still likes me. I mean, I bet when she starts to get to know me more, I doubt she will really think that I am as great as she thinks that I am. I mean, nobody is as good as the legend makes them out to be when you first see them. Strange to be calling myself that, since I am not really a legend. But I am just trying to prove my point right now. People hype me up to be this nice guy, but I don't think that I am even half as great as they believe that I am. I am just trying to tell the truth." I said and then I felt like I was really starting to like Jenny more. I was wanting to get to know her about how she was as a person. Some details about her.

"Jenny, I want to talk to you about you a bit. I want to know what you really think of the things that we are doing at school. Just something. I mean, I know that you are probably not really focused on anything anymore. But I just wanted to see what you were thinking about some things." I said, and then after I had said that, I was wondering if I was going to get her to talk more.

"I just don't really know what to say in all honesty. I mean, I wanted to plan out things such as a big life in the future. But like you said, I can't fucking focus. Will you be willing to talk with me about my mother?" Jenny asked and then I nodded.

"Yeah, we can talk about your mother as much as you want. Just tell me anything that you really want to know." I said and then I saw Jenny sighing in relief. I could tell that my consent was the one thing that she wanted to hear more than anything else. I was getting ready to listen to her talk about her mother, to see what I thought of her and everything.

"Well, my mother really did care a lot about me. There was no way around that fact. I think that she had loved me more than pretty much anybody out there in the world. I would be able to talk to her on a near daily basis about my feelings. About my problems. I was really just wanting to be by her side, so that way she can actually help me out when I needed it. But now I am starting to feel like perhaps I had been using her a bit. That I had sort of done the wrong thing by just acting like she had not mattered besides just being a person that I can rant to on a regular basis." I heard Jenny say to me, and I could tell that she was feeling like she was able to trust me. "I mean, I just want to see her again and then thank her for what had actually done for me all of this time."

"I mean, she has done something that I know most parents are supposed to do. I mean, more parents are supposed to be there for their children. But that being said, I just wish that I could actually show her that I did love her. I mean, when she sees me again, I am going to show her my thanks for everything that she had done. All of the conversations that she has given me, She has done the one thing that I never thought anybody could have done as well as she has. Maybe it is true. That nobody can do as good as she has. She has helped me out of a lot of silly situations when I was a younger child." Jenny said and then I wondered what she had meant but before I could even ask, she had started to tell me one example for me to fully understand.

"Well, one of the things that she has always done was give me advice. When I was younger, about fourth grade, maybe third now that I think about it, there was a couple of really mean girls. One of them was named Britany and another one named Tiffiny. They treated me like shit. They made fun of me on a constant basis. I was just at the point where I was starting to think that fucking enough was god damn fucking enough. I didn't want them to treat me like shit again." Jenny said and she was acting like how I had felt about Joy when she had hated me.

"You know, I just wanted my mom to just simply support me. For a while, when I would talk to her about my feelings and my annoyance, she would be there just to support me. I think that she had done a great job on this. But I could tell that we were both getting sick of it eventually nearly at the same time." Jenny said and I wondered what she was going to tell me, and I saw that Jenny was both smiling and letting a tear down her face. It was a happy cry.

"I asked her what I can do, after I had told her that I was tired of this and after she had told me that she wanted this to end as well. After we both expressed how tired we were of this, she had told me that I can always try to talk to them. If that didn't work, then if we end up being in the same group at school for an assignment, try and talk to them and then try and get them to like me, and if that didn't work, then I can do the one thing that she would have never wanted me to do, but she would have to accept that maybe by that point there was no real better choice but to do this. And that is to fight them. And maybe even beat them into submission and that is to make them shut the fuck up and not act like they are better than me anymore." Jenny said and then I wondered if she had actually done this or if this was just a conversation point.

"I tried talking to them and talking to them a couple of times didn't really seem to work. It was like they were nice to me for a couple of minutes. Usually about the first five minutes or so, they were starting to think that maybe I wasn't a bad girl. But I would fuck it up by saying something stupid and they would make fun of me again." Jenny gave me the shortest bit of her story by that point in time.

"But then I had to wait another week or so for us to be in a group project in school. They didn't even give me a chance in order to actually explain how I had felt about working with them. They didn't care, and in all reality, there was nothing that I could do. Eventually though, even though I didn't want to use violence, the stuff that they had done that day to me was so bad, that I just brought it out and I went to a level even I never thought I could." Jenny said and then I stared forward, wondering what else she was going to say now.

"They were making fun of my family, making fun of my mother, and telling me that I was just a stupid idiot and that I needed to get a pair of balls. They acted like I was somebody who was going to listen to their insults. And most of the time I did, and most of the time I would. But they were just pissing me off. I was tired of hearing it. I never wanted to hear it again. So I was ready to just take my anger out on them. I beat them both up and gave them bloody noses. I was suspended for three days. I didn't care though. It looked like even my mother didn't care. I had won, and that was it." Jenny said and then I placed my hand on her hand as I saw that she was needing to calm down a bit from thinking about what she had done.

"I saw them a couple of more times. When I saw them, perhaps it was the fear that they had, but they started to treat me with respect. As they were treating me with respect, I thought that maybe I could be friends with them. They talked to me, and when it seemed like after a while, that maybe they were actually starting to like me, I felt like I had done something good with my life now. But then the year ended and I came to Wayside and never turned back." Jenny said and then she ended by saying "This was the only time that I have ever gotten into any form of a fight."

"I would in no way blame you for that fight. You did what you thought you had to do. You were tired of their crap, and you took them down." I said and then I said "Seems fair after all they did."

"But that is just a part of it. My mother was just a really loving one. I was annoyed when she would show me some of her worried. I never really realized that maybe she was just trying to show me the fact that she wanted me to be safe. I feel like I am an asshole for the way I treated her in hindsight. She deserved so much better." Jenny said and then I nodded.

"if you feel like she deserves better, when you see her again, you can give that to her. Just wait for her, and I will do what I can to make it happen." I said and then Jenny looked glad to have me there.

"Todd, you are really making this easier. I thought at first you were just being a bit of a hard ass. But I see that you are just caring about me. You are just trying to do the best that you can. I want you be my friend forever." Jenny told me and then I smiled.

"I certainly can be your friend forever. No matter what happens, I can be your friend forever." I said and I felt more happy there than I had in many of the last several days at Wayside.

I felt like despite all of the stuff that was going on, all of the annoyance that I had in my life, that I was actually going to make Jenny's life better. That I was going to do the one thing that I never thought anybody could do considering the whole situation.


	68. Trying to Piece it Together

Trying to Piece It Together

It was a bit after this, and I was starting to think about what had exactly happened with Jenny. I was thinking about what I was going to tell people in case they asked me what was going on with her. I was trying to decide if I should be telling them the truth, or if for her sake, I should be leaving that information out of their lives. I was just thinking about what Jenny would really be wanting. I think she wanted me to keep that information away from the public, and I was going to do my best for this. I was thinking that what she had wanted me to tell them was going to be the determination for it all. If she was fine with me telling people some information, I might consider doing this, but if it turns out that Jenny does not want me to do this, then there is no way in hell that I am going to do something like that purely out of respect of what she would be wanting and everything.

Besides, I was telling myself, that as long as Jenny keeps up a mostly normal demeanor, I would not really have to deal with the problems of telling people or not telling them. As long as she can at least pretend like she is not really having this problem, then everything will be fine for her sake. That was what I was telling myself, almost certain that Jenny was going to keep herself mostly composed for at least the next few days or something like that, before the growing weight of where her mother might be starts to really sink in on her even more than it had already done.

Despite the entire situation and the fact that I had no real clue what I was going to do with it, I am starting to tell myself this is mostly not really my business. That I should just respect her space. The more that I tell myself that I should just respect her space, the more that this was slowly growing into the conclusion that I was making the right choice. I was telling myself not to really think about it all that much though. I was thinking that the less I thought about it, the less it was going to be a problem and the less that this would even really matter all that much, if it even mattered at all.

So in a way, I was telling myself that this was what I just needed to do. I just needed to be quiet for a bit about it. Not only did I just need to be quiet about it, but I just needed to not even think about it. The less that I even thought about it, the easier it would be. Then when I get home and I was alone, then I would not have to deal with it for the rest of the day, and with each passing day, the less of a problem that this was really going to be.

Eventually, the school day had passed and I had gone home. As I was home that day, I was telling myself that this was a mostly sound strategy, and I was telling myself that this was the best thing that I can do for myself. I was telling myself that this was just one day and that I didn't need to be thinking about this too much longer. Eventually, it was either going to just simply slip my mind, or eventually Jenny would be the one that would break and then she would feel the need to tell other people what is going on, and then afterward, I would be mostly off the hook as I would not be the one who would be starting the conversation at all by that point in time. I didn't really know why I was so worried about being the one who mentioned this first or not. Maybe I was just worried about my reputation a little bit and if my parents would trust me or if Jenny would trust me when this is all over with and everything.

But then I was also telling myself something else. I was telling myself that if something were to come up and if the question had to be asked, there was no way in hell I was going to turn down the idea of helping Jenny out. If I felt like say Maurecia would be able to somehow help, then I was going to possibly find a way to get her into this, because for some reason I was telling myself that she was going to be one of the readiest people to be hearing about this whole situation, and that she was going to at least talk with me about Jenny's mother since as far as I was aware, that they were sort of aware of what Jenny's mother was life, since Jenny and Maurecia used to be best friends before I came to Wayside and they both started to in an indirect way compete for trying to be my girlfriend.

Despite how annoying it must be to go through all of the stuff of people constantly having crushes on me, I was still thinking it was nice that people liked me. If I had wanted to, I can be able to create a decent harem or ladies around me. And then if I did that, then my ego would be so high that nobody would feel like they would be able to compete with me at all.

Eventually, when I was home, I was thinking about Maurecia and I was actually thinking about how well she would be able to actually help me out. I was wondering if she could be able to actually help me out. I was telling myself that she must be able to help clear my mind on all of this, but then as I was telling myself this, I was also telling myself that Maurecia was just going to use this as a chance to increase her chances of winning my lover over to her, which I guess I wouldn't really blame her on, but it would still be really fucking annoying.

The next day, if I saw Maurecia again, I think I would talk to her about Jenny. I was mostly going to leave it as simple as that. I was not really wanting to make this a huge thing, especially if Jenny wanted me to keep the information secret. Then when this was over with, if Maurecia mentions something about her mother, then I might be willing to have the balls to tell her what I know and what is going on. That would be the only way that I would find myself able to tell her and the only way that I feel like I would be able to justify telling her the truth of the matter. I just don't really think that I would feel the need to tell her the truth if there is no real mention of her in the conversation at all. It would sort of be the closest thing to an everybody wins situation that I would have been able to really come up with at that spot.

Then I was getting on my bed, and I was really enjoying the thought of Jenny. Despite everything that had been happening, I was still finding myself liking the idea of being with Jenny and thinking that the idea of being with Jenny was going to be the best thing I could be able to do for myself in a long time. Then I was telling myself that Dana would be heart broken if this happened, and there was just the part of me that was still wanting to be super duper loyal to her. As loyal as I possibly could have been able to be with her, since she really did deserve much better than what I had been giving her lately.

I was then thinking about if I should be telling Dana or not. I mean, we have been dating and everything and there was a part of me that was thinking that since we were dating, that I needed to be as open and frank with her as possible, since she would really deserve something like that. Besides, I doubted that Dana would really be able to do anything about this situation if I just simply told her, since she barely really knew Jenny at all, so this was not going to be the biggest thing in the world to tell her the truth.

As this was coming to mind, and I was strongly also considering telling Dana what was going on, I was thinking that I just needed to be frank with the girl that I had decided to be dating, and that this was going to be one of my ways of being able to mostly turn this situation around with her and I. I was thinking that I should have been more ready for any of these considerations to come up at any moment, so I was then bringing myself down a bit as I had closed my eyes and was getting ready to go to sleep now.

The next day, I was much more awake and I was much more aware of what I was going to be doing now. When I was more aware of what I needed to do at that moment, and I was more aware of how much I felt like it would be nice to have somebody at my side just to talk to me about what had been going on in Wayside. Not just with the whole Jenny thing. That was something I was thinking about earlier, but it wasn't the whole thing that I felt like I needed to talk to somebody about earlier. I can be able to get over that soon enough, considering the fact that in all reality, that was only one small part of this entire story that was honestly just really totally messed up no matter how else I tried to look at it. I mean, look at the police.

They should be able to appreciate the value of what it is like when a young man like me actually tries to make a difference and tries to help people out, and they should be wanting my assistance. But here they were, acting like me just trying to help them out was the biggest burden that they would have had to deal with. I was wondering if they had actually hated me. I had no idea why they would be hating me, and I was thinking that it was kind of dumb how they were not really giving me any real chance, but I guess that they felt like they were the big guys on campus and if they truly thought that they didn't need me, then they can just totally go fuck themselves. I was doing my best to be helpful, and they just didn't seem to really care about that at all. Which just is annoying, but I can live with it.

But as I was thinking about this, I was thinking about if the police would be able to start to trust me more if I had done something for them that wasn't just simply telling them what I had seen. If I gave them a ton of information, most of which just being unable to be brought down, then I think that they would start to respect what I am doing, and they would start to see that there was nothing that they would be able to do without me. That was what I was thinking would be able to happen. I just needed to find something that they would consider to be good information and even better evidence that I can handle myself, and then afterwards, I was going to come out of this as the overall winner.

But then I was starting to get more into these thoughts and before I was able to really think of this too much, I was distracted by the girl that I had been thinking about earlier. I Maurecia patted me on the shoulder and I was looking right at her. I was actually really glad to be seeing her, and for once not in the way that I was going to try and be romantic with her. But for once in the way that I was going to be doing something for a friend that I felt like was going to really be the best thing possible.

"Hey Todd, I saw that you were heading to school, and I hadn't been walking around at the same time as you all that many times, so I was thinking that maybe today we can walk to school together." Maurecia said and then I nodded at this idea. I was going to just talk with her, and eventually, I was going to bring up the whole thing with Jenny if I felt like it was the proper time to bring up the subject to her. Although I was not really sure when that was going to be.

As we were starting our walk, I was thinking about what to say. "So, how have you been feeling today so far?" I asked, and I was thinking that this was going to be a nice starting point, and one in which would seem like it was nice and innocent enough. I was just hoping that Maurecia didn't take the question too literally and would just sort of go off with it and not even give me a chance to really talk about the things that I had actually wanted to talk with her about. But I was telling myself that it didn't really matter all that much.

Eventually, she did respond. "I just have been tried for a while. I don't really like going to school this early since I am barely able to really think of anything all that much. I just wish that I was able to get even an extra hour of sleep or something like that. Even just one extra hour would make things so much easier than it is right now. It would really help me be more focused during school since I wouldn't be tired as much." Maurecia said, and despite what I was originally wanting to talk about, I was not really able to find myself wanting to argue with her for bringing this up. In fact, just thinking about all of the hours that I had missed out of, I was actually starting to feel a bit more annoyed than anything else.

"You know, I just really hate the fact that we have to wake up at like seven in the morning for something that I am not even going to remember in a few weeks. Or hell even a few days. I barely remember any of the lectures that we have been going through, and I just think that the teachers are just too fucking boring to really even make any of this actually worth it. So what the hell? I just think that if the teachers were more interesting, I would not feel like this so much. But that is not what we have, or anywhere really close to it." I said, thinking about how the teachers almost put me to sleep when I listen to them.

I was not wanting to really say that part out loud, since while it was true to me, it was also true to hundreds of other people in school and I felt like I would have been sort of beating the dead horse if I had mentioned that out loud. But I was thinking about what Maurecia was probably like, and then after that, I was thinking of what I was wanting to say and find a way to say it in a way that would make it seem like it was a bit of a comedy show. "Do you like going to school in order to see me in class? I guess that this is what you really like." I then was waiting for her response, and the more that I was waiting for her response, the more that I was thinking that perhaps I had not really given her enough credit and everything.

"Well you know, I would be lying if I said that there wasn't at least a part of my school enjoyment that comes out of that. But I think that there are some other things that I go in there to do, such as being with my friends and being able to make some crazy stories up with my friends about things that I did during the week. I like telling people about my life that I had during my weekend, and seeing what people believe in, as well as what they do not really believe in. You know, the only people who will ever one hundred percent believe in stuff I say are those people who were actually there and were able to experience the stuff with me. Those people never really felt the need to say anything against what I say." Maurecia said and there was a part of me that was sort of relating to, as I was thinking about what I was wanting to do with my life when I got to the weekend. Besides, I was thinking to myself, if I did tell Maurecia about Jenny and everything that is going on with her, there was the chance they would not really believe what I was telling her. They might be thinking that I was just saying that in order to come up with some great and tragic story or something like that. I guess that in the end, I wouldn't really be able to blame her or anybody else all that much if they were actually feeling that way about what I tell them with Jenny.

But the more that I was thinking about school, and the more that I was thinking about how fucking boring it was, the more that I was thinking that maybe I should actually bring it up to her. At least that would be adding a level of excitement to her. I loved the idea of helping her, and I was thinking that the idea of helping her was going to be the most important thing that I could really do. I was thinking about how even Dana would understand what I was doing if she knew what was going on, and why I felt the desire to do such a thing.

"You know, as much as I hate to say it, and as much as Dana would hate me if she heard me say this, but I don't really think that I have been giving her nearly enough credit. I hate the fact that this is the way I have been treating her, and the more that I do this, the more that I feel like a disgusting man, and the more that I want to make things up to her. I mean, she really has done a lot of things lately that I feel like are really important. Dana is one of the greatest women I know, and I am not even going to pretend that she isn't. But at the same time, I just feel like Dana and I just need to be more public with each other, and just understand our communication problems a bit better. If we were able to communicate with each other more, then I feel like I would be thinking that she was the hottest and most special girl in the world." I said, and I was always feeling awful for expressing how I felt with Dana to Maurecia, and there was the part of me that was worried of how Maurecia was going to tell Dana this, if she would tell her at all. But then if Dana were able to talk with me more, then none of this would be happening at all. I hated the fact that I was always blaming her. If I found myself blaming her for something that was my fault, then I was the one with the problem.

As I was thinking about Dana, the more that I was really starting to think that I didn't deserve her, and she sure as hell didn't deserve some unloyal fuck like me. She didn't deserve somebody like me who didn't really give her any proper communication or anything like that. But then again, I was looking at Maurecia and I was wondering if Maurecia and I were going to possibly end up with each other in the long run. For some reason, even though I hated the idea originally and even a few weeks ago I would shoot down the idea right away, the more that I was starting to see that maybe Maurecia and I actually did have a chance of pulling this off down the long run.

"Maurecia, do you think about things that could have happened differently if somebody had just given them another chance in the long?" I asked, and then after I asked her that, I was thinking that she was able to pick up the fact that I was talking about her. But then as I was thinking that she was going to pick this up, I was starting to wonder to myself if she would even really be willing to accept any form of advances that I would give her. I think that she deserved to feel that way about me if she was thinking that she no longer really liked me anymore.

I was looking right at Maurecia and I was getting ready for her reaction now. "You know, if somebody had given me another chance right from the start, and if they started to show some interest in me, and if they were able to admit that they were wrong, then I would feel like I would totally be ready to give them another chance at being there for me. I always do think about how differently things would be if we were more open with each other. What have you been thinking about?" Maurecia asked, and then after she had asked me this, I started to thinking about what I was going to tell her and I was going to have to try and find a way to make it sound like I wasn't suddenly trying to win her over at the last minute.

"I just have been thinking a lot about stuff related to the butterfly effect. You know, I have been trying to understand if I had made the right choice throughout my time here and my life. Like if I never did what I originally did from my older school, then I would be thinking that high school would be fine. I am thinking that if I had behaved myself better at my older school, then I would have been a good student and then there would be somebody else that I would be able to be with now. This girl named Joy. I am always thinking about what life with Joy and I would be like if I had seenher again." I said and then after I had told her this, Maurecia was thinking about what she was going to say to me, and if she was also in that picture. Which she totally was, as I had been thinking about what things would have been like if I had chosen her. But I didn't want to admit it out of sounding a bit silly. I was not really wanting to admit that she was near the top of my life on what I had been thinking about.

"I guess life is just a bunch of thinking about how different things would have gone. But then you start to think about things and you think about what you would have been able to do differently, but then a lot of time all of these alternate realities are not really what you expect them to be. I have started to accept that. If I started to think of things in a certain way, then how differently things would have been able to really go now. I just think that school is all about the time when you start to look at life different and how much you would really would have been able to look at life. But the difference between wish and reality if if this actually turns out the way that you expect. I think that shit is not the way that you would ever want. I think that life is always going to be different from what you expect, and if you had a chance to live in another reality, then you would start to see that maybe that other reality was false." Maurecia said and I was able to tell that she was thinking about the other reality of if we had started to date each other. If we started to date each other if I would have started to look at other people different and started to just place her away.

But then I was thinking about that, and I was thinking about how unloyal that I am actually. But I was wondering if perhaps I would have been more loyal if it was another person other than Dana. But then I was thinking that maybe I was going to just be this way in general, and that I was just being a general horny simpleton. There is a part of me that is always really horny, but I was telling myself that I needed to focus on the bigger things on hand. But then I was thinking about if I was actually going to be able to settle down and thing about other things for at least a few minutes.

"You know, I think that I should have been more there for Dana. When she started to sound like maybe she would have needed me, I should have decided to put everything aside and talk with her. When it seemed like her parents hated me, I should have tried to talk to them and clear my name, although I am not really sure if this would have been worth it as I am starting to think that maybe they were really right about me this whole time. Maybe they had been right about their preconceptions of me and that I really am this terrible person that they started to think that I was." As much as I hated to admit it, I was thinking that they were indeed right about everything they said about me, and I was thinking that they should have been if anything more harsh on me from the start, and not really give me the chance they were even willing to give me at first.

"Todd, I would not really worry about it at all. You seem to be having your mind set in the right place. If you are certain that there is something that you want to do, and you feel like you are the only one who is able to really do the job, then you should always just place in your best effort into the situation no matter what the case may actually be." Maurecia said, and then after she had told me this, I was thinking more and more about that. "If you want to help out, which you clearly do, then I think that people would be willing to see that you are not a bad guy. I would not sare in any way say that you are a bad guy, since you seem to really know what is good for the people that you know and that you care about." Maurecia said, and then after she had said this, I was telling myself that she was right,

I was telling myself that I needed to give myself more credit. I was telling myself that there was nobody else would have tried to do what I did. When I was telling myself this, I was starting to sort of make myself feel a little bit better. I was thinking that there was nothing wrong with me.

"Todd, I think that you are just a great guy. You have not really done anything too awful. The worst thing that you have really done is sometimes question if your loyalty to Dana was well placed or not. That is something that I feel like a lot of people think when they start to settle down, if they should have gone with the other person or something like that." Maurecia was sounding like she was understanding me. But I was not able to really tell if she really did understand me, or if she was telling me that she got it just to make her sound like she was the greatest person in the world. I was not really sure, and honestly I didn't really care as I just really loved having somebody there just willing to talk to me, and be there for me and just support me for everything that had been going on and everything.

"Maurecia, there are times when I start to think that you get me more than everybody else in the world. I can just talk to you, and you sound like you really do get it. And at the very least, even if you don't really get me per se, you never really judge me. You always keep an open mind on what I tell you, and you are willing to just listen to what I have to tell you. That is something that I think everybody else should really try and do." I said, and then after I told Maurecia this, the more that I was thinking about what Maurecia had really done for me, the more that I was thinking about what I was going to tell her. The more that I was going to really be able to see the values and the things that she gave me, and I was going to be able to really appreciate her. I am starting to think that I was only starting to appreciate what had been given to me, and that I was playing on dangerous territory here.

That if I didn't start to appreciate her enough, then she would not really want to be friends with me anymore. If she didn't really want to be friends with me anymore because I simply was not really there for her, then I would not forgive myself for this. I would not really forgive myself for anything that I did with her. I just needed to talk with her more, and I needed to spend more time with her.

As I was thinking about this, the more that I was thinking about what Maurecia had really done for me. I was thinking about what I can do to make her feel better. The more that I was thinking about her in general, and the more that I was not really thinking about the whole Jenny thing in general. The more that I was not wanting to tell her about Jenny, since I was thinking about the fact that I was going to try and be there for Maurecia instead. I was thinking that this was the best thing I can do with her for the day.

This whole thing was starting to really swarm my mind and everything, but then we were at the front of the school. Once we were at the front of the school, I was thinking about how to end the conversation. "Well, I think that maybe we should walk home after school or something like that. I actually really enjoyed that walk to school with you today." I said, and I had honestly meant it when I had said that, and I was just not really saying that to make her like me more. I was thinking about what had happened, and I was thinking about what we would talk about on the way home.

"I would really like to do that actually. Thanks for walking to school with me Todd." Maurecia said and then afterwards, we were getting right to the top floor so we would be at class. The first couple of class periods of the day were just sort of boring, and not really anything that I was caring about all that much. But this time, I really did not mind it all that much, as I was thinking about the lunch period that day, and I was thinking about the chance to walk home with Maurecia. There were just a few things that were making me think about the greater goal on the mind.

During lunch that day, I was thinking about this whole conversation, but these thoughts were not really able to last all that long as when I sat down, Dana sat down right in front of me. "Hey Todd, it seems like you have been really focused on something." Dana told me, and for some reason when I was looking at her, all of my worries were starting to float away. I was thinking about how Dana was going to be somebody who would really be able to actually help me out here. So as I was thinking about this, the more that I was starting to think that maybe telling Dana about this stuff would have actually been the right choice.

"So Dana, I have been thinking a lot about what is going on lately. And I hung out with Jenny lately, and I know that you might not really be all that excited to hear that, considering that you always get really scared when I hang out with other people. But that is not what I am wanting to talk about right now. There is something that I saw in the last few days that really put a different perspective on my entire life." I said, and then after I said this, I was waiting to see what Dana was going to say now.

"What did you see that really scared you?" Dana asked, and I was able to tell from the look on her face that she was actually concerned about me. She was really wondering what type of help that I needed. I was thinking that Dana was going to be one of the only people I would trust with this information. I was not really going to tell her about the whole Jenny's mother thing, as I was still feeling like this should be mostly confidential. However, I felt like I was willing to tell her the truth about the thing I found down under the town. The place called the labyrinth. In fact, I was feeling like I needed to tell her this. As there was a part of me that was really worried about what I was going to tell her, but I was still feeling like it was dire to be telling her this.

"Well, I saw this thing that was underneath the town. There was this place called the labyrinth, and I didn't really know all that much about it. In fact, I was not really taking the whole thing that seriously at all. But at the same time, I went down there after I found the secret entrance to there, and I will not tell you where just in case something happens to you, and when I was down there, I was feeling like I was breaking into something that was sort of the root of all the problems with the town. As if everything that was evil in this city was all rolled into one place down there. I felt like I needed to try and find what was down there as I was thinking that perhaps I needed to try and make something right. But then I was too scared to do it. As if being down there was going to get everybody I knew and cared about killed, and that I was going to have nightmares for the rest of my life now."

"If you are really that worried about it, and if you truly feel like it is going to mess with you forever, and give you a bunch of nightmares, then perhaps you should go and talk to a therapist about this. Maybe just having somebody that you can talk with would be able to really help you. I know that this is a sort of generic response that in all reality will not really help you all that much. But just think about what will happen if you don't talk to somebody else about this. If you don't talk to somebody else about this, then you will be dealing with this weight on your shoulder for the rest of your life." Dana said and then I was seeing as she placed her hand on mine that I was always making the wrong choice every single time I was looking at another person besides Dana. Jenny was a thousand times more beautiful, and Maurecia seemed to have a more basic on paper understanding of me. But Dana was there, she talked with her, she was decent looking enough, and her understanding of me was something beyond basic paper understanding. I understood every time that I talked with her that she really was the one that I should treat with respect and she was the one that really was sort of for me more than anybody else. The other people would trick me when I was around them, but she was better for me at least.

"And if you don't trust those people with telling them about what you have been seeing, you know you can always talk to others. You know that I will always be there for you, and that I will always be able to listen to you. I will do the thing that nobody else would really be able to do. Please Todd, if you ever feel the need to talk to somebody about what you have been seeing lately, you can always come to me. I don't want you to have a weight on your shoulder that in all reality you should be able to put behind you." Dana said and then she took a deep breath and then she was waiting for the suspense that I was going to gather up and then she was going to continue what she as saying.

'What exactly about the labyrinth scared you? Do you feel like you would be willing to talk to me about that?" As Dana asked me this, I was thinking about if she should know that stuff. Then when I thought about it, I was totally deciding that I was ready to tell her what had been bogging my mind for what I had really seen down there and why exactly it had pissed me off so much.

"Well, it felt like there were people down there. Several of them. But not only that, but that they needed me. That I should have been there for them, and that I gave them false hope by being down there. I felt like I should have had the balls to go down there and do more when I saw that there was something wrong. But I just didn't want to. I was just too scared to, and then I ran away like a fucking coward. I don't really think that I would be able to forgive myself for this. I should have been there to see what was going on, and if I was going to be able to change things for the better. But I didn't do that. I was a asshole who ran away, and I was a person who preferred my own life." I said, and then when I told her this, I was wondering if I was ever going to get another chance. To either go down there and make things right, or that I can be able to tell somebody else what was happening and then they would be the ones to go down there.

"You know, you can't do everything. You need to stop giving yourself impossible expectations on what to do. If you wanted to help out, then you probably couldn't have been able to do that if you didn't know what was going on down there. You know, if you had the knowledge of what you doing, then you would have probably been able to do so much more. But that is not really how things are. Seriously, it is just how things really are." Dana said, and then after Dana had said this, I was thinking about that. I was thinking that she was trying to make me feel better, but no matter what I had been telling myself, I was not able to continue going at this.

"Please. I know that I should not really be all that harsh on myself. I had no idea what the labyrinth was. I had no idea what I was really getting myself into. I was not really able to do something even if I had wanted to be able to do that. But in the future, I should be careful. I need to be aware of what I am putting at steak on there. Please, understand that this is the thing that I have been feeling. I just feel like I have another chance to do something right, and that I need to go in there and do my utter best to make things right. That this is my best to be able to redeem myself." I said, and then as I was thinking about this, I was wondering if I was able to get myself to do it. I was then thinking about David, and I was telling myself that in all reality, he should be the one who was going to be able to really help me out.

I was thinking that David would understand what I needed, and then he would be able to see what was going on in the labyrinth and I thought that maybe if he knew what was going on down there, then perhaps he was going to be the hero of the day. I thought that David was goig to be the unspoken hero of the day a lot of the time coming up soon. He was somebody who was young enough to be able to do the right thing and not be blinded by some form of corruption, which I was always worried that people had suffered. That was yet another reason I was not really able to trust Garrett. I was just thinking that he had not really cared all that much about the people of the city. I felt like he had cared more about the pay check that he was going to be gathering up soon by doing all of this stuff.

"Todd, I think that you are just needing to focus on school again. You have made your promise to David and Garrett that you were not going to pursue this anymore. That you were not going to be dealing with the monsters now. You said that this was going to be something that you would leave behind. Please, follow through with your promise for my sake at the very least. If you want to make me feel so much better about life, then you should just remember the promise that you made, and you should keep your mind on the fact that you need to not lie to me." Dana said, and she was thinking that it was a bit sad that she was accusing me of lying, but I think that she was entirely just doing that to prove her point. I don't really think that she was actually thinking that I was some terrible person or anything like that. This was what I was telling myself. I was telling myself that I just needed to relax a bit. That I needed to just think about the good things that I would be able to focus on in school.

"You know, maybe this weekend, we can go and see a movie. I want to be able to have a nice day with you. I think that we have both earned the right of just having a nice day here with each other. I think that you have dealt with enough of my bullshit, and I have dealt enough bullshit to make us both earn this. So Dana, what do you think about that idea?" I asked, and then I was wondering if she would already have an idea of what movie she was going to want to see, if she had wanted to see one. Or if she was going to come up with an idea that was better than the one that I was having. If she had something better than the movies. I was thinking that there was a chance that she did, and I was totally not willing to brush off that chance.

"Yeah, I think that I would like that idea." Dana answered, as I was thinking about the time that we were going to have with each other. As the lunch period was passing, I was thinking more and more about her. I was thinking more about the fact that I would trust Dana to the information on what happened with Jenny's mother. I felt like she was the only one that I would consider telling. I thought about telling Maurecia a bit earlier. But now I was starting to slowly see in my eyes that this could have been a big mistake if I told her, so I was telling myself not to do something like that quite yet. Maybe later, and maybe when I felt like she was able to be told this information without making a big thing about it, then I was thinking that it would work. But that would take quite a while before I was thinking that this was going to be what I wanted to do. I was thinking that I needed to get Jenny's approval first, and I was telling myself that if she did, then I would go to Dana first, and then once I tell Dana this, then I feel like I was going to be ready to move this whole thing forward. But then after I told myself that I was going to be fine, I told myself to just let things slide. I was telling myself that things were all going to be good. I was telling myself that nothing I hyped up was anything too big of a deal.

Then the lunch bell rang and I was forced to go back to school classes. Once I was done with this, then I was going to talk with Maurecia and we could be able to really get to know each other better. I then wanted more from it besides just this.

Eventually, the school day had ended and both of us were ready to head on right home. I didn't feel so bad about the whole Dana thing anymore as I was just telling myself that this was just going to be a casual thing and that there was really nothing that I needed to worry about anymore. I was telling myself that Dana and I were still on a relatively tight grip with each other, and that I needed even need to consider what things would have been like if I tried to talk with Maurecia a bit.

Once we were walking home, I was telling myself to leave behind any ideas that I was starting to gather up of a slight romance between us. In all reality, I will admit that in hindsight if I moved here still and had no context of love and anybody here, I might have gone right to Maurecia as she showed she liked me. But this was in the present, and I had made a choice and everything.

"You know, I was really enjoying the conversation that we had earlier. It helped me be a little more open to everything going on. I think that you should always be willing to talk with other people. I mean, you will never really know what you can get out of having these conversations with people. Your opinion on things might be totally different as a result of these conversations." Maurecia said and then after she had told me this, I was thinking more about this whole thing.

"Yeah, I think that having a lot of friends that you really trust and are close with is one of the most important things that you can do when you go to a new setting. I am one hundred percent convinced of this. I am one hundred percent convinced that you should always talk with people when you move somewhere else because if you don't, then you won't really get them close to you." I said, and then I was thinking about my earlier life once again.

"I never really tried to get too close with too many people back in the day, and in hindsight I feel like this was the wrong choice. I feel like I should have gotten to know as many people as I could have been able to get to know. I know that I didn't really know any better, and that I had no idea I was going to eventually move out to this school, but still I feel like if I knew, I would have made as many friends as I could have been able to. It is important to make friends with people that you think will be able to trust you, and that you feel like you will be able to trust. Because it is good to have a backing when you go somehwere. Because even if you move away, you will have somebody who will be there for you if you move back and you feel like there is something that you will have to do." I said, and I had no idea at that moment that I was talking about somebody that I would later get to know in the future. I wasn't even doing it on purpose, it just sort of ended up happening like this.

"I think that people just think that once they move there, that there is a feeling that they will be at this place forever. That they will never move away. But then comes the day that it happens. Comes the day that you feel like it is time for you to move on and away. Then once you move away, you start to realize that maybe you were not really ready for life all that much. I think that this is something people should always be ready for." Maurecia was saying and I was telling that she was thinking about herself. She was thinking that she was going to be here forever. But it seemed like she was letting that small reality that it might not be like this sink in. I think that she just was finally letting this sink in.

"I think that I just wasn't prepared for any changes that came up. But you know, now that it has happened, I think that it is not really that big of a issue anymore. I think that people just need to adapt to changes. I know in hindsight now that I just needed to be ready for any possible changes, even though I didn't know how much better my life would have been if I started to be here. I think that there was a lot of my life that improved as a result of what I am doing here." I said, and then after I was done saying this, I was ready for more to talk about. I was ready to get to know more people here. I was ready to make more friends, and make my life as great as possible. I was thinking that Maurecia was going to help me do this as much as possible.

As I was thinking about how much I was growing to appreciate having Maurecia around me, I was thinking about if we could maybe hang out at a different time than Dana and I. I had no real desire to have the two plans bash into each other, as I was going to probably pick Dana any time at the end of the day. But that was why there were two days during the weekend, It gave you two chances to do something that you would enjoy doing. So in all reality, this was what I had really wanted to do now. I wanted to spend one of the days with Maurecia, and then get to know her even better than I had, and then another day with Dana, and really see if I could be able to move our relationship forward another step or two.

As I thought about it, there seemed to be something going on like Maurecia reading my mind or something like that. "hey Todd, I heard that there was this bowling tournament going on at Friday this week. It is going to be between Elmore school. You know, the school about half an hour or so away. I think it would be a lot of fun if you and I went and took along in this tournament." Maurecia said, and as I had heard about this, there was something in my mind telling me that I should take her up on this offer. It sounded like it would actually be a lot of fun. So after I heard her say this, I then was thinking that I was going to be aware of what I would be doing this friday.

"Yeah, I think that this would be a lot of fun. Let's fucking do it." I said, and then after I had said that, there was a part of me that was thinking that maybe we could take this further than that. But I only had that thought for a moment. Afterwards, I was telling myself that in all reality, my attraction towards Maurecia was indeed mostly just superficial and that I wasn't really super into her as I was trying to make myself think that I actually was. I felt fucking awful when I was thinking about this being how I had felt, but it was getting to the point where I was feeling even worse about questioning my feelings to Dana at all. So I was not going to let this continue.

"Maybe we should bring Kevin along or something." I said, desperate to save myself and be able to actually give myself some form of dignity. I was trying to make myself not fall down this rabbit hole. I refused to make myself susceptible to something that would ruin any relationship that I would have with Dana, and I was not going to let this turn a rift on my life at all. They both deserved better than this, and I was going to try and reform myself a bit. To make myself a bit of a more presentable fellow in terms of how I was treating Maurecia and Dana. Then there was a part of me that was thinking that in all honesty, it didn't really matter all that much if I had the thoughts. All I needed to do was just make sure that I didn't really go through with them. As long as I never went through with them, then I would be fine just having them.

"You know, I never really gone on one of these tournaments. I thought that they were not really going to be for me. I mean, it is just really hard to really understand how to play most of the time. It sounds a bit silly for me to say, but jesus christ I just wish that I actually you know, tried to be more active and tried to lead a better life style back when I was back at my other school. I mean, that place held bowling tournaments every other week. I just never felt the desire to go to them out of personally not finding it to be that interesting. But if I knew that people were wanting me to do it now, I would have gone right into it right away." I said, as I thought of how much I hated the things I just soundly rejected at first, but now wished I would have gotten into in hindsight. Things I started to think would have been better if I had gotten into them.

"Wayside and Elmore holds them once every year at the end of October in order to see which school has the better team. They have crushed us three years in a row. Not even coming close to being beaten. We usually do the best of three rounds. I hope to god that we can win at least one of the games this year. If we can even win one of them, then we will be racking up the experience and then they will actually have to start taking us more seriously, which will be a huge confidence boost on Wayside I can tell. I mean, if you have seen the way that the students have been around Elmore during the tournament, you can tell that they are really down about it." Maurecia said, and then I was wondering if maybe I would be able to do it. Help them win at least one game that is.

If I can even help them win one of the three games, then everything would be fine. Everything would be the way that it should be. I just needed to get on stage, and then concentrate while also just not thinking about it. Bowling was something that always kicked my ass because of this. You were supposed to be focused on how you walked and threw the ball, but then you were also supposed to be relaxed and not think about it. That stuff sounded fucking impossible. And it was for me when I tried it out. I was wanting to put that behind me though. Partly to finally say that I got the game, and also partly just to help the ego of Wayside school a bit.

As much as I may be thinking of my older school, and as much as I may miss a lot of it, I needed to accept the fact that this was all behind me. I needed to accept the fact that Wayside was just not the way it was going to be, at least until I actually get to know the people there a bit better. I needed to accept the fact that this was my school now, and that I needed to stop moping about being gone. I feel like it was just me giving myself rose tinted glasses anyways when I look back.

In the end, I was honestly feeling like that the stuff I was doing here was in reality better than my older school. But I was just trying to grasp onto the few good things in there, and that was what was doing me over every single time. The idea, the false mindset that this place was actually any good.

But as more time passed here, the more that I was starting to realize that there were some deeply running problems at Wayside. That there were many issues at Wayside that I needed to really look into, mainly for the sake of the people who went to the school with me. That if I did not do this, then perhaps I was going to be creating more problems for people. The more problems that I would create, the more that I feel like I was not really going to pull out through for the students here. These students that I have started grow a huge respect for. Started to feel like were in a way my comrades. At least with Kevin and some of the others that is.

If they had said that they wanted my helped at the tournament, and to make me help them boost some points in the over all score, then I was going to do just that. I was going to make sure that they at least had a fighting chance to win. That they were not going to be running from a mile behind everybody else. Besides, if they had been crushed so bad on three years in a row, I wouldn't make things any worse if I sucked. At worst, people would just be disappointed with me. But in all honesty, I can be able to really live with that.

I have had people acting like I have created a huge problem with them before a couple of times, as can be seen with the way that I treated at my old school. This was nothing new. This was nothing that I needed to act like would change my life forever if it went the wrong way. It was so the opposite of that it was almost kind of sad to be honest. But I was telling myself over and over again that I was going to help them win a game. I was going to give them at least one fucking game. That was not too much to ask for.

As I was thinking about this, there was a strange surge of confidence that I was feeling. There was a strange desire that I was having to actually help out as much as I could. I had no idea why this urge was hitting me so suddenly and so strongly, but I felt like I needed to do this. I felt like these people sort of needed me in a way. I wanted to give them the assistance that I felt like I would have been able to give them. I felt like the assistance that they would be given by me in a way would be what could really tip the game in their favor. Maybe that was a bit narcissistic for me to be thinking. But if for nothing else, at least I was not in any way lacking confidence. At least I was showing as much confidence as I wanted and needed to.

If only I would be able to find a way to channel this out into the field, then I would be really doing this town a favor. I would really be going out of my way to do something that I don't know if anybody else could or wanted to. I then looked at Maurecia. I was seeing that she was starting to pick up what I was thinking. I was thinking that she was liking the way that I was feeling about it. As she was looking at me and starting to realize how much she was actually liking this aura of confidence that I was giving off, she was starting to get even more impressed with me than she had already been by that point, which I was wondering if that was even possibly given her nature.

"I think that Elmore will not really know what hit them when they see me. They will be thinking that they can breeze their way into a fourth year of victories in a row. But then I am going to come in, and I am going to prove them wrong. I am going to at least make them work for their victory. Even if they eventually get it, at least I will be making it something that they will actually have to earn." I said, as I was actually feeling like this could be done. That this victory was not only possible, but maybe even doable given the restrictions of our setting.

"I am glad that you are feeling confident, but please don't force yourself into anything. Don't make yourself do something that you feel like you won't be able to actually do." Maurecia said, and then I waved it off with my hand. She clearly didn't understand guys enough. Once they got into something, once they felt the motivation to do it, you can't take them away from the price. At least, that was how I felt about things when I started. I guess I don't really know if others are like that or not, but I never give up on the contest that is in front of me. In all reality, I am sort of competitive, even if I don't want to be and even if I really shouldn't be.

"I feel like this is going to be something that I not only want to do, but will perfectly be able to do. I think that this is something that we should be preparing for. Maybe if I have a couple of practice games in the next few days, then I will be ready. At least then, I wouldn't be totally rusty anymore." I said, and there was a small part of me that was inviting her along, while also being a part of me that wanted to sort of do this on my own.

I was thinking tough, that there was one thing for sure. I didn't want to do this first one with her. I wanted to at least do the first session on my own, so that way nobody would be seeing me at my absolute worst. I mean, I didn't want to look like a idiot in front of people if that was possible to avoid. If I was able to avoid that, then I might be able to find myself in a okay situation. All I needed to do was just not be totally bad. If I was able to look decent to the people around me, and if they were starting to see that maybe I could pull this off, then I was possibly going to be able to give myself the same momentum to keep going forward than I would have thought I would have.

As I was thinking about the idea of motivation and how to help me forward, I was also thinking about Dana a bit. If she saw that I was doing my best to do something good for the school, then surely she would be able to forgive me for some of my very big flaws that I was really starting to show when I was around her. I was hoping that she wouldn't notice or think too much into these flaws, but even I knew that I was not giving her enough credit. She probably saw through them before I ever did, and then as I thought on that, I thought that she deserved to know everything that I had been truly thinking, and maybe we would be able to work together and help pull us through this thing together.

But then as I thought about what she had wanted, I then looked at Maurecia. "If I partake in the tournament, I will need some friends to be there with me. Be able to really help me get the motivation in order to actually act like I am able to pull out a good fight. A fight that will make these people see that you no longer want to be messed with. If you can do that for me, then I think that we will start to be golden on the spot." I said, and then I was thinking about what Maurecia can do in order to help get Kevin into it or Dana and Steven or people like that. Hell, even fucking Shari would be better than nothing, even if I knew that Shari would contribute nothing to the overall cause with her always sleeping and everything.

I was wondering how she was always able to sleep so much. I felt it was just strange that she had never been able to stay awake for more than a few seconds even. If I remembered correctly, I read in that monster book Dana gave me why. But it was still quite strange and I never really understood it all. But whatever, it wasn't like it really mattered all that much anyways.

As I was thinking about that book that Dana gave me, and I was thinking about how annoying it would be to read through that, I was starting to tell myself that I needed to read it. If I didn't read it, then maybe there would be something I was missing about the whole equation. But as I was thinking this, I was going back to the present and I was thinking about Dana as well. I was thinking about what she had actually wanted of me. She had waned me to stop looking into this so much. She had wanted me to place this all behind me. I didn't want to do that though. I felt like I was sort of breaking a promise that I made to her all those weeks go if I did this.

As I was thinking about the promise that I would have broken to her, I was then thinking about this promise. Either way, I was breaking the promise of a friend. The promise of somebody who I had really respected. And I was never really going to be able to fully forgive myself if this happened. If I had broken this promise, somebody who I knew more than that Dana from weeks ago, then I would be really messing up.

After I thought about this, I was starting to think to myself that Dana was just needing a little bit more assurance that I was not going to get myself killed. She probably thought that since we were dating, that this would be much worse than anything else that could happen. I guess in a way, for her, it sort of was. And I was thinking that maybe she needed to see what all of this would really do. But then I was thinking that maybe she wanted to be in denial, and that denial was the only thing keeping her sane. As I thought this, I began to actually feel bad for her.

I was then thinking that if this was going to be the way that she was going to be eventually feeling towards me, then what the hell was the fucking point in trying to get me into doing any of this in the first place? It seemed like it was one hundred percent counter productive. It seemed like she was setting herself up for failure in a way when she decided to tell me about these monsters. I was thinking that even if she didn't know the way she was going to be feeling about me, that she should have never even taken the risk in the first place. That she should have never even told me this stuff on the chance that something like this could happen. She honestly should have known better, I was telling myself. But then after I was telling myself this and in general making her sound like the bad guy for a moment, I told myself to stop and actually think about this for a moment.

I was telling myself that there was probably just a level of fear that she had originally, and she was thinking that having me do this for her would have been able to get rid of these fears. That I was sort of a new hope that she was having, and she felt like being there for me and me being there for her was just sort of a unplanned turn of events. Something that even with her great planning and even with what she tried to do on a normal basis would not have been able to think of. She just thought that at most, we were going to be friends and nothing more. This was something that turned out to be so much bigger than this, and that was something that I should cut her some slack on. Besides, sooner or later, even if the police were not involved, and if she just saw this from the distance, she probably would have started to get worried anyways.

I was thinking to myself that sooner or later, things would have happened and if I got myself hurt and maybe even killed, then there would be a certain level of survivors guilt that she would have been facing. Something that she must have realized was really hurting herself. As I was telling myself to please try and think about it from her perspective, I was starting to see in the ways that I was treating her wrong. The ways that she deserved more from me. I didn't know why I was feeling so strongly about this and the way that this had gone, but I guess there was just the part of me that wanted to pin point the blame on somebody else, even if I was slowly starting to realize that there was no way that they would have known better, and as a result, it was not really their fault. But I was just so angry at that moment, so much wanting to blame somebody or something that I realized only in hindsight that I was not being reasonable.

Besides, she was my girlfriend and there was me looking at her like this. I was starting to think if anybody, hell even Myron would have been better for her with the way that I was treating her in my mind. That anybody would have been there for her better and would have given her more of the respect that she had deserved.

Maurecia was just letting me having his silent debate in my mind. Quite frankly, she was just not really sure what to think. She was sure that I was starting to lose my mind. I would not really blame her for feeling this way. After all, she was basically watching me having a mental war in my mind. A mental war that I don't really think I was quite ready for but was now fighting very deep into.

And then I was thinking about the bowling. I was thinking about the tournament that was going to be coming up. I was thinking about what I needed to do in order to be ready for that. I felt like I needed to do anything in my power to be ready for this. Even if it meant taking many hours of my time. Even if it meant that I was going to truly have to go above and beyond. I was then thinking that if Maurecia was there, despite how much of an idiot I would look like and I would never forgive myself if that happened, that perhaps I needed to do this in order to show that I was telling the truth. I needed her at my side in order for her to sort of make me understand how to play the game, and I was telling myself that I needed her to be at my side so that way there would have been somebody there, and in a way that would have given me motivation to keep playing and going. Knowing somebody was going to be at my side.

As I had been thinking about that, and I was thinking about the fact that this could help me out in a way, having her at my side, I was slowly starting to get to the point where I was telling myself that I needed to shallow up my pride a bit and actually just accept the fact that I was not perfect. "Hey Maurecia, where is this bowling alley?" After I said that, I took a deep breath and then I started to continue my mindset. "I think I am ready to start playing and learn how to be ready for this tournament."

After I had told her this, Maurecia was starting to process the dedication and the time of my life I was going to have to sink into this. She was not really sure if I was ready for this or not, but she was respecting the fact that I was thinking that I was ready. She was telling herself that if I was feeling this way, that maybe there was something out of this that she would be able to get from me. So with that, she nodded and was in a way that she never expected ready to teach me how to play bowling.

"Well, don't expect this to be easy. If you expect this to be easy, then you will be gravely mistaken." Maurecia said and then I nodded, remembering how bowling was like when I was a kid once again.

"Believe me, I have done enough bowling to know exactly how it is." I said and then I said "I played it a couple of times when I was a kid. You know, it wasn't really all that much for me. I don't really even think I will do it after this tournament. I think that this is going to be a one time thing." I was ready to do what I felt like was going to be the first of five final bowling sessions of my life. Just one each day until the tournament, and that would be all that there was to it.

As Maurecia and I were agreeing to go there, I was thinking about the mess that I was going to be setting myself up for. I was thinking about how impossible this whole thing was going to be. I was thinking about how if this worked out, and if I actually did win the tournament for them, then the people in town would be telling me that I was the greatest person in the city at bowling, and how I should get into the tournament every year and how I was going to be their star back up player.

Then after that, I was finding myself laughing a bit. I was thinking way too highly of myself. Now I was the one who was getting himself that was way too big for his own good, and that if I didn't get this thing in check, then I was going to be making a very big mistake. That I was going to be setting myself up for failure by that point. Then I was thinking that this was just going to be my first time. So just relax and just not worry about how I was doing.

So with that, Maurecia and I walked to the bowling alley and I was paying for the games, I decided to pay for three games up front as I heard that the tournament would be the best out of three. Maurecia said she was going to put up the guards for the first game to let me get a feel for the game, and then after the first game, we were going to bring them down as by that point, it was time for me to get more serious with the playing.

As were in the bowling alley, I was feeling the balls and seeing which one felt right in my hand. Then after I took a moment to really examine them all, I picked the nine pound one. I was feeling like this was either going to be ten times easier than I had made it out to be or one of the hardest things that I would have ever done in my entire life. I was almost certain that it was going to be one of those two things. Although I was not really sure which one was going to be closer to being true considering the fact that the rails were up for the first game. Which made me feel like I was going to have to wait until the second game at least to make sure that I knew what I was going to be getting myself into.

I went first, I rolled the ball to the pins and then knocked seven of them over. That was better than I was expecting, but I was just telling myself that this was starters luck, and that I was probably not actually going to keep this up, and I was thinking to myself that once we were really going to get into the competing part of this, that I was going to be nowhere even close to being like this. so I was pretty much just telling myself to in no way get in over my head, since I didn't want to make myself think that I was this new fucking hot shot when I had only been doing this one and when I was having the fucking rails up this time.

Maurecia went next and hit nine of the pins down. I was telling myself that this was exactly as to be expected, and then I was telling myself that this was why I needed to be more realistic with what I was doing. I was then thinking that if she was going to keep this up, then I was going to be destroyed. But then I was telling myself that if I can put up at least a sixty point game, meaning that on average, I took out a majority of pins, then it would have looked like I had indeed put up a good fight against fucking impossible odds.

So with that, I had my goal set in mind. To get at least sixty five pins. When I had decided that I had wanted to do that, I was then focusing more on the over all sum and my personal goal and not really the whole game that was ahead of me and how I was destined to lose.

In the second round of the game, I swung the ball wrong and took down only three pins. So my total was now ten pins, and I was now feeling a bit like a idiot at that moment. Then Maurecia went and took down seven pins, which brought her up to a six point lead as she now had sixteen pins. Not that it really mattered, I still had eight more rounds to get the extra fifty five that I had wanted.

The third round I got really lucky and got eight on the first throw, which placed me at eighteen. Then I was given another throw like I expected, and then I got a spare, which would greatly help my over all score in the upcoming rounds as even I knew the most basic rules of bowling and the ideas of strikes and spare. Then I told myself that if I just consistently got myself either strikes or spares, then I might be able to pull this off. On paper, didn't sound so bad. In execution, it was going to be much harder. Maurecia got a bit excited to see how I performed that round and then we high fived and then she got back into being competitive. She went in and got nine pins over all in that game, placing her at twenty five points over all.

After I saw that this was still going to be a competitive game, I got back into serious mode. That swing I only got six pins in on the first throw, which added sixteen points to my last round and placed me at twenty six over all. In the second throw I only got an extra one pin, which brought me up to twenty seven so far. I had a two point lead. All I needed to do was just hope that Maurecia wold flub this next round.

She didn't exactly flub it, but she did kind of low for her standards. That round she only had five points, so she was now at thirty points, which was still three ahead of me. She said that her aim was bad this time, and that she needed to get more focused. I then felt like this was my chance to really be able to put some ground on the game over all, and make this actually seem like a contest.

That next round, I got seven pins over all, placing me at thirty four. Maurecia got eight pins that round, placing her at thirty eight points, which was still fur ahead of me. Not that it really mattered, I told myself, we were still only on round five, and I had five rounds to get the extra thirty one points that I had wanted.

The next round I got really lucky. I hit a strike right on the first time, and since strikes were at least fifteen, plus the amount you get next time, I was going to be at least at forty nine when the results of round six had been added in and calculated. I was then thinking that now I really did have a chance, and that my goal of sixty five might be pushed up to seventy five at the rate I was going. I felt like there was a chance that this could really actually happen.

Once I thought that this could happen, I was telling myself that I needed to get more focused and get myself a clear head. Then I saw Maurecia go and then she got nine pins that round but narrowly failed to get the spare by about one inch or so. She was now at forty seven. For once, I was actually now in the lead. It took six rounds, but I was now in the lead of the game.

That next round, I got six again on the first try, which added twenty one points to last game and placed me at fifty five points at round six. Then I got another two at my next throw, which added eight to my score for round seven. Then I was now at sixty three points. I was then at that point where at least this round, Maurecia could not catch me. Maybe on future rounds, but at least this round I was solidly in the lead.

Maurecia seemed to get her own stroke of luck that seemed to ruin my short lived moment of confidence. She got a strike that round, which meant that she was going to be at least sixty two when this round was over, and my lead was now only brought down to one point. I was thinking to myself that she had to ruin the blissful moment I was in at that second by being better than me like always.

Then I got back into the mode where I knew I had to start taking things seriously again. I was not really sure why I was caring so much about this right now. But I felt like I wanted to actually prove myself to her. I rolled the pin, and then got five that time. Damn it, only sixty eight. Then I rolled it again, and got another three more, which put me at seventy one. That was six above my goal, and we were only on round eight. Then Maurecia got the ball going good and then got a spare that round. Which meant that she was going to be at least seventy two by the end of round eight, and then I was getting kind of annoyed at my lack of proper bowling skills then.

After this moment, I told myself that this was just a game. I knew that it was just a game, but there was a part of me that really wanted to go above and beyond. There was a part of me that desperately wanted to at least perform decently. I then grabbed the ball again and then got my own spare, which meant that I was going to be at least eighty one for round nine. Then I was thinking that I needed to get a solid spare or strike next one, and then I was going to be set. Maurecia got eight pins over all that round, starting with seven and then an extra one. So her pins in round eight were eight nine, and then now she had ninety seven.

I was starting to think that in all reality, the only way for me to win was to pull off an extreme upset. I had a spare from last round, meaning that if I got a strike this round, I would now be at one hundred one points for round now, just four ahead of Maurecia. This was going to be the biggest upset in bowling history if I was able to win this game. Well, maybe not the biggest in history in all honesty, but it was going to be something that I would not be expecting at all. Something that I would never have even been prepared for. So I took myself and composed myself, and then when I did that, I then rolled the ball and then despite what i was expecting and preparing myself to not get, I actually did land a strike. I then was mega excited, and then I was thinking that I did stand a chance. I was then thinking that I still had another thirty points I could be able to score if I was good enough. So I went at it again and got a second strike in a row, which placed me at one hundred and twenty one. Then on the third and final toss, I got myself six more and as a result placed me at one hundred twenty seven. Now Maurecia needed to pull a perfect game if she had wanted to beat me. I mean, my victory was assured by that point. But I was still wanting her to get in a good final run.

Maurecia got up and just like I did, she managed to pull in two strikes in a row. This then placed Maurecia at one hundred and seventeen pins. Which meant that either we would get tied at the end, or she was going to lose by ten points or less. Then she went up and then she got eight pins and as a result placed herself at one hundred and twenty five. Which was just two points less than where I was. This entire outcome shocked me. Not only did I win, but I also managed to do so by just a mere couple of points. It was a lot to wrap my mind around. I had no idea how I was able to keep myself under this type of scoring. I had no idea how I was able to get that close at all. I much less didn't expect to win. As a result, my confidence boosted and even though the rails were up and it was obviously as a result of this, I was still very happy with myself. I felt like if I just keep going at this enough, I would be able to maybe actually help deliver the winning blow on at least one of the three games.

Despite the fact that it was just bowling and that in all reality, it didn't really matter all that much who won or didn't, I was now more excited about myself and I was now actually starting to feel better about myself. I was then starting to think that I was going to truly be the one person that we needed to have in this tournament. My excitement was high. I was thinking that I was going to be the savior of wayside middle school this year at the tournament, and then as a result my popularity would be even more sealed than ever. When I was telling myself this, I was then thinking about what I was going to do next after this. I was then telling myself that no matter what happened, I was going to do much better than anybody else would have predicted that I could have. I was excited as all hell. I just hoped that people would be willing to help cheer me on and keep me going throughout this whole thing. I was thinking that this was going to be one of the best or one of the worst nights of my entire time at wayside when this came up on friday. I was also thinking that nobody was going to fucking stop me no matter what happened now.

Once the second game came up, and we were having the rails lowered, it was both more and less in my favor at the same time. For the first three rounds, Maurecia was one point ahead of me each time, and I was starting to wonder how she was able to get such a grip so fast, and I was wondering if the rails were the only thing that really kept me going, which at that point was looking very likely. Then for rounds four, five, and six I was the one who was two points ahead of her. I was thinking that this was going to be a much closer game than I was going to expect. That I was going to be setting myself up for a second round of the first game. I was actually expecting that this was going to be the exact same thing all over again, and that I just needed to be ready for this.

As I was telling myself that I was ready for another round this being a close game, I didn't really have a great turn and only had four pins. I was thinking that the lead was now gone, and that I just needed to be a bit more careful this time. Then Maurecia decided to back stab me and then she ended up getting a fucking strike that time around. I was then thinking that I was now going to have to start preparing myself for a landslide defeat, even though I was thinking for a bit at the start that maybe I would be able to avoid something like that. I guess my luck was not really as in my favor as I had started to think it was. But it was no real matter. All I needed to do was just rebound myself in the next few rounds and then I can pull off the upsets I was so good at now.

But then as I was thinking that I can pull this off, I had a good round by getting eight pins and then another one on the next throw. I was thinking that this was not really nearly as against me as I thought. I mean, sure I had one bad round and Maurecia had an amazing round, but I did decent enough here. I was not really expecting to win, but I was thinking that maybe I can not lose in a landslide this time around. As it had looked like I was going to be able to at first, and then I was thinking about how I was going to close in the margin.

But then Maurecia decided to get a six on that round the first time and then added in a spare. Which then basically made it so that she was now like twenty points ahead of me. So then I was just thinking that she had this one, and that all I was going to do was just make it closer.

By the time that we had reached the tenth round, she had a thirty eight point over me. It was now literally mathematically impossible for me to win. I was then telling myself that if I can bring it down a bit, then it would be better, as opposed to letting her increase it. All I needed to do was just close it in a bit. Once I was telling myself that this was what I needed to do in order to make myself feel sort of proud, Maurecia kind of had a bit of a lousy round. I think that maybe her luck had worn down a bit. I was telling myself that this was good, and that I now had a chance to recover from this. I ended up losing as was going to be totally happening from the start, but I did bring a thirty eight point victory down to a twenty one point victory, meaning that the gap was about half way close. I was then telling myself that this was better than nothing, and that I should just be happy that I was even able to really close it in. There was a part of me that thought she was going to just pull out some strikes and increase it to like a fifty point victory or something like that. But lowering it by nearly half was a sign that I wasn't totally awful.

Despite the fact that I was starting to feel a little bit better about how well I was performing, I was still myself that I needed to be more careful on how I handled all of these things. I was still telling myself not to get too overboard with my own personal ego. I knew that soon enough, if I was not really careful enough, that I would start to really go overboard on thinking that I was some great player. I was telling myself that this was all just starting, and that I still needed to be more aware of how to play the game before I got too cocky on the whole thing. It was hard for me to keep myself calm and collected, as I was thinking that I was going to possibly be the one who was going to change things for the school. But I didn't want to say anything. I was thinking about how well I was going to be able to perform in the third game, and if I was going to do any better or worse than the last one. I was thinking that as long as the margin before the final round was less than thirty points, then I was going to fucking win. Or at least I would have a genuine chance. I was then thinking about if Maurecia was going to be able to approve of how well I was doing.

Despite the fear that Maurecia was going to think that I was wrong to feel this good about myself, and that I was starting to build up a big ego, I was also telling myself that this was just something that I was doing for myself. It was alright to get a big head every once in a while. As I was thinking that there was nothing wrong with being like this every once in a while, I was just telling myself to keep it to just a practice only thing, and that I should not let it to get to me during practice. Only when it was the real tournament should I really start to behave in a better light and not act like a cocky bastard, I was telling myself. As I was telling myself this, I was also telling myself that I was still doing pretty decent for my first time doing this, and that I should not ever let that start to be considered false. I was doing a great job considering this was one of the first times that I ever played bowling, and if people wanted to argue that fact and try and make me feel bad about being proud of myself, then I think that perhaps they were the ones who had the problem and that it wasn't even really me anymore.

But as I was telling myself this, I was also thinking that it was important to not be a asshole anymore. I was still worried that I was going to come off as an asshole if I got in too over my head. This was something that always concerned me. Just being so over myself that I was going to be the one who was looked at as the asshole and the one who needed to change his standards on how he looked at things. But then as I was telling myself that I didn't need to worry all that much about it, I then was seeing that Maurecia was ready to continue and play another game. As I saw that Maurecia was excited for another game, I was actually happy for a bit. There was a part of me that actually did enjoy playing this game. I was starting to think to myself that maybe I should have given it another chance before I totally brushed it off back then. Not only just for the popularity, but mainly for the fact that there was a level of fun to it all that I never really expected.

Once I was telling myself of this, I was then thinking about the tournament. I did the first round and then got seven pins on that round. As Maurecia went and got eight, I was thinking about if I was going to be able to make the people at Elmore at least a little bit impressed with me. If they were going to at least sort of think that I was a good player and that they should look into maybe even making some deals with me. Then I was telling myself that this would not happen. For a couple of major reasons.

On around two I got six pins, and Maurecia got six as well, so she was still one ahead of me by that point. I think both of us were starting to lose our concentration or maybe we were sort of winding down for the day. As I was thinking this, I was thinking on why Elmore would not further make deals with me. First was that I was a student at Wayside and there was no way in hell that they were going to make deals with people at Wayside, and that my school alone was going to just get rid of that chance. Secondly was the fact that these people had been doing this for much longer than me, and were probably still twice as good as me. I was certain that the people were going to get fucking strikes on every round. I then thought that it was not really going be all that competitive when I was telling myself to be realistic here. As I was thinking that I was now starting to look at things with a more real eye, I was then thinking on how I was going to really get my classmates to see that there was nothing wrong with losing. That losing was all fine, and that it was just a matter of doing better and then if you did put in your best effort, at least you are slowly getting better. Your best on a current day was always going to be better than your best on a previous day. I knew that this was pretty much for sure, and that anybody who wanted to seriously challenge that idea was kind of the one who needed to look at things with a more objective eye.

But then as I was thinking about this, I was then starting to think that Wayside was just probably sick and tired of being defeated all the time. They wanted a chance to win. They wanted to be under the illusion that they were actually doing good. As I was thinking about that, and as I was thinking about how much the illusion was going to make the spirits of the school improve, I was then thing about how exactly I would be able to really grant them this. I was wondering how possible it would be to make them see that I was going to be more than just a general student at a general school.

But then as I did the third round, and then got eight pins to Maurecia's seven, to tie up the game, I was telling myself that it didn't really matter all that much. Despite what I was making it out to be in my mind, and despite what people were probably saying, in all reality, this stuff did not really matter all that much. That in the end, despite how much I was really hyping it up at that moment and in general, that this was just a fucking game. That I didn't really need to be all that worried about what people were going to say. I was telling myself that no matter what happened, and no matter if I failed or not, that I was just playing in a game. And that after a few days, it was not really going to matter anymore. That the tournament was only going to be talked about for like two or three days afterwards and then people would just let it go and move on with their lives. At least, this was what I was assuming and in a way hoping if I turned out to be utterly terrible at it. Which I was still mostly willing to admit that I could have been.

Then I was thinking about Dana on the fourth round. On the fourth round, Maurecia got nine pins and I got seven giving her now a two point lead over me again. As I was thinking about Dana, I was thinking to myself that she was probably proud of the fact that I going out and doing these things at all. That she was getting back to having her wishes being mostly granted about me just living the normal teenage life and nothing really too insane beyond that. She was getting what she had been wanting of me lately, and what I felt like I was going to truly and honestly and even willingly sink myself into. The life I didn't think I could get after the first few days here, but was slowly starting to realize was more in my reach than I could have ever dreamed it to be.

As I was starting to realize that living some form of a normal life here was not all that out of possibility, I was actually almost starting to find myself thinking about what life was going to be like when I started to settle more into the casual daily routine of things. I was starting to wonder if gathering up a large group of friends and just going on crazy adventures was going to do the trick. You know, as long as I didn't start getting into stuff like fighting monsters again, ans as long as the adventures were mostly what you would be expecting when you actually go out and hang with friends and everything. I was telling myself that everything was going to be all fine and stuff. All I needed to do was just relax and have a fun time with friends, and make sure that at least we were being relatively safe in the process. It sounded a lot easier said than done, and I knew for a fact that actually doing something like this was going to be really hard. It was going to be really hard to actually get something real going in terms of a normal life. I knew it wasn't impossible per se. Saying that it was impossible would be an extreme hyperbole. But to say that it was going to be hard was also a huge understatement. Saying that it would be hard would really not be doing the whole thing justice. It was going to be a lot more than just 'hard' to live a normal life when I was going to be at Wayside. But I was thinking that maybe it was still worth at least trying. That it was still worth doing my best to do something like this. That even if my life wasn't too generally normal, that at least the effort could have been put fourth and then at least if the effort was put fourth, then there was nothing I can really do about a non normal life.

But as I thought about all of this, I was starting to think to myself that after all of this time, that maybe I didn't really want normal anymore. Maybe I was too used to the craziness of Wayside to really want normal anymore. Maybe normal was just something that I was telling myself could happen but in all reality was just a big fucking load of bullshit. I was thinking that this was indeed very possible. But the desire to live a normal life as well as the desire to make people see that I had nothing in the way of just being a total nutcase anymore, the basic and simple desire to do something like this was much bigger than the desire to just go back to what was considered usual for Wayside. I was telling myself that usual for Wayside was not really usual in a general sense of the word. No matter what people really wanted to say, there was nothing about the school that was normal. I was fine with that and I do indeed accept it as a part of the charm of being at the school, but there was something that I was still wanting beyond all of this. I wanted the sense of right to this place. I wanted the sense that no matter what I did, that the people here were going to be safe. As I was thinking about what I wanted, and as I was thinking what was important to me, keeping the people safe, I was starting to realize that I was indeed not a bad person. At least not as bad as I was starting to make myself out to be. Sure, I wasn't perfect, and I did have a few flaws. But that was something everybody dealt with. Nobody was perfect and everybody had at least some flaws in them. But the thing was that I was still wanting to at least make myself the person that can make things right. I was also a bit more of an idealist when I was thinking of things that way. I was thinking of how I was going to go in there and then put a smile on peoples safe. I was thinking that I can do it all with the wave of a hand. I didn't really think that there was anything about what I was feeling that was wrong per se, but I did know that I was going to be selling myself short if I wanted to be the one who can do no wrong. But then as I was thinking about that, I was thinking that maybe I was not really like that. I was not the one who had wanted to do no wrong. I knew that I had done plenty of wrong, but that I was willing to change it all.

And I was thinking that in a way, doing this bowling tournament could be a nice first step. A simple first step and a seemingly unnormal and unconventional one. But these were still first steps, and I was thinking that any step was going to be better than nothing when it came to making the people in wayside respect me. I was not really shooting to be popular, in fact I didn't really give a damn about that. Being popular was just sort of a side thing that can happen. I was caring more about having people just respect me and appreciate my contributions. In a way, I guess, that would make me popular. Popular in the sense that people liked me, and that I didn't have any problems getting around. But I didn't really think of myself as anything beyond that, and I was telling myself that it was totally alright to feel like that. It was totally alright to want to have these things as a simple basic desire. Everybody wanted to be accepted by the people around them, and everybody wanted to have that sense of value. There was nothing about this whole ordeal that was anything unusual. I just wished that if I did get popular, and if this did go somewhere, then maybe I can pull a Myron and use it as something for a school political career. I was thinking that unlike Myron though, I would not really be a cringy fuck about what I was doing and that I was actually going to take this seriously. I was thinking to myself that I needed to actually take it serious and make people see that I was going to be acting like this was all one bog fucking game. I didn't mind that people didn't take it all that seriously, but that was because they didn't fucking get into the whole mainstream of things. Myron was trying to get into the mainstream, and by doing so, and failing miserably, it was annoying and I just wished that he would be taking it much more seriously than he had. I was wondering what he didn't understand about this. What he didn't really understand about the fact that nobody found it fucking funny when he did stuff like this. Nobody thought it was amusing that he was going around and acting like a total jackass all of the time. I was thinking that I was being too hard on him though. As I was thinking that I was being too hard on him, the rest of the bowling rounds went by like a sort of haze. I did pay attention, and I was actually putting in my best effort, but there was a part of me that forgot all of this when I was thinking about that stuff, and I was quickly starting to forget a lot of the final scores. I think Maurecia did win, and it was by eleven points or something, which I brought down from a twenty three point debt by the start of the final round, so again I lowered it by about half.

As the game was finally over, I was getting ready to relax and settle down. Maurecia sat down next to me at a chair and then she was looking at my face. She was seeing that I was deep in thought. I was trying to understand what happened. I was trying to understand how I was able to go from thinking that I was going to do horrible to doing alright. I mean, it wasn't like I was the prodigy that I was making myself out to be when I was at my peak of hype. But I was still thinking that I was alright. I was still thinking that I would be able to hold my own during the tournament. As I was thinking that this was something I could indeed do, I was looking right at Maurecia and I was saying "I wonder how the other players are. Have they been practicing at this stuff for years or something?" I asked, thinking that this was the best place to start when I was going to be talking about them. I was feeling like it was time to really break them down and talk about them as if they were my worst enemy or something like that. Which I supposed in a way they kind of were. At least they kind of were for the nest week. Once Saturday came along and the tournament was over, they really were not going to be all that big of a deal anymore. It was just the matter of them right now that was making me hype them up like this.

"I guess that they probably do something like weekly contests. That way even with the worst people there, due to how much they play and how much time that they put into it, that even they will still be able to put up a decent performance. Even the worst of the bunch won't really look like total idiots. That if what I am thinking they do at least. Just tons of practice and much more than even I would like to imagine them doing. They probably just take the game way too seriously for their own good. They probably don't realize that at the end of the day, that this really is just a fucking game, and nothing more. But I would also say, at the same time, nothing less either. I guess I just don't really get it is all. I mean, what is the point in playing the game if you are so much more worried about pulling out a flawless victory than you are thinking about just in general having fun and being able to accept the fact that not everybody is super worried about this stuff. I just wish that they would see that we are in it for the fun. We are in it for the actual experience. We are not in it for some form of false glory." Maurecia said and I was wondering what made her have such a stance on the issue. I was wondering if perhaps she had done this several times and dealt with some really awful people and this was just her way of venting out and showing that she couldn't really stand fucking preps like this. I was then wondering why I was even using the term preps, and there was a part of me that did feel a little bit dirty as I was thinking that was a term I just used to describe people from a different school over just a fucking game. After I told myself that this wasn't really all that big of a deal, I was then looking right at Maurecia to be seeing what she had been thinking. I was then thinking about what I can do to show her that I was going to do the one thing that nobody else wanted to do.

"I know that you may be thinking that this game is going to be impossible, and hell for all I know, it may very well be. But I do want to make sure that these people know that we are going to put up a fight now. That we are going to make them see that this is no longer the school that is just going to be pushed around. I think that once they see this, they will actually start to respect us more." I said, and I was hoping that I was telling the truth.

"And if by this year, they still do not think of us all that seriously, then we are going to push ten times harder, and then the harder we push, the more that they see we are not going to let them bully us anymore. Once they see that we are not going to let them bully us, then we already have won. We have already started to show them we will keep this in our favor now. I think that we are going to have the start to a turn around. We are going to turn this car around. Once we turn this fucking car around, then we are going to be the ones who will be looking at them as the laughing stock. They are going to start to think that if anything, we are going to be actual competitors now. Once they see of us as actual competitors, then we will have earned their respect. Even they must be able to respect a good contest. And I would say that once they see we are a good contest, then the world is going to be a great place. The entire situation and the entire landscape of what we are going to be setting ourselves up for will be better than ever. I just think we need to wait. I just think that we need to win one of the games." I said, and I meant it.

All I really thought we need to do was just win one fucking game. One out of the three. And by doing so, this was going to be the turning point. And then we will start to get better, and then once we start to get better, we will start training harder and then once we start to train harder, we are going to see them put up a fight between us and then they will start to train harder, and if we apply themselves twice as hard as them, their extra training won't matter and we will eventually still have something going for us. Eventually, we will reach a point where they will start to let loose and we will start to be able to come along and sweep the carpet from under their feet.

Despite this though, and despite me feeling better, I was still telling myself that there was more to this than just one tournament. Doing good on one tournament will be nice and everything. But there was a part of me that was thinking that we needed to make this constant. We needed to do this enough times to have them see that this was more than just once. If we had good night, they might be annoyed and they might want to punch their hand against a wall, but they would probably be saying that it was one tournament. That it was nothing more than that.

Once I thought of that, I was looking at Maurecia again. "I don't really think that any luck will be turning around here in all honesty. I doubt that they are going to suddenly see this school in a new light. I thought for a moment that they would, and I even started to get myself convinced that this was possible. But now that I think about it, and I put my mind on a realistic drive, I doubt that this can really happen. I mean, it is totally a great idea for people to at least try, and I think that the effort will be appreciated by many, but I don't really think that it will be going much further than this in all honesty." I said, as I was starting to accept defeat myself.

"Hey, at least if you try to, and at least if you think that there is a chance to make this happen, then I believe in you. If you think that there is a even small chance that this tournament will be able to get them to like us more, then I think that you should do your best here. I mean, in a way, this would be able to really give hope to the people who live here. The people who have been working at this school for so long, and they just want to see something finally turn around in their favor. I think when they see that somebody is there to really try and make things better for them, that they will indeed be there to pay full value to the situation. I think that once they start to pay you at full value, then you will become the most popular kid at school." Maurecia said as I smiled at this consideration.

The idea of being the most popular kid at school was something that I did like to do. I was thinking that even if it was not really my goal, that it was certainly something I can desire. It was certainly something that I can be cool with. All I needed to do was actually just make it happen. If I can be able to make it happen, then school and life at it would be so much better. I thought about getting Dana and the others to see my efforts for what they were, and I thought about what to do if they started to be popular because of me.


	69. The Next Monster

The Next Monster

As I was home that night, I was thinking all about what exactly had been going on lately, and I was telling myself that one thing was for sure. I was getting really sick and tired of all of these terrible things happening to me. I was getting really sick and tired of all of the people around me sounding like they never really cared for me or anything that I did. I was really sick and tired of people just going along with their lives without a second thought in the world. I was also really tired of it feeling like people were more interested in saving their own skin. That was the thing that was getting to me. It had looked and sounded like nobody really cared. And the fact that nobody cared was what made everything hurt so much more. I just wished that people knew what they were doing. I just wished that they were able to understand that people really needed much more help than a lot of the time they were letting on. It was because we were scared to admit the fact that we felt like we needed somebody there at our side. It made us feel week. That was why we never told anybody what was going on.

I know that there was nothing that I could have really done about monsters and everything. In fact, the very fact that monsters were a thing was still a fact that a large part of my brain still had to get used to. Not because of the fact that it was false, but because of the fact that it was true. I couldn't really believe that monsters were true. It was something that took a lot of time to really get into the mode of acceptance. I think that was what it mainly was. Just accepting the fact that something was the case. The fact that all of these things were actually happening.

And then there was the fact that I knew this was a thing, but that the officers wanted me to do nothing about it. I was feeling like I was feeling worthless. I was feeling like I could really do nothing to change this whole insane situation for the better. This entire situation was insane, and there was no real way to put it besides that. I mean I could try, but that was the description that still did it the most justice and was the only one that I felt like was just right to the point true.

As I had thought more and more about this, there was the part of me that was growing just into a level of despair over the life that I am imagining myself in. The life that I realized I was now going to have to start living forever. I had no idea how I was able to really handle it all. I was not really sure how I was able to handle the fact that these monsters could attack at any moment and that people wanted me to do nothing about it. It just made me feel insignificant.

As I was thinking about what I should have been doing, and what I could have been doing, there was also another part of me that was really growing to think that this town had it against me. It was slowly turning out that throughout that week, I was bowling way too much. I went bowling every day after school, and going at it for like three or four hours on end. I was doing it until I was feeling like I was able to really get myself into it. I was trying to even increase the chances of me being able to actually hold my own in this tournament. I was telling myself that people needed me. I was trying to tell myself that this tournament was going to be much easier than I ever thought that it would have been, and that I was going to blow it out of the water.

Despite this, there was a large part of me that was starting to sort of feel the fatigue of doing this all the time. There was a large part of me that was thinking that this was not really worth it anymore. That it didn't really matter all that much who had won the tournament. I mean, in all reality, it really kind of didn't. But I was still feeling like I would be letting the people I started to know and respect as friends down if I didn't at least put in a decent effort. That was what I was telling myself all of the time.

Besides, there was something about going down there every day after school and just playing bowling that was a bit calming. Just doing something that was a mostly recreational activity, as well as a activity that I was starting to mostly enjoy along the way. I mean, I was getting kind of annoyed at all of my bad throws, and I was wanting to improve as well as create strategies on how to improve. But I didn't really care all that much. I was still telling myself that this was just practice, and that my results, even if they were crappy, didn't really matter all that much until I won the entire thing. Until the tournament was over.

But then I was telling myself that it was better to still be trying at least, and not to just pretty much come up with excuses on why this was not a big deal. In all reality, it kind of wasn't, but I was worried about what the people around me were going to think. I was worried about how they were going to just pretty much be somber and feeling even more defeat than ever when I should have been the one who had been giving them at least a little bit of hope. That was what I should have been doing, and that was what I was trying my best at least to do, even if it was sort of failing.

But as I was thinking about what I was supposed to be doing, and I was thinking a little bit more realistically on the issue at hand, I was telling myself that there was no real way that I was actually going to be able to do what they had wanted me to do anyways. I mean, I was just one man. I was just a fucking twelve year old boy. How the hell was I going to be the one who was going to so called turn the entire fucking tides around for the sake of my school? I really highly doubted that this was going to happen, and there was nothing in my mind as I was thinking about it that would remotely indicate that this would have been able to happen. But then there was the part of me that was just telling myself that I really needed to try. If I at least tried, then I can be able to feel a bit better about myself.

But was trying really really good enough, or were people going to say that the results were better? I mean, I wanted to make them proud of me, and I wanted to do something that otherwise would have been impossible to take. But this whole thing was just a bit crazy. I didn't really think that I would be able to actually do anything besides just at least make things easier for the rest of the school to catch up with. As I was thinking this, and as I was starting to force myself to be a little bit more realistic, I was then thinking about other things and I was sort of having my mind get taken off of the matter at hand when there was the really big event that started to happen next.

I was walking to the bowling alley on friday in order to get ready for the tournament as there was still a couple of hours to go before that whole thing started up, and there was just a part of me that wanted to do one more thing in order to feel like I was really on top of this whole thing. But then as I was heading on over there, there was Kevin who was calling out to me. I was going through phases of being both annoyed and also excited to be seeing him. He was a friend and I always enjoyed hanging out with friends, but at the same time, I was just thinking about how annoying that this really was going to be. I was thinking about how he was going to see my sort of subpar bowling skills, and in no way in hell was I wanting something like that to really happen.

"So I was hearing that there was a bowling tournament today, and I was wanting to see if we could hang out for that." Kevin said, and then after he had said that, I nodded although I was doing my best in order to hide the fact that I had wished that he had not really asked me that question. I was wishing that he had spared me this, but at the same time, I was thinking that people were going to be seeing what I was going to be doing anyways, so that in all reality, it probably didn't really matter all that much anyways.

As we were walking towards the bowling alley, I was wondering if I was going to be able to at least use this in my favor. Or I should say the favor of the school. I was wondering if I was going to be able to actually train him how to do good at bowling for a bit, and maybe if for nothing else, getting him better at this would be able to slightly turn things in our favor. I was thinking that it was a bit insane to be trying this, but I can at least try at this.

"Do you know how to bowl? I'm not really all that good, but if we can get you in one or two practice games before the tournament starts, then you might be able to be one of the better people at the school I guess." I said, and I was saying this as I was thinking about what the school was like, and I was thinking that it was kind of sad that if anything, Kevin was probably one of the better people at our school with bowling from what I had heard.

"Well, I mean I wasn't really thinking about going down there and being a huge part of the tournament. I mean, if there is nobody else around for us, I might be able to go on and give it a try. But I really highly doubt that I will actually be any good. If I end up sucking, then just know that it will not really be all that much my fault. If anything, it will be the fault of the school system for not teaching us how to bowl." Kevin said and then after he had said that, I was thinking that maybe there was a level of truth to this. I mean, if they had taught us how to bowl better, then maybe the students at the school would have been able to put up at least a decent fight. I was then thinking about that, and I was then thinking about what it would have been like if they had been teaching us how to bowl right from the start.

If they had taught us how to bowl right from the start, then I think that the whole thing would have been a hundred times easier. I think that we would have been able to put up a much better fight. A fight that the people at the other school would have been able to at least somewhat respect. But I really highly doubted that we would have been able to pull off any sort of a miracle.

As that was happening, there was a slight noise that was starting to get my attention at all. I looked around and then I was seeing that Kevin was wondering what I was worried about. "Do you think that there is something going on right now?" Kevin asked, and then after I had heard him asking me this, I was looking right at him. I was thinking about what exactly I was going to say, and I was thinking about if there was anything else that was happening. I was thinking that there might have been a monster that was going to be coming up soon. I was not really excited for any monsters coming up, and I was thinking that this was the one fucking day that I wanted no monsters. But then I had been thinking to myself that if for nothing else, that this would have been a chance to go on and prove myself a bit better. That I can show them that I can be able to keep up my own pace here.

Then after I started to think about what was happening, and the fact that there was possibly a monster that I was going to have to fight now, I was then looking right at Kevin. "You should probably go to the bowling alley soon." I said, and then I was honestly totally convinced that there was going to have to be a fight that I was going to have to deal with soon. I was just thinking that fate had hated me just enough to want to pull this trick at me. As Kevin was looking at me, I was seeing that he was thinking about what I told him and that he was not really sure what to be thinking about this. I think that he was just trying to find a way to try and argue what I was telling him, but at the same time, they were thinking that if there was something going on, he didn't really want to get himself involved as there was still a part of him that did value his life. There was also a part of him that was able to respect my wishes, and respect the fact that I was wanting him to not really get involved with what was going on.

"Do you think that there is actually a monster nearby?" Kevin asked, and he was just more curious than anything else. I don't even really think that he was trying to argue with me. I think if anything, he was just wanting to sort of live in denial for a little bit longer. As if he was just not wanting something to happen to anybody, and that was something that I was not really able to blame him all that much on.

But then after I started to think about this a little bit, I was starting to continue my walk towards the bowling alley. "Who knows, maybe if we continue walking, nothing will be able to notice us." I said, and as I had said that, there was a part of me that was actually believing in what I was saying. I had actually thought that just simply continuing the walk and not doing anything was going to get me away from there. I actually didn't really think that there was anything that I could have done, or really needed to do about what was happening right now. I just thought that all I needed to do was just pretend that nothing was happening. The more that I was telling myself that I just needed to pretend that this was not really happening, there was actually a part of me that was starting to think that this was the truth.

But then as we were walking, the subject of monsters started to drop a bit after that. "So Todd, do you really have any confidence during the tournament?" Kevin asked, and he was not really even wanting to bring a level of insecurity to me, but he was honestly just not really sure what to think. I was thinking in my realistic self that there was nothing that I would be able to do in order to really turn this around, but there was also a part of me that was thinking that I just needed to have a bit of hope here. I was thinking about how I was going to just try at least.

"I am going to try and at least win one game of the tournament. If I can go on and win at least one of the games, then I think that I would be on the right track. That is what I am hoping at least." I said, and then I was wondering if being able to really even win one of the three games. "I mean, there are three games going on. Chances are in our favor that I can be able to win at least one of them. I feel like there is no way that I am not able to win at least one of them." I said, and then as I started to think that it was just something that was not going to happen, as much as I had hated to admit it.

"Well, I think that maybe they might be able to just have a bad night. If they have a bad night, then there is a chance that you might be able to use that in our favor, and then, as a result, you can be able to possibly at least make it a competitive game. If you can manage to make it at least competitive, then I think that this will be the best record that we have had in a long time. I think that there are several people at our school that would say something like that." Kevin said, but then I was thinking that if this was going to be our best year in several years, that this was going to be a really low bar. I then thought that there must be a level of hyperbole going on with what people are talking about with our games. I was thinking that there was no way that we were actually that fucking bad at this.

"Well, here we are right now." I said, and then we were at the bowling alley, and then I was ready to fucking start playing. As I was thinking about what we were going to be doing now, and then I was ready to start playing. I wanted to get myself back into the right mindset of actually playing this game. I wanted to be able to pull out a decent performance during the time that I was going to be with Kevin. As I was thinking about what I was going to be doing now, and I was thinking about the game that I was going to be getting myself into, I was telling myself one fucking thing. That no matter what happened, that I was not going to just let these people walk all over us. I was going to give this a real chance. I wanted to pull out the upset victory of the fucking century. I knew that it was going to be the greatest moment in Wayside history if I am able to do something like that. I was actually thinking that I really had a chance to make this whole thing work out, and I was telling myself that all I needed to do was just commit myself a little bit. But then as I was thinking this, I was then looking at Kevin. "You know, Kevin, I think that I do actually have a level of confidence to what we are going to do now." I said, and I was actually meaning everything that I said. The way that I was standing there, and the way that I was looking forward and the way that I was thinking about everything, the more that I was thinking that this whole thing was going to truly be in our favor after all, and that I didn't really need to worry all that much about it.

As I was thinking about how I was going to win at the tournament, I was also telling myself that this was going to be a team effort, I was telling myself that if something happened, then the entire school needed to get at least some form of credit, and that I shouldn't be taking the entire thing for myself.

But then as I was telling myself that this was something I needed to be at least somewhat open to, I was also thinking about what I was going to really do in order to actually pull this whole thing off. I was not really sure where this was going to go, and I was not really sure if this was actually going to really go in my favor, but the more that I was thinking about it, the more that I was saying that this was going to be better than nothing. Putting in a failed but at least decent effort was going to be better than putting in a bad effort that turned out to be made even worse for the fact that I didn't really try all that hard.

Then after all of this, I walked right to the counter where I was going to put in the payment for the games pulling out. But then when I was getting ready to pay, the guy at the counter told me not to really worry about it. "Today the games are for free since we are assuming that you are going to be in the tournament, and the people have already paid for you guys." The guy said, and then as he said that, I was thinking that there was something strange to this. I was thinking that we should have paid, and that he needed to get something as a respect for all of the work that he did, but I was thinking to myself that he was just trying to be nice, and that he was just doing this for our sake, I was then getting ready to go back to playing the game with Kevin and everything, and at least give him some last minute experience before the tournament really came up.

As this was happening, the guy let us go right down to the place where the games were being held. I can already see that there were people who were starting to play. I was not really letting that fact get to me or anything. I was not going to let them be in the same area scare me too much. At least, I was telling myself that I was not going to let them bother me too much. I was not really too sure if this was actually the truth, but I was telling myself that I was having a thicker skin than this. I was actually having a large part of me that was believing in what I was saying at that moment, even if there was a part of me that was knowing that deep down, it was kind of false.

As Kevin took out the ball the first time, I can see that he was not really sure of what he was going to be doing. In a way, it was reminding me exactly of how I was when I started to play. I was actually feeling a bit bad for him. I was forgetting that in all reality, I used to be in the exact same spot as he used to be. I mean, I wasn't really a great player, but at least I was able to focus on the game without feeling like I was going to fuck up. But when I started, I was thinking that I was awful and there was nothing else that I was really thinking there. I was then starting to tell myself that maybe I did make a big mistake by doing this.

But then as I was thinking this, I was thinking about how I was going to get him to get at least not scared anymore. Kevin threw the ball and he only got three pins. I was thinking that it was better he at least did something, since if he had not been able to really knock anything down, then he would have probably let that really get to him. If he had just threw the ball and then got nothing, he would have told himself that he would have been awful and that he was worthless. I would not really be shocked if he was going to feel that way if he gutter balled a couple of times.

I threw the ball and got seven pins on the first round and everything, but then as I did that, this time I knew that I really did hear something. "Oh shit, this time I am actually hearing something Kevin. Go ahead, just keep throwing and see what you can do with twenty rounds. But I need to figure this out right now." I said, and then after I had said that, I ran out of the bowling alley. As I was getting out of the bowling alley, I was thinking that this time, I really was fucked. I was going to have to fight a monster, this time not even within my power, and I was going to figure out how to beat this guy, and then I was wondering how this can happen with no fucking weapons of my own. I was thinking that this was going to be fucking impossible.

As I was thinking about the entire situation that has been going on lately, I saw what the monster was this time. I was standing there on the spot, and I was trying to keep my cool. As I was standing up and watching the monster that I was going to have to fight get closer to me, I saw that the monster was just a huge monster that looked like a flower plant with a bunch of guns on their hands. It was a strange situation to be looking at, and under any other case, there would have been a part of me that would have thought that it was hilarious.

Then as I was thinking about this, I saw that there was a large rock on the door probably in order to keep the door open for when the tournament had started. I picked the rock right up and then I just threw right at the monster, and then as I was throwing the rock at the monster, I was thinking that it was a stupid way to fight back. But at least it was a way that I could be able to at least distract and weaken the monster a little bit. But then as I threw this, and I saw them stop what they were doing for a moment with the rock actually scraping their face a bit, I was thinking about right away the next plan in motion.

Then I saw that the monster took out their gun, they started to fire the gun. The monster must not have really had decent aim as they were hitting the ground and not really getting even close to hitting me. I jumped away and then I was behind the trash can for a moment and then as I did that, I was thinking more about what I was going to be doing next. I needed to think about what I was actually setting myself up for. I was thinking that this was going to be the worst situation that I could have found myself in. Not being able to actually fight anything else.

I was wondering how long I was going to be able to hide there. I was taking a couple of deep breaths, holding in my fear and just letting the fear slowly envelop me a little bit, and then afterwards, I was looking around I saw that the monster was coming right to me at that moment. This was scaring the shit out of me. Then I was starting to move up and then I was seeing that I was not really seeing that there was literally nothing that I can do in order to fight this thing off.

But then as I was thinking about what I was going to do now, I saw that the monster fired at me again and then I saw the next trash can about thirty or forty feet away. But then I was grabbing the can and then I threw it right at the monster. Despite the moment and despite what I was getting myself into, I was still finding it to be at least a little bit funny. The monster was hit by the trash can and then they fell down to the ground. I was running right in that direction and then I jumped right on the monster as they were on the ground.

Then when I was on top of them, I was ready to go all out on them. I punched them a couple of times in the face. I made them start to feel the pain. That was exactly what I was wanting to do. I was wanting them to feel the pain. Then the more that I was punching them, the more that they started to feel a little bit weak and the more that they were possibly thinking that they were not really going to be able to do anything else. I then grabbed the arm with the gun and then I placed it right on their face. This was a bit strange for me to do, and I was not really sure if this was going to happen the way that I had been thinking that it was going to go down, and I was not really certain if any of what I was doing was actually really all that reasonable.

Despite the situation, and despite the fact that I was probably blowing this over the top, I then pressed down as hard as I could and then eventually, the gun started to go off and the monster started to have their face covered up with all of the bullets of the gun. Then after I did that, I was wondering what I was doing now. I was thinking that I had just destroyed the monster in the most brutal way possible. But I didn't care how brutal this really was. There was a part of me that was thinking that if anything, this fucking monster deserved it. That this monster was having it coming.

Then after this, and after I was taking in the moment to comprehend what I had been doing, I stood up and then I was feeling like I had really won the battle right there, I was wondering how many monsters there were going to be that I would have to fight. I was thinking that these monsters needed to go away for good, but I was thinking that things were sadly just not that easy, and that I was going to have to get myself ready for another one soon.

Once I was ready to go back to the bowling alley, I was thinking that there was nothing that would really happen at all here. I walked into the bowling alley, and then I saw that Kevin had done a few rounds, and that on average he was getting somewhere between five and seven pins. It seemed like his scores had been starting to slightly increase a bit. I was actually starting to feel a bit proud of him, seeing that he was clearly putting in some effort and that he was clearly getting better. But I was still certain that it would not really be enough to actually turn things around to go in our favor. Not that we really had any real chance of winning in the first place. That was what I needed to remind myself, that we never really had that high of a chance of winning. So I needed to not really be so hard on him in case if he didn't really turn us into a winning team. I was thinking that if anything, he was actually going to still be able to be better compared to most of the people that we really went to school with.

Despite the fact that I was thinking this, there was a part of me that was starting to think that perhaps all of these efforts were really put to waste in a way. That none of this was actually anything really good. That I was just not pulling out anything this time. I then started to think about if the other students at our class were wanting to actually even try and help out at all, or if they were just going to resign and act like them helping us out was going to be a big fucking waste of time more than anything. As much as that idea of kind of annoying to me, I was telling myself that they must have had different values than me at this whole thing, and that in all reality, I didn't really need to be so hard on them. That if anything, I was just turning into kind of a dick by even having these thoughts and everything. That was also what was telling myself, that I really did not need to actually be so hard on myself on this, and that I did not need to take this anywhere close to being as serious as I have been on this.

But then I was just deciding that I would let Kevin finish these twenty rounds, and just come back in next round where we can have a bit of a competition now. I was thinking that Kevin had already gone way too far into this style and method to really be making this actually worth it. But as I was watching Kevin trying to get better at this, I was thinking about how I was back in the day. I was thinking about how awful I used to be. There was a time when I was not that good at all. That I was easily the worst player in the history of bowling. And it wasn't even all that long ago. I was then telling myself that even though I was probably decent compared to most of the people in school, that in the real scheme of things, that I was crap.

Kevin eventually did all of the twenty rounds, and he was close to having strikes by then. He did get two spares at that point in time. He was clearly still getting in the hang of it. Not that it was really all that big of a deal. I could tell that he was starting to get into the point of despair, and that he was thinking that there was no real hope that any of this could be able to happen the way that he was wanting it to actually be. I then thought that we were kind of all taking this way too seriously. That this was something that we all needed to relax on. Every single time that something was happening, that I just reminded myself that this was just a game. That would help make me feel better for a couple of rounds, and make me think nothing of it for a couple of rounds, but that was all that I was really able to do of it.

As this was happening, I was thinking that Kevin just needed a bit of a break. So I called him on over just to sit with him for a moment and just to be able to let the two of us talk for a bit. I was seeing that he was happy that I was reaching out to him like this. He sat down next to me and then we were looking forward for a moment. I was thinking about what he was wanting to do now, and I was thinking about what our chances are. The more time that was passing, the more my mind was going out to be as realistic as possible and I was telling myself that there was no way in hell that this was actually going to be in my favor. Not that I would really be able to do a damn thing about it. But I don't really think it mattered all that much in all reality. Despite everything that had been going on, the more that everything was seeming like it was going to go against us all, the more that I was thinking about the journey in a way and the more that I was telling myself just to enjoy this and just to see it for the good that it had offered me. When I was telling myself of all of the good that this place really offered, the more that I was thinking about what it was like to have all of these hang outs with Kevin.

"So Todd, what made you actually want to be in this tournament in the first place?" As Kevin had asked me this, he was thinking that it was a casual enough question to where I did not have to worry about this all that much. Despite the fact that I was thinking that this was a nice enough question to be asking, I was also telling myself not to be giving myself too much credit.

"It only really happened after I started to hang out with Maurecia earlier this week. She told me that there was a game that was going to be held, and she was hoping that I would be able to help turn the tides a bit. I was not really sure if I should think that she was right about this, but I was thinking that if for nothing else, it could be worth giving this a try. I felt like if for nothing else I can be able to at least put in my best effort forward, and maybe at least turn things around a little bit. Let this you know be a small turning point in the favor of the school. I think that I just wanted to prove myself that there was more to me than fighting monsters.

As I thought that, I knew that this was not really true since I had been fighting way too many monsters lately to make me feel like there was more to my life than fighting them. There was nothing really in my life besides just fighting monsters, and I just needed to accept the fact that the universe just kind of hated me and everything. I was wondering what this world had against me, and why everything was not the way that it was meant to be. But then I was telling myself that nothing was really going to go the way that I was thinking it was supposed to go. The world honestly owned me nothing. That was the truth of this whole thing. That the world owed me nothing.

"Besides, I was so tired of fighting monsters all the time, that I thought that this would have been an honest chance in order to turn things around in my favor. I honestly thought that I would be able to make this be better for me. I didn't really think that there was going to be anything that the world wanted from me. But as I am thinking about this, there is a part of me that wonders how well the police are even doing tracking down the monsters. Have they really been able to do anything to take them down, or have they basically given up on that? Or are they trying, but still just failing miserably? I think that all of these options are very realistic. I don't really know if I should trust them at all. I think that the more I place my trust in them, the more I am going to be crushed by their lack of progress." I said and then I was thinking about how I could have done such a better job, and I was always finding myself thinking this way. That I would have been able to do a good enough job to make them look like they had failed in their job. Which in a way, they kind of had.

"I think that in all reality, you just don't really have the outline or the luck to really live a life that most people would be able to call natural. I don't really think that there is anything too bad about that, but I think that sooner or later, you need to accept the fact that the world is not really wanting to be your best friend." Kevin said, and while him saying this was a little bit funny, I was still aware of the fact that he was right.

But as this was happening, I thought that Kevin didn't really need to push in the truth so hard. I was wishing that he didn't say the brutal truth to it all. The truth that I was not wanting to be facing. But then as I thought about that for a little bit, I thought about other things. I was thinking about if Dana was going to be here. I was honestly wanting to impress her on this fucking tournament. As I was thinking about pleasing her, and making her super impressed with me, I was then thinking about what I was going to do in order to really drive this in. I was thinking about what I was going to do if Dana was not proud of me. The entire time that I was thinking about the idea of Dana not being proud of me, then I was thinking that would really not be able to support me and that if anything, I should start to consider breaking up with her. Then when I thought about that, I was thinking that this was too far.

I thought even at that moment that this idea was escalating the whole deal by quite a bit. I was telling myself even at that moment that I needed to think about the good things with Dana and that I needed to be reminded that this was just how she was, and that I needed to accept the fact that she was not really expecting anything less than pure perfection.

But then as I was thinking about Dana, and how I can be able to make her proud, there was yet again a new hope in my mind. There was the hope that her being there was going to push me forward a bit. Once I was pushing myself forward, I was ready to take on the tournament and I was ready to go on and crush the enemy.

"You know, I think that the people who are at Elmore are going to expect us to have mostly given up and that we were going to just try and throw in the towel. When they see how much more ready we are than usual to take them on, they will realize that we are quite the force to be reckoned with. I don't really know how they will feel about seeing me though, since I am the new student here and they might not be ready to be seeing me around and they are not ready for me to actually try and give them a good contest on everything." I said, and then after I had told Kevin this, I was thinking that I was still going to be the biggest weapon that our team has for that one fucking reason. That I was going to destroy everything that they had been expecting just by me being there. Unless if there was somebody who had been paying attention to us already, and reporting me to them. You know, like them being a spy. As I was thinking about the idea of a spy in our school, I was thinking that I was being too ridiculous now and that I needed to start to be realistic now.

As I was considering this, I looked at Kevin and I was wondering what he was thinking about that idea. "You know, as much as it sounds like it would work, I am starting to worry that they already have something set up for something like this. But on paper, you seem like you might be onto something. On paper, it seems like you really could have the weapon to make this entire tournament go inside of our favors." Kevin said, and then after he had said this, there was some look on his face that was showing that he was hyping himself up for something better. As if he was hyping himself up for the idea of us crushing the school with my new presence, I was thinking and I was certain that he knew that this was going to be an out there goal, but I was thinking that he was just trying to give himself hope, and there was nothing that I had against him just having some hope. If anything, the idea of me having hope was the only thing that was still keeping me going in not only this tournament, but the monsters as well and everything.

But then as this was starting to come to mind, I was taking a deep breath. "You know, if, for nothing else, I am always able to be excited for what is happening next. In all reality. I am actually excited for this tournament. I am excited to see if anything that I have been doing will be going in my favor at all. I don't know, but I am going to just do my best and see where my best will be able to go from there."

As I was thinking about the tournament that was ahead of me, there was a part of me that was saying to myself that there was something to be getting out of this. That I just needed to try a little bit harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel in a way. That the light at the end of the tunnel was much closer to being a reality that I was making it out to be. As I was telling myself that this was within some form of a reach, I was telling myself that there was nothing wrong with taking this a bit slowly. There was nothing wrong with me shooting big, but there was also nothing wrong with me admitting that there was going to have to be a lot that I would have to fight for. And that this was a fight that in a way, I was starting to be more willing to face.

Despite all of this, I was thinking about the monsters. "Despite all of that I say about not liking how the whole ordeal with the idea of monsters is being handled, I am able to remind myself that I can just take things easier. There is that part of it that I do really like. I do honestly really like to think that this is not really anything that I need to worry all that much about. Even though I know that this is not really the truth, at least there is a part of me that is able to pretend that I can act like that." I said, wanting to live the world of being a sort of free man. A man who didn't really have to worry about the problems of the world all that much. There was something about that that will always make me feel better, and I will never be able to forget about that.

But despite what I was thinking I was waiting for Kevin was going to say next. "You know, I think that you have earned the right to rest more than anybody else in our grade. I think that you are the only person in our grade that had one hundred percent earned the right to just relax a bit. And in all reality, even one monster every week or two is much better than what you have been dealing with. You have been dealing with a monster every other day for a while. This will not really be all that bad by comparison. At least this is showing that you are being able to keep yourself at least a little bit self contained in a way." After Kevin had said that, there was a couple of seconds of pure silence. I was not really sure what to be thinking now.

I was now starting to think about where I would really go tonight one the whole tournament is over with. There is not really all that much to do at this moment. There really is not all that many places that would still be open. As I was thinking about that, I was thinking about what this world was really having in store for me. I was thinking about what the world wanted of me. I was now more certain that the world wanted a ton from me. That the world must have been thinking that they had every fucking right be be asking for sky high from me. Despite this, there was more of the challenge that I was still really looking forward to. I was really looking forward to the challenge. The challenge was something that I was now starting to get enveloped in.

"You are right though Kevin. Even though I want to help out, and even though I think that I am the only one who is going to save our asses, I do think that I had earned the right to relax for at least a while." I said, finally accepting that sad reality.

I was not really sure why I was feeling like this whole thing was such a heart breaking event. I was not really sure why I was thinking that being forced to live a normal life was such a sad reality. Maybe there was just a part of me that wanted to be the hero. The hero that nobody else in town really could have been. The idea of being the great person that people needed in life was the one thing that had really kept me going for my first few weeks here, and then now that I was sort of just going to have to settle down now, there was a part of me that was feeling like I had lost the purpose that I had been having here for far. For some reason, this was something that I needed to just get used to.

But the more that I was thinking about this, the more that I was thinking that this was still better for Dana and the rest of the group, that I didn't do this and I learned to just settle down and not act like I was somebody who was really wanting a death wish. I guess to some extent with the way that I was acting, that maybe in a way I was sort of shooting for one. But I wasn't really even trying to do something like that. I was just trying to be a good guy. That was really all that I had wanted to do here. But then as I was thinking about this, I was thinking that in all reality, I just needed to relax. I just needed to try and take things one step at a time.

"You know Kevin, I think that now that I am no longer the hero of this situation, that perhaps I can actually be able to focus on the things that do matter here. I think that the things that really matter here is the fact that now I can start to focus on my studies yet again. I think that the idea of me settling down and focusing on my studies is something that I had not really taken full advantage of yet. I don't really know why it matters all that much now. What I really do. I guess that maybe me saying this is just sort of me not really seeing that there are people out there who care for me. As I start to realize that people really do care about me, it is starting to really change my perception on reality." I said, as I was thinking about Dana and the others.

"I guess, with the fact that my parents have just barely talked to me and everything, and barely ever given me the light of day, that I was just not really ready to accept the fact that people cared for me. That people actually wanted to make sure that I was safe. I guess I should have been more accepting of people being good." I said, thinking that it was silly I was being this vague with what I was saying.

Despite the fact that I was being vague with what I was saying, I didn't really think that it was going to be all that big of a problem. I think that deep down Kevin knew exactly what I was telling him. I think that even if he had not really dealt with these types of problems, that he must have known what I had meant. But then as I was thinking this, Kevin seemed to be the one who was speaking next.

"You know, I think that when all is said and done, I think that people just are afraid to admit that they might have been wrong about the way that they have perceived people. They don't want to admit that they had made some mistakes in the past. Despite the fact that they don't want to admit that they had made some mistakes, I think that in the end, it is something that everybody goes through. I mean, I am starting to think that I was wrong with how my brother thought of me. Maybe he actually did like me after all." After Kevin said that, I was sitting in silence for a couple of seconds.

"Maybe that will be how Elmore feels when they see how we do at the tournament. They start to think that they will be able to trample us, but then over time, throughout the tournament, they will start to think that we weren't as bad as they were thinking we would be. Then once they see that we aren't really all that bad, then they will start to admit that they were wrong about us this whole time. That can be the way that you can really start to turn the tides around." I said, as I had been thinking of the best way to make people see that we were not a force to be messed with anymore. I was wondering if the other people at the school had already been thinking of this and if anything had been practicing the way that we were right now.

Despite all of this, there was nothing else I was really thinking about that day. Despite everything that I had been wanting to happen, I was thinking about how every single time I started to put my mind to somewhere else, it would come back to being on that subject. "It seems like you are really focused on that. Do you think that this will be as easy as you are thinking it will be?" Kevin asked, and he wasn't meaning it in a negative way. I think that he was just trying to convince himself. There was a part of me that was trying to convince myself, no matter what I was saying and no matter what I was trying to give my posture out to be, I was not really sure where this was going to go either. And I was willing to admit that this was the case.

Even though I had not really been thinking about all that many other things of this day, I was still telling myself that things were not going to be all that big of a deal. I was then thinking about Kevin, and I was starting to think more about his personal self image. As I had been thinking about his self image, I was starting to feel a bit bad for trying so hard to get him to do good at this whole bowling thing. I was thinking that I should have stopped and then turned around and maybe ask him what he was feeling about everything. But I didn't really try and show that. I was trying to not even remotely hint at the fact that I was feeling guilty. Now was not really the time to be feeling that way when the game was going to be coming up at any moment. I knew that I needed to show a bit more interest in everything, but again, that was me thinking that it was much too late to do this.

But then after this was all over with, I then was looking at the bowling balls. "Kevin, do you actually feel the desire to actually go on and play this tournament anymore?" I asked, and then I added in a short "Or did you ever feel the desire at all? Did I force you to do something that you were not wanting to do?"

As I had asked him this, I was seeing that Kevin was acting as if he was not really sure what to say. "I mean, I don't blame you for anything. After all, I was the one who had suggested to go down here. None of this was your fault. You were just excited to go on and help me, and you were excited to play the game with me. I don't really blame you for the fact that I am starting to get scared, and the fact that I am almost certain that I am going to fail at this and let everybody down. I feel like I am going to do that in spades. Get everybody all excited because they see that there is another player at hand, and then after they see me fucking suck ass, they start to think that they would lose all hope in anything." Kevin said as I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Look, in all reality, I will probably not be very different from you at all. Even if I was twice as good as you, and I am not at all saying that I am, I would in no way be good enough to change anything. So don't really worry about this all that much. Just try and enjoy things. Just try and enjoy the fact that you are hanging out with friends." I said, trying to be positive about the whole thing.

"I think that the process of enjoyment is not really the thing that I am worried about. That is sort of something that I am thinking will sort of be granted. I just don't really know if everything else will be able to live up to what it has started to been hyped up to. I think that sooner or later, I am going to start to be a little bit let down by this whole thing. I will start to feel like it wasn't really what I was hoping for it to be." Kevin said, as I was wondering what exactly he had actually been hyping this up to me. I just wanted to know what he had to say.

"I am curious to know what you were hyping this whole thing up to be like anyways. I mean, you have already mentioned it, so I am just sort of curious to see what you had to say." I said, and then after I had said this, I was thinking that it was a good time to start practicing a little bit better. So I stood up and then I walked to the bowling ball. After I grabbed it, I saw that the pins had been waiting there for a while, and that they were just sort of wanting to get knocked over, metaphorically speaking. So I aimed it for a couple of seconds, and then I threw the balls and five of the pins were down. In all fairness, I wasn't really actually trying all that hard this time. I just wanted to get my mind back into business a little bit.

As I was looking right at Kevin, I was seeing that he wasn't really sure what to think. In a way, there was a part of me that was wondering if he was actually thinking at all or if he was just sort of sitting there not really doing anything at all. After waiting for a couple of seconds, Kevin stood up and grabbed the ball that had been waiting for a few seconds. Kevin then rolled the ball forward and got nine pins all down. After he got the nine pins, I started to think that maybe this was either the fluke or maybe him starting to sort of being able to turn this whole thing around.

Once the pins were done falling down, Kevin looked at me and then I could tell that he was really excited. he was so on top of the hype train, knowing that he was able to be able to take down pins semi-easily now. He was starting to feel like he was much more capable now, and I could tell that this moment of excitement was able to make him a little bit excited to continue doing this now, or if he was going to go back and drop this moment of enthusiasm again soon enough. I guess it depended on how well he would do in the future.

I was thinking that he needed to continue to do well. Not really for the whole purpose of the tournament anymore. I found myself not really caring all that much about that anymore. He needed to do well for his own personal sake. He needed to do well for the fact that he was going to start having to be in the tournament soon, and if he was going to start to do well, then he would get excited to keep playing and he would enjoy the game. As I was thinking about him and how to get him to get a bit more in the zone, I was thinking about everything else. I was thinking about how I would be able to easily over turn this whole thing for everybody to come out of this as the winner. But then I was thinking that maybe I was still trying too hard when I was looking into this. That I needed to still just settle down a bit and accept the fact that this was really nothing more than just a fucking game.

Then after this, I grabbed the bowling ball, and then I threw the ball and I waited for a couple of seconds. This round, I got eight pins, and that meant that for the time being, as long as Kevin was going to do well, that he would still have the edge on me. He ended up getting five pins, and now he was at fourteen. I was at thirteen, which meant that he still actually was one pin in the lead. I was wondering if he was going to be able to build up the lead even more, or if this was really as far as he was going to be able to push this whole thing.

Then as this was happening, I then was looking at Kevin. "See, you got this much more in the bag than you are telling yourself that you do. You thought that you were going to get destroyed, but you aren't doing awful. I mean, you aren't amazing or anything. But you aren't terrible either. Just give it a couple of games, and you might be able to pull this off fine." I said, and I was meaning it. I was actually thinking that he was going to do fine. I was then thinking about if I was going to do fine as well, and if Kevin was actually going to do better than me.

Eventually, the next round went where I got seven pins. Then Kevin got five pins yet again, which was enough to place me one point in the lead. I was thinking about the game that I had with Maurecia, and this was starting to give a couple of flashbacks to that game. How we were pretty much neck and neck for like the first half of the game. But I was finding myself wondering how much longer my luck would be able to really last here.

As I had knocked down seven pins, I was telling myself that this was going to be an annoying average. It would be annoying, but at least it would be consistent, and it was better to be consistent to some extent. Not enough to where you are just doing terrible every round. But enough to where everything was just the way that it was meant to be. Not consistently awful at the very least. I would rather have consistently alright over just missing every fucking pun. If I started to miss the pins all of the time, then that would be when I would actually start to get annoyed. But if I was able to make the pin knock down at least alright, then I feel like I could be able to still pull off some magic here. I know that it is strange that I keep describing it this way, but it was the only way that I can really make it stick out. It was the only way that I can say it to where I can actually have it feel like something that I would naturally say. I know that it sounds odd that I am talking about this in such detail, but I think that you still probably understand exactly what I am saying here.

Despite how much this was starting to make me wonder what everything was really worth, I was still enjoying the game itself. The game itself was something that I was still driving at least a little bit of pleasure from. And that was what really was important when I started to look at these things. Was just that everything I was doing was something that I was certain I could be able to fulfill to the best of my abilities.

Even if I was not going to do all that great, it was better for me to tell myself to at least try and do badly over just saying fuck it and not even try at all. It was better to have effort. The effort was what would really end up making all of these things special in the long run, I had to remind myself every once in a while. I had to tell myself to just relax about these things every once in a while and remind myself that in all reality, nobody was honestly going to think less of me because I wasn't all that hot on the doing well in bowling thing. After all, people had their different strengths and people had their different weaknesses.

The more that was passing in the game, the more that my lead started to grow. I was starting to get about eight or nine pins in one go, while Kevin was getting about six or seven, meaning that my lead was growing about somewhere between one and three with each round. At the end of this game, my over all lead was something like twenty five. It seemed like this was the common difference between me and my opponent regardless of the outcome, not including that really strange first game where I managed to indeed win, but only do so by just two points.

But then after I was thinking this, I was thinking about what Kevin must be thinking. "Trust me, this was a lot of what I was having to deal with when I started to get into this. Losing by about twenty points or so. I would not really let it get to me all that much. I think that you will get used to it. Sooner or later, you will start to get in the groove of things. Trust me on that. When you think that you are not going to actually do all that good on this, just remind yourself that this is nothing more than a game, and that there is nothing that you need to worry about. Just keep playing, and sooner or later, you will actually get much more in the hang of it. I can guarantee you this much." I said, and I was being one hundred percent honest when I was saying this, and not even just saying it to make him feel better.

But at least I was trying to make him feel better. I was aware that in all reality, that this was the best that I can do. I couldn't really be able to get much deeper than that, or else I feel like I would be getting in levels in which I was kind of lying to him, and I was telling myself that lying was the worst thing that I can do here. I didn't really think that lying to him about anything was actually just going to do a damn thing to make anything actually work out better. I mean, even I was aware of this.

"Yeah I guess. You are right. This really is nothing more than a game. I have to remind myself of this every once in a while. I need to remind myself that we are just playing a bit of a game, and that I don't need to take this too seriously." Kevin said and then he was speaking exactly in my same language. That he needed to take it easier, and that I was also facing that problem as well.

As I was thinking about what was happening next, and as I was thinking about where this was going to go next, I was thinking that hanging out with Kevin was the one thing that was going to sort of keep both of our sanities together. That we needed to remind ourselves of all of the things that were really going on tonight. That we were just going to be playing a game and that it was just going to be between two different schools and that either way, once the game was over, it really would not matter all that much.

Eventually, we were getting to the point where the tournament was going to be within reach of starting, and that we needed to start to compose ourselves a little bit. I was well aware of the fact that people were probably wanting all of this to go much different, but I was also thinking that this was going to probably be the best year for Wayside in a long time. As I was thinking that this was the case, I then was thinking that Maurecia and I were going to celebrate and she is going to take most of the credit for everything that had happened as she was the one who had taught me how to play and everything. Then afterwards, Dana would start acting like I was the great hero of wayside and that I was the one who had turned this car around.

But then as I was thinking this, there was a part of me that was telling myself that it really did not matter all that much. That it wasn't really all that big of a deal who I played with or anything. I was telling myself that even if we did win, would Elmore actually think any different of us? I doubted that Elmore would really be able to think anything all that different of me, which I hated to admit.

But then as I was thinking about Elmore, I was wondering what the school was actually like. If they were really these people that had been these just evil players, or if they were just people who were simply better than us. In all reality, I knew that it was probably the second one. I doubted that people really thought that we were anything more or less than just a fucking school. That was all I was thinking. That this was just a strange competition for which school was best. Then I was wondering what else I was thinking about lately, and what had been taking my mind over. I realized that none of this was really going to get big on the news. I was thinking that in all reality, the only people who were going to care about anything here anymore was the people who were there at the tournament and that in all reality, nobody was really going to talk about this after the end of the tournament.

When I started to think about all of these things, I then looked at the score board. I was thinking about how tonight might be the last time that I ever see something like this in my life. That I don't really think I was going to go bowling anymore from this point forward. As I was thinking that bowling was going to be done with from this point forward for the rest of my life, I was thinking that this was going to have to be a really good final time in order to make any of this worth it, and not feel like I just sort of wasted the last few days of my life playing endless hours of bowling sort of all for nothing.

Then after I thought about how this was going to be the end, there was a part of me that was thinking that this was going to be the best moment of my entire life. Something that I had to work for and be hyped for was now coming in my favor at that moment. That I had actually done something that mattered. I was thinking that none of these monster fights mattered as much as I thought that they did, even though I did take care of a couple of them, I was able to admit that in all reality, they didn't really make a huge difference in the long run. After all, there were always just monsters coming back over and over again, and in all reality, this was not really going to change. However, this bowling tournament was something static. It was something that I could be able to keep my eyes on, and it was something that I could be able to show to the people around me that I was able to really pull off. I was thinking that I would be the best person at this.

Despite the fact that I had barely started bowling even a week prior, I was thinking that in all reality, I was the best person for this job. I didn't really think that people in my class were really going to try to argue with me all that much. There was not really any form of vision when the other people played the game, and yet here I was, not all that great at the game, but at least able to sort of keep up my own ground on this. The worst that I was doing lately was about five pins in a round. But that would still be about fifty or so points for a game that I can be able to add to the over all score.

As I was thinking about each one of my rounds would be able to at least add a bit to the score of our school, that was when I was thinking that in all reality, I could do this. I could be the factor that they were not expecting. I could be the factor that would change this game. I was thinking at one point that I could have been this person, and then I started to think that I was not really all that hot in the game, and that I was not this man. But now here I was, thinking that I was once again this person. I was once again the person who was going to make sure that the competition could be close. I don't care how many times I have said that, I was sort of just telling myself this in my mind many times to the point where it was getting a little bit annoying in my mind as well as it was for you to read this.

When I grabbed the bowling ball again, I was thinking about if I should do one final practice game. Despite the fact that I was not really sure if I needed to or not, I was thinking that it was best for me to do this just to be safe. So I rolled the ball forward and then it hit a few pins, and then I was telling myself that this was just a way of the practice. That this was something that you had to do in order to be the best player that you could.

When I threw the ball down again, I was seeing that Kevin was debating to himself if he had really wanted to do this anymore, and I was thinking that he was getting pretty clearly tired of this. I was starting to feel a little bit bad for him. I was seeing that I was not really the best friend in the world when I got him into this. But then as I was thinking this, I saw that Kevin nodded. As if he was also thinking that it was best to just throw it and get some extra practice in. So he grabbed the ball and he was not even really paying any attention to me. He just threw the ball and he was waiting to see how many pins he got. It looked like he got six of them.

Then after that, I was then thinking about school again. I was then thinking about if the school was going to put anybody good forward. I was thinking that they really did not have anybody to put forward. I was just having a terrible feeling that it was just going to be me and the best one or two people in our class sort of carrying the whole thing. I was utterly certain that this was going to be what was going to happen, and then I was getting myself prepared for the fact that I was seemingly having no choice but to drive forward the mantle all by myself. It was going to be kind of annoying and I was going to hate the entire thing, but I knew that it was going to have to be done.

The next few rounds went by and I was thinking to myself what I was going to do now. I was thinking about what I was going to have to do. There was a difference between what I had wanted to do, and what I was going to have to do. I was then thinking about what Elmore must be doing right now. I was always bringing myself back to them thinking about what they were like and what they must be doing right now. I just felt like there was something else to this.

I was feeling like they were all on the bus right now heading towards our school laughing their assess off at what they were going to be like. They were going to be thinking that they were sort of going to be setting themselves up for a run away year. I didn't really blame them for feeling that way, but I was wanting to let this whole new revelation sink in. I wanted to see the look on their faces when they saw how we were going to be now. I was hoping that this was going to be the way that I was feeling like it would actually be. But despite the fact that I was thinking that I was going to be the one who was going to change this entire thing, there was the fact that I was just being real with myself. I was not that kind of lucky guy. I would never be that lucky guy, and I was thinking that the world was just out against me. I was always thinking no matter what the situation really was, that the world was just out to make my life a miserable experience and all that.

But then as this was happening, the final game that I thought Kevin and I were able to do for practice went by like a fucking breeze and then I was waiting for Kevin to relax and take a break. I was thinking that Kevin and I were going to have to start facing our fears soon. If I could really say that this whole thing was my fucking fears, which I was starting to think might be taking it a little bit far. Even I was not taking this that seriously.

No matter what was happening, and no matter how much I wanted to do really well and everything, that I was still thinking to myself that it was not going to be such a big deal that it was going to be the par of facing my fears or anything that I had been saying that it was. I was blowing it so over the top that even I must have been tempted to roll my eyes at the thought of what I was saying. But then as I was thinking this, there was still a part of me that was thinking that maybe I was still right about this whole thing, and that I didn't really act like I was thinking too big into this matter. For all I knew, in a way that this could have been facing my fears for the current situation.

But then I started to wonder where Maurecia and Dana doing now. They had probably been thinking about what they had wanted from us. They were thinking about the expectations that they really had of me. Not that the expectations were really going to be up to what they wanted, but if they were thinking about this with me, there was the one thing that I also needed to do. I needed to get some form of an apology ready in case I did not live up to what they were thinking I was able to do.

As I was thinking about what apology I was going to have to set myself up, I was thinking that maybe there wasn't really one that I needed. In all reality, I mean it wasn't like any of this was actually all that big of a deal. I doubted that they really cared all that much about what I was doing, and that this entire situation was just kind of over the top. But then as I was thinking about how I was blowing this over the top, I was then thinking about what Kevin was going to try and settle down to do now. I was wondering if he was thinking about any imaginations that he had been having. He was probably thinking about his brother Sam and what Sam and he were going to be talking about if he had found out about the tournament. They were probably going to start talking about the results, and I was thinking that if this conversation came up, that Sam was going to apply these so-called strict standards in order to make him feel like this was all really worth it or not. But then as I was thinking about that, I was thinking that Kevin probably wanted to drive himself to be the best he could just so he can put up a performance that Sam wouldn't be really laughing at him over and be telling him that he sucked for and everything.

Despite all of the stories that I had heard about Sam, in all reality, I never really thought that he was being nearly as strict as Kevin had been making him out to be. I was thinking that he just wanted his brother to do well, and as a result, if anything, he was probably just watching over him to make sure that he was going to be a good guy. I didn't really think that there was really anything else to it besides this. I thought that if anything, Kevin was just overblowing this way out of proportion.

I was then wondering if my parents were even aware of what I was doing right now. Or ever really cared to be aware of this. I was thinking that if anything, they probably thought that I was not really trying to do anything good now, but then as I was thinking that they didn't care at all, I was also telling myself that this was all worth it. I was telling myself that there was nothing wrong with the fact that they were not really a huge fan of what I have been doing here. I was then thinking that they were just thinking that there could have been so many things that I could have been doing that would have been a better use of my time. I didn't really bother to call out on it all that much, but I was indeed thinking that I was indeed not really going to live up to what they were wanting of me. I was thinking that I was going to be sort of a failure in their minds. Despite the fact that I would be certainly seen as a failure, I was then thinking that there were worse things that I could be seen as. I was thinking that there were things that I could have also be seen as. I was thinking that they could have seen me like a reject of life. I mean, to some extent, I kind of was one, but I didn't really want to be reminded of the fact that I was probably one. I wanted to live with the idea that at least one of the two of them were going to be proud. Even though I was thinking about this, I was thinking about the other things that I could be able to do. I was thinking about the other ways that I can make them see that I was worth living. That I was the son that they had wanted me to be, and not the son that they had started to think that I was by now. I was wanting them to see that I was just a good guy.

Even though I was thinking that they were not proud of me, and that it didn't really matter what these people who I had barely ever seen were thinking of me, I was telling myself that they were still my family. There was always a need to live up to this image of what your family expects of you. I think that most people would really understand what I am saying. That when you have a family who you have seen for such a large section of your life, that you needed to still show them that you were at least thinking about them. Even though if they didn't really care or not all that much, I was thinking that I still had a little bit of hope left in them. I did actually still have some hope in my family. I don't really know why I was thinking that there was something that I still needed to hold onto this level of family pride in people that clearly didn't care all that much about me. I knew for a fact that they didn't care about me, and I was thinking that in all reality, I needed to accept the fact that they did not care for me at all. I needed to just accept the fact that my parents were not good people. There was nothing hard about admitting this.

Of course, I wanted them to be good people. There was no real reason that I was wanting them to not be good people. But I was just trying my best to be a realist on this whole thing. I was just wanting to make them see the good in me. But I couldn't be able to do this if I never really seen them at all. If I barely ever see them in the first place, then there was really no reason to even try anymore. They might as well just pretend that I didn't even exist at all, since in a strange way, I sort of didn't.

As this was happening, and as I was thinking about this, I saw that Kevin was thinking about my mind at that moment. He was clearly able to see what I was thinking about. We ended the game that we were currently on, and then we were talking about as we were standing up. I didn't really think that it mattered where we were when we were having this conversation. Barely anybody was paying attention to us at all anyways.

If anything, I was thinking that the most they would have done was just look at us for a couple of seconds and then shrug off what was going on and they would go back to playing the game. At least we weren't these fucking faggots who were starting to take way too much pride and fame over the idea of the fact that we were these abominations by nature. Which faggots were just that, regardless of what you believe in or don't believe in.

After this, I was excited to see what they were thinking now. "You know, you may act like you don't get what I am talking about with Sam, and you may act like I am over blowing the whole thing, but when you talk about your parents, and you talk about how rarely you ever see them and how much they just simply do not care, even if you don't want to admit it, the two of us are much more in common than you may think that we are. There is nothing wrong with this. But there comes a point where you have to accept the truth, and you have to accept the fact that you are no different from what I am telling you. In a way though, this is a good thing. It will be able to bring us together, and make us understand in a way the different dynamic that is going on between us." After Kevin said this, I was then thinking about what he had said, and I was thinking on how true this whole thing was.

I was thinking that despite the fact that I in no way wanted this to be true, that this whole thing was true, and that this was the life that I was going to have to start to live. That this was what I needed to accept with myself. As I was telling myself that this was the life that I was going to be living, I was then thinking about if Kevin would be able to start to help me out here.

"But you know, I think that the difference between the two of us here is the fact that you are letting this sort of drive your life, and that there is nothing really else to it besides just this. No real offense to that. I am just sort of saying what I have started to notice. But I think that I use this to drive myelf forward, and that even though this is going to be a pain in the ass, that I needed to accept what is going on betwen us right now. I use this to try an destroy the monsters, and that the monsters are the only thing that is really keeping me from going to a normal life because I have such a deeply moving motivation to get rid of every single one of them. Something that is border line unhealthy, but something that I feel like is a good goal." I said, and then after I had said that, I was then thinking about what Kevin was thinking. I was wondering if he was thinking that this was a personal attack that I was having against him, what I was saying about him at that moment. I didn't really mean for it to come off that way, but looking back at it, I can sort of see why he was thinking or could have possibly been thinking that this was the case. I felt like I should have went into this with a more open mind set, and not be so harsh on him when I was first getting into all of this. But then as I was thinking this, I was thinking that nothing about what I was saying was really all that big of a deal. I mean, sure the ideas and the statements that I were making in my head could have been a bit less of an asshole mindset, but at the same time, I was telling myself that this didn't really matter all that much. But then as I started to piece this all together, I was then thinking about what Dana would be telling me if she was here right now.

"If Dana was here right now, she would try to find a way to make me perfect. She would try to be finding a way to make me realize that I was not exactly the guy that I was saying that I was, and that this would be the perfect way to give myself some motivation to change how I am as a person and everything. I guess in a way, that she would be right. But that wouldn't change how annoying this whole thing would be, and it certainly wouldn't be making this thing any less annoying. That much is for damn sure. This whole thing is going to be drive me up the wall annoying no matter what it is." I said, as I was thinking about that. I was then I said "It is not really Dana's fault though. She was probably raised to be like this. If anything, I should be blaming her parents if that was what made her this way." As I said that, I was thinking about how this can be another way for me to vent my utter annoyance out at the people around me, and at Dana's parents.

As I was thinking about how annoying Dana's parents actually were, I was thinking about how I was not really being reasonable at all. That was when I was starting to think more and more about how they were probably raised. As I started to think about how they were being raised, I was starting to think about how deeply this whole thing really ran. It probably ran much deeper than I could have ever really thought that it would have been able to go. But then as I was thinking this, I was then thinking about where this was going to go now. I thought over what all my options were, and I was starting to see that none of these outcomes were going to go the way that I thought that it would have really gone.

But then as I was considering Dana's family more and more, and I was starting to think that maybe she was just the product that she was raised, and that her parents were the product of how they were raised, and as a result, it wasn't even entirely their fault, I was then starting to relax a bit. I was thinking that this was going to be a good mindset over what I was going to be doing soon. What the I was going to be getting myself into. The tournament that we were going to have to start playing in very soon. Despite the fact that in all reality, I was telling myself that maybe we had another hour or so to really gather up our strength, there was the part of me that was telling myself to stop and tell myself the truth. We were right at the start of the tournament pretty much, and now it was time more than ever in order to get right to fucking business. There was no way in hell that we were going to win if I didn't start getting right into business. As I was telling myself this, I was then thinking about where I was going to go now. I was thinking about the one thing that I needed to do.

I was thinking about the performance that I needed to put forward, and then I was thinking about the fact that there were other people in the team. I wanted to win, I wanted to win relaly fucking badly. There was no way in hell that I was going to be able to pretend that I didn't, but there was the fact that I felt like I did need to sort of make this a team effort, I was thinking that the team effort was all a part of the charm to this. That the school was one big collective team, and that we needed to actual make that whole thing work. You couldn't have one person doing all the throws and eveyrthing. Or else this was going to be a one person army.

But then as I was thinking about this, I was thinking about where this was going to lead to. I was thinking about the immense possibilities that were going to come out of the game right now. I was thinking that there was a lot of things that I could be able to live up to. But then as I was telling myself that this was just the start to something else, I was also telling myself that I just needed to think about Kevin. I mean, from the look on his face, I was telling that the more that he was here, the more that he was really regretting going into this. He was thinking about the fact that he was going to fail the entire school. I wanted to make him feel better, but I had no idea how the fuck I was going to do this. I had no idea how in the hell I was going to turn things around for him. As I was thinking about how much I was missing life around the school, and as I was telling myself that it would never be the same if the game went bad, I was looking around and I was seeing that the school crew had not shown up yet. I was wondering why the school from either Elmore or Wayside had not shown up. Was the date wrong? Was my perception of time off and I just needed to be patient, or was there sort of a build up going on right now, and that I was sort of getting myself into that mindset now.

But then as I was thinking about what I was going to have to do now, I was thinking about what life was really life now. I was thinking that life was just a big challenge, and that I was just thinking about the smallest things in the world. I needed to stop thinking about all of the things that really did not matter with this game, which in all honesty there were quite a few things that didn't matter.

But then I looked at Kevin. "So now that you have gone through this a couple of times, do you think that you might be ready for what is going to be happening now?" I was wondering if Kevin was going to put himself in tha decent mindset, or if he was sort of screwed. I was trying really hard to tell myself that it did not matter all that much what his answer was. But despite this, I was still thinking that I really wanted him to be saying yes. I needed him to say yes in order for me to have any hope of what was going to happen next. It was the only way that I was going to be able to feel comfortable over the challenge coming up.

Despite that, I was still sort of being a good person in my mind. "Yeah, I think that I might be ready. I think that this is going to be a bit of a pain in the ass, don't get me wrong, but I do indeed think that I am actually ready. I do think that I can be able to pull this whole thing off." After Kevin said this, I was then taking a long and big sigh in relief. Then after this, I was looking behind us and then I was seeing that the people from our class were finally coming in. It was just Myron, Dana and Maurecia at first. I was a little sad that it wasn't really more. And I was pretty certain that Maurecia was not really ready for this. I mean, she was probaly going to be more ready than most, but I can still tell that she was not really sure what to be thinking about this all that much. She was not really thinking that there were any good chances in order for this to work out. But then I was thinking that in the back of her mind, she was thinking that maybe the idea of our chances were at least a little bit higher knowing that I was in the game. I was then thinking that this was going to really let her down.

Dana I was certainw as not going to be playing the game at all. I was almost certain that she was just there to watch and see if I was going to be any good. Besides, she was just trying to show some support for me. You know, I was now thinking that the game was going to be extra important. You know, trying and show her that I was not going to just mess around here. As I was thinking about what I did indeed owe her, I was thinking about what Myron was going to be doing here. I was thinking that Myron was going to be the real gutterball here if I were to use bowling terms.

I was thinking that Myron was either going to put in a real attempt and try his best, or that he was going to act like he cared and just use this as a way to boost his fake political career, or that he was just going to watch and that nothing was really going to come out of this. I was totally ready for all three of these options. And knowing Myron, I was thinking that all three of them were indeed quite possible, as much as I hated to admit it. And as much as I hated the idea that there was somebody in the school who cared only about their social status and nothing else. But then as I was thinking this, there was a a part of me that was thinking that in all reality, I was no different and that I was being way too rough on him with this whole thing. As I was thinking about the fact that I was being way too rough with him, I was then thinking about what Myron was able to pull out if this was actually something he can do for his own gain.

I felt like if he was doing this for his own gain, then he might actually put in some real effort to get at least one strike. If he is able to get a striike or something, then he is going to be considered a fucking legend in the school. He must have known that this was the truth, and that this was going to be the way that he was going to restore the hope that people really had in him.

Then I was starting to wonder to myself if people really had any hope in him. I felt like it was a awful thing to be thinking that way with him, but I never really saw people going up to Myron and acting like he was this great man who did nothing wrong.

But then I was thinking about some other things. As I was thinking about the tasks that were ahead of me, I was then thinking about what I was indeed going to be ready for. I was thinking about what I needed to do in order to actually make any of this be worth it. I was then starting to think that if for nothing else, that my friends were going to be there for me. I was certain of one thing, That my friends were not going to act like this was going to be the end of our friendship. They understiod and appreciated me much to deeply in order for this to be the end of it all.

But then as I was thinking this, I was seeing that Jenny, Shari and Steven were now inside of the bowling alley. I was then thinking about the fact that if this was the fucking team for wayside, then I really was going to be the one who was going to drive this whole thing forward. That I was actually truly going to be the only hope that people had here. I was then thinking that it was wrong to be thinking this highly of myself here, but then after I told myself that I was thinking too highly into this whole thing, I just hated everything about my life. Okay, that was taking it a bit too far. I didn't hate everything in my life. I did just think that I needed to think things through a bit more, and that was what I was scared of now. I was scared of the fact that Elmore were going to have the best in the country, and that this was going to be against the worst of the worst, and that I was going to only be slightly less bad than the others.

But then as I was thinking about what I was going to be setting myself up for, and the fact that this was going to be a very one sided game, but I was thiniking that as long as there was at least a good and real effort, then that this wouldn't really be all that bad anymore. That this was something that we were going to just be sort of setting ourselves for failure for. But that there was nothing wrong with this. Sure, it was not like we were going to be the star team that I was hoping that we were going to be, but it really could have been much worse than this. This was what I needed to tell myself. That this could have been much worse.

As I was thinking about my chances, and as I was starting to look at the playing value of each one, there was a part of me that was starting to sort of feel like a coach as I was doing this. I was thinking about how it was kind of awful for me to be feeling like I was a judge for my friends, and that I should have been more forgiving of them and not nearly as on the judging block as I was, but there was nothing that I could do to stop thinking like this at the moment. I was thinking about the fact that I was the only thing that was keeping this together. No matter what the class may have wanted to admit, I was the only hope that these people had. I was the only thing that was keeping us together. I was then thinking how just for this one fucking night, I was going to find myself to be sort of the hard ass, and then when I was done feeling like that, and once tonight was over I was going to go back to be back to my normal and chipper self. At least that was what I was telling myself that I was going to be like. It seemed like this was going to be the best thing that would happen to me though.

An actual night where I was going to be acting like the normal teenager that I should have been, and the one night in which I was going to just go around and be able to exercise my normal life and my excitement for something that did get me very interested in the last few days or so. A subject and a game that I was really starting to win me over a little bit more.

I mean, I was not really thinking that this game was still the shit, but it was still a game that I was liking a bit. As I was thinking about how much I was going to like this game, I was then thinking about the true values of it that was making me even come close to liking it as much as I had.

I was thinking about the fact that I was just playing a game that didn't really require all that much effort. I was playing a game that was not really all that long, and a game that I was going to be able to show my improvement from. I used to be a guy who was just utterly terrible, and now I was somebody who was at least able to kind of do a tolerable job on the game. I mean, I wasn't good by any means of the word. But at least I was starting to become a person who can be able to sort of hold his own, and that was the thing that was really getting to me and making me feel like I was something that I can be proud of. I was starting to think that when it came to bowling, that I was the best hope that my school had, and I was starting to slowly admit that truth more and more and in a way, I was starting to sort of be proud of it. Despite this, I was thinking about where this was going to go next.

When I was thinking about what else was going to be ahead of me, I was thinking about what people were really wanting me to do. Where they wanting me to win? Or were they simply just wanting me to do the best that I can? I can certainly be able to start to give on that second one, that much was for sure. But I was not really sure if I was going to be able to relaly pull through with doing something much more than this. If anything, I was thinking that I was not really going to be anywhere close to what the people were expecting or wanting of me. But honestly, I was at that point that I didn't give a single fuck in the world. I was going to get myself in a game that I was enjoying, and that I was going to think that I could be able to show off my value of a little bit. As I was thinking baout the value that I was going to be able to show myself, the more that I was thinking about what the others wanted of me. I was then thinking about the one thing that really did matter. I was thinking about if the whole situation was a perfect situation, or if anything if it was the exact opposite of the perfect situation.

I didn't really know how I was getting myself into the mindset of pulling off a perfect situation, but then as I was thinking about the fact that the perfect situation was not really going to come to me, no matter how much I had tried to make it work or how much I had wanted it to work, I was thinking that these things could have been much worse. I was thinking about what my friends were going to be able to do, and I was still telling myself that by comparison, I was really not doing all that bad. At worst, I was going to be some form of a five out of ten. Kevin was a nine out of ten on a good roll, and a one or zero on a bad roll. He didn't always get bad rolls, but he was able to do something like that enough times to where it was sadly something that I had to consider. It was something that was going to be there much more often than it would not be there.

But then I was thinking baout Maurecia. I was thinking if for nothing else, she was going to be able to pull out a good fight. I was thinking about the fact that she was going to be the only one that I would be able to have faith in even if everything else was starting to fall out of my favor. But then as I was thinking about other people, I was thinking about Dana, Jenny, Steven and Myron.

I had no real hope in Myron. I mean, I did think that he had the potential for ONE single strike in there. That if he had the true desire to help out much more than the fake ass way, he could have gotten one single strike. But beyond that, I think that he would have resigned back to the idea of him being the savior and the one who had done the best in the entire school. But then as I was thinking that, I was looking right at Dana, Jenny, and Steven.

Jenny I was not so sure about. I was seeing from the look that both of us were giving each other, that we were both thinking about the stuff that we had done in the past, and I was thinking about how this was going to start to kick us in the ass soon enough, and that we needed to be much more careful about this now that we were around other people. I was really fucking hating my hormones.

But then I was thinking that she was either going to be our secret weapon or a below average player that didn't really help out all that much. I was thinking that it was sadly more likely to be the second option, but I was thinking and still having some hope in her. I was hoping that with her past experiences, that she can pull off some magic to make a miracle happen once or twice. Again, it was purely just for the hopes, although even I was not really thinking that it was going to be in my favor sadly at all.


	70. The Tournament

Trying to Piece It Together

It was a bit after this, and I was starting to think about what had exactly happened with Jenny. I was thinking about what I was going to tell people in case they asked me what was going on with her. I was trying to decide if I should be telling them the truth, or if for her sake, I should be leaving that information out of their lives. I was just thinking about what Jenny would really be wanting. I think she wanted me to keep that information away from the public, and I was going to do my best for this. I was thinking that what she had wanted me to tell them was going to be the determination for it all. If she was fine with me telling people some information, I might consider doing this, but if it turns out that Jenny does not want me to do this, then there is no way in hell that I am going to do something like that purely out of respect of what she would be wanting and everything.

Besides, I was telling myself, that as long as Jenny keeps up a mostly normal demeanor, I would not really have to deal with the problems of telling people or not telling them. As long as she can at least pretend like she is not really having this problem, then everything will be fine for her sake. That was what I was telling myself, almost certain that Jenny was going to keep herself mostly composed for at least the next few days or something like that, before the growing weight of where her mother might be starts to really sink in on her even more than it had already done.

Despite the entire situation and the fact that I had no real clue what I was going to do with it, I am starting to tell myself this is mostly not really my business. That I should just respect her space. The more that I tell myself that I should just respect her space, the more that this was slowly growing into the conclusion that I was making the right choice. I was telling myself not to really think about it all that much though. I was thinking that the less I thought about it, the less it was going to be a problem and the less that this would even really matter all that much, if it even mattered at all.

So in a way, I was telling myself that this was what I just needed to do. I just needed to be quiet for a bit about it. Not only did I just need to be quiet about it, but I just needed to not even think about it. The less that I even thought about it, the easier it would be. Then when I get home and I was alone, then I would not have to deal with it for the rest of the day, and with each passing day, the less of a problem that this was really going to be.

Eventually, the school day had passed and I had gone home. As I was home that day, I was telling myself that this was a mostly sound strategy, and I was telling myself that this was the best thing that I can do for myself. I was telling myself that this was just one day and that I didn't need to be thinking about this too much longer. Eventually, it was either going to just simply slip my mind, or eventually Jenny would be the one that would break and then she would feel the need to tell other people what is going on, and then afterward, I would be mostly off the hook as I would not be the one who would be starting the conversation at all by that point in time. I didn't really know why I was so worried about being the one who mentioned this first or not. Maybe I was just worried about my reputation a little bit and if my parents would trust me or if Jenny would trust me when this is all over with and everything.

But then I was also telling myself something else. I was telling myself that if something were to come up and if the question had to be asked, there was no way in hell I was going to turn down the idea of helping Jenny out. If I felt like say Maurecia would be able to somehow help, then I was going to possibly find a way to get her into this, because for some reason I was telling myself that she was going to be one of the readiest people to be hearing about this whole situation, and that she was going to at least talk with me about Jenny's mother since as far as I was aware, that they were sort of aware of what Jenny's mother was life, since Jenny and Maurecia used to be best friends before I came to Wayside and they both started to in an indirect way compete for trying to be my girlfriend.

Despite how annoying it must be to go through all of the stuff of people constantly having crushes on me, I was still thinking it was nice that people liked me. If I had wanted to, I can be able to create a decent harem or ladies around me. And then if I did that, then my ego would be so high that nobody would feel like they would be able to compete with me at all.

Eventually, when I was home, I was thinking about Maurecia and I was actually thinking about how well she would be able to actually help me out. I was wondering if she could be able to actually help me out. I was telling myself that she must be able to help clear my mind on all of this, but then as I was telling myself this, I was also telling myself that Maurecia was just going to use this as a chance to increase her chances of winning my lover over to her, which I guess I wouldn't really blame her on, but it would still be really fucking annoying.

The next day, if I saw Maurecia again, I think I would talk to her about Jenny. I was mostly going to leave it as simple as that. I was not really wanting to make this a huge thing, especially if Jenny wanted me to keep the information secret. Then when this was over with, if Maurecia mentions something about her mother, then I might be willing to have the balls to tell her what I know and what is going on. That would be the only way that I would find myself able to tell her and the only way that I feel like I would be able to justify telling her the truth of the matter. I just don't really think that I would feel the need to tell her the truth if there is no real mention of her in the conversation at all. It would sort of be the closest thing to an everybody wins situation that I would have been able to really come up with at that spot.

Then I was getting on my bed, and I was really enjoying the thought of Jenny. Despite everything that had been happening, I was still finding myself liking the idea of being with Jenny and thinking that the idea of being with Jenny was going to be the best thing I could be able to do for myself in a long time. Then I was telling myself that Dana would be heart broken if this happened, and there was just the part of me that was still wanting to be super duper loyal to her. As loyal as I possibly could have been able to be with her, since she really did deserve much better than what I had been giving her lately.

I was then thinking about if I should be telling Dana or not. I mean, we have been dating and everything and there was a part of me that was thinking that since we were dating, that I needed to be as open and frank with her as possible, since she would really deserve something like that. Besides, I doubted that Dana would really be able to do anything about this situation if I just simply told her, since she barely really knew Jenny at all, so this was not going to be the biggest thing in the world to tell her the truth.

As this was coming to mind, and I was strongly also considering telling Dana what was going on, I was thinking that I just needed to be frank with the girl that I had decided to be dating, and that this was going to be one of my ways of being able to mostly turn this situation around with her and I. I was thinking that I should have been more ready for any of these considerations to come up at any moment, so I was then bringing myself down a bit as I had closed my eyes and was getting ready to go to sleep now.

The next day, I was much more awake and I was much more aware of what I was going to be doing now. When I was more aware of what I needed to do at that moment, and I was more aware of how much I felt like it would be nice to have somebody at my side just to talk to me about what had been going on in Wayside. Not just with the whole Jenny thing. That was something I was thinking about earlier, but it wasn't the whole thing that I felt like I needed to talk to somebody about earlier. I can be able to get over that soon enough, considering the fact that in all reality, that was only one small part of this entire story that was honestly just really totally messed up no matter how else I tried to look at it. I mean, look at the police.

They should be able to appreciate the value of what it is like when a young man like me actually tries to make a difference and tries to help people out, and they should be wanting my assistance. But here they were, acting like me just trying to help them out was the biggest burden that they would have had to deal with. I was wondering if they had actually hated me. I had no idea why they would be hating me, and I was thinking that it was kind of dumb how they were not really giving me any real chance, but I guess that they felt like they were the big guys on campus and if they truly thought that they didn't need me, then they can just totally go fuck themselves. I was doing my best to be helpful, and they just didn't seem to really care about that at all. Which just is annoying, but I can live with it.

But as I was thinking about this, I was thinking about if the police would be able to start to trust me more if I had done something for them that wasn't just simply telling them what I had seen. If I gave them a ton of information, most of which just being unable to be brought down, then I think that they would start to respect what I am doing, and they would start to see that there was nothing that they would be able to do without me. That was what I was thinking would be able to happen. I just needed to find something that they would consider to be good information and even better evidence that I can handle myself, and then afterwards, I was going to come out of this as the overall winner.

But then I was starting to get more into these thoughts and before I was able to really think of this too much, I was distracted by the girl that I had been thinking about earlier. I Maurecia patted me on the shoulder and I was looking right at her. I was actually really glad to be seeing her, and for once not in the way that I was going to try and be romantic with her. But for once in the way that I was going to be doing something for a friend that I felt like was going to really be the best thing possible.

"Hey Todd, I saw that you were heading to school, and I hadn't been walking around at the same time as you all that many times, so I was thinking that maybe today we can walk to school together." Maurecia said and then I nodded at this idea. I was going to just talk with her, and eventually, I was going to bring up the whole thing with Jenny if I felt like it was the proper time to bring up the subject to her. Although I was not really sure when that was going to be.

As we were starting our walk, I was thinking about what to say. "So, how have you been feeling today so far?" I asked, and I was thinking that this was going to be a nice starting point, and one in which would seem like it was nice and innocent enough. I was just hoping that Maurecia didn't take the question too literally and would just sort of go off with it and not even give me a chance to really talk about the things that I had actually wanted to talk with her about. But I was telling myself that it didn't really matter all that much.

Eventually, she did respond. "I just have been tried for a while. I don't really like going to school this early since I am barely able to really think of anything all that much. I just wish that I was able to get even an extra hour of sleep or something like that. Even just one extra hour would make things so much easier than it is right now. It would really help me be more focused during school since I wouldn't be tired as much." Maurecia said, and despite what I was originally wanting to talk about, I was not really able to find myself wanting to argue with her for bringing this up. In fact, just thinking about all of the hours that I had missed out of, I was actually starting to feel a bit more annoyed than anything else.

"You know, I just really hate the fact that we have to wake up at like seven in the morning for something that I am not even going to remember in a few weeks. Or hell even a few days. I barely remember any of the lectures that we have been going through, and I just think that the teachers are just too fucking boring to really even make any of this actually worth it. So what the hell? I just think that if the teachers were more interesting, I would not feel like this so much. But that is not what we have, or anywhere really close to it." I said, thinking about how the teachers almost put me to sleep when I listen to them.

I was not wanting to really say that part out loud, since while it was true to me, it was also true to hundreds of other people in school and I felt like I would have been sort of beating the dead horse if I had mentioned that out loud. But I was thinking about what Maurecia was probably like, and then after that, I was thinking of what I was wanting to say and find a way to say it in a way that would make it seem like it was a bit of a comedy show. "Do you like going to school in order to see me in class? I guess that this is what you really like." I then was waiting for her response, and the more that I was waiting for her response, the more that I was thinking that perhaps I had not really given her enough credit and everything.

"Well you know, I would be lying if I said that there wasn't at least a part of my school enjoyment that comes out of that. But I think that there are some other things that I go in there to do, such as being with my friends and being able to make some crazy stories up with my friends about things that I did during the week. I like telling people about my life that I had during my weekend, and seeing what people believe in, as well as what they do not really believe in. You know, the only people who will ever one hundred percent believe in stuff I say are those people who were actually there and were able to experience the stuff with me. Those people never really felt the need to say anything against what I say." Maurecia said and there was a part of me that was sort of relating to, as I was thinking about what I was wanting to do with my life when I got to the weekend. Besides, I was thinking to myself, if I did tell Maurecia about Jenny and everything that is going on with her, there was the chance they would not really believe what I was telling her. They might be thinking that I was just saying that in order to come up with some great and tragic story or something like that. I guess that in the end, I wouldn't really be able to blame her or anybody else all that much if they were actually feeling that way about what I tell them with Jenny.

But the more that I was thinking about school, and the more that I was thinking about how fucking boring it was, the more that I was thinking that maybe I should actually bring it up to her. At least that would be adding a level of excitement to her. I loved the idea of helping her, and I was thinking that the idea of helping her was going to be the most important thing that I could really do. I was thinking about how even Dana would understand what I was doing if she knew what was going on, and why I felt the desire to do such a thing.

"You know, as much as I hate to say it, and as much as Dana would hate me if she heard me say this, but I don't really think that I have been giving her nearly enough credit. I hate the fact that this is the way I have been treating her, and the more that I do this, the more that I feel like a disgusting man, and the more that I want to make things up to her. I mean, she really has done a lot of things lately that I feel like are really important. Dana is one of the greatest women I know, and I am not even going to pretend that she isn't. But at the same time, I just feel like Dana and I just need to be more public with each other, and just understand our communication problems a bit better. If we were able to communicate with each other more, then I feel like I would be thinking that she was the hottest and most special girl in the world." I said, and I was always feeling awful for expressing how I felt with Dana to Maurecia, and there was the part of me that was worried of how Maurecia was going to tell Dana this, if she would tell her at all. But then if Dana were able to talk with me more, then none of this would be happening at all. I hated the fact that I was always blaming her. If I found myself blaming her for something that was my fault, then I was the one with the problem.

As I was thinking about Dana, the more that I was really starting to think that I didn't deserve her, and she sure as hell didn't deserve some unloyal fuck like me. She didn't deserve somebody like me who didn't really give her any proper communication or anything like that. But then again, I was looking at Maurecia and I was wondering if Maurecia and I were going to possibly end up with each other in the long run. For some reason, even though I hated the idea originally and even a few weeks ago I would shoot down the idea right away, the more that I was starting to see that maybe Maurecia and I actually did have a chance of pulling this off down the long run.

"Maurecia, do you think about things that could have happened differently if somebody had just given them another chance in the long?" I asked, and then after I asked her that, I was thinking that she was able to pick up the fact that I was talking about her. But then as I was thinking that she was going to pick this up, I was starting to wonder to myself if she would even really be willing to accept any form of advances that I would give her. I think that she deserved to feel that way about me if she was thinking that she no longer really liked me anymore.

I was looking right at Maurecia and I was getting ready for her reaction now. "You know, if somebody had given me another chance right from the start, and if they started to show some interest in me, and if they were able to admit that they were wrong, then I would feel like I would totally be ready to give them another chance at being there for me. I always do think about how differently things would be if we were more open with each other. What have you been thinking about?" Maurecia asked, and then after she had asked me this, I started to thinking about what I was going to tell her and I was going to have to try and find a way to make it sound like I wasn't suddenly trying to win her over at the last minute.

"I just have been thinking a lot about stuff related to the butterfly effect. You know, I have been trying to understand if I had made the right choice throughout my time here and my life. Like if I never did what I originally did from my older school, then I would be thinking that high school would be fine. I am thinking that if I had behaved myself better at my older school, then I would have been a good student and then there would be somebody else that I would be able to be with now. This girl named Joy. I am always thinking about what life with Joy and I would be like if I had seenher again." I said and then after I had told her this, Maurecia was thinking about what she was going to say to me, and if she was also in that picture. Which she totally was, as I had been thinking about what things would have been like if I had chosen her. But I didn't want to admit it out of sounding a bit silly. I was not really wanting to admit that she was near the top of my life on what I had been thinking about.

"I guess life is just a bunch of thinking about how different things would have gone. But then you start to think about things and you think about what you would have been able to do differently, but then a lot of time all of these alternate realities are not really what you expect them to be. I have started to accept that. If I started to think of things in a certain way, then how differently things would have been able to really go now. I just think that school is all about the time when you start to look at life different and how much you would really would have been able to look at life. But the difference between wish and reality if if this actually turns out the way that you expect. I think that shit is not the way that you would ever want. I think that life is always going to be different from what you expect, and if you had a chance to live in another reality, then you would start to see that maybe that other reality was false." Maurecia said and I was able to tell that she was thinking about the other reality of if we had started to date each other. If we started to date each other if I would have started to look at other people different and started to just place her away.

But then I was thinking about that, and I was thinking about how unloyal that I am actually. But I was wondering if perhaps I would have been more loyal if it was another person other than Dana. But then I was thinking that maybe I was going to just be this way in general, and that I was just being a general horny simpleton. There is a part of me that is always really horny, but I was telling myself that I needed to focus on the bigger things on hand. But then I was thinking about if I was actually going to be able to settle down and thing about other things for at least a few minutes.

"You know, I think that I should have been more there for Dana. When she started to sound like maybe she would have needed me, I should have decided to put everything aside and talk with her. When it seemed like her parents hated me, I should have tried to talk to them and clear my name, although I am not really sure if this would have been worth it as I am starting to think that maybe they were really right about me this whole time. Maybe they had been right about their preconceptions of me and that I really am this terrible person that they started to think that I was." As much as I hated to admit it, I was thinking that they were indeed right about everything they said about me, and I was thinking that they should have been if anything more harsh on me from the start, and not really give me the chance they were even willing to give me at first.

"Todd, I would not really worry about it at all. You seem to be having your mind set in the right place. If you are certain that there is something that you want to do, and you feel like you are the only one who is able to really do the job, then you should always just place in your best effort into the situation no matter what the case may actually be." Maurecia said, and then after she had told me this, I was thinking more and more about that. "If you want to help out, which you clearly do, then I think that people would be willing to see that you are not a bad guy. I would not sare in any way say that you are a bad guy, since you seem to really know what is good for the people that you know and that you care about." Maurecia said, and then after she had said this, I was telling myself that she was right,

I was telling myself that I needed to give myself more credit. I was telling myself that there was nobody else would have tried to do what I did. When I was telling myself this, I was starting to sort of make myself feel a little bit better. I was thinking that there was nothing wrong with me.

"Todd, I think that you are just a great guy. You have not really done anything too awful. The worst thing that you have really done is sometimes question if your loyalty to Dana was well placed or not. That is something that I feel like a lot of people think when they start to settle down, if they should have gone with the other person or something like that." Maurecia was sounding like she was understanding me. But I was not able to really tell if she really did understand me, or if she was telling me that she got it just to make her sound like she was the greatest person in the world. I was not really sure, and honestly I didn't really care as I just really loved having somebody there just willing to talk to me, and be there for me and just support me for everything that had been going on and everything.

"Maurecia, there are times when I start to think that you get me more than everybody else in the world. I can just talk to you, and you sound like you really do get it. And at the very least, even if you don't really get me per se, you never really judge me. You always keep an open mind on what I tell you, and you are willing to just listen to what I have to tell you. That is something that I think everybody else should really try and do." I said, and then after I told Maurecia this, the more that I was thinking about what Maurecia had really done for me, the more that I was thinking about what I was going to tell her. The more that I was going to really be able to see the values and the things that she gave me, and I was going to be able to really appreciate her. I am starting to think that I was only starting to appreciate what had been given to me, and that I was playing on dangerous territory here.

That if I didn't start to appreciate her enough, then she would not really want to be friends with me anymore. If she didn't really want to be friends with me anymore because I simply was not really there for her, then I would not forgive myself for this. I would not really forgive myself for anything that I did with her. I just needed to talk with her more, and I needed to spend more time with her.

As I was thinking about this, the more that I was thinking about what Maurecia had really done for me. I was thinking about what I can do to make her feel better. The more that I was thinking about her in general, and the more that I was not really thinking about the whole Jenny thing in general. The more that I was not wanting to tell her about Jenny, since I was thinking about the fact that I was going to try and be there for Maurecia instead. I was thinking that this was the best thing I can do with her for the day.

This whole thing was starting to really swarm my mind and everything, but then we were at the front of the school. Once we were at the front of the school, I was thinking about how to end the conversation. "Well, I think that maybe we should walk home after school or something like that. I actually really enjoyed that walk to school with you today." I said, and I had honestly meant it when I had said that, and I was just not really saying that to make her like me more. I was thinking about what had happened, and I was thinking about what we would talk about on the way home.

"I would really like to do that actually. Thanks for walking to school with me Todd." Maurecia said and then afterwards, we were getting right to the top floor so we would be at class. The first couple of class periods of the day were just sort of boring, and not really anything that I was caring about all that much. But this time, I really did not mind it all that much, as I was thinking about the lunch period that day, and I was thinking about the chance to walk home with Maurecia. There were just a few things that were making me think about the greater goal on the mind.

During lunch that day, I was thinking about this whole conversation, but these thoughts were not really able to last all that long as when I sat down, Dana sat down right in front of me. "Hey Todd, it seems like you have been really focused on something." Dana told me, and for some reason when I was looking at her, all of my worries were starting to float away. I was thinking about how Dana was going to be somebody who would really be able to actually help me out here. So as I was thinking about this, the more that I was starting to think that maybe telling Dana about this stuff would have actually been the right choice.

"So Dana, I have been thinking a lot about what is going on lately. And I hung out with Jenny lately, and I know that you might not really be all that excited to hear that, considering that you always get really scared when I hang out with other people. But that is not what I am wanting to talk about right now. There is something that I saw in the last few days that really put a different perspective on my entire life." I said, and then after I said this, I was waiting to see what Dana was going to say now.

"What did you see that really scared you?" Dana asked, and I was able to tell from the look on her face that she was actually concerned about me. She was really wondering what type of help that I needed. I was thinking that Dana was going to be one of the only people I would trust with this information. I was not really going to tell her about the whole Jenny's mother thing, as I was still feeling like this should be mostly confidential. However, I felt like I was willing to tell her the truth about the thing I found down under the town. The place called the labyrinth. In fact, I was feeling like I needed to tell her this. As there was a part of me that was really worried about what I was going to tell her, but I was still feeling like it was dire to be telling her this.

"Well, I saw this thing that was underneath the town. There was this place called the labyrinth, and I didn't really know all that much about it. In fact, I was not really taking the whole thing that seriously at all. But at the same time, I went down there after I found the secret entrance to there, and I will not tell you where just in case something happens to you, and when I was down there, I was feeling like I was breaking into something that was sort of the root of all the problems with the town. As if everything that was evil in this city was all rolled into one place down there. I felt like I needed to try and find what was down there as I was thinking that perhaps I needed to try and make something right. But then I was too scared to do it. As if being down there was going to get everybody I knew and cared about killed, and that I was going to have nightmares for the rest of my life now."

"If you are really that worried about it, and if you truly feel like it is going to mess with you forever, and give you a bunch of nightmares, then perhaps you should go and talk to a therapist about this. Maybe just having somebody that you can talk with would be able to really help you. I know that this is a sort of generic response that in all reality will not really help you all that much. But just think about what will happen if you don't talk to somebody else about this. If you don't talk to somebody else about this, then you will be dealing with this weight on your shoulder for the rest of your life." Dana said and then I was seeing as she placed her hand on mine that I was always making the wrong choice every single time I was looking at another person besides Dana. Jenny was a thousand times more beautiful, and Maurecia seemed to have a more basic on paper understanding of me. But Dana was there, she talked with her, she was decent looking enough, and her understanding of me was something beyond basic paper understanding. I understood every time that I talked with her that she really was the one that I should treat with respect and she was the one that really was sort of for me more than anybody else. The other people would trick me when I was around them, but she was better for me at least.

"And if you don't trust those people with telling them about what you have been seeing, you know you can always talk to others. You know that I will always be there for you, and that I will always be able to listen to you. I will do the thing that nobody else would really be able to do. Please Todd, if you ever feel the need to talk to somebody about what you have been seeing lately, you can always come to me. I don't want you to have a weight on your shoulder that in all reality you should be able to put behind you." Dana said and then she took a deep breath and then she was waiting for the suspense that I was going to gather up and then she was going to continue what she as saying.

'What exactly about the labyrinth scared you? Do you feel like you would be willing to talk to me about that?" As Dana asked me this, I was thinking about if she should know that stuff. Then when I thought about it, I was totally deciding that I was ready to tell her what had been bogging my mind for what I had really seen down there and why exactly it had pissed me off so much.

"Well, it felt like there were people down there. Several of them. But not only that, but that they needed me. That I should have been there for them, and that I gave them false hope by being down there. I felt like I should have had the balls to go down there and do more when I saw that there was something wrong. But I just didn't want to. I was just too scared to, and then I ran away like a fucking coward. I don't really think that I would be able to forgive myself for this. I should have been there to see what was going on, and if I was going to be able to change things for the better. But I didn't do that. I was a asshole who ran away, and I was a person who preferred my own life." I said, and then when I told her this, I was wondering if I was ever going to get another chance. To either go down there and make things right, or that I can be able to tell somebody else what was happening and then they would be the ones to go down there.

"You know, you can't do everything. You need to stop giving yourself impossible expectations on what to do. If you wanted to help out, then you probably couldn't have been able to do that if you didn't know what was going on down there. You know, if you had the knowledge of what you doing, then you would have probably been able to do so much more. But that is not really how things are. Seriously, it is just how things really are." Dana said, and then after Dana had said this, I was thinking about that. I was thinking that she was trying to make me feel better, but no matter what I had been telling myself, I was not able to continue going at this.

"Please. I know that I should not really be all that harsh on myself. I had no idea what the labyrinth was. I had no idea what I was really getting myself into. I was not really able to do something even if I had wanted to be able to do that. But in the future, I should be careful. I need to be aware of what I am putting at steak on there. Please, understand that this is the thing that I have been feeling. I just feel like I have another chance to do something right, and that I need to go in there and do my utter best to make things right. That this is my best to be able to redeem myself." I said, and then as I was thinking about this, I was wondering if I was able to get myself to do it. I was then thinking about David, and I was telling myself that in all reality, he should be the one who was going to be able to really help me out.

I was thinking that David would understand what I needed, and then he would be able to see what was going on in the labyrinth and I thought that maybe if he knew what was going on down there, then perhaps he was going to be the hero of the day. I thought that David was goig to be the unspoken hero of the day a lot of the time coming up soon. He was somebody who was young enough to be able to do the right thing and not be blinded by some form of corruption, which I was always worried that people had suffered. That was yet another reason I was not really able to trust Garrett. I was just thinking that he had not really cared all that much about the people of the city. I felt like he had cared more about the pay check that he was going to be gathering up soon by doing all of this stuff.

"Todd, I think that you are just needing to focus on school again. You have made your promise to David and Garrett that you were not going to pursue this anymore. That you were not going to be dealing with the monsters now. You said that this was going to be something that you would leave behind. Please, follow through with your promise for my sake at the very least. If you want to make me feel so much better about life, then you should just remember the promise that you made, and you should keep your mind on the fact that you need to not lie to me." Dana said, and she was thinking that it was a bit sad that she was accusing me of lying, but I think that she was entirely just doing that to prove her point. I don't really think that she was actually thinking that I was some terrible person or anything like that. This was what I was telling myself. I was telling myself that I just needed to relax a bit. That I needed to just think about the good things that I would be able to focus on in school.

"You know, maybe this weekend, we can go and see a movie. I want to be able to have a nice day with you. I think that we have both earned the right of just having a nice day here with each other. I think that you have dealt with enough of my bullshit, and I have dealt enough bullshit to make us both earn this. So Dana, what do you think about that idea?" I asked, and then I was wondering if she would already have an idea of what movie she was going to want to see, if she had wanted to see one. Or if she was going to come up with an idea that was better than the one that I was having. If she had something better than the movies. I was thinking that there was a chance that she did, and I was totally not willing to brush off that chance.

"Yeah, I think that I would like that idea." Dana answered, as I was thinking about the time that we were going to have with each other. As the lunch period was passing, I was thinking more and more about her. I was thinking more about the fact that I would trust Dana to the information on what happened with Jenny's mother. I felt like she was the only one that I would consider telling. I thought about telling Maurecia a bit earlier. But now I was starting to slowly see in my eyes that this could have been a big mistake if I told her, so I was telling myself not to do something like that quite yet. Maybe later, and maybe when I felt like she was able to be told this information without making a big thing about it, then I was thinking that it would work. But that would take quite a while before I was thinking that this was going to be what I wanted to do. I was thinking that I needed to get Jenny's approval first, and I was telling myself that if she did, then I would go to Dana first, and then once I tell Dana this, then I feel like I was going to be ready to move this whole thing forward. But then after I told myself that I was going to be fine, I told myself to just let things slide. I was telling myself that things were all going to be good. I was telling myself that nothing I hyped up was anything too big of a deal.

Then the lunch bell rang and I was forced to go back to school classes. Once I was done with this, then I was going to talk with Maurecia and we could be able to really get to know each other better. I then wanted more from it besides just this.

Eventually, the school day had ended and both of us were ready to head on right home. I didn't feel so bad about the whole Dana thing anymore as I was just telling myself that this was just going to be a casual thing and that there was really nothing that I needed to worry about anymore. I was telling myself that Dana and I were still on a relatively tight grip with each other, and that I needed even need to consider what things would have been like if I tried to talk with Maurecia a bit.

Once we were walking home, I was telling myself to leave behind any ideas that I was starting to gather up of a slight romance between us. In all reality, I will admit that in hindsight if I moved here still and had no context of love and anybody here, I might have gone right to Maurecia as she showed she liked me. But this was in the present, and I had made a choice and everything.

"You know, I was really enjoying the conversation that we had earlier. It helped me be a little more open to everything going on. I think that you should always be willing to talk with other people. I mean, you will never really know what you can get out of having these conversations with people. Your opinion on things might be totally different as a result of these conversations." Maurecia said and then after she had told me this, I was thinking more about this whole thing.

"Yeah, I think that having a lot of friends that you really trust and are close with is one of the most important things that you can do when you go to a new setting. I am one hundred percent convinced of this. I am one hundred percent convinced that you should always talk with people when you move somewhere else because if you don't, then you won't really get them close to you." I said, and then I was thinking about my earlier life once again.

"I never really tried to get too close with too many people back in the day, and in hindsight I feel like this was the wrong choice. I feel like I should have gotten to know as many people as I could have been able to get to know. I know that I didn't really know any better, and that I had no idea I was going to eventually move out to this school, but still I feel like if I knew, I would have made as many friends as I could have been able to. It is important to make friends with people that you think will be able to trust you, and that you feel like you will be able to trust. Because it is good to have a backing when you go somehwere. Because even if you move away, you will have somebody who will be there for you if you move back and you feel like there is something that you will have to do." I said, and I had no idea at that moment that I was talking about somebody that I would later get to know in the future. I wasn't even doing it on purpose, it just sort of ended up happening like this.

"I think that people just think that once they move there, that there is a feeling that they will be at this place forever. That they will never move away. But then comes the day that it happens. Comes the day that you feel like it is time for you to move on and away. Then once you move away, you start to realize that maybe you were not really ready for life all that much. I think that this is something people should always be ready for." Maurecia was saying and I was telling that she was thinking about herself. She was thinking that she was going to be here forever. But it seemed like she was letting that small reality that it might not be like this sink in. I think that she just was finally letting this sink in.

"I think that I just wasn't prepared for any changes that came up. But you know, now that it has happened, I think that it is not really that big of a issue anymore. I think that people just need to adapt to changes. I know in hindsight now that I just needed to be ready for any possible changes, even though I didn't know how much better my life would have been if I started to be here. I think that there was a lot of my life that improved as a result of what I am doing here." I said, and then after I was done saying this, I was ready for more to talk about. I was ready to get to know more people here. I was ready to make more friends, and make my life as great as possible. I was thinking that Maurecia was going to help me do this as much as possible.

As I was thinking about how much I was growing to appreciate having Maurecia around me, I was thinking about if we could maybe hang out at a different time than Dana and I. I had no real desire to have the two plans bash into each other, as I was going to probably pick Dana any time at the end of the day. But that was why there were two days during the weekend, It gave you two chances to do something that you would enjoy doing. So in all reality, this was what I had really wanted to do now. I wanted to spend one of the days with Maurecia, and then get to know her even better than I had, and then another day with Dana, and really see if I could be able to move our relationship forward another step or two.

As I thought about it, there seemed to be something going on like Maurecia reading my mind or something like that. "hey Todd, I heard that there was this bowling tournament going on at Friday this week. It is going to be between Elmore school. You know, the school about half an hour or so away. I think it would be a lot of fun if you and I went and took along in this tournament." Maurecia said, and as I had heard about this, there was something in my mind telling me that I should take her up on this offer. It sounded like it would actually be a lot of fun. So after I heard her say this, I then was thinking that I was going to be aware of what I would be doing this friday.

"Yeah, I think that this would be a lot of fun. Let's fucking do it." I said, and then after I had said that, there was a part of me that was thinking that maybe we could take this further than that. But I only had that thought for a moment. Afterwards, I was telling myself that in all reality, my attraction towards Maurecia was indeed mostly just superficial and that I wasn't really super into her as I was trying to make myself think that I actually was. I felt fucking awful when I was thinking about this being how I had felt, but it was getting to the point where I was feeling even worse about questioning my feelings to Dana at all. So I was not going to let this continue.

"Maybe we should bring Kevin along or something." I said, desperate to save myself and be able to actually give myself some form of dignity. I was trying to make myself not fall down this rabbit hole. I refused to make myself susceptible to something that would ruin any relationship that I would have with Dana, and I was not going to let this turn a rift on my life at all. They both deserved better than this, and I was going to try and reform myself a bit. To make myself a bit of a more presentable fellow in terms of how I was treating Maurecia and Dana. Then there was a part of me that was thinking that in all honesty, it didn't really matter all that much if I had the thoughts. All I needed to do was just make sure that I didn't really go through with them. As long as I never went through with them, then I would be fine just having them.

"You know, I never really gone on one of these tournaments. I thought that they were not really going to be for me. I mean, it is just really hard to really understand how to play most of the time. It sounds a bit silly for me to say, but jesus christ I just wish that I actually you know, tried to be more active and tried to lead a better life style back when I was back at my other school. I mean, that place held bowling tournaments every other week. I just never felt the desire to go to them out of personally not finding it to be that interesting. But if I knew that people were wanting me to do it now, I would have gone right into it right away." I said, as I thought of how much I hated the things I just soundly rejected at first, but now wished I would have gotten into in hindsight. Things I started to think would have been better if I had gotten into them.

"Wayside and Elmore holds them once every year at the end of October in order to see which school has the better team. They have crushed us three years in a row. Not even coming close to being beaten. We usually do the best of three rounds. I hope to god that we can win at least one of the games this year. If we can even win one of them, then we will be racking up the experience and then they will actually have to start taking us more seriously, which will be a huge confidence boost on Wayside I can tell. I mean, if you have seen the way that the students have been around Elmore during the tournament, you can tell that they are really down about it." Maurecia said, and then I was wondering if maybe I would be able to do it. Help them win at least one game that is.

If I can even help them win one of the three games, then everything would be fine. Everything would be the way that it should be. I just needed to get on stage, and then concentrate while also just not thinking about it. Bowling was something that always kicked my ass because of this. You were supposed to be focused on how you walked and threw the ball, but then you were also supposed to be relaxed and not think about it. That stuff sounded fucking impossible. And it was for me when I tried it out. I was wanting to put that behind me though. Partly to finally say that I got the game, and also partly just to help the ego of Wayside school a bit.

As much as I may be thinking of my older school, and as much as I may miss a lot of it, I needed to accept the fact that this was all behind me. I needed to accept the fact that Wayside was just not the way it was going to be, at least until I actually get to know the people there a bit better. I needed to accept the fact that this was my school now, and that I needed to stop moping about being gone. I feel like it was just me giving myself rose tinted glasses anyways when I look back.

In the end, I was honestly feeling like that the stuff I was doing here was in reality better than my older school. But I was just trying to grasp onto the few good things in there, and that was what was doing me over every single time. The idea, the false mindset that this place was actually any good.

But as more time passed here, the more that I was starting to realize that there were some deeply running problems at Wayside. That there were many issues at Wayside that I needed to really look into, mainly for the sake of the people who went to the school with me. That if I did not do this, then perhaps I was going to be creating more problems for people. The more problems that I would create, the more that I feel like I was not really going to pull out through for the students here. These students that I have started grow a huge respect for. Started to feel like were in a way my comrades. At least with Kevin and some of the others that is.

If they had said that they wanted my helped at the tournament, and to make me help them boost some points in the over all score, then I was going to do just that. I was going to make sure that they at least had a fighting chance to win. That they were not going to be running from a mile behind everybody else. Besides, if they had been crushed so bad on three years in a row, I wouldn't make things any worse if I sucked. At worst, people would just be disappointed with me. But in all honesty, I can be able to really live with that.

I have had people acting like I have created a huge problem with them before a couple of times, as can be seen with the way that I treated at my old school. This was nothing new. This was nothing that I needed to act like would change my life forever if it went the wrong way. It was so the opposite of that it was almost kind of sad to be honest. But I was telling myself over and over again that I was going to help them win a game. I was going to give them at least one fucking game. That was not too much to ask for.

As I was thinking about this, there was a strange surge of confidence that I was feeling. There was a strange desire that I was having to actually help out as much as I could. I had no idea why this urge was hitting me so suddenly and so strongly, but I felt like I needed to do this. I felt like these people sort of needed me in a way. I wanted to give them the assistance that I felt like I would have been able to give them. I felt like the assistance that they would be given by me in a way would be what could really tip the game in their favor. Maybe that was a bit narcissistic for me to be thinking. But if for nothing else, at least I was not in any way lacking confidence. At least I was showing as much confidence as I wanted and needed to.

If only I would be able to find a way to channel this out into the field, then I would be really doing this town a favor. I would really be going out of my way to do something that I don't know if anybody else could or wanted to. I then looked at Maurecia. I was seeing that she was starting to pick up what I was thinking. I was thinking that she was liking the way that I was feeling about it. As she was looking at me and starting to realize how much she was actually liking this aura of confidence that I was giving off, she was starting to get even more impressed with me than she had already been by that point, which I was wondering if that was even possibly given her nature.

"I think that Elmore will not really know what hit them when they see me. They will be thinking that they can breeze their way into a fourth year of victories in a row. But then I am going to come in, and I am going to prove them wrong. I am going to at least make them work for their victory. Even if they eventually get it, at least I will be making it something that they will actually have to earn." I said, as I was actually feeling like this could be done. That this victory was not only possible, but maybe even doable given the restrictions of our setting.

"I am glad that you are feeling confident, but please don't force yourself into anything. Don't make yourself do something that you feel like you won't be able to actually do." Maurecia said, and then I waved it off with my hand. She clearly didn't understand guys enough. Once they got into something, once they felt the motivation to do it, you can't take them away from the price. At least, that was how I felt about things when I started. I guess I don't really know if others are like that or not, but I never give up on the contest that is in front of me. In all reality, I am sort of competitive, even if I don't want to be and even if I really shouldn't be.

"I feel like this is going to be something that I not only want to do, but will perfectly be able to do. I think that this is something that we should be preparing for. Maybe if I have a couple of practice games in the next few days, then I will be ready. At least then, I wouldn't be totally rusty anymore." I said, and there was a small part of me that was inviting her along, while also being a part of me that wanted to sort of do this on my own.

I was thinking tough, that there was one thing for sure. I didn't want to do this first one with her. I wanted to at least do the first session on my own, so that way nobody would be seeing me at my absolute worst. I mean, I didn't want to look like a idiot in front of people if that was possible to avoid. If I was able to avoid that, then I might be able to find myself in a okay situation. All I needed to do was just not be totally bad. If I was able to look decent to the people around me, and if they were starting to see that maybe I could pull this off, then I was possibly going to be able to give myself the same momentum to keep going forward than I would have thought I would have.

As I was thinking about the idea of motivation and how to help me forward, I was also thinking about Dana a bit. If she saw that I was doing my best to do something good for the school, then surely she would be able to forgive me for some of my very big flaws that I was really starting to show when I was around her. I was hoping that she wouldn't notice or think too much into these flaws, but even I knew that I was not giving her enough credit. She probably saw through them before I ever did, and then as I thought on that, I thought that she deserved to know everything that I had been truly thinking, and maybe we would be able to work together and help pull us through this thing together.

But then as I thought about what she had wanted, I then looked at Maurecia. "If I partake in the tournament, I will need some friends to be there with me. Be able to really help me get the motivation in order to actually act like I am able to pull out a good fight. A fight that will make these people see that you no longer want to be messed with. If you can do that for me, then I think that we will start to be golden on the spot." I said, and then I was thinking about what Maurecia can do in order to help get Kevin into it or Dana and Steven or people like that. Hell, even fucking Shari would be better than nothing, even if I knew that Shari would contribute nothing to the overall cause with her always sleeping and everything.

I was wondering how she was always able to sleep so much. I felt it was just strange that she had never been able to stay awake for more than a few seconds even. If I remembered correctly, I read in that monster book Dana gave me why. But it was still quite strange and I never really understood it all. But whatever, it wasn't like it really mattered all that much anyways.

As I was thinking about that book that Dana gave me, and I was thinking about how annoying it would be to read through that, I was starting to tell myself that I needed to read it. If I didn't read it, then maybe there would be something I was missing about the whole equation. But as I was thinking this, I was going back to the present and I was thinking about Dana as well. I was thinking about what she had actually wanted of me. She had waned me to stop looking into this so much. She had wanted me to place this all behind me. I didn't want to do that though. I felt like I was sort of breaking a promise that I made to her all those weeks go if I did this.

As I was thinking about the promise that I would have broken to her, I was then thinking about this promise. Either way, I was breaking the promise of a friend. The promise of somebody who I had really respected. And I was never really going to be able to fully forgive myself if this happened. If I had broken this promise, somebody who I knew more than that Dana from weeks ago, then I would be really messing up.

After I thought about this, I was starting to think to myself that Dana was just needing a little bit more assurance that I was not going to get myself killed. She probably thought that since we were dating, that this would be much worse than anything else that could happen. I guess in a way, for her, it sort of was. And I was thinking that maybe she needed to see what all of this would really do. But then I was thinking that maybe she wanted to be in denial, and that denial was the only thing keeping her sane. As I thought this, I began to actually feel bad for her.

I was then thinking that if this was going to be the way that she was going to be eventually feeling towards me, then what the hell was the fucking point in trying to get me into doing any of this in the first place? It seemed like it was one hundred percent counter productive. It seemed like she was setting herself up for failure in a way when she decided to tell me about these monsters. I was thinking that even if she didn't know the way she was going to be feeling about me, that she should have never even taken the risk in the first place. That she should have never even told me this stuff on the chance that something like this could happen. She honestly should have known better, I was telling myself. But then after I was telling myself this and in general making her sound like the bad guy for a moment, I told myself to stop and actually think about this for a moment.

I was telling myself that there was probably just a level of fear that she had originally, and she was thinking that having me do this for her would have been able to get rid of these fears. That I was sort of a new hope that she was having, and she felt like being there for me and me being there for her was just sort of a unplanned turn of events. Something that even with her great planning and even with what she tried to do on a normal basis would not have been able to think of. She just thought that at most, we were going to be friends and nothing more. This was something that turned out to be so much bigger than this, and that was something that I should cut her some slack on. Besides, sooner or later, even if the police were not involved, and if she just saw this from the distance, she probably would have started to get worried anyways.

I was thinking to myself that sooner or later, things would have happened and if I got myself hurt and maybe even killed, then there would be a certain level of survivors guilt that she would have been facing. Something that she must have realized was really hurting herself. As I was telling myself to please try and think about it from her perspective, I was starting to see in the ways that I was treating her wrong. The ways that she deserved more from me. I didn't know why I was feeling so strongly about this and the way that this had gone, but I guess there was just the part of me that wanted to pin point the blame on somebody else, even if I was slowly starting to realize that there was no way that they would have known better, and as a result, it was not really their fault. But I was just so angry at that moment, so much wanting to blame somebody or something that I realized only in hindsight that I was not being reasonable.

Besides, she was my girlfriend and there was me looking at her like this. I was starting to think if anybody, hell even Myron would have been better for her with the way that I was treating her in my mind. That anybody would have been there for her better and would have given her more of the respect that she had deserved.

Maurecia was just letting me having his silent debate in my mind. Quite frankly, she was just not really sure what to think. She was sure that I was starting to lose my mind. I would not really blame her for feeling this way. After all, she was basically watching me having a mental war in my mind. A mental war that I don't really think I was quite ready for but was now fighting very deep into.

And then I was thinking about the bowling. I was thinking about the tournament that was going to be coming up. I was thinking about what I needed to do in order to be ready for that. I felt like I needed to do anything in my power to be ready for this. Even if it meant taking many hours of my time. Even if it meant that I was going to truly have to go above and beyond. I was then thinking that if Maurecia was there, despite how much of an idiot I would look like and I would never forgive myself if that happened, that perhaps I needed to do this in order to show that I was telling the truth. I needed her at my side in order for her to sort of make me understand how to play the game, and I was telling myself that I needed her to be at my side so that way there would have been somebody there, and in a way that would have given me motivation to keep playing and going. Knowing somebody was going to be at my side.

As I had been thinking about that, and I was thinking about the fact that this could help me out in a way, having her at my side, I was slowly starting to get to the point where I was telling myself that I needed to shallow up my pride a bit and actually just accept the fact that I was not perfect. "Hey Maurecia, where is this bowling alley?" After I said that, I took a deep breath and then I started to continue my mindset. "I think I am ready to start playing and learn how to be ready for this tournament."

After I had told her this, Maurecia was starting to process the dedication and the time of my life I was going to have to sink into this. She was not really sure if I was ready for this or not, but she was respecting the fact that I was thinking that I was ready. She was telling herself that if I was feeling this way, that maybe there was something out of this that she would be able to get from me. So with that, she nodded and was in a way that she never expected ready to teach me how to play bowling.

"Well, don't expect this to be easy. If you expect this to be easy, then you will be gravely mistaken." Maurecia said and then I nodded, remembering how bowling was like when I was a kid once again.

"Believe me, I have done enough bowling to know exactly how it is." I said and then I said "I played it a couple of times when I was a kid. You know, it wasn't really all that much for me. I don't really even think I will do it after this tournament. I think that this is going to be a one time thing." I was ready to do what I felt like was going to be the first of five final bowling sessions of my life. Just one each day until the tournament, and that would be all that there was to it.

As Maurecia and I were agreeing to go there, I was thinking about the mess that I was going to be setting myself up for. I was thinking about how impossible this whole thing was going to be. I was thinking about how if this worked out, and if I actually did win the tournament for them, then the people in town would be telling me that I was the greatest person in the city at bowling, and how I should get into the tournament every year and how I was going to be their star back up player.

Then after that, I was finding myself laughing a bit. I was thinking way too highly of myself. Now I was the one who was getting himself that was way too big for his own good, and that if I didn't get this thing in check, then I was going to be making a very big mistake. That I was going to be setting myself up for failure by that point. Then I was thinking that this was just going to be my first time. So just relax and just not worry about how I was doing.

So with that, Maurecia and I walked to the bowling alley and I was paying for the games, I decided to pay for three games up front as I heard that the tournament would be the best out of three. Maurecia said she was going to put up the guards for the first game to let me get a feel for the game, and then after the first game, we were going to bring them down as by that point, it was time for me to get more serious with the playing.

As were in the bowling alley, I was feeling the balls and seeing which one felt right in my hand. Then after I took a moment to really examine them all, I picked the nine pound one. I was feeling like this was either going to be ten times easier than I had made it out to be or one of the hardest things that I would have ever done in my entire life. I was almost certain that it was going to be one of those two things. Although I was not really sure which one was going to be closer to being true considering the fact that the rails were up for the first game. Which made me feel like I was going to have to wait until the second game at least to make sure that I knew what I was going to be getting myself into.

I went first, I rolled the ball to the pins and then knocked seven of them over. That was better than I was expecting, but I was just telling myself that this was starters luck, and that I was probably not actually going to keep this up, and I was thinking to myself that once we were really going to get into the competing part of this, that I was going to be nowhere even close to being like this. so I was pretty much just telling myself to in no way get in over my head, since I didn't want to make myself think that I was this new fucking hot shot when I had only been doing this one and when I was having the fucking rails up this time.

Maurecia went next and hit nine of the pins down. I was telling myself that this was exactly as to be expected, and then I was telling myself that this was why I needed to be more realistic with what I was doing. I was then thinking that if she was going to keep this up, then I was going to be destroyed. But then I was telling myself that if I can put up at least a sixty point game, meaning that on average, I took out a majority of pins, then it would have looked like I had indeed put up a good fight against fucking impossible odds.

So with that, I had my goal set in mind. To get at least sixty five pins. When I had decided that I had wanted to do that, I was then focusing more on the over all sum and my personal goal and not really the whole game that was ahead of me and how I was destined to lose.

In the second round of the game, I swung the ball wrong and took down only three pins. So my total was now ten pins, and I was now feeling a bit like a idiot at that moment. Then Maurecia went and took down seven pins, which brought her up to a six point lead as she now had sixteen pins. Not that it really mattered, I still had eight more rounds to get the extra fifty five that I had wanted.

The third round I got really lucky and got eight on the first throw, which placed me at eighteen. Then I was given another throw like I expected, and then I got a spare, which would greatly help my over all score in the upcoming rounds as even I knew the most basic rules of bowling and the ideas of strikes and spare. Then I told myself that if I just consistently got myself either strikes or spares, then I might be able to pull this off. On paper, didn't sound so bad. In execution, it was going to be much harder. Maurecia got a bit excited to see how I performed that round and then we high fived and then she got back into being competitive. She went in and got nine pins over all in that game, placing her at twenty five points over all.

After I saw that this was still going to be a competitive game, I got back into serious mode. That swing I only got six pins in on the first throw, which added sixteen points to my last round and placed me at twenty six over all. In the second throw I only got an extra one pin, which brought me up to twenty seven so far. I had a two point lead. All I needed to do was just hope that Maurecia wold flub this next round.

She didn't exactly flub it, but she did kind of low for her standards. That round she only had five points, so she was now at thirty points, which was still three ahead of me. She said that her aim was bad this time, and that she needed to get more focused. I then felt like this was my chance to really be able to put some ground on the game over all, and make this actually seem like a contest.

That next round, I got seven pins over all, placing me at thirty four. Maurecia got eight pins that round, placing her at thirty eight points, which was still fur ahead of me. Not that it really mattered, I told myself, we were still only on round five, and I had five rounds to get the extra thirty one points that I had wanted.

The next round I got really lucky. I hit a strike right on the first time, and since strikes were at least fifteen, plus the amount you get next time, I was going to be at least at forty nine when the results of round six had been added in and calculated. I was then thinking that now I really did have a chance, and that my goal of sixty five might be pushed up to seventy five at the rate I was going. I felt like there was a chance that this could really actually happen.

Once I thought that this could happen, I was telling myself that I needed to get more focused and get myself a clear head. Then I saw Maurecia go and then she got nine pins that round but narrowly failed to get the spare by about one inch or so. She was now at forty seven. For once, I was actually now in the lead. It took six rounds, but I was now in the lead of the game.

That next round, I got six again on the first try, which added twenty one points to last game and placed me at fifty five points at round six. Then I got another two at my next throw, which added eight to my score for round seven. Then I was now at sixty three points. I was then at that point where at least this round, Maurecia could not catch me. Maybe on future rounds, but at least this round I was solidly in the lead.

Maurecia seemed to get her own stroke of luck that seemed to ruin my short lived moment of confidence. She got a strike that round, which meant that she was going to be at least sixty two when this round was over, and my lead was now only brought down to one point. I was thinking to myself that she had to ruin the blissful moment I was in at that second by being better than me like always.

Then I got back into the mode where I knew I had to start taking things seriously again. I was not really sure why I was caring so much about this right now. But I felt like I wanted to actually prove myself to her. I rolled the pin, and then got five that time. Damn it, only sixty eight. Then I rolled it again, and got another three more, which put me at seventy one. That was six above my goal, and we were only on round eight. Then Maurecia got the ball going good and then got a spare that round. Which meant that she was going to be at least seventy two by the end of round eight, and then I was getting kind of annoyed at my lack of proper bowling skills then.

After this moment, I told myself that this was just a game. I knew that it was just a game, but there was a part of me that really wanted to go above and beyond. There was a part of me that desperately wanted to at least perform decently. I then grabbed the ball again and then got my own spare, which meant that I was going to be at least eighty one for round nine. Then I was thinking that I needed to get a solid spare or strike next one, and then I was going to be set. Maurecia got eight pins over all that round, starting with seven and then an extra one. So her pins in round eight were eight nine, and then now she had ninety seven.

I was starting to think that in all reality, the only way for me to win was to pull off an extreme upset. I had a spare from last round, meaning that if I got a strike this round, I would now be at one hundred one points for round now, just four ahead of Maurecia. This was going to be the biggest upset in bowling history if I was able to win this game. Well, maybe not the biggest in history in all honesty, but it was going to be something that I would not be expecting at all. Something that I would never have even been prepared for. So I took myself and composed myself, and then when I did that, I then rolled the ball and then despite what i was expecting and preparing myself to not get, I actually did land a strike. I then was mega excited, and then I was thinking that I did stand a chance. I was then thinking that I still had another thirty points I could be able to score if I was good enough. So I went at it again and got a second strike in a row, which placed me at one hundred and twenty one. Then on the third and final toss, I got myself six more and as a result placed me at one hundred twenty seven. Now Maurecia needed to pull a perfect game if she had wanted to beat me. I mean, my victory was assured by that point. But I was still wanting her to get in a good final run.

Maurecia got up and just like I did, she managed to pull in two strikes in a row. This then placed Maurecia at one hundred and seventeen pins. Which meant that either we would get tied at the end, or she was going to lose by ten points or less. Then she went up and then she got eight pins and as a result placed herself at one hundred and twenty five. Which was just two points less than where I was. This entire outcome shocked me. Not only did I win, but I also managed to do so by just a mere couple of points. It was a lot to wrap my mind around. I had no idea how I was able to keep myself under this type of scoring. I had no idea how I was able to get that close at all. I much less didn't expect to win. As a result, my confidence boosted and even though the rails were up and it was obviously as a result of this, I was still very happy with myself. I felt like if I just keep going at this enough, I would be able to maybe actually help deliver the winning blow on at least one of the three games.

Despite the fact that it was just bowling and that in all reality, it didn't really matter all that much who won or didn't, I was now more excited about myself and I was now actually starting to feel better about myself. I was then starting to think that I was going to truly be the one person that we needed to have in this tournament. My excitement was high. I was thinking that I was going to be the savior of wayside middle school this year at the tournament, and then as a result my popularity would be even more sealed than ever. When I was telling myself this, I was then thinking about what I was going to do next after this. I was then telling myself that no matter what happened, I was going to do much better than anybody else would have predicted that I could have. I was excited as all hell. I just hoped that people would be willing to help cheer me on and keep me going throughout this whole thing. I was thinking that this was going to be one of the best or one of the worst nights of my entire time at wayside when this came up on friday. I was also thinking that nobody was going to fucking stop me no matter what happened now.

Once the second game came up, and we were having the rails lowered, it was both more and less in my favor at the same time. For the first three rounds, Maurecia was one point ahead of me each time, and I was starting to wonder how she was able to get such a grip so fast, and I was wondering if the rails were the only thing that really kept me going, which at that point was looking very likely. Then for rounds four, five, and six I was the one who was two points ahead of her. I was thinking that this was going to be a much closer game than I was going to expect. That I was going to be setting myself up for a second round of the first game. I was actually expecting that this was going to be the exact same thing all over again, and that I just needed to be ready for this.

As I was telling myself that I was ready for another round this being a close game, I didn't really have a great turn and only had four pins. I was thinking that the lead was now gone, and that I just needed to be a bit more careful this time. Then Maurecia decided to back stab me and then she ended up getting a fucking strike that time around. I was then thinking that I was now going to have to start preparing myself for a landslide defeat, even though I was thinking for a bit at the start that maybe I would be able to avoid something like that. I guess my luck was not really as in my favor as I had started to think it was. But it was no real matter. All I needed to do was just rebound myself in the next few rounds and then I can pull off the upsets I was so good at now.

But then as I was thinking that I can pull this off, I had a good round by getting eight pins and then another one on the next throw. I was thinking that this was not really nearly as against me as I thought. I mean, sure I had one bad round and Maurecia had an amazing round, but I did decent enough here. I was not really expecting to win, but I was thinking that maybe I can not lose in a landslide this time around. As it had looked like I was going to be able to at first, and then I was thinking about how I was going to close in the margin.

But then Maurecia decided to get a six on that round the first time and then added in a spare. Which then basically made it so that she was now like twenty points ahead of me. So then I was just thinking that she had this one, and that all I was going to do was just make it closer.

By the time that we had reached the tenth round, she had a thirty eight point over me. It was now literally mathematically impossible for me to win. I was then telling myself that if I can bring it down a bit, then it would be better, as opposed to letting her increase it. All I needed to do was just close it in a bit. Once I was telling myself that this was what I needed to do in order to make myself feel sort of proud, Maurecia kind of had a bit of a lousy round. I think that maybe her luck had worn down a bit. I was telling myself that this was good, and that I now had a chance to recover from this. I ended up losing as was going to be totally happening from the start, but I did bring a thirty eight point victory down to a twenty one point victory, meaning that the gap was about half way close. I was then telling myself that this was better than nothing, and that I should just be happy that I was even able to really close it in. There was a part of me that thought she was going to just pull out some strikes and increase it to like a fifty point victory or something like that. But lowering it by nearly half was a sign that I wasn't totally awful.

Despite the fact that I was starting to feel a little bit better about how well I was performing, I was still myself that I needed to be more careful on how I handled all of these things. I was still telling myself not to get too overboard with my own personal ego. I knew that soon enough, if I was not really careful enough, that I would start to really go overboard on thinking that I was some great player. I was telling myself that this was all just starting, and that I still needed to be more aware of how to play the game before I got too cocky on the whole thing. It was hard for me to keep myself calm and collected, as I was thinking that I was going to possibly be the one who was going to change things for the school. But I didn't want to say anything. I was thinking about how well I was going to be able to perform in the third game, and if I was going to do any better or worse than the last one. I was thinking that as long as the margin before the final round was less than thirty points, then I was going to fucking win. Or at least I would have a genuine chance. I was then thinking about if Maurecia was going to be able to approve of how well I was doing.

Despite the fear that Maurecia was going to think that I was wrong to feel this good about myself, and that I was starting to build up a big ego, I was also telling myself that this was just something that I was doing for myself. It was alright to get a big head every once in a while. As I was thinking that there was nothing wrong with being like this every once in a while, I was just telling myself to keep it to just a practice only thing, and that I should not let it to get to me during practice. Only when it was the real tournament should I really start to behave in a better light and not act like a cocky bastard, I was telling myself. As I was telling myself this, I was also telling myself that I was still doing pretty decent for my first time doing this, and that I should not ever let that start to be considered false. I was doing a great job considering this was one of the first times that I ever played bowling, and if people wanted to argue that fact and try and make me feel bad about being proud of myself, then I think that perhaps they were the ones who had the problem and that it wasn't even really me anymore.

But as I was telling myself this, I was also thinking that it was important to not be a asshole anymore. I was still worried that I was going to come off as an asshole if I got in too over my head. This was something that always concerned me. Just being so over myself that I was going to be the one who was looked at as the asshole and the one who needed to change his standards on how he looked at things. But then as I was telling myself that I didn't need to worry all that much about it, I then was seeing that Maurecia was ready to continue and play another game. As I saw that Maurecia was excited for another game, I was actually happy for a bit. There was a part of me that actually did enjoy playing this game. I was starting to think to myself that maybe I should have given it another chance before I totally brushed it off back then. Not only just for the popularity, but mainly for the fact that there was a level of fun to it all that I never really expected.

Once I was telling myself of this, I was then thinking about the tournament. I did the first round and then got seven pins on that round. As Maurecia went and got eight, I was thinking about if I was going to be able to make the people at Elmore at least a little bit impressed with me. If they were going to at least sort of think that I was a good player and that they should look into maybe even making some deals with me. Then I was telling myself that this would not happen. For a couple of major reasons.

On around two I got six pins, and Maurecia got six as well, so she was still one ahead of me by that point. I think both of us were starting to lose our concentration or maybe we were sort of winding down for the day. As I was thinking this, I was thinking on why Elmore would not further make deals with me. First was that I was a student at Wayside and there was no way in hell that they were going to make deals with people at Wayside, and that my school alone was going to just get rid of that chance. Secondly was the fact that these people had been doing this for much longer than me, and were probably still twice as good as me. I was certain that the people were going to get fucking strikes on every round. I then thought that it was not really going be all that competitive when I was telling myself to be realistic here. As I was thinking that I was now starting to look at things with a more real eye, I was then thinking on how I was going to really get my classmates to see that there was nothing wrong with losing. That losing was all fine, and that it was just a matter of doing better and then if you did put in your best effort, at least you are slowly getting better. Your best on a current day was always going to be better than your best on a previous day. I knew that this was pretty much for sure, and that anybody who wanted to seriously challenge that idea was kind of the one who needed to look at things with a more objective eye.

But then as I was thinking about this, I was then starting to think that Wayside was just probably sick and tired of being defeated all the time. They wanted a chance to win. They wanted to be under the illusion that they were actually doing good. As I was thinking about that, and as I was thinking about how much the illusion was going to make the spirits of the school improve, I was then thing about how exactly I would be able to really grant them this. I was wondering how possible it would be to make them see that I was going to be more than just a general student at a general school.

But then as I did the third round, and then got eight pins to Maurecia's seven, to tie up the game, I was telling myself that it didn't really matter all that much. Despite what I was making it out to be in my mind, and despite what people were probably saying, in all reality, this stuff did not really matter all that much. That in the end, despite how much I was really hyping it up at that moment and in general, that this was just a fucking game. That I didn't really need to be all that worried about what people were going to say. I was telling myself that no matter what happened, and no matter if I failed or not, that I was just playing in a game. And that after a few days, it was not really going to matter anymore. That the tournament was only going to be talked about for like two or three days afterwards and then people would just let it go and move on with their lives. At least, this was what I was assuming and in a way hoping if I turned out to be utterly terrible at it. Which I was still mostly willing to admit that I could have been.

Then I was thinking about Dana on the fourth round. On the fourth round, Maurecia got nine pins and I got seven giving her now a two point lead over me again. As I was thinking about Dana, I was thinking to myself that she was probably proud of the fact that I going out and doing these things at all. That she was getting back to having her wishes being mostly granted about me just living the normal teenage life and nothing really too insane beyond that. She was getting what she had been wanting of me lately, and what I felt like I was going to truly and honestly and even willingly sink myself into. The life I didn't think I could get after the first few days here, but was slowly starting to realize was more in my reach than I could have ever dreamed it to be.

As I was starting to realize that living some form of a normal life here was not all that out of possibility, I was actually almost starting to find myself thinking about what life was going to be like when I started to settle more into the casual daily routine of things. I was starting to wonder if gathering up a large group of friends and just going on crazy adventures was going to do the trick. You know, as long as I didn't start getting into stuff like fighting monsters again, ans as long as the adventures were mostly what you would be expecting when you actually go out and hang with friends and everything. I was telling myself that everything was going to be all fine and stuff. All I needed to do was just relax and have a fun time with friends, and make sure that at least we were being relatively safe in the process. It sounded a lot easier said than done, and I knew for a fact that actually doing something like this was going to be really hard. It was going to be really hard to actually get something real going in terms of a normal life. I knew it wasn't impossible per se. Saying that it was impossible would be an extreme hyperbole. But to say that it was going to be hard was also a huge understatement. Saying that it would be hard would really not be doing the whole thing justice. It was going to be a lot more than just 'hard' to live a normal life when I was going to be at Wayside. But I was thinking that maybe it was still worth at least trying. That it was still worth doing my best to do something like this. That even if my life wasn't too generally normal, that at least the effort could have been put fourth and then at least if the effort was put fourth, then there was nothing I can really do about a non normal life.

But as I thought about all of this, I was starting to think to myself that after all of this time, that maybe I didn't really want normal anymore. Maybe I was too used to the craziness of Wayside to really want normal anymore. Maybe normal was just something that I was telling myself could happen but in all reality was just a big fucking load of bullshit. I was thinking that this was indeed very possible. But the desire to live a normal life as well as the desire to make people see that I had nothing in the way of just being a total nutcase anymore, the basic and simple desire to do something like this was much bigger than the desire to just go back to what was considered usual for Wayside. I was telling myself that usual for Wayside was not really usual in a general sense of the word. No matter what people really wanted to say, there was nothing about the school that was normal. I was fine with that and I do indeed accept it as a part of the charm of being at the school, but there was something that I was still wanting beyond all of this. I wanted the sense of right to this place. I wanted the sense that no matter what I did, that the people here were going to be safe. As I was thinking about what I wanted, and as I was thinking what was important to me, keeping the people safe, I was starting to realize that I was indeed not a bad person. At least not as bad as I was starting to make myself out to be. Sure, I wasn't perfect, and I did have a few flaws. But that was something everybody dealt with. Nobody was perfect and everybody had at least some flaws in them. But the thing was that I was still wanting to at least make myself the person that can make things right. I was also a bit more of an idealist when I was thinking of things that way. I was thinking of how I was going to go in there and then put a smile on peoples safe. I was thinking that I can do it all with the wave of a hand. I didn't really think that there was anything about what I was feeling that was wrong per se, but I did know that I was going to be selling myself short if I wanted to be the one who can do no wrong. But then as I was thinking about that, I was thinking that maybe I was not really like that. I was not the one who had wanted to do no wrong. I knew that I had done plenty of wrong, but that I was willing to change it all.

And I was thinking that in a way, doing this bowling tournament could be a nice first step. A simple first step and a seemingly unnormal and unconventional one. But these were still first steps, and I was thinking that any step was going to be better than nothing when it came to making the people in wayside respect me. I was not really shooting to be popular, in fact I didn't really give a damn about that. Being popular was just sort of a side thing that can happen. I was caring more about having people just respect me and appreciate my contributions. In a way, I guess, that would make me popular. Popular in the sense that people liked me, and that I didn't have any problems getting around. But I didn't really think of myself as anything beyond that, and I was telling myself that it was totally alright to feel like that. It was totally alright to want to have these things as a simple basic desire. Everybody wanted to be accepted by the people around them, and everybody wanted to have that sense of value. There was nothing about this whole ordeal that was anything unusual. I just wished that if I did get popular, and if this did go somewhere, then maybe I can pull a Myron and use it as something for a school political career. I was thinking that unlike Myron though, I would not really be a cringy fuck about what I was doing and that I was actually going to take this seriously. I was thinking to myself that I needed to actually take it serious and make people see that I was going to be acting like this was all one bog fucking game. I didn't mind that people didn't take it all that seriously, but that was because they didn't fucking get into the whole mainstream of things. Myron was trying to get into the mainstream, and by doing so, and failing miserably, it was annoying and I just wished that he would be taking it much more seriously than he had. I was wondering what he didn't understand about this. What he didn't really understand about the fact that nobody found it fucking funny when he did stuff like this. Nobody thought it was amusing that he was going around and acting like a total jackass all of the time. I was thinking that I was being too hard on him though. As I was thinking that I was being too hard on him, the rest of the bowling rounds went by like a sort of haze. I did pay attention, and I was actually putting in my best effort, but there was a part of me that forgot all of this when I was thinking about that stuff, and I was quickly starting to forget a lot of the final scores. I think Maurecia did win, and it was by eleven points or something, which I brought down from a twenty three point debt by the start of the final round, so again I lowered it by about half.

As the game was finally over, I was getting ready to relax and settle down. Maurecia sat down next to me at a chair and then she was looking at my face. She was seeing that I was deep in thought. I was trying to understand what happened. I was trying to understand how I was able to go from thinking that I was going to do horrible to doing alright. I mean, it wasn't like I was the prodigy that I was making myself out to be when I was at my peak of hype. But I was still thinking that I was alright. I was still thinking that I would be able to hold my own during the tournament. As I was thinking that this was something I could indeed do, I was looking right at Maurecia and I was saying "I wonder how the other players are. Have they been practicing at this stuff for years or something?" I asked, thinking that this was the best place to start when I was going to be talking about them. I was feeling like it was time to really break them down and talk about them as if they were my worst enemy or something like that. Which I supposed in a way they kind of were. At least they kind of were for the nest week. Once Saturday came along and the tournament was over, they really were not going to be all that big of a deal anymore. It was just the matter of them right now that was making me hype them up like this.

"I guess that they probably do something like weekly contests. That way even with the worst people there, due to how much they play and how much time that they put into it, that even they will still be able to put up a decent performance. Even the worst of the bunch won't really look like total idiots. That if what I am thinking they do at least. Just tons of practice and much more than even I would like to imagine them doing. They probably just take the game way too seriously for their own good. They probably don't realize that at the end of the day, that this really is just a fucking game, and nothing more. But I would also say, at the same time, nothing less either. I guess I just don't really get it is all. I mean, what is the point in playing the game if you are so much more worried about pulling out a flawless victory than you are thinking about just in general having fun and being able to accept the fact that not everybody is super worried about this stuff. I just wish that they would see that we are in it for the fun. We are in it for the actual experience. We are not in it for some form of false glory." Maurecia said and I was wondering what made her have such a stance on the issue. I was wondering if perhaps she had done this several times and dealt with some really awful people and this was just her way of venting out and showing that she couldn't really stand fucking preps like this. I was then wondering why I was even using the term preps, and there was a part of me that did feel a little bit dirty as I was thinking that was a term I just used to describe people from a different school over just a fucking game. After I told myself that this wasn't really all that big of a deal, I was then looking right at Maurecia to be seeing what she had been thinking. I was then thinking about what I can do to show her that I was going to do the one thing that nobody else wanted to do.

"I know that you may be thinking that this game is going to be impossible, and hell for all I know, it may very well be. But I do want to make sure that these people know that we are going to put up a fight now. That we are going to make them see that this is no longer the school that is just going to be pushed around. I think that once they see this, they will actually start to respect us more." I said, and I was hoping that I was telling the truth.

"And if by this year, they still do not think of us all that seriously, then we are going to push ten times harder, and then the harder we push, the more that they see we are not going to let them bully us anymore. Once they see that we are not going to let them bully us, then we already have won. We have already started to show them we will keep this in our favor now. I think that we are going to have the start to a turn around. We are going to turn this car around. Once we turn this fucking car around, then we are going to be the ones who will be looking at them as the laughing stock. They are going to start to think that if anything, we are going to be actual competitors now. Once they see of us as actual competitors, then we will have earned their respect. Even they must be able to respect a good contest. And I would say that once they see we are a good contest, then the world is going to be a great place. The entire situation and the entire landscape of what we are going to be setting ourselves up for will be better than ever. I just think we need to wait. I just think that we need to win one of the games." I said, and I meant it.

All I really thought we need to do was just win one fucking game. One out of the three. And by doing so, this was going to be the turning point. And then we will start to get better, and then once we start to get better, we will start training harder and then once we start to train harder, we are going to see them put up a fight between us and then they will start to train harder, and if we apply themselves twice as hard as them, their extra training won't matter and we will eventually still have something going for us. Eventually, we will reach a point where they will start to let loose and we will start to be able to come along and sweep the carpet from under their feet.

Despite this though, and despite me feeling better, I was still telling myself that there was more to this than just one tournament. Doing good on one tournament will be nice and everything. But there was a part of me that was thinking that we needed to make this constant. We needed to do this enough times to have them see that this was more than just once. If we had good night, they might be annoyed and they might want to punch their hand against a wall, but they would probably be saying that it was one tournament. That it was nothing more than that.

Once I thought of that, I was looking at Maurecia again. "I don't really think that any luck will be turning around here in all honesty. I doubt that they are going to suddenly see this school in a new light. I thought for a moment that they would, and I even started to get myself convinced that this was possible. But now that I think about it, and I put my mind on a realistic drive, I doubt that this can really happen. I mean, it is totally a great idea for people to at least try, and I think that the effort will be appreciated by many, but I don't really think that it will be going much further than this in all honesty." I said, as I was starting to accept defeat myself.

"Hey, at least if you try to, and at least if you think that there is a chance to make this happen, then I believe in you. If you think that there is a even small chance that this tournament will be able to get them to like us more, then I think that you should do your best here. I mean, in a way, this would be able to really give hope to the people who live here. The people who have been working at this school for so long, and they just want to see something finally turn around in their favor. I think when they see that somebody is there to really try and make things better for them, that they will indeed be there to pay full value to the situation. I think that once they start to pay you at full value, then you will become the most popular kid at school." Maurecia said as I smiled at this consideration.

The idea of being the most popular kid at school was something that I did like to do. I was thinking that even if it was not really my goal, that it was certainly something I can desire. It was certainly something that I can be cool with. All I needed to do was actually just make it happen. If I can be able to make it happen, then school and life at it would be so much better. I thought about getting Dana and the others to see my efforts for what they were, and I thought about what to do if they started to be popular because of me.


	71. The New Life

Sheldon Lee Story Disc Two: First Beautiful Girl

Part 1: The New Life

So after I had been at Tremorton for a while, and I was getting used to all of the things that it had to offer, I eventually was used to the job and the hours I was at. Usually I would wake up at six forty five and just take a shower, and then I got there with five minutes to spare. I would just smoke outside the store for a minute or two, and then flick the cigarette down on the ground before going inside and eventually going to work for the next twelve hours. About every three hours or so, I would go outside for a smoke break, and then I would come back inside and pretty much be selling stuff to people throughout the day.

When my shift was over, my boss would come in and we would debate the sells for about five minutes or so before I left the store and went back home. Once I get home, I pretty much set up my sleeping bag and sleep for the night. It was not a fulfilling life at all, and I felt like I was barely making ends meet with the fact that I was earning twenty five cents above minimum wage, which meant I was getting 1.50 an hour, for eighteen dollars a day. My boss told me that every full six months that I worked there, he would increase it by fifty cents an hour, which was giving me some hope that eventually I would be able to keep up with the rent prices. But since I didn't have to pay for the first eleven months anymore, I did the smart thing and kept aside a quarter of my money a day to keep back logged for the future, knowing that in eleven months, I will need some money right there, and that can get me started.

About once every two weeks or so, I would find something at a garage sale that I wanted for cheap money, so I bought it and then placed it in my house. It was mostly stuff such as couches, some extra clothes, a carpet and eventually I was able to save up enough for just a small and cheap television. I was slowly working up enough to actually make my living situation at least tolerable, which was nice.

I mean, compared to what I was having earlier, my life was pretty good. I just wished that I would have never had to have been put in this place in the start. I just wished that I would have been able to grow up with a family that did care for me right from the start and didn't just want to use me for their own personal business and gain. But then there was the part of me that was telling myself that I was not needing to think too much about it because the more that I thought about it, the worse I was going to feel about it, and I didn't want to make this something that I was going to regret for the rest of my life.

I will admit though, I did consider once or twice moving back to Wayside for a moment. Even if it was just to get a hotel for a night or two. Just to see the town one or two final times. Or maybe to sort of see Dakota again and apologize for not being there for him, something that I still felt fucking awful for. I didn't think I was a good man, but I knew that I could have done better than that. I could have at least said goodbye to him before I left.

I also wanted to see Emily, Jack, Gwen, and maybe even try to find Jenny's family. I wanted to do so much more than what I had been doing. But I always thought of my father and the fact that if I showed up to his house, that he was going to report me to the police. Even if I never showed up at his house, he was going to find a way to find out that I was there, and things would have just been ruined. I knew for a fact that my life would be over if he found out I was there. Maybe even quite literally ruined. I did not want to play with fire that badly, no matter how much I wanted to see Dakota or the others.

So I decided that if David or somebody else wanted to see me and give me the light of day, then I would talk with them and I would see how their life was. But until then, I was pretty sure that I was not really going to get any of that. I just had to accept the fact that things in that town were just sort of not meant to be. It was a real shame, and I wished that I was able to rack up more time there, but it was something that fate did not want for me clearly. And no matter how much I wanted to try and change things, I knew that I could not really mess with the fire that badly. I didn't have the courage to do that. I was a fucking coward, even if I had no desire to actually admit that I was one.

But even though all of these thoughts were coming to me, and I was thinking about what I wanted to do in my life, I was thinking about one other thing. I was thinking about what my life was going to be like in the future. Despite all of the horrible things that have happened, I did still sort of want to live a normal life. I did still want to see people I cared about move forward in their lives and everything. I mean, I still wanted to have a family eventually, a wife, and be able to move to a better house. I wanted all of this to work out better. I just knew that despite my wishes, and despite my best efforts, that I was not ever really able to get what I had wanted. I was going to be living below poverty for the rest of my life I was feeling.

The more that I was thinking of this, the more that I wanted to just not only be away from Wayside, but start to move up the field of work and maybe start actually getting some real money behind me, and maybe even become rich some day. I knew that I was not really going to become some form of a billionaire or anything like that, but I was thinking that if I could be able to start to earn about twenty five to thirty thousand dollars a year, then I would be at a situation in which I would be well above the living line. All I would have to do is just work my way up through this job.

And that was what I did. I went to work every day, did my shift and eventually went home and I started to count down the days that I had until I would get my pay increase, and then I would start to set aside more and more money for that. But then I was telling myself that it was best to relax a little bit, and just to think about the good things in life.

Those being that I was able to form some connections with people that cared about me, the fact that I did free the women down at the labyrinth, and with each passing sun rise, the fact that I was still living and kicking ass all the time. The fact that I was still giving it a run for my money. That was all a part of the thing that made things even better for me. The fact that no matter what things felt like, the fact that my life was still much better than where it was.

I had been there for about a month or so when I was settling down for home. When I sat down, I started to get ready to go to sleep when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and just saw a box there. I grabbed it and brought it inside. I then opened the box, and I knew that it was mine since it was labelled under my name. I saw that it was from 'A Friend' and then when I looked inside, I saw what was going to keep me set now.

I saw two full cartons of cigarettes, and I saw a giant fucking bag of weed with a fresh and new bong, and I saw a huge block that weighed about twenty five pounds worth of heroin. I wondered how the person who gave this to me knew I needed it. I mean, I had pretty much run out of supplies, and the only thing left in there was my single dose of LSD, which I was waiting for to use. But despite what I was thinking and what I knew was right or wrong, I took out a good chunk of the heroin and placed it in the bong and smoked it calmly.

Not really much of anything happened for my first six months or so in Tremorton. I mean, I did get the raise that my boss promised me in December, meaning I was now earning two an hour, which was an extra six dollars a day, not really all that much of a increase to be proud of honestly. But anything was better than nothing I suppose. And like what I got in July with that box, every month on the first, I got a new box from the same person, and had either smaller or larger doses of each item in there, depending on how much I went through every month. And depending on the month, sometimes there might have been a small bag worth of meth or crack. I still hadn't gotten any new LSD, probably because I had not really used the dose I did have yet.

But it was around early to mid December, so nearly half a year after I moved there, when I made my first real attempt of getting a friend there. It was when somebody was shopping one day and he said that he had nothing to do that day since he was now in winter break. I thought about the fact that I still had twelve hours of open time after work, and how I barely used it at all. I was then thinking about the idea of just spending one day with that guy, sort of forgetting about the fact that he was in that letter Jenny gave me, and just sort of more doing it to be a friend.

So when I thought about that I said "Hey, want to go and hang out at my place after eight? Just come by here again, and we can go there." I suggested, thinking nothing of it. I mean, we looked like we were about the same age, so it wasn't really like anything too off about us hanging out would show up. After I suggested, Sam seemed to think about it for a moment.

"Yeah, sure. I shouldn't be out too late though. My parents have been a lot more concerned with me staying out late after a incident at the end of last school year with my brother." Sam said and there was a part of me that was curious what he was meaning, but I decided not to say anything about it, thinking that it was best to stay out of his business.

Besides, if I was to get to know him better, and if we did become friends, he was probably going to tell me anyways, so it wasn't really like it mattered all that much anyways. So I went through the rest of my shift, and when it was eight a clock and the shift was over, I grabbed a set of beer from the cooler in the store. My boss showed up to relieve me of my duty, and then I filled up my gas while I was waiting for Sam to show up. I smoked a cigarette while I waited and when I saw him coming up, I flicked out the red flame real quick and then he said "I don't really care if you do that stuff. It's none of my business honestly." Sam said and there was a part of him that was thinking about laughing at the situation, but he was thinking that due to the fact that he didn't really know my sense of humor, he was starting to think that maybe I would not find it so amusing, so he decided to keep it to himself this time. We got in the car and then I drove to my house.

"I am curious why you decided to ask me to hang out with you." Sam asked, just trying to piece together the thought set that I had at that moment. I didn't really know myself so I just came up with something I felt could work.

"You know, I am just really bored here all the time, so I decided that I wanted to just hang out with somebody and get to know them. I mean, I have been here for over half a year, and I barely know a single person there. You know, I think that it is just time to expand my horizon a little bit." I said as I started to smoke another one during the drive.

"I have been here for about three months now. Moved here a week before the school year started. My family wanted to get away from the struggles that went on at school last year. I think that there was just something that they didn't want to face anymore. If that makes any sense. I mean, it is a nice town honestly. I never really seen you anywhere besides the station." Sam said, and then I laughed at that one, not because it was funny but because of the truth.

"I just never really had the time to do anything else. Well, I guess the more true thing to say is that I never personally made the time. I mean, I have like twelve hours to kill every single day if I had wanted to, so there is no real excuse in all honesty. But I guess I just never really felt the motivation to do it. I guess that is why. Besides, why would I go somewhere if I don't even have any friends or if I'm not even going to school." I said, thinking about my whole drop out story and there was a small part of me that wondered if perhaps that really was the right choice or if I had fucked up there.

"Did you drop out or something?" Sam asked me, and then I nodded, thinking that there was no point in lying to him. Especially if I was actually going to try and be friends with this guy.

"Just felt like I needed an entirely new start. I was made fun of a lot when I was at school. I never really wanted to deal with that. I was tired of being treated like garbage. It really is as simple as that. I have been treated like crap my entire life, and I was over it. I wanted a new start. I wanted to put myself away from all of that stuff forever and try something new. And for the most part, I am doing great. I mean, yeah there are some things about high school that I do miss, I won't even pretend that this isn't the case, but for fucks sake, the vast majority of it was some of the worst experiences of my entire life, and I don't mean that lightly especially if you know truly how bad some of the stuff I went through really were." I said, thinking about the labyrinth all over again. There was no way in hell I was going to try and explain that stuff to Sam. He would think I was making shit up on the spot, and I would not really be able to blame him.

"I guess that I just never really had a bad time honestly. I hear about people having terrible times in school every once in a while though. I mean, I wouldn't really say that my life was amazing or anything, but there is much more to life than just those four years. Do you really feel like you can imagine yourself giving school another go if you were given another chance?" Sam asked and then I shook my head at that.

"I would turn it down in an instant. I would not want to be faced with four more years of rejection and condemnation on top of the two I already had. I would rather go on and just live a life in poverty." I said, and I did actually mean it. Even with the life I was living, I would still rather be doing this on a daily basis over everything else. That was a paradise compared to what I was dealing with earlier, and I was thinking about the fact that at least I was mostly enjoying my job.

"I would rather be working at a job I enjoy doing, but still kind of keeps me down as opposed to a job that I would totally hate but gives me more of a social status. I mean the gas station is good enough for me, and it does everything decently well. I mean, I am still getting enough to eat and stuff." I finished and then I pulled up at the parking lot of my house where we could hang out for a while.

Once we got in the house where we were going to hang for a while, I looked right at Sam. "What exactly have you been doing at school so far this year?" I asked, just mainly curious to see if I really did make the right choice by dropping out or if listening to Sam was going to make me change my mind on the entire matter. I mean, I doubted it would happen that way, but who knows, maybe I would start to get a little bit more wistful for something that I didn't get when I hear him out.

"Just going along and taking classes like normal. I don't really think that there is anything all that special about what we are doing at school this year honestly. I don't really even care for the material being taught to me to be honest. I just am in it more for the crew of friends that I have." Sam said and I felt a little wistful when he said group.

"You know, I never really had that big of a friend group. I don't really think that people even were able to tolerate my presence. I mean, it is cool to have people you care about though at your side. I only really had like one actual friend at my side most of this time. I guess I just was not really all that lucky." I said and then I decided to keep up this conversation. "So who is in your group of friends?" I felt the need to keep this relatively casual, despite the fact that I was feeling awful for not having a real friend group.

"Well one of them is this freshman named Misty. She just needed some help in a class that she was able to get into early due to her being a genius pretty much. But even then, she wasn't really perfect and just needed a little bit more help than she was really wanting to admit. But then after that, she showed me some of her other friends, such as this guy named Edward." Sam said and then I was starting to think about Jenny for some reason.

I had no real reason why I was thinking this, but there was a part of me who was wanting to see Jenny, and get to know who the hell had sent me that letter. Who was trying to reach out to me and make me a hero. I didn't really understand it all that much, and I had no idea how the hell she expected me to be the one who can do the job for her. But she had some hopes in me, and despite the fact that I was enjoying talking to Sam right now, I felt like I was sort of betraying her trust by doing this right now. Betraying the trust of the one girl that I had never met in my entire life but whose opinion I actually for some reason was taking very seriously.

"I wonder what Edward is like." I said, mostly keeping the idea of what I was thinking to myself. There was a part of me that was starting to think that maybe he wasn't really a true friend, and that he was just going to easily use both Misty and Sam. I had no idea why, but something about him made me feel a little bit off. "I mean, he can't be any worse than anybody else that I knew back from Wayside."

As I had mentioned the name of the school that I had gone to before this one, Sam got a little bit more interested in what I was saying, and then he looked up. "You used to go to Wayside?" He asked, and I was thinking nothing of it, so I nodded to confirm it.

"Wow, that was where I used to go as well. That was a pretty strange place, wouldn't you agree?" Sam asked, and then I nodded. That was when Sam decided to look me down a bit and then as he did so, he was starting to piece together some things in his mind a little bit. "I think I may have actually seen you at school before. That must have been why you looked like somebody I knew. You're Sheldon, right?" Sam asked and then I nodded. There was no real point in lying to him about that fact. I mean, I barely knew anybody there, and hell maybe actually being upfront about my roots with somebody would be able to make this a easier transition situation than I would have even been able to hope for.

"That is crazy, I never thought that somebody else I went to school with would have been moving out the same year that I did, to the exact same town that I would have. Just seems a bit odd." Sam said and I was thinking about how it was kind of odd, so I nodded in agreement with him. I mean, I never really thought about it all that much, but looking at it now, the idea and the chances of it happening did seem really remote.

"Just too many crazy things that happened there for my good. I needed to get the hell away from there, for my own sanity if anything. I mean, being there was really driving me and my entire life down." I said, actually feeling the need to be much more honest with Sam now. Maybe he would even get it, considering the fact that we had both gone to the same school. Maybe if he had some major problems like me, then we would be able to talk them through.

"Yeah, I think I can get why you thought that school was crazy. But I mean, the town itself was pretty cool." Sam said and then I decided not to say anything. I didn't want to ruin his perception of this place because of what I had to see and experience. I mean, sure, I went through some really unpleasant experiences, but that didn't mean that he did as well.

"Well, there were some things I really liked about it. I liked how I never really had to deal with the police all that much..." I said, and I was thinking about the last couple of days there, and I was thinking that I didn't want to tell Sam the truth on that. "Besides, there were some really great dances, and the parties were cool." I said, and that part I didn't need to lie about. That part I was telling the truth about.

"You know, before you left school, I never saw you wearing that jacket or outfit ever. But now I can't ever see you not wearing it." Sam said and then I shrugged.

"It was just the last pair of clothes I managed to get with my money before I left, and it was like the only pair that I brought with me when I left. So it turned into a sort of situation where I really did not have that much of a choice. I usually just wash it every few days or so before I go to sleep so that way I can still wear it." I said, thinking about how little clothes I actually had.

"It also seemed like you were finally starting to show some semblance of popularity before you left. People were talking about how good you were at parties. Did you like plan all that stuff out? Or did you just sort of capture things at the right moment?" Sam asked and I thought about it a little bit.

"A little bit of both to be honest. A part of me just planned out what it would be like to go all out and just in general sort of have a ride with it, but when I did that, and I sort of released myself, I started to go all out and people started to like me for it. I'm sure if I had stayed another year or so, I would have been very popular. I guess it is a shame that life did not really have that planned out for me though. I was starting to really have a chance." I said, and then I was thinking on what I would have done if I actually had the chance to be famous at the school.

"I think that people were just shocked to see you come out of your shell. Shocked to see that there was more spunk to you than you ever really let on. Who knows, maybe if you released it right away, and if you were always like this, then you would have been set from the start. I guess that there is nothing you can do about it now. Unless you went back to school." Sam said, and while I didn't know it at the time, I would be able to use that advice very well pretty soon for my own personal boost.

"I just don't really see how I am going to get anywhere if I don't have at least some social respect that people have for me. I feel like if I don't have at least some people who respect me for who I am, then it is going to be very hard for me to actually continue down the path that I am going on. I feel like sooner or later, people are going to eventually find out more about me, and when they do this, I think that every small chance that I had of being respected as a person is going to go away. Everything that I have done will be all for not, and I may as well just accept defeat there. I know that I sound like I am being a pessimist, but I am being more of a realist here. I just don't really think anybody will care for me all that much, and when they found out that I was no longer at Wayside, if anything they probably found it to be good news, and are acting like this is the news that they have heard all year. If they even knew that I existed." I said and then I was actually believing in this as I opened up the can of beer and I started to drink it. I wasn't really a huge beer guy, and I never drank it on my own, but I did manage to tolerate it when I was at social events. I think the idea of doing it with friends or just simply other people in general made it at least a little bit more tolerable. I held out a can to Sam who took it and started to drink it.

As Sam was drinking it, he seemed to be having a much better time at it than I was. "Well, I don't really know about that. I mean, you seem like a mostly easy guy to talk about." Sam said and then I was thinking to myself something else. I was thinking to myself that there was going to be no way in hell he would tell me this if he knew what I might have even possibly done to Tiffiny. If he knew that, he would not be saying anything good about me. He would be acting like I was scum, and in a way I sort of was. Considering her young age as well as the fact that I was genuinely superior to her, even the idea of me doing this to her would have deserved me a huge jail sentence. And the more that I thought about that, the more that I was thinking if anything it was sort of a blessing that more people didn't really know about this. Because if they did, then I would have not really been friends with Dakota anymore, or at least sooner than it already did happen. I mean, I don't even know if Dakota remembers that I exist anymore. I mean, with my drug addiction, my brain gets fried on anything that happen more than a few weeks ago. I only remember that entire week or so because of how fucking insane it really was. I could not believe what happened and that week would forever stick out to me like a sore ass thumb.

But it would also be a week that stuck out to me for something else. It would stick out to me as a wake up call. A call to know that not everything was going to go my way. That I was not going to breeze through anything anymore. That I needed to be careful on what I did, and if I were not careful, then I might actually be setting myself up for the chance of death. I know that the whole thing sounds a bit melodramatic, but there was quite possibly a level of truth to this. A level of truth that nobody should really want to think about. "You don't know exactly what I had to deal with back in the day. If you had known, you would not be defending me. If anything, you probably would have left this city and never want to see me again. You would probably report me to the cops and get me arrested for everything that I did." I said, and I was picturing the entire situation in my mind, and I knew to myself that this was the truth. But I didn't want to tell Sam anything.

As I was telling Sam this, he looked at me and shrugged. "Well you know, this is a new town that you live in. A new life. You know, a new chance. I think that I shouldn't really judge you by stuff that you did back then and rather judge you by stuff that you do from here on forward, after I have started to get to know you. I think that life is all about second chances." Sam said, and I was wondering if he was right. I was wondering if I was really even worth be given a second chance. But with the way that Sam was saying this to me, and the way that he seemed to mostly mean it, I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't actually be too hard on myself. Maybe Sam was right. Maybe I really did deserve another chance as opposed to what I was doing with myself right now. As I was thinking of the prospect of second chances, I wondered how much of it was going to have Sam at my side, or if he was not really going to be there for much of it and that tonight was going to be the only night that we ever really talked with each other. Knowing my luck, I would not really doubt it.

"I mean, if you think that I should just clean slate my way through this, then maybe I should at least give it an actual effort. I mean, I doubt I will be able to move on as easily as one would expect, but hopefully I would be able to at least look back at what I am doing and not feel like I am a utter disgrace for everything going on here. You know what I mean? I guess it just all comes down to what I actually want in my life though. Do I really care all that much how far I go? Do I really have any real desire to go beyond this town of this job? At the moment, I don't really feel the need or the desire to do that. At least right now, I feel mostly fine where I am right now. I mean, who knows maybe at some point I want to improve my life and not be living in this house anymore, but that is the most that I can really imagine it going." I was just sort of ranting by now, but I really did not care all that much. I mean, I cared a bit to not really make Sam bored or anything, but I didn't really care if he actually agreed with me all that much or not. It was not like him agreeing with my views was really all that vital or anything. But then I thought about what I was missing out on from Wayside.

"If there is one thing I do miss about Wayside, it is the long conversations that I would have with Dakota. The long conversations about life and what it all meant. Probably much deeper than I would really want to admit to them being. But I just feel like we wanted to take the subject seriously. I feel like there is just sort of something to gain out of actually being a bit of a grown up. You know, the older you get, the more you want to settle down and the less you really feel the need to prove yourself to anybody. Despite all the stuff that I say, I do not in any way feel the need to prove myself to a single person in the world. I know that everybody I am going to meet is going to eventually leave my life anyways, and when I think of that, I start to realize that there is no real point in trying to go as all in as most people really do. I think most people just think that they have to impress somebody when in all reality they really do not need to do that. People just need to relax, and see themselves for who they are, and be able to not really care about the people who try and put them down. Maybe that is what I should have done when I went to school at Wayside. Maybe that would have actually changed things for the better.

I then thought about the one other thing that I never really thought about. I thought about if I actually did rise up and become somewhat popular. If I had done that, I guess people would not have really wanted to hang out with Dakota, and I would quickly lose any friendship that I had with him. I then thought about how if I was popular, then I would have had a stick up my ass and I would not really have actually talked with people about the labyrinth problem, and I would never have gone down there to try and save those people. They would still be down there. Or say I did did do that stuff, and I did save those people. Then what would I do with my inflated ego?

I would have stayed there, and just acted like I was safe and just be hanging out with the people who pretended to be my friend, and not really actually see the people who really cared about me for who they were. Then I would have started down a rabbit hole that even I knew I would not be able to get myself out of. I knew that this was the one rabbit hole that would have led to certain death, because I would be too busy just going around doing stuff all day every day and soon enough, the police would get their revenge on me and kill me for what I did down there. I felt like once my mind was staring to really take things more seriously that this would have been the case. As I was thinking about that, I was then looking right at Sam. "Who knows, when I think about it, there is a good chance that maybe coming here really was for the best after all. I never really wanted to consider that, but now that I am here, and I am actually being a little bit more open about my chances down there again, I think that this could have been the case." I said, not really able to believe in the fact that I just admitted that this awful reality was the reality that I should have been living in. It made me wonder just how bad the other realities were really.

"Well, if you feel like that is how it is, then you shouldn't be too hard on yourself right now. You did something that you felt like was the best route you can take, and only time will tell if that is the truth or not. But right now, it seems like your choice was mostly fine. I mean, if you are really telling the truth, and you did do something terrible, then there is no real way that anything you can do now would be worse than what you have been doing before hand, right?" Sam asked as I finally took the last gulp of the beer that I had set up for myself and then I placed the can down on the ground. I felt like I can just get rid of it later.

"Maybe that is what I would like to tell myself, that nothing can be worse. I mean, if I was lucky, then that would be the truth. But I have no real clue how lucky I really am. I think that I might actually be the most unlucky person alive." I said, and I was actually believing in it for a moment that I was. It would not be all that huge of a bar if I was.

As I was thinking about that, I then thought about other things. I thought about more pleasant things. I thought about the things that really did matter. "Well I mean, I have a new job right now. I have a job that pays relatively well. Seventy five cents above minimum wage, which is a good start for me. I also am having a civil and nice talk about life with a guy I used to go to school with. Who would have ever thought that we ever would talk to each other?" I said, and then I was thinking that there was no way in hell that I could have imagined it. There was no way in hell in my entire life that I would have been able to really get to know somebody who actually seemed to understand what I was doing or how I was feeling. "A person who seems willing to give me another chance. I never really thought I would have seen that any time soon, maybe even ever. I feel like it is a honor and a privilege that I got to see somebody who at least likes me enough that they are willing to talk with me and even pretend that they are my friend. Even if it is all just make believe."

I said and as I was saying this, I was not trying to act like they were scum of the earth or anything, but I was also just being realistic. I mean, there were so many people out there who were in general so mean spirited that you would think they were devil spawn. I mean, maybe that might be taking it a little far, but who the hell really cared. I was thinking about what it would be like if I was able to project this onto something beyond work life.

"Would you think that Misty and Edward be willing to meet me?" I asked, and I was thinking about how this could be a real chance that I would be able to turn things around with my reputation. I was thinking about what I would be able to do once I met them, and all of the conversations that I would be able to have with them.

As Sam thought about that, all he did was just shrug a bit. "I mean, I don't really see any reason why they would not want to see you. They might think it is odd that I am talking with some random guy who works at the gas station who random went to school with me in the past, but I mean it is something that I think they will be used to after a couple of days. I doubt that they will just act like you are unwelcome among them. I think they will just need a bit of time to really warm up to having you around." Sam said, and as I was thinking this, I was thinking that this better be the case. That I better have people who were willing to give me a chance at life and everything.

I took out another cigarette and started to smoke it. As I smoked it for a bit, I looked right at Sam. "Maybe we should hang out for a bit with them. You know, just relax a bit and see what they would think of me. I think that I would not mind getting to know them a bit more." I was telling the truth. I thought that getting to know these people would actually be sort of fun. I mean, there was Misty, and from the sounds of her, she seemed like the person that I exactly liked. Young, smart, caring, energetic, and most of all easy to talk with. I barely knew anything about that girl, but I was thinking about how it would be a shame to lose touch with her and everything. Well, I shouldn't say lose touch since I never really formally talked with her or anything, but not even get the chance to get in touch with her.

Besides, it had been six months since I have seen Emily last. Maybe it was about time to let that dream go and time to move onto something else in life. Besides, I mean, we were all fine and everything, but I think that she was probably dating somebody else already. I would not really blame her if she was. Maybe as a result, it was time for me to do exactly that as well. Just move on, and let it all go. I think that this would be one of the bigger steps to me being able to fully move on from Wayside once and for all.

"I think that we could right now. It's only like nine. I think we can drive on down to Edward's house, and the live like right next to each other, so we can go and grab Misty as well. We can probably only hang for about a hour or two, but maybe it would be enough to get to know them." As Sam said that, he was looking at me. "Do you really care all that much how late we stay out?" After he asked me that, I shook my head, thinking low sleep for one night was not that bad. Not knowing what I was setting myself up for when I did that.

I didn't really think that this was going to really open up a huge rabbit hole. I thought that it was just going to be a small hang out. Sam got up and then he grabbed the rest of the cans. He opened another one and then we went to the car as he started to drink it, holding the box that now had three of the original six left.

As we were in the car, I started it right up. The more that I was driving, and the more that I was listening to Sam's directions with the next cigarette of my pack in my mouth, the more that I was thinking how much more pleasant it would have been if we started at Sam's place rather than mine, where the drive was going to be extra long.

Eventually, we pulled up to where Edward lived and the Sam got out of his car. Then he walked up to the door and knocked on the door. There was a few seconds of waiting and Edward answered. He was a guy with red hair and was looking like he was well kept, but I was trying to decide from the distance is this was just a illusion that he had on or if it was the truth. As Sam was coming back with Edward, we got right inside of the mood of just being three random guys who had no real life besides hanging out with each other. I then started the car again and drove for like fifteen seconds until we reached where Misty lived.

Sam grabbed her and then the four of us were in the car. "This is Sheldon. I was just talking with him earlier, and he was talking about how it would be interesting to get to know you guys a little bit." Sam said, thinking that explaining it right away would be able to save at least a little bit of trouble for me. So when he explained that, I started up the car yet again, and I was thinking about how this car was going to start running out of any steam that it had left soon.

As I was thinking about that problem, and I thought of what this was going to cause for me, I was then thinking about what I was going to be also missing out on. I was thinking about how I was going to do when this car was going to be out of steam.

Then I was thinking that all I needed to do was just find another cheap one for sale. I was not in any way worried about my money at that point since if I started to save one hours worth or work every single day from this point forward, I could probably afford a crappy one after about a year or so from now, and therefore I would be totally fine. I would be able to actually hold my own on having at least a better car.

"What made you guys start hanging out with each other?" Misty asked as she was thinking about how she had seen me at the gas station once or twice, and she was just more shocked than anything else to be seeing him with my company. I then shrugged and gave her the short version.

"Well, it turned out that we used to go to the same school together, and we decided that maybe we could catch up for a bit. See how both of us are doing. I mean, we never really knew each other from school actually, but I felt like we could still connect a little bit." I said, and I was wondering if she was going to be fine with this explanation, or if she was going to try and dig up a little bit more from me. I would not lie, that would be annoying, but she was just trying to get to know me a little bit more, so I was going to deal with it if she asked. Besides, maybe starting up these small conversations would be enough to get her and I both talking to each other and starting to open up more. Edward was the one I was not really so sure about. He was going to be sort of a tough cookie to break, just from the looks of him. I think he wanted to actually see what I was like before he judged me one way or another. But then I was thinking that this was better than nothing since at least he didn't hate me or anything like that.

I thought about how much harder this whole thing would have been if one of them pretty much decided to hate me right from the start. If that happened, it would not even be worth talking with them as they would not care to listen to me and why would I care to listen to them besides some stupid hope that I would be able to mend the wounds or something like that with them.

Despite feeling like it would be best to give up on that front right there, I was then thinking about the one subject that we all sadly had in common. The one subject none of us ever wanted to talk about, but was now a part of our lives every single day. Well, their lives, and mine to some extent with my previous endeavors of it. And that subject being school obviously.

"What subjects are you studying?" I asked both of them, thinking that if either one of them answered, then it would suffice enough. "I personally gave up on school after a while. Not really my thing. Just didn't want to deal with all the crap there." I said, as I thought about what I was doing at that moment, and if working at the gas station was really better. I told myself that it really was, and that I did make the right choice.

"I am studying in the honors program. Oh my god it's fucking hard. All the work that you have to put in on a daily basis is insane. I may as well be writing a book at that school. I may as well be having a full time job there." Misty said and I nodded in agreement.

"It really is honestly kind of impressive how long all that stuff is, and how much time it takes. I was no honors student at all. Not even close to it. But boy, I know exactly what you are talking about. If I had known how hard it would have been, I would never have even tried to do it in the first place." I said, and then after I said that, I looked right at Edward. "What are you into right now?"

"Not really anything in particular. I just have been sort of knocking out the credit requirements. That is the best that I could really do right now. Holy shit, it is crazy to imagine how I am now half way through my requirements. That is so nice. I never really wanted to go much further than high school in the first place." Edward said and I nodded thinking that this was a reasonable statement to make.

"Yeah, it is no fun doing any of that stuff. I got to say, that was one of the things I do not miss about being at school. I only really miss the friends that I had and the fact that there was only a very minimal amount of effort that you had to put in every term in order to do just fine. That is what I really liked about it. The fact that you can mostly slack off here and there." I said, and then I laughed a little bit, revealing the true side of my teenager nature. As much as I still tried hard to be at least somewhat devoted to what I was doing, I was lying if I would say that I didn't like slacking off a little bit.

"And I really miss the dances and the parties. Those were the only good parts." I said, and then I was wondering where we should go. After I asked for suggestions on a place to hang out, Edward suggested that we go to the soccer field and I felt no real need to protest this so I started to drive there. In fact, as I was driving there, I almost started to think that I liked this company. I was thinking that getting to know these people was not going to be all that big of a problem. In fact, even Edward seemed to be okay with me, even if he wasn't wanting to talk to me all that much.

"Did you ever date anybody when you were at school?" Misty asked, and she was touching up on a touchy subject without even meaning to. I decided not to think too much about it, as she probably didn't really know any better and was thinking that this was going to be a good starting point for casual conversation. As I thought about if I should tell her the truth or not, I was telling myself that I should since I was wanting to be friends with her, and lying to her would be the worst thing that I can do when trying to get to know somebody. I mean, I was not going to tell them about the labyrinth, but that wasn't exactly lying. If anything, that was actually keeping her fucking safe, since I had no idea what the people who worked there would do if they found out that she was getting into that stuff.

"Yeah, I did date a couple of people in high school. A couple of people that I really cared about. I don't really think I want to go into it any further than that though. If I tell you more, I think you would be in some degree of trouble." I said, and then after I had said that, I saw Sam looking at me for a short moment as if to decide what he was thinking on what I told him. He was probably trying to decide if he had wanted to say anything or not. When it seemed like he was not going to, he then looked at the window again. I could tell that he was trying not to start something, as he was clearly thinking about his brother Ken and what all of the stuff I knew might have meant for him. He was thinking that he was going to possibly be able to ask me some questions on Ken and what I knew about him. I mean, I didn't know all that at the time obviously, but I would later learn these were the things he was thinking about.

"Well, I should say that I really only dated one person there. And it was only for my last few days that I was at that school. I did sleep with one other woman, just to blow off some steam at a party that I went to, but it never got anywhere beyond that. Probably for the best, since I was still sort of involved with the other lady that I saw earlier, and I didn't want her to think that it was over or anything like that. So maybe that was the best choice at the end of the day, that it was just a mere one night stand." I explained, and then I eventually reached the soccer field that I was suggested to go to. I had no idea why they wanted me to go here, but there was no real need to argue with them, and I was feeling like they did indeed know what they were talking about, so I was sort of just letting them lead the way. As I was thinking about what I was setting myself up for, I was also thinking about what I wanted to do once I got home that night. Maybe save one of the cans of beer for myself. I mean, I felt like that was good enough. Just one small can.

Once we had parked, I pulled out another can for myself and I placed it in the left pocket of my hoodie. Then I gave Edward and Misty one. "I didn't know that we were going to be seeing you. If I did, I would have brought more." I said and I was feeling the cold ice of the can on my hands. I wanted to drink it then, but I was telling myself that I could wait.

"Well, I never really drink all that much anyways." Edward said before adding it "But that is only because I'm not old enough. If I was old enough, I would be drinking a little bit more than I have been by now." Edward opened up the can and started to drink it very quickly. I was shocked at how fast he was able to zoom through the can. Both Sam and I were watching and sort of wondering what the hell was with this guy that he was able to drink a can of beer with like two of three gulps. Once the shock of the situation sort of wore off, and I think that we were just needing a moment to sort of accept what we had seen, Misty was looking at us.

"I never drank before in my life. I mean, I just never really felt the urge to try it out." Misty said and then she was opening the can as if she was feeling like she was sort of forced to do this. I even felt a little bit bad for this, and there was a part of me that was thinking against this whole thing to make her feel better, but then she had opened the can before I could say anything and already took the first gulp. She seemed only to take a small amount, hoping that she wouldn't really have to take any more of it. "It tastes a bit odd." Misty said before having a second gulp just to make sure that this was what she thought before putting it down on the hood of the car.

"Yeah, it is something that does indeed take a lot of getting used to. I won't argue with you on that." Sam said and he was looking at the can as if sort of hoping that Misty would let him have it. As she was looking at him, she sort of shrugged as if thinking that she did not really want it all that much. "Thanks, I was just not wanting to take it though if you wanted it." Sam said and then after Sam said that, he brought the can to his mouth and then he started to drink it a little bit more.

As he drank a bit, he was feeling a small amount of dizziness from all the drinking that he had done lately, but he was telling himself that it was not all that big of a problem and he slowly worked his way through the rest of the can, and then when he was done, he placed the can in my car. I just rolled my eyes, but decided that I would take care of it later.

"I am already starting to kind of feel the side affects." Misty said, not really able to believe that she was feeling them this fast, and was wondering if there was something wrong with her to be feeling them this quickly. I then patted her back and tried my best to make her feel better, although I was kind of thinking that it was not really going to work all that well.

"Well, everybody has a first time. I wouldn't really worry about it. I mean, I remember the first time that I got drunk. I was only ten years old when it had happened." I said, and I was saying this as if it were some form of an accomplishment. In all reality, getting drunk the first time at a really low age was not really anything to be proud of, but I was only sixteen at the time and felt like anything related to that was indeed worth bragging about.

"When was the first time that you tried smoking?" Edward asked as I was actually pulling out a cigarette and started to smoke it.

"I was fourteen at the time. Just some friends wanted to show it to me, and I decided that I would try it out. I thought it would be kind of cool. The first cigarette pretty much kicked my ass though. But once you do something like that enough times, it doesn't even matter anymore. I don't really even feel it at this point anymore." I said, and then I was taking a long and deep blow of the cigarette from my mouth.

"Is it something that you use for relaxation?" Sam asked and then I thought about that for a bit before I nodded.

"Yeah, that is a part of it. I do get a bit of a relaxation vibe out of it. But there is indeed more to it besides that. I just like to have something that is static in my life. And smoking does exactly that for me. It is something I do often and I just feel like it is something that I can be able to work to my own advantage when I do that. I feel like it is something that makes me calmed and ready for whatever comes ahead of me. Besides, it just kind of looks cool to do it. It is the one kind of cool looking thing that I ever do in my life." I said, thinking about the popularity that I could have gotten earlier, but failed out on.

I was then thinking about the fact that I needed to stop focusing on lost chances for popularity. It wasn't a part of fate. I needed to accept that and get over it. It was time for me to move on. Even I knew this. But there was a part of me that was just refusing to do it no matter what the case was. I feel like there was just a part of me that wanted to know where I had failed, and what I could have done differently. It was an obsession that I had, and one that I needed to fuel the answer for before it started to drive me away so much from any form of reality that it would just become the most damaging thing that could be able to happen to me. Despite all of the thoughts that I had about having things change for the better in my life, there was another part of me that knew too well that this would not happen. And that was one thing that I just had to accept.

As I was thinking about that more and more, and as my mind was wandering very far from the current subject, Sam decided to save my mind before it got too bad. "So Sheldon, how long do you think that you are going to be working at that job, and is there any other person there who works with you?" As Sam asked me that question, I shook my head.

"I don't think there is anybody that is going to come along soon. Not that I would really blame them. Who the hell would want to waste their time here at that gas station? I only did it because I had to get some money in my life. That is the only reason I am still going to stay here even when I feel like I shouldn't be there anymore. I mean, I have so many better things that I can do in my life. And there are so many things that I could pursue if I had wanted to, but I just didn't. I guess it doesn't really matter now. I am making a good deal above minimum wage, so I can't really complain about that. I earn about sixty percent more than the average person does at minimum wage." I still couldn't believe to myself n all honesty that I had been earning that much. It just sounded and felt very unreal that I was going to be given the chance to be earning this much money ever day, especially since I was working at a gas station and I was working for twelve hours a day, which made it really worth it.

"I think that your boss just appreciates that somebody else is there to help him with the job. I think that perhaps he had not really gotten the chance to have a lot of people working with him, and that this was his best chance to really get people to come to his job, was to do a offer of increased wages per six months. But I guess that maybe people just don't care to work at that store due to how long the hours are. And I am assuming that it is mostly unexciting." Edward said, putting in his piece and there was a part of me that was wondering if he had been at that job before, and if anything, if he was speaking from personal experience.

"Well, I would say in general the job isn't all that interesting. But the people who show up and buy stuff there and do business with me are pretty interesting. They usually have a lot of interesting stories to tell, and I like to listen to what they have to say most of the time. I mean, I think that there is indeed something that you can learn from just talking with total strangers most of the time." I said, and I was thinking about what it was like to really expand the horizons with people I didn't know and sort of didn't care about.

I mean, I never really cared for Gwen, and I thought that she was a bit of a self absorbed asshole, but getting to see the other side of her when I started to get to know her was what really changed a lot of that. Seeing the help she needed, and the way that she was grateful for my help did so many wonders to my perception of her. Even with her naming her child after me. That was a fucking honor, and that was the only way that I could be able to put it.

No matter how much I was glad that I was gone from Wayside forever, there was still a small part of me that was wondering if I should have tried to pursue something there. Something that could have made things a bit better for me. Things that would have made my memories there at least tolerable. But then I was thinking about what else I could be doing right now. I was thinking about how much I was going to miss my friends that I did have. I mean, I really did have quite a bit of strong friends that were really out for me, and I should have been there and appreciated them more. But I was not really that smart. I was not really smart enough to see what was there in front of me, and I was not really sure why I didn't go out there and actually get to know these people better. I mean, Dakota was a friend of mine who I was never going to be able to see again because of the stuff that had recently happened, and there was a part of me that was thinking he wouldn't want to see me even if he got the chance to.

I had almost killed the, and I didn't really know even now how well I kept my promise of being there for Ashley and saving her. I may have saved her, and I may have done something right there, but I doubted that she would ever really say that I was a major factor to her current safety. I don't even know if she and Dakota see each other anymore. For all I knew, she saw this entire situation and decided that none of this was really worth it anymore. That being here with Dakota was going to open up a bunch of bad memories.

Despite this, I was thinking on what it must have been like for Jack and Gwen to be going through what they were. I mean, I don't know so much about Jack since I don't know how involved he was in the raising of Gwen's kid, but holy damn Gwen must be going through hell right. This must have been the worst experience of her life that she as having, raising her kid all alone like this. Or even with only one other person at her side, it must have been a nightmare that she should not have even come close to living, and the fact that she was living it now as a sign of how terrible this world was.

And that was what I always went back to in my mind. The world was utterly awful and everything about it was just one big shit show after another. I really couldn't help but just feel that way, and that no matter what happened, I was never going to see the light at the end of the tunnel that was going to make any of this better. In fact, I highly doubted, almost denied the idea that this life was going to get any better. It just seemed like a fucking lie to be even pretending something like this.

"I guess that you are right. I guess that maybe when you are that low on staff, every single person who works at the job is even more important than ever. I mean, I do wish that he would hire at least one other person. I mean, that would really help tone things down a bit and I would be able to actually get more hours to do as I wished. Maybe not having to work literally half of the day there. I mean, I don't mind it all that much. But holy fucking shit, it really drains away your energy and that is what really gets to me. How tired this whole thing makes me feel. This just gets to me every single time I even try to remotely focus on anything." I said, and then I was wondering if they had ever really experienced something this bad in their lives such as excessive fatigue.

"I think that there should be a line between working hard and so badly over doing it that you literally have like no life. That is sort of what I am at. Not working so hard or anything, but I am indeed kind of over doing it. I can see that when I think about everything. I think that I just need to go on and take at least a day or two off. Is that really too much to be asking for? Just one or two days off to take my mind off the insanity that is going on? I feel like I never really had a chance to go around this town because I was too busy working. What is the point of working here if I won't be able to even get to see the town around?" I just then looked right at Edward, Sam and Misty. All of them remained silent and not really sure what exactly to say.

"I guess that it doesn't really matter now. I am here now, and this is one of my first experiences actually doing something with the new life that I am trying to give myself. Something that I wanted to do when I moved here, but now that I think about it more, sort of never really gave myself a chance on. I mean, if I wanted to do something else with my life, if I truly wanted to do something like that, I would have gone out and done it by now. But as I stand here right now, thinking about that fact, the more that I start to wonder what I really wanted in my life."

Eventually, as I was thinking about the fact that I really had no life, I looked at the ground and I was tempted to drink the beer now, but I was still wanting to wait to drink that until I as home. "Well, I mean, it seems like you are getting what you wanted right now, just by talking to us. It may not have been the life living that you expected it to be, but this is indeed something that you are giving yourself. You are indeed living a life. Have you considered that maybe you are still doing that by working at the store? I mean, sure on the surface it may not look like that. But think of all the things that you have been able to do now. You managed to be able to get to know hundreds of people here and there by this business, and I bet that there is at least one of them who has grown to know you almost like a friend because of how often they shop here." Sam said and then I scoffed at this statement.

"Nobody in their right mind would want to be friends with me. Trust me, I am an expert on people pretending to be friends with me." I said, thinking about two or three different times people were acting like they liked me, and acted like we were on good terms, but in all reality just hated me. I never once wanted to get myself back into that trick again. And that would mean that there would be some people that I would have to plain old reject because of that fear.

"You see though, not everybody is like that though. Not everybody is just somebody who hates you and only wants to use you for their own benefit. Sure, there are absolutely people out there like that and there is nothing that you can really do about that. But not every single person is like this, and it would be kind of harsh to put everybody just in that same level without actually going out and getting to know the different people here." Misty said and I was trying to decide if she was placing herself in the caring group or if she was just waiting for this to go further before she made a real choice one way or another.

"One thing I can say is that I certainly don't hate you. I mean, how can I hate you when I barely even know you? That seems to be a bit out there in all honesty. It seems like something that I would not really get to make the basis for claiming and having it be considered legitimate." Misty continued, and I was thinking that she was not hating me because she was too young to really get to know what true hate was. Or she didn't see another terrible things in her life to know what true hate was. I sadly got to know what true hate was, and I was having to experience it every single day that I was in Wayside. Well, every single day of the last week or so. I never really felt any strong hate towards about before my last week there, since before that point, I still thought that most of the people there were actually good people. I had drank the cool aid so to speak. I have been led to believe in things that I thought were true but I now sadly had to find out were not true at all.

"I think if you were older, and you started to know more of the truth, then you would hate me as well. But that is one thing that is going for me I guess. Is that barely anybody knows who the hell I am even. I mean, how can somebody hate me so much when they barely even know me in the first place? Maybe that might be the best thing that goes for me when I try to get to know new people here, is the fact that I am mostly clean from what people can see of me. But once they start to see the truth for what it really is, that is going to go away and any chance of me becoming a respected member of the community will be totally gone by then." I said, and I was thinking about what little chance I had of being popular going away. I was then telling myself to stop thinking about being popular as in all reality that did not fucking matter. But I was thinking that maybe it really did matter.

As I was thinking about how it did matter, and the fact that I needed to stop selling myself short of that fact, I then started to think of other things. "But everybody keeps telling me that everything will be all fine, and that I just need to give the idea of living life here a chance. I am trying to do that. I am trying to be patient with this. I mean, it is just really hard when you have people like the sheriff all over the place checking tabs on you every fucking day to make sure that I don't end up killing myself." I said, and then I was thinking about how much of that was over blown. The sheriff did not visit me every day. But he certainly did visit me more than just once in a blue moon. In all reality, he was just worried about me and he knew what my feelings on a lot of things were, and he was scared of what I was going to do with myself if I was given the chance.

But as I was thinking about what David was thinking right, I was telling myself that what he thought didn't even matter as there was barely anything he ever really did for the town. Sure, he wasn't totally morally bankrupt or anything like that, and therefore I didn't find myself totally hating him. But at the same time, I did sort of wish that he would step up his game every once in a while. Was that really too much to be asking of him? To just grow a fucking pair of balls and go down and get a new crew as well as start a whole new investigation here? That would have been the best thing that he could have done, and he didn't even do that. He didn't think about the bigger side of things at all.

"Besides, the sheriff doesn't really go on the big end of things. He just looks at the small cases. He solved a lot of mini cases that are just here and there, but he doesn't really ever go beyond that. I guess he still lives in fear of what could happen to him. Maybe that is why here usually is never such a young sheriff in the county, because they are too scared to go beyond this." I said, and then I was thinking to myself to put this in his shoes. He was the sheriff after the last one got his head blown off basically by me, and he was forced to try and save the entire city but at the same time deal with a corrupt police force. As much as I hated to admit it, I did get exactly what was happening and why he felt that way.

I was thinking about his perspective, and I was thinking about everything that he had been forced to do. I was thinking about the whole life that he had to live now, in danger every single day or somebody just eventually having enough of you and choosing to just shoot you dead? Imagine all the people in his family who would have to deal with that. I know that he said he wasn't really close with his family, but I felt like there would be at least some of them who would open up and start to care if this type of terrible thing happened. I was just certain of it. There was no way that they were worse than my family. That was the one thing that I always told myself, even if there was a part of me that thought that they could have been, but I just thought that the more that I denied it, the easier it would be for me. But the more that I denied it, the more that I started to think that perhaps I really was misleading myself here. Despite how much I was certain that I was mid leading myself, I was still telling myself that there was a bit of me that was correct here. There was a bit of me that was telling myself that everything the world would not be enough to line up and give a fucked up life to David or anybody else to the extent that it had been able to give me. I was firmly convinced of this.

But then as I was thinking about this, and the more that I was thinking about the rest of the city, I was thinking that maybe the entire city of Wayside had been fucked over by that damn senator. If what Jenny told me was true, then it was all his fault. He ruined everything just because he was a bit power hungry, and that was all that there really was to it.

"You know, there is somebody in my life previously, before I moved here, that I... cut ties with." I said, thinking about Garrett. "And despite the fact that I am very glad that I did this, and the fact that I feel like I should have done this a long time ago, there is a small part of me that wonders if I was wrong about him. That maybe I should have indeed given him another chance to explain himself and try to justify all that he had done wrong." I continued and then Sam was the one who said something this time.

"You may regret it and you may think that you made the wrong choice looking back at it, but think about what you had at the time. Given the evidence that you had, and what you were thinking was right, do you think that perhaps you did at that moment make the right choice. If you truly think at that moment, given the knowledge that you had at that time, that you made the right choice, then there is nothing that you need to feel sorry over. That is just a fact of life. You did something that you felt like you needed to do, and you went with it." Sam said, and I was trying to tell myself to think of it his way, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not.

"Listen, no matter what happened back then, I think that you probably changed for the better. I think that you are not the guy that you said you were anymore. If you were, then you wouldn't be feeling any regret over any of these situations. That is enough to convince me that you have changed. And I think that should be enough for you to convince yourself." Misty told me and I was trying really hard to look at it in her perspective. And while I did didn't agree with her, looking down at her, and seeing her face as she was looking at me and waiting to see what I had to say, I could not hate her for what she said. She believed in me, and I was supposed to be happy for that. I was supposed to feel good about that. And trust me, when I was thinking about it, and I stopped to put my mind at work, I was indeed feeling very good about this whole thing.

"Yeah, I guess I should be looking at it the way you are. I mean, I see the fact that you obviously believe in me, and you are showing me that I should believe in myself, despite all of the hard work that it will take for me to get there, and I am telling myself that things are probably going to be alright. Probably not perfect, and maybe not even good, but alright." I said, and then I looked at Edward.

"I think that you just need to see what is ahead of you now. I mean, you have talked to the three of us. I mean, I wouldn't really say we're friends yet. But I don't really hate you at all. I don't really think that I would ever go that far at all." Edward said, and then he said "Besides, I mean, you do seem to have a lot on your mind, and you do seem to be the guy who actually thinks about things a a bit and wants to listen to those around him. When you are that type of guy, there is no way that you are a total waste of time. Who knows, maybe we can hang out some time." As Edward told me this, I was thinking that he was going to just try and be nice with me, and I was thinking that even if it wasn't totally real, it was still best for me to go along with it and act as if I was really absorbing his words. Which to some extent I was. I was sort of absorbing the words that he had given me, and I was thinking a lot about them. But at the same time, I thought all about what the rest of the people in this town were going to have to deal with.

"You know, it is getting late. I shouldn't keep you guys out all night. Besides, I have work to go to soon anyways." I said and then I got right in the car as Sam got himself in the shot gun seat and the other two were in the back of the car.

I started the car up, and then I dropped Misty off first since when we were on the way back, she was the one that slightly closer. "Just contact me if you want to hang out again. I will probably be free most days after eight." I said and then Misty nodded. I could see that maybe there was something starting between the two of us. I was thinking that maybe if I had really wanted, I could be able to get to know her better, and I could be able to actually be friends with her on a deeper level. Then I ended up driving Edward back to his house, where I made the same offer, and he just seemed to be going along with it for the time being.

Then eventually, I drove Sam back to his house. Thankfully enough time passed since the beer that he had where even if he was drunk, it was sort of not really showing anymore. I was then thinking that it would be awful if people found out what he had been doing. That would have made things a thousand times worse, and I would have to go through much more trouble than it was worth getting myself in the good graces of his family and everything. So I was telling myself to just simply be thankful that he sobered up enough. "Maybe I will come and see you again during the winter break. I have a while off still, so I will probably be able to come by at least once." Sam said and then we both nodded in agreement as I believed he was telling the truth and then he got himself out of the car and went right inside his house.


	72. Meeting Jimmy White

Part 2: Meeting Jimmy White

The rest of the year took a little while to pass by, and the stuff that I did were not all that interesting. I rarely ever really went out with people during that time period, and I doubted that people were caring all that much about me. I mean, I did see Sam once and we talked for a while about how his Christmas was and we talked about how it was at previous years for me, and the stuff that I liked about it and the few things that I would miss about it with my parents. Despite all of the horrible things that my parents have done, there were still a few good things that they did and a few things that I had to give them despite the fact that I hated to admit it and everything. But even though I hated to admit it, I knew that not everything about them was terrible.

Eventually, the new year started and we were now in 1964. The year that I would officially be at an older age than Riley would ever be at, and that from this point forward, I would be the older brother, and not having her be the older sister. It was a strange thing that I had to get used, and there was something in me that still did wish that I wouldn't have to be thinking about this for at least another twenty five or thirty years, but I didn't really get to live in that luxury now, did I?

I was then thinking that maybe it was best to stay alive just for the sake of Riley, and absolutely nobody else. I was then thinking that Riley just needed something about me. Something that would make it seem like it was all worth it. I just really did miss her, and I was thinking that despite the fact that she was no longer with us, that I still could try and live up to what she probably would have wanted of me. That was something that I was going to try my hardest to do no matter what the case was.

As this was happening, I just thought about what Riley really would have done if she saw what I was like. I wondered what she would be thinking about the man that I have become. She would probably be disgusted at me, and wonder what I was doing getting into all of these drugs, and if I should have even been born. I knew that my father was right about one thing, the fact that Riley was the better child compared to me. To be fair, that was a ridiculously low bar for her to over come, but it was still something that she did indeed do. Now if I were better than Riley, then that would have actually meant something because she actually fucking meant something when she was around.

But then it was around January first late at night when I got my month worth of drugs, and I was smoking my next thing of weed and I was staring out at the streets. As I was staring forward, I was thinking about what I was going to be doing now. I was thinking about what the letter Jenny gave me seven months ago had actually said. It was hard for me to piece it all together, but I was slowly putting it all together in my mind. I was thinking about what she was saying about Riley's children, and I was disgusted at my father, but at the same time, despite how disgusted I was over this, I was thinking that this still did not at all surprise me. None of this surprised me, despite how much I hated to admit it. I was expecting my father to do something like this, and the fact that he had done this was something that I was pretty much slowly accepting. It was something that I had just decided was just a small part of reality.

But I was thinking about the other thing with her children. The fact that one of them was still alive, and the fact that he was in this town. As I was thinking about that, and the fact that he was still around, I was thinking about what I can do with him to show that I was willing to be a part of his life. I didn't really know why I was feeling the need to take this risk, as this was totally what this whole thing was. One big fat fucking risk. But despite the fact that this was a huge risk, I was thinking that it was time for me to expand my family connections. I was thinking that it was a risk that I needed to take for my own sake, and if this got me killed, then I was going to die a death that I knew would at least be able to have some honor to it. Something about the death that would make it feel like I did something right in my life. Even if nobody else would realize the sacrifice that I had actually made.

But then as I was thinking about meeting Tucker, I was thinking about what I was going to have to explain to their parents, or explain to the brother Brad. If I had actually met them, they would be wondering why I wanted to see Tucker, and they would be forcing me to tell them everything that I knew, and I didn't really think that I would be able to actually tell them that. I was thinking that I would not really have the balls to do it.

I was thinking about what it would be like if I had met Brad. It was feeling like it would be the hardest task of my life to meet Brad and somehow explain to him what was going on. The more that I was thinking about Brad, the more that I was thinking about what it would be like to get to be his friend as well. Not that it would be considered normal at all to be friends with a guy who was much younger than I. If I was caught being friends with them, then people would be wondering what I was doing with my life. People would be wondering if I was some creepy pervert for hanging out with a ten year old who was almost an entire decade younger than me, as I was now seventeen, and I was going to eventually be turning eighteen this year.

To be fair, by this point in time, there was a chance that he was eleven now. But in all reality, that really did not matter all that much. How old he was was not really what I was worried about. The point was, he was well over half a full fucking decade younger than me, and at the age, we were at, this was a huge deal.

Despite the things that I was thinking, as I was smoking up a bit, I was telling myself that I needed to see them, and I didn't care how risky I was getting. I didn't really care if I was going to be putting my life at the line, I needed to do this and that was all that there was going to be to it. I was going to go see them, and I was going to try and be their guardian. It was just a matter of when I was going to finally have the balls to go down and see them. That was what I was not really so sure about. I had no idea what I was going to be able to do on that regard. I was going to probably see them in a while, and I have a terrible feeling that after seeing them once, I would hate what I was doing, and I would hate what I was seeing with Tucker that I would just run away and just pretend that I didn't see what I was actually seeing. I was a fucking coward, and as much as I hated to admit it, that was literally all that there was to the matter. I was a fucking disgrace to the entire family, and I was thinking that maybe my parents were right about me all along.

Eventually, though, I went to bed that night and three more days passed by. It was around five in the afternoon on January fourth when there was somebody who walked into the gas station that I had never met before in my entire life. As I met him, I was in the middle of smoking a cigarette and reading some random magazine that was in the store. Just doing something, anything just to kill time and I wasn't really caring all that much what I was thinking about. But as I was looking at him, I was thinking about something else, I was thinking that maybe this was going to be somebody I would be forced to know more in the long run.

"Hello, is your boss here right now?" The guy asked me, and then I looked up at him. I was confused why he was asking about my boss. I shook my head.

"He doesn't show up until around eight or so. I think that he will probably be here when you are long gone." I said, and I was trying my best not to sound like a smart ass, but at the same time, I was telling that I really did not do all that good of a job hiding the fact that I was having absolutely zero interest in the subject.

As I was looking down at the magazine again, the guy was placing his hand on his chin and scratched his chin a couple of times. I saw that he was covered with pimples, and he looked like he had been perfectly qualified for the job of a greasy fast food restaurant. I know that I shouldn't be so judgmental on people when I first meet them, but honestly, that was what I was thinking about them upon the first sight that I ever had with them.

"Strange, your boss said he was going to be here in a moment, and that he was going to have an interview with me." As he had said that, I was rolling my eyes. I was not really in any way ready to have somebody like this asshole be the guy who was going to be working with me. I just wanted this guy away from me, so that way I could go back to the fucking magazine that I was reading. I would honestly rather read that stupid fucking magazine over be dealing with what this guy was saying.

Eventually, as I was thinking about the fact that I was just going to ignore him and everything would be fine, I saw that the guy was just sitting down at the chair of the table in the station. I then looked down and then as I was reading more of the magazine, I was slowly starting to force the guy out of my memory. But despite all of that, I was able to forget about him for more than a couple of minutes before that was when my boss got out of his car and walked right inside of the gas station. As he was inside of the gas station, he was looking right at Wyatt and he was probably thinking the exact same thing that I was thinking. That he made a huge mistake by accepting this guy who looked like a twenty-five-year-old teenager to an interview. Despite this, he said "Sorry I was late. I was just making a shipment deal that will be coming here in a few days. Come in, I just need to ask you a couple of questions."

Once the guy and my boss were inside of his room, I was trying to listen to the interview, and I was thinking about what it would be like if this guy would be turned down from the job and he didn't get to work. As I was thinking about how amazing that would be, I was then thinking about something else entirely. I was telling myself that it really didn't matter all that much if Wyatt got the job. If the guy was not at my shifts, then I would be left to assume that we might not really have to see each other all that much. I then thought about what else I was going to do now.

But as I was thinking about it, there was another part of me that was telling myself that I needed to be reasonable. I mean, I was probably in just as bad, if not even worse of a position when I got this job for the first job, and as I was thinking about that, I was then thinking about what else I must have been like to my boss. For all I knew, my boss had no real respect for me and he probably only had me at the job in order for him to get some sleep on his own, and I was thinking that this was a bit of a clever on his end. He must have been doing twenty four hour shifts a lot of the time and only got to sleep when he closed his eyes for a few minutes here and there as customers were not around. He probbaly got no more than an hour or so of sleep at a time. In a way, I was thinking on how awful that must have actually been.

But then as I was thinking about that, and I was thinking about how awful it would really be to be forced to not sleep at all for these long ass periods of time, I was brought to thinking about something much more pleasant when I saw Misty coming inside of the gas station, and she was looking around, hoping to see me now. She found that I was still at work, and still having about two and a half hours or so of my shift when she walked up to me.

"I was wondering if you were wanting to hang out for a while." Misty said and then she quickly added in "I kno wyou haven't seen me in a long time. When I think about it, maybe not even since we actually first met." Misty said, and there was a small part of her that was actually feeling bad for that, thinking about the fact that she was saying she was going to be friends with me, but then she would turn around and not do that at all. She did the exact opposite of what she had promised she was going to do with me, and there was a part of her that was thinking on how shitty that must have actually been like.

"Seriously, don't worry about it all that much. It is just how things are. I would not really worry about it all that much. I still have two and a half hours to go before my shift is over. But if you want to go and just talk for a while, then I will be willing to do just that." I said, and then after I offered her this, she smiled for a bit.

"I was honestly wanting to hang out with you actually. I thought that it would kind of suck not seeing you anymore, considering how nice of a guy you were with us the first time around. How much it seemed like you were willing to accept us being around you. I just wished that we got to know you more." Misty said, and then there was a part of me that was taken back by what she was saying. The fact that she had actually enjoyed my company was something that increased my confidence. And besides, she was a really cute fucking lady. She was beyond cute, and I was already wondering what it would be like if we were dating and everything. There was a part of me that was actually wanting to date her and be around her more.

"I was wondering if you were only pretending to like my company, and if you actually even wanted to see me anymore. But now that you are here, I guess I was proven wrong about my fears. I guess that maybe I should have given you a chance before I brushed you off the way that I did." Then I was thinking about what we could be able to talk about now, considering the fact that we were now here, and I truly wanted to be friends with her. I wanted to get to know her and what she was like. If she was wanting to be friends with me, then I was going to return these desires with her.

"You know, I was just thinking that you might not want to hang around the younger people anymore. You probably thought that being around us was a problem and that we were just making your life worse." Misty said and then she added in a smaller bit.

"Besides, I have been really busy lately. My mother is wanting me to do a lot of hard work, and she is really expecting a lot from me. I think that if anything, she is expecting a little bit too much from me. But I guess that is just how mothers are..." Misty said, thinking about that, and she was thinking about what she was going to have to be like if she would not live up to what her mother really wanted. She was thinking that despite how much she didn't want to admit it, that she was not the type of girl that her mother had wanted her to be, and that was something she hated, the fact that she would not live up to the most simple of expectations.

"Oh don't worry about your parents. I mean, you should care a little bit what they think of you and everything, because they did indeed raise you and everything, but in all reality, you are going to be an adult sooner than you think. And once you are an adult, you are going to be all on your own, and you are going to be making choices according to what you think is right. And when that happens, you should not in any way worry about what they think. In that case, you will be able to move out and spring forward." I said as I placed my current cigarette in the ash tray, and there was the part of me that was thinking that it had now indeed been almost an entire year since I had moved away from my parents, an entire year where their lives so not matter.

"You see, you probably feel that way because from what you have been saying, you had really awful parents. But I didn't have really awful parents. In fact, my mother is a nice woman and I do appreciate her business and what she does for me most of the time. I just wish that she didn't have such high standards. But until that happened, I liked her. I loved her. I just wished that she didn't have these expectations of me." Misty said, and then after I had heard her say this, I was thinking that there was a level of truth to what she had been saying. I was thinking that maybe I did only feel that way as a sort of middle finger to my parents, and that to any other person, I should have been giving their family more of a personal and honest chance. But I don't really ever think that I would be able to get to that point in time.

"I just wish that I grew up with parents that cared about me." I said, not bringing up Riley. Even if she was my sister at one point in time, she was indeed gone and I had to accept that fact, and I was thinking about the longer I thought about her, the worse I was going to feel about the whole thing, and the more that I was going to feel like the entire world was totally unfair. And if I liked it or not, I was indeed the only child left, and that way it was sort of like I was not even lying to her when I was leaving her out of the entire situation.

But then I was thinking about what it would be like if the roles were reversed. If I had been the one who had died, and if Riley was the one who had lived. How much she would have been talking about me, and acting like my death was the biggest heartbreak of her life. Maybe it would have been, but I really would feel bad if that was the case. If my death and everything like that would have been the biggest heartbreak of her entire life, then she did have a pretty damn good life. I mean, the idea of some sick fuck brother like me dying being the worst part.

"But I guess I just will never be able to really change my perspective, even if I do know that it is the incorrect perspective to be looking at life. I guess that I am just sort of never going to be able to change how I view things. If that is a good thing or not we will see, but until then, I think that we will just have to see where it takes me." I said, and then as I was thinking about that, I was thinking about how I was indeed ready for the challenge on how life was going to treat me, and I was ready to learn if the world was going to have anything hand itself in my favor or not

"Well, I think that you are just simply worried about things that you don't really understand. I know that sounds really vague, but I do think that maybe there is a level of truth to this." As Misty said that, I was not wanting to admit to her being right. Because that would mean that I was wrong about how I viewed myself in my own life, and I was not in any way ready to admit that.

"I don't know. There is a chance that you are right. I guess I won't really know though." I said, and then after I had said that, I was wondering how long this conversation was going to keep up, I was wondering when this was going to end. I was not really wanting her to be playing investigator with me anymore, as it would start to open more up about me than I would even be able to dare to admit.

"I think that you need to look at that as at least an option. Who knows, maybe it will change how you look at things a little bit more when you start to see things from my perspective." Misty said, and then after she said that, I refused to admit that she was onto something. "Besides, I think that when you really get used to the new life that you are living, I think you will actually just be like the normal guy that you wanted to be. I know that you don't like people bringing it up, but I think that if you were to go back to school, you might be one of the most popular people ever." Misty told me, and then I was rolling my eyes at the whole school talk.

I was so tired of people talking about me going back to school. I didn't want to do that. I didn't get what people refused to understand about that. I don't understand why people wanted me to go back to school so badly. I don't really know, but I think that maybe they just wanted to see me succeed in a life that I knew I was not going to succeed in from the start, and that this was just not going to go the way that they expected.

"Maybe I might give it another chance. If things turn out the way that people are saying it will, I might go on and give this another chance next year or something. But until them, I think that I want to at least finish the year that I am in at this job. That way I can get another increase in my wage." I said, thinking that the fifty cent increase was really yet another good reason to not leave the job yet, as it did mean that I was going to be putting in another six dollars a day in my pocket than I had been earlier, and that would have been twelve dollars more a day than what I was earning when I started this bad smelling job.

"I think that you should totally give it a go. If Sam thinks that you can pull it off and if I think that you have a small chance of pulling this off, then maybe you are underestimating yourself a bit. Maybe you are not giving yourself enough credit." As Misty said that, I was sort of hoping that she was right, but at the same time, I was thinking that this was not going to go the way that they think it would. In fact, I was nearly convinced that this was the case. But I didn't want them to think that I was just being a debbie downer, even though I was being totally just realistic.

As I was thinking about that, I then thought more on what Riley would say about me going to back to school. "Again, as I said, I will consider this. I won't say yes, but I don't really know if I would say no for now. We will see just how it goes." I said, and then I felt like this was all that there was going to be to the subject, and there was a part of me that was hoping that this indeed could have been the entire subject.

"Trust me, if you did go back to school that would be extremely awesome. I would really like to see you going to school, and I would like to see the classes that you would be in." Misty said, and I was thinking that she needed to stop looking into this idea so much, because it just was not going to happen. I only told them that it could have happened just to make them shut the hell up. I didn't want to say that publically because I didn't want her to get even madder or even more insistent on me, but I was just trying really hard to keep the annoyance to myself.

As I was thinking about this, there was a small part of me that was thinking about what it would be like if I did go to school again. As I was thinking about school and what it could offer me, I was then thinking that while I hated to admit it, that it was not all that bad of an idea. It was just one that I had no real interest in pursuing as it would require me to cut many hours into my shift, and I would be losing most of my money. I was not wanting to do that. I could not afford to do that, as it would make me start to be unable to hold my own in actually paying for the house.

But then I was thinking about some form of a compromise that could be able to help me out if I did manage to convince either Sam or Misty to go along with it. Or hell, even fucking Edward or something. If I just went to the job like usual and then I would have them drop by every morning where they grab my work that I did and then after school every day they drop by and give me the work I needed to do, and then I could use the hours ahead of me at the job to just sit down and do the work on my own.

I was thinking that this was actually not all that awful of an idea, and there was a part of me that was thinking about what I could have been able to do with that work and the fact that I didn't have the teachers lecturing me on how to do it all the time. I was actually thinking that maybe this could have been a winning situation for me. Something where I could come out as the victor, and the one who was able to raise up my middle finger to the establishment of this school.

I know, that sounds really fucking preppy and there is a part of me that even regrets saying that, but what does it really matter right now. I was just thinking about what I should have been doing, and I was thinking about what I actually wanted to do. I wanted to have a good life with some good friends, and I was thinking about what else I could have done once all of this was over with. I was thinking that maybe I could actually make the high school program work out, as much as I hated to admit it, and I would never admit it to the other people that I knew. "You know, maybe there is some merit to the idea. I will give you that much. But I don't want it to go much further than that." I said, and then I was thinking about how this was the most that I was really going to push it. "I think that it will be something that I might consider, and I don't want you getting your hopes up or anything like that, but it could be possible." I said, and then after I said that, I was just thinking about how annoying it was going to be that I was pretty much setting myself up for something like this. I didn't really want to be doing this, and I wanted nothing to do with that school, but she did a good job possibly getting me into it, and she seemed to a decent job sort of making me think about what it could be offered towards me.

Eventually, I was then looking up and Misty seemed to have a much more serious look on her face. I was not really ready for the look on her face, and I could tell that she wanted to get right down to business. "So Sheldon, there is something that we actually do need to talk about. It was one of the main reasons, although not really the main reason that I decided to visit you. But do you know who the mayor of the town is?" Misty asked, and then I was wondering where this came from. I was not really sure what to say, and I was thinking about a way to get myself out of this conversation before it really had a chance to begin.

"Well, you know with me being here all the time, I never really got a chance to talk with people that are important in this town. I never really thought I wanted to anyways. Why do you ask?" I was wondering what they were wanting to tell me, and I was just sort of hoping that Misty could just tell me the point of this meeting, sort of feeling betrayed by the fact that she wasn't really there to talk with me about stuff that actually mattered to me such as my own life.

"Well, the mayor came to the school today. He was just recently elected and took office. His name is Jimmy White. He said that in his speech he was going to go out of his way to wipe away all of the corruption in the entire city, and that all he needed was just a united town to help him achieve his vision. The crazy thing is that most people seemed to actually believe in him when he was saying. Most people seemed to be thinking that he was telling the truth. People had really drank the cool aid. I never really could have thought for a moment that the people in this town would have believed in a single word of what anybody says on that regard. But I could see from the look on his face that he was lying, and that he was just going to be using his new office just for the power. It was obvious just from the way that he was presenting himself that he cared for nothing beyond the power of it all." As Misty said this, I was wondering what part about the speech gave it away. I mean, I did believe in her and I thought that she was indeed telling the truth. But I wanted a piece of harder evidence rather than just simple feelings and everything. I feel like there needed to be something much more concrete in order for me to fully jump on the bandwagon.

It seemed that Misty was able to see what I was thinking, and she started to speak as if she was afraid that the people in the store would know what she was saying. "Well, it was like he was able to read our minds, and he was able to slowly break into the fears that we all had, and it looked like he was trying to find a way for him to be able to take advantage of all of this stuff. He looked like he was going to be playing a game with all of us, and that the game was something that he was more interested in rather than actually helping us. And knowing the things that have been going around the town as a bunch of rumors, I would not really doubt that it is the truth." As Misty finished up her explanation, she was looking at me as if to see if I was believing in her or not.

"Well, I mean the thing is we live in this section of the country, where the politicians simply do not care for anything else besides just themselves. That is just how it is. I mean, I would prefer it if this was not the case, but I am looking at it was the objective truth. The people who own the businesses in the town or stuff like that simply do not care. They will think that listening to your complaints will be nothing more than a minor annoyance, and considering them, it may as well be." I then was thinking about the interview, and I was wondering when the results of it were going to be.

"I don't know why nobody cares to do a good job at the position that they were elected in. I mean, is it really just so hard to actually be a honest person for once in their life? Is it really so hard for them to show at least some form of humanity? I never really understood what the major beef of the thing is. I thought that it would be very easy to show compassion for the people that are in your city. At least, that would make things so much easier, and much better for the people to actually live with." Misty said and as if on cue sort of with what I was thinking, the interview was over and my boss seemed ready to tell me the results.

"Hey Sheldon, this is Wyatt. He is going to be your new co worker. I hope you don't really mind that idea too much. I just thought that maybe it would be good to have a second employee here. He is going to take over once you leave your shift and he is going to have the night shift now." As my boss had said that, I nodded. I wasn't really wanting Wyatt to be at this job. I was thinking that he was not really ready for something like this, and that my boss made a big mistake by bringing him forward. But then I was telling myself that he did the exact same thing for me, and that if for nothing else, I really did need to give Wyatt a chance. After all, for all I knew, he would have been a really good worker who was really devoted to his job, and I was just brushing him off like a asshole who was not even really giving him a chance. When I was telling myself that I needed to at least give him a chance, I sighed and then nodded.

"Yeah, well I hope you are fine working really late hours. Because if you aren't used to that, then this is going to be a massive hassle." I said, and I was not even trying to sound like a dick there. If anything, I was just having a small amount of fun at the situation, and there was a part of me that did wonder how long he would last at this job, considering the fact that from what my boss said, most people never worked here for more than a few months, and that I was already on the longer end of time that people worked there. That was kind of crazy for me to imagine, and I was thinking that he really did not have good luck at all if I was on the higher end of length of employment. No wonder why he wanted me to work twelve hour days.

"I have worked at stuff like construction before. That goes really late into the night. I mean, as long as I am stock piled on some energy drinks or something, then I will be fine." Wyatt told me, and for some reason, as I was looking at the guy with the massive amount of pimples on his face, I was starting to sort of believe in him, and that he would indeed handle this. So when I was thinking that, I nodded and then I looked at Misty.

"So what do you want to do now?" I asked, wondering if she was really even wanting to be here anymore now that there was another person here and that we could no longer have a quiet and just one on one conversation. I was then wondering if she was going to bounce away from me, and if she was going to just wait for me to come back and hang out with her at her house or something, which I vaguely recalled the setting of.

"Well, I was hoping you would drop by where I lived or something tonight." Misty said and then she was looking at me and the more that she was looking at me, the more I was starting to think that maybe she was not really sure if I was going to do this, or if I wanted to do this. She was giving me the same treatment that I was giving her.

"I will see what I can do." I decided and then just left it at that. I didn't want to make any promises with her, but I was indeed wanting to see her a bit. I mean, she was a nice enough girl and she did something nobody else really ever did, and that was to actually see me and pay attention to me as if I were some actual human being. It felt good to be given this treatment from her, and I was thinking that I sort of deserved something like that for me after all of this time that I had been working here with no real progress being made on my social life at all.

As I was thinking about the lack of progress that I had been making in my social life, I was then thinking about what Riley would be thinking of this, and I was wondering if she would have already been more of a social butterfly by this point in time. I felt like she would have already made like thirty or forty friends by now and that I was going to be sort of left in the dust. I always felt like this was the case when I tried to compare myself to Riley. That she was currently and always will be leagues ahead of me. I was starting to think if it was even valid to compare myself to her anymore, or if I was just sort of not really doing myself any justice.

But then I was thinking about something else. I was thinking about what my father would be saying. I was thinking that he would be shitting all over any progress that I made, and be praising Riley so much that I would actually seem like filth next to her. "Sheldon, you look like you are really not a happy camper right now." Wyatt said, and then I looked up and saw that Misty was not there anymore. Probably went home by now, or was starting to walk there. I was worried since it was kind of dark now and she was out at this hour, but I was thinking that she was going to be fine and that she didn't need to worry about things too much. I didn't really know how true that was though.

"Well, I am just sort of thinking about the job." I said, thinking that this could be a good enough answer for now. I didn't trust Wyatt at the moment. Not because I thought he was inherently bad or anything. But I literally barely knew him. How the hell was I going to trust him if I barely knew him in the first place? "I was thinking about how nice it would be to have somebody at the job who can take over for me when another employee comes. Because once a new employee comes, I bet that I might be able to start seeing more relaxation on my hours, and not have to worry about working so many of them." I said, and I was thinking about how nice that would sound. I was thinking about how nice it would be to have even an extra two hours a day to myself. If I did, then I might be able to sleep in and catch up on my slowly fleeting sleep or I could go out and be with people more and maybe start to make some new friends, or actually get to be real friends with Misty and Sam or hell even Edward would be better than nothing at all.

"Yeah, I heard that you were working here for twelve hours a day and have been doing this since you moved here in june. I am surprised that you haven't given up on working here yet. I feel like if I was given this amount of hours, I would right away call bullshit to the job and just leave this place." Wyatt said and then I shrugged.

"I sort of have no real choice though. I have to pay five hundred a month for rent. That is a ton of money that I have to pay. Thankfully I already paid for the first several months of living there, and I have been saving up a bit every day, like a quarter of my daily check, to eventually have some form of a back log when I eventually have to start paying the rent again at the place." I said, and I was not really excited for that part of my time here. Since that meant that I could no longer ride along. But thankfully my wages were high enough that I would still be able to use about a third of my check every month for myself, and that was nice.

"Damn, that really is a lot. I only have to pay one fifty a month for where I live, and considering the amount of hours I have to work every day, there is no way that this will not be enough to pay that off." Wyatt said and then I was jealous of how easy it was going to be for him. I was thinking that he had it easy, and that he didn't need to worry about being here so much. He certainly didn't need twelve hour shifts. Despite earning fifty less cents an hour than me, he was technically putting in way more in his pocket for that very reason.

But I was telling myself that it didn't matter, and that in a few months, when my pay wage increased again, I was going to then be putting in a lot more in my pocket, and that things would balance out in my favor for that reason. At least, I was feeling like this was the case. I was thinking that in a few years, I would actually have a small chance of being rich. All I would have to do is just really work at it, and really hope that luck is in my favor, which I knew it would not be unless if the world decided to be nice to me for one night of its life. But I was telling myself that I needed to at the good things that came out of this. At least soon enough, I was going to be able to really add accessories to the house, and I felt like I was ready to spice up the setting of my place a little bit. Despite the fact that I had a lot more than I used to, that was a very low bar since when I moved to that house, I literally had nothing at all.

"Yeah, it is a lot. But it is a part of life, and I can't really argue with how fate works sadly. But who knows, maybe life will actually have a small beacon of light for me at the end of the tunnel." I said, and then we were going along in mostly silence until the end of the shift.

Once I got in my car to hang with Misty, I took my cigarette out and then I smoked it for a while, Then once I did that, I was then having a bit of a buzz from it as that was probably the longest time that I went without one in probably more time than I should want to admit. I eventually reached her house and I got out of my car and went right to her door. I knocked on it and waited for a moment as I budded it down on the ground and tried to get myself to look composed to the people who lived there at the house in case they had high standards of me.

Eventually Misty answered me and then she said "Oh, I was just dealing with some things that were unexpected. I didn't mean to keep you waiting for so long." Misty said, and then she looked at me and she was seeing that I was clearly a little bit tired. "Should you be trying to go to sleep soon? You look like you have run a marathon or something." As she had said that, I shook my head.

"I mean, I am a little bit tired. But not enough to to call it a night right now. I just need to relax a little bit. I hate the fact that I was given no warning about there being a new person at the job though. I sort of wish that at least I was given a heads up on that." I expressed my slight annoyance, while also thinking it was really nothing in my business what my boss did, even if it was utterly annoying and I hated it.

"Well, your boss was probably setting all that up last minute. I wouldn't really worry all that much about it. Trust me, my mother was annoyed when there was somebody who tried to start working with her as well. She felt like it was a invasion of her space and her privacy." Misty said, and then as I was thinking about it, I nodded in utterly agreement.

"It is sort of like that. I don't know, maybe when I was the only worker there for so long, I started to feel like this was sort of my work place, and the place that I owned away from home. You know, when my boss is not there during my shifts, I am pretty much the head of that place for twelve straight hours. Nobody is regulating what I am doing, and quite frankly, I doubt that anybody really cares. It is just a random gas station after all. It is not like this is the most important place in town or anything like that." I said and then I was wondering how crazy it would have been if it turned out that this was actually the most important place in all of Tremorton, and that working here was actually like really vital or something like that.

"I wished that it was that easy for me. But I think I would hate working there after even a week there. I think that just working at a place that has no respect for the lives of others, and the schedules that we have set up would be something that I would not at the least want to partake in. It actually sounds like one of the most miserable ways to live life." Misty said and then I shrugged.

"Oh trust me, working at this gas station is a paradise compared to what I had to deal with back at Wayside. If you knew what was going on there, then you would see that maybe something like this is not all that awful to be totally honest." After I said that, I was then thinking about the labyrinth. I was then thinking to myself that every time I started to look down at working at the gas station, all I needed to do was just remind myself of what I was going to be getting myself into if I was down there. What I would be getting myself into under most cases. Every time that things looked bad here, I would have to remind myself of the conditions that were even worse here.

"You know, when I get to know you better, you really need to tell me all that is so bad about where you lived at before. You keep talking about it but you never really go all that detailed on it, and I feel like I need to know more about it before I can really judge it for myself." As Misty had said that, I was then thinking about this, and I was telling myself that maybe she was right. Maybe she really did need to see what was wrong with this place instead of just hearing about it from me over and over again. As I was then thinking about that, I looked at Misty again.

"You know, maybe when I get another worker here, and my hours of less stressful, I will come along and try and see you in person more often. I think that we should try and get to know each other better. I mean, despite how close I feel like we are getting, I don't really know you all that well, and I want to change that. I want to actually know you for who you are." I tried to see through her, and I was trying to see what she was thinking, but I think that she was just picturing that all together.

"You know, maybe you are right. I know that I suggested it earlier, but there was a fear in my mind that was making me reconsider. But now I think that getting to hang out with you and getting to know you better is the best thing that I can wish for, and I do actually mean it. I want to see how you are as a guy. It sounds like you are a decent guy, and I want to have a friend who I know will be there for me and will be able to look at me and judge me as a person without really looking down at me, and I feel like you are the only one that can do that. Or at least one of the only ones." After Misty said that, I was thinking of the lofty expectations that she was giving me, but I was thinking that I should try and fulfill them.

"Yeah, I will do my best. I will see how I feel about you when I get to know you better." I said, and I was wanting to see where this was going to go next. But then I was thinking about the time and the fact that both of us probably needed to crash down soon and I said "Yeah, well, I should be heading out now. See you later." I said and headed home and when I was home, I smoked the rest of the pack that I had, which was four, and then I went to sleep.

Right after I had left, I would later find out that Misty was walked up to by her mother who smiled a bit as she was seeing Misty standing there. "He seems like a nice guy. I approve." After she said that, Misty blushed and she was shocked at what her mother said as well as the over hearing of this conversation. Misty looked down at the ground and then she sighed. She was wondering when things would be less embarrassing for her.

The next day, when I was back at work, I was mostly forgetting about everything that had been talked about earlier, and I was thinking that none of it really mattered all that much, and that I was going to go back to being like a normal gas station worker instead.

As the next few days would go by, I would see Wyatt every morning when I came in for work and every day when I was getting out of work. When we met up, I would talk with him for about five or ten minutes, just as casual conversation and that I didn't really are for him, I still wanted to have things be mostly cordial between us. I felt like this was the absolute least that I would be able to do for him, and I felt like he deserved that at least.

Since this was a daily basis thing, I was actually starting to slowly get to know him more, and the more that I did this, the more that I was actually starting to kind of respect the guy. I could not believe that I was catching myself thinking this way. But I was thinking that once I started to really see what it was like to see how he was as a person, I was thinking that maybe it was not all that bad getting to know him. I was thinking that he was just a guy that needed a friend at his side, and for that idea, I was sort of seeing where he was coming from. I was thinking about what it was like to be alone with people not actually caring for me. I was reminding myself that this was sort of the reality that my life had been with just even a few weeks ago. Once I was telling myself this, and once I was really letting this be remembered, I was also then thinking about where else I was going to go with this. I was thinking about if Wyatt and I were actually going to pursue a friendship or if this was just something that we had with each other to just make the job a bit less boring. I didn't really blame Wyatt either way, regardless of how much I didn't want to admit it. I mean, I just sort of doubted that we would have talked or tried to know each other if it weren't for the work environment that I was inside of.

Eventually, I was telling myself to just take it easy. I was telling myself that people had things they needed to do in their lives, and that I was kind of being a sour puss this whole time.

Even though I was starting to sort of warm up to Wyatt, and I was thinking that he really was not all that bad of a guy, I was thinking more about Misty and our friendship that was growing. I was thinking about where this was going to go, and if we really were doing the right thing by pursuing this whole friendship. As I was thinking about that, and I was thinking about the choices that I would start to have to make, I was then thinking about what Edward and Sam must have felt. I had only really seen Sam once or twice since the new year started, and I felt like it was time to get to know him better and see him again, and the only time I saw Edward since the new year started was when Misty was hanging out with him, and the two of them both showed up for a moment to try and entertain me in a way. But I could tell that Edward was clearly only there just because Misty was.

And of course, when February first hit around, there was my next supply that came along. I had no idea who was sending me these, and there was a part of me that was thinking that maybe I should quit for my own health, but I was thinking that this would be stupid and that the idea of taking care of my health was thrown away a very long time ago. I was telling myself that I shouldn't even be looking into that anymore. As I was telling myself this, I was then thinking about what life would have been like if I did quit for one night. If I did decide that I had enough and that it was time for me to put this all behind me. I was thinking that in a way, it was almost impossible for me to do this, and that even getting the idea in my mind was just a stupid idea and that I should not be selling myself to that idea.

Eventually, as I was thinking more and more about what I was going to do with my life, and if I should quit the drugs or not, I was then thinking to myself that it would not be worth losing the one thing that was keeping me sane. The one thing that was truly keeping me grounded in my life. I didn't want to admit it, but the drugs were actually my only saving grace. They were the only thing that was keeping me all together with what I was doing. And I needed to accept that for the reality that it was.

As I was thinking about the reality that I had set myself up with, I was thinking in a way how shitty that reality was. I was thinking about all the wrong things that I had done, and I was thinking about how it was indeed time for me to reverse the roles. It was time for me to take charge with my life, and for me to be the responsible one. But I just had no real idea how I was going to break through, and I had no idea if I was indeed the person who would be able to actually make this work out. As I was thinking about how I was not the one that can make this have any coherent sense, I was then thinking about the people that mattered. Not just the people that I knew and the people that I felt like I needed to be there for, but the people that I was going to meet in the future, the people that I was really going to actually leave a impression on, even if I did not realize that I would leave that impression upon them.

As I was thinking about that stuff, and the stuff that sort of mattered more than anything else, I was then thinking about what Misty had told me earlier about that strange Jimmy White guy. I had no idea why I kept thinking about him when I never even met the guy. But for some reason, I was honestly thinking that this guy, this fucking asshole, whoever he was, would be the answer to all of the questions that I had. I was thinking that I needed to meet him, and that I needed to understand what he was like. Once I did, then perhaps I could piece together why Misty was scared of him, and why his presence seemed to give her utter fear just by being around him. I didn't get it and I was feeling like I just really needed to get it if I wanted to be able to help her out.

Despite how much I wanted to help her out, I was thinking that Misty was one of those people that even if I did not want to admit it, that it was sort of foregone conclusion that would be working against me. I just had a feeling that nothing I wanted to do in order to make her feel better would really go the way that I planned for it to go. I was thinking about how much she needed me at her side, and how much me being there was going to possibly make a difference, but at the same time, I was telling myself that I needed to stop thinking so good of myself and be more of the realist that I needed to be.

But then as I was thinking about that, I was out of work on day at February 19th, when I saw the car pull up. It was a white van and I was smoking my after shift cigarette when the car pulled up. I was not really sure what to expect, and I was starting to think that this rich fuck boy was going to make Wyatt miserable for the next few minutes when he got himself out of the car and then he was smiling right at me.

"I have been hearing many things about you, and I was starting to wonder if you were going to be here or not. I got exactly what I wanted though." The guy said and then as I flicked the cigarette down to the ground, I was hoping that this action would be enough to make this guy go away and leave me alone, as for some reason, I was finding myself really not in the mood to deal with a rich fuck boy, which he clearly was.

He looked up at me and he smiled. "I have to admit, I like your attitude. A little rebellious. I don't mind that stuff. In fact, I actually kind of like it. Makes the job more fun." Then as he said that, he held out his hand and there was something about the way he was doing it that made the entire situation hard to resist. I shook it, despite the fact that I had wanted to do the exact opposite. "My name is Jimmy White. I am the mayor here. I have been mayor since the start of this year, and it seems like I can't go a week without hearing about this Sheldon guy." I was then starting to worry a bit more. He knew who I was, and this was already a really big weakness of mine. I was thinking on how he was going to be able to win if he was able to press any further at this.

"I guess that the people from Wayside like to put up some false rumors around me." I said, trying to make it sound like I didn't give a damn. In all reality, I was scared out of my mind. I was thinking about the best way to get myself out of what was to come next. Jimmy White shook his head.

"Young man, I don't care for any of that stuff. I don't care about rumors. I only care for solid and hard facts. And I think that is why we need to meet up soon. I want to discuss a lot of business deals with you. Surely you must be well versed in all of that stuff, and I think that you can hold your own in a meeting with me." As Jimmy White said this, the confusion that I had in me was slowly turning into anger. I was thinking that this guy had a lot of balls for coming here so out of nowhere and acting like he fucking owned the place. Sure, he was the mayor, and sure the mayors had a bit of an authority, but my god this guy looked like he was going to be a fucking tool.

"You know, even if I had wanted to meet you, I can't. I have a lot of work to do and I have twelve hour shifts, I can't really waste my time with that stuff." I said, and then I was starting to open my car door, hoping to get the signal across that this conversation was fucking over.

"You know young man, I think you can be able to request a couple of days off. You have been working here for almost nine months now. If your boss doesn't give you at least one day off, then that is not my problem. Well, I want to still meet up with you because we have some very interesting things to discuss, and I think that you will be the only one who can help me figure these things out." Jimmy White said, and then he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and then wrote down a time and a message for me.

"We should have this appointment. Please, don't leave me hanging. If you do, I am going to just look for you anyways and make you have it with me. So for both our sakes, and to make this ten times easier, just come to the fucking meeting. It really won't be all that big of a deal." Jimmy White said and then he was looking right at me, as if trying to see my expression.

"What if it turns out that this is not the thing that you expected. That you end up feeling like this appointment was a waste of time?" I asked, hoping that this would be the turn out that it would be, but a part of me was thinking that it sadly would not be.

"Trust me young man, nothing is a waste of time when you are me. Everything I do is planned out with extreme caution, and I will never waste my time in my life. To even suggest a thing is totally stupid for you. I am sorry if I offend you when I say that, but I am the mayor and I have a lot of things to do. I can't go around 'wasting time' as you call it." After Jimmy White said that, I was trying to detect the look on his face and what he was thinking, despite it being impossible with how illusive he was being.

"What if you don't plan this out enough? I mean, I'm not saying I am going to be lying to you, but for all you know, there could be a chance that I am doing just that. That I am not actually giving you the information that you wanted." I said and then Jimmy White seemed to think that I was giving myself too much credit, and he was clearly thinking that I was giving myself too much of an advantage over him and that I was not nearly as traversed on this as I may have thought that I actually was.

"I know when you are lying. I have a really good way of telling when people are not being honest with it. It is not really all that hard to be totally honest with you." Then after he said that, he patted my shoulder and then he got in the car. "I do trust you enough to make the right choice. I doubt that you are really that stupid to not follow what you are being told to do by your own mayor. If you are, then you already have no hope in your life."

Eventually, he started to drive away and I was annoyed as shit with him. I was already thinking that it would be a miracle if he was not mayor anymore. I was thinking that even if he wasn't really corrupt or anything like that in which Misty was thinking, that he was annoying and that he better made a really good case when we meet up. As I looked at the note I saw that it said 'February 27th 1964, 4:00 pm.' I was wondering why it had the year on it. Then I was thinking that he was expecting himself to have this job long term and that this was going to be his way of keeping record of every single thing that he was doing, like a fucking stalker. Then once I was in my car, I started to smoke the next cigarette and I drove home.

I had eight days to decide if I wanted to have this meeting or not. Even though I didn't want this meeting, and I was thinking about how it would be a miracle to get myself out of it, there was still a part of me that was telling myself that in all reality, this wouldn't really be all that bad. I was telling myself that this was just going to be a short one or two hour meeting with the mayor and maybe he was just doing a safety check. Maybe he really was not all that bad of a guy and that I was being too hard on him. I was just really trying to find anything that would make him sound a little bit better in my eyes than what I had him as.

But then I was thinking that maybe my father told him about me and that Jimmy White was just making sure that I was not this horrible monster or anything like that. I was thinking that if this was the case, that if anything it was good that he was giving me this chance, and that way I can debunk any crazy rumors that there were going around about me. I thought about what people in town must have already been thinking about me if this was the truth, and that these were rumors about me and that I was going to have to get ready to give the people who spread them hell. I was going to defend myself to the end on those things, even if it was the last thing that I could do.

When I was thinking about there was a ever so slight chance that if anything, Jimmy White might be able to help me out, that was when I decided that even if I didn't like it all that much, and even if I was going to be proven wrong, I needed to go and see what was the point of this meeting. I decided that even if it was a terrible idea, and a idea that could possibly be more dangerous than good for me, it was the thing that for my own personal sake, I needed to do. I just hope that Jimmy White was at least somewhat of a decent guy, and that he would have actually been able to help me out.

The next seven days went by and on the second to last day before the meeting, I met up with Sam for a while and we were hanging out. The hang out was a lot of fun and I indeed did not regret hanging out with him at all. But when it came down to the business that I knew I wanted to talk to him about, there was a huge part of my mind that was going to be dreading this entire moment. "So Sam, I met this guy named Jimmy White. You know, the new mayor, and despite the warnings that Misty gave me, I actually decided to set up a meeting with him. We are going to be meeting tomorrow. Can you promise not to be telling Misty this at all? I really don't want her to find out what I am doing" I said, and I was totally feeling like a douche bag when I was saying this, and the more that I was getting to know Misty, the more that I was getting hurt by the fact that I was going to do this. The more that I knew that I was truly betraying her, and the fact that if she found out what I was doing, she was going to lose any trust that she had in me, and despite the fact that I hated to admit it, the more that I think that perhaps I did deserve it. That I did deserve the rejection that she going to give me when she finds out about this.

"You know, you are a grown man. You need to try this out. If you feel like meeting Jimmy White is the best thing that you can do for yourself, for whatever reason, then you should do it and not let anybody else tell you not to do this, even if I wouldn't talk to him personally. But only because I barely even know him, so there is really no purpose for him to meet me at all." As Sam told me this, I was wishing that there was more he could say for me rather than just this. I was starting to feel like the more that I exposed this stuff to him, the more that he was also going to lose trust in me as well.

"I just have a lot of stuff that happened back when I was at Wayside, and I am not going to let that shit ruin my life anymore. I fucking refuse to let that ruin my life now. I am going to talk to him, and I hope to god that he has a way of changing things for me. I really hope that he understands what I need in my life, and that he will be able to help me out more than anything else. If he can help me out, then everything would be so much better." I said, and I was just desperate, and I was wondering if this was the way to do it, and I was also telling myself that this was better than letting people sit around and judge me when they find out what happened at the end of the day.

"I don't really know everything that is going on with you and Wayside, and honestly, I doubt that it really is any of my business to know. But I do know what that place did to my younger brother Ken, and knowing that, I feel like perhaps you are going to be the one who is justified in what you are doing. Sure, it may be hard for her to handle the news, but I think that this is when you come clean to her and you really explain everything that went behind your choice, and then I will feel like once you guys talk it out for a while, she will start to perhaps forgive you a bit." As Sam told me this, I thought about what happened on that final day at Wayside. I was thinking about what I knew of Ken, or what I knew of him as Kevin, and there was the part of me that was thinking that maybe if something did happen to him, that it was entirely my fucking fault and that I should be ashamed of myself. Because I told him off basically. Because I told him that I wanted nothing to do with him.

I was going to keep that information to myself. Despite the fact that I felt like Sam deserved to know what happened, and I was thinking that he would like to know the truth, I could not get myself to openly say it right there.

"I think that once people just start getting deep in what is going on at Wayside, they will start to realize that it isn't really the beacon of hope that people think it is. But maybe that is good for the marketing. Making people believe in something that it is not. I guess that maybe I do know what it is like to run a business there. I mean, I saw my dad do it for a few years, and he talked to me about it a couple of times. But in hindsight, he wasn't really doing it for love or for getting to know me, but he was doing it to spread the evil towards me, and to try and get me to follow his example. Nothing that he did was out of love for me." I said, and then I was thinking on how it was like to really let the fact that my father was just using me sink in. That was really all there was to it. He had used me, and I was his slave. Even though he was not around anymore, and I hadn't seen him in almost a year, I was telling myself that he did indeed win the battle. He fucked up my entire perception of life, and he ruined any hope that I had in the world.

Eventually, Sam decided to speak up again. "The only problem I can see out of you talking to Jimmy White is that you might start to realize that maybe you were not setting yourself up for something that you would come out as the winner from. You might start to see that you were cheated out on. Do you think that this could be possible?" Sam asked me, and then I was thinking about that, and while I didn't want to admit that it was possible, a part of me deep down knew that it was true.

"Well, even if he is using me right now, all I need to do is just leave and act like we never really had any business with each other. If I can cut ties with him, and make it very clear that it is over, then he will see that he failed at getting me to join his side. Then perhaps he might start to see that he might have to change his style. I doubt that it really will work that way, and to be honest, I don't even think that it matters, I will just talk to him." I said, and then after I told Sam what my plans were, I was starting to think that maybe this was right.

But I think that both Sam and I knew that this was not going to be close to being this easy. That in all reality, we both knew that this was going to be water that I was going to have to tread very carefully on. But I didn't really have any idea what the hell I was going to do if I was wrong. "You should just relax a bit. Just think about the life that you do have. Think about what is being offered to you. Think about the world that we have in front of us. Do you really want to mess up all of that?" Sam asked, and I was wondering what he was talking about. I was confused as to what he thought that Tremorton had to offer that Wayside didn't. I was then thinking that maybe if for nothing else, there was not really a corrupt society. Or at least I was hoping that it was not a corrupt society.

"We will see just how this place really is." I decided, and I felt like this was the best I could be able to get out of this. And we were looking forward and I was thinking about the meeting that I was going to have with Jimmy White that next day.

Eventually, the meeting with Jimmy White took place and I drove right to the mayor's office. I was telling myself to just turn him down if it looked like he was leading me down a path that I was not going to like. That it was really going to be much easier than I would think that it would be. I walked out of my car and I went right inside of his office. I saw that Jimmy was waiting for me, and he was smiling the entire time I was sitting myself down, and he knew that he was going to get right into the business offering.

"You know, I was starting to think that you were not going to actually show up. Maybe I did not really give you enough credit. But I guess that it doesn't really matter anymore. We might as well get right down to the discussion." Jimmy White said and then I nodded, thinking that it was nice that if for nothing else, we were getting right down to the point of things.

"Well, I was wanting to talk to you a certain business offer that I have. The thing is, I am a little bit worried about your friend Misty. I don't really know if she is going to be as safe as she may think she will be. She is doing a lot of things that I think you should be watching her on." Jimmy White said and genuinely confused but also annoyed that he was not talking about my life at Wayside and concerned for my friend Misty, I asked my next question.

"Wait, what is she doing that worries you so much?" I asked, thinking that this was just going to be a way for me to get to know Misty a little bit better, and that if anything, I was actually doing the only right thing by talking with him and seeing what he had to say.

"Well, I think that she is starting to investigate stuff like the town and what is going on in it. She probably thinks that there is a bunch of crime and corruption going on. Not only is it a dumb as shit idea for her to be doing this when she is only fourteen, I want to be able to show her that she is wrong about the fears that she has. Nothing is wrong here. This town is being run very well." Jimmy White said, and then he held his hands up away from each other for a few seconds. "Look, this is a very simple task that I want you to do, and I am not even really asking you to compromise their friendship at all."

"Well, what exactly are you wanting me to do?" I asked, and I felt like this was the worst thing I would have ever done in my entire life. The fact that I was actually considering bringing this whole thing with my friend group down just because I felt like I was able to play god with my friends a little bit more.

"Well, I think that you should just check up on Misty and her group of friends and make sure that she is not doing anything too extreme. Just to make sure that she is being safe, and that she is not getting into stuff that really is not her business at all. Then once every month, just come by and update me and tell me how they are doing." Jimmy said and then he added in "I will even throw in a cash prize in there. An extra thousand dollars a month for you. Think about that. That is more than what you are earning in the entire month that you are working at the gas station, and that is with you actually taking twelve hour days. You would be an idiot to not accept the offer."

"You know, I don't want to do this. However..." I said, and I was thinking about the money. He was right, this was a lot of money, and it was really going to change my entire social standing, and it was really going to make me in a better place as a whole. I was thinking that if the updates were simple and nothing more than just a few sentences, that this was going to be no big deal.

"Yeah sure, I guess I will accept it. I really do need that money. That money can get me a long way." I said, and then after I said this, I was holding my and out to Jimmy White, this time with the roles reversed. Jimmy White smiled and then he shook my hand and then we were looking at each other for a moment, wondering where this business was going to take us. I was thinking about how I was going to be there for Misty, and I was going to make her see the virtues of this place, and that this place really was not all that bad. I was thinking that this was something she would need, and something I could be able to provide for her.

"We are going to have a long and great career together. I can just fucking see it." Jimmy smiled the entire time that he was saying this, and I was actually believing in him. I was starting to think that maybe this was the guy who can turn things around here, and that I just needed to really give him another chance beyond what I gave him at that moment at the gas station. I was just thinking that he was a hard pitcher and that I was not that good of a catcher.

"Thanks for the meeting. I will update you in a month." I said, and then I walked right out of the office, and I was thinking that this was going to be the turning point in my life. I was thinking that this was the one thing that I did right, the one thing that I could be proud of. Being there for Misty, and being there to make sure that she was fine. I knew that this was the best that I could do, and that this was the only thing that was going to redeem myself in her eyes.

I eventually came home that night and once inside, I took out a cigarette and then smoked it. Then I was looking at the LSD, and I strongly considered taking it. But I was thinking that maybe there needed to be something else that could justify this and would need to show up to make the use of that actually worth it. So instead, I took out some heroin and started to smoke it. I knew that I was really messing myself up by not injecting and instead just smoking it, but I didn't really care.

As I was laying down on the bed, and I was letting the drugs sink into my body, slowly killing me a little bit more, I was thinking about how great it was to have a mayor that really cared about the town, and how nice it was to have a mayor that was at least not as bad as the sheriff from Wayside. Then I was telling myself that it was impossible to be worse than him, and that to be worse than hm would mean that he was literally satan reincarnate. I was seriously convinced that the sheriff was that bad, and that he was the worse one of them all by that much of a margin, that I was too dumb to consider anything else. I didn't know any better, I had no idea what I was going to be getting myself into when I was telling myself that. I had no idea how much in the end, he would be somebody that I would almost miss by comparison.

As I was sleeping, I was feeling so calmed and I was feeling like the entire world was a better place. I had felt like everything was finally right for me. That I finally did one right thing in my entire life. I felt like this was the only good thing that I could ever be able to do. I was not really sure why I was thinking that he was able to bring me this much hope, but maybe I was just beyond despair. I was thinking that this was going to be the one thing in my life that would have been good.


	73. Making a Tough Friendship

Part 3: Making a Tough Friendship

It was really hard to be able to get Edward to trust me, and in a way I thought that it was never going to fucking happen. I just thought that he was going to hate me forever, or at the very least not fully trust me and look like he was always going to keep an eye out on me. I guess I couldn't really blame him. After all, I was this guy who had been hyping up all of these terrible fucking things that I had done in the past for several days, and then I was supposed to come out as this guy who everybody was going to trust? No. That simply was just not how life worked at all. If anything, it was strange how accepting Sam and Misty were of me right away. I was thinking that if anything, they were the misinformed ones here.

But it was something that I was going to try and do. I was wanting to have Edward trust me, since I didn't really want to have somebody in my life who never trusted me, and always was looking out to make sure that I was not going to stab him behind the back. I wanted to at least have some toxicness of this place removed before we really went too deep into this whole thing.

So that was how I ended up finding myself in this situation. A situation where Edward and I were actually going to be hanging out, and a situation where I was hoping I can get to know him well enough to where I could feel like I would be able to open up about him over what is going on with the deal that I had made with Jimmy White and everything. I felt like he was the only one that I would really be able to trust telling this to, because I felt like he would be able to tell me what he truly thought and he would not be scared to reject anything I said in case he found it to be total bullshit. I was expecting him to keep it real with me, and that was what I really needed here more than anything else.

When I was at work one day, I saw Edward coming into the store. He was used to the fact that I was going to be the worker there at the time, and this was when he seemed to like me the most, because there was nothing that I could do to him that would be able to compromise my image to the entire town. He was feeling like this was the only place he would be able to actually trust me and where I could be able to trust him.

"Hey, I know that you don't really like me all that much, and I know you certainly would rather not be around me. I get that, and I do understand where you are coming from. Believe it or not, I really actually do. But I was wondering if maybe we could start to talk with each other more, and get to know each other better, so we can clear some of that fog up with each other, and you can start to trust me more, and I can start to trust you more." I said, and I was looking right at Edward, hoping that he would go along with it, and that he was actually sort of thinking on the same lines as I was. I was thinking that all I needed to do was just break through to him a little bit, and then we would be fine.

As Edward was looking at me, I was seeing that he was clearly considering this idea, and he was clearly thinking about the positives that it would be able to bring. "Yeah sure, I guess that there is nothing wrong with that. But I am still a little bit curious to see what you are really going to do. I am just worried that you sort of have something up your sleeves, and that you are sort of waiting to pull it out. But who knows, maybe I am wrong. Maybe I should just give you a proper chance to show that you are not the guy that I am fearing that you are." The more that Edward was talking, the more that I was seeing that he was actually if anything starting to kind of like the idea. I was then thinking that this was all that I needed. All I needed was just to implant the idea in his mind, and then I could be able to start to turn things around with this guy. It was perfect. It was going to be the best thing that happened to me so far in this town with the exception of being able to actually make some friends with Sam and Misty at the very least.

"Well, what would be a good time for that for you? I am pretty much free every day after my shift. I sadly don't really have a life outside of work." I said, and as I was thinking to myself this, I was wondering if it was really all that sad after all, or if I was just sort of thinking like a natural person, and that was something that I sadly do not really think I would be ready for.

"I think that I would do it on Sunday." Edward said, and today was Friday. I was thinking that this was going to be a good time, and then I was wondering if perhaps he was going to use these couple of days to really get something going where he would be able to watch over me, and have some form of a back up in case I did try and pull something out at him. He was probably just trying to be as safe as humanly possible, and I couldn't even really blame him for this. I was just thinking to myself that it would have been much better if I never got myself into this type of situation, where I had to worry about what he was thinking about me, and I told myself that it kind of sucked that this was my life at that moment. Where no matter how hard I tried, I was never going to be able to really come off as a trustworthy guy or somebody would anybody would be able to trust. I felt like it was something that was sort of setting me up for failure. But then I was thinking that this was just a part of life, and it was a part of the life that I got myself into even if I had not liked the life itself.

"I think that it is just the way that you present yourself that gets to me. If that makes any sense. The way that you just give off the general vibe is strange to me, and I don't really think that I am able to fully be comfortable with something like that. No offense, but I just don't really know." After Edward said that, I was then thinking about about the fact that this was probably something that I picked up from my father. A general uneasiness that I give people. I had wondered if there ever was going to be anything that I would be able to say for myself, and to make him see that this was not how I was.

But despite how much I was wanting to prove to him that I was not this guy, I was thinking to myself that I was never going to be able to convince him. It is really hard to change first impressions, and if this was already the first impression he got of me, then there was nothing I was going to be able to change about it.

I just thought that it was just in general very sad that my life was limited down to this. I was limited down to something of a game of trust. I had to earn the trust of this guy, when with Misty and Sam they were able to sort of give it to me. I didn't really know what made them so willing to trust me right away though. I think that maybe they saw that maybe I wasn't really all that bad of a guy, and that I was the type of person who was at least aware of his mistakes.

"Well, I will try to change that. I am sorry if that bothers you though. I really don't want to be like that to you." I said, and I was actually meaning it. Edward left the store, and then I was thinking about one other thing. I was thinking about if Misty was going to feel better about the progress that I was going to try and make with Edward. I sure as hell was hoping that she would appreciate that and feel better about it.

But as I was feeling like maybe there was going to be something else that I would have to do besides one hang out with Edward to make things better, I was telling myself that it was a risk that i was going to have to take, and that it was something that I just needed to do no matter what the cost really was.

The next couple of days passed by sort of like a blur. I was really not even paying all that much attention anymore. I was just focused on how I was going to be able to get Edward to trust me, to break through to him and make him see that I am not a bad guy. And I was also not wanting to come off as pushy, as I was worried that this could have been the worst thing that I would be able to do with somebody. Just make them feel like I was trying too hard. But then when it was right at the end of my shift Sunday, and Edward walked in, I was telling myself to just take it easy. I saw him looking right at me and I could tell that he was mostly much calmer, at least enough to where it looked like he was not wanting to get at our throats with each other. I thought that maybe Edward was already starting to warm up to this idea more than I had thought he would. That would be good, as that would make things much easier to do with him as we started. I was thinking about what Edward would even like to do. "Well, since you said there is nothing that you really do, want to get into some trouble?" Edward asked, and then as I was thinking about it, despite the common sense part of me saying no and to not do something this stupid, the general teenage male part of me was screaming to do this and that it would be the best night in the world.

"Fuck yeah I do. What do you want to do?" I asked as I took out a cigarette and started to smoke it. As I was looking at Edward, I was looking to see what he was thinking, and I was wondering what he was piecing together in his mind. I was starting to think that whatever he had in store for me was going to be really fucking awesome.

"Well, I got some fire crackers at the back of my car. I think that they might be fun to set off. Do you have any idea where they might be best to set off?" Edward asked, and then I was thinking about it. I was not really sure if this was the best place per se, but it was one that I really wanted to do ever since I saw it earlier, and I did think that it was going to be a relatively fine place to do this.

"Well, let's go to the fucking soccer field. I think we might as well try and see what it would be like to set off some fire works there." I said, and then after I said that, I started to look right at Edward and I was waiting to see what he was going to say to this idea. I was hoping that he was going to say yes.

He seemed to be thinking about it for a couple of seconds, as if trying to decide if this was something that he wanted to do or not, but then as he was thinking about what it would be like to just be a bit of a trouble maker, he was thinking that it was something that was worth giving a shot. "Yeah, let's fucking do it." Edward said and then I was totally ready for it. I was totally ready for what was going to be coming up next. So with that, Edward started to drive as fast as he could down the road all the way to the soccer field. I was really able to tell that he was really wanting to get down to the really important stuff, and that he was just more excited than anything else to be doing this.

As the car was getting faster, I was starting to set back in the seat and I was starting to feel the rush of what he was doing sink in. I was loving the rush and having it was making it all ten times better. I was thinking about how much the rush was able to really add to the experience of getting in trouble and going against the law. That was one of the best part of all the drugs that I was taking, the fact that they were against the law and I was thinking about going against the rules and how awesome it actually was to put up my middle finger at the law. In a way, I was sort of like my father in that regard. Damn, I was much more like my father than I was ever really wanting to admit.

The more that I was breaking things down in my mind, the more that I was thinking about what it would be like for my father to see me again. Maybe he would actually start to like me more, seeing the stuff that I was doing with these people, the trouble that I was causing. If anything, this was going to be the only thing he would like about me, I was thinking to myself. It was the only thing about what I was like that he felt like he could take pride in his son for. Which is strange since if Riley was like that, he would have grounded her until the end of time. But then I was just thinking about the fact that this was all apart of his game, and this was the way he liked to get me to think that I was not a bad guy.

When I thought on what my father would be saying, he looked right at me. "You know, I think that we should set off every single one of them. Create as much of a scene as possible. Make people as annoyed with us as possible. That way everybody knows what we are doing. I mean, you live alone, so you won't get in trouble with your parents or anything. My parents would be defending me, saying that it is just the way that teen boys act."

I was happy to see him thinking like me. "You know, I like your way of thinking. How many of these things do you have?" I asked, and then I was watching him think about it for a moment, and he was trying to come up with a rough estimate in his mind. I was really excited to see what he was going to be saying, and I was wanting to see how much we could really be able to pull off with this amount. I thought about what it would be like to literally break the law so badly that we would be having the police right at our doors, and basically telling us that if we did this again, we were going to go to prison forever.

I mean, I was already almost eighteen, and that was just going to be a few months away. Well, about ten or eleven months away, since I was born near the end of the year. And that if I got in trouble and got sent to juvy, that I would have at most ten months to go and then I would have to be released with a clean record and a new chance at life to prove myself as a reformed man, or whatever people were wanting to think of me. I didn't really know how it all worked, I just knew the basics of it all.

Eventually, we had reached the soccer field and then once we were there, we were out of Edward's car and then he grabbed every single one of the fire crackers. I saw them though, and I saw that they were in a bunch of packs, probably five or six. I was then thinking that this was going to set the field on fire. Then I started to think to myself that maybe this was not a bad thing. Just burning this whole thing down, and then we would be able start to rebuild and renew everything in this entire section of the town. It was looking like it was getting worn down anyways. Like it was time for a revamp now. I was then thinking about how if anything, this was actually going to be doing the town favors. Then when I thought about that, I looked at Edward again. I was wondering if he was thinking the same thing that I was thinking.

I was having a hard time figuring out what he was thinking actually. In fact, it was almost impossible for me to figure out what he was thinking. I guess he was still deciding on if he was enjoying this whole set up or if he was thinking this was a huge mistake. I guess he just needed a bit of time before he really came to a conclusion of his own. Not that I really blamed him. I just wished that I was able to get him to like me sooner. But I was telling myself that this was not really what was important.

Once we were inside of the field, I saw Edward taking out the piles and laying them all down on the ground. I was looking right at Edward as he was standing every single one of them up. I was then taking out a cigarette and then I was smoking it, just sort of waiting casually for him to get that done with, and I was honestly more just wanting to get right down to business. As I was smoking the cigarette, I was then thinking about what it would be like to smoke a bit more with Edward or somebody else in my friend group. The only person who did it my friend group that I knew of was Dakota, and for all I knew, he could have decided to quit after the whole labyrinth experience. Maybe he was caring about other people, and trying to make sure that they were safe like a person my age should be doing, but I was doing sort of the exact opposite of since I was really not focused on the important issues of life anymore. As I was thinking about the fact that I was not really keeping my eye on the things that really did matter, I told myself that I needed to stop thinking so much about it.

When my cigarette was near the end of its life, I saw that Edward was holding his hand out. He was wanting me to give him my lighter to set them off. I then spit the cigarette out of my mouth and then I handed Edward the lighter. Once he had the lighter in his hands, he flicked it twice to get the flame going and then he was standing back and then he was watching as the fire cracker was setting off. The first one went up and started to make a bunch of noises that it normally would. Then Edward turned right towards me. "You know, we still have a lot of these to do. Are you sure that you want to do them all?" After Edward asked this, I nodded in approval and then I was thinking about what this was actually going to be like. What it was going to be like to just create a huge fucking case. Create such a strong problem that nothing anybody did here would be able to fix this place up.

Then as I was thinking about this, I set the lighter down on the fuse and then I saw it go down the string. When it was at the end, and it set off, I saw the fire cracker fly across the field and it actually hit the rim of the field. I was then looking at Edward to see if he had any reaction to the moment, or if he didn't pick up what I was trying to do at that moment. It had looked like he was slightly oblivious to the whole situation, and I was thinking that it was kind of a shame how he didn't see what I was wanting to do. But then I was telling myself that this was probably for the best, since I could create more of a scene.

Eventually, as the moment was over, Edward went next and then I would go after him. We were going back and fourth on each one until we were at the end, and I was seeing that as time was going by, that Edward was not really even minding the whole situation anymore. If anything, he was happy to see what we were doing, and he was happy to sort of be seeing that in his mind, that he could have been wrong about me. That he didn't need to be so harsh on me right at the start, and that I was an okay guy. Again, that was what I was thinking that he was like with the look on his face. If it wasn't like that, and there was something else he was thinking, he was doing a good job hiding it, and he was doing a good job making it look like we were still on good terms with each other, and that we could be friends.

The entire experience of setting off every single one of them took about an hour or so. I was thinking that all of these were going to really leave a dark mark on the field. I was seeing that the entire field was pretty much covered with burn marks, and that was showing that I did indeed do to some extent what I was wishing we would do. Then when we were done with that, I was sitting down at one of the bleachers of the field. It was around this point when I was starting to feel like I could be able to maybe have a bit more of a serious conversation with the guy, and that I could start to be able to open up to him more about what I was actually thinking. "You know, I wish that we can do this more. I know that you are still probably scared to be around me, and I sort of see why, but there really is nothing about this that I totally hated. I mean, you seem like a pretty chill guy to be totally honest." I said, and I was waiting for his response.

"Yeah, I mean you just look like the type of bloke who would like to get in trouble, and I was thinking that maybe you would like to do something like that. It seems like I was mostly right about my assumptions. Now I just wish that I still had other people who would like to do this type of stuff with me. It does get kind of boring only doing this on my own, I am not going to lie." Edward said, and I was thinking about it a bit.

"I guess I can see how it would not be as fun if you were alone. But I had a decent time with, and I am assuming that you liked it as well." I said, hoping that he would say yes and that would show that I was finally starting to break through with him. Even when I was saying this though, there was still a part of me that was thinking that I needed to do more than just have one good moment with him and one good hang out session with him totally think that we were on the right track again.

"Yeah, I think that it was a cool night. I mean, I guess you aren't so bad, when you aren't giving off that vibe that you want to kill somebody." After Edward said that, he was looking at me as if he was hoping that I didn't really take offense to that or anything. I mean, he wasn't really that far off though was the thing. I have killed multiple people as much as it is crazy for me to admit and as much as I hated to admit it, I had done more than just Garrett. I did not regret Garrett at all, but who knows, maybe those other people I had a chance of saving, but I didn't really go with it. But I told myself not to live in the past anymore, and just to look at the future ahead of us.

"I just wish that life was easier than it is. I mean, it is the biggest pain in the ass, and there is nothing easy about anything going on here. I feel like it is a fight just to survive for me." I said, and then I was wondering if Edward was feeling that way. I then told myself that he couldn't, because he didn't know what I had to go through. "I just feel like every single day, I am having to put in my best effort to just to even be alive in a way. I know that it sounds like a hyperbole, and in a way, it kind of is, but it isn't entirely one either. There is a level of truth to this whole thing, and I just wish that there really wasn't." I wished that there would be one day in my life where I didn't feel like I was going to be tracked down by my father at any second.

After this, I was starting to become a bit more of the watcher that I should have been, and I was actually doing the one thing that I had needed to do right from the start. I was looking right at Edward. I was feeling like now that it had been some time, that I was actually ready to do the one thing that I needed to, and that was actually trying to be the responsible adult. Yeah I know, the idea of me being the responsible adult is actually kind of funny, but every once in a while I did indeed get right in that mode. "You know, I think that your parents really don't know what is going on here, and that they should be aware of what you are doing. They need to see that not everything you are doing is perfect." I said, and while Edward looking pissed at me, I could see that there was just the part of me that was just trying to be responsible with the way that I was looking at things now. I was trying to actually pull something good together, and that I was not being a total loser now.

"I know that this sounds like the total opposite of what I had been saying earlier, but holy shit I don't want to imagine what it would be like if your parents find out what you have been doing, and then they throw away anything that you have your life. They start to punish you very badly for just being a normal fucking guy. I don't really want something like that to happen to you, but I have a feeling that this is exactly what can happen. But considering the things that I have been getting myself into and how much how I have fucked up my life, I am starting to think that maybe this is the best route to go for you. That this is the one thing that you should be doing. You should be letting your parents find out, so they act like this, and therefore you could have somebody there for you who can actually put you back in shape." I said, and I was giving no shits what he was going to say, and I was giving no shits if he was going to lose any trust that he had left in me. I was feeling like I needed to say this, and that I needed to try and turn things around. That I needed to try and make Edward live a life of actual responsibility. I knew that in all reality, it really was none of my business, but I was growing more and more scared of what would happen with him.

"Well, I think that they wouldn't really care even if they did know. And I mean I do think that they would try and fight me for the idea of stopping, and I would be thinking that they would fight me very much on making me stop, but holy shit I doubt that they would ever really go all that far in it. I think they are able to recognize that they will not change my life. In the end, the things I do are my choice, and I think that they must be seeing that now. That all of these things are just simply my choice." Edward said, and I was thinking that maybe he was glad that this was the case. That he was able to think that in all reality, these things were just sort of his choice, and that even his parents were not going to be fighting him anymore on these things.

"You know, I just don't really even care about what people think about me anymore. I know that people think my life styles suck, and I know that people want me to stop, but in all reality, I don't give a single fuck. I just don't really care what happens to me anymore. I am going to eventually die anyways, so there is no real point in trying to fight that death. I am going to embrace it, and given the things going on in my life, in a way, I am going to actually slowly speed up the whole process. I am actually thinking that my death would be a welcome surprise. I am trying to get myself safe, and I am trying to survive, but who really even knows how much more time that I have left." I said, and then I was thinking about how even though there was a part of me that was thinking a lot about death, that I was not at all ready to do something like that quite yet. I was not at all ready to accept my death. That was the one thing that I was not really at that point of yet, no matter how much I was telling myself how much I wanted or needed this.

The more time that passed after I started to get these thoughts, and how much of a fucking coward that I was for not really getting to do the things that I felt like I needed to do, I looked right at Edward. "But I fucking hate the rejection that people have been giving me. I am hating everything about that stuff. I am not getting anything that I feel to really pull this stuff around. Like holy shit, I tell myself all of these things that I should be telling myself, and then I lose everything. I lose every single little thing that I have going for me." I then was wondering if there was anything that I would be able to really do in order to really turn things around and to actually if anything look like I was being presentable.

"You know, sometimes people just don't really know what they are capable of until they realize what they can't do. I mean, I think that this is a relativey reasonable thing for you to say. I mean, there are some things that I thought I could be ready to do, but in hindsight I realize that I was in no way ready for. But in all reality, I don't really even think that it matters all that much." Edward was sort of feeling like he was able to be more open about these things, and then after he was thinking about these things, I wondered what he had set up for himself that he realized he was not going to get.

"Well in all reality, I just really think that I was ready to go after certain ambitions of my life, and the life that I thought that I was ready to get into it, but in all reality, when looking back at it, that I am not really ready for. In all truth, it is fine that I was not really ready for something like this. I was not really to talk to the people that I care the most about to try and get them to date me. I don't even know if people will want to date me until they are the ones who approach me and talk with me." After Edward was being more open about how he was feeling, the more that I was thinking we were starting to form a bit of a bond.

"You know, when we really get beyond the strange uneasiness that we have with each other, I think that you are a mostly well rounded guy. I mean, you understand what you are unsure of, you understand what you want to accomplish in life, and you seem to be perfectly in acceptance of these things." After I had said that, I was thinking that all of these things were placed into a well rounded talk.

I mean, it wasn't anything like the actual conversations that I have been able to have with Sam, pretty much right after we had started to talk with each other, but I think that these were at least enough to make these things actually worth it on small doses.

"I think that when you are not showing your creepy side, and you are simply just not really the strangest guy in the world, I think that you are not all that bad of a guy either. I mean, sure you aren't like my best friend or anything like that, but I think I can at least be able to be in the same room as you without thinking that you are going to kill me." After Edward said that, we were both thinking about how much that statement had actually meant something. When I was hearing him say that, I was able to tell that he was really meaning it. That was not scared to do something like that to me in case he was thinking that I was not really the type of nice guy that I was trying to make myself out to be.

I was wondering what was going to happen next, and I was wondering where this conversation was actually going to go. Even though I was telling myself that I never even cared all that much. That I was going to just let these things roll as they did, but then as I was thinking about that, a part of me really did care what he was going to say about me, and what he thought of me. "We should probably get the hell out of here, you know to make people not really see what we are doing right now." I said and then I stood up. I was just staring at the night sky, but only for a moment this time as I was just thinking about how this yet another day that Riley was going to miss. As I was thinking about how this was yet another day that Riley would miss, I was telling myself that I needed to accept the fact that she was gone and that looking back at it, and that missing her all the time was not going to change a damn thing in the entire world. I was seeing Edward stand up. It looked like Edward was aware of what I was thinking, and he was aware of the fact that I was right.

"Yeah, even though I say that I doubt my parents would care, I am more worried about the police. We had our moment, and it was a lot of fun, but I don't really want to be risking this any further either." As Edward said this, I was wondering how awesome it would have been if we were able to do all of these things, and then get away with it because we were not around to get caught by anything. We walked out of the soccer field and then at the end of the field, I took out another cigarette and started to smoke it. As I smoked it, I was wondering if Edward was going to want one, and I was wondering if it was even really all that bad of an idea to let him have one. But I was just worried about the addiction that he was going to get if I let him have one. I was worried about what was going to happen there. I was not really wanting to subject Edward to that. I trusted him too much for that shit. He was too good of a guy for that shit. To go down the path that I willingly put myself into. I even liked to do it.

We were right inside of the car when Edward came in the driver seat. I was thinking about when I should be heading to my house, and when I should try to be going home, and when I should be able to try and get a decent amount of sleep in order to be ready for work that next day. I knew that in all reality, I didn't need to worry about it all that much at that moment, but there was the part of me that was still thinking about that a little bit, just to make sure that I didn't only get like four or five hours of sleep a night or something like that.

Eventually before I had been given too much of a chance to really think about it, Edward was pulling up at the burger place in town. "I'm just really hungry right now, considering the fact that I haven't eaten in a while, and I feel like I need to eat a bit." Edward said, and then as I was thinking about the fact that I am just actually getting something to eat, and that he was probably going to pay for me, I was just thinking that it was nice to get something, although I was telling myself that I needed to get close to the cheapest item on the menu.

Once we were inside of the resturant, and we were looking at the menu, I was seeing the fact that the cheapest item on the menu was just three cheeseburgers, which was three dollars. One dollar for each of them, and I was telling myself that this was a better deal than nothing else. I ordered that and Edward ordered the one dozen deal. I was seeing that it was an item on the menu, and that it was fifteen dollars for a dozen cheeseburgers. As I was thinking about that, I was thinking about the fact that the two of us ordered fifteen fucking cheeseburgers. I was thinking that this was totally over the top, and that this was going to make all of us fucking sick, but it was still sort of funny for us to talk about it in hindsight. It was one of those small things that seemed to be a minor thing at the time, but over time, on the relatively short lasting friendship that we had, that this was a kind of funny event and one of the better events that we had with each other.

We waited for about ten minutes before the food was dropped off and then we got our drinks. I ended up filling it with some mountain dew, and then Edward filled it up with some root beer. Eventually, we went right to the car and then I was looking at the three burgers. Edward pulled another three out of the box and then gave them to me. "You can have those. Since I paid, and these were a part of my dozen deal, I will have other nine." Edward said, and then we were eating them while in the car. As we were eating, I was smoking a cigarette, and we were drinking some soda while going through those burgers. Even though each one of them were probably only six hundred calories a piece, over all, we were pretty much eating a pound of fucking cheeseburgers by the end of the night and I was totally stuffed, considering the fact that I was really not that deep of an eater.

As that was happening, Edward looked right at me. "To be honest, I was not really sure you were going to be able to handle actually eating all of that. I thought that you were going to give up after the third one." Then when this was said, we were both sort of trying to laugh along and we were starting to get close to having a real social interaction.

"Well, I mean, I barely eat all that much, so when I get the chance to eat, I just sort of go all out. I mean, this is going to be the last actual real meal that I am going to be having in a while, so I am going to take advantage of that while I can." I said, and then there was a part of me that was thinking that I needed to get some have saved some of it for a while later. When I was thinking about that, I asked Edward to go through the drive through and we ordered another dozen set, and then I paid for it this time, and then before I could get tempted to eat it, Edward drove me to my house and I placed it on the kitchen counter. "I am going to have those for later tomorrow. I never really was going to say anything about it, but in all reality, I think that it is smarter for me to do this." I said and then after I had said that, Edward was just remaining silent for a bit and then we were starting to drive again.

The entire drive that we had after that was sort of silent. I was wondering where he was going to take me, and I was wondering if I was really even wanting to see this anymore. I was sort of thinking that we should just go back home or something, since there was barely any place left in town. But when I was seeing my surroundings, I was picking it all together. He was actually leading me right towards where he lived. I could not believe that I didn't catch that sooner. But while we were on the way, he dropped me off at the gas station. He told me it was best for us to both drive there so that way we could just go there and then when I was done hanging out with Edward, I would be able to just drive right to where I lived. It was convoluted, but it did make some strange amount of sense. I got right inside of my car, and then I drove to where Edward lived, and Edward was there about ten seconds before me, since I was following him in a relatively close pursuit. Then once we were at his house, we got out and went right inside. Although we were quiet in order to make sure that neither one of his parents were wondering what we were doing.

Once we were inside of the house, the moment started to get more serious. I was thinking more about what it would be like for me to actually have a more serious conversation with Edward. I was wondering if I could start to talk to him about something that had really been bothering me lately, and that once I explained it to him, that maybe he could be able to actually help me out. I was seeing from the look on his face that Edward was sort of seeing what I was thinking, and that he was thinking that maybe he could be able to actually help me out.

"You seem like you want to tell me something. Well, what is it?" Edward asked, and then he was just waiting for me to spit it out. As I had been thinking about what I wanted to tell him, I was just then thinking that I couldn't really understand why I was actually thinking he was a viable option to be telling us this.

"Well, there is something really fucked up that happened before I moved to this town. And I truly mean really fucked up. I don't really even think that you understand how much of it was just a fucking joke in terms of how the world was just wanting to fuck us up." I said, and then I was waiting for what was being shown on Edward's face. I was thinking that he was not really sure what to say.

"Is it something that you really think you would want to talk to me about? I mean, we barely ever really talk to each other." Edward said, and I was seeing that the look on his face was not at all one of gist. I would see from the look on his face that he accepted the fact that I was being one hundred percent serious.

"Well, I will think that you might not be ready to hear this, but I need to express my emotions right now. I feel like I can't really put this off anymore. I feel like I need to talk to somebody about it in order to really restore at least a little bit of my sanity." I said, and I was actually totally meaning it. This had fucked me up so much that I was actually thinking that talking about it would be able to make me feel better.

"My father turned out to be a much worse person than I thought he would be when he was raising me as a child. I had thought that he was a good guy. Somebody who actually cared for his children, somebody who would at least be there for somebody when they were in danger. I thought that he would be there to make me feel better and to make me feel like there was somebody there. But he turned out to be the exact opposite. He turned out to be the guy who if anything was the one causing these problems. He was causing the misery that happened in my life, and if anything, he had actually been happy that he did this. That he was thinking this was one big game, a big game that I was going to lose." I said, and then after I started this, Edward was looking at me as if he was thinking that this was not all that it was, and he was wondering if it really actually was just that, and that it was just something that I desperately needed to move on from.

"You know, I think that in order for you to get it, you would have to have been there and see what happened. But the thing is, I found out that he had been secretly having children ever since we moved to Wayside, and that he had been keeping the fact these children were around away from me. And the worst part was that most of these children were due to rape. Fucking god damn rape, I never thought that my father of all people would have gone down to do that, but now looking back at it, I am not shocked at all." I said, and then when I thought about it, I was wondering if I should tell him about Riley or her child or leave that out of the story forever.

"There was one of his children that really fucked me up. Something that makes me feel like I am totally haunted and that I am really fighting with some demons after I found out about this. I know that this sounds over the top and everything but seriously, when you consider the fact that I had no idea that something like this could even happen, there is nothing that I can do to stop it. I feel like when I found out about what this child had to go through, I am totally convinced my father is a fucking monster. There is one of the children that he had, that is utterly disabled. He has a bunch of health weaknesses and he can barely ever even function and in a way, it might be better if he had never even been born, because at least with that he could be able to spare himself this fucking fate. I wonder what was in my fathers mind to mess with somebody in his family like that. What made him think that it was a good idea to do that. I fucking hate him. He let his power bet to him. He abused it, and he ended up making everybodys life in that family much worse. And he ended up leaving a terrible imprint on my life, because it will be something that I will never be able to move forward from, before I know that this boy will be related to me, and I will know that unlike me, who at least had some chance of living a life, he will never get something like that unless if the medical field advances." I said, and then I was wondering what Edward was going to say, and if he was going to get a reaction out of this at all. There was the part of him that was just simply not really believing what he had heard.

"I mean, I understand the whole your father raped a bunch of people and had children with them. I mean, it sounds strange and I don't get it, but I will believe you. But what I am confused about is the fact that he kept doing this, and you are indicating that he had a child with a woman by incest?" After he had asked me this, I was thinking more on what I had told him, and I was wondering what I could say to make him believe me.

"Well, I was told what family he lives with. If I go and see his family, then maybe I will be able to show you exactly what I am talking about. Maybe when you come with me and meet this person, and you meet his older brother, then you will see that this is not relaly all that shocking. I know where he lives. I heard that he had a older brother named Brad, probably about eleven years old or so. I think that I am going to visit him, and try to be friends with him and see how his family is for the sake of some form of sanity." I said, and then after I had said that, I was wondering what Edward would say.

"But even if this is the truth, do you really think that the family would accept somebody like you coming along and trying to help them out? Do you really think that they would accept the fact that the man who is related to their fucked up son? I mean, they might see that you have noble intentions, but I doubt that they would really jump to letting you in right away." After Edward said, I nodded as I got that.

"But for fuck's sake, I feel like I really need to try. I feel that this is the absolute least that I would be able to do. I feel like this guy needs to have somebody there who will actually bring some sanity to his life. You know, confirmation that not everybody on my side of the family is a total fucking sick head. And maybe if for nothing else, I can help Brad and make him see the values I have, and I can do some things to make him really understand what is good about life, and I can be able to actually protect him. I think that this is what I should at least try to accomplish. Bringing him hope." After I said that, I was wondering what they would say, and I was wondering if Edward would understand my plans.

"I sort of need to see what Brad would feel about me helping him out and everything now. I just wish that Brad needs to see the wrong side of the wrold. But at the same time, he is simply just too young to really get exposed to all of these things in all reality. That is how I feel. But I feel like I just need to let him see what is going on in the world. But then again, I do also feel like maybe he just needs a chance to sort of live a normal life. Maybe a life away from what I had to deal with. I just don't really know how to feel about any of this." I said, and I was seriously just all over the place on if I should be telling Brad any of this stuff.

But then as I was starting to wondering what the hell I should do, I was wondering what Edward was thinking. "I think that at the end of the day, you should try to do the one thing that you feel like is the best thing for you to do. Just go out there, and don't be afraid of what anybody is going to say to you. Just do the one thing that you feel like will maybe if anything, actually save the person that you are talking about. If you feel like you can be able to save Brad and Tuck by doing this, then by all fucking means, go the fuck down there and talk to them as much as you can. Hell if anything, be strict on this. Try your absolute hardest to get them to see the point that you are trying to get across. Maybe after a while, they might actually start to believe in you a little bit more. I mean, even if I don't really fully understand or agree with you, I do feel like you do have the best intentions at heart, and that is the thing that will make me support you, even if I don't agree with you." Edward said, and he was sort of not really believing that he was actually saying that he was thinking that I was doing the right thing. I was thinking that he was still sort of thinking that I was going to be somebody who was going to turn on him, but at the same time, I was thinking that he had sort of accepted the fact that maybe there was a chance that he could have been wrong about me here.

"Wel, I just don't really know what is right. On one hand, for my own sake, to make peace with what happened I feel like telling them is better. But at the same time, if I tell the, I might be worried that I am retroactively making them in danger, and I don't really feel like I will ever really be able to feel at peace over that. The idea of just throwing away any form of safety that they have. It would make me feel like I would have done the one thing that I would never want to do, which was killing them." After I was thinking about the fact that I might be killing them by talking with them, I was starting to get more certain that telling them was the wrong choice.

But at the same time, I wondered if my father was thinking about this, and he was starting to think about the choice that I was going to make, and this was all a part of the game that they were playing with me. I felt like this was all a game that they wanted to play with me, just to see how much I was going to fall into what he had wanted me to.

"Do you really hate your father as much as you have been saying that you do, or are you just sort of acting like this to really prove your point? Do you feel like there is still a small amount of love and respect that you have for him?" After Edward had asked me this question, I was really not sure what the hell I was going to say. I was feeling like there was a bunch of answers that I could give him, and I was feeling like all of them would at least be partial lying and everything.

"Well you know, I don't really think that I have any respect that I used to have for him. That much is for sure. But at the same time, I feel like there is something to the madness that is actually almost worth it. I feel like maybe my father did do a couple of good things. Not enough to make him a good person by any standard of the word, but holy shit, I am still thinking about the fact that he had done all of these things to these girls. The fact that he was making everything all just be for money. But he provided me a decent living situation and despite how much I would hate to admit it, if I followed what he had wanted me to do, then perhaps I would actually have power. I would actually be somebody who would command a decent level of respect. I would be somebody that everybody would be scared about, and while I hate to admit the fact that my father is right, I think that the fear that they would have towards me would make me feel like I was actually superior, and that the idea of feeling superior would be the one thing that would actually be going in my favor. That this would be the one good thing that I could do in my entire life. Well good thing I could do when it comes to my reputation, even if I know that deep down that it is fucking disgusting, but there is a part of me that wonders if I even care about being disgusting." I then started to think about what I was saying, and then I was wondering what I was going to say now.

The more that I was thinking about what I could do to make people understand that I did mean business, the more that I was starting to think exactly like my father. And when I was thinking like my father, the more that I was wondering if perhaps I really was like him. If perhaps I was actually right about him. When I was thinking about the fact that maybe there was a small chance that he was right, there was a part of me that was becoming more and more disgusted over the fact that I was even considering this idea. The fact that I was starting to become more and more certain that everything that he had done was just misunderstood. Well, almost everything.

Every single time that I start to think that maybe he was right and that he was doing the right things, the more that I was starting to think that Riley can keep me in check. It was because of Riley that I was starting to always come back to being real with myself. There was nothing that could justify what he had done with Riley, and she had deserved so much better than that, and there is nothing that would be able to change that at all. She was dead, and she had been abused by her own fucking father. He had been forcing her to see his love for her and he made her entire life retroactively much worse.

I will never forgive him for that reason alone. No matter what I was thinking about everything else, I always get back to that. I always get back to the fact that he was fucked up, and that he should have never done something like that. I told myself that I will want to kill him soon enough. She deserved to fucking die, and that is the one thing that I needed to do in order to feel like I had done something good. I never wanted to kill somebody, but I would certainly change that reservation when it came to my father. He was certainly the exception, and my entire morality system would be thrown out the window when it came to him because he truly did deserve it. "You know, you should also just do the thing that you will like will keep you the most safe. You should never do something if you feel like it will get you in danger, because holy shit that is the worst thing that you can do. You can't keep somebody safe if you can't even keep yourself alive. So think about that before you do anything." After Edward said this, I was then thinking about Dakota a bit and how I could reconnect with him a bit.

As I was pondering these things, and I was starting to think about life I saw that Edward was not really sure what he was going to say next. I was thinking that he was just not really wanting to tell me that he thought that my ideas were just not really going to work. "Honestly, I don't really understand how this is going to work out in your favor. I just think that by you doing this, you are just setting youself up for failure. I honestly think that every time you are doing something related to your family, you are setting yourself up for something that you will never really be ready for. You are setting yourself up for pain. Do you really think that you can handle the pain that will be handed to you if you continue to pursue these things?" As Edward asked me this, I was not sure if I could handle this pain. I felt like I needed to handle the pain and that it was the only thing that I could relaly do to actually make any real progress in my life.

"The pain is something that I need to accept. This is not going to be a easy life. I have already accepted that a long time ago. Life is not going to be something that will just be handed to me. It is something that I have to earn. I thought that life was a right, a thing that should be given to me and something that I should be allowed to live without any real problems. But now I am starting to see that life is not like that. It is something that is not a easy path to follow. But I think that I am now willing to accept that challenge. I am now willing to accept the challenge that is given to me, as actually doing this is the only thing that will really make me feel like there is any real purpose going on." As I was thinking about life purpose, I was wondering if Edward really understood this.

"I just wish that there were more people that fully respect the stuff that I have had to go through. But in all reality, I doubt that they really care all that much about me. I doubt that anybody really gives a shit about me. I think that they just roll their eyes every single time something even remotely comes up that indicates that I need help. And I am not talking about my family. I have given up on that shit a long time ago. I am talking about the general person. The people around me who I respect, and I feel like should be out there helping me out. I feel like people like Sam and Misty are supposed to be there and really talk with me about my problems, so that way I can be able to move forward and put these things behind me. There is literally nothing that I want in my life more than to place this all behind me. I feel like that if the least that I can be able to ask for. Just to have people be able to respect me, and not only respect me, but t ake the stuff I am saying seriously. I feel like everybody just looks at me as a fucking joke." I was then done and then after I was rambling, I was wondered what Edward was going to tell me now.

"Do you really think that Misty or Sam would be able to help you out?" Edward asked me and then I just shrugged. I felt like the least that they could have done was try. Was the idea of them trying too hard to ask for? I felt like this was not really something that was too much to ask for. At least I was not thinking that it would be too much.

"Besides, there are a couple of things at my previous town that I feel like I need to check out as a way of being able to finally understand all that is going on in my life. I feel like I need to check these things out in order to understand. If understanding is even possible at all. But to go back to Wayside it would be a nearly hour long drive over there, and once I reach there, I have no idea what I am going to actually do. I think that once I reach there, I will start to realize that it is all a huge waste of time to go there. I guess that having these questions and this conversation is just a waste of my time. Not becuase I suddenly hate talking to you all the time and everything, but holy shit none of this really makes any sense. Nothing I ever say will actually go along with the norm, and that is not the problem." I said and then I stood up and then I looked right down at Edward.

"I don't really know what to do now. I have no real clue what is ahead of me right now. But in all honesty, I don't really think it matters all that much. What about it really matters anymore?" I asked and then I was feeling like I was going to try the one thing out that I felt like I shouldn't have really done. But I didn't really give a single fuck and everything. I was thinking that this thing that I was going to do was going to be the best thing that I would be able to pull off. I was going to visit Brad and I was going to try and see Tucker for a while. I was going to try and make them in touch with me. I was going to see what Tuck and his life was going to be like. I was going to see what it would be like to see what Tuck was like. To see if he was really all that messed up, or if the effects really did not mess him up all that badly.

"You know, I think that you are not going to make the right choice. I think that the choice you are going to make is something that you are going to really regret. But I feel like I should not reall bother bringing you down all that much. I mean, if you actually feel like you are making the right choice here, then I will leave you alone." Edward told me, and I was clearly telling me that he was trying to get me to not do this. That doing this was going to be a huge mistake. I knew that this was going to be a huge mistake, but in all reality I didn't give a single shit about what he was going to say. I had already made that choice.

"This is something that I feel like is going to finally make everything work out. I think that I really need to see them. Who really cares what I am going to do? This is the one thing that I need to do. I am one hundred percent certain of this. I am one hundred percent certain that I had to do this." I said and then I started to open up the door to his room. "Besides, they are probably both going to be asleep now anyways. I doubt that it really even matters." I continued, and there was the part of me that was trying to get the last word, but there was another part of me that was just trying to really justify this to myself. I think it was the fact that Edward was able to see through me, and he was able to see the fact that I was telling myself this to feel better, and then he was shaking his head a bit.

"Look, I know that you really have something against your father. I will not really pretend that I understand it. In fact, I really do not get it at all. But I guess that you just really can't get your mind off of this. You want to do something like this? Then go ahead and do it? I do suggest that this is something that you should only try to do this only once." Edward said, and then after he had said this, I nodded. I felt like the idea of only doing this once was not really going to be all that big of a deal. I decided that for my own personal sake, I was actually only going to do this once, just to see if I had actually made the right choice, and while I was doubting that I had made the right choice, I was thinking that maybe I was going to get myself killed by doing this.

I walked out of the room and did not even wait for Edward to actually tell me to not do this, and honestly I just didn't really give a fucking damn. I had nothing to say in order to try and make them see what I am trying to accomplish.

I was inside of the car, and then when I started to drive off, I was taking out another cigarette. It was the most simple thing that I could do in order to make myself feel calm. Just a simple dart in my mouth, and I didn't really give a fuck what anybody was going to say. I thought that them telling me off was just going to be the biggest piece of annoyance that can be done to me at that moment. The entire time that I was driving, I was convinced that this needed to be done. I was convinced that I needed to do this for my own sake. That I needed to do this in order to make my life much more simple to follow. That I needed to do this in order to make that family see that I was not a monster, and that everybody in this family was a monster. That Riley was not a fucking monster.

As I was thinking about how I could be able to clear up Riley of all people, I was certain that this was the one thing that mattered more than anything. That Riley needed to be put up to a higher light than normal. I was driving around and there was eventually one single house that I was thinking was the one I needed to go to. I pulled up right next to it and when I saw the lights on, I looked up and saw through one of the windows. The window that I was looking through had a young child and a child that looked like he was about eleven up there. Both of them were guys, and I was seeing that their mother was also in the room. For some reason, I was starting to become more and more sure that this was the place that I needed to go to. I got myself right out of the car and slammed the door shut. Once again, I took out another cigarette and started to smoke it. Then I smoked for about a minute or so until it was out and then I flicked it on the ground and then I started to walk up as fast as possible. I eventually knocked on the door and then I was waiting for a few seconds.

As I was waiting for a few seconds, I was wondering two small things. What this woman was going to be thinking about a seventeen year old dude at their house this late at night, and what it would be like if this woman knew who my father was, and if she was going to just tell me off right away, thinking that she would not want to see a guy related to the person that fucked up Tucker before he was even born. I did not really blame her at all, and I was thinking that she owuld have every right to just throw me away like this, which was why I was really hoping that she didn't really make the connection right away. I was then thinking about how I was going to pitch my delivery to her, if it was even possible for her to actually start to be on my side. I was wondering if it was possible for her to feel any form of pity towards me. Eventually, the door was open and she was looking right at me. I could tell that what I was seeing was the former case. The case when she was not at all sure what the hell she was supposed to say. "Who are you? Have we ever really met before?"

After she had asked me this question, I held up my hands. I then shook my head, as if to confirm that we indeed did not know each other all that well. "I am not here about any of that. There is something that I actually want to talk to you about. Something about your son. I feel like I really need to tell you something. Something that you will not want to hear, but I think that when I tell you, everything will start to make sense." I said, and then I was just waiting for her to shoot me down. "Please, there is something that I know about Tucker. Something that really matters. Something that can make everything all come together."

As I waited for a few seconds, I was wondering what she was going to. I was wondering if she was finally going to break down and let me in. As I was staring, and we were looking to see which one was going to break first, I was seeing that she was eventually sort of giving up. "You better be telling the truth. My son has been messed up since the day he was born." She said and then she let me inside. I was wondering if she was thinking about and wondering how I even knew the name of her son, and I was telling myself that this did not really matter at that moment. It didn't matter what she thought of me.

"Well, I have to ask a simple question first. Just to confirm that I am indeed talking to the right family right now." I said, and she was looking like she was thinking about what it would be like to just lie to me, and act like she didn't know what I was talking about. But she shook her head and decided that she was just going to listen to what I had to say. "Well, I have to know if your younger son was adopted. If he was, then there is something that I personally know that I need to tell you. Somethin that I hate to tell you."

I was getting myself ready for this. I was waiting for her to tell me what his status was, and I was wondering if she was even thinking about helping me out. "Yes, he is adopted. But I didn't know what negative health he was going to have when he was adopted. I didn't actually think that he was going to be disabled. I didn't really even care though. I just wanted another child, regardless of the costs, and regardless of what I was going to have to do in order to make his life better." After she had told me this, I nodded and then she was now the one who was starting to form some questions in her mind. "Do you know something about why he is disabled? Do you know what made him this way?"

After she had asked me this question, I slowly nodded, as if I was trying to decide if this was the best thing that I could do, and I was telling myself that it was better to just do this and then get it over with and then see what she had to say rather than just letting this drag on forever. "Yes, I sadly know what he is this way. And I really hope that this doesn't freak you out when I tell you. I never wanted this to happen, but I can't let this fact go unknown for you for the rest of your life. Well I can, but at the same time if I did, I doubt that you would really want to be ready for when these problems eventually came up to him and started to take him down." I said, and then I was ready to continue what I was going to tell her.

"Well, he was born this way because of what my father did. My father is the father of your younger son, which means that the two of us are half brothers. That is one of the reasons why this affects me so much as well. That is why this is why I feel like I need to tell you this. Because, well I had an older sister. And she went missing. And then my father knew what he had felt towards her, and he was thinking that doing this terrible and disguting thing was the only thing to show his love for her. He had no sense of empathy and no sense of care, because he was only doing what he had wanted to do." I said, and then after I said this I gulped and then I was having a hard time saying this next bit. As I was looking at her and I was starting to form tears down my eyes, I was able to see that she was now able to see what exactly I was saying. She looked like this was going to break her. As if I had done of the one thing that she never thought I anybody could do, and that was ruin the image that she had of a perfect society.

"Oh I am so sorry." She said, and then I was knowing that we were both there to support each other. We were both victims of what my father did, and she must have known this. That is was not my fault what happened, and that this was the best thing that I could have done, and that was actually clearing these things up towards her. "I never knew that something like this would happen. Do you know what happened to your sister?"

The silence that I gave was enough for her to figure out what had happened. It was enough for her to see that my life was not an easy walk in the park. And it was also enough for her to actually see that I was telling the truth. That I was not fucking around with her. "She is gone. I never thought that I was going to lose her so soon. I am actually now at a older age than she will ever be, and that is something that really messed me up when I started to think about it, and now I know that my father has no good traits. I now know that my father doesn't really care. But I am just trying to gather up anything from my life that I feel like is not entirely shattered, and I am trying to make something out of it." After I had said this to her, I was seeing that she sort of understood what I was meaning. "But at the same time, I fear that getting to know your sons will lead us to getting each other in danger." After I said that, I was wondering if sh ewas even wanting me in the house anymore after I pretty much admitted to the fact that even being there was going to get her and her sons in danger. But I was seeing that she was trying to get herself feeling better. I could tell that she was thinking that I was being compassionate. Which to some extent, I actually was. Compared to pretty much every single person who I had ever met, I was actually doing the right thing.

"I don't really think that there is anything wrong with you seeing my family. I think it is more of a matter if they would be willing to get to know you. If they would be willing to actually see what you have to show them." After she had said this, I was thinking that I was going to be ready for telling her this. I was going to be ready to let her know the exact power that my father had. But then I was standing up and I was looking around. I was mostly trying to see if either Brad or Tucker had heard this.

"There is a part of me that wants to at least sort of be their guardian. They are both much too young. Neither one of them should be ready for the life that is coming forward to them. In fact, I am utterly certain that Tucker at the very least will not be able to hold his own. But if I do something, if I try and help them out, and if I am there, then maybe I could actually change things for the better. I feel like I can try to do that. I want to make sure that Brad is safe until he is at least old enough to try and take care of himself." I said, and I was totally ready for this. I was totally ready for what was coming forward. I stood up and then I took out a cigarette and smoked it. As I was smoking it, I looked right at Brad and Tucker's mother.

"The world is going to be a messy place. One that will not be forgiving. One that will not wait for any form of empathy. But you must be ready for that. I surely hope that you realize that you must be ready for this. I am going to see you guys often. Maybe not your sons, but I will check up on you at least every once in a while, just to make sure things are alright. I feel like it is the only thing that I can do to really make things right. I feel like it is the least that I can do." After I said this, I was wondering what their mother would say.

"Do you even think that you would be ready for something like this? Do you even think that this is something that you can be prepared for?" After she had asked me this, I shook my head. I felt like it was better, to be honest with my insecurities to her rather than just actung like I was having this entire thing on top of the world.

"I am not at all sure that I can handle this. But at the same time, I don't really give a fuck. I know that I need to do this. I know that this is the minimum that I need to do. I need to do this for the sake of your sons. I need to actually grow up for once in my life. I am seventeen years old. I am definitely old enough to actually start to pull shit together. I mean, I feel like I can pretend that I am not old enough for a while longer, but I can't really put this off any more. I have a life that I have to live. A life that I am currently living right now. And it is time for me to take this up and actually start to be responsible." I said, and I was wondering how well I was actually going to keep this up. I was wondering if I was going to really be able to hold to my statements.

Eventually, I was not really sure what to say anymore, and then I saw that she was just trying to piece together what I had said. She was trying to piece together the fact that I was trying hard to put this back together, and that I was trying to sort of repair the vase in a way, that she was starting to think that maybe there was actually something to respect about my efforts. "Well, just come by when you feel like you are ready. The stuff that we talked about earlier, I am not going to tell either one of them. I feel like this is something that we should keep to ourselves. I think that we can agree on that at the very least." After she had said this, I nodded in agreement and then I started to see myself out of the house.

The entire time that I was seeing myself out, the more that I was telling myself that this was not nearly as hard to pull out as I had expected. I got right in the car and started to drive away. The entire time that I was driving home, I was smoking another cigarette and then I got out of the car the moment it reached the drive way and then I got right inside of my house.

Once I was inside of my house, I laid down on the sleeping bag, and then I was staring right at the top of the ceiling. The entire time that I was doing this, there was one thing that I was telling myself over and over again. I had done the right thing. I kept telling myself that I was doing the right thing, and the entire time that I had told myself I had done the right thing, I was telling myself that I had not done the right thing yet because I had not done one thing that I wanted to have done earlier.

I had not actually met with Tucker. We did not talk with each other. We had not bonded with each other. We were very much away from each other. I would not have done the right thing until we finally started to connect. After I told myself that this was what I needed to do in order to do the right thing, I was telling myself that the next time that we saw each other was when I was going to get to know them personally, and then when I do something like that, then we would finally be able to become the half brothers that I could at least pretend we should be.


	74. The Offer

Part 4: The Offer

It was a while after that, probably about three weeks or so afterwards, when I hung out with Misty again. I had started to sort of forget about the contract that I had with Jimmy. But I thought that I had barely seen them so much lately it didn't really matter what they were thinking. I then was thinking that I would just hang out with Misty or something once more before the time that I had to update, and then I would finally tell Jimmy White what he needed to know, and then that would be all that we needed to do for me to get enough information in order to make updates for Jimmy White for that month. I felt like this would be easy enough to actually accomplish.

I was driving home that night after that shift and when I was driving, I was seeing Misty around. For a second though, when I was driving by, I was thinking that it was actually Riley. I honestly thought that this girl who was just a friend of mine and nothing really beyond that, was actually looking exactly like Riley. I could not believe even at the time how much I had been fucking up my brain. I was thinking about how much this a sign that maybe I should have stopped getting into these drugs anymore, but at that moment I really honestly didn't give a fuck. I pulled up and saw that Misty was seeing my car.

"Hey Sheldon, I was not really expecting to see you here. I guess that I wasn't really supposed to be out this late at night." After she had said this, I smiled and then I placed my hand on the chair and then as I was placing my hand on the shot gun seat in the car I was seeing that she felt like there was no real need to reject my advances of riding along with me. So she got right next to me in the car and then once we were alone together, I was looking right at her.

"So since you're here right now, is there anything that you want to do?" After I had asked her this question, I was waiting for her answer. I was wondering if she was indeed not wanting to hang out with me that night. I was wondering if she was not really my friend or if something had happened that day that she was feeling like would really get in the way of the day. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, trying to give off the nicest impression possible. As I was trying to be nice to her, and I was thinking that this was a decent effort, I was seeing that she was slightly getting calmer and seemed to be more on the idea of telling me what was going on. LIke she was thinking that telling me was actually going to make things so much better, and I can tell you that I was going to really try to do this.

"Well, something that I was not really expecting to happen. Something that I never thought in a million years would happen to me, and I guess now in hindsight I feel a little bit stupid for not thinking that this could ever happen." Misty said and then I was wondering what it was. I pulled up at the parking lot of the middle school, as I thought that since nobody was there, that nobody would come along and see what we were doing. I was honestly thinking that we were going to be safe here.

"You know, I don't really know how well I will be able to help you out here, but I certainly can be able to listen to you. That is the very least that I can do for you. Just sit down, and let you speak your thoughts, so that way I can be able to see what I can tell you to help you out." I was not really sure if I could be able to help her out as much as I was thinking I could, but at the same time, I was just telling myself that it was better to at least give this an honest chance.

As I was telling myself these things, and the fact that I needed to at least be given a chance to prove that I will be able to help her out, it seemed like Misty was already starting to beat me to it. "Well you know, I just don't really think that anybody cares all that much about me. I thought that I had friends, and people who I would be able to really trust and were my friends." As Misty was saying this, I was just nodding and I was thinking that this was actual normal teenage stuff that I had no real authority on, since my life was the exact opposite of that of a normal teenager. But I was ready to listen to her if it had meant that she was feeling like she was indeed safe and secure.

"I was hanging out with them, and it had seemed like in the last couple of weeks, the whole group had been starting to sort of move on. As if they were actually having a few problems going on that they didn't really want to admit to. But holy shit, I didn't think that these people had down right hated me, which I had been starting to think they did recently. When I felt like I could no longer keep it to myself, and that I needed to know the truth once and for all, I asked them what they really thought of me. They were at least honest with me, but it did not make up for all of the lies that they had been giving me now. I will never forgive them for the fact that they had been lying to me this much the entire life. They said that they actually hated me this whole time, and that they were only my friend so that way they could be able to act like they were popular and have another person in the friend group. I realized that this was all that they cared about, just being popular. I mean, there is a part of me that cares about that a little bit. You know, I would certainly not reject being popular. But I never wanted to go out of my way to be popular. Nobody cares about me in that way." Misty said and then this was when I sighed a bit. I was feeling that way with her a bit as well. I mean, I was one of those people that did care about being popular. But in my defense, for me it was a way to get myself away from the terrible reality that I had already been living in.

"You know, I think that the idea of popularity is the one thing that everybody wants in their life. Trust me, I never really wanted to be the biggest person that everybody respected, but I was at least not wanting to be considered scum. But it seems like nobody really liked me. Even with my friend Dakota it had seemed like he was just there to be nice to me, and that him leaving me alone was actually going to be just more problematic than anything else." As I said that, I was thinking about that was ahead of me.

"I mean, I just wish that the lack of popularity was the biggest issue that I had in my life. As much as I hate to admit it, there is no way in hell I can pretend that this was the biggest problem I had to deal with. I mean, I was basically fighting for my entire life every single night. It was a struggle. Something that should have not even come close to happening the way that it had." After I had said that, I was thinking about high school. I mean, I missed high school, but only for the potential that it had. I was starting to think more and more that I should have followed what Sam was telling me that I should do, and that was getting back in the school.

I was actually telling myself that going back to high school would have been the one thing in my life would have started to make my life better. "You know, I wish that I had gotten another chance to do something like this. I am going to think about going back there. It is the only way to really restore my sanity. I just wish that all of this really worked better. I think that maybe I should have stayed here at the school when I first moved here." As I said that, I was actually starting to think that it was sad how my life had gotten to the point where going back to high school was considered to have been my best option by now.

"Well, if you actually think that going back to it would be the best option, then I think that you should try and talk with me when I start going there. That way I can have somebody at my side who will make me feel better. Make me feel like I am actually welcome, and as if I can actually make this work out. That way, both of us are starting to help each other out at least a little bit." As Misty said that, I wondered what I could really do in order to actually fulfill this. I was thinking that this was fucking impossible. The idea of actually making her start to gain some popularity, unless if I somehow was able to be the most respected person in the history the school.

I started to smoke a cigarette and then I looked at Misty. "Trust me though on one thing. Those people who had been pretending like they are your friends, they are not worth it. Don't even bother with them. They are going to see sooner or later what they had been missing out on when they decided to reject you. When they see what they did wrong, you can just show them that you have moved on from that though. Once they see that you have moved on, and that you are totally above and beyond them, then they ill start to realize the fact that they are going to be the losers. In a way, they kind of already are. They really don't realize what they have been missing out on this whole time." I said, and then I was just sort of trying to make her feel better, but at the same time, I did actually feel that way about her. I was actually feeling like this was the best thing that I could be able to tell her.

"If you actually feel like I am better than them, and you are not just saying this to make me feel better, than I really thank you. It seems like you really know what to say to me when it matters the most. It seems like you understand the things that are bothering me, and just what I want to hear. I don't really know if it is the truth though, as much as I hate to admit it. I never really know what I should be thinking. I never really know what people act put up on in their opinion of me. And I don't really even know if you actually respect me all that much. For all I know, you are just acting like this to make me feel better." Misty said and then I shook my head, as if trying my absolute best to assuage her.

"I do not act like that. I am better than that at the very least." I said, and I had meant it. At least when I started to show that I had no interest in somebody, I was open about it, and I never gave them the illusion that things were actually good. I think that this at the very least was placing me better than them. Even if I was a dick, at least I never lied about anything. At least I never tried to make it sound like there was something that I secretly felt.

I mean, I never hid the fact that I liked Emily. As I was thinking about Emily again, I was thinking about the lost chance that I said. I was then thinking about telling Misty something that I knew would get me in trouble with the law if people found out about it, but honestly, I didn't give a single shit in the world. "You are honestly really fucking beautiful. One of the first ones that I have met." I said, and then when I said this to her, I was wondering to myself and I was thinking about something else. I was telling myself that maybe she was indeed the first beautiful girl. The very first one. That even Emily was not what I was expecting her to be. When I was thinking about this, and I was thinking about what it would be like for Misty to hear this, I was thinking that there was nothing to really place me in trouble with the law anyways. I mean, many people would say these exact same things to other girls in the first place. I did not deserve to get punished for something that other people would actually say anyways.

Eventually, when I was thinking about this, and I was thinking about what I said, I was looking at Misty and she seemed like I was really starting to make her feel special. "Thank you for telling me that. I didn't really think that you actually felt that way about me. That really makes me feel so much better." After Misty said that, I was seeing from the look on her face that her entire self esteem had rose, and that she had meant it. She was taken back by what I said, and she was thinking that I was really some sort of heart throb when I had told her this.

"I mean it though. I mean, you are more than just the looks. You are actually a really nice person, and I start to appreciate that moe. You are a wonderful person to hang out with, because there is a level of simplicity to you. And that is better than nothing. You actually seem to be blunt about it all. You understand what people need to hear, even if they don't want to hear this. Even if they hate the idea of hearing this." After I had said this, I was wondering what else she was going to say, and if she was going to start to let these statements drive her along.

"The idea of anybody liking me like that is something that I take deep pride in. Something that makes me feel so much better. Makes me feel like there is something that can make me feel like I am not totally worthless. I know that it is wrong to view that way about yourself, but when I see other people at the top of the world, and them being the most popular people ever, I can't help but think of what I had actually missed out on." When she had said that, I think we were both starting to feel this way a little bit.

"Sheldon, I really do appreciate the things that you say, and you really are a real friend. At least I want to believe that you are a real friend." After Misty said that, I was able to see that she was sayin this because of how much she was scared that I was going to friend dump her. How scared she was that this whole thing was a lie. I didn't really blame her that she had felt that way, but I wanted to make her feel better. I was wanting her to see that this was indded not how I was. I was not that type of guy. I was just not sure if anything I say would be able to make her really understand this.

Eventually though, I was thinking about what to do next. "I think that now that we have been here for a while, we should probably be heading away from here. I think that we have had enough of a life opening conversation here." After I said that, I was then thinking about what else I could do. "I think there is time for one more movie at the cinemas. Want to go see one?" I asked, and I was not able to believe that in a way I had actually asked Misty out on a date. I saw that she was able to pick up exactly what I was going for.

"Well, I would like to go. But I don't really think that this should be like a relationship we really pursue or anything. I am already sort of involved with Edward already. I am not really saying we're like a full on item yet, but I think that he is starting to actually feel that way about me." Misty said and then I was placing my head on the wheel of the car. I could not believe what I had been told. I was thinking that it was terrible to be rejected like this before we were even together. I just got dumped by a girl that I wasn't even really actually dating. That feeling was kind of shitty. But then I told myself not to think too much on it and I started the car up and then after I started the car up, I started to drive towards the theater to still enjoy the moment we had.

The entire time that we were driving on over there, the more I was thinking about what I was wanting to talk to Misty about. I was wondering if we could really pick up any type of conversation that mattered. As much as I loathed to admit it, I was thinking that since she was so much younger than me, that we wouldn't really be able to actually understand each other. "Well, what type of movies do you like?" I asked, and then I was wondering if she was actually going to tell me the truth or if she was going to lie to me and tell me something that I was thinking she would want me to hear, and that she didn't really feel. "It's okay, you can tell me what type of movies you like. You can tell me the truth."

After she had heard me say that, and she was able to see that I was telling the truth, and that I didn't really want to judge her on this, she nodded and felt like she might as well tell me. "Well, I like a lot of the romantic stuff. I know that it sounds silly for a fourteen year old girl like me to be so into the romantic stuff, but I guess that I just have a weakness for that stuff." After she had told me that, I smiled a bit, as if I was thinking that it was actually kind of adorable that she was saying this. I was actually thinking it was kind of cute that she was into stuff that would not really be considered to be the popular stuff to be into when you are a teenager.

"I mean, I never really watched a bunch of romantic films, but that is because I never really dated anybody. I feel like that is stuff that I would only be into on dates. Besides, I only see movies when I am with friends anyways, since that is the only time I can get the money to do so. Or when I can get my parents to loan me some money, since I don't really think they would want to support me for doing something that wasn't in some way social. Which fucking sucks for them given how unsocial I really was. Maybe that was why they were trying so hard to get me into their job, because they were thinking that they could be able to salvage me in some way or something stupid like that." I said, and then after I had said that, the two of us remained silent for a bit.

"You know, I think that you should be more accepting of the idea that maybe you just were not the child that they wanted. That they were too disgusted with you." After Misty said that, I waved my hand down as if to show that this was something I didn't even need to think about.

"I know for a fact that this was how they had felt about me. They never even tried to hide the fact that this was exactly how they felt about me. But what does it matter? I mean, if there is a romantic movie playing, then maybe we can go and watch it for a bit. Maybe I will see the appeal to it that you see." After I said that, I was honestly meaning it. I was being open about the idea that I was willing to give it a chance. I was honestly wanting to see what she liked about them, and I thought that just simply seeing a couple of them would be able to get me to really get this.

"Maybe we can start to do this more often. Maybe we can start to watch more movies." After Misty had said that, I was thinking that this was not what was going to happen. She was going to go on one single one of these dates with me, and she was going to hate it, hate doing this with me I mean, and then she never really wants to do that again with me. She might still want to basically be friends with me, at least on the surface, but that was about as far as it was probably going to go, which was a damn shame.

"I guess we will just see how it goes this first time. Who knows, if I really enjoy this, I think that we really can be able to do this more often." I said and then after I said that, we were sort of thinking about what it was going to be like if we did end up enjoying this, and if we were going to continue to do these things further. Once I was thinking about that, and I was thinking about what we were really going to be trying to accomplish, I was telling myself that all I needed to do was just remain calm and collected. I didn't need to be romeo with her or anything. I just needed to be... myself. As much as I was thinking that it was strange that I just needed to be honest and I just needed to be myself, I was starting to see that this indeed was all I needed to do. I didn't lie to her and I presented myself as I was actually, and things would pick up from there.

Eventually, Misty looked at me again. "So when you do go out with your friends, what are the things that you usually do before hand? Do you guys just hang out for a while or is there like a specific plan that you follow usually?" After she had asked me this, I thought about it and I shrugged for a bit.

"I mean, we just sort of go around and walk to the theater usually pick up a dinner, and then go down and watch the movie. This type of stuff usually happens two or three times a year. Honestly, it is nothing that is all that hard or that big of a deal." After I said that, I was genuinely meaning every single word of what I was saying. Hanging out with these people was just one of the few things that I did when I was at Wayside that I felt like I was able to be just myself on. These once every few month things. I just missed going out and hanging out with Dakota and some random person that he would be able to convince to pretend to be my friend for a couple of hours. Usually I never really went anywhere with that person, and the most I would ever see them was just two or three times, but at least they were able to pretend to not hate me for a few minutes." After I had said this, I was then wondering if I was going to capture the wonder of this with Misty. If we were actually going to finally get to start talking to each other in a way where we would start to reveal the real secrets. The stuff that mattered. I wanted to do this, but at the same time, I was thinking that maybe Misty and I were not really ready to go into that level. Even though I wanted to get deeper into this, I was telling myself that I just needed to take it casual.

Eventually, we reached the parking lot of the theater, and then I started to think about what movie was still showing. There was only one of them that was still playing. I didn't really think about it all that much and I just ended up getting out of the car and taking out another cigarette and started to smoke it. The entire time that I was smoking it, I was seriously wanting to offer Misty one, to bring us even closer, but I was thinking that it was the one thing that I should not do. It was the one thing that even I knew I could not force Misty to do. She was too perfect for something like that. I didn't need or want her to follow down my path of life. My path of life that I knew was slowly killing me, even though I didn't really give a shit that it was killing me. But again, Misty deserved something better than this. She deserved to still be pure, and that was all that there really was to it.

"Well, I guess we only relaly have one choice on what we we are going to watch." I said and then Misty shrugged, as it looked like this did not relaly bother her all that much. We went right inside of the theather and we sat right down. The entire time that the movie was playing, I was wondering what we were going to do next. I was wondering if we were going to move forward with this date. Then I was telling myself that this was not a date. This was not something that I needed to hype up to myself. These were not dates, and that even thinking that it was was over doing it. I was not being real with myself. But then after I told myself that this was not a date, I was then telling myself that I was hoping that at least this hang out could expand to something else. The entire time that the movie played, I was mainly watching Misty and I was wondering what she was thinking and if she was seeming like she was enjoying the hang out or not. I really could not tell if she was enjoying this or not. And eventually, before I could think about it too much, the time for the movie had ended and by this point, I knew that we should just leave the theater and just go and have some fun after this. But then after this, I thought to myself that we were really needing to both head to our houses. I was getting kind of tired, and even the prospect of continuing while it was nice to imagine I knew it was going to be a bit much on me, so I told myself that we can hang later.

As we left the theater, I drove her home that night and right when I reached her door, Misty looked right at me as if she was going to give me the verdict that I was sort of preparing for, and I was not really sure if I wanted to know what it was in fear of her turning me down. "You know, I think we should hang out again soon. Want to hang out in like a day or two?" After she asked me this, I smiled and I nodded as fast as I could. I really wanted to do this, and it was the one thing I wanted more than anything. So with that, she got right out of the car and then she went to her house. As she was inside, and the house door shut, I was then thinking about the idea of us hanging out again soon, and the entire time that I had been thinking about it, I was growing to love the idea more and more. So then I took out my next cigarette and I started to smoke it for a while.

Once the entire cigarette had been smoked, I went home and went to sleep. That night, due to my monthly update for Jimmy, I requested the day off, and I was given it. Which gave me some time to finally get some extra sleep, and it gave me one day a month off. My boss was pretty much fine with letting me have one day off a month as that meant that they just needed to stay and do my shift one day the month, and then I can come out and do every other day. It was only if it was getting more than that in which I think he would really start to be annoyed.

When I slept that night, I was feeling extra happy as I knew that I finally had one night where I could be able to just have a normal schedule. Then when the next day started, I would just get myself up and then brush myself off and then be ready for the task ahead of me.

I woke up at noon that day, and then I drove right towards where Jimmy White had his office. As I was driving there, I was telling myself that I just needed to tell him the truth, and then when I told him the truth, then he would just sort of go along with it and while he would have wanted to hear 'better results', I think that he would really not feel the need to protest them. So I was thinking about not only the way that I was just going to tell him the most basic of news, I was going to have to do it good enough to where he would not really care to get to know more things from me.

Eventually, I was at his office and I got right out of my car. I went inside the office, and when I was inside, I saw that Jimmy White had been waiting for me. It seemed like in a way he had this entire conversation planned out in his mind as if he knew every single word we were both going to give. "Well, I can tell that you really are kind of disappointed in what you are going to tell me." After Jimmy said that, I was telling myself not to think about what he was saying too much, and then I continued to think about everything else for a while.

"Well, I was wanting to tell you that Misty and everybody else seems safe so far. We just hung out a couple of times, and they don't really have the impression that they want to do anything too troublesome. I think that this is a bit of a victory for you." After I said that, I was thinking about what to say next, and I was wondering how much I should keep this going, and if this was really going to be worth it any more. If talking to him was really something I needed to do at that moment.

"I guess that is good news. I was kind of hoping for much more. I was kind of wishing that they were getting in trouble so that way there would have been a point in sending you on these missions. But I guess that it doesn't really matter. You did your job, and I guess that there is nothing else that I can ask for than that. Well, here are your thousand dollars." Jimmy White said and then he pulled out a large letter and then handed me the money. It was a thousand dollars all in tens. One hundred ten dollar bills. "I didn't really know how you like to break up the money, so I decided to let you have it that way."

"Thanks. Tens are perfectly fine. Is there anything else that you want?" I asked, and then Jimmy shook his head and then I left the office. Right when I was out of the office, I was smoking another cigarette and I was telling myself that this was much smoother than I expected, and that was about how good as I felt that this was going to get. I then smoked another cigarette as I started to head right back home, and I was telling myself that all I needed to do was just not tell anybody what I did back there, and nobody would really get in my business.

I went home that night and then tired again, as if I had just run a marathon, I went right to sleep again and I was going to really catch up on my sleep this time. I was sleeping like a baby the entire time that night, and I was mostly dreamless by this point in time. Not that it really mattered. I didn't really even want a bunch of strange dreams. I just wanted to relax that night, and this was doing just that for me. And when I woke up the next day, I went to that burger store and bought one of their dozen packs and then went right to work. It was an investment I made about twice since that night with Edward. It was just something that I liked to have that would spread out for a day or two. I usually had half of the dozen six hours into my work day, which was the half way point, and then the other six at the end of the shift. Then I would have enough food to pretty much keep me fine for the next couple of days.

Three days passed before Misty was able to hang out again, and when she did so, we were right at the best mood possible. "Hey, want to hang out?" Misty asked me this time, and then I nodded. I went through the rest of my shift and then when I was done, I was ready to hang out with her and we started to drive for a while. "I was hearing about some of the things that happened back in the day. Are most of these things actually true?" After Misty asked me this question, I was wondering what exactly she was talking about and while I hated to come off as an ass, it was pretty fucking vague and I couldn't really answer her too well.

"What do you mean by are these things true?" I asked, and I was just feeling like I was going to look at this as politely as I could have been able to ask her this question, as to not come off as a total ass or anything like that. I was worried about coming off as a jerk and stuff like that, since I never really wanted to stoop that low, especially with Misty, who was actually a well rounded girl for the most part.

"Well, I heard that there was this thing called the labyrinth back in the day? Is that true? The fact that there was something called the labyrinth?" After Misty had asked me this, I was thinking and then I nodded.

"Yeah, it is true. I wish it were not, and I prefer that you don't look into this any further, since this is really none of your business, but that did happen. That is something that you should never get yourself into. You should never even look at that stuff, no matter how tempting it may seem to look into that." I said, and I was hoping that she was going to let the clearness of my voice really get to her, and make her see that I was not really to be fucked with.

"I just want to know some of these things that happened down there. I just want to know what was so bad about it that you actually moved out of Wayside." After Misty had said me this, I felt like this was one thing that maybe I could tell her and everything.

"Well, there are just a bunch of things that happened that nobody should ever see. That these things would really change your entire perception of life when you look into it all." I said, and the more that I thought about it, the more that I was wondering if this was even real or if this was just a dream. If this was all something that people just sort of staged to make me see if I was going to break or not. In all reality, I was thinking that this would be the best way around this, but at the same time, I was telling myself that this was sadly not the reality that I had lived in.

"But sadly I do not think that this is the case. I do not think that this is just a fucking prank. I think that these people are just going out against me." I said, and then after I had said that, I was thinking about what was ahead of me. I was thinking about the life that I was forced to live all because I decided to go down there and hanging out with that Todd guy. I barely even knew who this Todd guy was, and yet at the same time, if I had never seen him, I would have had a much different life style. I would have been able to actually life a normal life, thinking that there would be nothing in the world against me. I honestly thought that this would have been the case. Maybe my father would not be asking me to work down at the labyrinth, and I would never have to kill the sheriff, and then all of these things would have actually not been an actual problem. I thought that this would have been fine.

"Do you think that you would have gone the rest of your life without knowing these things?" After Misty asked me this question, I thought about it for a little bit. I was wondering if I could or should have gone the rest of my life without knowing this.

"In all reality, I could still have been able to go my whole life without knowing these things. But I feel like I shouldn't have. I mean, if I didn't go down there and did the things that I had done, I doubt that anybody else would have done these things. I doubt that this would have actually been for the better, even if my life personally got much worse as a result of all of these things." I then was thinking about what else I could say to this.

"I really don't like talking about it honestly. I mean, sorry for coming off as an ass and stuff, but this is the one thing that I don't want to talk about it. I want to talk a few other things. A few other things that can actually give me some form of sanity." I said, and then after I had said this, I was just looking away, and I was thinking all about Riley. I was thinking about the things that happened to her, and I was thinking about the one thing that in our relationship that still got to us. I was thinking about the fact that our the last conversation we had was just utterly terrible. I couldn't believe in the last conversation that we had actually had. She basically just rejected me as a brother, and she acted like I was a monster. Almost on the levels of my own father. That was something that I could not handle, but there was a part of me that was thinking that maybe she was right. Given the man that I was slowly starting to become, I was thinking that this was actually the right fear that she had, and that I should have actually taken what she had been saying a bit more seriously.

"Sorry for bringing up a touchy subject. I didn't really know that it had bothered you that much. I thought that you would have been able to move on by this point in time now. I guess that maybe I am not really good at picking up on the cues or anything like that." Misty said, and I could tell that she had meant it. I could tell that she was clearly actually feeling bad, and I was wondering if she had wanted to talk about some other things. Things that really bothered her and everything.

"Is there anything that you want to talk about?" I asked, and then I was starting to car up yet again. The moment I was starting it a second time, I was just driving off for a bit. We were driving for a while, and I was not really sure where I wanted to go. In all reality, I had no real goal in my mind. I just wanted to drive around, and I was thinking that if worst came to worst, that I could have just filled up at the gas station. "I mean, just because I don't really to talk about that stuff, doesn't mean that I don't want to talk about. anything at all. Just not that fucking subject."

"You know, I am wondering about something a little bit more simple. Do you think that Sam is glad to have gotten to know you? How did Sam really even get to know you in the first place?" Misty asked, and I was thinking that we had already had this discussion and everything. But I was thinking that I was just so glad that she was dropping the other subject, that this was something that I could find myself still mostly enjoying talking about.

"Well I don't really know if Sam really wants to actually be friends with me, and I don't know if he is glad that he is. But at the same time, I just don't really even care. As long as there is even the illusion that we are friends, then I would be very happy. The idea of the two of us even remotely being close to being friends is the main thing that keeps me going. Besides, in all reality, I know that if it weren't for him, then we would have never started to hang out with each other right now. And I think that talking with you is totally worth it. As for how I met him, there could be two answers to the question. We were at the previous high school together, and I think that maybe we had one or two classes together or something like that. I mean, I doubt that we ever really worked together and we certainly never talked with each other, even as simple just aqquitances. But from what I could tell, we were simply just in different with each other. As if the fact that the two of us existed was not really that big of a deal to the other person. But then the time we started to see each other was the one time he came to the gas station and he was clearly just there to buy some stuff, but then I started to recognize him and actually think that I knew who he was, so I just simply asked who he was. We talked for a while, and then after we talked I suggested that we would hang out and he eventually agreed and then that was that." I said, and I didn't know if I fully properly recalled the entire event. But at the same time, I didn't really think that an exact recollection was what mattered all that much. I just thought that what mattered was the simple point that I was getting across. I was thinking that this was just what I needed to produce to make her get what I was saying.

After I said this, I eventually found myself driving across the bridge. The bridge that would lead to the other side of the town. I didn't even really think about it all that much, and I was certainly just doing this because my mind was not really focused at all. Eventually, despite all of these things, and the fact that I had no clear goal of what I was trying to do, I just decided not to say anything. I was thinking that there was nothing wrong with branching out a little bit more, and seeing what was going to be on the other side.

"This town is much bigger than I ever really thought it would have been. I thought that at most it would have been a small tourist attraction, and that it was sort of a place that maybe people stayed the night at or something before they go to canada. That is what would make sense to me." I said, and I was wondering if perhaps there was much more to this town than I ever really thought tha there could have been. Once at the other side of the bridge, I got myself out of the car and I started to smoke for a bit, and then after I was done smoking, I looked right at Misty.

"Do you really have any plans to do anything with your life in the future, or do you think that you are not really going to be living any life at all? What I mean is do you think that you are going to try and get a different job rather than just the gas station, or do you think that the gas station is as far as you are planning on taking this?" I could tell that she was trying to hide the slight judgement in her voice, and I was wondering if she was still actually not all that impressed with me, and if she was just hiding it in order to not piss me off. Not that it really mattered all that much.

"Well, I just want to be anywhere besides where I lived originally. I mean, being here is fine enough. I guess I just never really thought that I would go to a gas station is all. I mean, it is something that you never really think about doing." I said, and then I was thinking that the gas station was a decent enough job, even if I would have never gotten into it in hindsight.

"What is the biggest regret that you have about coming here?" After Misty asked this, I was thinking that this question was just fucking impossible for me to answer. There was literally no fucking way that I would have been able to give her the answer that she would have been able to understand.

"I guess the biggest thing that I regret about going here is not being with the people who actually cared about me more. They think that I probably just left them behind. That I stopped doing the one thing that I should have been doing, and that was actually being there to make sure that nothing happened to them. I guess in a way, I was sort of becoming their protector in a way, and they had been wanting to have some form of assurance of safety for a bit longer. I guess that I can't blame them, and in a way, I can almost be able to understand this. But for fucks sake, I don't really think that I will ever be able to go there. I think that the idea of being here any longer is just impossible. I don't even really give a fuck anymore." I kept rambling, and in no way did I expect her to actually get it. I was thinking that this was one thing that she would never understand, and there was something that was telling myself that maybe it was better she didn't understand it.

"Sheldon, I am wondering something. I know that this question may seem out of nowhere, and you might not really understand the context of what I am asking you, but do you think that I could actually be a hero? A hero who would be able to actually help the entire city out? Do you think that I could be able to be somebody who actually made a real difference?" After she had asked me this question, I just remained silent for a bit. I don't really know if I should tell her the truth, or if there was a different truth, and all I needed to do was think about it for a while.

"You know, I will say that I think you would need a ton of work at it. That you really do have to work hard to make this even close to working, but perhaps if you try hard enough, you might be able to pull this off." I said, and I was actually thinking that if she did work hard enough at it, and if she was putting in her best effort possible, then she would be able to actually do it. "But to be totally honest with you, I don't want to have to do this. This is something that you should not be doing. This is something that I think you should never really try to do. It just doesn't seem right. It doesn't really seem like something that would be right for you to really do." After I had said that, I was thinking that Misty was going to feel let down by this. As if she was thinking that this was the one thing that she wanted me to lie to her about, and I was not doing it the one time she wanted it.

"Besides, those types of things really never actually work out. I mean, I wondered what it would be like to just go down to where I lived before, and becoming something like that. But that is something that will never come. I will never be a hero. I will never be the man that people want me to be. But I am thinking that maybe this is better for me. That it is better for me to just not be the person that I thought that I could have been. I mean, my life is a life that I will never be able to go above and beyond. But the more that I think about it, the more that I wonder if this really is all that bad of a thing after all, or if maybe it is a good thing that I will never be that type of guy. The type of guy who would always do the right thing. And when I think about it, there is something that I am telling myself. That maybe this is for the best. That I shouldn't try to do something like that. I mean I want to do good, and while I don't really think that I can actually be anywhere close to being a good guy, there is a small part of me that thinks that I could be a good guy if I really try hard at it. If I really work hard, and if I really do my best to pull something out, that I could be a nice guy. I can't believe that I even think like this, but still. I guess I can start to see the merits to what I am doing a bit better." I was saying, and I had actually meant what I had been saying.

I thought that I had ruined everything for Misty, but then she was shaking her head. "I want to do something though. I feel like I have a chance to be good. I have a chance to pull something together. I mean, look at this place. Nobody does anything. Not even the fucking mayor actually fucking cares about this place. He may pretend that he does, but we all know for a fact that he really doesn't. He doesn't give a fucking damn about anybody here. He could watch this world burn for all he cared. He would not care as long as he was still the one who was going to come out the winner. The one who was ultimately in the lead." After Misty said this, I was seriously wondering what had made her hate this guy so much, and if maybe she needed to see more of reality for what it was.

"Seriously, I have to ask you this right now. What makes you hate the mayor so much? It really makes no sense for you to have such a didslike towards this guy. I mean, what has he really ever done to you? He is just a fucking dude who is leading the town. he really doesn't deserve this much slamming that you have been giving him." After I had said that, I was wondering what she was going to say that he would really make me change my mind about. "I mean, I will be willing to give you a chance and listen to what you have to say. But as of right now, it honestly makes no real sense that you are acting like this right now." After I said that, I was just looking forward and then after Misty was about to start explaining herself, we both saw something that I was not really sure what to think.

I saw that there was a car that was pulling up right on the other side of the street of where we were. As I was watching the car park, I was starting to get scared. I was honestly thinking that the sake of my own fucking safety was actually on the line. After I was thinking this, I saw that the window was lowered. "Sheldon Lee, we need to speak with you right away." After they said that, I looked right at Misty and I was wondering what she was thinking. But despite the fact that I was confused as all hell, I was telling myself that I needed to do this. I felt like if I didn't do exactly as they wanted me to, I was going to get her in danger. And even if I didn't always understand Misty, that was literally the one thing I did not want of her. So I nodded and went right to the car and got right inside. As I was inside of the car, I saw that there was a man wearing all black and had some black glasses on. "You know, you have been getting involved in many things that we could both say are very unsafe. Things that we both know you should really not be putting your business in. And yet you are still looking into these things. Even though you think that you are doing the right thing, or at least you are telling yourself that you are doing the right thing, I think both of us are very well aware of the fact that you are indeed not doing the right thing. I think we both know for a fact that you aren't really actually doing anything of worth. You are just if anything creating more of a problem among the people that you actually care about." After the guy said that, I was rolling my eyes.

"I needed to see Tucker and Brad. I felt like getting to them now would be the only way that they could actually remain safe." Despite the fact that I had said that, I was telling myself that deep down I was being a total dumb ass. "I just thought that they would want to know what is going on. What made Tucker like this. I thought nothing of it really beyond. I had no idea that I was creating any problem. But if you think that I am doing the wrong thing, I sadly will have to admit that you are probably right. You are probably right on the idea that the one time I thought that I was doing the right thing, that I was indeed doing the wrong thing like I always do." But then I was thinking that if for nothing else, I was doing the right thing by working with Jimmy White. I mean, he was sounding like a nice guy. He just needed to maybe not give off the big fucking dick vibe that he gave off when we first met each other, but when that was over with, he was seeming like a decent guy.

"You know, there are some things that I have done though that I feel like have been the best thing for me to. I feel like there are some things that I should have been doing from the start, but I am trying to turn those things around. I am decently trying my best to do the best thing possible. I just really want to be a good guy. I want to be the hero. I want to do something that I can actually confidently say was the best choice. But the more time that passes by, the more I am actually starting to think that I had done the wrong thing." I said, and then I wondered how Tucker would be feeling if he knew the truth. I wondered if he was even able to comprehend what had happened now. I was starting to think that maybe he didn't really know what was going on, and even if I told him what happened, he would probably just think that I was telling him who his parents were and nothing else. None of this would process at all.

"Well, despite the fact that you may think that you are doing the right thing, and you did the thing that would make a lot of sense to do, we both know that this is not the case. We both know that you will never be able to do the right thing. We both know that this is something that you will ever be able to actually pull off. You may as well just give up on the idea of ever doing the right thing. Because we both know for a fact that this will never fucking happen." After he had said this, I was thinking about this and then I took out another cigarette and started to smoke it for a bit.

"You know, you have been telling me this stuff, and you still have not told me what the point of all of this actually was. You have never told me the point of actually having this meeting. So can you please just tell me the truth, and not give me any bullshit. Why the hell are you having this meeting with me, and cut the crap. I just feel like I need to know." After I said that, I was staring right at the guy, and I was very much ready to challenge this guy. I was ready to see if he was willing to break down and tell me the truth or if he was going to continue lying to me, and telling me stuff that I already knew.

"Well, I think that you already know what the point of this meeting is. Unless you are even more stupid than you have been making yourself out to be. I mean, I never really thought that you were the brightest tool in the shed, but I never took you to be an idiot. So can you actually be able to piece this all together?" After the guy asked me this, I was thinking for a bit and then the obvious answer to came.

"I think I am starting to get it a little bit. Are you offering me a job or something like that?" I asked and then when I had asked him this question, he nodded. He was thinking that it was nice that I was finally getting the point of this message. "Oh my fucking god, I don't even know you. Why the hell would I be working with you. I don't understand how you think you can just walk up to me and be giving me these big business offers and then you think that I am actually going to be dumb enough to follow them." I said, and then when I had started to reject this guy, I started to get out of the car when he placed his hand on my shoulder.

"This meeting is not over. You do not determine when these meetings are over. We have many things to discuss, and the meeting is over when we have talked every single thing that is on this list." After he had said this, I was thinking about what it would be like to try and fight with this guy. But even I knew that this was not the best option. So I rolled my eyes and sat down and then I waved my hands up. "Just listen to me, and stop acting like you have a better use of your fucking time. That fucking girl over there can wait while we talk. You know that she can. You know that she doesn't even like you. She even told you that she is looking at Edward, so there is no point in even trying to win her over." After he said that, I was gritting my teeth and I was telling myself on the inside to just remain quiet and let this guy finish.

"Now that you are here, and you are going to let me talk, let me continue. I have a lot of things that we need to talk about. Such as something that I feel like will benefit you. Something that I feel like will actually work in your favor. I think that when you hear my business proposals, you will actually start to like what I am going to be offering you. You will start to see that what I want to do with you is truly brilliant." After the guy said that, I was still not really sure if I could believe him. I was not really sure if I had wanted to believe in him. But despite this, and despite the fact that I felt like he was perhaps able to actually make things even worse than they already were for me, I told myself to just listen for a while as I sat down and decided to give him one single chance to talk.

"You know, I think that you might need some help taking down that business that your father works on. You must surely realize that he is having too much of a lead on thi swhole business for it to actually be taken down by somebody as simple as you. But I think that if you listen to me, and if you actually work with me, then perhaps we can make something actually work out here between us. You know, a mutual bonding. A mutual partnership." After they said this, I was still not really sure if I was going to jump onto what he was saying, since I was nearly certain that he was lying to me. I was nearly certain that he was just hyping up what he can do for me to make me start to become vuleranble.

"You know, even though I can tell that you are not certain what I am saying is true, and you may be thinking that I am lying to you, which I suppose is a valid enough assumption, I would prefer if you were to actually indulge me for once. I would prefer if you would actually just listen to me and not judge me right away." After he had said that, I told myself that I was just going to keep listening to him, even if I was not going to jump onto what he was saying, I can at least entertain him long enough for him to think that we were actually breaking through, and that he was actually making progress with me.

"I just want to know what you can be able to offer me that will actually help me out. You have not really told me any of that stuff yet, and I do not really think we can make any real deals until you tell me this stuff. I will be willing to listen to you, and I will not judge your opinions and ideas until you give me them. But for fucks sake you need to tell me these things before I make any decisions." I said, and then after I had said this, I was seeing that this guy was trying to keep his anger contained and he was trying to not yell at me to shut the fuck up and respect him or anything like that.

"You know I am giving you a chance to actually take down your father, and this is the lack of respect that you are giving me. You should be ashamed of yourself, and I think that your father should be ashamed that he had raised you to be this type of stuck up idiot asshole. But anyways, before I get too angry at you, let me continue. So I want to offer you something." After he said that, he was now staring right at me, and despite the fact that I couldn't see his eyes due to his glasses, I was thinking that the fact that he can see my eyes was already scar enough for me to think about, and I was telling myself that I needed to be much more respectful.

"Well, young man, I have something that will take care of it. I know how you can kill your father. You can get the revenge. You can get what his shcedule is, and you can get his information, and avenge Riley and those other girls that you think were wrongly treated by him." Then after he had said this, he took a deep breath and then he continued. "But that being said, I want you to give my business something in return. I want to make sure that you will join our organization. I think that perhaps you actually can take care of this for us, but when you do one contract for us, and trust me killing your father is helping us out as much as it is helping you out, then you will have to continue working with us." After he had said this, I was thinking that since I had no idea what this organization was, that I had no trust in him.

I still did not trust this guy at all, and I was thinking that there was something about his organization that was even worse than Jimmy or my father. That if I joined them, I could bring myself into joining just about the worst group of people in the entire state. I was entirely certain that this was going to be the biggest mistake of my entire life. I knew for a fact that doing something like this would make Misty lose all trust that she had in me. Doing the work with Jimmy was already bad enough with our trust in each other and everything, but joining this group of people I felt like would be something that she would literally never be able to forgive me on.

But I was thinking about the revenge, and the idea of sweet revenge was still tempting. Then I thought about Jimmy White. Even though we talked with each other, and I was still partly working with him, I was still mostly an independent agent. I was still mostly somebody who was able to actually take care of himself and do my own things. I didn't really work with him so damn badly that I didn't have any personal freedom at all. I still had some things going in my favor. At least, that was what I was telling myself.

After I had thought about this, I was telling myself that it would be genuinely worse if I joined him and his group of people. Once I was telling myself that this was the case I shook my head.

"I'm sorry I don't trust you. I do not really believe in the things that you are telling me. In fact, I would not be shocked if you are lying through your teeth. I will not join your orginazation." I said, and then I was feeling very good about this, and I had felt like I had made the right choice. There was still a part of me that was unsure about this, but I told myself that this guy must have been lying, and I was telling myself that I did make the right choice. I was believing with all of my might and soul that I had made the right choice by rejecting this guy.

As I left the car, I took out a cigarette and started to smoke it. The guy called out to me, and I decided to listen to him and entertain him for the moment. "I will come back. I will give you another chance. Maybe when you see that what you are doing was wrong, and that you need our help. Then I will come by and ask you again. But trust me, you are nowhere near making the right choice right now." Eventually, the guy started to drive away. I walked back to the car where Misty was waiting for me. She got inside of the car to get warm. Not that I could blame her at that point.

As I was sitting down, I pressed my hands tightly against the car wheel and I was getting really angry. I was seeing that Misty was thinking about asking me what was going on. I could tell that she was not really sure if she should talk to me or not. Then I looked at her and said "I can never trust a single person here. Everybody here is only out for themselves. There is no way that I can deny that now." I said, and then after I had said this, Misty was thinking about ways that she would be able to make me feel better, and she was wondering if this was even possible.

"Do you really think that I am in this for myself? Do you really think that I don't actually care for you?" After Misty asked me this, I was feeling like I was placed to a corner, and I was wondering if any answer that I gave her was going to satify her, even though I was starting to feel like the answer I should give her was totally obvious. "I really do not understand how you can say stuff like this after you have seen Edward, Sam and I for so much time." I was seeing that she was testing me, and I was wanting to tell her the truth of how I felt, but at the same time, the truth was a very grey boundry.

"I was talking about the grown ups. They only want me for their own purposes. They don't care about what I feel, and they don't really even take the time to actually listen to me, and to listen to the points of view that I try to explain to them. I just don't really think that they understand that I have more experience with this than anybody else here. And yet, they want me to do all of these things, even though they never take the time to actually listen to what I am trying to tell them. They have nobody to blame but themselves for anything that happens to them." I said, starting to feel a little bit more cinical when I was saying this, and I was feeling like the empathy that was inside of my mind was dying away. There was a part of me that was glad that I was actually feeling like this. That I was finally strating to become the man that I should have been. "But when I see people like you, and I think about the experiences that we have, I do tell myself that there is indeed something going on in this town that is good." I smiled as I looked at her, and we were thinking about what we were going to do next.

"But Sheldon, what can we do to make you actually trust me? I really want to know how I can trust you. Because right now, when you say stuff like this, it is very hard for me to get myself to believe that you are here and that you care for me when you say stuff about how you can't really trust our opinion. When you say stuff like this, it makes me believe that you actually don't really care about anybody besides yourself, which you were saying was one of the biggest problems that you were having." After she had said this, I was placing my hand on her shoulder and then I was starting to feel a tear coming down my eye, and I was starting to see what I was becoming. I was starting to see the type of person that I was when I was talking to people like this.

"I am very sorry for stuff like this. I really don't want to be a hard ass to you. I should have thought about what I was saying before I said that. I was just releasing the thoughts that I had. I didn't really think that they were going to bother you so much. If I was aware of how much this was going to bother you, then I would have never said anything like that." After I said that, I had meant it, and I was thinking that I was needing to be more respectful of her. After I was thinking about how I should have been more respectful, I was telling myself that this was going to be something I would try to do for the better from now on.

"I mean, I just say stuff that come sto my mind, and I am not afraid to say it. But when I say it, I guess I don't really ever think about what I am saying. I never think about what people would be feeling when they hear me say stuff like this. If I had thought about it better, I would be a total asshole. I would be lying to you then. But now I am still a fucking asshole, because I am being too honest. I don't really know how I can find the perfect combination. No matter what I say I am going to get somebody angry at me." After I said that, I then started to drive away. "But you are right, you should be able to trust the stuff I say and the way that I am acting is not doing that. I am acting like a douche, and I need to accept this. I just hope that you are able to start to forgive me a bit." After I said this, I was thinking about how I could be able to try and make things up to her, if that was even possible.

"I really mean it. I am not wanting you to be feeling like the way that you have because I am simply sort of an asshole. I want to earn your respect. I want you to actually think that I am a good guy, but I just don't really know how to do it. I hope that you are able to forgive me." I said, and I was truly wanting her to forgive me. I would do anything if it had meant that she was going to realize that I had meant it, and that she wouldn't want to hold me by these standards anymore.

After she had been listening to me, and she had been letting herself think about the words that I had been saying, I was seeing that she was thinking that even if I was sort of an ass that it was hard for her to hate me forever. "Yeah, I bet that you just need to have more of a filter. But in a way, while that is your biggest weakness, it is one of your biggest strengths. The fact that you are never taking any bullshit from anybody. I do really respect this." After she had said that, I could tell that she was thinking about this, and she was thinking about how much she was respecting me for being myself, even if it was hard for her to listen to me every once in a while.

"I just wish that I was able to say stuff and be the type of person that I should be. That I could be able to actually get the people around me to respect me more. That maybe if I was just not an asshole, that I could do something like that. But again, to do such a thing would be able to require me to become a different person. It would require me to lie about everything related to myself. I don't really think that I could ever be able to do something like that, no matter how awful I actually was. No matter how terrible of a person that I am, I don't really ever think that I can get myself to do something like that." Eventually I was telling myself that being the person that I really was would have been the lesser of two evils. That it was the only way to actually do anything that remotely decent.

"I just don't really understand what is making you think that the mayor is a good guy. I know that you actually support him. I know that you actually think that you should support him." After Misty said that, I was wondering what she had said, and I was wondering why she was telling me how I should not support him, when she never really gave me a good reason to reject him.

"I think that he understands what is going on. He has good plans. You may not understand what I have to deal with in order for me to actually believe that he is the best bet for me. In all reality, I don't really care though. I know that this is what I need to do. I need to see if he is right or not. I need to actually give him a chance. I don't think that you will ever understand it though. I guess that you want me to be the best guy in the world. I guess that you are starting to think that the world should be this idealistic and perfect place. You know, that is just never going to happen. But I am going to stop now. Because there is a small part of me that things that you are right." I said, and then I was not really sure what to say anymore, so I was thinking that this was never going to get anywhere.

As we were driving off, there was a sort of uncertainty that both of us were having, as if neither one of us were too sure on what we were supposed to say. In fact, I think both of us were too scared on what to say, since either way, it was not going to be what we deserved to hear, and what we should have been saying. I just told myself that one of us had to take the bullet though, so I was the one who spoke up next. "You know, I am very sorry for the way that I treat you and the rest of the group. I never really think about what I am saying or what I doing until it is much too late. I never really thought that any of this would actually matter." I said, and then when I thought about what I was saying, there was a part of me that felt stupid about this. These words felt empty, and it felt like I was not really expressing what I needed to. So I just decided that I needed to be quiet, and stop digging this grave further.

"Besides, this world sucks. There is just something about it that purely and totally sucks. That is the only way that I can describe it. It is the most elementary school way of describing it as well, but what the hell can I say about it. I guess that there is nothing else that I can say. I just feel like I have a lot of problems, and I will never be able to fix them. That is one of the reasons I don't let you guys get into the drugs that I am into right now, as I am worried about what it would do to you. It scares me to know that you might become the exact same as me. It would break me down to see you becoming like me." After I said that, there was a part of me that was really wanting to protect her, and be the one that would be there to actually make her feel like she was special. But then as I was thinking about what I had wanted to do, I was wondering if it was even possible to make her feel liek and see that she was the special girl. She was such a beautiful girl, but I could only say that so many times before it starts to sort of lose its luster. And I knew that I was getting near that amount. That sooner or later, it really was not going to work with her anymore. That she wanted something more. And I was willing to give it to her, I just needed to know what exactly her values were. When I knew her values, I could be able to relaly deliver them to her. That was what I was telling myself, and that was what I was relaly truly believeing in. That I was going to be able to be there and do the things that she wanted to do when we had the chance to really have me prove myself to her.

But then I saw that she was opening up her mouth. "I guess I am just worried that I am going to be thrown away like I was earlier by you and Edward and Sam. I am worried that nobody really wants me to be their friend anymore. I know that it is a silly fear, but I just don't know how to not think that way every time I talk with somebody now. I hope that you see where I am coming from." After Misty told me this, I nodded. I felt like I was actyally sort of understanding it. I was feeling like the more that I was thinking about it, the more that I got it.

"I guess that no matter what happens, both of us are going to feel like we are rejects. In a way, we both really are just that. We both really don't have anybody out here that we fully trust, and it scares both of us. It scared both of us to know that in some way, we will forever be independent agents." I said, and there was the part of me that was wondering if perhaps it was better to be a independent agent so that way I didn't have to deal with any bullshit.

Everything that I am doing was bullsht, and that having Jimmy at my side was the only thing that I felt like was keeping me on some form of being on track. "But here we are right now, talking with each other. I feel like we can start to trust each other. At least for now. I don't really know how much this is going to last long term, but I think we need to start to grow a bond with each other that will never break. When we talk with each other, I want to be able to have somebody that I don't feel stressed by. Somebody that I don't feel like I have to walk on thin ice with. If you get what I mean. I think that you understand my views." After she had said this, I nodded, and I really did get it. If anything, I got it too much. I understood the point of views that she had way too much, as much as that was breaking me down. I just wish that there was something else to this that we could be able to make work.

As we were talking about this, I felt like we were really starting to connect with each other more. I was feeling like we had a real connection that mattered. A connection that was going to actually keep us going. We didn't want to admit it, but we were so much alike that it was something that we should never separate from. In a way, I was really thinking that Misty and I were the ones for each other. I felt like fate was bringing us together. I didn't know what else to say and how else I can describe it other than that. Just the fact that I really trusted her.

"I don't know what else to say, but one thing that I can tell you right now is that I do trust you. I do think that we should be sticking together, because I feel like we are the ones who need to work together to make sure that there is something for us. I trust you, and I think that you should trust me. And the fact that I trust you should be enough." I said, and then I started to relax a little bit.

As I was thinking about the life that I was going to start living with Misty and the rest of the friend group now, I was telling myself that this was the best route that I could go. That this was indeed the route that I should have been going this whole time. As I was telling myself that I was making the best choice, we were in silence for another couple of seconds.

Eventually we reached her house, and when I dropped her off, I was looking right at her and I felt like I needed to ask her a real and serious question. "Misty, do you think that you would want to hang out with me anymore, or do you think that you are done wanting to see me?" I was scared for her answer, but I was totally ready for what the answer was going to be one way or the other. I told myself that I needed to accept what she said, and be a man about it.

"I think we should hang out again. I really do. But I think that I need some time to think about it. I need some time to really think about what we have talked about." After Misty said that, I nodded. And the thing was, I was finding myself mostly agreeing with her. Even if it was hard for me to admit it. She got out of the car and then before she left, she kissed me on the cheek. My boner came up in an instant and then she went back inside of her house. Once she was home, I took out a ciagrette and smoked it for a bit before I went home.

As I was driving home, I told myself that this was all a part of the night call. I went home and went right inside of my house. Once inside, I put a bunch of heroin and pot inside of my bong and I started to smoke both of them at the exact same time, wondering if I was going to kill myself by these double doses. Then when I was done with the stuff in the bong, I then took some meth before I went to bed totally drugged out.


	75. I Start to Consider Going Back

Part 5: I Start To Consider Going Back

It had been nearly six months since that last instance, and with each passing week or so, I would try and hang out with one of my friends. Usually I would hang out with each of them about once a month or so. I just enjoyed hanging with them and seeing what the world had to offer when I was just a normal teenage boy. But then there came a point around October of 1964 when I was sitting down in my house. I was staring outside the window as I was smoking a bit, and then I was letting the smoke blow out the window as I was considering what I was going to be doing next. With each progressing puff, I was becoming more and more convinced that my current plan was suicide, but at the same time, I gave zero fucks. I felt like this time I was going to hang out with Brad and Tucker, and this time, I was actually going to go through with it.

So when I had decided that I was going to hang out with Brad and Tucker, I placed the cigarette down when it was done being smoked and then I got right out side of the house. When I was outside, I went right inside of the car and started to drive right towards where I needed to go. I was driving to the family that my father ruined, but the family that hopefully I could restore. That was the one thing that I just wanted to do. Was to just restore this family and make it decent. make it actually one where I can feel like the people in there were not having everything ruined by my fathers selfish desires.

The entire time that I was driving there, I was signing a little bit to myself. I was mainly just doing it in order to relax myself. I was also thinking that there was nothing too strange about doing something like that while I was driving to this family. Eventually, I parked my car where Tucker and Brad lived. When I had parked the car, I killed the engine and then jumped right out and then I ran to the door. After I was at the front door, I cough up a bit and then I was starting to spit out the tar that I smoked. I knew that this was a terrible time, but I knew that my lungs could not handle the abuse that I had given it much longer. But then I told myself that I was a warrior and that it didn't really matter.

Eventually, their mother replied and said "Do I know you?" I thought that maybe after seven months, they had sort of forgotten about me. I gave her a second or two to process this and then she gasped as if she could not believe that she did not remember who I was. "Oh my god come in." After she said that, I went right inside of the house and then I was thinking about how I could make myself at home. I sat down and I saw that Brad was still awake. "This is my older son Brad." After she had said that, I waved hello at the guy.

"Who are you?" Brad asked thinking that it was strange that a seventeen, eighteen in two months, old guy was talking with him all of a sudden. This guy was twelve if Jenny was correct, so the fact that I was talking with a guy about half a decade younger than me must have seemed off.

"Well, I had been talking to your mother a couple of times." I decided to tell the truth, and I was wondering if he was going to let down his fears and if he was actually going to listen to me or if he was still sort of on the cusp of just telling me that I was some creepy old dude who needed to go away.

"My name is Sheldon Lee." I said, and I was holding my hand out. I was hoping that Brad would accept my offer. I was staring at him and I was smiling. I was trying my best to come off as a nice guy but I was wondering if I was failing to do this. Brad just shook it and then as we had let go, I started to relax a little bit more. All I needed to do was just slowly win this guy over. All I needed to do was just slowly get him to respect me, and then we would be golden.

I started to smoke a cigarette and then Brad's mother said "I will leave you guys alone for you. It seems like you both have some things to discuss." After she had said that, she walked out and then we were both just staring at each other. So I then started to relax much more than I had thought I would have been able to, knowing that in a way I had sort of passed the first hurdle.

"So how old are you Brad?" I asked, and then I was wondering if I was saying his name without even having him introduce himself. I felt like this could have been a bit of a problem, and could make him start to feel even more uncomfortable with me. That was when I was telling myself that I was a major fucking idiot. Then Brad started to get himself composed and then he started to speak up a bit.

"Well, I am about to turn thirteen soon." Brad said, and then I was thinking about the letter that Jenny had given me. She was wrong about his age, by about a year. Close enough to not make it a big deal. But enough for me to realize that I didn't really actually know all that much about this guy going into this. That maybe I was wrong about this being an easy ride.

"Damn, for a while I thought that you were only eleven, soon to turn twelve." I said, and I felt like this was enough to hint that I knew who he was, but not enough to make him start to think that there was something else to this going on. "Oh trust me Brad, there nothing like really evil that I am indicating at here. I was just simply pointing out something." After I had said that, Brad was trying his best to relax, but I could tell that he was not really fully sold on this quite yet.

"Well, I think that there is one thing that we can agree on, and that is the fact that your brother is going to have a very hard life ahead of him. In fact, one of the main reasons I was coming here was to see if I could get to know him a bit better." I said, and then I asked "So tell me, how old is Tucker?"

After I asked him this, and I was seeing that Brad was trying his best to relax a bit more, although with only a faint amount of success, I could tell that he was going to just give me the answers to the questions that I had already asked him, and that he was just hoping that this was the most that it would have to be. "Well, he is four right now. Eight years younger than me." Brad said, and then I nodded. So that part of it was true. Tucker was indeed eight years younger than Brad. I was then thinking that maybe Jenny was not wrong about his age, and that I was the one whow as wrong about his age.

I mean, she said that she was brought to the labyrinth, or was tried to be brought down to the labyrinth when she was just ten, and her mother went down, and there is nine months of pregnancy. Which meant that even if she was getting pregnant the day that she went down there, that means she would still be ten years and nine months old. Which was pretty much eleven, and she said Brad was her age, which means that as long as Brad was say within like six months of where Jenny was at, then they were basically the same age. And if Brad was born first out of the two, but on the same calendar year, then they were indeed basically the same age. So I was sort of thinking something that was wrong, and that Jenny was actually the one who was right.

"So how is it like having a brother that is like that?" I asked, and I was trying to be respectful about it, not wanting to hit bad on a touchy subject, and I didn't want to make Brad feel pissed for sort of being insensitive, or whatever he may think of it out to be. I think that Brad just sort of getting himself in the mindset that he can indeed talk about this with me. It looked like he was starting to sort feel ready to trust me a little bit.

"Well, it is hard in all honesty. He has been having problems from the day he was born. I can't but wonder if my parents would have taken him or let him get rejected if they truly knew what was going to be happening. I honestly don't think I would have accepted him if I knew what it was going to be like to raise this guy." Brad said, and he said this quietly, as if to try and not get the others to hear what he said. I nodded, and there was a part of me that knew exactly what he was talking about. I knew that the very fact that Tucker was alive was probably due to the people at the labyrinth being able to hide just how badly disabled he really was.

"Do you feel like it makes things harder for you?" I asked, and then I was wondering if he was actually really starting to trust me or if he was just doing the most basic of conversations, in order to make me feel like I wasn't really being rejected. But I was then thinking that perhaps i just needed to focus on the conversation at hand, and see what exactly he was acting like before I made any sort of assumptions.

"I think that it makes things really hard. Almost too hard for me to actually really live a normal life. Who wants to be friends with the guy who has a fucked up brother? I think that people just want to make fun of me, and honestly, if I didn't know Tucker, and I just sort of knew about his siblings from the side line, I would do that exact same thing." Brad said, and then despite how awful it was for me to hear him saying that about my half brother and nephew, I was really still not able to blame him.

"In all honesty, I think that those people just don't really know what it is like to have a terrible life, and they don't really understand what it is like to have nothing ever given to you be normal." I said, and I was thinking about the fact that I had a sibling that was like this. Then I told myself to stop calling him my sibling, since I barely ever got to know him at all. I mean, I was not feeling like calling him my sibling was something that I could really justify doing.

"I think that you just have something that many of them do not have, and that is the realization that things are very hard for you. That life is not all that easy." I said, and then after I said that, I looked right at Brad's clothes and then I said "It seems like for somebody your age, you do dress up pretty decently." I said, and then I was thinking that it was strange for me to say that about him, even though I didn't really think about the fact that I was sounding strange.

"Well I just like to dress up decently. I mean, there is no real reason to not dress up nice." After Brad had told me this, I was thinking about what it was like for Brad to be living like this. Every time I was thinking about what it was like for him to be living like this, I was telling myself that he must have been dealing with things worse than anybody else.

"I just want to have things go easy for me now. I just want to get popular. I just want to have people be able to respect me. And I don't think that I will ever get that when I talk to other people here, since they are always going to be focused on my fucking brother." Brad said this as if it was actually a chore that this was the case. I was then trying to imagine things from his perspective, and in his perspective, maybe this really was a chore. I was really thinking more and more from his perspective, and I was realizing just how hard and shitty this really must have been.

"Yeah, I think that when you and I get to know each other better, you may start to realize what things are really like. The fact that this world just fucking sucks. Everything about this world is awful, and I hate the entire setting of this place. I mean, life actually does suck." I said, and then I was wondering how Brad was going to feel about the fact that I was being so blunt about how awful things actually were.

"I wonder how bad the world actually is if you are speaking like this." Brad said and then he was sounding like he was actually starting to get scared of how things were going to be. As if he was starting to realize that he was not really ready for something like this after all. I was then wondering if I should relax a little bit more, and if I was actually sort of taking this too far.

"Well, I can tell you one thing for damn sure. The fact that this world is not going to ever look at things from the just perspective. That nothing here will be going quite the way that it should be. Trust me, when you realize that this world is not going to be waiting for you, then you start to realize just how pointless this entire thing actually is." I said, and then I was wondering what else we were going to say, and I felt like despite the age gap between us, and the fact that he didn't really like me, and was easily very creeped out by me, he was still sort of being the guy I could connect with. He was still somebody who I thought I could be able to speak out my thoughts with.

When I was thinking about the fact that I was thinking I was sort of getting Brad to trust me again, I stood up and then I started to smoke a cigarette. Then Brad was wondering what he was going to say to the fact that I was smoking like a fucking chimney. "Is there ever a point where you think that you might stop doing that?" Brad asked, and he was mostly just asking out of being curious. He was not really trying to judge me. Or at least I was thinking that he was not really trying to judge me, and then I shook my head.

"I don't think that I plan on quitting. I don't really even think it matters all that much honestly. It's very nice for me to do, and in all honesty, I just feel comfortable doing this." I said, and then after I said that, I was thinking that it was getting kind of annoying that even a thirteen year old guy was basically shooting me down and telling me that I was wrong for doing stuff like this. I wanted to smoke and I was going to do it, even if people were going to tell me to quit. I didn't really give a fucking shit though. If I wanted to smoke, I should have been given every single right to do so.

"Brad, I just think that this is one of the few things that I can have that can be able to make me feel better. I mean, I know that it sounds silly for me to say, talking about an object in my hand. But it just is something I can place my mouth on, and it is a nice soother for me. It is honestly one of the most relaxing things that I can do. I just don't really know how else I can describe it besides that. I just feel like when I smoke, there is something like a peace that I am making with this world." I said, and I was trying to really piece it in a way more than that. I felt like there was more than that to the whole thing. But I felt like this was indeed enough for him to understand what I was talking about.

But before we could talk about it so much, Brad's mother said that she was off to go to rest and then she told Brad not to stay up too late. Brad said that he wouldn't, and then she went right to her room and turned off the bedroom light. When the light was off, there was a part of me that was feeling like we were about to get much more real with each other, and I didn't know how to feel about this.

As I was telling myself that this was going to be what was going to happen now, I was thinking about where this was going to go now. I started to pay attention to the noises going on around me. I was scared of the noises that were going on around me. In fact, I was thinking that I was going to be setting myself up for a fight to the death. I was actually being that silly in my mind. Brad was thinking about the expressions that I was having, and he was seeing that maybe things were actually starting to get serious now. I think it was the fact that he was seeing that things were gping to get serious when he was stopping everything that he was going to say. I felt like the two of us were going to have to get into a fight for our lives very soon. As I put the next cigarette in my mouth, I was seeing Brad standing up and standing right behind me. I then started to walk to the front door of the house. When I opened the door for just a moment, I was seeing the fact that the outside was looking mostly fine. I then told Brad to stand there and not do anything. I think the whole stern firmness that I had at that moment was what was making Brad actually listen to me at that moment. He just stood there and he was not saying anything. He was just letting me do the show from now on. I didn't really mind that he was letting me do this, considering the fact that I was certain that I was going to have to fight for the safety of both of us.

I went to my car and slowly pulled my machete out of my trunk. Then when I was doing that, I then found my next set of drugs. I saw that there was some weed. I placed it right in the bong and then I smoked that for a moment to get myself focused while having a bit of a high. Then when this happened, I started to walk right back to Brad. I stood right in front of the house door and then Brad said "Do you actually think you are ready to fight what is going to be coming at us?" After he had asked me this, I was just remaining quiet. I was letting the high sink in, and I was feeling the effects start to kick in, which was exactly what I had wanted. This was what I wanted. This was what I had needed. Eventually, when I was thinking about Brad, and I was thinking baout keeping him safe, there was the part of me that was expanding to the much more important person. And that was Tucker. I knew that I needed to keep that young child alive, no matter what the cost may be. Even if it was going to place my life on the line.

"I don't know if I am ready to fight it. But I know for a fact that I do need to fight it. I have to fight this thing." I said, and then after I said that, I was now more alert than ever. I was wondering how the sudden fact that we were probably going to die really change my perception of life. But it was all that I needed.

"Brad, I am sorry that coming here is doing this to both of you and your brother. I had a terrible feeling that this exact thing was going to happen when I started to see your mother. I felt like this was going to be what I was going to have to fear. Now I feel like a idiot for ever thinking that I could be able to connect with you, and that there was something that I could get out of this." After I had said this, I was then feeling like I had really betrayed them, and that was what was pissing me off.

Eventually, despite all of the things that were going on, there was one thing that I knew that I needed to do beyond just keeping them safe. I needed to face my fears. I was getting scared of what was coming up, and I was telling myself that this was unneeded. I was telling myself that there was nothing to be scared of. But I was then telling myself that this was a load of bullshit. That this was bullshit because I was literally in danger at that moment. When I was telling myself this, I was then thinking about what else I could do. I was then watching as Brad was getting inside of the house. I was thinking that this was probbaly for the best of him. I closed the door and then I walked inside to the living room. As I was inside of the living room, I sat down and then I was placing the machete down. I was thinking that maybe this was something that I over thought.

"Are you sure that there was something down there, or do you think that maybe there was nothing really going on at all?" After Brad has asked me this question, I was remaining silent. I was not really too sure what I was going to say, or what I could say, since I was not really sure what I believed. I was not even sure if I believed in anything at all, as silly as that sounds.

"Well, I will do my best to keep you and your family safe either way. I mean, there is a chance that I am over thinking it, and that there is nothing going on, but I don't really think that this is the case, since I am pretty sure that I heard something. And knowing my luck, I am pretty sure that there is nothing in my life that would ever go in my favor. So I am utterly certain that there is something going on." I said, and despite this, I was telling myself that I did need to relax for Brad's sake.

"I know that you are not really understanding this, and I don't blame you. But that is because you are simply too young to get this. You don't understand what this world is like. But maybe that is better for you. The fact that you actually have the chance of being able to live a happy life." I said, and I knew for a fact that this was not really going to keep the conversation going.

"So Sheldon, when you go home tonight, do you think that these people will leave us alone?" Brad asked, and despite the fact that earlier he was saying that he felt like there was nobody there, I could tell that he was actually starting to get scared by now. I was thinking that for his sake, I was going to keep my calm and cool. I didn't really even care if it was going to make me lie about how I had felt, I was going to keep myself in a way to where Brad can look up to me and rely on me.

"I have a feeling that these people are mostly after me, which makes me feel like in all reality, you will be fine. But at the same time, I am not really too sure if things are going to be that simple. I wish that it was that simple though." I said, and then after I had said that, I was meaning every single word of this. I was wanting to keep Brad safe. I was wanting to keep Tucker safe. That was all I needed to do. I was needing these two people to know that as long as I was here, that there was nothing that was going to hurt them. But then I was thinking that as long as I was not there, that there was nothing to make them get hurt. So it was sort of a double treatment.

Eventually, despite all of these things, I was hearing something again. There was a really loud knock. This time neither Brad or I could be able to deny this. I stood right up and then I was looking at Brad. "Stay here." I said, and this time he was not needing to be told what to do. He just stood there, and he was thinking that there was no need that he needed to be told twice. As I was thinking about the fact that he did not need to be told twice on this, I was thinking that this was one thing that was actually going in my favor. I then started to walk to the door and I opened the door to the house and when I was there, I was keeping the machete close enough to make sure that I could grab it but also far enough away to where the person there could not see me.

I was seeing that it was a guy who was wearing something like a business outfit. This was not Jimmy White, but I was wondering if they knew who Jimmy White was. "You know, you need to keep more on top of your duties. Your father has been worried about your safety. You haven't talked to him in over a year." He said and then I shook my head.

"My father does not care about me. Don't even pretend that he cares about me. There is nothing you can say that makes me think he cares about me." I said, and then after I told him this. After I told this guy this, I was wondering if he was finally going to believe in me and everything. I was then starting to think that this was one of the biggest mistakes that I made, actually telling this guy this. I should have never told him this, I was starting to fear that maybe I had opened up a really large can of worms and that I should have thought about the fact that he was sort of leading me down this pathway.

"Maybe you have been looking at things wrong. Maybe he really does care about you, and you just need to give him a chance. I have seen the way that he has been talking about you when you were gone, and he looks broken. He talks about his run away son, and how when his son ran away, everything in his life again. He talked about how he became a born again christain. He talked about how he wished that he had treated you better, and that if he had another chance to see you, that he would try and do everything right this second time. It sounds like he really means it." After the guy said I was placing the machete a bit closer to me, not really even caring if he had seen it or not. I was thinking that he already knew that it was there, and that I didn't even need to bother hiding it anymore.

"Well, I don't believe in him. I don't believe in the lies that he had been spreading for even one minute. The only reason he misses me is because I am not around to do his bidding. He realizes that I don't want anything to do with him." After I had told him this, I was feeling like this guy was possibly much closer to my father than I was, not that this would have been a very hard bar to go through.

"I am going to tell your father this. He really misses you. I work with him, and we have had a few drinks together. I think that what you should do is give him a chance." After he had told me this, I saw that he was placing his hand inside of his pocket, and then when I was looking down and looking at the outline of what was in his pocket, I was seeing that there was a weapon he was hiding. I was not really in the mood for this anymore, knowing that this guy was going to kill me if I let him continue these things anymore.

As he was pulling the gun out, I was seeing that there was a car on the other side of the street and that there was three other people inside of the car. He pulled it out and pointed it right at me. I was holding my machete, and I could tell that we were both ready to fire if the case needed to come to it. Despite the fact that he knew this was unsafe, Brad came down to see what the hell was going on. Before he could fire the gun to kill me and eventually Brad, I slashed down the machete and cut his entire hand off, and the gun dropped down to the ground before it even had a chance to do anything. The guy looked at me utterly shocked that I had the balls to do something like that. "I mean, after all, I killed the sheriff with no problem."

After I said that, I was looking right up at Brad and I was kind of hoping that he didn't really hear that part. I was really hoping that he didn't hear me confess to this crime. When I had said that, and I was seeing that Brad was right there, I was scared that he was going to look at me as the monster, and I would have nobody to blame besides myself for just not keeping my damn mouth shut. As I had started to realize the situation I just put myself into, in order to keep myself out of thinking about what I had just done, I looked right down at the guy and there was a part of me that was just trying to contain my anger.

"Your father is going to come after you. Even if you don't ever want to see him again, he is going to show up, and you are going to have to face off with him. Do you think that he will actually be ready for something like this?" After he had asked me this, I was not really sure what to say, and despite the fact that I didn't want to admit it, there was a part of me that was thinking to myself that I was indeed not ready for something like this. But before I could say something, anything at all, the guy started to run away and he was going right back to the car where he just ran right inside and the driver started to go off. I looked right at Brad, and I was just waiting for what he had to say. In all reality, I just wanted him to say it to get it over with. I wanted him to just rat me out so that way I would be able to just deal with the fact that he hated me, and then I would be able to move on.

"He had a gun. He was going to kill us if you didn't do that." After Brad had said that, I nodded for a moment. As I was thinking about that, and the fact that I had just saved Brad and I, just like how I had hoped I would eventually be able to do, I was then thinking about my father. As I was thinking about him, there was one thing that I felt like I needed to just take care of right now. I needed to go and meet my father.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I am going to have to find my father again. I am going to have to talk to him, just to seee if this guy is telling the truth. I don't really want to think about the idea of my father being a changed man, but for some reason, I think that there could be a small level of truth to it. After all of the stuff that I have been dealing with here, I guess that there are stranger things that I have heard in my life." Then when I said this, I was looking right at Brad and I was not really sure what he was going to say. In all honesty, I was not really even all that certain I wanted to know what he was going to say. Just knowing what he was going to say would just make things ten times worse.

Eventually as I was starting to head away, Brad called right out to me and when he did this, I was starting to feel the grip on the machete grow lighter. There was something about him talking to me, and actually wanting to say something to me that changed everything. As if I was actually getting the apporocal of somebody who I had been trying my whole life to earn. "You know, I want to go down there with you. I want to see what the other place you lived at was like. I want to see if this place is like the stories make it out to be. I want to know why you are doing all of these things. I feel like I need to know the truth." After I heard him say this, I was thinking about what to do. I was feeling like bringin him along was the worst mistake I could make, but at the same time, I was telling myself that he was going to eventually find out anyways. But then again, this was a school night and I didn't think about what his mother would say. But I was telling myself that was long as we were quiet when we came back, and we just went right there and right back, I could just say that we had a drive. It was only nine after all. So if we started right away, he could be back by midnight and then he would still be able to get a good six or seven hours of sleep.

Despite the fact that everything in my entire body was telling me not to bring Brad along, there was a part of me that was thinking that maybe he could be able to be a useful tool. So I told him to come down and he walked down the stairs carefully, as if suddenly rethinking all that he had just offered. Not that I could really blame the guy. He did just agree to go with me to quite possibly his death. Once we were in the car though, I rolled the window down and started to smoke a little bit. Eventually, when the cigarette was nearing it's end, I looked right at Brad. "Do not tell anybody what we are going to do, especially your mother? She would never trust me again if she knew what we were doing." After I told Brad this, I started up the car, not even knowing if he consented and agreed to these terms, but I was not really giving a shit. I was going to do this, and I was going to have it my way, even if it did mean that I was going to force Brad into a term of secrecy from his own parents.

As we were driving along, it wasn't until I had reached the gas station before leaving Tremorton before Brad started to speak. "Do you really want to go back there again? Or are you doing it because you feel like you have to?" After Brad asked me this, I was really not in the mood to answer this question, but at the same time I was just thinking that maybe he was using this to try and get to know me a little bit better.

"Nothing about me wants to be going back there. That much I can tell you right now. Holy shit, just even the thought of going back there is making me angry. But I feel like this needs to be done. I feel like I have to go there in order to really place this all behind me." I stood out and was now in the cold night as I placed the nosel where I was going to fill up the car and then waited for a couple of seconds. I went to the store and saw that Wyatt was there.

Once I was inside of the store, I saw that Wyatt was just not really having to deal with anybody at all. He was just sort of waiting around, and it looked like he was on the verge of falling asleep actually. It would have been funny on any other moment seeing my co worker like that but at that moment I was not really in the mood for jokes. I placed down the thing I wanted to buy, a energy drink and then I walked out of the store when I bought it. When I got inside of the car, I opened up the can and then started to drive off once again.

As I started to drive off, I was thinking about what I was going to do next. "So Brad, have you ever left this town before? In your entire life?" I was just trying to make the entire drive a little bit less annoying and less boring as I was thinking about the fact I was leading myself into this battle.

"Yeah, once. But never to Wayside. I went to Wisconsin the year that Tucker was born. We were just there because my grandparents wanted to see Tucker and I. They were sort of happy to see me, growing up to be a strong independent young man, as they liked to call it. But they were horrified to see Tucker, as if seeing him like this was a burden that they never wanted to deal with. It was like they never even wanted to talk to us anymore. Not that I could really blame them. But it did kind of hurt to see these people who just even a couple of hours ago really caring all about us but once they saw just how bad Tucker was, they just didn't even care anymore. Almost like they were expecting a perfect family and couldn't get it. I will never get it, but maybe I would have to be a perfectionist to get it." Brad said, almost in a way taking a subtle jab at them. I was wondering if Brad was just over all the bullshit in the world, which would be shocking since he was just a thirteen year old guy.

"I originally grew up and was raised in Iowa. But my parents moved here after a very hard to resist business offer. I never really got what it was at the time, and since I was only ten, I was thinking that maybe my father was moving up in the world. I was proud of the guy. I actually thought he was making good for all of us. If I had really known the truth, I would have thrown a fit to get us away from there. I would have fought it until the moment we were gone." I said, thinking about how Riley was. She must have been old enough to get it. Hell, I was not even surprised if my father had it with some of her friends, or if the thing that was happening between them was even deeper than this.

If he had actually been sexually abusing her from the start, and that was why she had hated me so much when she looked at me, because she was being reminded of him. Well, I knew that second part. But even then, years later, I was still not thinking deep enough. Nearly eight years after the event, and still there were parts of it that was really getting to me. I had wondered how deep this really went and how long he had been doing this to my poor and sweet now little sister. Just because she was older than me at birth doesn't matter anymore since she died four years ago, almost five, which meant I was now having nearly two years on her.

"Well, do you think that anybody would have even believed in you if you told them what was going to happen, or do you think that if you tried to save them, that they would have rejected you and acted like you were the monster for taking them away? Have you thought on what that would have been like?" After Brad asked me this, I nodded and I already knew this stuff. But I didn't really care. I just wanted to feel like I would have done something good in my life. As I was thinking about the fact that I wanted to say that I had done something good in my life, I was just thinking about something else. I was thinking about what it would be like if Riley had known what was going to happen but I did not.

If that had been the case, I probably would have been too dumb and young to get it. I probably would have had the entire thing slip my fucking mind. But there was one thing that I knew for sure, and that was that I was never going to look at my father with any real positive light again. I knew that he deserved none of this. I was going to see him and I was going to listen to him, but that was all that it was going to go. I was not even going to entertain the idea that he was going to redeem himself. He was beyond the point of redemption. I was utterly convinced of this, and I was utterly convinced that he was a plague that needed to be taken down.

As both of these things were becoming what I was thinking, I told myself that tonight, no matter what happened, I would keep Brad safe. That was the least that I could do. Was make sure that this guy who I should have never met would be safe. This guy who I should have never brought into this whole disaster would be safe. Telling myself this was the one thing that I felt like I needed to do. I was totally in the mindset that I needed to have this happen at least.

Eventually, Brad and I just started to talk about what he was doing at middle school, and I was trying to remember what all of middle school was like, but despite how much I wanted to remember it, I could not, and in all honesty, I was wondering if that was for the best. It was one of the few times where I was feeling like I had been able to trust my father, and was sadly one of the last innocent times of my life. I didn't want to think about that. Thinking about it would be too hard on me.

But despite this, I was always telling myself that no matter what happened next, no matter how much it was all going against me, I would keep a strong mind. I was going to go in there and I was not going to think about the days of old. Besides, listening to Brad was so much better than anything else. Listening to the story of a innocent guy who had never done anything bad. Who had not lived a rough life at all. Was almost even popular in a way. Well, popular to a small crowd and popular as long as the main things related to Tucker were not brought up. As long as he never brought that up, then nobody gave a shit and nobody ever really nagged him on it. I just thought about what it was going to be like to see him grow up, or if we were going to still speak. I eventually parked at Wayside. As I parked at Wayside, I ended up going to the hotel of the town and then I gave Brad twenty dollars. "Stay here, do not go anywhere. Rent a room for a while. Do whatever you feel like you need to do. But do not follow me. Stay here, and I don't even care what happens, you must not leave the hotel until I come back." After I said that, I stayed long enough for Brad to place in a room and then go there. Once that was done, I wrote the room number down on a piece of paper and placed it in my pocket. With that, I was ready to take down my father. I was genuinely telling myself that it was going to be now or never. Oh fucking boy, how little I knew that this matter was going to continue on for much longer than this.

As I was driving, I eventually decided that I needed to do one small thing first. I needed to go and see what the section of the labyrinth was like. If it was still in use, or if it was just empty now. I felt like the answer was going to be even more important than seeing my father. I felt like I needed to see this now.

So I pulled up at the place where the labyrinth was, got out of the car and started to smoke another cigarette as I walked to the entrance that I knew about all too well. As I was walking there, I saw that there was something standing in front of something that looked like a cheaply brought up grave. I considered seeing them, but at the same time I told myself to not focus on this. I went down into the labyrinth and then once I was in the labyrinth, I was looking around everything. And I was checking out to see how bad the condition of it was, and the entire time I was down there, I was almost waiting for something to happen.

I was not really sure what I was doing, and I didn't really know when i was actually thinking about it why I decided that it was a good idea to actually go down to the labyrinth like this. In all reality, this seemed like a terrible idea. I mean, going down to this maze at all was already probably going to get me killed. But I honestly fellt like I needed to figure something out here. I needed to know if these horrible human beings were actually still doing stuff here.

But the entire time that I was looking down there, I was becoming more and more convinced that in all reality, there was indeed nothing here. In fact it looked like a lot of the stuff here has been worn down. I thought that maybe this was going to be my best chance to not only take down this part of the orginazation, but just destroy the entire fucking underground setting. So I picked up another cigarette and then started to smoke it for a bit, and then when I was done, I threw it at the ground and when I did this I saw that the ground was starting to set on fire a little bit. It was obvious that somebody put some gasoline down here earlier.

The entire time that I was staring, I smiled and I was very happy to know that this place was not going to last. I laughed a little bit, knowing that this place was destroyed and that I was one step closer to winning the war against my father. I thought that this was a war between my father and I, even if it wasn't really just the two of us going at it. Even if there were many other people that I was having to fight.

The entire time that I was seeing the fire going off, I started to look around, and I was walking down the pathway. The fire was very slow spreading, and the fire was going to take several minutes to really bring the entire place down. With each room that I looked in, I was seeing that it was just entirely empty, and that there was nothing at all indicating this place being even remotely used in like an entire year and a half. I seriously was shocked over even the thought that I brought this entir eplace down permanently. Probably because since David was the sheriff now, he was going to be able to go right down there every time it looked like the place was being used again. I thought that I did something right.

Eventually, when I was utterly convinced that there was nothing down there, I left the labyrinth, finally thinking that it was time to really put this place behind me for good. Once I was out of the labyrinth, I looked around and I saw that the person was still there but just standing up now. As if they were starting to walk away for a bit. I knew that I was going to soon lose the chance to talk to this guy. When I realized that I was going to lose my one chance to talk to this guy, I started to run after him as much as I could, without even looking at the shitty grave that was placed down there.

Despite the fact that he had a big head start on me, due to the fact that he wasn't really trying to escape me, and the fact that I was actually chasing after him, I eventually managed to catch up with the guy and then I touched his shoulder to get him to notice me. He looked right around and he was seeing me. He looked like he was shocked to see me there. "Sheldon..." The guy said, and the more that I was looking at him, the more that I realized that it was the guy who had bullied me the most back in the day. The person who really ruined my life when I was at high school. Given the situation here, it seemed like that was totally water under the bridge.

"Don fucking Prima." I said, and then after I said that, I took a deep breath and then I looked away. "It has been a very long time since we have last met. I never thought that we were going to see each other again." I said, and then after I said that I turned right at him again, feeling like it was time to look at him right in the eyes like a fucking man. "You're in senior year now right?"

"Yeah, shouldn't you be as well?" Don asked, and then I shook my head. I then told him that I should have been, but then I dropped out. "Damn, I thought that you were going to go all the way. You lucky fucking bastard." Don said, and then after he said this, I was wondering what caused his sudden change in attitude, and if he was trying to just make amends with me. EIther wya, seeing this guy even trying to be nice to me even for just a moment was just strange. "You know, I was always wondering what you decided to leave this place. I thought that you were simply just not around that much during the summer, but then you never showed up to school and I found out from Dakota you moved away. In a way, I was starting to sort of worry about you. In all reality, you were starting to become popular, and I like that."

I was wondering if popularity was all that really mattered to people like Don Prima. But I didn't want to say anything, as I was thinking that there was a small chance that we could be able to get each other to not each our guts and everything, and trust me, considering my life before I moved here, that would have been amazing. He was one of the main reasons I wanted to move the hell out of here so badly. He had been one of the reasons why I thought that getting out of Wayside would be the best thing that I could have done. Before you know, the secrets of the labyrinth were revealed and it turned out that Don Prima was nothing more than just a slight annoyance. I honestly never thought for a second of my life that Don Prima would have been the thing that I hated least about Wayside, but here we were.

"Just some terrible things happened and I could never really get myself to stay here anymore. If I stayed at Wayside any longer, I doubt that I would have actually been sane. I hated the stuff that was going on down here during my time living here. And given the fact that you were at the grave, I assume that you know exactly what I am talking about." I said, and I was wondering if he was going to finally break, or if he was going to keep pretending like he didn't know what I was talking about. But he sighed, as if thinking that maybe if we were going to start to get along better, that he might as well tell me what was going on.

"Fine, well I think that you probably know what was going on. After all, we all know what you did. It wasn't really anything that was kept a secret. But one of the people that I was friends with was brought down to the labyrinth a while back. She was in eighth grade when it happened. Her name was Abi. She was a great girl, and she was somebody I actually had a crush on. But she went missing before I could tell her. I was a social recluse. And then when I found out about the labyrinth, I thought that she would be fine. Turns out that she died during child birth to her second child, when she was only fifteen years old." Don said, and I was wondering if this labyrinth as a result of the story he told me would start to retroactively bring us closer together.

"I know how it fucking feels." I said, and despite the fact that Don made fun of me and treated me like shit earlier, I was seeing from the look on his face that he was starting to believe in me. "My older sister went missing. Exact same grade as Abi was in. She didn't make it easier. Although for much more sinister reasons, that I really don't want to get into, no matter how much I feel like I need to open up about the truth to other people." I said, and then after I had said that, Don was just remaining silent, as if unsure on what he should have been saying next.

"I guess that maybe we are more alike than I thought. I guess that maybe everybody in this town is more alike than I thought. As I grow older, the more that I respect people that I previously went to school with. I try and start to see from their perspective, and most of the time I really do start to get it. Do you want to talk about it a little bit more?" After he asked me this, I shook my head, thinking that it would be much too hard to get myself to even think about it.

"I can't. I guess that these events with Abi are the reason why you started to become the big boy player guy that you were? I guess that if this were the case, then I would not be able to blame you for being a dick." I said, and then I was not wanting to continue saying that as I was worried that he was going to start to reject more and act like we should never talk with each other. "The whole thing with Riley is the main reason that I started to get into drugs. It was the thing that started to drive me to insanity." I continued, as I was wondering what Don was going to say to me.

"I wonder what life would have been like if these things never happened. I wondered how much better of people we would have been if we didn't really know what happened down there, and if these people that were close to us never went missing. I guess that this would have never happened. We would never be talking to each other right now. And I wouldn't have been treating you like crap I feel like. I don't really know what I can say to this." After Don said this, I could tell that he was starting to think about the fact that he was thinking that maybe he had been wrong about me. That he should have given me another chance and not just instantly brushed me off like how he had done earlier. I could tell that there was a part of him that even seemed like he was starting to regret the way that he had treated me.

"Don't worry about it honestly. We all grow up eventually. And having this conversation with you right now is sort of helping me make peace with had happened to me earlier. Making me feel at peace over the fact that I didn't get to be popular. I feel like I am almost even starting to accept the fact that these things happen." I said, and then I was smiling at him. As if I was trying to get him to be more open to the idea of maybe even being somebody that I would like to talk with and maybe be friends with eventually.

"I am surprised that this hasn't really bothered you as much as I thought that it would have. I thought that this would have pissed you off. The way that I treated you. I thought that you would have never wanted to even give me a chance to talk to you again. I guess that maybe I understimated how much you have grown up lately." After Don Prima had said that, I could tell that he was actually being sincere with the comment that he was giving me. He was shocked to see how mature I was taking this, and he was wondering if maybe things would have been better if we were actually friends. Or at least people who didn't hate each other throughout my tenure at high school.

"I think that with all of the things that I have been exposed to lately, I can't really get myself to hate anybody anymore. I can't get myself to act like this world is a place where there is no redemption. I mean, a lot of these people in this fucking world are at that point of no redemption at all, but I think that maybe you are worthy of it. After all, you are just a high school student. I can't really judge you in the same level as the people that I grew to know as my family." I said and then I remembered my family. I remembered my father, and the whole reason I even came here in the first place.

"Sorry to cut you off but I really do need to get out of here. There is something that I should show you guys now." I said, and then I started to run off. As I was running off, Don Prima was not really sure of what to say, and I was thinking that he was just confused on what to say next.

"Well, good luck on wher eyou are trying to go." After Don said that, the guy stood there for a moment, trying to really let the fact that he wished me good luck sink in. He thought that those words would have never escaped his mouth. Even when he was at his idea of starting to look at me like a decent and real person, he was still not really ready for something like this. He thought that he would have just been nice to me and then left it at that. He was not expecting to actually be hoping for my success. Eventually, I reached my car and then once I got right inside, I started to take a smoke and then I placed my head on the wheel and then I groaned in pain for a bit. I was not really sure if moving out of here was the best choice. I had a reputation that was growing, and I threw it away like a jack ass.

I was wondering what I was thinking when I threw away the idea of being popular just to get the hell away from here. It was the biggest mistake that I had ever made in my entire life. I was driving away from this place, and the entire time that I was driving away, there was one thing that I had been thinking about. And that was the fact that I was scared to see what my father was going to do when we saw each other again. In fact, there was a part of me that was scared to know how he was probably not going to be there. I thought that this would have sucked. I just hated the fact that I was never going to see him again probably, since he was going to know what I was going to do, and he would manage to escape in time, and then I would have to find him later. He must have known that I was here. There was no fucking way that he didn't know that I was going to be here.

There was nothing that would be easy about this confrontation. There was nothing about this confrontation that would actually make me feel like I was going to be the one who was going to come out the winner. Even I knew that this was something that I was going to have to be extremely lucky on. And I knew for a fact that I was not really going to ever get lucky with anything when it came to shit like this.

Eventually, despite the fact that I was not really sure that I was going to be able to take this guy down, I knew for a fact that the effort was going to be all that really mattered. I pulled up to the parking lot of where I had one lived before. I was staring right at the house for a while, and the entire time that I was staring at the house, I was just smoking some cigarettes, and probably went through two of three before I decided that I was going to go in there. I was debating with myself the entire point of going down there and I was not really thinking that this was going to go the way that I was thinking that it would.

I thought that my father was going to probably have a bullet proof vest on. I mean, given the fact that this was literally the only thing that had actually saved David back in the day, and that the bullett proof vest was literally the only reason that David was the sheriff, I was pretty sure that he was not going to take the risk of going in there. I was thining that beyond that, there was something else that was going on. That there was something about going in there that was going to be exactly what my father had wanted, and that if I went in there, then my father had won. I was actually thinking that my father had won by doing this, by setting up this entire set up. I was hating the fact that I was certain that my father had won, because I knew for a fact that deep down this was true.

The more that I was thinking about this, the more violently that I was smoking my cigarettes. The more that I was not really giving a shit how hard I was doing it. I was just needing to vent out my anger on what the hell my father was thinking. Then there was something else that I was thinking about. I was thinking about the fact that I was probably going to die if I went in there. I mean, in a way that was what I had wanted, but at the same time I felt like I was truly the only one who could be able to take down this entire business. I was also thinking that since I was my fathers child, and he was running a business, that perhaps he was actually going to let his guard down when he had seen me. If this had been the case then I objectively would have the advantage when I was going to confront him. And that was the one thing that I needed. The advantage. So that way I would be able to go in there and there would be all of those peope related to the business that I would have to take down.

I was thinking about what it would be like to go in there guns blazing and taking down that entire business. In a way, I was kind of thinking that it would sort of be badass That it would be when I was at my moment of being the man that this world had needed. The one person that we should have all relied on. I was thinking that if even Don Prima was starting to respect me more and starting to think that I was not all that bad of a guy, then that perhaps I was really going to be the hero that Wayside wanted. I was actually in that mind set for the first time in my entire life.

The entire time that I was actually thinking about this, and the entire time I was thinking on how it would be like to reverse the situation to be improving myself, I was getting more and more excited. I was honestly thinking that I had found the one thing in this world that I should be taking with full stride. Then as I was thinking about the fact that I was going to be a hero, I started to smoke a cigarette, thinking about what life would be like if I was going to do this. I was thinking about what people would think of me if I was the hero of the day. I can certainly bet that nobody would hav ebeen ready for something like this. And that was the one thing that I really needed. The surprise factor going for me. As I was thinking about the fact that the surprise factor was going to go for me, I started to debate with myself a bit more.

I was debating on if it was a good idea to go in there or not. If I should delay the confrontation between my father and I. As I was thinking about what it would be like to delay when I would fight my father, I then thought once gaian about Riley. I was thinking about what it was going to be like to see the person who had ruined my sisters life. I was wondering what it would be like to get the revenge on my sister that I truly desired. Then I was telling myself that Riley would have wanted this. And the more convinced that I got that Riley would have wanted me to get revenge on her, I was telling myself that it was smart and better for me to just go in there and destroy my father. Or at the very least see if there was something going on in there.

The entire time that I was walking to the house, I was thinking that it sucked how I didn't have a loaded gun so I could just shot through him right away. I eventually reached the front entrance of the house, and then I knocked several times. Each time that I knocked, I was waiting to see where this was going to go. I was wondering what it was going to be like seeing the look on my fathers face as I shot him down, and ended his life. I was telling myself that this would be a glorious moment in my mind.

Eventually, despite the fact that there was that in my mind, there was no answer. I was pissed at this. I even waited for a good minute or so before I eventually gave up and walked back to the car. When I was inside of my car again, I took a deep breath and hated this whole ordeal that I was going through. So I shook my head and then I started to drive off. I was going to head back to the hotel, and I was going to tell Brad that we were heading off, and I was thinking that it was going to be as simple as that. As I drove on my way back to the hotel, I was just hoping that Brad was fine, becuase if he was not, I would feel like my sanity would be thrown out the window.

Once I eventually reached the hotel, the worst fears that I had were proven to be false. I saw that Brad was indeed safe. Which was the first thing that I had been worried about. I saw that the guy was just sort of sleeping for a bit. I didn't want to wake him up, but I was thinking that maybe all I needed to do was just bring him to the car. So I grabbed Brad and then I lifted him up. The entire time that I was lifting him up, I was thinking about how skinny he was, even when compared to other people of his age. I guess that maybe he was just really athletic, and I was kind of impressed that somebody his age would be this deep into that stuff. As I was thinking that, I was carrying him out of the hotel, looking around and hoping that nobody would be thinking that I had been kidnapping him or anything like that, since if anything if anybody else had done this, they would be the one who was doing this, and that I was actually the one who was saving this from happening to him. I doubted that people really cared about the official story though.

I placed Brad inside of the car at the shot gun seat and then I placed the seat belt on him. I sighed and then I was thinking that maybe this was not going to be as hard as I wa sthinking that it would have been. In fact, I was thinking that I was going to get through this one without too much incident. And as I thought that, there was a part of me that was actually glad that my father wasn't there waiting for me, as I was going to have a chance to pull of a fully smooth ride, and that was what I had wanted more than anything else, But then as this was happening, I looked up and I was seeing that there were a couple of cars that were pulling up. I tookd a deep breath, realizing that maybe I ad been thinking too high of myself to even think for a moment that this was going to be a easy in and easy out situation. I then grabbed the machete from where the front seat was and then I was holding it, ready to use it if I had felt like I had needed to.

The entire time that I was staring at them, the more that I was getting myself ready for any battle that would have to come up. I was wondering why this would had hated me so much if they were thinking that this was going to be what I had earned in my life. That fighting these people like this was what I had deserved. I then placed the sword extra firmly down, and then I was taking a long and deep breath, as the smoke from my mouth was spreading, but this time it was smoke from colf and not even from cigarettes this time. The entire time that the smoke was travelling from me to them, I was wondering how they were going to react as they were getting out of the car.

"You were told never to come back here. I thought that even you would have been smart enough to not go back here. I guess that I just give too much credit. What can I do about it? I thought that when you were seeing all of these things, that you would have never wanted to come back here." The guy had said this, and then after he had told me this, I was holding my machete even tighter, more ready to use it if I had needed to.

"I was told that my father would want to see me again. I thought that maybe I would give him another chance." I said, and then after I had said this, I was waiting to see what they were going to say. If they were even going to say anything at all.

"You should have never left was the problem. You left when everything was given to you. Life is not this easy. Like is not this road that you can take where everything is going to go in your way." After the guy had said this, I was telling them in my mind that I already knew this, and that I didn't need to be told this.

"Well, you should have never started this business." I said and then as I was saying this, I started to walk towards my car driver seat. I was getting ready to just drive off, and just leave these assholes behind forever. I didn't want to fifght them, and I was thinking that they didn't even deserve the pleasure of fighting me. I would have actually given them a better death than they deserved.

I then placed the machete in the back seat and then I was getting myself inside of the car. "Don't turn your back on me Sheldon. You know what you must be risking if you were to do something like this. You must be aware of the fact that you are going to put everybody that you care about in danger if you turn your back."

"Well, no matter what I do, I am going to be putting them in danger. If I talk wth you, then I will fall down your rabbit hole and I will possibly get myself killed, and then with me gone, there will be nobody to defend the people that I care about. However, if I stay and I do what I have been doing, then I can still have a chance of surviving. I can have a chance of living long enough to make these people grow to the age when they can be able to fight for themselves. I care about these people. I have more compassion for these people than you will ever have for a single person in your life." I said, and I had meant it. I had also just trying to get them to shut the hell up and get the hell away from me. I started up the car and then after I did that, I started to drive away. The entire time that I was driving away, I was thinking that these people were probably going to chase after me for a while, and then I would just get away from them and then once they were away from me, then I could be able to bring Brad back home safely.

The entire time that I was driving, I was scared about Brad waking up. I was worried that he would see what happened and that he was going to freak out. I was worried that when he saw what I was doing, that if anything he was going to act like I was the one with the problem, and that in a way that I was the enemy. I was really getting myself ready for it, and I was hating every second of the preparation. As I was thinking about this, I was totally ready to explain to both Brad and his mother that he was just going on a ride with me, and that I was just letting him see the town out a little bit during the night. I doubted that she was going to be awake, but at the same time I was ready for something like that.

The more that I drove, the more that I was also thinking of something else. How likely it was that my father was knowing what I had been doing this whole time, and that he was going to try and use this a way to make me feel weaker again. I would not at all be surprised if he was trying to make me feel weaker, and I was not at all surprised if he was aware that telling that guy to see me would do this exact same thing. I was really not at all shocked.

As I was thinking of my lack of surprise to any of these things, I was then thinking on if he was going to be surprised that I didn't grow the balls to dig any deeper into this. He probably wanted me to go all out, but the fact that I had not done that was probably going to shock him, and was going to make him pursue me further, and try to atagonize me further to the point where I would show up and I would be ready to fight him. I was ready to fight him, even though I didn't really want to fight him. But as I was thinking about what it would be like to face him, I was also telling myself that this would be the best night of my short life. My life that was probably destined to be short forever, no matter what happened due to the terrible drug use that I had.

Eventually I pulled up at the house and then I grabbed Brad again and I carried him on my way to the house. As I was slowly opening the door, I slowly walked the guy to his bedroom and then slowly placed him in under his blaket and then I placed him softly on top of the pillow. Then I walked out of the room, thinking about the fact that I had almost killed him. I mean, I guess it wasn't like an extremely close call, but it was indeed closer than it should have actually been, and I felt like I should give myself credit on the fact that I did show some decent amount of authority on the whole idea of keeping him safe. I was able to place him right in the hotel, and then I brought him out when I was ready.

I then was out of the house almost when I looked down at the ground. I saw that it was covered with blood. Almost completely dried off. I then rolled my eyes and went up to the kitchen. I saw that there was a bunch of paper towels, and then I grabbed them and then I placed them down and started to clean the floor. It was just barely wet enough to where I cleaned up the entire thing in about fifteen minutes or so.

Once that was done, I then got myself out of the house and slowly walked to the car. Once I was in the car again, I started to smoke once again, and I was enjoying every single second of the suicide that I was slowly giving myself that entire time. Then when I was done with the cigarette, I started to drive away. Then I was going to go right back home. Despite how much I wanted to be there for Brad and his family, there was the part of me that had to be real with myself, and that I needed to leave them alone to keep them safe. I had to keep them safe no matter what the cost was. Even if it ended up making me lose the friendship that I had with Misty, Edward or Sam for some stupid reason. If they were actually going to let this ruin their perception of me.

Eventually, I reached the house and then I got out of it. Then I walked home and then sat right down on the couch. I looked at my remaining stuff of the supplies I got from September, which I was going to try and use all of before I started the October box. As I grabbed everything in there, I pulled out a good seven or eight drugs. I had a small bag worth of weed, a couple of doses of Heroin, a bit of meth, and then I saw that I had an entire pack of cigarettes from that cartoon that I had earlier. I put the weed in the bong that was pretty much fucked beyond belief from the abuse that I had given. It was pretty much entirely coverered in dark marks from all of the touching and smoking that I have done. That took about fifteen minutes to go through, and then once I was done, I went through and sped smoked all of the heroin in one go, and then I did the meth. All of this in the course of about half an hour. I was throwing up profusely by this point, and I was just not giving a single fucking shit about what I was doing, and I was enjoying the death I was giving myself too much. Then when I was done, I took out the remaining cigarettes of my current pack and the next pack that still needed to be gone through. I was on the ground, so I spilled them all on the ground and then I started to smoke them all in one go. With each one, I was coughing even worse than the previous one, and I was trying really hard not to basically lose everything that was even in my system. I had gone through all of the cigarettes that were left in about ninety minutes or so, and I was just not giving a shit about how much I was fucking myself up, and I was just wanting to go through them all. I was just trying to kill myself by drug over dose. I was thinking that killing myself by durg over dose would be the one thing that my father wanted, and I was thinking that this was going to be giving him the victory but at this rate I didn't give a single fuck in the world what I was doing. At this point, he simply did play the better game with me. I did not play the better game than him, and I did nothing even remotely close to doing that. I had to accept the fact that he truly had me beat once in for all.

As I was trying to reach the sleeping bag, I fell down on the ground and then I was throwing up for like half a minute straight. I was literally feeling the blood coming out of my mouth by the time that I was done throwing up, and I was wondering how I was getting to this point with my addiction this early in my life. I was into this type of reaction way earlier in my life than I should have been, but at the same time, I really did not care what I was doing. I was doing something that I was enjoying, and I didn't care what anybody said. I was going to do it as much as I wanted.

Eventually, I closed my eyes and I was asleep with my face on the puke, and I was aware of the fact that I was like this before I went to work the next morning, but I really did not care. I didn't care what a single person in this world thought of me. When I was this deep in the smoking, I was honestly also not even caring what Brad or anybody else had said. If anything, what they said were the people that I was least worried about out of them all. I thought that their opinion did not matter. In fact, I was just thinking that he was just a kid so I didn't really even need to try and impress him at all anymore. I was that type of guy.

Eventually, after about five hours or so of sleeping, I stood up and then I saw that my face was covered with vomit. I was forgetting all about what had happened earlier, and then I was feeling like my tonsils and my lungs were about to give out. In a way, I was considering this to be good news. I was thinking that I was finally getting closer to seeing Riley again. I was that focused on what it would be like to see Riley once more, that I considered the idea of my death to be worth this. When I was thinking that I was one day closer to see my sister again, and the fact that she was going to love me again in the after life, I opened up the new box of drugs that I had gotten for that month and then I put a pack of cigarettes in my pocket and I was ready to go to work now.

As I was heading on my way to work, I was thinking about Brad. I was thinking that it would actually be a shame to lose touch with him. I was thinking that this was going to be the purpose in my life that I had for a while thinkin that I could be out there for Brad nad making sure that he was living a good life. I was thinking that his life was the most important thing that I would be able to watch out for. I then thought about Tucker, and what it would be like for him to know who I was. I thought that I was not going to tell him the truth about his sister Riley, even if I had really wanted to let her know the truth.

I parked at the store parking lot, and then I got myself out of the car and then I walked right in the store, and I was seeing that Wyatt was really worried about how I looked, and he told me to wash myself up. I went to the bathroom and cleaned my clothes and face up as best as I could and then afterwards, I sat down at the seat where Wyatt was at and then started the shift.


	76. A First Time for Everything

Part 6: A First Time For Everything

It was New Years eve on 1964 when I was hanging out with Sam again. Well, he was the first one who showed up to hang out with me that day. I cleaned up my house that morning becuase I knew for a fact he was going to show up, and I was well aware of the fact that there was posibly going to be home. In all relaity, I was sort of hoping that Misty at the very least would show up, and then after we hung out for a while, we could just play some games like break the law and stuff like that. I was wondering if Edward was going to show up or not. I was also wondering if Brad or Tucker or their mother was going to show up. As I was thinking about the fact that we were going to hang out soon, I was thinking on what their mother would think of me. Two days prior, I had told her my address and I was sort of hoping that they would show up, since in all reality, I was really wanting to have a friendship with them and everything.

As Sam was there, I let him inside of the house. "You know, I was kind of wondering if you were going to have the place cleaned up or not for us to show up." After he had said that, we were sort of thinking about what was happening next. "I think that tonight is going to be a great party. In fact, I even have some drinks for us to have." After Sam said that, I knew that this was going to be a great night, and I was really excited for what was going to happen now.

"You know, I think that we we just have everything set up for when the guests show up." Sam said, and then after he had said this, I was confused for a second. For some reason, I totally forgot that there were supposed to be other people, even though I was literally thinking about all of that just a few seconds ago. As I was thinking about that, Sam said "Edward and Misty are planning to show up." After Sam said that, I was really happy and I was hoping that this was going to just be the start of it all. As I was thinking about all the people that I wanted to go to the party. I wanted Brad and Tucker to go to the party, and I was hoping that Dakota, Jack, Gwen, Ashley and hell maybe even Don fucking Prima would show up. I was wanting this to be a huge blow out.

Even though all of these things were coming to my mind, and I was thinking of all of these people that I wanted at my party, there was one person who did not come to my mind. Even I was at that moment, I didn't really think anything of it, but right now, I was really thinking that I should have offered her to come. Even though I didn't even know who she was, and that I never even met her, I was still thinking that maybe it should have been good for her to come along. I am talking about Jenny. That lady who wrote me that letter. I was really wanting her to show up in hindsight, although at that moment I didn't give a single shit about if she had come along or not.

Despite the fact that I was thinking these things, I was just placing the drugs under the counter, since I did not want people to see how many drugs I had been using. I still had the single dose of LSD in my pocket, ready to use it when the need came up. I was ready to use it, but at the same time I felt like now was not the time for me to use it. I was thinking that there was going to be one really big event that gave away when it was going to be the right time, and then when that happened, I would enjoy every single second of smoking it.

Sam had what looked like three packs of six beers and then he placed them all on the counter. Sam grabbed one and then I grabbed one as well. Despite how much I hated beer, and despite how many times I have already extablished this, I did like to enjoy having one when I was with friends. I had to clean up my entire wardrobe, and the maroon outfit was starting to turn read, and at this point I was sort of wanting to get a second one, but at the same time I felt like if I tried to get it, this would not happen as it was going to be out of style, even though I still liked wearing it and everything. I then took out a cigarette and started to smoke it while I was drinking the beer that Sam gave me, I even bought a bunch of things for the house in the last few days to make it look like it was some really cool house. I had been doing this for the entire month or so, putting in a large amount of money that Jimmy White had given me to do this, and a large amount of my now increased to two dollars and fifty cents an hour wage to make this place look as good as possible.

"You know, I didn't really think that you were ever going to throw a party. I mean, I thought that you might have been excited to do something like that every once in a while, but I didn't really think that you were going to actually do it. I have to admit, I am kind of impressed honestly." After Sam said this, I shrugged thinking that this was just how I liked to roll. It was what I wanted to do, and I was going to get exactly what I had wanted.

"I just was tired of not doing what I wanted in my life, and I decided to grab for it right away. I decided that I wanted to do this, and I went for it." I said, and then I was smoking a bit and then the more that I was smoking, the more that I was wondering wen my other friends were going to show up. I was wanting them to be here so that way we really could get to the party that I wanted to. This party was the one thing that I was really looking forward to and it was going to be a bang up way to start the new year. The new year that I was going to try and make better than the previous one. I was really certain that the effort was going to be there. I just needed people to be working with me here.

"Are you excited for 1965? Half way through the fucking decade. I can't believe that you're going to be nineteen this year." I heard Sam tell me, and he was clearly thinking that it was pretty cool that I was now moving up in the world like this. I then shrugged and then I said the following:

"I am very excited. I feel like that now after a year and a half working at Tremorton that I am now finally ready to move forward with my life. I am thinking about the idea of going back to high school, and doing junior and senior year now. I mean, I still have a lot of time left on my life." I said, and I was thinking that this was the biggest lie I have ever said in my entire life. That I had a lot of time left in my life. I knew that in all reality, I really did not have all that much time at all.

"Happy birthday by the way. I know it was a few days ago, but I sort of forgot to tell you earlier." Sam said, and then I shrugged. "You're now legally an adult. Which means that this house that you have is legal now." Sam said, and I was thinking about that fact. In all reality, I really did sort of live here illegally for a while, but those days were over with now, and I was going to turn this around for the better. Then I sat down on the counter for a moment.

"You know I never thought that I would ever hit eighteen. I thought eighteen was the one age that was really sort of just out there, if you get what I mean. I mean, it is nice to know that I can now do pretty much everything that I want now, but at the same time, there is something about this pressure that gets to me. You will understand it when you turn eighteen." After I said that, I was finishing up the drink that I was having, and then I threw it in the trash can when I heard a knock on the door.

I answered the door and then when I saw who was there, I smiled knowing that Misty and Edward really did fulfill their promise. "I was starting to wonder if you would be here or not." After I said that, I was letting them inside of the house and then once they were inside, they smiled and looked right at me.

"When we heard that you guys were having a party, I knew we couldn't refuse. I just hope that this party is as good as we are hoping it will be." After Edward said that, I was shocked to be hearing him being the one who was actually telling me that they were excited. I thought that it was going to be Misty.

"Well, I hope that it lives up to expectations." I said and then I was thinking about asking Edward the question I felt like I needed to have asked him all of this time ago. "So, are you and Misty like together?" I asked, and I didn't even give a shit what they were going to say. If anything, if they had said yes, I would actually be happy for them. Knowing that they did the one thing that they could realistically pull off.

"Yeah, we've been on a couple of dates now." Edward answered my question and then after he said this, I smiled. As I smiled at thinking about them dating, I was actually in a way wondering how far this was going to go. I was also wondering if they talked to each other about the fact that we had hung out before and everything. Not even just hung out, but we went to the movie teather and we were basically having a date with one another on our own.

As I was thinking about this, and I was thinking about the fact that these two were going to be in love, I was telling myself that this was how fate was meant to be. The more that I was thinking about fate, and the fact that this was what was meant to be, I was thinking about one other thing. I was thinking about how even with all of these things going on, and the fact that I was never going to win Misty over, that I was not really angry. I was taking it much better than I ever thought that I would have been able to take it.

"I think that by the end of 1965, I want to get a girlfriend. I think that by the end of 1965, if I get at least one girlfriend, I will be very happy." I said, and then I was wondering if perhaps I could be able to try and see Emily again. I was wondering if maybe Emily and I were supposed to start dating again. I was honestly wondering if in a way, we were supposed to be together. I didn't really think that she would like me all that much, but I thought that it would have been worth a try.

After I started to think about Emily for a bit, I was starting to actually get very happy and I was thinking that Emily would be a good girl to date. I was thinking that if for nothing else, that she and I could be able to date for a few weeks or something like that. Maybe even a couple of months.

When I was thinking about this, I got myself back into the moment, not really trying to get too incredibly distracted by the desires that I had. "You know, I think that if I try hard enough, I will be able to get people to really like me. I honestly think that I will be a nice guy to anybody who I date. I think that people just need to give me a chance." I said, and when I was saying this, I was starting to think on what it was going to be like if Wyatt had shown up. Even though I was not really the biggest Wyatt fan in the world, I was thinking that maybe we can actually make something work out here between the two of us.

"I am not really all that worried about any of that stuff honestly. I just hate school. I want to get through it this year. But sadly, I still have one more year of school to go through." Edward said, and then he was meaning that he had one more year after this year. Not that this was his last year. Then I looked at Misty.

"You are going to be in the ninth grade after his, right?" I asked, and then after I questioned this to her, she nodded.

"Yeah, I can't wait to be in high school. I honestly kind of hate middle school. Middle school kind of sucked, and the teachers don't give a shit about anything at all. I think that they just care about their pay check." Misty said, and then I was trying to remember if I hated high school as much as middle school. I didn't really remember any of that stuff. I just didn't really like middle school all that much, but from what I remember, I didn't ever really down right hate this school. High school on the other hand was when people were just the rudest people in the world, and they didn't care about anybody but themselves. And they only care about being popular.

"Just don't really worry about popularity at all. I was too focused on being popular. I was always focused on getting people to like me, not even thinking or caring about the fact that these people were not going to know me in much more than a year or two from when I left Wayside. I guess that I was just too worried about things such as if I could get invited to parties. I did go to a party once, and I wouldn't say that it was really worth it. If anything, it was kind of boring and annoying. Well, the party itself at the moment was the best moment of my life. But at the end of the party, and in hindsight, I feel like I had made the wrong choice." I said, fully willing to admit to stuff like this. It was fine to admit that I was wrong about stuff.

It was not like this party had changed my entire life. If anything, it really did not do anything. It just gave me a chance to be a even bigger dick than I already was when I slept with that random ass girl and then I had to face the fact that even if I didn't really date Emily and we weren't really in that type of level yet. I was still kind of sort of cheating on her. That was something that was still getting to me every single time that I thought about it.

As I was thinking about Emily, I was telling myself that if for nothing else, I needed to see her. I needed to get to know her. I needed to make her see that I care about her. I needed to see if her life had changed at all in the couple of years since I had left this place. Once I was thinking this, and I was thinking about the fact that I liked Emily, I was telling myself that this sadly did not really matter all that much.

Eventually, there was yet another knock on the door. I got up, and then I walked to the door of the house. I opened it up and then when I opened it, I was seeing Brad looking at me, as if he was not really sure what to say or what he was thinking. If anything, he seemed really insecure. I was feeling awful for the pressure that he much have been given. "I was not expecting to see you coming." I admitted, and then Brad was smiling, and I could tell that he was growing to like the idea of us hanging out more.

"Sheldon, who is this guy?" Edward asked, and then after I had asked him this question, Brad got inside of the house and then I explained to them who Brad was in just a couple of sentences. Once I was done explaining this stuff to them, I looked up and saw Brad's mother. I saw that she was carrying a guy that looked like he had arm and leg casts, and then I was crying when I saw him knowing that this was Tucker. It broke me to see the fact that Brad's brother was like this. They told me that she only trusted me to drive him back and to bring him back right after the party was over. I waved at her and Tucker and I was feeling utterly broken now.

I was feeling like the very sight of Tucker being like this was going to be the one thing that was going to make me lose my fucking mind. I could not handle the fact that Tucker was like this, and I was seriously wondering why my father had to be such a terrible person to think that doing something like this to Riley was such a great idea. I told myself that after seeing Tucker like this, I needed to see him in person, and I needed to get to know him when he grew older. Talk with him, and really start to see what he was like. I was wondering how old he was going to be before he would be able to get to the point when he would be able to actually start talking, start actually having feelings and emotions that he could express. I needed to know this, because I wanted to know when he and I could be able to actually connect with each other. As I was thinking about the idea of when we could be able to start to connect with each other, and that way I could be able to atcually make this a decent and savable family. I wanted to make this a family that I would be able to be proud of, no matter how much time that took, and no matter if it was going to be the last thing that I was going to do. I needed to get Tucker to see the values of the Lee family, and I need to make it so that Riley would have been avenged.

The entire time I had been thinking about that again, I started think about what was ahead of me when Brad started to talk to me again. "Hey Sheldon, do you have any idea what the next year is going to bring forward?" Brad asked, and it was a simple enough question, and then I shrugged a bit. In all reality, I didn't know what was going to be offered, and I was not really sure if I even cared.

"You know, I have no idea what this year is going to offer. But there are plenty of goals that I have right now. One of these goals is to finally meet your brother Tucker when he is a bit older. He will probably be about five by then, and I think he will be old enough to really understand the basic emotions that I feel." I thought, and I wondered if perhaps it was not better for him to know this. I then looked at Brad. I was seeing that Brad was not really thinking about what to say. In fact, I was pretty sure that he had nothing to say. I think he was just letting me express my emotions.

"I just want to know what your brother is truly like. I feel like once I get to know him finally, I will be able to feel like the world makes a lot of more sense." I said, and I knew that to Brad, I sounded like I was probbaly getting into stuff that was not really my business, and I didn't really blame him for feeling like this at all. But I needed to know Tucker. I needed to do it for Riley's sake.

I then looked at Sam. I think that when we were looking at each other, I think he was able to really understand the emotions that we went through. Well, I should say that I went through. As I was thinking about what these emotions were, and what it was going to be like to try and express them all, I was wondering if it was even possible to do something like this. I was wondering if it was even really possible for me to really fuclly express myself. As I thought about how hard it was going to be to express these emotions, I started to feel like maybe Sam did understand me at the end.

"I think that my brother may have wanted to drop by here, but I was telling him that I was wanting to do an adult celebration with actual adults." Sam said, and then he added in "But that was before I let the fact that he and Misty are the same age get leaked, and that was before I even knew that there was going to be Brad coming along. If I had known that Brad was going to be here, I would not have been as hard on him about not coming here to the party." Sam said, and he was actually meaning this. I was wondering if he was finally starting to expand onto the idea of maybe giving Ken more of a chace. After I thought about that, I thought that it was great that Sam was growing up on that regard, and I thought that it was great that maybe I could be able to see Ken again. That way, I could be able to apologize to him. "I don't really know if he would be able to contain himself when he sees all of these things, and all of your drug supplies." Sam said, and I rolled my eyes in annoyance that he mentioned that. I really wish that he had not talked about that, but there he was. He mentioned it, and now even if somebody else didn't know about it, they now did. But I was not going to let anybody know what they were like, and i was not going to let any of them, especially Brad, get to know what was in there. He was too young to really understand what was in there, and what the whole motive behind what I was doing actually had been. I doubted that any of them would understand the whole motivation to this, but at the same, I didn't really care all that much.

As I thought about that, I knew that they all knew I smoked, so I made no attempt to ever hide the fact that I was going to smoke that cigarette. So as I was smoking that one, I was thinking about what to say next. "I feel like we should have gotten something like fire works." After I had said this I was looking right at Edward. I was smiling, because I knew for a fact that we had been messing around with those fire crackers too much. But then we were messing around with them so much that I didn't ever get enough money to buy another set of fire works for the new year. But it didn't really fucking matter. I was just going to find something that we could do instead.

Besides, I didn't want all of the people that lived in the area to get annoyed by a bunch of teenagers just blowing off some steam and destroying stuff. As I smoked for a while, I was then thinking on what we could even talk about that we all had in common. "What was the coolest thing that you did to celebrate new years?" I asked, and then I thought about it for a while. I was not really sure what I could say. I mean, I was starting to feel like this was already going to be on the way to being the best one that I was going to have.

As I was thinking about it, I was trying to rememer when I even got the letter of Jenny. As I was thinking about the letter of Jenny, I was trying to think that if this was in new year, then that would have been the worst one. Because it changed my entire perception of life just because these people were total fucking assholes.

I then thought about all of this stuff. Eventually, there was a knock on the door, and then I was starting to wonder who it was this time, and after a while I was wondering if I even wanted other people there, because in all reality, it was extremely hard for me to focus on these people and everything. So I walked to the door and I felt much better when I saw who it was that had knocked on the door. "I had to pretty much wanting to see you before the new year started. I was wondering where you had lived, so I had to go around town and ask around where you lived for a bit." Dakota said, and then after he had said that, despite the fact that I was glad be seeing him, I was scared of what that had meant. It meant that people were able to just ask around and see me when ever the hell they had wanted to.

So I just let him inside the house and I was telling myself that soon enough, I was going to go around the block and tell the people who lived near me not to be going around and telling everybody where I had lived, as it would make things really hard to live with, and I didn't want to move out of here before I really even got a chance to maybe settle down and have a family there and everything.

"I was wondering when I was going to see you again." Dakota said, and then when I heard Dakota say this, I could see that he was thinking about what he was seeing. "Wow, I was not expecting you to expand out this much with people who lived here. I didn't really take you to be the social type after all." After Brad said this, I looked through the pupil and I was seeing for a moment a younger girl standing on the other side of the street. I didn't think much of it. I thought that she was waiting for somebody to show up, and I didn't even think about it for more than just a couple of seconds. Once I was done looking, I went right back to hang ing out with the other people in the house.

"I just decided that I was going to try and make some friends. Truth be told, it wasn't all that hard. All I really had to do was just hang around and talk with people, and every time I did this, I asked them to hang out with me, and we started to talk to each other when we did this." I said, and then after I had said that, I felt like it was a decent enough amount of information and I thought that it was all that he had really needed.

Once Dakota sat down, it all seemed like things in this party were going to finally go in my favor a little bit more, and that maybe I really did have more people who cared about me than I thought. The idea that some people really did care about me made the whole day ten times better. "How long did it take for you to set up this place like you have? I mean, you've been living here for nearly two years now. This must have been working progress the whole time. I think I might move out somewhere soon. Just to get away from all the memories that I have of Wayside." Dakota was just casually talking, and he wasn't even really thinking about what he was saying all that much. I just answered him with the truth. That I just occasionally added an item or two here and there and slowly made it work from that. That when I originally moved here it was just pretty much a sleeping bag and nothing else. It really was nice to have to Dakota here, it was one of my better friends at Wayside, and leaving touch with him was one of the hardest choices I had to make when I did leave. Because of the whole popularity thing sort of starting, it wasn't really anything I was thinking too much about, as I thought it was really just the potential to get popular. What with Dakota, eit wasn't really even potential or anything I had actually known him. And that truth of reality always made it even worse.

"I was kind of hoping you would visit at least once or twice. That would have made things better." As Dakota told me this, I was thinking about telling him the truth. I was thinking about telling him when I had gone to Wayside for even just those few moments a couple months ago. But as I had thought about that, I was thinking about something else. How everyone else would have reacted. I don't think they would have reacted very well. In fact, I am pretty sure that they would have taken this news as some like some ill omen or something.

As I have been thinking about that, my attention was once again going back to Misty. She really was one of those beautiful people that you would meet, and you would feel like you are forbidden from having them. But despite the fact that you were forbidden from having them, you still haven't given up on it. You still think that there is a small chance that she would like you back. That was how I always have felt when I was around with her. But it seems like Edward had been able to win. Despite the fact that it was not the outcome I had wanted, I still felt like as long as she was happy, that I was still going to be at least a little bit happy for her back. Maybe not enough to make me ecstatic or the happiest person in the world, as I would have preferred her to pick me instead, but I was not going to object to it anymore. She had made her choice. And whether I liked it or not I had to accept it.

You know, after all, she was her own person. And she had the will to choose. Or at least I would say that she had the will to choose. I feel like when you are your own person, you should be allowed to pick who you like, who you are friends with, and just in general what direction you want to head. I know that not all of life is simple as that, because I sure as hell didn't have a choice, but I still thought that way for everyone else. Besides, it wasn't like she was going around fighting cops or anything like that, she was just a normal person who was just trying to find her place in school and everything. There was nothing wrong about that. I mean, if I tried to change that, then I would be the one that was keeping her restricted for fucks sake. And there was no way I was going to do that with her.

As I thought about that, I saw that Brad was talking for a moment. At first I wasn't really paying too much attention, but when I felt like there was nothing really else to do, I decided to pay more attention to him. I mean there was no real reason not to. "I think that there is something about you that scares my mother. I don't really know what it is, but I think that she might be worried about you that you might do something. Do you have any real idea what this may be?"

There was a part of me that want to tell him the truth, thinking that if I had let him know what was going on, and the truth about his family to put it simply, I think his entire perception would be much different. But despite that in mind, I didn't want to increase any chance of getting on his bad side. I didn't want to do something to a guy who I was starting to think could possibly become a friend of mine. I was worried that if I had done something like that, that he would never want to talk to me again. I knew that all of these thoughts were kind of silly, and that it was really nothing too big to worry about, but I didn't want to make any risk. That was one thing I knew for sure. I did not want to risk having him and his family lose any of the minimal respect that they did have for me. So when I thought about it, for once I didn't even have to debate it in my mind. I just simply went with the lie. I shook my head, and just acted like I had no idea what was happening. I had just hoped that he wouldn't end up going to his mom about it and asking her a bunch of questions, because if you would do something like that, then I would get on his bad side for lying him well also just about everything else as well. There's no real simple way to put it, besides the fact that if I had not calculated this well enough, that he would never respect and trust me again.

As I had been thinking about that, I was looking right at Edward. There was just a part of me that was worried that he might know what I was talking about. That he would know the point of this conversation. And if he had known the point of this conversation, and if he remembers the one we had several months ago, then he might try to eventually expose the truth to Brad. So I was just hoping really truly hoping that he will just keep his mouth shut about the matter. If you would do something just as simple as that, then I would be able to keep up this lie as long as I need it to.

There was a part of me that feeling bad about this whole thing. The idea that I was going to try to get someone to trust me, trying to get them to respect me, and yet here I was, doing the thing that most people get very angry by. That was lying to them. But I have felt like I need to do this. I had to do this if I had any hope at all to get these people to trust me. To get these people to think that I wasn't some messed up person. You know even beyond on all the drugs and everything. My addiction and how much I had been abusing it, and how much I had been fucking up my body. All these things already had made the test very hard to accomplish without them knowing all of the details about like the past. Not even Dakota, who is there for most of the night and was one of the first people to be aware of the labyrinth have not been fully aware of what really happened to Riley. And he had actually seen her a couple of times, but despite the fact that he was the only one who actually knew her, I think in a way that was going to make it the hardest one to deal with. I had a feeling that telling him was going to be the hardest one. There was just a part of me that had hoped no matter what happened, that I never would have to tell them what really happened. I was just honestly hoping that these people would never find out why what happened to Riley really had hit me as much as it had. It was a silly hope, and in a way I would even have to admit it wasn't really all that justified. But it was still just sort of how I had been feeling at that moment.

Despite all of this, there was still something else I was telling myself. That once the new year started, and I was able to really start all new again, with a fresh new clean slate, then I was also telling myself that everything really actually was going to be better this year. I was honestly telling myself, because I was honestly believing that 1965 will be one of the first great years of my life in a very long time. I had no idea why I had this sudden feeling, and it really was just a sudden and honestly kind of silly feeling, but I still couldn't help it, because there's a part of me that I was thinking I would go out of my way it actually make it like that. There was just a part of me that was honestly just sick and tired of having my life thrown around like this all the time I just had a sudden chest feeling that's the only thing to make it really work. That just going with it would be the best way. I just need to grab the bull by the horns if you get what I mean. I don't know how else I can really explain it though. I don't feel like I really even need to explain it though. I feel like it is one of those things that if you didn't actually live through these experiences and if you actually didn't see where I was coming from you just wouldn't understand. And don't get me wrong I wouldn't want you to live that life. I wouldn't want you to see what I was meaning, but I feel like if you were there and you saw what I meant oh, and if you had seen all of these things, there would be no way that you couldn't understand it. As hard and as awful as it could be.

And there was just something else to it all. Not just the need to protect like Brad or anything, or his younger brother, but it was a need to protect every single one of them. I had honestly felt the need the desire to actually be there for every single one of them folks when they were at their low point. That they needed someone who can actually understand them. And that was what I was doing. I was asking making them see the good side of life the side of life I was never to see. The side of life that my father took away from me. That he grabbed ripped away before I even had a chance to really go with it. I still don't know what happened to him either before we moved here or after we moved here that made him suddenly just unlock these terrible things he wanted to do. And there was a part of me that had wondered if perhaps he had always felt this way. That he always had these desires and that he was just now at this place expressing them in this way. I really would not have been that surprised as much as I hate to admit it that this could have been the case. And as much as I hated to admit it, there was a part of me that was wondering maybe Riley it actually gone out of this the best out of the two of us. At least she's not here to witness is all of this. At least she had the pleasure if only having to do with about half of the decade of this madness oh, well I had to experience all of it. And at least Riley it was very clear that he had no intention of keeping her safe. She was well aware what he was doing and she knew of it compare that to me. Somebody who had lived with this man, somebody who was thinking he had meant well, but didn't give a shit about me. And think of all the people who he was going to force me to abuse and to throw away their innocence for his own purpose. I was beginning to get more and more certain that out of the two of us, maybe Riley actually was lucky.

For the next hour or so, I just struck a casual conversation of everyone else. Just trying to get my mind off of these thoughts. Trying to get myself to stop thinking about the fact that I was you know in that lifestyle. I listened 2 Dakota just pretty much explained his life away. Just explaining all the stuff that he had done. And I was listening to him, just sort of wishing that I had been there. But knowing that deep down I made the right choice of not being there. Besides if I hadn't been leaving this place, I would never have had the chance to get to meet Misty and Edward and Sam and Brad and Tucker. It had seemed like Edward and Dakota were starting to get along a little bit. It had seems like in a way they always kind of known each other. At least on that like bare minimum dialogue level.

I have been listening for a bit and it also seems like Brad and Misty were getting along fine enough. That wasn't a shock to me too much considering the fact is that they were the ones who were the closest in age.

I tried along with the conversation and we talked about are New Year's resolutions a little bit more. I didn't really have any besides the whole one about getting in a relationship. I tried to think of another one, but there was nothing really big that I had in my mind. I just sort of didn't really carry anymore. I was just really hoping did this year would have been better than the previous ones that's all I wanted. It may be just me sort of wishing that I wasn't feeling awful about myself anymore all the time let me feel like this.

Some of the other resolutions seem to be much better than mine. Those ones actually seem like real goals. Like Brad, who was saying that he wanted to get better grades this year because he had wanted to be able to stay out later and have a later curfew time. This was the deal that he and his mother made. Since his curfew time was 10, and with far away most of his friends had lived, it was effectively sitting in a curfew of only about 8:30 or 9. And he wanted something better than that. So he and his mother made an agreement that if he were to a 3.0 or higher, it would extend to 11. And if he got a 4.0, then for that term it would be at midnight. And they also agreed that this would be for the term. Meaning that if he didn't get those grades again in the next term after, his curfew would go back to the original.

I was wondering if it would be possible in a way for me to help him. If I could be able to give him a few plan pointers here and there in order for him to you know understand some of the material. I thought I have been a good idea at that moment I just sort of thought that he deserves something better than what we had. I just thought that he deserved to have that like a liberty of just being a normal teenage guy. Something that once again as I always say I did not get to have the chance to do.

Despite the fact that I really did want to help him, I was thinking that it would be sort of impossible for me to. Considering the fact that I don't remember any of the lectures that happened beforehand before I got into the drugs and everything, I just don't really think I would have been able to help him out even if I had a very solid and good chance to. Despite the fact that I was feeling this way, and despite the fact that I felt like this was not going to be a good setup for me, the media at the very least I could have been able to point into some other people. As I thought about that, I was starting to think that maybe if I point into Misty of all people to help tutor him out on this stuff, and then there could have been a chance that perhaps she would have been able to come in and help him out and do all that stuff for him. I felt like she would have had a good chance of being able to do that for him. Who knows, maybe I was wrong about my assumptions, but I felt like it was at least worth looking into.

And as I was thinking that a little bit more, there was also another part of me that didn't really understand the whole schooling system of this new town anyways. I felt like there was a chance, a very good chance in fact, but these two towns had different values with their education system. And if that has been the case, and there was no way in hell I was going to try to do something like that. Then by that point, everything else would have been sort of thrown out this window. Besides it's not like it really matter that much. It wasn't really like I was so great helper or anything like that. So that was all what it really came down to.

Before I had too much more of a chance to be thinking about all of these things, there was yet another knock on the door it was getting kind of annoying but I was ready to see who it was. Just the idea of having another person wanting to see me was enough to make this worth it.

So I stood up and I walked to the door and I opened it. When I open the door I saw that it was Jack and Gwen both of them have been wanting to see me. I didn't know how I felt when I saw them there. On one hand I was happy to see them, and I felt like seeing them would have been able to relieve my mind is some of these things are that I was thinking about. But it would also once again make me see the falls in myself a bit again it would make me see but even the young kid version of me was a better person than I was. And I didn't really want to be thinking about that. I didn't really want to be thinking about how this kid that they had, which wasn't even really there's as much as just Gwen's, was still a better child and was still on the track to living a better life and in general just being a better human being then I ever will be. And I think that was something that I would never be able to really get over. It was stupid and it was simple and I should have been ashamed of myself for feeling this way, but as the weak man that I was, it was genuinely a part of me that felt the need to have this contest. But I told myself not to think about it too much as they got inside the house and they seemed to be mostly enjoying themselves. As that had been the case, and I saw that they didn't really have any negative feelings towards anybody in the house, there's that part of me that was telling myself that I need to get over it. It's a part of me was honestly going to genuinely give it a try to.

But despite the fact that this was the way I was feeling, I don't think is that part of me will ever be able to fully move on. Eventually though, when they were all settling down, and Gwen explained that the kid was named after me because I had done something very important to them, and I really helped them out, I really realized there that even if I was a messed up person, that I was still probably better than all of the adults around me. I still had a greater level of sanity to me. And while that should have made me feel better, if anything it made me feel worse. Because I was seeing more and more that if I was the example of a good person in this town, then we really must have been the worst town in the planet.

Inside I was just hoping that somebody else who wasn't me could come along and actually turn around and start to turn this place around. I felt like that was the thing I need to do. Find somebody who is better than me and convince them to somehow move here so they can start to clean this mess up.

Even with all that when I was seeing Gwen and I was seen or talked about me in this now respectful light unlike where we were originally there was something I had to tell myself. She did look up to me as a role model. She at the very least saw me as an example as a good man. As a person that she can be proud of. That was something I needed to remind myself. That at least one person was able to see through everything else and not look at me as this false disgusting broken young man. When I saw that she was looking at me like that, I was telling myself that the potential I had was in there. Just needed to light that fire. When I thought about that bit more I was actually start to think of how I could make this work.

As I thought about the way she was looking at me, I was telling myself I could just take it easy for one night. It was just one day honestly. Not even all that big of a deal.

I told myself to stop thinking about that for just one night. To just enjoy the last night of the year and not be giving myself a super high standards. As I had been thinking about that, I realized another thing. Out of the people in this house, the only one that was holding me to these standards was myself nobody else was expecting this stuff out of me. As I had started to think about that, and the fact that no one else at least in this house was forcing me into these huge big ideas of success, I started to think about would it be like to just take it easy. I felt like it was what I need to do. I felt like I just need to give myself some form of realistic reality check that was away from everything else and it wasn't costly giving me tough and strict and unrealistic standards.

Even though I was thinking that a part of me was still not believing it until I saw something. As I was thinking as I was seeing something else, there was one very important that I realized. That all these people who need me and claimed to be my friend, there was something that I did for them every single one of them that made them comfortable being around me. That already made them feel like I was a good guy. And when I started to realize this, I was able to start to get myself to relax. And I went in and I joined the conversation naturally without anyone forcing me to and without even the fear that I was not going to do well in it.

And when I was in that conversation, a large part of me was honestly truly enjoyed it. Not in the way that people made me enjoy it, or in the way that I had to put on a facade to look like I had enjoyed it. It was actual real honest enjoyment that I got out of it. For once, I was able to get over my fears. When I got over my fears oh, and I was just able to talk, and let on my emotions, I felt like I had actually been a good contributor to the conversation. I just simply talked about some of the more fun memories I had of Wayside. I just talked about the the minor things. The things that nobody would ever really think were that big of a deal, but did matter to me at least. I had just been very open about the days when my parents and I would go out and just simply have a family day. I would think about the times when my father and I would discuss different conversations here and there. When it looked like he was able to put on a facade of him actually really caring about what I had said. Even though he did all of those terrible things, and I feel like you never really care for me in the end, or maybe not even at all, he did such a good job pretending it at one point, that I thought he actually did.

I never talk to them once about Riley though, in all honesty it was just too hard of a topic for me to hit. No matter how much time has passed, and even if I was starting to think that she got out of it better than I did, I can never get myself to think about it on a active basis. Which was awful for me because it required me to basically rewrite my life and a little bit.

What I mean when I say that is the fact that when I was telling them the story, I was telling my group of friends about one of the last things that I did before I moved up to Wayside. Something the I truly remember being a good moment. It was when I was getting ready for the fourth grade at that school, and it was like near couple days before the news came out, and I was hanging around with some of the friends that I had. As we were hanging around one of them was betting on if they could get Riley to like them, since they had a small thing for Riley which was strange for me but I didn't really care after the news was sort of like sinking in. And we were joking around about what his chances with her would be. Even though I joke around about it a little bit, I still was able to you know get some enjoyment out of essentially betting on my sister. That was before I really knew at all what would come afterwards. In some strange way, although I may be blowing it over the top right now in hindsight, it was one of the last few days of my life where everything was perfectly sane and fine and that there was nothing really going on to change that. But despite the moment, and how much it had got to me, since it was a moment in some way relating to Riley, I could in no way tell the truth. Even though I hated to do it, and a part of me hated to even pretend it, I was basically pretending like I was the only child. And despite how much it was hurting me to do this, I was doing it for my own sake. If they found out the truth about her sooner or later, I would just cross that bridge eventually.

It hurt me genuinely too pretty much pretend that Riley didn't even exist just for my own personal sanity. I felt like when I was doing that, that I had done the one thing that most people should never do. And that was give up any connection with the people that was closest to them. But despite this, when I told them that story, and I was just laughing along with them, is sort of pretending like everything was all fine, I really did honestly feel like a normal guy. There wasn't a single cell of my body I felt like I wasn't welcomes there. I had honestly felt like I was is there because they wanted me to be. As this was happening, it made me feel so much better. It made me feel so much better to even think on that level. As if I was in a crowd that was sort of meant for me.

When I explained to the story, Dakota, who had already heard the story before, knew that I was hiding the whole Riley thing on purpose. And when he figured that out in his mind, he was able to do the thing that I I tried to do and I admired him him at the moment. He went along with what I was doing. He didn't even remotely indicate that he knew about Riley. He just acted like this was just some random person that we were betting on. And he also did another thing. He laughed at it. He actually laughed along with the story. It was something that he never did originally, because he never thought that the story was really that funny, but when I was trying to brush it off as a comedy, he went along with it. He was just acting like it was actually a pretty funny story. And I guess when I explain it in a certain context, try to add a little flare to it oh, maybe it was a little bit funny.

And the next bit of conversation was one that Brad had started up. He was talking about how some people that he knew in school and him cause some trouble in the bathroom one day. They set off some fireworks in there, and just in general causing a lot of trouble. A part of me had honestly wish that I was that type of person. Now that I was able to see in hindsight just how important it is to be a troubled teenager you had no respect or care for the rules in the system. When I thought about that, and I thought about how much I wanted to create some trouble back then now I even more jealous than ever. I was even more jealous of the thing that I never got myself into. I wanted to cause trouble now. I wanted to be that person that got in trouble with the principal every day. Because at least that would have been an adventure. Any Adventure would have been worth any form of problems I would have come with it. And I honestly felt that way. There wasn't a single part of me that didn't feel this way.

So when Brad had explained that part of the story. I was actually proud of him. I was actually not at all going to get on his business about it. In fact if anything oh, I was going to sort of cheer him on and try to get him to do it even more. Even if that did mean being a little bit of a bad influence and if I did mean his mom not liking me as much, then I would roll with it. I mean she horny wasn't a big fan of me, she had every reason not to be so why not add another thing to the list actually?

And for what it sounded like, it seems like he wasn't going to stop anyways. He seemed to understand what was important. And besides, if he had wanted to do something like that, then just let him. There was nothing that would be coming out against him for doing it. In a way that was just kind of how I felt though. Maybe it was because I never really had that chance to do something like that that made me appreciate the idea of doing it even more. I really was honestly just that type of person.

And it looks like Brad must have appreciated that about me, because he didn't look at all annoyed at me or anything. If anything he actually looked liked he appreciated the fact that I didn't get in his business about it. As I thought about that, I was wondering what it would be like if we hung out again. If we try to become even bigger friends. I honestly thought it would be a lot of fun, despite our age-gap and everything like that.

"Sorry that I haven't really been the best friend lately." I said, and I was feeling like I was ready to actually have a serious conversation with people. Like I should have been doing with these people the whole time. That this was the one thing that I should have been doing right from the start. They all looked at me as if they were wondering why I was actually saying this. "Well, I just haven't really been focused on what really mattered. At first, I thought that this was just me being some big fucking god damn hero or something like that. But now I feel like there is something else to it that matters. Actually being here with the people that I care the most about, and that is my friends. I care the most about my friends here, and I would love to hang out with all of you guys and capture the moments that really matter the most out of them all." After I had said that, I was getting myself in the mindset that I should have been doing the whole time. Not even thinking for a second about Riley and just thinking about the new year coming up soon.

"One great memory that I have with Sheldon here is actually one of the first times that we had hung out." Sam said, and he was glad to be seeing that I was moving forward, and he thought that this was a chance to roll with some good memories. "When we were hanging out, he and I had some really good and important conversations of life that I really appreciated. But not only that, but I introduced him to Edward and Misty. When we started to hang out with each other, we did some nice dangerous activities. Like we all got wasted and less than an hour later, we were all getting on the road and driving around. It was possibly the most unsafe thing that we could do, but I could tell that nobody really cared. We were just in the zone. And Sheldon and I were really talking about what it was like to grow up at Wayside. Surely Dakota must know how different life is compared to these two places." After Sam said that, he was looking right at Dakota and he was clearly trying to take this as a chance to be able to connect with the guy who he never considered a friend before now.

"Yeah, I never really been at Tremorton before, but I know some people who went to school here and everything. Just from the stuff they say about it, this is entirely different. There is nothing about this town that is like Wayside at all. The way that the town is run here is much more professional. There is hardly any humor going around here at all. Basically all of the way that Wayside is run is a big joke. And I don't even mean that to be a dick or anything, but I think most people would agree that it is just a part of the general charm of the place." Dakota said, trying his hardest not to talk about the really bad stuff, as he was clearly not sure how well I was going to take the reminder of that stuff.

"I think that anybody who went to Wayside and went to Tremorton would have to take a long time to get used to the increased standards, and they would have to take a lot of time to get used to the fact that this is not a walk in the park school. However, if you went to Tremorton originally and then you had to move to Wayside, the decrease of standards must be like a fucking sore thumb." I said, and I was just stating my agreement, as I was sort of thinking that it was the best choice for me to not go to high school at Tremorton as it would have been impossible for the already hard to commit me to do well there. I would have probably had a straight F report card at least on my first term ever there.

I was never even one to try and be a star student, but holy shit if that were to happen that would have been a nightmare. That would have been something I would not really be ready for at all. But I was telling myself that there was a charm to Wayside. "Yeah, the studies here are hard. But at the same time, I don't really even think the teachers care. I feel like they were clearly just there for the pay check, and are just expanding their wallet a little bit. I think that they will never even bother to really get to know you no matter what the cause may be." Brad said, and I was almost hearing a wistful sigh to his voice. Almost as if he was wishing they were more open to him now, since that would have meant that they would have actually been able to help him get the grades he needed instead of just telling him to do the work with no real guideline. So while he was indeed looking at it mostly selfishly, there was still a part of him that was doing it to be a good student, even if it was sort of in the short term.

"Yeah, that is one thing that Wayside did have going for it. A very big staff that seemed to all take the time to try and get to know you. They clearly all cared about you in some way, even if you never go out of your way to show that you care for them, which I guess that maybe I was like to some extent." I said, sort of feeling a little bit like a asshole now and I was willing to totally admit to it now.

"I guess that this was the one thing about Wayside that I really took for granted. The fact that the teachers were really actually out there to try and be friends with you. They seemed like they actually liked being with us all. Like us being there was the one thing that they really wanted more than anything else." I was then wondering if there were going to be things that I would take for granted over time.

As we were all thinking about that, Dakota was thinking about how he could talk about Wayside and do it in a way where he could paint a picture for those who had not been there, as he had been there the longest and probably will remain there for the last six months until he graduated. I would not be surprised if I would later find out that he was there from day one. In a way, I was sort of expecting that type of answer.

"Think about a big school full of chaos. And I don't mean chaos like the entire school is about to fall apart. I mean chaos in the way that nobody really would be able to understand what the hell is going on at all. That type of chaos. I think that most people there were just sort of running around like a chicken with their head cut off. Absolutely no goals at all in life, and just thinking that everything about what we do is just for the comedy. And I don't really even blame them for that. I mean, it is impossible not to find the stuff there funny if you actually saw what was there." Dakota said almost as if he was nostalgic about a place that he was literally still being exposed to, and then after he had said that, I smiled a little bit.

Hearing Dakota talk about it in such a positive light was almost actually making me miss that place a little bit. Not the terrible crimes or anything go on, but just the things that were fun and superficial. Such as the school, and holy fuck the dances and stuff like that.

Eventually, there was a knock on the door and I got myself up to answer it. This time, I really did not know who it was. "Damn, you are really popular Sheldon. Are you sure that you didn't have everybody lining up at your life?" Misty asked, and she was just trying to give off a jokingly jealous voice, although I could tell that there was a small level of sincerity to the jealousy that she had in her voice.

I answered the door this time expecting the worst, and expecting to totally ruin the party forever. This time I found something else strange, Don Prima. I didn't think he would actually go and hang out with me at all. Maybe Dakota was influencing this, and everything else. I mean, he was nice to me for one night, but I thought that it was just for one night. Emily was still nowhere to be seen. "I thought that maybe I would just drop by for a moment. Give you a chance to hang out with me and everything." Don said, and he slowly got himself in the house, as if unsure to see if he was welcome or not.

As I had heard Don say this, there was still a large part of me that was wondering how sincere he was actually being, and wondering if he was just playing a huge load of bullshit on me. I didn't really care all that much though. I just wanted to have sex, and I was thinking that Misty was going to be the best chance to have sex with somebody. I didn't care how young she was, she was too fucking beautiful to let slip. I didn't really have any other way of putting it. I just needed it, and I was going to try my best to get it. I didn't know if I was going to earn it or not, but it was something that I was going to do my best to earn.

I went to the kitchen counter as Don Prima put done some more beer and then I said "Who fucking wants one?" After I asked that question, it seemed like everybody had been a little bit interested. It seemed like the only one not interested was Brad. Even Misty seemed to get a little bit excited. So I handed everybody besides Brad a can. I knew that I could only have one though, since I did not want to be terribly intoxicated while I was going to bring Brad home, and I was thinking that I still had about four hours or so for my mind to calm down, and where I could be able to get myself to a natural state again.

As we were all getting drunk a little bit, I was seeing that Gwen was becoming one of those happy drunk people. She was laughing at every single thing one of us said, and she sounded like she was thinking about how great it was to be a normal girl again. I could even imagine what it would be like to be a teenager mom and be forced to pretty much throw your entire life away for your children. I mean, I guess if I was in a case were I was forced to do this, I would have done something like this. I just really liked to fuck around and I was making jokes about prom and the time that I got blackout drunk. Don actually admitted that I was the one who I had fought at the dance, and that I was just too drunk and tired to see something like that. I was just thinking that it was amazing that Don actually forgave me for something like that. "Are you fucking kidding? That was probably what made him start to look at you with a better light?" Misty said, and I was thinking that there was a small chance that something could have been the truth. Don actually said that there was a little bit of truth to that, as he was not expecting me to do something like that, and he was not expecting my newly inflated ego to actually to try and hold my own against that guy, especially since I had never really gotten in a fight before.

Eventually, as that was explained to me, and I was thinking that this was yet another time when I made the right choice, Edward said "This guy is fucking crazy when he is drunk. I think he probably has had ninety percent of his sex life when he was drunk." I laughed a bit as I had heard this, and then I said that it wasn't exactly half, but there were some cases of that being the case. When I said that, I was looking right at Brad.

I was wondering if he was tempted to tell anybody what we were doing or if he was going to let this all slide this time. As he was thinking about it a bit, I think that he was just telling himself that teenagers were just being teenagers, and that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what we were doing. "What does tasting beer taste like?" Brad asked, and he was sort of actually considering trying one out. I was thinking that despite how much I hated drinking, that he should at least try it out a bit. And when I was thinking that he should at least try this out, I was getting myself up and since I wasn't really all that drunk at that moment, I was still mostly in tune to what I was doing.

I then grabbed one of the last four remaining cans and I slowly brought it over to him, trying not to fumble around like a idiot or anything like that. I then handed him the can. Brad was thinking about it for a moment. All of us were staring at him. Most of us were within his age range give or take a bit when we first started. My first time in general was when I was ten as I explained earlier, but most of us were around thirteen to fifteen when we started. So he was right in that range. Brad considered it for a moment and then he opened the can and started to drink it a little bit. He stopped a couple of times to let the taste sink in, and then when he was done doing stuff like this, he would continue drinking and then after about three or four minutes, he drank the entire thing. By the end of it, as Brad would describe he felt like total fucking dogshit and that he should have never done something like that, although he was in no way regretting something like this.

"That tastes strange." Brad said, and that was all that he could say about his first can of beer ever at that moment, most likely because he was trying to decide if he was actually regretting drinking it or not. Either way, to do something like that, to go that out of your comfort zone makes you like a true fucking warrior, and I really did actually respect him for doing something like this, as silly as it sounds to respect people like this.

Eventually, I started to smoke a couple of more cigarettes, and then Sam said "I think that this is the most that I have ever really had a social gathering of people I do not know. This is also probably the most casual big party that I have ever been to." After Sam said this, I was telling that he was clearly just trying to make small talk, and I was too drunk to try and make myself a big partyer, but at the same time I was wondering what it would be like to start going all out, which was something that Sam was not really ready for us to do quite yet. Probably because he would not really be expecting something like this.

As this was happening, we started to talk about our different sex lives, and who we all slept with. Of course Don had the most, with an impressive seventeen girls. I was telling myself that I was going to try and beat him some day, and that I was kind of already on my way to beating this guy. As I was thinking about what it was like to be one fifth of the way to having sex with as many girls as Don Prima, I was starting to think one of two things. He was either not as impressive as I thought, or I was more impressive than I was giving myself credit for.

Eventually, the big time that we were all preparing for came, and it was time for us to get ready to celebrate the year that was ahead of us. We all went outside for that moment and were waiting around for a moment. As we waited, we started to see most people coming out. When the clock tower was almost ready to go off, I was starting to get my next cigarette ready and when there was only a few seconds left of the year, I started to light up the cigarette and then when I placed my mouth and started to breath, as I had calculated, the clock chimed and the new year had started. We were now in the year of 1966, and I was going to enjoy every single minute of it. I was telling myself that this was going to be a great year. I was going to make it a great year, no matter how hard that would have been. When the chimes were done, I then looked at the others and we were all screaming happy new year and I was thinking of the road that was ahead of me for the next three hundred and sixty five days. I was genuinely ready to take it on now.

As I had let the fact that the new year was now officially here sink in, and I was getting used to the fact that 1965 was no longer a goal to reach, but now a time period to live through, I was going back to the house. We hung out for another hour or so, and eventually, when I was feeling sober along with most other people, we began to leave. First was Jack and Gwen, for the child and everything. Then there was Edward who went next, who said that he was probably needing to get home without having his parents wondering where he had gone. Dakota went back, referencing the time it would take to get back to Wayside. Don went back next, saying that while he was starting to feel like he was accepting me more, he could not help but feel really out of place the whole time. So that left Brad, Sam, Misty and I.

I decided that it was time for me to take Brad back, really not wanting to risk pissing off his family. So I drove Brad home and he came to his house at one forty six in the morning, meaning that he spent the first hundred and six minutes of the year with me, which was a strange thought for me to have. Then I drove Sam to his house where we talked for a couple of moments. We were talking about how we should relaly reconnect with each other better this year, and not to worry about the fact that we could barely see each other and how we should just simply make some time to see each other more often. I agreed with him on this, and then Sam went right back inside of his house. I took out my next cigarette, my second one of the year, and drove back to where Misty had lived, not even caring about the fact that I must be fucking disgusting for all the times that I have been smoking and everything.

Eventually, I was back to the house and I got myself out of the car and walked back to where I was thinking that Misty probably started to walk home like a dumb ass. I really had no hope that she was actually smart about what she was doing. Once I saw that Misty was indeed there, I dropped the cigarette that I had and then I flopped on my sleeping bag, unzipping my pants. Not even caring if I was giving indecent exposure to a thirteen or fourteen year old girl. Thirteen is older than you think it is, honestly. But it had seemed like it didn't really matter if I was stepping over the lines or not, since it had seemed like were were sort of in a smiliar narrative.

"I know that I told you that I was involved with Edward... and I am... but I was wondering if you and I... can spend the first night of the year... together?" After she had asked me this, I was thinking to myself that I honestly never thought in a million years that she would ask me this. So when this was asked of me, I smiled and then I said yes.

We shared the moment of the first night of the year being a wonder together. I was now one extra person closer to beating Don Prima as far as I was aware. The moment that we had together was one of pure love and passion and in the case of Misty, innocence. Although for her sake, I went easy on her, making it feel like she was more welcome and not so bad at this stuff. I wanted to make her feel better, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

All in all the moment that we had together lasted probably about twenty minutes and it was around twenty nineteen in the morning before we were just too tired to keep going. I went and turned off the lights to the house, and we both laid down next to each other inside of my shitty sleeping bag that I have been using as my bed for over a year and a half.

The last thought that I had before I went to sleep was that this was exactly what I wanted my year to be like. More of these cases. And if my entire year was like this, then this would be one of the best years of my life. I was truly convinced that this was going to be the best year that I would have in a very long time. I was convinced that after several years of shit happening to me, that I was destined to have at least one good year in my life. I was thinking that there was no way that the world hated me that much. That they couldn't give me one good fucking year.

Eventually, Misty woke up and she left the house, leaving me to think about the moment that we had alone. When I was thinking about it, I was still thinking that this was something special. I told myself never to forget about it. When she was going home, I had about twenty minutes or so before work, so I quickly placed my clothes on and then I went right to my car and started to drive off.

As I went to work, at that moment I was not paying even a single hint of attention to anything going on around me, but when I looked back at it, there was something that happened that I was not really expecting at all. There was somebody on my way to work that I saw that I knew I had seen before. It looked like a girl, probably twelve years old or so. When I was driving by, I could swear that this time she was watching me, as if silently judging me and thinking that I was not really ready for the real world. It was dumb that she was acting like this to me, but later on in life, when I would later find out who it was, and the fact that she was valid for feeling this way, I was thinking that I should have paid more attention to that expression that she had been giving me. As if doing so would have changed the entire life that I lived.

Eventually I reached the gas station and got myself right out of my car. When I was out of my car, I smoked another cigarette and then eventually, I went right inside of the gas station. Once inside of it, I was seeing Wyatt and said "happy new year." After I had said that, I was thinking about something else entirely. "I think we have basically known each other for about a year now. That is totally fucking crazy." I said, and then after I said that, I sat down and then Wyatt was looking at me.

"Sorry for not stopping by the house at all. It was midnight when the new year started, and as you know, I work at midnight. But it is nice to see that you are not going to let this new year provide a excuse to not go to work." He said, and he was seeing that I got laid. He was excited to see that I had been laid, from the look on my face and then he said "You go dude." Then he said one more thing before he decided he go out for the shift that I was going to have to be alone on. "Well, I need to get right to sleep. I am fucking tired. Happy new year Sheldon. I hope that this year brings us a little bit closer together." After he said that, he really did leave the gas station, and I was thinking that maybe it would be nice to actually hang with him for once.

I was glad that it was the new year. It had already been eight hours since we started, and I was still sort of thinking that we were good. I was telling myself that even after all of this time, that the entire world has not really been going against me yet. I just wanted to have one good year, and when I was thinking about that chance of this happening. Eventually, I was telling myself to not think too deeply into it, and just go out of my way to make this a good year. Not to tell myself that this was a good year, and not tell myself that things would be good. That I had to actually make it happen. I needed to do my best to make this a good year.


	77. Under the Night Sky

Part 7: Under the Night Sky

It was a few weeks into the new year when I started to work on a project of mine. It was a protect that did not really last all that long, but it was something that I felt like was worth trying. I started to work on this suit for about half an hour or so every night before I went to sleep. It was this thing called the Silver Shell. I was planning on using it when I eventually went back to Wayside and then I would try to use it as a way to not give away my identity to the people in the town while also going around and saving the women down there again. I was still deeply into this idea of actually helping these people out, even if I was feeling like there was virtually no chance that this could have happened. I was just wanting to increase my chances of pulling this whole ordeal off, and this was indeed my way of doing such a thing. I had eventually made the helmet after about a week or so.

The project started when I realized that I had nearly ten thousand dollars worth of money and I was wondering what I could be able to use in order to make the money actually worth it. So I went to the store and packed up on simple things that could keep my food supply in check. I was glad that I didn't have to buy drugs anymore, as I never really had to for nearly the last two years of my life so far. I bought a hammer at the auto shop, and I had no real reason to do it at the time, but there was a part of myself that was telling myself that I might need it. When I was telling myself this, I started to buy a bunch of other supplies, all of which I was realizing could have been a good enough amount of scraps to at least start something like a hobby. That hobby just being able to build something that while I didn't know it at the time, would be used in order to help me save the town.

I had finally finished the helmet one day when Misty started to knock on the door. I sighed in annoyance and then I answered the door. I was tired of people getting in the way of my work, and besides it was like ten in the evening. However when I saw who it was, I instantly smiled and I knew that I was wrong for ever thinking against this person coming along. Misty was there, and it was in a light rain outside. I could see her smiling and then I let her inside of the house.

"I hadn't really seen you around much lately. I was worried that something may have happened to you." After Misty said that, I sighed and I was feeling better that this was just as simple as it really was. I shrugged and then I was looking right at the helmet that I had left on the counter. I started to walk towards it but right when I placed my hand on it, Misty called me out of this.

"What the hell is that? Have you been working on something lately?" After she asked me this question, I took a long and deep breath and then I looked right at Misty. I was wondering if I should tell her the truth or not. I was then thinking that in order to keep her safe, and to make her not fall for what I was going to be doing with her somehow thinking that this was a good idea, I shook my head as fast as I could.

After I did this, I was feeling bad for lying, but I truly was doing it for her own sake. "You know, if you were making something, I would actually stop you or anything. I just sort of want to know is all." Misty said and then after she told me this, I was starting to think a bit more and then she sat down on my couch as if she was already bored on the subject, and that made me feel much better, so I felt like I could just drop the subject and then I sat down to look right at her.

"I just don't really feel like I can tell people about what I am planning on doing. It is quite the big task that I don't really think anybody will understand." I said, and then after I said that, Misty seemed to kind of understand where I was coming from. "But now that you are here, there is clearly something that you wanted to talk to me about. So I am curious on what it is." After I had said this, Misty looked at me and then she felt stupid for not getting right into the discussion earlier so she decided to talk to me about what she was wanting to let me know about.

"Well, I was wanting to talk to you about an idea that I had earlier, but you were kind of rejecting. I mean, I guess that you were just worried about my safety and everything, but I just stilll want to do this." Misty said, and then confused what she was meaning, I stopped what I was saying in my mind and I looked right at her. I needed to know exactly what she was meaning. "I know that you don't like the idea of me doing this, but at this point in time, I really just don't care anymore. I want to be a hero. A fucking superhero. I feel like I am the best person for the job right now." After Misty had said that, I groaned and I had no idea how I was going to tell her how much I hated this idea, but before I even had a chance to tell her off, she started to talk and I was pretty much just having no choice but to listen to her.

"I know that you already told me that you don't like this idea and everything, but to be totally honest with you right now Sheldon, I really don't actually care what you have to tell me. You are going to reject me, and I already know this. I just want to do something of value. I want to be a person that people can look up to." After Misty had said this, I was just wondering where she had come up with this idea. So I felt like I could be able to at least ask her this, and not be shot down anymore.

"Please tell me why you are doing this. If you can do that at the very least, then I will not reject your claims anymore." After I said that, I honestly had meant it. I just really wanted to know what brought her into thinking that this was a smart idea. If she could just tell me this, and if she was able to lighten me up on this whole matter, then I would be able to actually have a real conversation with her. I just needed to know.

"I mean, I want to sort of be one as well. But not for Tremorton. This place seems fine from what I have seen. I want to be a hero to Wayside. That is the place that needs it more than anything else." After I said this, I was looking right at her, wondering what she was going to say.

"Well, I know of this one guy who is starting to go around lately. He is called the Concador. He has already stopped a couple of crimes here. I think that when I see that somebody like him can do this, that I can do this as well. I truly believe that I can be a hero, and all I need is just a chance to prove myself." After Misty said this, I just looked down and I knew that this was going to be a long conversation. I knew that this was going to be a conversation that I would really not enjoy taking place in at all.

"In all reality, he probably had a lot of time to train himself to be ready to do this type of stuff. I think that he probably is aware of what he is doing. No offense, because I really don't want to come off as rude or anything, but I don't really think that you are going to be ready for something like this." After I had said this, I was just feeling awful for telling Misty to pretty much fuck off. I didn't want to make her feel awful, but I was seeing that Misty was just wanting to fight this even more, as if she was honestly thinking that she was right.

"Please Sheldon, I know you don't agree with me, and you don't support this, but this is something that I need to do. I really want to do this. I really, truly do. Please, I need you to understand what I am doing this. I need to actually live in a town that I feel like is safe. There is nothing safe about this fucking place Sheldon. You haven't even been here for two years, and you act like your town was much worse than mine, and that I had no real reason to be feeling the way that I have." Misty said and then I raised my hand up as if to try and get her to calm down.

"Please, don't freak out. I am just worried about you. Besides, you're only fucking fourteen." I said and then she decided that now it was time to correct me.

"I'm actually fifteen thank you very much." Misty said and then I rolled my eyes at this statement.

"You know, I don't care. I cared more when Brad told me he was like thirteen rather than twelve. In the end, it doesn't really matter all that much at all. You are still much too young to do this. You are too young to fight this stuff. I was older than you when I began the things that I had done." I said, and then I was just taking a long and deep breath as I was looking right at her.

"Sheldon, I know that you are worried about me. I know that you think I am too young for this. But fifteen is older than you think." Misty told me, and i was really trying to see her perspective. "I know that this scares you. Everything that I suggest scares you. It is something that we can't really avoid. People do not understand what needs to be done. But I think that I understand what needs to be done, and I am willing to do just that. I am willing to do just what I think needs to be done."

"I mean, I have nothing against you doing this on paper. But I am scared of what this is going to be like in real life. I mean, if you actually understood what is going on, you would get my fear. But it seems like you are not really going to listen to me..." I said, and then after I said this, I was just wondering if my fear was going to actually make her slowly give in. The more that I was looking at her, the less I was thinking that I was going to get what I had wanted.

"I know that this is something that you don't want me to do. But I don't want to live in fear anymore. I really hope that you understand where I am coming from. I don't want to live in fear. I just want to live a normal life, and a life that I feel like I can be proud of. In a town that I can feel safe in." Despite how much I hated this whole situation and this discussion, I really did understand where she was coming from, and I was wondering what I could do in order to make her feel better.

"I know that this place is not perfect. I get that. I see that there are still a lot of flaws to this place. But please Misty, try and see where I am coming from. Please try and see the matter that I am placing myself at." I said, and I was trying to make her feel better, while also making her see my perspective as I had felt like this was the best that I could have done with her at that moment. "I mean, I moved here because this place was the lesser or two evils. In fact, despite some of the things going on here, I would still say that it was the lesser of two evils, and I don't think that I will ever be able to change my opinion on this." I said, and I was feeling more and more like my attempts were failing, and the larger part of me was sort of accepting the fact that I was not going to get her to agree with me or see my perspective.

"I guess that I am just scared though Sheldon. I am scared that I will never get to live to adult hood. I am scared that my time is near to come. I don't know why I feel so much like this, but I just am scared. I want to be able to not have that fear with me, but that fear will never go away no matter how much I may want it to." After Misty said this, I took a long and deep breath. I did get the fear. Even with all of the things I said about Tremorton being safer, I still had some worry at the back of my mind. "I just want to make sure that nobody else will have to live with the fear that I am living right now." After she said that, I started to believe in what she was saying more and more. I was almost starting to feel awful for her, and I was wondering how I could be able to make her feel better, if that was even possible.

"Misty, I know that you want to do this. But can you promise me that you will at least be safe about what you are doing. please don't actively do something that will get you hurt. Because then you are sort of fulfilling a self fulfilled prophecy, and I don't really think that I would be ready for you to do something like that." I then was wondering if maybe I should tell her about the Silver Shell, or if I should still keep that bit to myself. I was still feeling like it was best to keep that to myself, as I was scared of how she would react if she found out that I was doing this, and I was not really ready to have her going around and calling me a massive hypocrite and everything, even though I would actually be one if I did this.

"I will be safe. I feel like I am fucking invinsible after all." Misty said and then I took a deep and pained breath at that one. I could not believe that I had just heard her say this. It hurt me when I heard her acting like she had this all taken care of. I was really then wondering what I could be able to do in order to make her see that it was never that fucking easy.

"Either way, I don't think that you want to be hanging out with me just at your house. I have a feelinbg that you want to expand what we were doing right now." After Misty said that, I thought about it and then I nodded. She was knowing exactly how I was feeling. I did want to expand what we were doing right now, which was just going out of the house and maybe going around town myself. I would also be able to hide the whoel Silver Shell thing for a while longer, since I was still scared that she was going to turn around and see the fact that I was making my own super hero outfit, which would really put a rift with us and everything.

So with that, I stood up and took out another cigarette and started to smoke it while Misty and I went out of the house as I was taking one short look at the helmet that I had made. Soon enough, I was going to go out there and return to Wayside and try to take vengence on the people there. It would be what I would do, even if it was my dying act, and even if I had to do it while going out in a blaze of glory.

Eventuallly, I was in the car and I was finishing my current cigarette and then I started the car right up as I had done just that. Misty was still wondering if she had wanted to ask me what was so great about smoking that I was still doing it to this day. But I could tell taht to avoid getting into a fight with me, that she was just going to keep it to herself.

I drove around for a bit and then I was thinking about where the fuck I could take her without making it sound like I was going on a date with her. I didn't want either Edward or her to be making false rumors around me, and I didn't want to ruin anything that I had been working up here, so I was just keeping myself calm and collected.

Eventually, we reached just a simple dinner place. I knew that it was late at night, but it was the only place that was still open at the time, so in all reality, I sort of had no real choice but to go there. So I parked the car and we went right inside.

Once inside, I was sitting down at the nearest table. Misty was sitting on the other side. It was just some random pizza place. When we were asked what we wanted, we both put in our order and then I looked right at Misty. "You know, I have never been here before. If there was a girl that I had liked, I think that I would bring her or something to get her attention. Or hell, maybe I would actually go on a date with a different girl just to piss her off and make the girl I liked jealous, which would be able to start to bring ourselves closer together and everything." I said and I was still that type of guy. Who was going to try and win people over by jealousy. I had no idea at the time, but I was going to go with that idea in spades soon enough, and it was going to be just about one of the worst things that I would ever do. Even if I didn't regret it at all at that moment.

"I guess that you have not really had that much experience going out with people around town." Misty said, and she was mostly being playful as she had said that. I was telling that she was not really trying to make me feel salty or angry. "I have been here a couple of times with Edward. He really likes it here. But he still only goes here once a month or so, as if he doesn't really want to over do it. I guess I don't blame him." Misty said, and I could not really imagine going to a place so much that I could make them actually sick of where I went. So I smoked a cigarette while I waited for the pizza to be made. "You know, I wonder if you have done something like that with another store."

I shook my head. "I literally can't imagine what it would be like to go to a place so much that I would be fucking sick and tired of it. I would hate that. I mean, I have gone to a place several times, but even then in between each visit is several weeks or maybe even months, so that way I don't really get tired of it ever." I felt like once every couple of months is a perfectly spaced out space of time.

"I sort of feel the same way. Although I got really close to it a couple of times. There are some places I been to do much that I grew tired of it and didn't want to go there for a while, but then when the annoyance faded away, I eventually started to go back there again. Took like four months or so before I got there again. Then once it was that long, I felt happier about going there once or twice."

After we were discussing this, I took out another cigarette and then I smoked it which was crazy even for me since it was only like three or four minutes since my last one. Eventually, though, I was seeing that the pizza was getting mostly there to being fully cooked, which meant that I only really had to wait for another little while longer before I would get the food that I had ordered.

"So Misty, when was the first time that you ever went here?" I asked, thinking that it was a simple enough question. I was thinking that despite the fact that I felt like I could be able to have serious conversations with her, I was not really thinking that either one of us wanted to get to it again considering the fact that we were basically arguing after a while, and I wanted nothing like that between us.

As I was thinking about how I didn't want to piss off Misty, and I didn't want to make her feel like I was basically babying her, I was just really still hoping deep down that she would remain safe. That was the one thing that I had really wanted. Was just for her to promise that she would be safe. I wanted that more than anything else. I just wanted her to be safe, but at the same time, I wanted her to value the friendship that we had. That was the one thing that I had wanted more than anything else in this world. "Well, the first time that I went here was when I first started to be friends with Edward, so about eighteen months or so ago. I just wanted to go out and do something that he liked and going here was that exact thing. So I went with him on this eat out. When we did so, I was eating what was being offered, and I found myself actually enjoying the food. I mean, I never went here alone, but that is because I feel like this is a place that is only better when you have somebody to share the experience with you." After Misty said that, she was smiling at me, as if happy to see that we were sharing at least one of these experiences together and everything.

"So when you come here again, do you think that you will want to actually go on more dates with people, or do you think that this is more of a casual as a friend thing?" I asked, hoping that she did not say as a date as I was feeling like I was not really ready for her to tell me that she was ready to do these things as a date. As much as I wanted a relationship with her, I don't think I would actually be ready for her to plainly state it. If she did that, I would freak out a bit, and I would perfectly admit to the fact that I would choke and everything.

"Well, I think that it is sort of depending on who I go with. If this is one of my first times going to this place with somebody, I could sort of see it as a date place. But if I have gone here over and over again with that exact same place, I guess that this place would lose a bit of its luster, and I don't think that I would ever consider it a date and I could consider it to be a place where I am just hanging casually with other people." After Misty said that, I groaned a bit knowing that I was falling under that category, and that I was really not ready for something like this at all. After I told myself that I was thinking too deeply into it, and that she didn't really mean with me literally, I was starting to get myself to feel a little bit better.

As I was thinking this, I held up both of my hands. "Well, I think that I would enjoy going here as a date more often I suppose. I don't really know though, as I have barely really went on any dates with people here." After I said that, I was hoping that I was still looking to be relatively composed against her, knowing that I was not at all used to this dating scene and everything. I think that if anything, I was a fucking coward for not being as ready to do this as I was thinking I would be.

"You should just be going out and having more dates in general. You need to be happy that people actually are there for you. I mean, from what it sounded like, if what you were saying if true, then it is kind of a miracle that you have been able to start to get social again. I doubt that I would ever be able to get social with people again if I knew how they actually felt of me when I was at that town and everything. I mean, I just think that you were just more raised in the wrong crowd than people all over this town that are just terrible people." After Misty said that, I was thinking that while there was a small level of truth to this, I didn't really want to be thinking about this too much anymore. Which was why I was glad that the pizza showed up and then the pizza was dropped off for both of us. I was looking at the one that I had, and then I was seeing the one she had. Hers looked much better and much more healthy, but I was not a health nut. I will never be a health nut, as can be shown with the fact that I smoke like a fucking chimney. I told her that I would pay for the dinner, since I was the one that brought her here, and I told her that I was glad that she showed up.

"I was really busy on a project. I am sure that if I was not basically brought into real life or not, then I would have lost all track of time and been working on that all night until my work shift started." I said, and I was mostly telling the truth. Although I refused to ever tell her what the project was of. I was thinking that the Silver Shell was one secret that I needed to have die with me. But then I was thinking about another lie that I could say that people could believe. Which was why for a short moment, I did consider telling her the truth of Jimmy White. But I knew how much she hated him, so I was telling myself to in no case tell her any of that stuff. I was going to let that secret die with me, and in my health and everything, maybe quite literally actually dying with me.

"I hope that you do tell me what the project is." After she said that to me, I was hoping that she would just leave it at that. I gulped a bit, and I was scared of the fact that I was getting one step closer to being forced to let this information be known. But then I was telling myself that this was not really all that big of a deal. She just made a simple comment, and I started to eat the pizza further.

The more that I was eating the pizza, the more that I was actually thinking that I was going to want to stop by and eat there again. It was just such a nice place to eat and everything.

"I might tell you what it is eventually. I don't really think that now is the right time though. Don't want to tell you something if it doesn't even work out." I said, and then I was hoping that she would actually find this answer to be mostly sound. It looked like she was actually buying it a bit, and I could tell that for the moment she was slowly giving up on the subject, which was what I had wanted more than anything else in the world.

"I guess that makes sense. Don't want to tell people something if you are not really sure if they can be able to handle it too well." Misty said, as if she was starting to wonder if I had really trusted her at all. As she was thinking this, I placed my hand on her shoulder and then nodded right away.

"I really do trust you. There is nothing about you that I don't trust. But please understand that I have to do other things. I can't bring everybody else into something that I think could get them in danger. I think that these projects are something that you will not really be ready to fully comprehend." After I had said this, Misty was wondering if she should try and continue the subject or not, but then she sighed and gave up on the subject.

"Besides, I think that you might not really get the whole point of what I am doing right now. And there is nothing wrong with that. You are perfectly allowed to not understand the whole point of what I am doing right now." I said, and I was hoping that she would see how truthful I was being to the entire subject. I was hoping that she would see that I had not wanted to alarm her at all. "I just have some things in my past that I need to take care of. Let's just leave it at that and drop the subject forever."

As I was waiting for her answer, I could tell that Misty was just waiting for the subject to end, so we would talk about much more pleasant things. "So Sheldon, what is your favorite part about working at the gas station?" After she had asked me this, I knew that this question was going to be fucking impossible for me to answer.

"I think that my favorite part about working there is just some of the stories that I have experienced there. I mean, if I were to tell you everything that happened there, you would not really believe me at all. You would think every single one of these stories is just a fake story that I made up for the sake of fun." I said, and I was telling the truth. There was no way in hell she was going to believe even half of the things that I told her there. There were a couple of times when either Wyatt or I would work over time just because there was something so strange going on that we were not able to really comprehend what the hell was going on.

"Do you think that I would just brush them all off away and act like you are just making up a bunch of bullshit and everything?" After Misty asked me this question, I nodded one hundred percent believing that this was how things were going to be. There was a single part of me that was thinking that this was not going to be the path that I would be going down with her.

"I might be willing to tell you one of these stories soon enough, if I think that they might be worth telling you. And if I think that both I and you can be able to believe in it. If I can be able to get myself to actually believe in what had happened and everything." I said, and then I was telling myself that I actually meant it. I would actually tell her the truth if I had felt like it was something I really was ready to tell her.

After I was thinking about this, I looked down at the pizza. I must have just gone through that whole fucking thing. I was just picking up a slice as I was talking, and I was literally not even thinking about it at all. I just kept eating, and the more that I ate, I was just sort of letting my mind do the job for myself. The entire time that I ate, I was just more focused on Misty. I fucking loved Misty. I truly one hundred percent mean this.

"I just think that you are not giving me as much credit as I deserve. I mean, I am able to suspend my disbelief quite a bit. I think that you just need to give me a chance." Misty said and then I held my hand up. I was just telling her that I would eventually, and I was seeing that she was relaxing a little bit more, and that she was just trying her best to let the subject drop for the time being.

As she was getting herself to drop the subject, I was feeling much better and then I took out another cigarette as I was seeing that Misty was getting close to the end of her pizza. She was a slow eater or she was average and I was the fastest eater on the planet. Once I was telling myself this, I could tell that she was probably conflicted a little bit. I was wondering if she was thinking about if she was going to have to choose between me and Edward. I was thinking that if this were to come up, that I wanted her to pick Edward since I really was not ready to date a woman. Even though I loved women, I did not think I was in any way remotely ready to date one, besides somebody like Emily.

"Do you really think that Tremorton is a good place?" Misty asked me. I nodded when she asked me this question. I was happy to make her feel better, and I was going to do anything to make her feel better, even if it was sort of going to require myself to think about life in a different way.

"Trust me, I think that this is a perfect place. I really think this place is the one that I would like to stay consistent with." I said, and then I was starting to stand up after she was finished with the fucking pizza, and then I paid for the food. Once the food was paid for, we walked right out of the pizza place. I was then thinking that it was time for me to bring her home, as I was scared of how her parents were going to get angry at me and accuse me of raping her or something like that.

Eventually, we were walking right towards my car. When I was walking right to the drivers seat, I saw that there was somebody who was walking right up to me. They were holding up a gun. "Give me your money." The guy said and then I was looking right at Misty. I was holding my hand up. I was really just wanted her to not get in the business. I was telling myself that as long as she did not get involved with what I was doing, then I would be able to slide right through this whole thing. "Did you hear me? Stop looking at your fucking girlfriend and give me your money!"

I was slowly placing my left hand inside of my pocket and then I was thinking about how I wanted to use my right hand to punch him in the face. But he did have a gun. He had a gun that could take on any fucking punch, no matter what the fucking punch would have been. I then pulled out ten dollars fro my pocket and then threw it on the ground. "That is all I have." I said, and then the started to bend down and then he was grabbing the money.

Once he placed the money in his pocket, he was looking right at me and shaking his head. "Give me the rest of the money. I know that you have more." After he said this, I was shaking my head and I was wondering if he was going to be able to believe in me after a while. That he was going to give up with the idea of robbing me if I just had kept up this lie long enough.

"I don't have any more. I don't know why you think I have more money with me right now." I said and then the guy just pretty much screamed the next bit.

"I KNOW WHO YOU WORK FOR!" After he yelled that he fired the gun and gave off a warning shot at my foot which I barely jumped away from at the last millisecond. "You can't full me. I know who exactly pays your fucking bills. I know you have been able to get thousands of dollars for youself." After he had said that, I was ready to take this asshole out. I was tired of this guy, and I wanted him away from Misty. When I was thinking about how much I was worried about Misty, I was thinking about the idea of just giving him all the money. But then that would have been all that work for Jimmy White just thrown away.

Then the guy was bringing the gun right up to my chest. "If you do not give me the rest of the money, I will blow your fucking heart out! I am a poor man and I need to be there for my family. Do you want me to tell your girlfirend who you work for?" After he said that, I knew that he really did have me brought to a corner. There was no way in hell I was wanting to have anybody tell her this. So I was thinking about this and then I pulled out another ten. "That is not all of it. Stop fucking lying to me."

Then the guy brought the gun right to my chest and then he pulled the trigger. After he had pulled the trigger, I was looking down and I was holding my chest. I was laughing at this point in time. Not only because there was a part of me that wanted to die, but that there was something that I never told anybody up to this point in time. Something that David had given me when we last saw each other over a year ago when I had first moved here.

But for the sake of what was happening, and the fact that it did hurt, even with what I had been wearing, I fell down to the ground and I was keeping my back right on the door of the car. I just needed this resting. I mean, the bullet even with the vest did slightly hit my chest, and it did hurt a little bit. "I will not give you the fucking money." After I told that to the guy, I saw him grabbing my shirt and ripping it off, only leaving my maroon jacket to be my top layer. He saw the bullet proof vest. He ripped that shit off of me and then he threw it on the street, where just a few seconds later, the vest was run over. That meant that what worked with David was not going to work with me anymore. Despite this, I opened the car door and then I was standing up a bit.

Misty was now finally getting out of the shock that was happening. The guy actually did shot me this time. But he missed the part that he was wanting to take me down. Instead, I had been able to move along just enough to where he only hit the lower end of my chest. Then after this happened, I groaned a bit and then I grabbed the guy's gun. Or at least I tried to. Misty walked up right behind the guy and then she punched him right in the face.

As she punched him right in the face, she saw the guy was looking right at her for a moment. The guy was grabbing his gun but then she was seeing that there was another person coming by. Somebody who had been working with the first one. I saw that after Misty gave him a good second punch, she saw the gun drop down to the ground and then I grabbed the gun and then I fired it at the guy and then after he fell down to the ground, there was a car that drove by and then drove right over his head. Then I grabbed the twenty dollars I had given him. Then I told Misty to get in the car. I then saw that the other guy was coming to me. I fired the gun at him, this time not to kill him, but just to make him weaker. Then I threw the gun right into the back seat and then I saw that I had a white shirt on underneath the drivers seat, just in case something like this were to happen. I brought the shirt over my chest and then I got right inside of the car. I then placed a medical wrapping that I bought at the store the same day I started working on the Silver Shell on my chest and then I wrapped it just enough to where it was not causing any pain. Then I started the car up a bit and then I was driving off as fast as I could.

As I was driving for a while, I was thinking that I did need to go to the hospital. I mean, the shot was about two inches or so away from the edge of my chest, which means that it did get right in there a little bit. And besides, I was feeling dazed a bit. Eventually, I was feeling like I was starting to lose any form of wakeness and then I pulled up at the parking lot of some random house. I then got out of the car and then I threw up. Then afterwards, I was smoking a cigarette for a moment, not even caring about the health side and everything. Eventually, Misty was looking right down on me and she placed her hands on my chest, trying to make me feel better. Feeling her sexy hands on my did make me feel better for a short moment.

"I don't care that you are not old enough, you need to drive. Bring me to the hospital right now. Let Wyatt know what is happening." After I said that, I then said "tell Brad, Sam, and Edward if you think they need to know. But Wyatt at the very least needs to know." I was hoping that he was not tired of doing my shifts and everything. She stood up and then I was getting helped up by Misty and then she pulled me right to the shotgun seat where I was feeling like I was getting a bit of a headache. It was really hurting me at that moment, and I was feeling like I was about ready to throw up blood this time. Then Misty got herself in the drivers seat, as if she refused to believe that she was doing this in all reality. Then she started up the car and then she was slowly drving to the hospital, to avoid getting pulled over by the police and having them asking her for her license. I was hoping that if she did get caught, that once I explained, she would be forgiven.

The entire time that we were heading on our way over there, I was getting more and more scared of what was going to happen. I was dreading the law, and I knew that if we were caught, because of how much of an asshole this world really was, then I doubted that the police would arrest me and then she would be allowed to never see me again. I never wanted that to happen, but I was just getting scared that this was what was going to happen, and despite how much I was hating this, I was telling myself that I needed to be ready for what was to come next.

I was just teaching her how to drive casually as I could tell that she was clearly scared of what she was doing. I could not in any way blame her for the fear that she was having, and I was feeling awful for all of this. But I told myself to just remain calm and collected as we were heading on our way to the hospital. I took out another cigarette, and I was mostly smoking it rather casually.

As I had been smoking more and more, I was feeling like my head was about to fucking burst from the fact that I had literally been shot and the fact that I was also killing myself even more by smoking a cigarette and all that stuff. The entire time that I was thinking that this was a bad choice, I was also telling myself that it didn't really matter all that much. None of this really mattered all that much. I just wanted to smoke, and I just wanted to live a nice and relaxing life. Was that really too much to be asking for?

I knew that I was going to die soon, but I mean, since I was such a terrible person, I was thinking that maybe I deserved the idea of dying at only the age of eighteen. I honestly was thinking that I had deserved all of this, and I was really buying into that narrative.

But the entire time that I was driving there, I was thinking about what happened to Misty, and the fact that she had witnessed this whole thing. "Why does he worry so much about who you work for? I didn't really think that you working down at the gas station was really all that big of a deal." After Misty said that, I was convinced that she would never understand if I told her I was working with Jimmy White, so I was tellimng myself not to think about it too much. For my own personal sake. Not to think about what was happening.

As I had been thinking about the idea of telling her, I just shrugged. "Well, the gas station does pay pretty well, believe it or not. I think that maybe he had a minimum wage job, and he was hoping that he could scare me into giving him a larger percentage of what I had been earning. Not that it really matters now. If he had just simply asked, and was doing so politely, I would have given him some of my money. I might have even given him twenty up front instead of just two pieces of ten." I said, and then I was feeling like I was just adding onto my immense pain by having this conversation with her, and not just relaxing my body at that moment.

The more that I was thinking about the pain that I was subjecting myself by having this conversation, both physically and mentally, I was also telling myself something else that I was not wanting to admit earlier. Something that after I saw the way that she acted, and the way she was able to be able to handle herself under pressure, that perhaps, maybe just fucking perhaps, Misty actually was ready to do something like this. She was indeed ready to take care of the city. As I had been thinking of that, I was hating this. I was hating the fact that I had admitted to the fact that I was actually considering Misty to be ready for something this awful. Ready to be going out and fighting the real world. Even though she was only fifteen years old. I was thinking though that if she was wanting to talk about it, as much as I would hate to talk about it, I could be able to force myself into the discussion and we could really be able to talk about it further.

Eventually though, I was telling myself that she didn't really care about that right at the moment. That if she was still on that subject, she was just going to bring it up later. I was honestly believing that this was the case. I was telling myself that there was no way in hell she was going to try and force me into this conversation while I was literally in a ton of fucking pain. As I had been thinking about this, we eventually pulled up at the hospital and Misty seemed like she was feeling proud of herself for the fact that she was able to do that well when under pressure.

After she parked, she got right out of the car and I got myself out as well, although with a lot more effort than she would ever have to put in at that moment. The entire time that I was thinking about the pain coursing through me, I was telling myself that I was going to be fine once I got into the hospital. Eventually, as I was thinking about that, I was also thinking about something else. I was telling myself that Misty was a great woman for being at my side this whole time.

As I was inside of the hospital, I was thinking about how much pain I was really in. I walked right up to the front counter of the hospital and all I was able to say before I was clearly sighing in pain was just "I just got shot." After I said that, I was showing her the gun shot wound below the bondings and then afterwards, the nurse got really serious. Misty was just staning there, as if she was not really able to believe what she had been seeing. She was also looking like she was just wanting to see the person who was working there at the hospital fix this entire situation. As she was thinking about what it would be like for her to fix this, I was sighing in pain. I was just trying to keep my cool the entire time.

Eventually, the nurse ended up placing her hand on my shoulder and then she was slowly helping me to a area of the hospital where I could lay down and rest. That was one thing that I really did need at that moment, which was just to rest. I was just watching as Misty was just casually following us, not really sure what she was going to. I was honestly just thinking that she was terrified. She was not wanting to say anything, because she was scared of what was going to happen to her. I was not really blaming her. I was just sort of thinking that it would have been nice if she was more at that my side this entire time. But I was thinking that maybe to not get in trouble with the police, that it would be best for the two of us to just remain silent and everything.

Eventually, I was laying down on the bed of a small room and then I was seeing that the nurse was just unwrapping the bondings that I placed on. She was looking right at the wound that I had and she was placing her hand right where the gun shot was. She slowly pulled out the bullet and the entire time that she was doing this, I was moaning in pain so I was telling myself to just stop complaining.

The nurse was working on me for about twenty to thirty minutes before she eventually said "I will be back in a moment. I want to know the story of what happened so I can have a more clear idea of how to help you." After she said that, she got right out of the room and I was looking right at Misty. I was smiling, and I was trying to make myself seem like I was calm and collected, but as I was doing this, I was just wanting to talk to her and see what she would want to say.

"So Misty, I was thinking about it a little bit more, and I was thinking about the conversation that we were having a bit earlier. You know, the one about you being a hero and everything. I was thinking about that whole thing, wondering if I was wrong about the conversation we were having earlier. You know, you fucking saved me. You did that, not anybody else. You should be thinking about being more serious about the hero profession now, as much as I am shocked to be admitting this." After I said this, I was telling myself that this was a terrible thing for me to admit. It was terrible for me to admit that she should pretty much be going out of her way to almost kill herself and everything. Despite how much I was hating to admit this, I knew that it was wrong for me to deny the fact that this made sense for her to try and do.

"Do you think that I really can handle it though? I choked when I had seen you. I thought that you were going to die. I was shocked to be seeing you in so much pain. It made me feel fucking weak and that is something you should not be expecting from a hero. Them being fucking weak, and that is all that I am right now. I feel like the town deserves much better than somebody who had fucking choked." After she said this, I was bringing my right hand forward, not pushing too hard, since I wanted to conserve some of my energy a little bit better. Just so that way I was not really like killing myself or anything like that.

Eventually, I was thinking about what I can say in order to make her feel better. I was not going to tell her about the Silver Shell, no matter how tempting it was to do this, I was never going to do something like this. No matter how much it was going to make us eventually trust each other better, I was not going to do this no matter what. But I was thinking that there could be other things that I could tell her in order to make her feel better. "Misty, I know that you feel like you choked and that you massively fucked up by doing this. Don't worry about this though. You are going to be fine once you get right to this. I honestly believe that you will be a great hero." I said, and the more that I said this, the more that I was believing in what I was saying. I just needed to get her to see the value that she had. After I would get her to see the value that she would have, then perhaps we could get along much better.

"But Sheldon, just a few hours ago you were the one who was telling me how this was a terrible idea and how I should not be doing this. For fucks sake, I don't really get it. Do you actually feel this way, or are you just saying this in order to make me feel better? Are you just saying this because I had been able to save you once and suddenly you act like I can do this with everybody?"

After she had asked me this, I shook my head. "I started to become more certain that you can do this as a result of the fact that you saved me. If you weren't there, I would have died. It is really that fucking simple. You are the only reason that I am alive right now. I never thought that you would have been ready for something like this, but now I am ready to admit that you are indeed ready to go out there and be a hero. Be the fucking person that people need to actually make themselves feel safe. You just need to get that confidence in yourself. I truly believe that when you get yourself more confident, you can truly do something great." I tried to make her understand her value, but at the same time, I was starting to believe that she was not really buying into it, no matter how hard I was trying to make her see the value of the entire situation.

I then took out my next cigarette, not even giving a shit if the hospital workers were going to get pissed off over the fact that I was smoking in the hospital. I just felt the need to do something like this, and I was going for it, and if they told me to stop, I would just go through the rest of that cigarette and then I would put it down and then I would be done with it for the rest of the visit. I just wanted to get one last cigarette in for what may be the next couple of days. Even though I was convinced that I neede dto go back to work.

Eventually, the nurse showed up and looked down at me when the cigarette was done, and it fell down to the ground. She was just keeping the judgement to herself, as if she was just telling herself that this was my choice, and that she really should not be nagging me about this at that moment. "I want to know if ther eare any requests that you have for us before we relaly start working on your treatment. From the wound, and how much it dug into you, and how much it looks like you are not reacting well to it, I will say that you need to be here for probably about three days. Nothing too bad, just long enough for you to be able to move along better." After she said this, I then nodded, and I was thinking that Wyatt was going to be going through a living hell the next few days.

"Yes, I want to have the sheriff come here. We need to talk about something." I said and then the nurse looked at me as if she was not really sure if she followed me, but since it was a verbal request I made, she went along with it and she was feeling like she had better things to do than argue with me over this. Then when I said this, I took another deep breath. "Also, I want you to meet with my boss at the gas station. He needs to be made aware of what is happening, and I need to him to tell the other employee of what is going on." I said and then after I said that, I was looking at Misty and the nurse saw after a few seconds that the requests were over and then she nodded as she left.

I was hating this pain, and I was starting to think that all of these moments that I had wished I was dead was wrong. I was not wanting to wish that I was dead anymore. I did not want something like this at all. I mean, I guess that I didn't want to die like this anymore, and that if I were to die, that it would have been in a different way. "Misty, I feel like there is going to be a lot of hours that I would have to make up for work soon, as I have a feeling that Wyatt is going to want the next three days off to balance out what the hell is happening. Besides, I want to do something else right now." After this I was scared more about what she was going to say. "I also want to get a new worker at this job. To sort of help make these hours not as bad anymore."

After I said this, Misty was placing her head on mine, and then I was wondering if Misty and I were getting much closer. If we were starting to get close enough to where we would be able to form relationships. I was starting to feel like maybe Misty did like me better than she liked Edward, but at the same time, she was too deep with Edward to actually admit to something like that. But I was aware of the fact that this was entirely selfish, and that I needed to just be there for her.

Eventually, as I was telling myself that I needed to be more in line with this, I was starting to close my eyes a little bit. "You know, I am just thinking that nobody really liked me anymore. Not that anybody liked me in the first place." I said, and then I laughed a bit. "I think that you should truly go out there and be the hero that we all deserve. Please, for the sake of everybody else in the town, to prevent this from happening again, I need you to do this right now."

"I am scared to do this though. But if you feel like I can actually do this, then I will do my best that I can. I am sorry that I am starting to doubt everything. I should have listened to you right from the start." Misty said, and then after she had said this, I was tempted to go on and have another smoke. Despite how tempted I was to have another smoke, I was telling myself to get more focused on what was the conversation at hand and everything.

"Please Misty, I get that this whole thing sounds really scary right now, and trust me, nobody is as scared to see you do this as I am, as it would really break me down to see something like this happening to you. But I do know one thing right now. I think that you are going to be the hero that we need. I want to believe that you truly are going to be the hero that we all need. I think that you will actually do something like this. Something important such as saving us all. I truly believe that there is nobody else who can do this besides you." After I said this, I started to grab another cigarette and I was slowly placing my mouth on it and I was getting ready to flick the lighter. Misty was wondering if I needed to stop, and I was not really worried if I went through the rest of the pack as there was only a few cigarettes left in the pack after all.

"If you really think that I can be a hero, and you truly think that this is my destiny, I will try my best on this. I feel like I am going to really let you down though." Misty said, and I was seeing that she was trying to say this to make her feel better, but at the same time I waved my hand down over and over again. I was trying my best to show that this was no big deal. I was hoping that I was not doing something that she was going to get annoyed about, and that was forcing her to do something that she didn't want to do. "But I think that since you are telling me that I can do something like this, I feel like maybe you are right. I feel like maybe I should give this a try." After she had told me this, and she was starting to slowly open up about the idea of being a hero once again a bit more, I was starting to think of one other thing that could make her feel a lot better. I was thinking that I just needed to find one small good trigger that could make her feel better. I never really knew what I needed to say, but at the same time, I was telling myself that I just needed to pin point at something for her to feel better.

As I was thinking this, I looked right at her and I was thinking that I was going to endore the one thing that I never wanted to endorse, even if itw as totally selfish for me to do this, and even if it was entirely for my own personal sake. "I think that you should be ready to go out there with Edward more. Maybe at the school dance this year, actually ask him out. I think he would love to go to prom with you. Even though I barely went to prom, I was there thinking that the experience was great. It was one of the few things that gave me any form of sanity left before I was moved to this terrible fucking place." I said, and I was feeling bad for calling this a terrible place. "Before I left that fucking terrible place I mean. This place really is not all that bad." After I said that, I was starting to fele much better, and I was wondering what Misty was actually thinking to me calling this school terrible for even just a couple of seconds. I wondered if she really even cared all that much. A part of me was telling myself that she really did not care at all, and that she was just not really even thinking all that much about it.

"Sheldon, I know that it sounds silly for me to say this, but I really do appreciate the things that you say to me. I really do respect the value that you give me. You are one of the few people in my life that seems like you really honestly believe in me. I really can't help express just how grateful that I actually am for this." After Misty told me this, I was feeling better for the fact that I was making her feel better. That I had been able to open up her heart a bit more. As I was telling myself that I was actually doing the only thing that mattered, I was also thinking about one other thing. I was thinking about the fact that she seemed like she was going to be the item in my life that I had been missing out on. I really did feel like these conversations were in a way sort of making me much more human.

"Trust me, I do my best to make you feel better. You are one of the most important friends that I have right now. I have no problem admitting that right now. There is one other thing that we have in common. One thing that we never really want to admit, and that I think just admitting to would make things too hard for you. No offense, but I am just sort of going on auto pilot right now." After I admitted that I was sort of going right on the spot, I was looking at Misty as if I was wondering what she was going to say next.

"One thing that we both have in common is that we are trying to do the right thing. That in a way, we are both trying to be heroes of our own right. But we don't really know how we can do something like this, because neither one of us really know how we are going to do this. We don't really know how we are going to actually do something like saving the world. In a way, I don't really think taht we can save the world. I don't really know if that is a bad thing per se, but it is something that neither one of us can pull off. We may not like to admit it, but we both need somebody there at our side. Somebody who can actually stop us from getting too harmful and also be able to actually make us see what we are doing right now. I think that you and I just want to go out there, and we want to branch further, but in all reality, neither one of us really know how we can do this. Because in a way, we are a bunch of teenage fucking dirtbags." A part of me actually felt excited to be calling myself this. I could not believe that I was excited to call myself a teenage dirt bag. But in a way, I was really one, and I was starting to embrace the fact that this was the type of man that I really was, and I was no longer going to be afraid of hiding these fears that I had.

"I never really thought that you thought of us as teenage dirtbags. I guess that it is not all that big of a deal that you call us stuff like this. I get that you are mostly meaning it in a harmless way." Misty said, and I was trying to see if she was just sort of trying to make herself feel better, and I was groaning again. I had once again made the wrong move by saying something like this. I thought that it was able to make her feel better when I had said that, but here I was, just making things even worse for her. Because I was saying something that I thought was funny. Somethong that I thought she would be able to find amusing.

"Sorry, I didn't really think that you were going to be bothered all that much about it. If I had known that you were going to be bothered about this, I would not have said something like that. I guess that me trying to be funny sometimes causes problems of my own." I said, just hoping that she would be able to let it slide there. After I had said this, I was thinking that she was calming down on the idea a bit more, and then she nodded.

"I guess everybody just says something that they feel like is funny. I should not relaly judge you too harshly on stuff like this." After Misty said this, she was thinking about what she had said. She then nodded, and I could tell that she was getting more into this type of idea. "So Sheldon, do you really feel like there is anything wrong or right about being one of these type of people? A teenage dirt bag as you like to call it?" After Misty asked me this, I was wondering why she was caring so much about this, but then I told myself just to go along with this.

"Well, it all comes down to identity really. If you personally decide to get bothered by it or not. If you decide that this is no real big deal, then it is no real big deal, and that will just be all. But if there is something about this that you feel like does not really tie to you at all and you feel like you don't want to be something like that, then I guess you can always just try and change how you are and everything. As you try and change who you are, I think that perhaps you can become the girl that you feel like you want to be. Or if you feel like you need to be a certain way, the girl that you feel like you might actually need to be." After I said this, I decided to add in another thing that was reflecting how I had felt. "But trust me, I think that you are fine the way that you are. I truly think that there is nothing wrong with the way that you run your life. I think that if anything, you just need to see the things that your life style have to offer you. When you see the way that you are, and just how great of a girl you truly are, then I think that soon enough you will start to relax a bit more." I said, and then I was seeing her try her best to relax. I was seeing she was trying her best to make herself think that I was right.

"I guess that there is nothing too wrong about youe analysis. I guess when you hear what you like to call a teenage dirtbag be applied to you, just the idea of being a dirtbag already gives off a negative impression. I think that you understand that. I mean, I would not be surprise if when you started to apply this label to yourself, that even you must have not really been too sure if you liked it or not. I would assume that this would be the case." Misty said and then she was looking at me as if she as not relaly sur eif her assumptions were right and the more that she was looking right at me, the more she was starting to think that she had actually been wrong.

"Well, it is a term that I never really bothered to think about. Since in all reality, the tag that people give you really does not matter. Just don't really think soo much about it. This is just what people say, and you don't even need to think so much about it. Just have some fun. This is fucking high school. This is supposed to be the most fun that you would ever have in your life. There is no real to hold back now becuase of something as silly as name calling." I said, and I was not really trying to come off as a douche, but I was just trying to make her open up her feelings a bit more.

"Do you actually think that high school is supposed to be the funnest experience of your life? Do you actually think that we are supposed to be enjoying our lives at high school?" After she had asked me this, I nodded my head, as I was totally thinking this. I was not really sure why she was not too sure how to feel about this. I was thinking about the next cigarette I should smoke, but I was telling myself to not do it at least until Misty would leave the room, as I did not want to hurt her by second hand smoke or anything like this.

"Yeah, I feel like this is how it should have been. If I had known how high school was really meant to be at the start of this all, I would have made this the greatest experience of my life. I would have partied every single night. I would have been the worst behaved teenager ever. And I am proud to admit that I would have been a troubled kid. I wished that I was a troubled teen now in hindsight. At least that would have added spice to my fucking life." I said and then I was pounding my fist in the air and then I groaned in pain, as I was realizing that this was not the best thing for me to do.

"You shouldn't be having a party in here right now. Maybe if you went back to that school again, then you would actually be having more of these parties. But seriously, don't be like a fucking idiot about it right now." Misty said and then we were laughing at this. I was glad that she was able to have some fun with the matter like me. I was then thinking about how nice it was for her to open up a little bit. How nice it was for her to see that there was nothing wrong with having some fun. After I thought that I was breaking to her a little bit more, the more that we were starting to relax a bit and I was thinking that maybe we should have had a better time with each other now.

"I know, I was just expressing my excitement at you getting what I was coming from. I think that when you go out and have some parties on your own, you will understand what I am talking about. I guess that you don't really understand anymore." I said and then I was feeling like I was about to get calmer now, and I was feeling like I was ready to go on and head to sleep for the time being. I looked right at Misty one final time. "You know, I really appreciate everything about you. I just wish that we were able to see each other more often." I said and I was thinking about the project that I was going to be getting myself right into. And that was the project of the Silver Shell. I was not really too sure where I was going to go with that one, all I did know was that this was going to be hard for me. I didn't care though. I was going to go back to Wayside and I was going to be the Silver Shell when I did so, and I was going to bring down that entire town. I didn't care if I had to burn the entire place to the ground. In a way, I was telling myself that this was for the best. There was no real way that I could be able to pull something out of there in the first place anyways. There was no real point in even trying to do that anyways. So I might as well just get right into the mindset of destroying that place and making it so that nothing was left. As I was thinking about the idea of leaving nothing behind, I was telling myself that this was going to be the only way I could really avenge Riley. The idea of avenging Riley was and always will be the thing that was really driving me forward throughout all of this. I was wondering if Riley would be watching as I went in as the Silver Shell and destroy that entire operation. I was wondering how proud she was going to be of me. I was honestly thinking that she was going to be more proud of me than anything else. Proud that I took on my demons.

"You seem like your relaly busy on thinking of something right now." Misty said, and she was just trying to come out as friendly, although I could tell that she wanted to know what the hell I was thinking so much about. In fact, she was thinking that she just really needed to know the truth. As I was thinking about what it would be like to let her know of me going back to Wayside at the very least. I was thinking that there was nothing wrong about doing this.

"I think I might give Wayside one more visit. See if it really is as bad as I rememeber it being. I guess that it doesn't really matter all that much. I know that it goes against every single thing that I have been saying lately, but in all reality, I don't really think that I care about that anymore. I am different. I can act any fucking way that I want. I can be a total fucking hypocrite if I want since if I applied it to myself, I might not really be a hypocrite after all. Since you know, these people are are as ready to do these things that I am doing." I said, and then after I said that, I felt like this was all I needed to say. "I doubt that I will actually do it though. No matter how much I talk about doing it, I doubt that I will do it." I said, and then after I said that, I took a long and depe breath and I was hating how much of a dick that I was being to her. She deserved better than this, and here I was acting like I was some big fucking alpha for this. Not that there was anything wrong with being one, but there was no point in being a fucking dick about it.

And that was what I was feeling like I had been at that moment. A massive fucking dick. Pretty much openly saying that I was allowed to be an asshole, while she was not. I was setting my bar really low while also setting her own way too high, and I don't really think that she was really wanting me to do this. I was then thinking about going in for another smoke. I just really wanted to have one at that moment. I didn't give a single fuck what anybody really said. I wanted to smoke, so I was feeling like I had every single right to do this.

"So Sheldon, do you actually think that going back to Wayside will actually be worth it?" After she had asked me this question, I shrugged. I really did think that it was worth it. I was thinking that it was going to be worth destroying that operation. That was all I was going in there to do. Destroy that fucking operation.

"Yes, I think that I will never be able to move on in life until I fucking destroy that place. This truly is the one thing that I need to do. I guess that once that is done though I don't really know where I am going to go with my life. I guess that it doesn't really matter from that point forward. I am going to go down a new path. I guess that I am going to give my life a second purpose. I wonder if I would have really fulfilled the purpose of my life by doing this. I hope that this is the big thing that I need to do." I said, and then as I was thinking about that, I told myself that maybe I really did not have a big life purpose, and that this was the closest thing that I was going to get to this.

I started to see Misty stand up for a moment. "I think that it is time for me to leave. It seems like you are needing to get some rest." After she said this, I smiled and then I was feeling the heat of both of our touch for a moment. I was wondering if it was the right choice to leave her alone. I was thinking that I wanted her to stay for even just a few minutes more. But I guess that this was just not where my life was meant to go as she just walked right away. But right when she was about to leave, we had a little bit more words to share with each other.

"Sheldon, I really do hope that things get better for you. On everything. It seems like you have a lot of things in your life that you need to sort out. I hope and think you can do it. But I can tell that you are going to have to work really hard to earn that." After Misty said that I nodded, and I totally understood this.

"I get that. I just don't really think I can be able to do it though. I guess I will see soon enough if I have the courage to do the right thing." I said, and then after I was thinking about how I was not really ready for this, Misty nodded and then she did walk out of the hospital this time.

As this happened, I saw the nurse come into the room again. She was clearly waiting for us to finish this conversation. "I was not really paying any attention to the conversation. I was just wiating for it to be over. So when you are here, we want you to remain asleep for the majority of your time here. That way your body can rest and recover. If you get a guest to come here, we will wake you up and we will let them have that conversation with you, but we want you to go right back to rest afterwards. We do not want you to have a bad recovery. And not getting the proper amount of rest can do this." After she said this, I was seeing that she was just trying to be the nice and caring doctor. It was a bit annoying though.

"Sorry that I got myself in this mess to begin with. That is what I should be thinking more about. The fact that I was stupid enough to be doing these things again." I said and then the nurse smiled at me as she she shook her head a bit.

"I have had to treat far worse in my time here. This really is not going to be a big problem for me. I just don't want you going too rough into things when you get back to the real world again. That is the one thing that I need you to do." After she said this, I sighed, as if thinking that this was going to be fucking impossible. But I told her that I was going to try my best to accomplish this, and then she left the room for me to go right to sleep.

Despite the fact that I didn't want to sleep, and the rebel in me wanted to continue to protest, I knew she was right. So I closed my eyes and then after I did this, I was getting right to sleep. I was feeling like the sleep was the one thing that was going to be what I needed. The fact that I was able to sort of not worry about the world for just a few days, and I was thinking that maybe getting shot was a blessing in disguise.


	78. Silver Shell

Part 8: Silver Shell

It took me another two or three months to build up the Silver Shell outfit. I had started to sort of finish it around late April of that year. By finish I mean more that I created enough of a solid prototype to which I was feeling like I could have been able to actually use it for a bit. As this was happening, I was thinking that now was the time I was going to go back to Wayside and I was going to actually try and fight the city that had failed me all of these years ago.

This was making me actually feel like I had a good life going in my favor. After I finished the suit, I dragged it all the way to my car at the night time and then I placed the suit right at the back of the car. Then when the suit was in the back of my car, I was telling myself that I had made the right choice. That this was going to be my moment of redemption. I went right in the drivers seat and then I took out a cigarette, and then I was smoking a bit again. The entire time that I was starting to smoke, I was thinking about where this was actually going to go. I was telling myself that for once, I was not going to go to a single one of my friends houses. I was going to go right to Wayside, as I had one singular goal in mind. This was going to be the one fucking day that I was not going to fuck around. Besides, there was a new employee at the gas station that was hired there after the time I was shot. Somebody who can just miss school for one day in case it takes me more than all night to do this.

As I was driving on my way over to Wayside, there were many thoughts that were in my mind. I was thinking about when I found out that there was a new worker. I found out when David had showed up two days into my three day stay at the hospital. We ended up talking for a while where David joked that I was always putting my life in danger and that danger was possibly literaly my middle name, I was finding the conversation mostly fun by this point, but I was thinking that maybe there was a small level of truth to what he was actually saying. I was also thinking on what else he had said that day. He apologized for not seeing me all that much, and he apologized for not looking further into the labyrinth, as he was saying that he never really got the chance to. I believed the fact, as much as I hated to admit it, that there was a chance that he didn't really care all that much, and that he was sort of scripting this event. But I was telling myself that he did indeed care, but that he was just having a hard time expressing this news to me. Maybe he was just really busy and couldn't ever find the time to do this.

During the conversation, he also said that he had found a new worker for the gas station. A fourteen, fifteen in a couple of weeks, year old guy named Kevin. He said that Kevin had no job, and that this was going to be something he could be given to actually get some money after school and everything. He said that Kevin would work there from five to eleven, so that way he would be there for the last three hours of my shift to help me out and the first three hours of Wyatt's shift. The boss there did this as way to have somebody there to help us out our last three hours there, while also giving us a chance to leave early for me or come in late for Wyatt in case he needed an extra three hours to do something. A chance I hadn't really used all that much. But it did help give Wyatt three hours of sleep a night on those three nights I was gone in the hospital, sleep that he took in the bosses room. Afterwards, when I came back, Wyatt spent the next three days coming in at eleven, so that way he can sort of balance it out. But afterwards, he seemed to get right back to his normal work life again.

I didn't really care though, as I was telling myself that it didn't really matter all that much when I parked at the parking lot of Wayside. As I parked, I went to the hotel that I usually stayed at when these events took place. I gave myself enough money for one week to stay there. And if I didn't do everything by one week, then I was going to go back to Tremorton and call this a defeated cause once again. As I thought about it a bit, I was thinking that I might as well stayed that one week, and do as much as I could in that week, and then by doing so, when I came back to Tremorton, I could say that I did indeed do my best.

As I was getting myself ready for the hotel, I wrapped my Silver Shell outfit inside of a trash bag and then I walked right inside of the hotel. I paid for one night there, and I might be getting more time there later, depending on how things turned out. I was given a random room, and then I walked right towards the room I was given.

Right when I was in that room, I opened it up and then I placed the Silver Shell outfit right inside of the closet. I closed the closet door and then I decided I was going to get something to eat. So I called for a pizza that night, thinking that I was not really wanting to actually go out and get something that night. I just felt like I was not really in the mood to do that. Besides, if I did this, I could give myself a night or so of just relaxation and one more night of planning. I felt like I might take this first night to myself, and then just examine the town during the day, visiting places like Gwen, Dakota, Jack, and other people. Like Don or the sheriff. Then I would possibly get some reports on things going on from the sheriff, then I might be able to go out and actually start my work during the night again. I just needed to remember to possibly actually get a room for that next night.

I was then remembering some things that I had remembered hearing about earlier. Something that I felt like a totally unimportant point at that moment, but now in hindsight I was starting to think was really much more important than I ever thought that it would have been. I smoked a cigarette as I was making the connection.

About a month or so ago, I was having a conversation with Misty. She had told me that her father was somebody my mom met when they were working together at Wayside. That her father was a man named Devon, and she was claiming that they really got to know each other for several weeks and stuff, and that one night, they eventually made love. She said that Devon went away for a work related job about three or four days later, and nobody ever saw him again. I was smoking a bit more as I was feeling stupid for not making the connection.

If Misty was fifteen, then that meant that she was born in 1950. I found out that the business started to 1948, which was just two years after the business had started. I was born in 1946, which was two years before. I had grown so attached to her that I forgot that she was this much younger than me. I was hating the fact that I didn't make this connection earlier.

I was starting to become more and more certain that Misty was a labyrinth baby. Even though I didn't really think that she would want to hear this news, I was telling myself that maybe she needed to know this. But I would tell her this later. When this whole thing was over. Like when I would tell her about Riley and when I would tell her about the Silver Shell. It was all a matter of time. And that was all I could say to this.

Then I was thinking another thing. The fact that not only was Misty a labyrinth baby, but that I knew who the Devon guy was. My father had showed me his job a few years ago, and when he did so, he was showing me that his boss was a guy named Devon. I was then shaking my head in anger. Devon was my fathers fucking boss. That must have been how he got into the job. He had a promotion, and moved to Wayside, where he would get whatever the hell he wanted, and then as a result, got to be the second in command at this job.

I was wanting to kill Devon now. It would take down one of the people who was strongest at this occupation. I knew for a fact that if he died though, then my father would take over in his place. I didn't really care though. I could take care of my father later, when I confronted him. But for now, I was more focused on Devon. After I thought more about Devon, I was thinking about another thing. The desire that I had to make things right with Misty.

I was wondering if Brad was also a labyrinth child. I mean, he was born in 1951, which had meant that he was born three years after the labyrinth started. So he would have been pretty old for labyrinth baby standards, but that didn't mean that he was old by any means of the word. I was thinking that I knew Todd was not one, since the letter clearly stated this, and that I was not one either, even if I was born after 1948, I could not have been one, since I moved here in 1956.

When I was thinking about the fact that my first target was Devon, I was thinking that when I saw David again that next morning, that he would be the person I would talk about to David. That this would be the guy that I would tell that I had a desire to destroy. As I thought about my desire to destroy this bloke, I knew that I truly had some purpose that could be able to last me a few days longer than it already had. I was thinking that for this next week, I truly did have a purpose in life. I was telling myself that for this next week, or until Devon died, whichever one came for, I could have fulfilled my purpose in life.

Eventually, the pizza came that night and then I grabbed it and paid them the five dollars needed. I had a couple of slices as I was drawing a loose outline of what the building was actually like that my father showed me to. In my one time that I would be there, and as I would later find out, would be one of the three times in my entire life that I would ever go in there. The entire time that I was drawing this, I was switching between cigarettes and a slice. I had a slice, then a cigarette, and then a slice. I ended up drawing that inside, and all of the things that I remembered, all the rooms in there for about two hours. I eventually reached the top floor where there were two rooms. The room that my father worked at, and the room Devon worked at. As I thought about that, I thought that I was going to take this guy down. Now that I knew every single room and outcome that there could have been when I was in there. I was telling myself that I was now going to be the one who was in a good position.

Eventually, I had gone through that pack of cigarettes as well as the box of pizza and I looked up. It was four a clock in the morning. The sun was starting to slowly rise up. I had another hour or two to head to sleep, before the night would come up, and when I would wake up, then I would start my first real investigation of that night.

I knew that when I was getting myself in the job, that I was going to be somebody who can really get the job done. I then pulled out some of my heroin from my right pocket on my hoodie, ad then afterwards, I pulled out some weed from the left pocket. I smoked some of my weed, and then afterwards, I smoked some of my heroin, and then I took my shoes off and then flopped myself down on the bed where I was sleeping. The entire time that I was sleeping, I was actually feeling more and more relaxed. More at peace with the world around me. The sleep was something I was welcome to having.

Eventually, I woke up that day when it was around a little bit before noon. I then stood up and then I groaned a bit. I then placed my heroin and weed on top of the empty pizza box. I thought that the condition of the room didn't matter, as I was going to just leave soon anways, and that I was going to clean up the night I left. Or if I did not, then I guess that the hotel workers had a lot fo work that they needed to do.

I went right to my car and I told myself that when it came to night time, I would grab the Silver Shell outfit and do something with it then. I also told myself that I I was truly going to be the hero that this city needed soon enough. I just needed to do some investigation. As I was at the car, I saw what was remaining of my april box. I knew that for the first time since I moved to Tremorton, I might have to add some supplies to my self. I rolled my eyes and then grabbed the pack of cigarettes that I had. That wed and heroin was all I had left of that month for those, as I usually went through all of those every month. So all I had left was about half a carton of cigarettes left. I then put the current pack in my pocket as I went inside the car and started to drive off.

The entire time that I was driving to David's place, I was telling myself that he was not at all going to be excited to be seeing me. He was going to be wondering why I would risk my life by coming here a second time. I mean, I hadn't been here in a while. I was telling myself that maybe those people who knew that I was there would forget about the fact that I had actually been there by now. I was thinking and hoping that maybe David didn't even know of that visit, and that I would be able to go along and just talk to this guy casually and everything.

I was telling myself that as much as I hated it, that David was the only good cop. He was the only one who even wanted to do this. I was thinking that if only one person was going out to try and save the day, that perhaps he just couldn't be able to do this. That he was not really able to have the things handed to him to do this.

Eventually, after a while of driving, I got myself right out of the car after I pulled up at the police station. I then was thinking about the fact that having this interview was literally putting my entire life at steak. But I was going to die soon anyways, so it didn't really matter all that much. I walked right inside of the police station and the entire time that I was in there, I could tell that people were looking at me as if they were refusing to believe that I was actually doing this. That this was fucking impossible to really comprehend. I shook my head the entire time that they were looking at me.

I told myself that I was not even going to really have a problem with them considering the fact that I was dealing with a terrible crime dealer, but since I was in a police station, they had no real chance to do something to me anymore.

I eventually reached David's room, and then after I opened his door, I was seeing him look right up to me. He was clearly shocked to see me there. He was clearly trying to piece together the why more than anything else. "I was needing to talk to you for a bit." I said, and then I sat right down without even asking for his permission. I saw him just not really say anything, since I was thinking that he was just trying to figure out the purpose of me being here more than anything else. "In all honesty, I have some really bad ideas right now. Some really dangerous ideas." I said, and then I could see that now he was getting scared. "So David, can you tell me about Devon? The guy who owns the place my father works at?"

"Well, I know that he owns the place your father works at. But you already said that you knew this. So I guess there is no real poing in telling you this. I guess that maybe you have no idea what you are going to do when you go in there." David said and then he shook his head. "Usually he barely leaves that building. He does every once in a while. I found out just from rumors around town that he usually dates a woman once or twice a year for a couple of months, and that the entire courting ends soon after the woman gets pregnant..." After David had said this, I could tell that he was piecing this all together in his mind. I saw that he felt stupid for not figuring this out sooner. "Oh shit, do you think that these women have to sell their children?"

After I had heard him start to piece this together, and I was putting this together as well, I was wondering what else I could say. "I think that one of them at least wasn't sold. I don't know about the others though. I am worried about the others, and if they were sold." I said, and then after I had said this, David stood up. He then rubbed his face for several seconds as if he was thinking that this was something he could not in any way believe was actually happening.

"Meet me in two hours at the burger store. I will talk to Devon for a couple of hours, hopefully he will give me some more information." After David said this, I was thinking that it was strange he was choosing our meet up place for us, I decided that as long as he paid for it, that I couldn't complain too much. So I stood up and then started to head out of the station.

I was watching as David was getting his stuff ready for this interview, as if thinking that this was going to be a huge mistake, and he was thinking that he was regretting doing this. I thought that maybe he was just slightly worried about his safety, and I told myself not to think too much about it. I drove all the way to the hotel and once I was in the hotel, I was thinking about what I was going to do now. I told myself that it didn't really matter what I did since I only had a hour and forty minutes or so before the meeting.

So I laid down on the bed and then I was smoking the rest of my weed for an entire hour straight, as I was feeling like my mind was going to go numb from all of the weed that I had been smoking. As I was smoking more and more of this week, I was thinking that this was going to be a very hard conversation to have with David coming up, but I thought that it didn't really matter all that much.

Once the hour or so was over, I got up and then I got right to the car and the I was starting to drive to the burger joint. The entire time that I was driving there, I was getting more and more scared of what was going to be happening, since I was starting to get scared that David was not going to be there and that somebody else was going to show up, and that they were going to force me to tell them everything that I knew after it was revealed that David had died or something like that.

When I was at the burger joint, I took my seat and then I took another cigarette and began to smoke it a bit, which was a deadly conversation after I smoked a shit ton of weed and everything. I didn't really care all that much what anybody thought of me smoking a shit ton of weed and now cigarettes.

Despite the fact that I was worried about what was going to happen to David, that fear went away when I saw David come right inside of the joint where he was holding some papers in his hand. Eventually, he ordered two meals for us and paid for them. Then he walked right up to me and then he placed the papers on the table.

"So I found out that Devon had been working on this project ever since the labyrinth was starting. Twice a year, long enough of a time for people to not get suspicious on what he was doing, he would date a woman and eventually he would have sex with them and as we learn, that would get them pregnant. We already know all that. But there are more things that we need to discuss now." After David said this, I was wondering when he was going to get right to the point of what he was wanting to tell me.

"I found out that many of these children were sold to different people. For a lot of money, which helps start the funding to his project. In fact, out of the over thirty children that he has had, only one of them was not sold to their family. And this was only because they were a relatively rich family." David said and then I nodded as I heard this.

"Misty." I said, and then David looked at me confused, as if I brought up some random name that he could not have really understood. "She is somebody that I have made friends with since I moved to Tremorton. I think that she is the only one who was not sold to somebody else. Do you know if he keeps this up to the public eye, or that these things that he has been doing have been kept under wraps?" After I asked him this question David shrugged.

"Most general people in the town have no idea what the hell he is doing. I think that the main reason people like myself already know this is because I work with the police, so I kind of have to know stuff like this. It is sort of my job to know all of this stuff." After David said this, he was showing me a bunch of papers.

"One piece of paper is a short summary of each one of these children. He was willing to explain each one of them for about a minute or two a piece." David said, and then he added "It was really hard to be writing as fast as he was talking. Holy shit, he was one hell of a fast speaker." Then after he said this, he started to get much more focused and serious on the subject at hand.

"What do you know about children?" After David asked me this, I was looking at them, trying to piece all of these things together.

It was the fifth name on the list that really got to me. The fifth name that I refused to tell anybody. 'Brad Carbunkle.' I took a long and deep breath. Both of those children were victims of being

I was refusing to think about Brad Carbunkle being one of the people who was a product of the labyrinth. I mean, it did make sense. Both of them being adopted, as much as I hated this. Even though I hated the fact that this was what I had to accept, the fact that Brad was yet another person who was affected by the labyrinth. Not due to the fact that his brother was born as a result of the organization, but the fact that he was also born from it.

Even though I was telling myself this, I was telling myself that I needed to focus on the more important things at hand. I looked through the rest of the names and I felt like I was seeing some names that were jumping right in my mind. I saw that Tiffiny was on the list, and I was just telling myself to not get connected with any of these names, and try to remain as subjective to the matter as possible.

I started to smoke a bit more ad the food came down. "I think there are two or three of them who actually lived at Wayside." I said, and I was telling myself that I was going to try and remain as subjective on this entire thing as I possibly could. But despite these things, I was telling myself to relax. "I don't really know any of them all that well." I said, and then I thought about the fact that I was telling him the truth about Tiffiny. I mean, I really did barely know her at all. I sort of knew her in the way that we had talked with each other once and I did babysit her, and I helped her embrace the idea of popularity more than anything else.

After I thought on what it was like to make her popular, and I was thinking of protecting Brad and Misty, those being the only three I knew, I was looking right at David. "I guess that Devon is going to try and bring all of them to be working down at the labyrinth. That is one thing that I am going to try my absolute best at. That much is for damn sure." I said, and then after I had said this, I was feeling like that being back at Wayside and taking down Devon is going to be the one thing that gave me any sort of hope and purpose to what I was doing right now.

As I was thinking about that, I truly believed that this entire situation was the one thing that I really did not need at that moment. I finished smoking my cigarette as I was thinking about what else I was going to try and do now. "Do you really think that you can actually take this guy out?" After David asked me this question, I was wondering what the hell I was going to actually tell her. I didn't really think that I could take down everything on my own, as much as I hated to admit it. But for fucks sake, I just wanted to take this guy down, and I was thinking that while I was going to die, it didn't really matter. I wanted to die in the first place anyways, and I have been feeling these urges of death for the last couple of years.

The more that I had thought about what I had wanted to do, the more that my mind was getting more and more clear. I looked right at David. "I think that I can do this. I think that I should at least try my hardest to do this. I don't really know what else I can say to this." I said, and then after I was telling David this, I was seeing that he was really not sure what he was going to tell me. I could tell that he was really thinking about fighting me on this. I knew that this was the one thing he really wanted to do. But he was just telling himself to be quiet.

After I told myself to be quiet and he was telling himself to be quiet, I was thinking that both of us were pissed off to all hell and back. "I guess that if you actually think that you can take care of this, then I will not fight you on this. But I do want to know something else right now." David said, and he was just trying to make me feel better, but when he was telling himself to feel better, the more that David was thinking about how he was going to word his next question. "I want to know if you are ever going to come back here? Do you think that this is going to be your last excursion at Wayside in your own life?"

After David asked me this, I shook my head hard. "I have no plans on quitting at all. I am going to come back here and take care of my father eventually. I don't really care if you tell me not to do this. I need to take down my father, no matter how long this takes." I said and then I took the first bite of my food and then I placed all of the fries on a napkin and wrapped them up. Then I covered my burger with a napkin and I looked down at David. "You better figure out everybody on that list who still lives at Wayside." I said and then I said "I have a job that I need to take care of."

Then I left the burger joint and then I drove right back to the hotel room. When I was in the hotel room, I ate the rest of the meal and then I ate the fries. It took me about fifteen minutes to do this and then when I was thinking about what to do after I ate as I was staring right at the Silver Shell.

I was telling myself that I was thinking it was time for me to take on this first excursion out in the night. I was thinking that I should go right down there and destroy the monsters that try to call themselves people. Then I started to bring the Silver Shell out of the closet and I was placing the helmet on my face. Then after the helmet, I was working myself down to the point where I had my entire body covered up.

I told myself that this was a good thing for me to accomplish, because for once nobody was going to be thinking that I was the one going around doing all of these things. As I was thinking about the fact that I was going to be doing all these things without anybody knowing me, I then opened up the window to the hotel room. It was already almost night time, which was strange since there was barely anything I did. Maybe I was just not really thinking about the time that passed, or that I spent way longer reading those papers than I ever thought that I would.

I kicked the ground and then I started to fly away. As I was flying around the town for a while I was not believing the fact that I was becoming what I was thinking was the worlds first real superhero. It was pretty exciting honestly. And under any normal case, I would have really enjoyed this much more than I was at that moment, but at that moment, I was pretty much focused on only one thing, and that was the job that was on hand.

I spent about ten minutes or so flying around until I was seeing the building that I was going to have to confront Devon at. I started to land myself on the ground and then I took a long and deep breath. I was not able to understand what the hell I was doing. I turned around and right when I was about to enter the building, I saw three people pointing guns at me. As if they were aware what I was doing, and that they had indeed been waiting this whole time.

I was holding my hand out and I was at first sort of doing it in a way to make them stop but I was also ready to fire something in case I felt like I needed to. "Do not enter. We are authorized to fire at you in case you try and go in there." After they said that, I was able to see that they were just trying to come off as threatening. But I was seeing that they were also just as scared about this as I was.

"I am also authorized to defend myself if somebody makes a threat to me." I said, and I was hoping that this was all I needed to say to make them stop. Then I saw them fire the gun at me, and none of the bullets actually hit me. I smiled and then laughed, knowing that my experiment and creation had been a success. Then I fired at all three of them, and took all three of them down in the matter of just a few seconds.

Then when I was done, I was seeing that there was a car driving right in my direction. The car hit me and then I fell right down to the ground, although the outfit was still in perfect use. I stood up and then I was grabbing the car and then I threw the car right to the outpost. I knew that I was doing a lot of bad things, killing all of these people. But I felt like if you were doing it in self defense, then it was not a crime. It was the only way to get these people to not hurt me, was to indeed hurt them.

The fight ended up lasting about another five minutes or so, when there were a bunch of people coming along and trying to attack me, but I was forced to defend myself and then after the fight was all over, I started to fly right to area that I was tired of seeing. Which was just a random store that I used to go to for my cigarettes before I worked at the gas station in Tremorton. I then started to relax for a while, and then the longer that I was relaxing, I was sitting down on the side of the building. I was just feeling awful right now.

The more that I was thinking about this, I was considering opening up the helmet to reveal who I was. But I didn't want to do that, as it would totally remove the purpose of even doing this at all. To make the entire Silver Shell outfit at all. The more that I was thinking about this, I was just telling myself that this was the one time that I really could not smoke at all.

Eventually, after I sat there for a minute or two, I stood up and then I was seeing that there was a couple of people who were wearing a bunch of robber hats and I was thinking that I could be a hero for just a short moment. I walked right in front of them and I was seeing as I was standing in front of them that they were terrified of me. I saw that the robbers were just wondering what they could be able to do against me. One of them took out a gun, and then I saw them getting ready to fire it. I then grabbed both of their faces and then I slammed the heads against each other, which was making it look a little bit funny and then they both fell down on the ground. I was then grabbing the two bodies and then I flew right to where the police station was, where I just dropped them in front of the station, where hopefully the police would take care of the crime for once. I mean, I was literally doing the entire job for them. They had literally no excuse to not do it this time. Then when I was thinking about the fact that I had accomplished this, I rode right back to the hotel. I knew that I did help stop one crime, and that this was going to be what I would be doing for the night.

I eventually was at the hotel, and then I got myself right out of the Silver Shell outfit where I laid down on my bed and then I was smoking a little bit more. After I was smoking for a bit, I was telling myself that it was time for me to sleep. So with that, I went to sleep and slept right from in the morning all the way to eleven in the morning.

After I had woke up, I was turning on the news for a moment. I was thinking that there was a small chance I would be on the news. "Who is the Silver Shell?" The question stated and then there was a moment of silence where I smiled, and felt glad that I was now famous. As I was thinking about the fact that I was now famous, I heard the reporter continue. "There was a large fight out near the Devon Coporation last night. Then after this, there were a couple of robbers trying to rob the gas station, where the Silver Shell stopped their crime and were brought to justice eventually. We have no idea who this man was, or why he has showed up, but the town is now wondering if the Silver Shell is a friend or enemy of the city."

I was thinking that the answer was a bit subjective. To the corporate establishment there, I was an enemy. But to the general people, I was a friend. I was excited to think that to the people in the city that really mattered, I was going to be a friend. I then stood up and then I drove to the gas station.

Once I drove to the gas station, I got myself out and then I bought just a couple of large bags of chips and then two cans of energy drinks. Then when I was done, I walked right to the car again and then I was smoking while drinking Monster and eating chips all at once. For some reason, the experience was entirely surreal. I had no idea why this was the feeling that I got, but when I did something like this, it felt like something that nobody would really be expecting. Then when I was done, I drove right back to the hotel room where I was going to get more ready to take on the crimes here, to see what I can do to reverse the crimes here.

I was telling myself that even if taking on these crimes was a good idea, and it was something that could be able to show that I am not a bad guy at all, I was telling myself that I should not really get too attached to the idea of helping these people out. I was actually even telling myself that if I did this, then I would actually be risking me losing focus on the goal. As I thought about what it would be like to lose focus on what really mattered, I was telling myself that in all reality, it really did not matter all that much. That these things were sort of going to help me be a bit of a hero. After I thought about what it was going to be like to be a hero, I was actually starting to reconsider my original intention of being here.

Don't get me wrong, I was going to go around and I was going to take down Devon sooner or later, but I was telling myself that maybe I could do something else. That maybe I would be able to not only get my revenge, but that I was going to bring at least some hope to this city, even if it was only for a few days.

After I was telling myself that I was going to bring hope to them, I was thinking about something else. That doing something like this would only be a short term solution. That I should have been there more, and that I should have not even bothered to do something like this if I couldn't even stay for too long, and that it was only going to be a very short lived solution. In a way, I was telling myself that this was actually even worse than what I was doing already, and that was just leaving them all alone and everything.

Despite these thoughts that I was having, there was something else that was coming to my mind. I was just simply scared of what was going to happen if people found out what I was doing. They might try and kill me. They might try and track Misty and Brad and Sam and Edward and Wyatt all down and kill every single one of them. I was not really ready for something like this. I was smoking another cigarette as I was thinking about the fact that I was really not ready for something like this. I was thinking that I was one of the biggest fucking cowards on earth for not wanting to do the one thing that I knew that I needed to do. That I didn't want to help the people that really needed the help.

After I laid on the bed for a moment, I smoked some of my heroin and I was doing this as a way to get my mind over the thoughts that I had with Devon's children. As I had been thinking about how I was just wanting to get those people away from my thoughts, and the fact that Brad was the spawn of Devon as well as Misty, I was telling myself that it was going to be the hardest and worst thing for me to do if I would actually tell them the truth. If anything, they might tell me off, and they would probably hate me for telling the truth.

I was feeling the pain in my mind come along as I was thinking about the fact that I was knowing more people than ever who had been affected by this. That I should have been there for the other people more, and that I should have been telling the truth to everybody as a way to make them see what I was doing and why I had to do this, I told myself that this was not what they deserved. They did not deserve to be the children of this fucking scum bag, but they did not deserve to be forced to know that they were the children of this scum bag, as doing so would just relaly mess things up for them. I was well aware of how much it would actually mess them up. And I was not really telling myself that this was alright.

I was debating myself on all of the things that I should have been doing over and over again, trying to think all of these options through more, and I was eventually telling myself that no matter what I did, to some people I would have made the wrong choice. I then got myself to stop thinking too deep into this, and to just make a choice and actually go with it. As I had been telling myself to go along with this, I was also telling myself that Misty would be proud of me no matter what the choice I would make was. I was thinking that Misty would actually start to look up to me, and respect me as this great guy who was a monger for freedom. That I was the first true freedom fighter in this fucking world.

I then stood up and then I looked right at the Silver Shell outfit again. After I was staring at it for a second, and I was thinking about what I was going to be doing, I was telling myself that I was indeed ready for the future ahead of me. I then started to get myself ready and to go inside of there again. I was ready for the challenge that was ahead of me, even if I didn't feel like I was ready, I was telling myself that I would be.

Eventually, as I was inside of the Silver Shell, I was ready to take on everything else. I got right out of the hotel by flying through the room out by the open window once again. I was thinking that there was no way in hell I was not going to get caught doing this eventually. The more that I flew around, I eventually was seeing that the fuel was running out a bit.

I rolled my eyes at the fact that the fuel was running out. I was thinking that there was nothing that I could do in terms of flying anymore, and that I needed the last twenty percent to actually go to Devon's building.

Despite the fact that I wanted to do more for the city, the fact that this was happening was forcing me to not do that. I was forced to pretty much be fighting the Devon corporation.

I then calculated and then I decided that I was going to go back to the hotel. I flew around for about five minutes before I went back and spent the next five minutes to bring it back to the hotel. When I landed at the hotel, I saw that nobody was around, so I got myself right out of the suit and then put it in the car. I had seventeen percent left in the battery at this point in time. I then eventually went back to the hotel room.

Despite the fact that I was only gone for literally ten minutes, I was seeing that there were already three people in the hotel room that I was living in. It was a guy wearing a normal outfit and had a big white beard and two other guys wearing black. There was a large box of pepperoni pizza. I was thinking that it would suck to have pizza two out of the last three nights, but I told myself that this didn't really matter. I was then thinking that I really made a huge mistake by doing this.

When the men in black were getting closer to me, I was trying to fight back and then they just simply grabbed me and threw me onto the bed. The guy was holding out the box and let me have a slice once I was settling down. "Young man, I have some questions that I want to ask you." After he asked me this, he was holding out his hand. I was then thinking that this was not the thing that I wanted at that moment. But I shook his hand. "My name is Devon. Your father works for me. I think you might remember that. But I wanted to talk to you about a business deal that I have. Something you like to call the Silver Shell."

I was looking right at Devon. I was feeling stupid for even for a split second wondering how he already knew all of this. There was no way in hell that he would not have known about all of this, with how careless that I had been over this whole thing. I was hating what I had been doing. "You know, I am just trying to make sure that this town remains as peaceful as possibly." After he said that, Devon smiled, as if he was convinced that he was not allowed to make himself believe in that story. "Yeah, no, I don't believe that for a single second of my life right now. So please don't fucking give me that shit right now. You know that you are breaking a ton of laws by doing this."

"You are as well. Everybody in the entire business has been breaking the law the entire time that this town has been running. So don't you dare even try and tell me this lie." I said, as I was trying to get more courage to tell this guy off. He was then smiling and then he even laughed a little bit as he was hearing me say this.

"Well, you see Sheldon, when I break the law, it means that I am not really breaking the law anymore. In fact, when I do something, what I do becomes the law. When you go around and you try to break the law, I think that you are the one who is the problem. You are truly breaking it. You do not respect the rules that have been placed forward by the fucking town. You do not respect what we are doing around here. And who knows, maybe it relaly doesn't matter anymore. I mean, there is no way that you are even to live to see through the night." After Devon said that, he was taking out a small pill. Then he opened my mouth and shoved it right inside of my mouth and then he closed my mouth. I kept the pill right under my tounge right at the bottom edge of my lip, to make sure that he didn't see it.

'Now that we have this taken care of, we can actually talk about some things that also matter even more. Such as your shitty behavior around here. I think that you are just simply causing too many problems. I think that you should give the Silver Shell to me. It would be the last thing that you can do." After he said this, I shook my head.

"I will never give you that outfit. In fact, you can go fuck yourself for even suggesting that I give this to you." I said, starting to gather a bit more courage, and I was ready to stick it up to this asshole. I was seeing that he was just not taking this too well, as if he was tired of the shit that I was giving him.

"You know young man, I don't really think that I have to deal with your bullshit at all. You are one of the most stuck up and hard to deal with people that I have ever met in my entire life. You just simply reck of unplasentness." After he said this, I was thinking that this was the lamest burn ever, and that he could have done so much better.

"I think that there is one thing that is different between two of us that made us into much different people over all. I wasn't brought to a rich family that never had to try all that hard. Your parents were rich, and they worked with me, as these great people. But guess what, I was not rich. I was a child that was forced into this life. That I was brought into the life of the businessman. But unlike you, I seem to embrace it. You fought it, acting like you were some great freedom fighter for doing this. You are not, and you never will be. I am the one person who can keep you around." After Devon said this, I was starting to feel like I wanted to hurl a little bit more.

"But it doesn't really matter. You gave up your one fucking chance. I think that you just are thinking that you are invinsible." I saw Devon walking away. "You should have given the Silver Shell to me. If you had done that, you might have been able to redeem yourself a bit more. I guess that there is nothing that you can do to redeem yourself. Not that it matters, I really do like to play this game with you." Then with that, he was walking away and then the other two people looked right at me. I was looking down, and I saw that the entire pizza was there. I thought that Devon fucking sucked, and that I was wanting to kill him right then and there.

I placed the box lid over the pizza and then I placed the box right on top of the table. After I did this, I decided that I was going to do one thing. I went to sleep and then after I slept for a couple of hours, I woke up and saw that nobody was out anymore. When I saw that I was now safe, I got right to my car and then I grabbed the Silver Shell outfit and then I placed it right in the room, on the second bed. I then covered the curtains while also closing the window to the room. Then after I did that, I ran right to my car and then I opened up the trunk. I saw that there was what I had been looking for. I made a battery on my own before I left here, and then I was deciding that I needed to place this in here, to charge it up again. I saw that I still had two more batteries left in the car, just in case I needed to use all of them in the future. Then I grabbed all three of the batteries and then I ran right to the hotel room right again after I slammed the trunk shut and then went to my room again.

I could not believe for a single second that Devon and his cronies didn't grab the suit when I was asleep or something. Maybe they didn't want people to be wondering what they were doing, so for their own public sake, they decided that they were not going to do something like this quite yet.

Once the door to my hotel room was closed, I knew that the only thing they cared about the money was their own fucking ego. That was the only reason they were even remotely letting these things stay with me. I then was starting to take the old battery out of the outfit, thinking that it was time to get rid of that archaic thing, and then I was placing it right on the table right next to the pizza. Then I placed the new battery right in there, which was giving me a full charge. After I gave myself the full charge, I then spent about an hour or so flying around that night, taking care of a bunch of random crimes here and there that I was seeing throughout that night. When I came back to the hotel room, I saw that I was at eighty six percent.

This was my second full night here, and I still had four nights to go here. On my last night here, I was going to fight Devon. That meant that I could do one hour round about each night for the next four nights, including tonight, and I would still have another battery or two to help me last the final battle. I was thinking that this was my best chance to do something quick and easy every single night that I was here before the final battle had to start to take place.

And that was what I had done. Every morning, I got up, and went somewhere to eat, and tried to keep a relatively low profile, picking a new spot every single day in order to make sure that I wasn't increasing my chances of getting caught. Before I left after lunch that day, I would go and order a thing for dinner to go. Then I would stay at the hotel and rest for about another hour or so, and then I would get up and spend about three or four hours doing research on the town while listening to the news about the Silver Shell. Then around ten in the evening or so, I would leave the hotel room and then I would do an hour or so of going around town to do some saving the day, and to get more information about how to break into Devon's building. Then I would come back at eleven or midnight, and then I did another two or three hours or so of working on different things while I was eating my dinner before I would smoke about half a pack of cigarettes and a full fucking dose of heroin before I went to sleep that night. It was pretty much a nice and casual routine that I came up for myself, and it was working in spades for me. I then would go to do that same thing the next day and I did that for four days straight.

On my final day there, I was hearing a bunch of stories about the Silver Shell going on the news. I was now a public menace to the businesses, but a hero to the public, just as I had been wanting this to be, just how I was shooting for this to be. I then started to think that I was needing to replace my battery. So I spent the next ten to twenty minutes taking that old battery out and then putting a new one in. I knew that I simply needed to find a charging machine to charge it every night rather than just replacing each one at one sixth battery left or anything like that. But before this was something I could think about too much, I heard yet another knock on the door.

I was annoyed but I knew that this whole revelation didn't matter much anymore since I was only going to be here for another night. Even then, I placed a blanket over my Silver Shell outfit, to try and hide it and besides, all of the dirty drugs plus the fucking orders of food were probably making it impossible for people to stay here for more than a few minutes without wanting to throw up, which was exactly what I was wanting. For once, being a slob was actually a fucking weapon that I could use in my favor. I answered the door though, and when I answered it, I was seeing Devon right in front of me again, this time all alone.

"You know, I thought that I would have killed you earlier. I guess that I did not give myself enough credit. I guess that I should have been more open to the idea that maybe you were quite the sneaky bastard. But not that it really matters, as this makes the dilemma that we both know we are going to be going through tonight much more interesting.

"I got to admit Sheldon, you are quite possibly the craziest man I have ever met in my entire life. You have a aura around you that I can't help but respect, and I actually mean it when I say that. I mean, you don't take any shit from anybody in the world. And you have done more to help this place, or at least on the surface help this town than anybody else." Devon was telling me, and there was a small part of me that was feeling glad that he was actually praising me in this way.

"I am not going to listen to anything that you tell me. I don't believe in you at all." I said, and then I was thinking that this must have been staged. I was thinking that he was trying to make me feel like I could be more open to him, and then he would be able to kill me, and make me go down as a hero, and then he could take the Silver Shell outfit.

"Despite everything that you are doing, and everything that you say that pisses me off, and how much I want to make you realize that you are wrong by doing these things, I feel like there is no real point in trying to get you to stop. You will never listen to me. I feel like in order for this to be done, I need to physically kill you." Jimmy White said and then he was looking at my Silver Shell outfit. "Then I can take that outfight, fix it up, upgrade it and then I can give it to a successor." After he said this, he laughed a bit and then he took out a knife and stabbed me once in the chest.

I fell down to the ground and then I was looking up and I was seeing that there was a couple of people passing by, looking by and seeing what had happened. Devon dropped his knife and then he ran out of the room, before anybody could tell him against what he did. I was feeling like I was getting covered in blood. I was seeing that there was one thing I needed to do. I needed to grab the outfit and stop Devon before he would become a public hazard, which I knew for a fact that he was. I was seeing as the people around the area were staring at me, and I saw them watch me try to function, wondering what they could do to help me.

As I was thinking about the situation that I had been thrown in, I was standing up and then I fell down on my bed. The people who were there finally felt like it was time to help me out. The two of them ran right to me in my room, and they were placing their hands on me to try and help me out. "Hey dude, do you have anything that can help us out right now?" The people asked, and t hen I shook my head. To say yes would expose my Silver Shell outfit while also being able to expose the fact that I was a massive drug addict. Not that the latter was really any fucking secret, but there was a part of me that felt like there was a shred of diginity that thought that maybe I could be able to not expose that for a while longer.

After I was on the bed, and they were trying to figure out what to do, they went to the bathroom where they found a couple of towels. They then placed the town on my chest, and then they were just doing that as a way for the blood to seep onto that. I knew it wouldn't really work, but I didn't really care. "I need to do something right now." I said and then I started to get up and then I tripped on the ground again as I was getting on the other bed. I was then placing my hand on the blanket that was on top of the Silver Shell. "Please go. I don't want you to see what I have under here." I said, and I was almost doing it in a snapping tone. They were shocked at my voice, and they were wondering if something was wrong with me beyond the stabbing. But they decided to respect my wishes and then they ran out of the hotel room with the towel being on my chest when I was having my left hand placing my force down on it as hard as possible.

Eventually, I was looking at the Silver Shell outfit. I grabbed the outfit and then placed it down on the ground to where it was standing up. Even though the outfit was bending down, as if it were being hung up by a bunch of cords and everything. I then got myself right inside of the suit and turned it on. After I turned it on, I was forcing myself to stay awake. I knew that I was going to die at any moment, but at that moment I was telling myself that I could be able to take on the enemy all on my own. Right before I got my helmet on, I smoked one more cigarette and then threw the slight lit up bud on the ground when I was done and then I punched the window open, which broke it and then I started to fly away.

As I was flying away, I was thinking that it was a good thing I was going to be going back to Wayside any time soon, since that meant that none of whta I had just done was really going to get me in trouble. As I was flying off, I was heading right towards Devon's office building, where I was going to just destroy him. I felt like he deserved this, even though I was mostly scared of what I was going to be doing now. I was mostly scared of what I would have to fight when I got to the front of the building.

It took me about twenty five minutes or so to get there at max speed and then I was landing on the ground. When I landed on the ground, I was right at the front of the building again. I then stared up and I was thinking of the battle that was coming up at any moment.

Eventually, I saw that there was a bunch of things going on at the top floor of the building. I then sighed and I started to fly directly up to the top building, where I was going to fucking fight Devon and kill him. I spent about five minutes trying to get to the top floor, but I didn't really care since I was still at ninety three percent battery life. When I was at the top floor, I was holding my hand out and then I aimed it right at the window and then I fired at it, destroying the window so I could go right in the office. Once the window was broken I wasted no time getting right inside and then I stomped my feet on the ground when I was staring right at Devon.

I was seeing when he was looking at me, that he was thinking this was one of the best moments in his entire life. "I was not really expecting you to survive. I guess that you just refuse to go down no matter what I throw at you. But while your outfit is very impressive, and you have given the world one of the best weapons it has ever seen, I am not going to fall prey to you. I am not going to go down without a fight." After Devon said this, he snapped his finger. I was staring forward and I was seeing something breaking down his door and flying right towards him. It was a suit that had its own flying system. "When I had my first meeting with you, I made my employees spend the last few days working on and off on this suit. Now that I have made one, it doesn't even matter if you give me one or not. I mean, I am going to be able to take you on at any rate now." Devon said and then when the suit landed, he was opening it up where he got right inside and then he crushed the opening button, which meant that for the time being, he was stuck in there. I was thinking that this could have been one of my advatages to my standing right now. The fact that he was stuck in there, one way or another. As I thought about that, I held out my hand and fired a bunch of bullets at it, but I was seeing that it was barely making a dent. The armor still was mostly in pristine condition.

Then when I was done, Devon punched me once and then I flew right out of the building and I was having to kick my feet together again to make me fly when that happened, in which I was still just floating right in the air. Then I brought my left hand forward and then I was charging at a very high rate and then I fired right at him.

Then after I hit him I saw him staring to walk back for a moment and then he took a second or two to actually process the wounds, as if he was trying to see if it was going to wear him down. Once I realized that this was the case, I thought that I had about a one second head start so I starte dto fly away. But it didn't matter as he was running at his fastest speed and he was just flying away as he was out of the building, and slowly caught up to me. When he hit me, we were both fallung right down to the ground, and I was terrified over what was going to be happening. We were both switching who was on the bottom over and over again until I eventually was feeling less pain than I was expecting. This had meant that Devon was the one who had landed on the ground. Then I started to punch him several times in the face, and I was watching as I was actually starting to break into his helmet a little bit. This was exciting me. I then stood up and then took a couple of steps away as Devon got up and then he was holding his hand down and then he fired a missile at me, and when it had hit me, I flew back several feet while there was a hole in the ground. Then I got myself up again, taking a bunch of deep breaths to process the pain I was in while also processsing how I was going to take this guy down.

Then I brought out my right hand and was firing several bullets a minute. I was watching as the guy was barely able to handle all of the firing that was being dealt at him, and I was seeing that I was now starting to shred right into his armor, and if I had done this enough, then I can break into his skin and then he was going to eventually die from all of the bullets that would hit his skin. I just needed to break in a bit better. That was all I needed to do, I was telling myself.

Then he was firing another missile at me, and then this tiem I did not projectile back, and this time, I was just taking in the damage and then I seeing that the armor was pretty much destroyed at this point on the surface. Not that it really mattered all tha much, since I was still having some amount of shell over me, which meant that I was not near the level of death quite yet. Not that this would have been the worst way to go, as this meant that I was at least trying to go down as a hero.

then I flew right to him and then I punched him several times right in the face, and then I placed my hand right on my face, and then I was firing a bunch of bullets right at his helmet, and I could see that it was starting to break. The eyes were breaking, an dnow it was revealing his skin, as the glass was now in his face, and he was starting to bleed right down. Even one of the pieces of glass was almost getting right in his eye, which was going to blind him, and effectively removed half of his visibility. I thought that as long as he didn't blink though, he was going to be fine though.

Then after this, I saw Devon grabbing me, and then hew threw me right in the direction of where Devon coporation was, and when I was looking right like I was about to land, he was flying fast and he was carrying me all the way there, while also punching me over and over again.

I was feeling like I was on the verge of death. But this was a challenge that I had to accept, thinking that this was just how life was meant to be. He was flying me right up to the top of the building, where the roof was. Once we were at the roof, I was just laying down on the ground, as the stab in the chest was really getting to me. I was then starting to force myself to stand up, and I was holding my right hand right under my chest, as if the blood was going to come out, but I knew that this didn't happen. But I didn't really give a shit. Devon was just looking down on me, and he was just thinking that no matter how hard I tried, I could not build up a strong enough endurance.

"Shame, you are a weak man. I feel bad for you. Thinking that you were actually able to take me on, when you can barely even stand up as it is. I almost have to pity the fact that you are actually feeling this way. I almost pity the fact that you truly thought that you could have been the one who was going to stop me. It is almost kind of pathetic." Devon said and then I was getting myself up and then I was holding my hand down, thinking that now was the time for me to fire this. I fired the missile right at him, and then he screamed as the ground was now turning into a hole and he was about to fall down, and his armor was now having a hole right in the middle of it, which meant that I just needed to fire right at that spot. But then Devon was getting himself up, as if he was refusing to give up the fight at that moment. He was getting himself out of the hole, and then he was looking right at me when he was standing above me.

"You are a persistent bastard. I will give you that much. Then he shot me a couple of times right at the armor shell and it was falling apart and he was almost hitting the battery. Then he was firing another missile right at my face. Not only did it pretty much destory my helmet, but it was also making me bleed a ton and then he was firing right at the oil rig at the top of the building and then the thing blew up, which was causing the entire area around us to set on fire.

Then I was looking right at Devon. I was starting to believe that I was about to die. I then stood up, and then I was looking at the person who has finally done me in. "But even with your efforts, and even with the fact that you fucking refuse to die, nothing can make you be to defeat me. I guess that you never really knew how to be smart." Devon said and then when he had said that, I was looking right down. There was one thing that I had placed in there in case I really needed it. When I thought about this, I was ready to use it, thinking that I now had no choice.

"If only you worked with your father, then you could have been able to use this on the women down there. I guess that it doesn't matter now. It doesn't really matter what you do now, since you are not going to live through this. I think we both know that this is going to happen." After Devon said this, I hit the red button right underneath my hand and then I was preparing myself for what I was doing. It was showing my armor open and then it threw me right out of the armor, and then I fell right down to the edge of the roof, and I was about to fall down and die. I was scared out of my fucking mind when I was in that situation. I then started to get myself up and then I was on the roof again, my whole body laying about four inches away. Devon was looking right at me, and then he was just trying to figure out when I was finally going to give up.

I had set off the self destruct button. I grabbed the towel and then I was holding onto it as tightly as I could have. I was seeing the clothes I was wearing pretty much be on the verge of turning into ashes, which was a shame seeing that this jacket was there right from the start. The entire armor blew up and then it set off a big fire that engulfed the entire body of Devon, and destroyed him. He was actually turning right to ashes, and then the explosion lasted for a few seconds. I was looking down at the city, wondering what they were thinking about what was happening. The fire was within two inches from hitting me, and I was feeling the heat of the fire hitting me, and I was convinced I was about to incinerate as well, but at that moment I didn't care.

I started to drag myself across the ground after the explosion. I was getting right to the Silver Shell outfit. I touched the outfit, and it was pretty much unusable, but one would know what the outfit was when they were paying attention to the news. I was having my creation pretty much gone, but I didn't really care at all. I had done the right thing. I destroyed Devon, which was the main goal that I had when I had first come here. I went to sleep at that moment and then I was on the embracing of death.

I eventually woke up and looked at the news when I woke up. I was seeing the Silver Shell's broken outfit right next to me. I was seeing the still full pizza. I was then watching the news, starting to think that this was all a big set of a dream. "Identity of the Silver Shell revealed. Eighteen year old Sheldon Oswald Lee was found on top of the now destroyed Devon corporation building, where Devon was found dead from fire. Nobody knows how Sheldon survived the explosion. Many people in town reported that he was stabbed that day before the fight that he and Devon had directly outside of the building. Hundreds of people and employees have been reaching out in order, to tell the truth of what Devon was like a boss and a human being, and many people have been coming around and spreading support to Sheldon's heroic acts the last week. He is currently in recovery from his injuries he suffered last night. It was reported that the sheriff was the one who had found him on top of the building and took him to the hospital where he stayed for a few hours but was brought to his hotel room this morning. The now destroyed Silver Shell outfit if out there with him in his room."

After this, the news report was over as I turned off the television. So my entire plan was ruined. I didn't really care all that much though. I stood up, and saw that there was a big box right there for me. I barely limped my way there and saw that it was my next month worth of drugs, and then I saw that there was another box there. It was smaller, and I opened it, and saw that it was a bunch of different things the town gave me, mostly money and a bunch of things that I had openly used and gotten during my time at Wayside. I was seeing a bunch of names on there. I had seen that I really was the hero that Wayside looked up to. I saw a letter there and it was from my High School would have been graduating class. "We're very sorry for the way that we treated you when you were at school. You truly did something amazing here Sheldon. We hope that you forgive me, and that you show up to our graduation, where you would be an honorary guest." After I said this, I smiled and placed it in the second box. There was a second letter from my father and I read it. "I know what you did Sheldon. Next time you come here, I will kill you. But I must thank you this time. Now I own the business." I then threw that letter in there.

I grabbed the box of pizza, and just starving, I slammed down every single slice in about twenty five minutes. Then I threw the box down on the ground. I dragged both of the boxes right to the back of the trunk of the car, and I placed all the remaining pack os cigarettes in that current carton and placed them in my pockets, where I finished the last three of my current pack. Then when I did this, I then grabbed the remaining bits of the Silver Shell outfit and brought it to the back seat of the car. Then when I was in the drivers seat for a few moments, just trying to process this, I was glad that I was still alive. I had no idea how I was still alive. But I didn't really care. I was given another chance to be a hero down the road, and that was what I needed to do. I started to drive away, and the entire time that I was driving back to Tremorton, I was hoping that Misty and the others would forgive me for not telling them what I had been doing this whole time.

As I was thinking about the fact that I was going to be facing a lot of shit from Misty, I was telling myself that in a way, I deserved the answer and the rants that she was going to take on me. But I would defend myself on what I did, and that was one thing that I felt like I had ever single right in the world to do. I was going to defend myself in case they got pissed off at me, and they were not even going to give me a chance to defend myself or to say anything. I would force her to let speak, and I would force her to actually listen and absorb my words, because even if I did something terrible such as betray her trust, I did deserve a chance to explain myself on the most basic of levels.

When I thought about that, I was thinking of how much pain I was in the entire time that I was driving. It was hurting me too much to even be thinking when I was driving. I was just sort of going on auto pilot, and i was just telling myself that I was never going to get what I had wanted. I was never going to get the friends that I needed to be at my side. But to be fair, I did this entire operation on my own, so it wasn't really their fault that they were not with me.

After a while of driving, I eventually reached where my house was and I got myself right out, thinking that I needed to sleep in order to get ready for work tomorrow. I took a week off from my job, and I was getting certain that my boss was not going to be thrilled with giving me much more than this.

I was on my bed, and then I was starting to smoke a bit, thinking about what was going on now. I was thinking about the whole situation that I was confronted with. The fact that I needed to see Misty, and the fact that I needed to clear thing sup for her and make her understand what I was doing. I don't think she would fully understand what I was doing, but at this point, I really was not caring anymore.

I went to sleep that night, and tried to forget about the fact that I had almost died again. Which was pretty hard for me to do, but it was something I needed to try and do for my sake. I was then thinking about the fact that my father was pretty much on high alert to even my presence, thinking that he was actually going to go through with his promise of killing me if he had the chance to do so. I just thought that as long as I didn't return to Wayside, I would be fine. That as long as I stayed here, being a good guy at Tremorton, I would be mostly safe.

I then got up that next morning, and when I woke up, I went right to work. I was not wanting to deal with Wyatt getting in my case this whole time. I just wanted to get there, grab a drink, and stay up for the next twelve hours. As I was smoking at the parking lot, I was thinking about the fact that this would be my first time here in a whole fukcing week. It was strange to think how I had not been here for a week when most of the time I have been here every single day for months on end for the last two years.

I saw that Wyatt had been waiting for me. "You know how to make a big story about everything that you are doing. I guess that it doesn't really matter though. You did some good things when you played as the Silver Shell." I was shocked to find out that Wyatt knew about this, but then I told myself that this was becuase he had the night shift, which meant he probably watched television during the day time, and he probbaly caught the information once or twice as he was just causally watching stuff.

"I know, it wasn't very smart of me. So if you are thinking about lecturing me, please just spare the notion. I don't really want to hear it right now." I said, and then Wyatt was holding his hand up, as if he was just trying to get off my case. "Besides, I didn't even do everything that I had wanted. There were some other things that I had wanted to do when I was down there. So in the end, I honetsly feel like it was still a fucking defeat." I said, and then after I said that, I was feeling angered over this prsopect, and then Wyatt just felt like he didn't really want to hear it anymore.

"If you say so, I will just let you have this narrative of yourself. I hope that you have a good day at work today. You probably really need the time now." Wyatt said, and I was thinking that this was mostly true, and then he walked right out of the gas station. I then was staring forward at the items there, and then I took out the drink and started to bring it down my body. I was thinking about how it was going to be great that I would finally just work on my normal life now. How I didn't have to be thinking about the people who I fought, and I was actually starting to think that perhaps I could be able to forget all about the confrontation that I was going to be forced to have with Misty and everything. Which I was not excited for at all.


	79. Brothers By Adventure

Part 9: Brothers By Adventures

Even though I really did barely know Brad at the start of this whole thing, and I think that he was sort of the exact opposite of the reason that I came here in the first place, I think Brad was one of the people that was able to help make me see what I should be doing here in Tremorton. He was somebody who was able to help give me a sense of purpose. And I really actually mean it when I say this. It started when it was in the early summer of 1965, probably like June 23 I think, and I was just getting myself off for work. When I was getting myself out of work, I looked down and I was seeing Brad walking right to the store. I was confused why he was here, and then I said "How are you doing?" I asked, and then I was wondering what he was going to tell me. I was aware of his curfew thing, so I was thinking that either way, even if he was wanting to hang out with me, we had somewhere between two and four hours to do this.

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to relax for a bit." Brad said, and then he said "Since it's the summer, I don't have a curfew. It's only during the school year when I have one." brad said and I rolled my eyes. I was doing it more in the way that I was thinking that this was rather convenient. Then Brad said "I'm going to be in the eighth grade now."

I was looking right at him. I was shocked that he was already this old. I knew that he told me this before, but I had sort of forgotten about it in all honesty after all of this time.

When I was thinking about that, I started to smoke a bit and then I said "Where would you want to even hang out?" I asked, and then he was shrugging a bit. As if he was not really sure what he wanted to do. Even if he didn't have a curfew and was telling the truth, I still had work the next day so I really could not drag this whole thing out for too long. After I was about to say something, that was when Brad stopped me and then he was suggesting something that I was really not ready for him to suggest, but at the same time, I was thinking it was going to be quite the adventure.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to Elmore. It's another town around the area. I was hoping that you would want to go and see what it is like. I heard a lot of cool things about it lately, and I was wondering if you would want to do that." Brad was just hoping that I would say yes. Even though I was not really excited for this idea, there was something about his face, as well as the idea of having a bit of an adventure that wasn't related to Wayside that made me actually think that maybe this really was not all that bad of an idea. So after I thought about it for a while longer, I shrugged and decided that I would go with it.

"Yeah, sure, why the fuck not?" I agreed, and then after I had made that agreement, I was wondering if this really was actually all that good of an idea, but what did it really matter all that much? I mean, it was better than having Brad hate me or something, and if this was going to increase his trust in me a little bit more, than I was thinking that perhaps this wasn't so bad of an idea after all.

So I walked right to my car and then I got right in the drivers seat. Brad got in the drivers seat as well, and then he was looking right at me as well. "Does your mother know that you are going to be out late?" I asked, and then I was really hoping that he was going to say yes to my question, since I really did not want to deal with any more heart break that I was going to cause that family, since I really had already done too much for them.

"I told her that I was going to be out late." Brad said, and I was still thinking about how I thought he wasn't really quite old enough to be safe on his own. That he still needed somebody at his side to be there for him. I hated this, and I thought that it was kind of annoying, but I was thinking that it still did give me a bit of a purpose in life, so I decided that I couldn't really complain too much about it. Give it another year or two, and I think Brad would then be old enough to defend himself. I would say anybody over the age of sixteen could be able to defend themselves when they needed to or wanted to. It wouldn't be great defense, but it would at least be something.

As I was smoking and starting up the car, I was driving away from the gas station. "Do you know where Elmore actually is? I don't really think that I would want to be running around like a chicken with my head cut off." I said, and while I was trying not to sound like a dick, I was mainly doing this to get my point across. After I said that, Brad was looking down as if he was thinking that this was going to be a hard night already.

"Well, I know that it is about ninety minutes away from here a little bit east of here." After Brad said that, I sighed, and I was annoyed at this. But I was telling myself that as much as I hated this, it was probably the best that he could really do. So when I was telling myself this, I was starting to relax a little bit more. I was also thinking that this was going to be a good time to just ask him some questions, and maybe see what he was going to tell me.

"Have you ever met a girl named Jenny?" I asked Brad, and then after I had asked Brad this question, I was wondering what he was going to say. I mean, Jenny was in the same grade as Brad, even though she was probably a few months younger than him. I was thinking about the fact that Todd was her friend though, and Todd was two years older than her. Jenny hit puberty when she was ten, and she was at most eleven years old when she sent me that letter. But Todd was twelve years old at the time I met him, and he was getting closer to thirteen, which was actually exactly a two year age difference. I was wondering why they were in the same class with them being two years apart, unless if Wayside had a system of multi grade class rooms.

"I never met her... no." Brad asked, as if he was trying to figure out the whole point of this question, thinking that while he wanted to have a nice conversation with me, he was really failing to see the point of this.

"Well, when I moved here, on my first night here, I got this letter from a girl your age named Jenny. She just explained a lot of the stuff going on at Wayside. I think she might have mentioned you. So I was just wondering if you knew her already." I said, and then after I had said that, I was thinking that it was a nice enough way of putting it, even though I was seeing that Brad was really not sure what he was wanting to say at that moment, as if he was thinking that this was a bad deal.

"That is a bit strange I have to admit. But I don't really know anything about this Jenny girl. To be totally honest with you." After Brad said that, I was seeing that he was telling the truth at that moment. I then looked down, thinking that itw as best to just drop the subject right then and there. "Do you think that I should try and get to know her? I mean, there would be no other reason for me to be in this letter, if you are telling the truth." After Brad said that, I was seeing that he was genuinely considering this idea, even if he was not really too sure if he had wanted to do this.

"Well, I think that maybe there is a small chance she would want to see you. But I think that soon enough, for the safety of her own life, she might be moving here. That is one of the reasons that I moved here in the first place." I said, and then when I had said this, I was thinking that soon enough, I was going to finally be able to tell him the truth. I think that once we hung out a couple of times more, I would actually tell him what it is all worth.

"So Sheldon, do you think that Tremorton is any safer than Wayside?" Brad asked, and then when he had asked me that question before I would even get a chance to say anything he was going even deeper into this whole thing. "Well, Misty has been going around, and she has been sort of trying to be a super hero. She had stopped a couple of crimes and everything. But I think that she is getting herself in danger. If only that whole SIlver Shell thing never showed up, then she would never be doing something like this." After Brad told me this, I took a deep breath and then I was feeling terrible.

I was really not sure if I should tell Brad the truth or not. If I did, then I might be losing a lot of respect that Brad had for me, because he would be thinking that I was a idiot. That I should have been thinking about what I did better and all of that stuff. I knew that it was the wrong choice, but I didn't really care at that moment. I was thinking that I did the right thing, and if other people did the wrong thing because I did the one good thing in my life, than that was something that was their loss, and not really even my own. I was then telling myself that this was Misty that I was talking about, and I was pretty much throwing away everything that was going on there just to make myself feel better, and I was telling myself that this was wrong of me.

"Well, after this, I think that maybe I can go around and talk with Misty for a bit, and try and clear things up a bit with her. I think that you should tell her that I am willing to talk with her a bit more on all of these things. I think that if she listens to me talking to her about this, then she would actually be willing to give up on all of this stuff right away." After I had said that, I was smoking a bit more, and then I was wondering what Brad would be saying to this.

"Please try to. Anything that will get her to knock this shit off will be a miracle in my eyes." After Brad had said that, I was seeing that he really meant it, and then I was thinking that this was something that I can do to make Brad feel better. In a way, I think that me even just giving him this promise was already making him feel better, because it was showing him that I was getting a bit serious again.

"So Brad do you think that she actually sees the problems with what she is doing, or do you think that she simply does not really care all that much? I guess that she doesn't really understand what she is doing is possibly wrong, and that this is one of the worst things that she would really be able to do." After I said that, I was thinking that maybe Misty was already doing something at that moment, and that her life was on the line the entire that I was actually talking to Brad, I was getting more and more of the fear that this was what was going to happen. That I was going to come back to Tremorton and I was going to get the news that she had died and everything.

"I think that once you really talk to her, and she really explains what your fears are, that all you guys need is just a long and nice conversation and everything will connect and then it will click, and she will see what your fears are, and she will be on your side more than ever." After Brad said that, I was finishing up the cigarette, and then I placed it down on the coffee holder, thinking that since I barely used it, it didn't really matter.

As we were driving along, Brad and I were talking more and more about the stupidity of Misty, and while I was feeling bad for talking about her like this, I was thinking that doing this was sort of sharing my insanity and anger at the moment to her, and that was already making this worth it. At the end of those ninety minutes, I was getting dangerously close to actually telling him the truth. The truth that this was how everything set up its course. The fact that I was the Silver Shell and that I was pretty much in a way responsible for what was going on with Misty. The fact that I pretty much was the one who had set up the bonding between his mother and I to be rough after I told her the truth of what had happened to her. What happened to Riley, and why this hurt Tucker, and why I was actually wanting to take some revenge out on her. I was also thinking about telling him the truth of what happened to Brad, and the fact that he was another adopted child. As I was thinking about telling him all of these things, and I was really getting close to it, I was thinking that the main reason I should not do this was because it was going to make him lose any of the little hope that he had in humanity, and I was not really wanting to do something like that to him at all. He deserved something better than this.

Eventually though, we were reaching the parking lot of another gas station and I got myself out of the car and inside of the station. Brad and I were inside and I bought a twelve pack of monster energy drinks. "Six for me, and six for you. Even if we go through all of tonight without going through them all, you can keep the six that are set up for you. Or what is left of them obviously." After I had said that, Brad nodded and then I was looking out and I was seeing that there was another pizza joint near by. I hadn't had pizza since the whole Silver Shell incident back in April. I was getting kind of tired of having pizza, having it four times in such a short period of time, but I was thinking that this was going to be easy enough for one night. So I shrugged, and I was telling myself that one visit every few months when I was out on business trips would not really be all that big of a problem. Just as long as I didn't do it over and over and over again at Tremorton, then I would be fine.

So we went across the street and got inside. Once inside, we placed in the order. While I was waiting for the order, I was thinking about the fact that I was setting myself for another fucking battle coming up, and I was really not excited about this. I knew that the longer that I was there, the more likely that I was going to be in another fucking fight. The more that I thought about it, the more I was looking at Brad, and I was thinking that maybe Brad was starting to actually see and maybe even agree with what was going on. I was seeing that he was getting more and more scared of what he was thinking about more.

Eventually, we ended up getting the food, and I was looking right at Brad right in the car and I opened up the box when I was feeling like I was ready to talk with him about this. "So Brad, do you actually think that we should be here right now? I have a feeling that there is something going on right now that we should be careful about." After I had said that, I was wondering if Brad was seeing where I was coming from. Although he was trying to make it look like he was calm and composed, I could tell that he was actually just as scared about this as I was.

"I mean, I think that we will be fine. But I think that maybe I was wrong for suggesting that we come here. As much as I hate to admit this." Brad responded, and he was sounding like he was trying to convince himself of this more than he was trying to convince me, since I think he was seeing that it was time to give up on the idea of convincing me.

After we started to eat, we just went through the food without any real thought to what was going on. Eventually, we finished the food and then I got up when we were done with the food. I was smoking a bit when I right oustide and then I grabbed one of the energy drinks and then Brad grabbed one. I was getting right back in the car when I was done and I opened the lid and then I started to drive along. As we were driving along, I was hearing something that was making me stop what I was doing on the spot. I was hearing something like a fire going on. I parked the car right on my closest chance, and I was seeing that there was a school that was on fire. I looked right at Brad and then I was shaking my head. "I need to go in there and figure out what is going on." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing that Brad was in total agreement with me on this. We got right up and then I shut the car door right away. Right when I got out of the car, I opened up my car trunk door and got a bunch of drugs and placed them right inside of my pocket and then I also grabbed the machete that I had been holding in there just in case I needed it. Then afterwards, I was running right towards the school, and the faster that I was running on there, the more that Brad was thinking that he was uncertain of what he was wanting to do.

I was seeing when I got there that it wasn't exactly the entire school that was on fire, but more of just certain blocs at the school. Sort like the main hallway and I was seeing that there was a bunch of people right in the area. About six or seven people around the fire. I then was thinking that I was stupid at this moment, and I needed to get the hell out of there. I then looked inside one of the class rooms near by and was seeing that a bunch of students were in there, just talking and arguing with each other. "But school is out now. Unless if this is a parents meet up." Brad said, and I was seeing that it wasn't exactly like a cult as I was imagining, since there was no robes or anything. I then ran right to the class room where I was trying to pull the door open. I was trying to get them to let me in since I was thinking that these people needed to be saved from the fire.

Then when I was failing for a bit, I saw that Brad was telling me to go aside, and I did as he requested, and then he kicked the door down and he was looking right around, to see that the students just stooped all of their conversations and they were looking right at us.

"Who are you?" One of the people asked, and I was holding my right hand up as I was taking my left hand and I was taking it out to have a short smoke.

"I saw that the school was on fire, and that you guys were in this room." I said, and then after I had said that, I was placing the machete away from them to show them that I had no intention of doing anything harmful to them. "Besides, do you know who those people are doing, and why the school has a fire going on?"

After I had asked that question, one of them stepped forward, and I could tell that they were only doing this because they were scared and the idea of having at least one person by their side to make them feel better was giving them some of hope. "I don't really know what is happening. But I think that they are trying to do something like a sacrifice here. And that we are going to be the prey." The student said, and then I was looking out the window of the classroom as I was doing this. I was scared of seeing their reaction to what I had done, and I was seeing that they had not really seen what was going on. I looked right at the students and then I said the dumbest thing.

"How can they be doing a ritual if they are not even wearing any robes?" I knew even then that this was a stupid question, and that I should have been ashamed of the fact that I had actually verbally asked this question at that moment. After I had asked that question, I was then looking forward, and I was just not really sure what I should have been saying.

"Well, since we don't know any of them, and to avoid the cops suspecting them, they probably thought to leave stuff like that behind. We were sort of all dragged here by the promise of a summer trip for the end of the school year. The only one that we know there is the principal at our school, and it looks like he is leading the whole preyer." Another student said, and they were pointing towards a guy that was having some glasses on, and he looked like he was probably in his early to mid forties.

I was thinking that this was beyond any form of sanity. I looked right at the students there. "Okay, I am sorry, but this is making no fucking sense." I said and then as if these people were trying to prove me wrong, the fire started to grow larger. "Oh my god, regardless of what I think of this, we really should not be here right now." I said, and then I was getting ready to head out of the fucking school. "If we stay here any longer, there is a good chance that we are actually going to get ourselves killed right now." I said, and I was actually meaning this as I had said that, I was seeing that the others were agreeing with me, and that if anything, they were just too scared to leave, as if they were worried that they would get killed anyways.

I then went to the machete and then I grabbed it. I looked right at Brad. "Please just make sure that these people are safe. Take one or two out at a time. I will be seeing what I can do against these assholes." I said, and then I was actually thinking that this was going to be another chance that I could have to have some self fulfilled redemption. Which was what I was always looking for.

I didn't really even think that I needed tis redemption or anything like that. But even doing something like this and pretending like it was what I was needing was going to keep me driving through this whole thing. Once I was several feet away from the clasroom, I was taking out another cigarette and starting to smoke it. The dart just sticking out of my mouth as I was walking by, and slowly getting to where the people who were doing the ritual was.

Once I eventually reached them, I was holding my sword forward and then I got together something that would make it sound like I was ready to give off a good entrance. But I couldn't really get myself to say anythong too good, so I just said "You should have thought about where you were having these rituatals before you went here." I felt like that was the lamest delivery ever, but at that moment, I didn't really care, as I was just trying to scare them at that moment.

The all turned towards me, and they were looking utterly scared at the fact that I was there. This whole thing interuppted what they were doing, and as a result it was making the fire die down a little bit. This showed that this was indeed some form of ritual, and I was telling myself that this was the furthest away from reality that I had been able to get in a very long time. I was holding the machete down with both of my hands, and I was seeing that many of them were considering this, thinking that going after me was really not going to be worth this. Then when this was happening, I was taking a deep breath, just trying to get the point across that I was not going to be messed with. "You should have been here from the start, and listened to what we were preaching. If you were able to see what we had been preaching, then you would not be acting so high and mighty right now. But I guess that you will never see the brilliance of what we are trying to accomplish.

"I don't think I will ever understand a cult that I never even joined." I said, and then I was keeping one single eye out for Brad and the others as he was leading one or two of them out at a time. I looked right at them again. "Besides, I don't think that you really needed to do this at the fucking school. I mean, did you really think that you were going to get away with doing this here? Did you seriously think that you had nothing to worry about here?" I honestly meant what I had said, although I was thinking that there was no way in hell they would ever understand what I was saying.

"Young man, you seem to think that we are terrorists or something like that." The person who was looking like he was the principal said and then I shook my head. I was wondering if this was going to get them to be shocked at this entire confrontation.

"I do not think that you are terrorists. I think that you are just some insane people who do not really understand what you are doing. Besides, if you bring this place down, there is going to be another school that will be built over this one. No matter what you fucking do, there will never be any moment when you can take down this place entirely. You are going to eventually fucking lose." I said, and then I was wondering if this really had anything to do with the school at all, but I was just trying my hardest to at least get them to think about what I had been saying.

Even if they were just going to try and bring down what I was saying, I was going to at least make them think about what I said, and that was all I really wanted to do. "Now that we are here, I think we might as well have a little bit of a fucking dance right now." I said, and then after I had said that, I was then bringing my feet down a little bit, while also placing my hand on the ground and my right hand being the only one holding the machete as I was holding it up as well. "I don't really think that you will even get what you are wanting anyways. Considering the fact that anybody at any moment can stop what you are planning." I said, and I was referring entirely to the students that they had in here, and that I had freed.

"You may think that we can lose our plans? That anybody can go along and defeat us? That is not fucking happening young man. We are unstoppable. We have been doing this much longer than you probably have even been alive." After they had said that, I was smiling. Maybe my younger age was getting them naive. I mean, I was young, but I might not have been that young. I mean, it might have been possible that I could have been around more than this place, since it was possible that this organization was around less than eighteen years.

"I don't care how long this stuff has been around. That shit does not fucking matter. Besides, I know who you are now, since you were too stupid to not wear anything over this stuff, and now you are here, and I can be able to tell the police who all of you look like." I said, and I was totally ready for the counter point that the other person mentioned, as I had sort of been scripting this entire conversation out on my own.

"You know that you can't trust the police. You know how the police are right now young man. You know the fact that it is quite possible that the police are actually working with us." After they had said that, I was trying not to budge. Although I knew they were right, but I was not going to fucking break on how I was. I was not going to fucking break through and act like I was going to fall underneath their style.

"You know, I don't really think that you understand me anyways. I think that you probably just think that I am a unfunctioning idiot. There is a chance that you may be right on this. But who fucking cares? I know what the hell I am doing. I know that I have more of a heart than you do." After I said that, I was convinced that they were going to finally see that I was not going to bluff anytime soon.

"We have a bunch of young children who have heard our words, and will be able to start to spread the words that we are preaching. They appreciate and agree with what we say. They think that we speak the truth. They think that we are the voice of the god." One of the members of this ritual said, and I was looking right at her, as if thinking that I had something that could be able to break them down a little bit more.

"You said that you were the voice of the god. That means that you are listening to a different one than the one that most people believe in. You should have thought more about your fucking wording asshole. Now that I know what you are like I can fucking bring you down." I said, and then after I said that, the people were all looking at each other, as if thinking that I was pretty observant, regardless of how annoying that this was.

"Yes, we worship a god named Daemon. They have been telling us what we should be doing our whole lives. We listen to them, because they speak the fucking truth." After they had said that, I was wondering how I was going to be able to really break them down at that moment. I was wondering how I was going to get some information relating to this so called Daemon, wondering what the hell Daemon actually was.

"Well, I think that you are wrong for worshipping something that objectively does not exist. There is no fucking such thing as a Daemon. And if you think that there is, then you are stupid. Plain and fucking simple." I said, and then after I had said that, I was thinking that I really was pissing them off now, and there was the part of me that really did not give a shit about the fact that I had started to really piss them off. I was thinking that if anything, these people needed to snap in order to finally make it sound like they were actually even the smallest bit sane, and that was the main reason that I was just not stopping what I was doing at that moment.

"Daemon does exist. You do not realize what you are getting yourself into right now by talking with us right now. But it seems like we need to greater educate you. Maybe once you are greater educated, you will understand what exactly you are getting yourself into." After the guy who was supposed to be the principal said this, I shook my head and then I was standing up normally again, not able to hold that position any longer, and then I was holding my sword right down, ready to use it at any moment if I had felt like I needed to.

"How do you know that these children even do support your plans? How do you know that they aren't lying to you to make sure that they don't get hurt by what you are doing? I think that you should be more careful about what you are saying. I am pretty convinced that they do not really trust you right now." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing the people looking around and they were seeing that there was no longer anybody in the entire room that they were trapped in earlier. Once that happened, they started to truly realize what I had done, and the fact that I was now really bringing down their entire business.

"What the fuck have you done young man?" The guy who was supposed to be the principal asked in a very angered tone, and there was a short moment in which I thought that maybe I made a huge mistake. That maybe I really was not ready to take these people on. But I was telling myself not to be thinking that way at that moment, and then I was seeing them look like they were now finally ready to go into a fight with me, as if I finally broke them down.

"Well, if you want to fight me, and you think that you can beat me, then go ahead and try. I do have much more fighting experience than I ever should have." I said, and then after I told them this, I could see that for the smallest fraction of a second that they were actually thinking about what I was saying. That they were actually thinking that I may be telling the truth. After they were starting to think this, I was seeing one of them coming forward. They looked like they were probably five or six years older than me. I looked at the people who were there. Originally I thought there was only five or six. But looking at them, I was seeing that it was closer to like twenty. As I was thinking about that, I knew that I was truly and terribly fucked at this whole thing. And when I saw that there was probably about twenty people there, I was seeing that the guy who walked towards me was probably the second youngest out of them all.

They took out a switchblade and then they ran to me really fast. Much faster than I ever thought that they would have been. I saw them slice me right at my leg, and then I tripped for a second, shocked at how fast they were. I was then groaning for a moment. Then I stood up when I was letting the shock sink in for a moment. Then I stood up and then I was looking right at the man who had done this to be. I was now really pissed off at this point in time. I was placing my left hand at the leg that just got sliced a little bit but then when I was telling myself to relax and not think about this too much, I was then holding the machete with both hands.

When the guy was going at me again, I was just prepared for what was going to happen. The more prepared that I was for what was happening, I saw then trying to stab me right in the chest, but I beat them to it since I had a longer stetch to reach with. When I stabbed them right in the chest, I was seeing them looking right at me, as if they were refusing to believe that they had gone down this fucking easily. When I did this, I was seeing them trying to speak, but he blood stopping them from talking, as if they were barely able to contain themselves. Eventually, I pulled then blade away and then they fell down to the ground. When they were on the ground, I was seeing that there was no expressions on their face at all, meaning that they were now dead. I then looked right at them, and I was seeing that they were not so sure what to be thinking of what they had just seen now.

When that happened, I was seeing that everybody else was starting to get much more scared of what was happening, and I was seeing that they were starting to get more worried for their own safety, as if starting to see that there was a very high chance they were actually going to fucking die. But with that, two of them were charging towards me. The principal was running out of the school, as if they were going to track down the others. It seemed like one of them was not really sure what to say, so they were running off on the other side, as if thinking that this can be their way to run away but also make it look like they were trying to catch the others by going the other way. Then the others were starting to follow the principal, as if they were going to try and help them out, and that they were not falling for what the other one was doing.

I knew that there was a good chance that this was going to lead to the deaths of those other students, so I was telling myself that this needed to be fucking quick. One of them was a woman who had looked like they were the one who had explained to me what Daemon was, and the other one looked like a man who was thirty years old or so. I didn't care if they were a man or a woman, if they were going to try and kill me, I needed to defend myself. It really was just that fucking simple. I saw the guy who was in his thirties punch me right in the face and then I was feeling like he was getting close to just breaking my nose, but I told myself not to be thinking about this too much. I then saw that the other one was taking out something that looked like a lighter. The guy took out something that looked like a spray and then they clicked on it a couple of times, and then the woman set the lighter up, which was starting to set me on fire for a moment.

Even though they had the advantage over me, I rolled down to the ground and then I did the stop drop and roll technique, where I was just getting the fire off of me. They thought that I was probably already going to die at that moment, and I was thinking that was the reason why they were not attacking me further. Eventually, I got myself up and then I was grabbing my machete. When I had grabbed my machete, I was ready to take these guys out now, since I was alone at this point in time. I slashed at the woman, since she was the one who was closest to me, and then I was seeing her fall down to the ground. Then I saw the other one, and he was trying to grab the lighter so that way they could set me on fire again, and this time do it properly. But I stabbed them right in the back before they were able to do anything, and then I pulled the blade right out of the back. Then after this, I smiled for a bit. After this, I was looking right at the door. I ran right outside so that way I could be able to help Brad and the others.

As I was outside, I was seeing that Brad was waiting at the car, and that the others were all bunched up right in there. I was thinking that it was a terrible idea to have like fifteen students in a fucking car, and I was telling myself that this was by far the dumbest thing that I had ever seen in my entire life. But I saw that the people who were looking for these students saw what I was doing as I was running right to the car. I just needed to make sure I didn't crash the car, since if I did this, then there was a chance that they were going to die from a crash since every fucking one of them was in there.

Once I was inside of the car driver seat, I started it right up. I was looking right at Brad. "This has to be damn near the dumbest thing that I have ever done in my entire life. No way around that." I said, and then I started to drive off. As we were driving off, as if on cue, every single car in the entire parking lot started up. That must have been why they did not do anything at that moment to start off with. They wanted towait until I started to drive away, since if I did this, I was going to finally be able to lead them down the path way that they were thinking I was going to try and go down.

As we were driving off, I took out another cigarette and started to smoke it as fast as I could, and as safely as I could considering the fact that I was driving very fast. I was just thinking that there was a near one hundred percent chance that I was going to crash somewhere and that every single one of these people were going to die and everything.

Despite this, I was driving down the street very fast, and there was about six or seven cars driving right behind us. When I was thinking of the one directly behind us, I was thinking of a way that I could take them down. "Brad, there is a gun under your seat. Fire the gun at them and take them down." I knew that this was totally insane, and that I was probably going to create even more problems than ever by making him do this, but I was thinking that since I was driving and I didn't know the others, and I needed to remove them from the pursuit, that he was the only one I trusted.

As Brad was looking around, he grabbed the gun. Then he lowered the window and then when he lowered the window, he brought himself out and then he aimed the gun. Then he fired it, and took out the person in the shot gun seat. I was thinking that the only reason Brad did so decent that first shot was because of the fucking driving sort of helping his aim. When that shot was done, I was seeing that the other car was shocked at what happened, and their driving slowed down a bit.

It took a while, but through all the driving that I had done, I drove right down to a part of the town that seemed to be mostly empty. What looked like the parking lot to an abandoned store. When I was there, I was seeing that this was probably the only place in town that was even close to safe. And that this was the only place I trusted to be fighting others.

Now that we were in a area that was far away from any citizens, I felt like I could be able to do whatever the hell I had wanted. I was looking right at Brad as I was right outside of the car and then I was looking right down again. Even though it was his fault for us coming here, I was still feeling like it was my responsibility. I was still feeling like I should be the one who would have to watch out for the others, and everything that I did was pretty much going to be the deciding factor of what was going to happen next.

"Sheldon, don't try too hard. You are not responsible for what happens here." After Brad said that clearly in an attempt to make me feel better, I just shook my head. I could not deal with hearing stuff like this. I did not want to deal with the shame that this whole thing was bringing me. I was still seeing the other cars pulling up. I knew that this time, I really was going to have to fight for my life. Not even just my life, but the life of the entire car. Which was more than just something like Brad and I.

I then saw as one of them was pulling out of their car. Brad was yelling at me. I looked down at him for just a short moment. He threw the gun, which had two bullets left. I ended up grabbing it just in time, and then I was looking right at the first person that was out of the car, and then I fired the gun at them, taking them right down. I was feeling bad for all those people who were watching this, and having to deal with the fact that they were watching me killing several adults. Then after this, I was starting to breath heavily. I was feeling like I was on the verge of throwing up.

It turned out that my body had wanted to do much more than throwing up. I toppled down to the ground and then I was feeling like I was having a fucking heart attack. Then I looked up and fired the gun again, and shot down the next person who was near me, and they were on the ground as well. I was thinking that I was now about a third of the way of taking down all of these people and saving these children.

After I was throwing up for a few seconds, and after I was in general just very miserable, I was looking right up at the other people. I was forcing myself up, as I placed the edge of the blade on the ground and I was using that as a way to force me right up, thinking that this was going to maybe give off more of a commanding authority to these people. I was then feeling the pain just growing as I was getting up, but I was telling myself not to think or care about this. Then I was having the blade pointing right towards the next person. They fired a gun, but I managed to barely get myself away from the shot when I was ducking down, trying to have a heart attack, or that was what my body was trying to do. But then after this, I swung the blade and cut their hand right off, which was making them lose the gun, as I grabbed that from their falling and gone hand and then I sliced their stomach open. When this was done, I was seeing that Brad was getting out of the car. I was thinking that maybe he was just trying to find a way to help me out. I was respecting the fact that he was doing this, but I was thinking that this was really not the best time to try and be acting like he was going to be a hero.

Then the next person who was coming at me was grabbing a throwing ninja star. They threw it, and due to the fact that I needed to take a second to process the fact that this was a ninja star, I was hit right in the side of the chest at that moment. I then was in pain but I didn't think of it too much as I was already in so much pain that it was just sort of mending together and then I grabbed the throwing star and threw it right back at them, and it hit them right in the neck, killing them faster than probably any of the others.

Then when that was over with, I was seeing Brad running up to one of the bodies that was on the ground and he saw that their was something like a knife in their pocket. When he was laying chest down on the ground and he was holding his knife out, I was telling Brad in my mind to not be doing this and to not be a fucking idiot. But then the next person came up to me, and he stabbed them right in the leg, where I placed the gun right to their face and then I blew their brains out.

Then the next person was right by my side without even having me notice. They kicked at my knee, which made me hear a really bad pop and then I was feeling the crack as my leg hit the ground and then I was looking right up at the person. I then grabbed the person by their shoulder and I was in deep frustration at this point. I then stabbed right at them through their chest before pulling the blade out again. When I was thinking about the fact that I probably just had my leg broken, I was getting myself up again, and I heard another pop and then I realized I still had about half of them to go. This made me feel like any hope in me winning was gone.

I was wondering how I was going to survive this whole night if I was barely even half way through these assholes, and I was pretty sure that I just had my leg broken at that moment. But then I was telling myself that I was going to survive as a result of deep and true effort. The effort of being the hero that this town wanted. Not just Wayside, but I was starting to realize Tremorton as Elmore as well both needed me.

Then after this, and after I was getting more in the mindset of how to do this, I yelled at Brad. "Get the fuck back in the fucking car!" The yell was a result of the desire for protection, the anger that I had that he was doing this and risking his own life, and then the fact that I was just in so much pain that a part of the pain was just coming through naturally at this point. When Brad heard the sudden certainty in my voice, I could tell that he was seeing he should not mess around. He got himself up and then he ran himself right back to the car. I was feeling bad for the fact that I was treating him this way, but I did not under any case want him to be in danger, and that meant that in a way, I was going to have to be a dick. I was seeing somebody coming right towards him, to take him down, but I shot them and killed them, and then that gave him enough time to get right in the car and hide in there, as if he was about to cry. Which I did not blame him for at the least.

I was feeling bad for the fact that I was basically becoming the biggest asshole in the entire town, but at that same time, given the moment and the entire situation, I honestly didn't really even give a single fucking shit in the world. I had just wanted to help the people in this town, and that was all I was going to do. I was smoking another cigarette with my left hand and with my right hand, I saw that somebody was taking out something that looked like another gun, and at that moment it took me a second to figure out what it was. I then stood up and then I was walking away from it slowly with my foot dragging along, and I was feeling like I was wanting to cry the entire time that this was happening. Then there was a one of them that fired at me and they were able to hit my jacket, but it didn't hit me exactly as the jacket wwas hanging a bit, so it managed to avoid hitting me by a narrow margin. I then stabbed the enemy several fucking times when they were close to me. After I stabbed them more times than was probably needed, I was showing them falling down to the ground. This was the one that tried to shot me just now. I was happy to see that this one was gone. I wasn't happy to see them dead, but I was certainly happy to know that I had a little bit more of a chance to take down the rest of these people. When I was stabbing that person though one of the other ones grabbed me and then I was seeing myself falling down to the ground. They hit me a few times by kicking me. I was feeling like my ribs were damn near breaking the entire time that they were doing this, and this was making me want to cry in pain. Not even caring who saw the fact that I was doing this. I then saw them lifting their foot up for a second as if to give themselves a bit of a break and then I fired the gun and hit them right at the heart this time. They fell down to the ground and that was when I realized that there was no bullets left in this. I dragged myself across and grabbed the machete that was on the ground. Then I got myself right up and I was hearing yet another pop, which wa smaking me fall right down to the ground. After I fell down to the ground again, I was pretty much accepting the fact that this was going to be a lost cause and that I may as well have just given up at this point in time. But then I placed the bulk of my machete blade behind me, and stabbed the person right behind me when I was hearing them getting closer to me, and I was telling myself that this would make for a pretty lit movie poster if it weren't for the situation that I was in at that moment.

After I took that one down, I was starting to drag myself to the car again. This was my way of sort of conceding defeat, as I was starting to see that there was no way in hell that I was going to be able to defeat these people. That all of these people were already going to kill me, but if I managed to get all of these people home, then I would be home.

The one that looked like the principal got right in his car. I could tell that soon enough, we were going to be getting ourselves into some form of a speed chase. As I was getting myself ready for this, I turned the car right on and then I was starting to drive myself away from the area. When I was driving away, I was starting to cry in pain from the broken leg, and I knew that this was something I couldn't tend to at that moment since if I did this, I was going to be forced to stop the driving and then by doing this, make the younger children be exposed to these people again, and I knew for a fact that I could never do this to them. I was never going to put their lives in danger just because my own personal body was telling me that it needed some tending to. I didn't give a single fuck at that moment, and I was sort of sticking it up when I was doing that.

The longer that I was driving, the more that I was tempted to just drop them all off some random place and leave it at that. "Where the hell do you guys all live?" I said, and I was just trying to hide my pain at that moment. When I was saying this, I was feeling like I was really becoming the biggest dick on the block when I was talking with these people. I was just needing to bring these people home though, and I didn't care what the means to do this was, even if it meant that I was going to have to change myself as a person. I was eventually told the first house, which I heard everybody sort of sighing in relief as it did remove a small part of the annoyance that was coming with like twenty people being in the car. As I was driving them in the direction of the first house, I was seeing that there were a few cars right behind us. I was still feeling a large surge of pain when I was thinking about the people who were going to die as well as my knee. Eventually, I pulled right up at the car and then when they were at the parking lot of the house, and I was thinking that there were still six people that had been pursuing us.

I blamed myself for this entire situation. If I had kept my big fucking ego shut, then these people would have done the ritual and saw all the children that were gone. But then I was thinking that if these people weren't gone, these people would have been killed by a bunch of people just coming along and relieving them.

I then saw that there was a couple of people coming right out of this car when the person I was dropping off came out of the car and ran right away from the place. I was seeing both of them with guns. I then ran right towards them right my machete, with a pop happening every other step, not at all thinking about the pops and just ready to take down these people. I slashed them both right down. I saw them fall right down on the ground, and then once that was done, I saw the people just there and I was thinking that I was probably going to get reported to the police but at that moment, I really could not care less. I was walking very slowly back to the car, with my left foot doing most of the work at that moment. The entire time that this was happening, I was feeling like the tears were going to just not only cover my entire face, but the entire clothes that I had. I was seriously being pathetic at that moment. I was just thinking that if Edward or Sam or Misty had seen this, I would feel like the biggest idiot in the history of the entire world.

I then got myself right in the car and then when I was in the car, I was starting it right up. "Sheldon, are you alright?" Brad asked me as I was driving off, and I could hear the people in the car moving around, to take pride in the small amount of extra space they had. I was nodding, as if to keep myself composed when I was around these people. The pain that I was in did not matter at that moment, since in all reality, they were just sort of not able to relaly understand what was going on.

Eventually, I reached the end of the block where I looked at the children. "Okay, one of you tell me where you live right now?" After I had heard them ask me this, one of them told me that they only lived two blocks away. Thinking that this was going to be the obvious solution, I started to drive them to their house. I was not able to believe that I had a broken leg and I was having a fight to the death and I was still playing the fucking chauffeur.

The more that I was driving along, the more that I was convinced that this was just a hige fucking mistake for me to be doing any of this at all. But at the same time, I really was not even thinking that it mattered all that much. I was going to drop these people off, and after they were all dropped off, I was going to save yet another person by doing this.

It was fast to drive down those couple of blocks and when I reached their house, they got right out of the car and thanked me for saving their life. Then they got right inside of the house, and then I walked out of the car and saw that there was another car with another two people in it. As they were pulling up at me, I was telling myself that it was best to just slice them down and get it over with before I did anything else. They were all coming right at me, and when they were getting close to me, I was stabbing one of them and then I pulled the machete right out of them and then with the other one, I just swung the machete, and cut their chest open like I had been doing with several of the other people. It was a very simple task, and this one was something I was able to do in just the matter of a couple of seconds. Honestly, even for me it felt like it was a little bit anti climatic. But at the same time I was tired of dealing with these people, and then after this, I got right back in the car. "Wow, it seems like you are relaly not dealing with any of this shit anymore." Brad said, and he was meaning it to be more funny than anything else. It was true though. When I was starting to drive again, I was seeing that Brad was just looking forward. As if he was giving up on the idea of having a nice and simple and silly conversation with me. The entire time that I was driving, I was just thinking about what I was going to do next.

The next three houses were dropped by very easy. Just all within about seven streets of each other, and I was thinking that this was all going to be really nice for me. But then I was scared for the next fight. Since there were still two of them left that I had to be fighting with, and I was not really sure if I was going to be ready for either one of them. I had a feeling that neither one of them were going to be as stupid as the others, and that if anything, they were going to be more strict with this fighting, and that I was going to actually have to fight for my own fucking life.

When I thought about the fact that I was going to fight for my fucking life, I was thinking that despite how terrible it would be for the sake of Brad and the rest of the children, that I would be able to actually like this since it did mean that I was going to be able to actually have a bit of a challenge. And despite how selfish it was to pretty much be wanting a good fight for the sake of a challenge, I really did not care all that much. I was a terrible guy for thinking that it didn't matter. For the fact that I was acting like none of these things ever mattered.

Eventually, when there was only about three houses left, there was another one of the two that had pulled up and I was realizing that this part of the fight was going to happen now. I got myself out of the car, and then I saw that the woman in the car was what I was starting to think was the vice principal. She was holding something that I was really not prepared for at all. She had been holding a grenade. I was terrified at what I was going to do to make sure that the grenade did not fucking hit this car, which would have killed Brad and the other children. That was what I was more scared about at that moment. I couldn't care less if I died or not, which was better than these fucking children who actually had a fucking life ahead of them still.

When the grenade was being thrown at me, I saw that it landed about three inches away from me. When I was seeing that it was about to go off, I grabbed it reall quick before it could go off and then I threw it in her direction again, which made it explode right when it was near her car, and that made the entire side of the car look like it had been bulldozed down. The women jumped away and then she was staring right at me. Then when the side of the car was exposed, she was starting to think about what she would do now. She started to run to the car and then I was wondering why she was going right to the car, and then I was running, or limping to be more exact, in her direction. The entire time that I was heading in her direction, I was seeing her getting right to the undestroyed side of the car and she was pulling something out of the car. I was grabbing her and dragging her out of the car. I was not even caring who saw what I was doing, since I only cared to save these children, as their children was more important than what they had thought of me. She hit the ground, and I felt like she was shocked at the sudden strength I had considering the fact that I was a mega drug addict and the fact that I was having a broken leg and everything. I looked up for just a brief moment at the other kids to see what they were thinking of what I was doing. They just seemed too scared to make any real form of a reaction, in denail that they were thrown into this at all.

I punched her a couple of times in the face. But then she pushed me down after she managed to kick me right in the nuts. I fell back, and then I felt like my head was about to crack open. As I was feeling my head on the verge of cracking open, I was rubbing it as hard as I could, not really sure of what I was even going to say. Then she she had been stading over me and she kicked me in the ribs a couple of times, I was dragging my arm to the pack of cigarettes I had and started to smoke it. I then stood up and then I placed the burning tobacco on her face, and the extreme pain as the result of what I had been doing really got to her and when she had been so distracted by what was going on, I saw her step back a couple of steps. That was when I was taking advantage of the chance I was given, and I had decided to fight back.

I started to punch her several times, and I was hitting her in the chest, trying to crack the bones in there and then I hit her a couple of times in the face which made her fall down to the ground. I was standing above them, and then I was seeing that she was holding her hand up as if to admit surrender. But I was not going to fall for this, as I was aware of what she was truly trying to do. I instead just stomped on her chest a couple of times, which was done to literally snap her ribs in half. Eventually when I had done that, I stood over her body for a moment and then I threw her body right in the car and then I was looking right at Brad and the other three students that were in there. I was seeing that Brad had a look on his face as if he was sort of accepting what he had seen, but the other three in there were shocked to see what I had just done to the fucking vice principal of their school. Despite the broken leg I had, I had still been able to pull this off. I walked right towards the car as I was now feeling like any form of leg tissue in there was about to fall out and it was literally just a combination of just meat and blood that was keeping the leg together starting at the middle.

Once I was in the car, I took another cigarette out and smoked it for a moment without using it against anybody, and the entire time that I had done this, I was looking right down the street, and saw that for even just a fee moments that I was indeed safe. So I started the car up, and then as I was driving down the street, I was coughing a bunch almost like it was reminding me of when I had started to smoke in the first place. It was a memory that I was not fucking nostalgic for at all. It was a memory that I actually fucking hated, and almost for just the smallest nanosecond made me think that I should quit smoking.

I was listening to the direction of where the younger three kids were wanting me to drive them to. I dropped off two of them, and there was only one of them left. When there was ony one left, I was going right to his house, thinking that this was going to be my chance of getting them safe and then I could be able to get out of Elmore without even having to fight that final guy, since I really needed to get to the hospital, and have my leg treated to. Eventually, I reached the final house where I was dropping off that final person. I was counting down the minutes that it would take for me to get out of Elmore. "Thanks for saving me dude." The final person said when I was at their house. It was one of the only times that any one of them directly actually said anything to me, and I was actually kind of happy that he had actually told me this, as if it was finally making me feel like I had done something that was of value. I just was not really sure what to say though.

"Bro, I saw that you guys were in trouble, and I felt like you guys needed help. I was doing something truly out of the goodness of my fucking heart. I just hope that this guy sees that you do not wanting to do with his cult." After I told the guy said, I was seeing that Brad was getting a look on his face that was making both this guy and I stop what we were doing, as I was realizing that no matter what the case may be, we would never get to be able to fully get away from a fight.

"Isn't that the car that the principal came from?" Brad asked, and then when I examined for a moment, and I was seeing the principals face for a moment, I knew that he was right. Brad looked right at the other guy. "You should get the hell out of here. He probably is not even looking for you anymore, and is now looking for the two of us."

After Brad said that, I was thinking that this was sadly the truth. So the other guy left the car right away and wished us luck as he was running back inside, looking like he was seeing a ghost. That he was seeing a couple of dead men with the two of us. Then I started up the car, and the more that I was driving off, I was getting closer to the exit of the town.

The more that I was driving, I was getting more and more of a head ache and the pain in my leg was starting to become unbearable. I was just trying to save Brad, which was still the only priority that I was having at that moment. I didn't know why I was the worst person ever at doing anything and accomplishing a single thing in the world when I was alone, but when I was thinking about the prospect of other people around me, I suddenly became a very useful person. I suddenly become a power machine of getting stuff done.

Eventually, right when we were at the exit of Elmore, I heard a loud noise, as if I was hearing something crash into the back of my car. I looked forward and then I was seeing that there was a the principals car. They got right out of the car, and I was forcing myself out of my own. I was telling Brad to stay there, thinking that this was going to be a fight between the two of us. I was holding my machete as much as I could be able to handle doing it with the fact that I was in so much pain. I saw that the principal was having a look in his eyes that was making him convinced that he was going to win this fight.

The more that I was holding the machete, the tighter that the grip became and the more that I was thinking about the prospect of what would happen to Brad. I was scared to see him die, and that was the only thing that was keeping me from just giving up. I saw him pull out a gun, but this time it seemed like he wasn't a idiot with a gun like the others were. He fired it and then he hit my shoulder, and then I was now basically dragging my broken and barely useable leg across the street as I was feeling my foot walk forward that was still decent. Then the guy fired another shot at me, and then hit my elbow once again. I then was a few feet away from him, and I was telling myself to not pay attention to any of the gun shots, thinking the gun shots were not going to keep me down and the more that I was telling myself that this was not going to take me down, I was hit again, this time a few inches below my shoulder. I didn't give a fuck though. I wanted to take this asshole down.

When I was a few inches away from him, I brought the machete right down on his face, and then I slashed right down from his upper head right down to the part of the body where the legs would be splitting, and then I saw the two halves of him fall down on opposite ends of the street. I smiled when I thought about how they were all taken care of, totally forgetting about the fact that one of them was not there, and had been away from this whole situation for a while already. Then I walked right back to the car when I threw the machete right at the back part of the car, and then I started to drive off again.

The more that I was driving off, the more that I was telling myself that Brad would understand what I had been doing, and I was driving off to the hospital, and that there was a chance where I was going to have to stop there before I returned to his house. "I think that this is too much for me to handle. I don't really know what to be thinking of any of these things anymore." Brad said, and I nodded. I didn't really blame him. This was quite simply too much to really think about.

"I don't blame you if you never want to see me again. I really truly don't. I hope though that you don't want to never see me again, and that you would still be willing to be friends with me." I said, and I was thinking about how selfish I was sounding at that moment. The fact that I was more worried about his friendship over his sanity, or his own life in general. I was telling myself that I needed to get myself some priorities.

Eventually, the drive back to Tremorton was over and I decided that I would drop Brad off first. Once I pulled up at his house, I looked right at Brad. "I think that I still want to talk with you. It seems like you are the only one who cares about the things here. I think that you are the only person in Tremorton who really knows what needs to be done. But please, talk with Misty soon. I need you to try and break to her that this is a terrible idea she has, and that she needs to cut this shit out. I truly feel like you are the only one who can do this." Brad said as I nodded in total agreement to this.

"Yeah, I think that she is honestly kind of insane for thinking that any of this is going to work. I am going to try and make her these things. But Brad, when we see each other again, I promise that I am going to keep you safe. I am not going to let anything happen to you. I will never make peace wit hmyself if anything happened to you or anybody else. You are the only reason I might even be able to talk with Tucker, and that is something that is sort of selfish for me, but I need to see him soon, and try to bond with him and see what type of guy he is like." I said, thinking about what it would be like to see Brad's five year old brother, and I was thinking about what it would be like to see Brad going through the eighth grade, the final grade that Riley had been able to go into before her death.

"Yeah, I will. I think that he will want to see you anyways." Brad said, trying his best to make me feel better. Despite the fact that I was feeling like he was just saying this, the fact that he was trying to make me feel better was one of the few things that was keeping me together. Brad got right out of the car. "Besides, there is something about how crazy this whole thing is, and the entire event that makes me want to actually see you more often. You have a bunch of adventure packed into every single hang out that we have with each other." Brad said and I was telling myself that I didn't really want this to be the reason he wanted to see me. But the fact was that he was still wanting to see me, and when I was telling myself that, I was telling myself that this was all that I really wanted. So Brad walked out of the car and then he went right to his house, and I took out a cigarette and started to smoke it for a bit. The entire time that I was smoking, I was feeling relaxed. Smoking was the most relaxing thing in the entire world for me to do. I didn't give a shit about the fact that I was dying when I did that, I was thinking that I was more likely to die from the gun shots and the fucking leg that was broken.

When I remembered that, I got really serious once again, and then I was driving right there in order to get tended to. The pain that was enveloping my leg was too much to even ponder at that moment, and the entire time that I drove to the hospital, I was thinking about how this was going to be a really hard treatment that they were going to have for me.

I eventually reached the hospital and when I was out, I was limping right inside and then I was seeing everybody looking right at me. When they saw how serious my condition was, I went right to one of the rooms where I was given the medicine that was going to put me right to sleep as they had been treating me. At least it would be giving me a decent sleep that would not really be affected by anything going on around me at all. Which was what I was really wanting at that moment.

I woke up probably two hours or so later, which a leg brace on, and a bunch of wrappings all around my chest, only not really covereding the part of my arms where I would be able to move them around. I took a deep breath in annoyance. The doctors gave me a pair of jeans and a shirt that were both much too large for me, but it was so that way I could be able to wear it for the casts. I saw that there was a couple of crutches and then I knew that I was really going to be fucked for the next few weeks. My hoodie was over everything else, which was the only part of my wardrobe which was not really looking like it was about to stretch and break from the cast. I was wondering if I was needing to get another version of that outfit, considering the fact that I had been wearing that for like nearly two years by this poing in time.

The doctors told me that I should come back in two months and get a check up. I was telling myself that this was not going to be fun and exciting at all. So I got on my crutches and then I was going right towards my car by slowly limping my way over there, and I could see that the doctors were all wondering if they should be there to see if I needed some help. But I was honestly hoping that they would not really help me. I wanted to get used to this on my own. I waved at them goodbye, hoping that the visit two months from now would be the final time that I needed to come back there in my entire life.

Eventually I was back at the gas station, and then I walked my way back there, thinking that since there was still a couple of hours of Wyatt's shift, he would be confused to be seeing me, but at the time he really did not care at all. I looked right at Wyatt and he said: "What the hell did you do this time?"

I shook my head and I was not really sure how I could be able to explain it at all. I was thinking that the idea of explaining this to Wyatt would be fucking impossible to do. "I just don't really know. A bunch of stuff I should have never done. I will leave it at that right now. I don't really know how else I can really be able to explain this whole fucking thing. Besides, I doubt that you really even care. I don't think you really seem to like me all that much anyways." I said, and then when I was seeing the look on Wyatt's face, an I saw that he was kind of annoyed with the way that I was treating him, I took a deep breath and I realized that I was sounding like a total asshole. "Sorry. I know that I am a dick. I don't need to be told this in all honesty. But seriously, it is very hard to explain. Maybe when we begin to know each other, and maybe when we really had seen some things together, I will be willing to tell you." I said, and then after I had said that, I was thinking that Wyatt was thinking this was souding like a decently sound compromise.

"Yeah, I guess that this makes sense. I suppose that I never really have been all that nice of a dude to you." After he had said that, I was feeling like we were both starting to really calm down. I was thinking that I just needed to try and get to know him a little bit better. Once I was thinking of this, I was smoking a bit more. I found it interesting how the doctors never got on my case about my smoking habits. I guess they must have just felt like this was just my choice.

So I was just sort of wondering where this would go. I had a feeling that even if we were in no way close at that moment, that I was really going to start to get to know Wyatt more soon, and honestly, the thought of this was what was really exciting me. I was just relaxed the entire time that I thought about Wyatt, and the entire time that I was thinking that maybe I could be able to turn t his thing around, and maybe even make this guy actually be friends with me. If I told him more about me, then he might tell me more about himself. I was actually thinking that maybe it should have been the other way around.

"How long does the doctor want you to wear that brace for?" Wyatt asked, thinking that it was a decent enough question. I totally forgot about that for a moment and then I was looking right down at my broken knee. I didn't quite really know what I was going to say, and then I was telling myself that he was really not going to like my answer.

"The doctor expects that I am going to be needing to wear this stuff for about two months. I think that maybe I should just stay here for that time, since in all honesty, if I just stay here, I will be able to rest and everything. I just need to make something like a strange bed like thing to rest on when it is not my shift." I said, and then I was thinking that Wyatt actually understood this.

"I guess that you are probably right. You know what, when my shift starts, maybe you Ken and I can get something working here. Maybe I can set up like a small bed for you, or a sleeping bag for you in the break room. Sort of set that up to be your room for the next two months or so. It is the least I can do for an employee who needs the rest." After Wyatt said this, I was happy to see that Wyatt did care for me, even if it was just on the surface. I agreed to this, and just slept on the chair in the break room with my face on the desk for the last three hours of Wyatt's shift, before I had to start my shift now.


	80. Gas Station Files part 1

Part 10: Gas Station Case File Number 1

It was the day before I was supposed to get all of my bracings taken off. So August 20 1965. I was excited to have this thing taken off of me, since I was beyond sick and tired of having these things on me all this time and the fact that I was pretty much living at the gas station twenty four hours a day, every single day for the last two months. If for nothing else, I was pretty much able to get twelve hours of sleep a night while being able to stay up and do my shift for twelve hours a day. In all reality, it was in no way a good use of my time, but it was a good thing considering my condition that I had been in at that point in time.

But the story that I was about to tell you started when Wyatt was coming in for his shift. He had twelve pack of monsters with him, and I smiled when I saw that set with him. I was thinking that it was going to be nice to just have a party with him. Even Ken was there, who had been sort of helping me out for the last four hours of my shift, which was what he was supposed to be doing in the first place. When he saw Wyatt there, he said "Sheldon seems like he is bored out of his fucking mind right now." After Ken said that, I was laughing and then I interjected at what he had said.

"If anything, you are the one who was bored out of your mind." I said, and then after I said that, Wyatt placed them all down on the table and then he was telling us to all relax for a moment.

"You know, I really don't care all that much. The thing is you are going to get that thing off of your arm tomorrow, so I was thinking that we might as well have a bit of a party." Wyatt said, and then after he had said that, I nodded. I thought that this was the one thing he had said that was the truth. "So how much longer do you think you are going to stay at the gas station after you get your stuff removed?" Wyatt asked, and then I shrugged.

"I think I might just stay here one more night. Just bring all the stuff home and everything, and maybe stay one more night. I don't know though. I think we should still have the mini bed in there, just in case somebody else needs it." After I said that, I was grabbing the first can and then I was taking out a smoke and then I was smoking the cigarette, thinking that this would be the first one I would wholely enjoy considering the situation in a very long time.

"I don't really think that you will understand how much I have been looking forward to when you recovered. I thought that you were just going to remain like this for the rest of your life." Wyatt said and then I was waving my hand down, as if I was aware of this whole thing, and I didn't really need him to tell me this.

"You know, I am not shocked by this at all. But please, I don't need to be told this." I said, and then I was wondering what was going to be happening next. I then thought that even though I was kind of being a bit of a dick at that moment, it really did not matter all that much. "Do you feel like there might be something that is going to happen soon?" After I had asked them this question, I took a couple of sips of my drink. I was seeing that neither Wyatt or Ken really seemed to understand how this was bothering me.

"I think that you are over thinking this." After Wyatt said that, he sat down on the counter. The three of us were all together in a conversation at the same time for the first time since we were all employed. "This whole situation feels a little bit surreal. I never really took the time to talk to you guys all at once." Eventually, Wyatt was starting to wonder if this was sort of a situation where fate was setting every single thing up for us at that moment.

"Well, there is one thing that I think we can all agree on. That it is nice to finally fucking kick back for once." I said, and I was thinking that it was kind of exhausting to imagine how many things that we have had to go through, and not even all of these things together. I was finishing up the cigarette that I had and despite the fact that I was starting to think there would be nothing to worry about and that my two co-workers were correct, there was something that something going on. That there was something I needed to be really careful over. I was tempted to take out another cigarette at that moment, but I told myself to give it at least another few minutes. "I am going to feel like the weight of the world is going to be lifted off my shoulders when I get all of this stuff taken off of me. In some cases literally." I said, thinking of the fact that I was having a bunch of shit all over my fucking arm.

When I was thinking about the stuff that I was wearing, there was another part of me that was wondering just what it would actually be like when you have had that on your chest and your leg for two fucking months. But despite the fact that I was telling myself that everything was fine, I was seeing that Ken looked at me and he was trying to figure out something that he was debating in his mind ever since he started to work here, over half a year ago. "Sheldon, do you think that you regret anything that you did back at Wayside?" After he had asked me this question, I was sighing and I had really hoped that he didn't ask me this fucking question, but I was thinking that he was just trying to get me to break down and apologize for everything that happened back in the day. I mean, I did feel sorry for him to some extent, but at the same time, I was tired of him getting all in my business over and over again.

The more that I drank the energy drink, I was keeping my eyes out on the doors. As I was thinking about the doors opening, I was starting to wonder who was going to come in, and who was going to ask us a bunch of questions relating to the gas station. But then I looked at Wyatt and said "There are a lot of things that I regret from Wayside. But I don't really think that there is anything that you think I might regret." I said, and then when I had said that to him, he looked down as if he was starting to accept the fact that maybe I had not changed all that much after all.

Wyatt was smiling and then he laughed as I had said that. "You guys need to relax a bit. You don't need to be taking things so seriously." Wyatt said and then he added in "This is just a fucing gas station. There is nothing about this gas station that you should be taking so seriously." After Wyatt had told us this, I was thinking that it was nice for at least one person to pretend like things were all fine and everything. I just then was starting to wonder how long it was going to take for Wyatt to start to realize the truth of all of the things going on.

"Yeah, I guess that you're right. This is just a job after all." After Ken had said that, I was able to tell the fact that he was just saying that more for himself. I had no idea why he was still so upset about this shit even though all of these things happened over two fucking years ago. Ken stood up and he was walking to the cooler room to get something, and I thought that I didn't need to question him too much about the subject.

But before I could try and challenge him a bit on this whole thing, I was just looking down and I was telling myself to be more respectful to him considering the situation. But before anything could even start to continue on this subject, there was a guy who had walked right in the gas station, just as I had been expecting. Brad was inside of the gas station and then when he saw me he said "I thought that you would have left by now. Or been trying to sleep." He had only shown up a couple of times since my injury, and only once during my actual shift. He said "I am not at all excited for eighth grade at all. That shit is going to start in just a couple of days. But that is not why I am here right now. The reason why I am here right now is that there is somebody that I need to help you find." Brad said, and then I placed the energy drink right on the counter top. I then took a long and deep breath. I was giving Wyatt a look on his face that said 'I fucking told you so' before I looked right back at Brad and was waiting for him to explain.

"Well, there were two people that went missing in the last few days. Some people that go to school with me. I was wondering if you would know where they were. I mean, I was never close with them, but I have some friends who really knew them, and they need to know the truth." After Brad said that, I could see that he was looking really scared. I could tell that he was just trying to be polite about the whole thing, but at the same time, he was just trying to tell himself to just take this easy.

"What are their names?" I asked, and then when I asked Brad that question, and he answered me the question before he even really let me finish the question.

"Their names are Andrew and Rose." Ken said, and then after he had said that, I thought about this. I thought about the fact that I was just about to recover tomorrow, and that this was going to ruin the chances that I had for recovery and everything, but at the same time, I was looking right at Brad and I was seeing that he was looking like he really wanted me to help him out. While I was looking at him, I was telling myself that I needed to finally give into what is going on.

"Fine. I guess I can help you out on this." I said, and then after I had said that, I smoked another cigarette, and Brad was looking like he was so happy to hear that answer. Wyatt looked like he was not really caring all that much on what was going on. Dare I say it, he sounded like he was not really caring at all.

"Well, I don't really know where they are. I think that in order to find where they are, you might have to go where they live." After he had said that, I was thinking that this went from being slightly annoying but not totally out there to just being totally fucking impossible. There was no way in hell that I was finally going to figure out where these people had lived, but then I was thinking that since this was the end of my shift, that maybe this would not be the worst thing in the world to be dealing with.

Right when I was standing up, I grabbed another three cans that I was given by Wyatt and then I took a pack of cigarettes, since I was still having a decent amount of supplies from the last couple of boxes. There was going to have to be a lot that I was going to have to smoke through soon since in all reality, I knew for a fucking fact that I was going to get more and more behind on these drugs due to the fact that I only had twelve hours to go through them all as opposed to the seventeen or eighteen hours.

I was about to leave the gas station and Brad was starting to follow me when there was a guy who had looked like he was about Brad's age, and he looked terrified when he saw Brad. As if he was thinking that he was starting to get exposed at that moment. "Nick, what are you doing here?" Brad asked, and after he had asked me this question, I was thinking that this entire situation was about to get a lot rougher in just the matter of a few minutes, despite the fact that both Brad and this guy were trying to pretend that they were being composed.

"I could ask you the same exact question right now." After he had said that, he was looking right at Brad, and then that was when Brad decided to bring Nick right into this case.

"Do you know what happened with Andrew and Rose? I know that you guys like to get along and everything." Brad said, but then after he had said that, Nick seemed like he was going to try to get away but then I was placing my crutch right on the ground and he tripped over it and then he flopped right down on the ground. Nick groaned in pain for a moment but then I grabbed Nick by the back of his shirt and then I placed him on the chair of the table.

"Nick, I won't judge you or anything, but just talk with me. I am going to have to try and find this person right now. Not that I give a damn about your friends or anything, but please just tell me so that way I can go to sleep and get one last good night of recovery before I have to get this shit removed." After I had said that, Nick was seeing from the look on my face that I was not in the mood to be played with, so he took a deep breath and he decided that he was just going to play along with these things.

"Trust me, there is no point in searching for them anymore. I don't think that you will find them in the way that you are wanting to see them like. I think that if you see them, you will be terribly disappointed." After he said that, he was looking like he was about to laugh. I then slammed my hands right on the table, and I was already tired of this shit, even though I didn't even know these people, I was tired of this shit.

"Where the fuck are they?" I asked, and then I was placing my body right in front of the guy, and the guy was gulping in fear. As if scared to see a fully grown man threatening him with any form of violence, but I was seeing him look right at Brad and then he was looking like he was about to laugh a little bit.

"It is really hard to take this whole thing seriously when you have that asshole at your side. I think that maybe you should be asking him some more questions. He knows more than you are willing to give him credit for." Nick said, and then he said "I guess that we can continue this game up for a bit. I think that you must know that there is nobody else in this town that even believes in these operations. I would never even have believed them if I didn't have my mother telling me about them. But I think that maybe Rose got what was coming to her because she tried to escape the system, and that Andrew was trying to help her escape the system. You can't escape the system, and this is what you get when you even try to do this." After Nick had said that, I was getting pissed right the hell off at that.

"Tell me the truth right now, and spare me the bullshit please." After I had said that, I was seeing that Nick was now finally starting to think that this was going to be a fun game he would be playing with me. As if he was finally glad that I had the balls to partake in the dance that he was setting up for me.

"I think that if you want to figure out what is going on, you need to figure out why they are scared to accept their destiny. I think you need to finally see their choices for what they are. I don't really think that you are smart enough to really get anything that is happening. Despite being somebody who is a so called great freedom fighter, you are pretty stupid." After Nick tried to get me to be more angry at him, he continued. "You know, I think you know where they are this entire time. I think you just need to look back behind the station for your first clue." After Nick said that he got up and he was running off before I could even get a chance to ask him why he was acting like this at all. I just wanted to know what was going on, but I felt like asking him was a totally lost cause.

I was getting up from the table and I was looking right at Brad. I could see from the look on Brad's face that he was starting to think more about what he had heard. As if he was regretting getting involved in this whole thing, and that he should have just kept his mouth shut this entire time. But I was thinking that he was more worried about me than him.

I started to walk out of the gas station, and I was ready to figure out what the hell this asshole was talking about. I was not going to even fucking bother tracking down Nick, as he was a miserable asshole. I was thinking that he didn't really matter all that much, and that he was just a big fucking asshole who needed to accept the fact that nobody fucking cared about him at all.

Brad was following me outside though, and I was thinking that he was just making sure that I didn't get injured anymore. I was kind of glad that he was at my side, but I was telling myself that I really wished that he didn't treat me like I was a broken tool or something like that. Eventually, due to what Nick was telling me to do, I was right at the back of the gas station and I was seeing that there was a car that looked like it hadn't been used in a really long time. I walked, or I guess I should say limped, on my way to the car. Brad was staying a couple of inches behind me, to make sure that he could go and report to Wyatt on the chance he needed to. I smoked as I was looking right inside the car. When I saw what was in the car, I was feeling like I was about to fucking throw up. I saw two heads right in the car. Two heads of people that looked like they might have been in the seventh or eighth grade. I had a feeling that the heads had been in there for about a day or so, as I could see that they were starting to break down a little bit more. I was looking right at Brad and then I shook my head, and I was hoping that he would just not come here, but I could tell that he was not going to give himself the innocence treatment.

Despite the fact that I didn't want Brad to see what was going on, he was walking right up to me. When he looked through, I could see from the look on his face that he was wanting to throw up. I didn't blame him at all for feeling this way, but at the same time, I was just continuing to look down and I was seeing that there was a note that was in the car. Despite the fact that I had no desire to break anything more of myself, I didn't really care. I grabbed a cloth that was in my pocket and then I punched the window open, which was shockingly not giving me much blood. I then had a small hole that I could go through. I narrowly got my arm through the hole, and then I pulled out the note right from the floor of the car. I pulled it out just preparing myself for what I was going to be seeing. I opened up the note and then I started to read the note for a bit.

The note said "This is what you get when you try to escape your job. There is more to this than you may think. You now are being watched." That was all that was on the front side of the paper. I turned it to the back side and then I saw the note was continuing up a bit longer. "You should have been smarter about what you were doing this whole time. You are going to have to suffer the effects of what you have chosen to do." After the note said that, I looked right at Brad.

"Get the hell out of here. I don't want you within a hundred feet of this place." I said, and then after I said, and then Brad nodded. This was the one time he could not get himself to play hero. This was the one time that he was seeing that he needed to finally respect the wishes that I had at that moment. So with that, Brad started to run off. I finished the next cigarette that I had, and then I started to limp across the way back to the station, taking a breath every few seconds to let the cigarette was starting to get further and further down to the bottom. Eventually, I was back in the gas station, and then I looked right at Wyatt.

"I now know what is happening with those kids. It is a fucking shame. But I think that I need to get this placed guarded up and safe right the fuck now." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing that Wyatt was starting to get a more serious look on his face. As if he was not wanting to try and challenge me on this anymore.

"Sheldon, I think that you need to just take it easy. This is your last day before you are supposed to get these things removed." After Wyatt said that to me, I put my hand up as if I was understanding this statement that he made of me, but that this time I was honestly not really wanting to hear it this time.

"I know that this is the end of my recovery process, but if you saw what I had seen, you would be feeling fucking awful for the people that know these people, who were close to them, who are now going to have to miss them. I know what it is like." I said, and then after I had said that, I placed my hand on my eyes, as if I was trying to hide the fact that I was starting to get some tears on my eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just think that you have already given people much more than you should have given them. You have done so much for these people now. I think that if anybody has earned the right to just relax for once, that this person is you." After Wyatt said that, I was trying to get myself to see things from his perspective, but I didn't really think that I could be able to get myself to think and feel it where he was coming from.

"Wyatt, I want to relax. I want these things in my life to be put aside. I am tired of everything that is going on, but oh my fucking god, if you are seeing what this world is like, you will see that I can't just stop. I don't think that you really understand what makes this world so fucking evil." I said, and then I was looking right at him, wondering if he was going to finally try and challenge me. But I was seeing that he was just sort of giving up on the whole ordeal, but at the same time, I was thinking that he was wanting to tell me some things to make me see that maybe he did have some problems as well.

"Sheldon, I know that you are scared right now. I think that you know that I have had some things happen to me as well. I think that you just need to listen to me, and give me a chance to explain myself. I have seen many things that you just don't really understand. Some things that make me question the truth of reality." After Wyatt said that, I placed all of my drinks on the table and then Ken was finally back and then he was carrying something that looked like a microwavable pizza, so he could just have something to nuke and eat.

"Challenge me." I said, and then I was finishing up my can, and drinking right into the next one. There were still two left for me, and then Ken grabbed his first one and since he was not really done with it yet, he was still working on it. Then Wyatt was already a decent portion into his second one, and then after I told him to challenge me, I saw him calm down and then he was looking right at me, and he was ready to tell me the truth.

"Well, I think that I have experienced the mandela effect." After Wyatt had said that, I was wondering what the hell he was talking about, but considering the situation, I was honestly pretty interested in what was going on, so I just let him continue to tell me the story, even if I didn't fully believe in him."

"What happened that makes you think you experienced the mandela effect?" I asked, and then after I asked him this question, I was starting to think that maybe there was a small chance that if I just listened to him, he could be telling the truth. Ken grabbed the microwaved pizza and then he sat down next to us.

"Well, there was this guy named William. Peters was his last name. I thought that I had known him for a very long time, and I was convinced that he was a terrible fucking classmate. He just always showed up and made fun of every single person that was in school, unless if they were in his loyal friend group. But I don't really think that he actually cares all that much. I think that the only thing he cares all that much about anything besides his fucking popularity. I first met him when I was just in fifth grade." After he had said that, I was thinking about the tone of his voice that maybe he was actually telling the truth. As crazy as it was for him to actually admit that I was considering the fact that he might have been telling the truth.

"What was Wiliam like to you?" I asked, more willing to listen to him, and I was thinking that he was the one thing that could make me suspend the disbelief on the idea of there being alternate realities. That not only were these possible, but the fact that I had actually fucking wanted to see if there was one out there where Riley was alive, and not only alive, but able to have her own life, and that I was the one who was dead.

"He was one of the biggest dicks in the world. I think that he actually hates me. He started to make rumors throughout the entire school that I was a fucking faggot, and somebody who was going around and blowing guys after school. He tried to ruin my reputation. I fucking hate them though, and I hate the fact that he was throwing me right in that group. I think that in all reality, he was just shooting for attention." After Wyatt said that, I was thinking that there was more reasons to hate somebody rather than just them making terrible rumors about them. Although I was telling myself to think of what it would be like to be having people spreading rumors that I was a faggot all over the place. Ken was just listening to this story, as if he was wanting to see where this was going to go. Eventually, Wyatt continued the story without thinking about how we had stopped his narrative a couple of times.

"Well, now that you know how he was as a guy, I am going to continue my story right now. So when I started to get to know him in later grades a little bit more, I could start to see that he was starting to actually warm up to me a little bit. Not in the way that he was thinking that I was actually his friend or anything like that. I think that he was at least able to see that the dialogue that the two of us were having was at least not terribly cruel or evil. I was thinking that he and I could have been friends if I started to earn his trust more. It was around the end of sixth grade when I think we had the first chance to really see if we were going to actually be friends or not in the long run.

"You know, I think that if you heard the story that I am going to tell you before tonight, you would be thinking that I was lying right through my fucking teeth." After he was continuing his story, he thought more on where to start the next part of the story. "I think that he was just scared and needed somebody that he sort of knew to be at his side at that moment. When he realized that he needed some help, he came to me because he was thinking that his friends were utterly not going to believe in him, and as a result, he was starting to think that maybe his friends really didn't actually trust him at all. Not that he was really sure how I would be much better, or hell even better at all. But he came to me, and he was telling me about the fact that he was certain he had found a gate into a different world. I thought that he was just high at that moment, but when I was hearing the clarity of how he was telling the story, and I was listening to the world that he was describing, the more I was starting to see that there was a small chance that he was actually right, and that I needed to see what he was talking about."

"What was this world like?" Ken asked, and then after he had asked Wyatt this question, I saw him finish up his first drink, and I was seeing that he was indeed starting to actually take the idea of what Wyatt was telling him much more seriously. When Wyatt was seeing that Ken was starting to take him seriously, he was smiling and then he was feeling like he was able to have a chance to tell the true story of the matter at hand. I was scared to see where this was going to go. But as I said earlier, I was telling myself that as long as Riley was alive in at least one world out there, that maybe I would be fine with the idea of there being alternate realities and everything.

As Wyatt was thinking about what he had said, and the question, Wyatt was just trying to figure out what exactly to say. "The world was stranger. There seemed to be something realistic in it. But it was also fake in a way. Like the politics there were not really making sense. It looked like the senate and the house of representatives were one big council, and it looked like the world was just a huge version of America. I don't really get it in all honesty. I think that maybe I had been dreaming." After I was starting to think about what he said, Wyatt continued.

"I think that William was wanting to see it more. I could tell that he was thinking that he was going to be able to see the truth of what this world was like or something strange like that." After he had said that, Wyatt just was seeing that I was not really all that interested in this story.

"But I think that maybe he was never even around. I think that maybe I dreamed him up this whole time. Because every single time that I was seeing him, or trying to talk about him, I think that nobody believed the idea that he even existed at all. I think that he managed to write himself out of history. I didn't see him in any year books, or any news articles, which was the one that really shocked me, considering the fact that he got arrested, and I never saw him again. But there should have been a news report on him eventually. Nothing at all, and when I tried to go to where he lived, which I only knew of since I went there once, I saw that his family wasn't there. I didn't even see that his family lived in that house, as if not only he never existed, but that nobody else in that family existed at all." After Wyatt said that, I now started to get more interested. This was something I could be able to believe, as crazy as it had sounded.

"I think that I am going crazy at all. I think that he might just never have been a person at all. I think that he just was something I dreamed up and now that I am starting to distance myself away from things, I am scared that he is gone, and that I never have any form of sanity." Eventually, Wyatt took a long and deep breath and then he finished up his second can and started his third one. I was pretty close to being done with my second can as well, same thing as Ken. I was taking out another cigarette, and then Wyatt looked at me more. "Do you think that there really was a Wyatt at all? I feel like there was a small chance that he was now there. But even I have to admit that it is slim."

"I mean, there is a chance that there may be a William. But this is hard to believe. No offense, but this entire thing is sort of hard to wrap my brain around. I mean, I am going to give you a chance to explain all of this stuff. And I even admit that there was a small chance that there is a small chance that is true, but I am just having a really having a hard time believing in this." I said, and then I was looking up, at the door. I was seeing that there were a couple of people around the area.

Not even just around the area, but the fact that they were starting to get closer to to the gas station, and it looked like there were about three people all around. Eventually, I looked right at Wyatt. "I don't really think that we are going to have much longer of a chance to really debate this shit right now. I think that we have bigger problems to be dealing with right now." I tried to get myself up but when Ken was seeing what was happening, I could tell that he was scared out of his mind, as if he was starting to remember what he was dealing with when he was younger, and it was hurting him to be seeing these things now.

"What is going on? You guys really seem to know something that you are refusing to fucking tell me?" After Wyatt asked me this question, I was seeing that he was not really messing around anymore. "I need to know what is going on with you guys right now, if I actually want to have a chance of being able to fucking help you out." I could tell that he was getting annoyed at the this fact, and I was even feeling bad for this, but I needed to tell him the truth.

"Well, there were some things that Ken and I dealt with when we were at Wayside. Some things that I sort of regret, due to my lack of inititive until it really was much too late to be changing anything. And I ended up getting some people hurt, really fucking hurt right now. And I regret this." I said, and then after I had started to talk, I was feeling like I might as well give both Ken and Wyatt the short version of the story.

"There was this place in Wayside called the labyrinth. When I went down to the labyrinth, I was convinced of what I was going to be seeing down there was not going to be something pleasant at all. But even I was not ready to see the horror of what was down there. I saw a bunch of women down there, and I saw how desperate they were all at what was going on at that moment." I said, and then I was trying to keep away my tears. Not in the fact that I was a weakling, but from what I saw, the ptsd I gathered, the fact that Riley was gone, the fact so many people I knew were affected, the fact I killed the sheriff, and the fact that Ken was so damaged and that I didn't do anything to actually stop these things from happening.

Despite the thoughts that I was having, I continued the story. "I saw that there were some women who I knew personally, and that needed my help. They needed me to be a fucking hero. I knew that this was going to be a fucking impossible task for me to do. For me to be their hero. My parents tried to get me to work down there, but I refused. I was forced to kill the sheriff in self defense and to save the deputy. But for fucks sake, I was not really ready for what was going on. I got a letter from a girl named Jenny when I first moved to this town, and I was scared of what I was seeing in that letter." I said, and I was seeing that Ken was trying to speak about Jenny, and trying to add to the conversation, but I was seeing that he was scared to get himself back in those memories once again. "The letter explained the fact that women were constantly kidnapped and they were forced to have sex down there, and this was to have children and sell these children to people all around the world for tons of money. The fact that they were forced into having no life at all because of this business that the town was trying to run, it honestly really just pisses me throughout this whole thing. Then there was something that I would never forgive my father on. The fact that he was involved with the business, and had been impregnanting a bunch of women down there, and I was seeing that he didn't really give a fuck at all. I could tell that he was proud of what he was doing. And that was why he was trying to get me to join the tradition of what he was doing. I can't handle the fact that I have a bunch of half siblings." I decided not to mention Riley, since bringing her up was going to kill me.

I was never thinking about Riley being somebody my friends could understand. They can never understand what it was like to have somebody like their sister coming along and ruining my entire life. I think that they just don't really care. Well, that is not true, I was thinking they would care, but the lack of being able to find a way to gather some good emotions about this whole thing, I just think that they would just say empty condolences and that was all they were going to be able to say to this whole thing.

"You know, I heard from Ken and one of his friends that there was a bunch of monsters around, and at that moment I was totally convinced this was a load of bullshit. Now that I look at it, and I see the evidence that is happening, the more that I am starting to see that perhaps I was wrong to just brush these people off. Maybe there are different monsters than I was expecting down there. Not even just the human monsters, which I now know are very real, no matter how much I wished that they were not. Despite this, I don't really think I am going to bother trying to let them see the things going on in my life, and I think that they don't want me to help with the monsters, since in all reality, I don't really think I can help them out." I said, and I looked right at Ken, as if I was slowly apologizing for this.

"I never really thought that you were seeing things as bad as what I have had to be dealing with. I thought that everything I went through was all to myself. I thought that I was just having to carry all of these things on my back. But now when I look at you, and I think about the chance of these monsters being true, I have to realize that maybe I was wrong about you." I said, and then after I had started to open up to Ken, and tried to apologize for the mistakes that I had made with him, and then after I had tried to open up about that to Ken, I was seeing that Wyatt was standing up and then he was finishing the can that he had as if he was getting himself one last surge of energy at that moment.

"Guys, I think that we need to wait for this whole thing until later." After Wyatt had said that, I was seeing that there was a bunch of knocks on the door. I was scared of what we were going to be dealing with at that moment. I was taking in another cigarette in my mind, thinking that I was going to finally lose my mind on what was going to happen.

"Oh my god, I think that this might be what I was talking about earlier." After Wyatt said that, I was confused for a moment, I needed to think about what they were saying for a moment, but then when I had thought about it more, I was thinking that they were talking about William Peters. Despite the confusion going on at that moment, I was thinking that with all of the things going on, that there was a small chance that maybe he was actually telling the truth on William Peters, as much as I was starting to hate to admit to admit this. But then when I thought about that, I knew I needed to get much more serious about this now.

"I doubt that this William Peters guy is actually real. But on the chance that he is, and that this is actually the situation that we are in right now, then holy shit we need to figure out what he actually wants with us. Because I am sure that it is much more than a simple little meeting for friendship." I said, and I was thinking that even the mere idea of this just being for friendship was something that was utterly stupid.

The knocking grew louder the more and more that we were listening to it. "I don't want to get in trouble with our boss for this door being broken or something. So I have to open this shit up. I just hope that this isn't the wrong choice." I said, and then after I had said that, I walked to the door and then I slowly opened it. When I had opened the door, I was seeing from the look on that persons face that I had done the one thing that they had really wanted me to do. The more that I was looking at them, the more and more that I was utterly convinced that I really had made the wrong choice.

"You should have listened to your friends more before you opened up the door. I guess that maybe you are not as smart as I thought that you actually were." After they had said that, I was looking down, really letting the weight of my choice sink in. Afterwards he pushed me down to the ground, and then right when I was about to land and break everything in my body once again, Ken grabbed me, and I was feeling more grateful for the fact that he was there to help me out at that moment than I ever had at that moment. Once he had fully brought me up, I started to smoke my next cigarette, as if not really able to even fathom the fact that this was what was going on.

"Wyatt, I was looking forward to seeing you again. I thought that you were wanting to see your best buddy again." After they had said that, he turned right towards me and Ken, and the two of us were starting to get scared, and I was thinking that maybe Ken didn't even care about the fact that I brought this guy in, considering the fact that this was now the bigger worry out of the things going on. "Might as well make myself known to your friends, since you clearly respect them must more than you respect me, depsite the adventures that we have had together."

The guy was walking towards Ken and I, and with each progressing step, I was getting more and more scared on what he was going to do. But he just ended up showing his hand out and then he said "My name is William Peters. I hope that Wyatt at least mentioned me a couple of times by this point. If he hasn't even mentioned me yet, then that truly is a fucking shame." After he had said that, he was looking right at Wyatt, as if telling him without saying so out loud that he better have mentioned by this point in time.

"Oh trust me, he has talked about you. In fact, we were actually just talking about you right now." I said, and I was indeed telling the truth. But I was just hoping that he would actually believe in what I was saying, so that way he would just leave the three of us alone. I felt that all three of us were old enough to fight if we needed to, but that didn't mean that any of the three of us, especially me in my condition, could actually put up any form of a good fight.

"I guess that maybe Wyatt does have a sense of honor to a friendship after all. I just hope that when you guys stop seeing him, and when he feels like you guys are the expired toys, that you would hope he would talk about you guys a few times. You have no idea what it is like for somebody to stop talking about you, and truly throw you away like you guys never even mattered." Wyatt said, and there was the smallest hint of a person who is in deep mourning over the whole issue. Eventually, the guy was pulling a large knife out of his pocket and then I was tempted to laugh at this point in time. I knew that it was not the best timing to do this, but at that moment, I could not hide how silly I thought that this whole thing was.

"You know, I really don't understand you. You try and come in and act like you want to be friends with us, and then you talk shit about me, and here you are, pulling a knife out to threaten us. I don't really think that you really understand what it is like to actually be a real friend." Wyatt said, and then the guy shrugged, as if he was not really caring all that much what Wyatt was saying. As if the stuff Wyatt was saying was in fact totally just making him lose interest in the entire situation at hand.

"I thought that maybe you would have actually wanted to have a friendship with me, but seeing as you would rather hang out with a high school student who smells like he hasn't showered in a month, and the guy who looks like he has broken every single bone in his entire body, I guess that you don't really want to join our great group. A group that really changes the entire world. At least we are trying to achieve our vision, but without more people here, I guess that this is not going to go the way that we want. I guess that you don't really care about the offers that I was about to make you, so why would I really care what you actually think?" After he had asked Wyatt that question, he was looking right at Wyatt, as if seeing how he was going to react to the dialogue that William was having by this point in time.

"Hey, do you know what happened to a couple of young teenagers? Their named were Andrew and Rose?" I asked him, and then I asked him this question, I was seeing the guy look right at me, as if thinking that this didn't even really matter, and that he might as well just tell me the truth.

"Yeah, I know about those assholes. They tried to escape the job that they were given. A bunch of dicks. I mean, they realize that it is vitally important to this town that we do this job perfectly, and they were not even trying to do this. I think that if anything, they actually deserved to die, and have everything thrown away, because they don't actually see what is important to this world." After they had said that, the guy was walking right towards Wyatt with the knife pointed right up.

After William was walking right towards Wyatt with the knife, I was looking right for something that I could use in order to help Wyatt out. Something that could buy us a seconds or two of him being able to get away. I grabbed a fucking napkin holder and then I rolled my eyes as I threw it right at William. When it hit William, he was just looking right at us and then he was looking like he was seriously wondering if this was the best that we could have done. I shrugged and as this was happening, and Wyatt was seeing his chance, he was running off from behind the counter, not even caring that this was going against his job at that moment, as he was far more caring about his own fucking safety than this one random guy. I didn't really blame him. This William Peters guy was fucking insane, even if he was trying to act like he was trying to mend a broken friendship, what this guy was doing was much more insane than this, and should be considered fucking wrong. I was wishing that I would never have to have a friendship with somebody who was like this. This was something that was just beyond any form of fucking reason.

Eventually, Wyatt was pushing William down and then his head hit the ground and gave a loud thud. I was thinking that this was what I needed. I needed to get this guy to be weaker. Then when the knife was on the ground, Wyatt grabbed it and then he was taking a long and deep breath, as if he was able to not believe that he was holding this fucking knife like this.

Once he was taking in the moment that this was going on, he was looking around as if trying to find a spot he could fucking hide this shit. I was throwing my cigarette down to the ground, and then Ken was roaming around the store, as if trying to find something that he could use to fight. He was seriously not even sure why he was trying to find some random store merchandise that he would use for fighting, but he was just trying his best to be able to help out, no matter how silly the whole thing really was, even in his mind.

As he was looking right around, he was seeing that he couldn't really find anything like actual weapons, but he was just seeing something that looked like a fucking fake children's sword. He took a long and deep breath as he was looking at this thing thinking it was fucking stupid that this guy was actually going to use a fucking sword that wasn't even actually a fucking weapon. I was looking at him, as if wondering what the hell he was thinking, and I was telling myself that I might as well just give up on this fucking fight.

William then grabbed Ken and then he slammed the guys head right on the table top counter, and then I was taking in a sigh of pain. But I felt like then it was time for me to actually try and help out. I was limping right to him on the crutches and then I slammed one right onto his fucking leg, and then with the hardness of the slam, he was actually taken back for a moment. He actually ended up leaving Ken alone due to the fact that he was walking back, and then I used my second one on his face, and I heard from how hard I slammed the thing to his fucking face, I was thinking that he might have actually gotten his nose broken just from the slam that I had created. In all reality, I was honestly impressed that I had done something like that. But then the guy pulled something else out of his pocket. It was another gun but before he could find it, I slammed the bud of it right down into his chest, which actually made him fall on his ass, and drop the gun and then there was a loud firing noise, and I was looking around and I saw that the bullet did not hit anybody, but it did get right into the ceiling which created a small hole. Then with that, Ken grabbed the gun and then he was holding it right down on William. Before I could even try and tell him not to do this, he fired the gun, and that was ending the whole thing. After I saw that the whole thing was over, I stood there for a couple of seconds. Wyatt was just watching, as if he was trying to take in the fact that this had happened. Even though he thought that William was way off the rail, he didn't really think that this was what the guy had deserved. "This guy was scaring the shit out of me. I wasn't going to let this guy run his fucking mouth. Sorry if that actually really bothers you. Although I don't really get why this would bother you so much." After he had said that, it seemed like any form of lecturing that we were about to give him was over, considering what had happened next.

The guy was starting to stand up again, and he was coughing up a bunch of stuff that looked like blood, but he looked like the worst that we had done was just simply hurt him a little bit. "Now you don't do that to any people that are trying to be your friend. That is taking this way too far." After William Peters had said that, he was grabbing Ken and then he threw him as hard as he could, and he flew right to the wall, where there was a loud thud and even a small cracking noise. I thought that maybe Ken broke a part of his body, but I saw that there was actually a small part of the wall that was actually broken by this point in time. Then Ken was getting up, and he was just trying to hide the pain that he was feeling at that moment. Then as he was taking a bunch of long and deep breaths, he was looking right at Wyatt. "Why the fuck are you not doing something right now. This guy is here because of you. So do something right now." After Ken had said that, I was seeing that Wyatt was not at all thrilled over this idea, but I was seeing that he was starting to accept what he had needed to do.

Eventually, despite how much he had not wanted to do anything like this, Wyatt was still holding onto the knife. I jumped to the side and barely missed the mark when he threw the knife right at this guy. When the knife was done being thrown, he saw that William had now been hit right on the knee with the knife. As I was seeing that the hit actually made William feel some pain for a short moment. But then he was looking up, as if he was liking the challenge that he had been given by this point in time. He was seeing that we were not really wanting to be messed around with, and seeing this was actually exciting him a little bit more than in all reality, it should have been exciting him. "I never thought that you guys would actually have the courage to try and fight me. I guess that maybe I didn't give you guys the credit that you guys actually deserve." As he had said that, I was wondering why all of these things had to happen right when I was actually trying to fucking recover from the pain that I was in. I had pretty much all of my body parts broken at that point in time, and that this was just not really helping me right now at that moment.

Eventually, I just punched him right in the face as he was coming right towards Ken and Wyatt. The shock of the punch didn't really change anything, but it did stop him for a second, as if he was wondering how I was suddenly able to put up such a great fight now, when before hand, I was barely able to do a damn thing. He was seeing that he was not really giving me enough credit and then the guy pulled out the knife again and then he was running right towards Wyatt, where he was grabbing his hands a bit and then Wyatt and him were actually getting iside some form of a physical encounter. William was holding the knife down as tightly as possible and eventually stabbed Wyatt right on the right shoulder of his body. I was seeing Wyatt trying to hold the pain inside as he was feeling the stab hitting him. I was tempted to smoke when I was seeing this, as if smoking was the only thing that was keeping me sort of sane at all. Eventually, despite the pain that Wyatt was in, he grabbed the guy in his face and then he hit the guys face right to the side of the counter, which was creating a small scar on his face. Not just a scar, but one that was actually creating blood right where it was supposed to be. "You know, if you had wanted to reconnect with me, you should have just seen me. Not that I liked you anyways, but if that was all that you really cared about, I would have at least given you some light of day." After Wyatt had said that, he was actually meaning what he had said, and then Wyatt shook his head, as if he could not believe that Wyatt actually thought that this was the true story, and then he was thinking that this guy was truly pathetic.

"You know, I wasn't actually wanting to reconnect with you for that. I was wanting to see if you would join our business. A great and big business that goes acorss the entire town. Something that gives this town a bit of purpose. Something that actually makes us a viable competition against other people in different sections of the nation. I think you now finally know what I am talking about. I was offered to join this career when I was a young man, and I saw the greatness of these offers, so I accepted it without any fucking hesitation." William said, and then he said "Besides, all of the sex and all of the women make this really worth it. Seeing how many people I can fuck really makes this worth it." After he said that, he was laughing a bit and then I was now really getting mad at this guy. I was seeing that Wyatt was actually looking fucking disgusted, as if he was not able to believe that he was hearing this.

"I think that you are fucked up beyond redemption if you actually believe that you are doing the right thing to these innocent women. They do not deserve what you are giving them. They do not deserve to have their entire lives ruined just because you are desperate for power and you are desperate for sex." I said, and then I was feeling like David at that moment. Having Garrett's gun right yo my chest, and I was talking shit to the one person in town who would have been able to kill me, and get away with it, and as you know, that was the fucking sheriff. I was just thinking that I needed to voice what I felt about what William was saying though, not caring about the fact that I was placing my life at risk by doin this.

"You do not seem to understand the values of what it is like to make these women weak and weap for innocence. It is so fun watching them realize that you are the one who is in charge. When they see that you are the one who is going to be in charge, they realize that it is not worth fighting it anymore, and then you can fuck them and abuse them even further. And watching and hearing their agony is enough to make me ejaculate right on the spot. They are weak, and they are finally realizing how worthless they actually are." After William had been telling me this, I was fucking disgusted at the way he was treating me, and I wanted to kill him for the fact that he was speaking like this to a bunch of young ladies. "Besides, I think that there is one single thing that we can agree on."

"Oh yeah, and what the fuck is that?" I asked, really not in the mood to be hearing him talk like he was actually right in what he was doing. After I said that, William was looking right at me, as if trying to pay attention to me while also making these people suffer.

"That the younger they are, and the more that they suffer, the more fucking sexy that they are. When they are just barely hitting that age when they can reproduce, and you are the one who is raping them the first time, and you are the one who is showing your love for the first, with their gorgeous young bodies first, then you are truly at that point in exctasy. Surely you must know that feeling that I am talking about." After William had said that, I was seeing that he was meaning every single word that he had said.

But despite this, I knew that he was right. He was hitting my exact turn ons. The young women, the ones who have never had it and you are with them first. But he was wrong about one thing. The fact that I liked to see them be raped. That was one thing that I was nowhere close to being that fucked up. Even at my worst, I was nowhere near that level of fucked up.

I was just trying to hide my boner over the fact that I had been thinking about fifteen and sixteen year old girls. I was just so in love with their beautiful bodies that I never really cared all that much about at all. I just liked to feel them, and I loved feeling them, and making them feel like they are valuable.

"You should not even be given the to be considered any form of a normal fucking human being. You are the one person that nobody should ever be talking with. You are the one person who should never be given another chance with." After I had said that, I was seeing Wyatt kicking him right in the nuts. After he was hit right in the nuts, William was looking right up at us, as if he was liking the way that we had treated him.

"You know, I think that you don't understand the fact that nobody really cares about the fact that they are kicked right in the fucking nuts. I have had to deal with much worse with the women who tried to get away from me, and tried to make me weaker. They must surely know that I am not going to have any of this." After they had said that, William got himself right up and then he was seeing the gun was still on the ground. When I saw that the gun was still right on the ground, and that he was seeing this as well, I knew for a fact that this was going to be the one chance that I would have to end this once and for all, and make this guy shut right the fuck up. I then went down and despite the fact that I was not supposed to exert myself too much, I grabbed that gun and then I was holding one of my crutches to keep me from totally hitting the ground, and I was seeing the guy was looking right at me.

"You don't know how to fire a fucking gun. I doubt that you have ever fired a gun once in your entire fucking life." After William had said that, I laughed really long and loud at that. As if I could not believe how fucking false this statement was, and that I was totally ready to just make this guy feel a bunch of pain.

"I have killed more people than you have probably had sex with. All for self defense of course, since I am not a sick fuck like you and I only do something when I feel like I absolutely have to do this." I said and then after I had said that, I fired the gun three times right in the chest. After I had fired the gun three times in the chest, with each one, he was placing his hand on the chest as if to wrap his mind around what was going on. He was looking right at me, and then I was seeing that he was smiling at the look on his face.

"When are you going to fucking realize that shooting me is not going to fucking do the fucking trick?" After the guy had asked that, I was so fucking sick and tired of fucking hearing this fucking asshole. I was just wanting this fucking asshole dead, no matter how much I was going to get in trouble with the law, and no matter how much I was going to break more of my body doing this.

"I was totally proud to kill those fucking children. If there was anybody that fucking deserves it, it was them. They have no fucking clue what this business is actually like. You have no idea how much they deserved to die. I will fucking kill them again if I had been given another chance to do this." After William was saying this, he was laughing really loudly, and then he was clearly thinking that this was one of the best comedies that he had ever heard in his entire life.

"God, you should have seen his fucking face as I was killing that lady. Of course I went for her first. She had purposely gone out of her way to run off from her job. I stabbed her right in the chest when I saw her since I was told to be tracking her by the head of the business. When I stabbed her, Andrew, that stupid fucker who could have had a chance of getting away if he just left decided to be self righteous and then tried to save her. I killed him next, not needing any of these supporters around, trying to act like they are on top of the world for helping this person out. Then after I killed them, I ended up cutting their heads off and placing them in that car, to make them a public display for anybody that tries to fight the fucking system, that I am going to kill them too. That they deserve to die. Nothing else can remotely change that fact at all." After William was saying this, I was fucking disgusted at this man but then I was hearing him cough a couple of times after he had been stabbed over and over again.

He was looking up, as if he was shocked that he had been stabbed like this so many times. But I could see that if anything, he was finding this to be pretty funny. "You know, I thought that you were going to at least respect my vision, even if we were not really friends still." After he had said that, for a short moment, it had looked like he was actually feeling bad for this moment. I was disgusted over what was going on. "I thought that we were allies." After he had said that, Wyatt started to pick up a much more serious look on his face, as if he had aged ten years in just a couple of minutes.

"You do not seem to understand the fact that you have no honor. If you had honor, I might have been more tempted to keep you alive." After he had said that, he pulled the knife away from William's body, and then he fell right down on the ground. He stabbed him once more. Then he asked for the gun and I gave it to him. He then fired the gun and their final bullet right at that guy, trying to make sure that they were dead, thinking that with the firing of the gun since he was mostly dead, that doing this was pretty much just sort of making it extra firm that they were gone.

"Damn, I was not really expecting you to fucking go all out on this guy." After I had said that, Wyatt looked right at me and then I was seeing that there was much more to what he had been doing than besides just the fact that this guy was a total fucking rapist and killer and was actually fucking proud of it.

"I did what needed to be done. This guy was a menace to society, and the faster he died, the better that the world was going to be. He deserved every second of his death." After Wyatt told me this, I was seeing that he was looking right at William, and I was seeing that he was genuinely proud of what he had done. I started to smoke some cigarettes right then and there when I brought my crutches right up to my normal body, and I was starting to feel like I was now starting to be safe.

Eventually, Wyatt was grabbing the dead body and then he was shaking his head. He could not believe for a second that these things actually had fucking happened in general. As this was the reality that he was dealing with, he was starting to drag the body right at the gas station. Ken shook his head as if that was the only way he could shoe the fact that this was totally fucking crazy for him to handle. Eventually, I felt like despite how awful of a human being William was, I would still be there for the funeral, if there was any form of a funeral that he was going to be given. Despite how awful he was, he was still a human being, and that was one thing that I was always going to fucking respect. Eventually, while I was limping across the station, and seeing the fact that this floor would have to be cleaned up when this was over with for good, I was seeing that Ken was looking right at me, as if just trying to make sure that I was fine. Eventually, we were out of the gas station with him keeping the door open. Then I was limping my way over to where Wyatt was. I was looking right at Ken for a moment.

Despite how much I was hating the fact that this guy was getting some honor even though he himself had none, I was just telling myself to just pretend that this was fine for the time being. Eventually, I got right there and I was seeing that Wyatt was trying to make himself look calm and composed. "I don't even get it. I never really even liked the guy, and in all honesty, I thought he was a bit of a dick, but it is always hard to see somebody that you went to school with dying. It seems like their death always hurts me. I just wanted him to be a good guy. If he was a normal fucking person, and wasn't the type of person that he was making himself out to be during that conversation, I would be thinking I would at least be able to actually be friends with him. But he ruined everything. He fucking ruined the entire chance that I was giving him just because he decided that he needed to be a fucking power hungry alpha male." After he had said that, I was seeing that Wyatt was not able to believe for a second that at the end of the road, he was going to be the one who would be looked at as the superior human being as compared to William fucking Peters. The one person was supposed to be a celebrity at our school, and now he was gone, just because he got way too fucking power hungry. I was almost feeling bad in a way. Not for William at all, there will be no way that I will ever feel bad for him. I was feeling bad for fucking Wyatt at that moment. I was seeing that Wyatt was looking like he was literally about to break down at the conversation going on at that moment.

Ken had saw that Wyatt was just wrapping him up in a tarp and was just throwing him down a small hill that was near the gas station and near a forest. Once the body was thrown down, Wyatt was looking right at us. "Do you think that he is actually going to be found down there?" After Ken asked Wyatt that question, I was seeing that if anything, Wyatt just didn't really care anymore.

"Not that it really matters anymore. He is gone now. And there is nothing that I can do about the fact that the person I thought that I was actually missing one day was the one who would end up making me look like a decent guy by comparison at the end of the day." After Wyatt said that, I saw Wyatt looking over the hill for a moment, as if thinking for one small thing for a moment longer and then he took a deep breath as if he was just sort of saying good bye in a way. I was seeing that this was bothering him much more than he had been trying to let on, and I was wondering if I was going to be able to help him out. Eventually, Wyatt started to walk right back to the gas station and then after that was over with, I took out another cigarette and started to smoke it up for a bit, thinking about the moment that we had just dealt with. Despite how much at that moment I found myself hating William, there was that part of me that was thinking that maybe he was needing to be avenged.

As I was limping my way back to the gas station, I was telling myself that maybe he was forced into these things. That the entire situation was placed upon him, because he was just a guy who was wanting to mean something else, but now when he was here, that chance was taken away, and now he was starting to go down a path that he had never thought he would have gone down in his entire life. I was thinking that perhaps he just didn't really know what he had been doing, but he slowly started to think this was worth it. I didn't really care though. He was gone, and I was telling myself that I needed to relax a little bit more.

I just had wished that this fucking down wasn't as messed up as it was. This was the most fucked up place in the entire world, and it wasn't just this city, it was the entire county of Elmore, Wayside and Tremorton. I was at the gas station entrance when the cigarette was over, and then I threw it right at the ground and then I coughed for several seconds over the fact that was just fucking up my lungs even further with all of the smoking that I was doing, and that I had been slowly killing myself with each cigarette. But given how fucked up this place was, I was telling myself that maybe the smoking was actually the best thing that could happen to me, and the idea of just dying before I would really be able to have a chance to live more of a fucked up life. I eventually was in the gas station, and then once inside, I was feeling very tired at that point, as if the entire world was starting to fall right down upon me.

"You know, I just wished that I never really had to deal with this anymore. I just thought that when I moved to Tremorton that things would have been better for me." I said, and then I was looking right at Ken and Wyatt. I was seeing that both of them were actually feeling bad for me at that moment. As if they had been starting to see more and more the way that I was looking at life, and why I had felt so defeated this whole time.

"You know, I never really thought that you were telling the truth. But when I heard William bragging about that, I now realize that this world that you were talking about is true, and I guess that maybe I should have been more open to the things that you were telling me. I am starting to feel sort of sorry for basically telling you off in my mind. I still don't really understand it at all, and I don't really think I will ever be able to understand it, but it is the truth, no matter how much it is disgusting for me to admit it." After Wyatt was starting to be more open he said "Maybe in a way William got out this best. He never has to deal with what is going on anymore. He is able to move onto the better life, where everybody gets what they deserve, and what they really need."

Despite how much he was interested in the conversation, Ken was realizing that his shift was over, and that he couldn't stay there for much longer. He grabbed his two fully remaining cans, placed one in each pocket, and then he was holding the current can and finished it up. "Yeah, I think I need to get out of here. Thanks for hanging out with us right now and everything. Sheldon, I hope that you recover fine enough. I guess that maybe it is time for me to move on from the things that happened all those years ago. I guess that maybe I need to let it go once and for all, and see what you are like now that it has been a long time." After Ken said that, he walked out of the station and then I was feeling glad that Ken was finally going to give that subject a rest. As I thought about that, I was not really aware of the fact that he was saying that, and that soon enough, he was not really even going to be thinking about me at all anymore. Almost as if he was going to start pretending as if I had not even existed. I didn't know that latter part until much later, and when I did, it was kind of hurting me to know that he was thinking that I didn't even need to be considered a natural person anymore.

"Well, I think that this is going to bring us a lot closer together than I ever thought that we would be. Maybe I should have given you more chances back in the day. Not that it really matters anymore. I think that you should be getting a lot of sleep right now. You need to be ready for when you go to the hospital again tomorrow.'" After Wyatt said that, I was thinking that I still had a chance of getting about eight or nine hours, seven at worst, of sleep, which can be considered enough for the situation that I was in. I then limped on my way to the bedroom after I grabbed the last two cans that I had, mostly going to be using those on later days.

As I was in that bedroom, I was laying myself down on the bed and then I was placing my left hand on the bed, even though it was really hurting when I did that, but considering everything else, the hurt up until that point in time was not really all that big of a deal. I was just asleep at that point, thinking that I needed to rest up for a while, and just pretend that I was not really caring anymore. I was just pretending that none of these things really happened at all.

Eventually, I was waking right up and I was seeing that I had slept through the first hour or so of my shift, and I was feeling so bad as I limped myself away and then I was seeing that Wyatt was still there. "Sorry for sleeping in. I totally did not mean to do it right now." After I had said that, Wyatt was looking right at me, and he was looking like he was not really caring all that much at that moment.

"I was aware of the fact that you were going to the doctor soon, and considering the fact that you need some rest before the visit, I had decided that this time, I was going to let you sleep in and just gather up any possible energy that you needed." After he had said that, I was smiling, and I was feeling that Wyatt was starting to feel more open to actually help me out. I took out another cigarette, and I was seeing that Wyatt was wondering how much I was still going to be doing stuff like this before I quit in general.

"To be totally real with you, I don't think that I am ever going to quit. I just simply like this too much. I can't really get myself to stop as doing so would be lying to myself. I think that maybe you should get into it a little bit more. I think that you would actually enjoy it quite a bit." After I had said that, I was then placing my elbows right on the counter, and then Wyatt nodded, as if thinking that it really was none of his business, which to be fair, it really wasn't.

"You know, I think that I should be heading out. See you later today. You know, when you start to head out for the hospital. When you come back tomorrow morning, you should tell me how it went. After he said that, he walked right out of the gas station. I let the ashes of the cigarette fall down to the counter top, and then I was feeling my body getting closer to shutting down by that point in time.

After I let the smoking continue, I was getting ready for what was going to be coming later that night. I did not want to see these people at the hospital telling me that I did not take care of myself enough. I known that I had not taken care of myself enough, and I didn't need to be told this. But at the same time, I was thinking that since it was just their job, I should shallow up my pride a bit, and then I should just let them lecture me, and pretend like I was stupid for not doing these things that were so elementary that everybody should be doing this.

The next few hours were nothing really more than just a bunch of people coming by, buying stuff, and then telling me that they were wishing that I would get well, and then me smoking another cigarette once every ninety minutes or so, just when I felt like I was giving myself enough time to calm down. Eventually, it was getting to the point where I was not really paying all that much attention anymore. I had just been thinking that nobody would really care if I was smoking or not anymore. I was thinking that the only people who judged me at all over it seemed to be giving up on the fight, and they decided that they were no longer going to nag at me on this whole thing anymore, which I was glad that they were going to start doing that for me now.

Eventually, the shift was over and I was supposed to go to the hospital, which I was not at all ready for. But I was telling myself that I needed to just get it right the fuck over with. I went to the car, and then I took a deep breath as I was starting up the car. I was driving right to the hospital, and the entire time that the drive was happening, I was telling myself that this was nothing I needed to calm down and just relax and not take it so damn seriously anymore, and that I just needed to accept the fact that I was probably too broken of a man to actually get anything really done anymore.


	81. Protecting Somebody

Part 11: Protecting Someone

It was later October of 1965 when the next bit happened, and I was thinking that I was now finally back into yeh fully normal swing of life, and one that didn't require me to be caring for my body every single millisecond of the day. I was indeed actually thinking that I could go out there and actually have a fun social life with people now. I couldn't believe that this was the same case that I was actually placing myself inside of by this point in time. I was getting out of work that night and once I was out of the gas station, right before I went in my car to start driving home, I took out my pack and saw that there was only one cigarette left in that pack. I sighed and started it up since this was my after shift cigarette that I had always been smoking at the end of my job every single day. When I was smoking the cigarette, I was actually feeling better, and I had actually felt like the world was going to be a nice place to be living at when I really grew up eventually.

The entire cigarette that I had smoked, I was getting more and more convinced that there was nothing that was really as bad as I had making it out to be. I was indeed thinking that maybe the entire landscape of this city was better than fucking Wayside. I started to think that just the very fact that I was not having to deal with my father was already making this a better place to live at than Wayside, and then after I thought about this, I was telling myself not to really be thinking about this all that much.

Eventually, when I was done with my cigarette, I got right to my car and then I started it right up. I was going to go right home, and I was just going to relax there and go to sleep like a normal guy. I had actually told myself that I was going to have a good night for once in my entire life, thinking that I could just go right to sleep and then that would be the entire debate to the matter. I was actually believing for once that nothing could happen. I was a fucking stupid for even considering that for a single moment, but how was I supposed to know if something was going to be coming up to change all of this stuff?

The longer that I was sitting down in the car, and the warmer that the car had gotten, the more that I was able to actually convince myself that there was nothing going on. Eventually, I was at my house, and then when I left the car, I walked right inside and then upon walking inside, I was scared out of my mind at what I was seeing in there. I had no idea why I was so scared to see who was in there, considering the fact that this was a mostly innocent situation. Or at least that was how it had looked like at that moment.

I saw that Brad was in my house and then was a part of me that just rose my fist in a sort of way to protect myself, and then after I had done that, Brad was just holding his hands up and he was just waving around for me to relax. "Seriously, don't worry all that much about it. I was just wanting to see you. I was wondering if you would actually be able to help me out again." After Brad said that, under his breath he was continuing the situation. "You know, you should lock your doors before you leave. The fact that I came in here is nobodys fault besides your own. But I know that you don't want to constantly do all of my stuff for me, and I feel bad for asking you for your help again, but there is nobody else that I feel like can really help me out right now. I feel like you are the only one who can help me out right now."

After Brad had said that, he was right about the fact that it was getting tiring to be dealing with this guy, but I was telling myself that he indeed probably need me more than I would ever want to actually admit to him needing it. "Fine, what is going on?" After I asked him that question, I was seeing that Brad was looking like he was actually ashamed of the fact that he was doing this at the moment, and then after he was feeling the shame coming to his mind, I was holding my arms out, as if to give him a feeling that he was being protected, which was making me feel strange for doing this for him at all.

"I know that you have been going through a lot lately. I really do get it. But I feel like you are the only one who can really help me right now. I feel like you are the only one can protect me against some of the people who have been coming by lately. They are making me terrified over what they are trying to do." After Brad had said that, I stopped my anger right then and then and I was looking right at Brad, and I was sort of getting a look on my face as if I was going to start really getting right into the protection game. I was going to watch after this guy, if he really needed me to do so. That was what I was telling myself at that moment right then and there.

"Who are the people who you have been seeing lately? You do not need to feel worried to be telling me these things. Trust me, I will be willing to listen to you." After I had said that, I was seeing from the look on his face that he was totally believing me, and then he was taking a long and deep breath as if he was finally getting himself to feel more safe to talk to me at that moment.

"Well, I think that there are some people who are working in some business right now who are coming after me. They are always talking to some of my teachers and everything, as if to make sure that they are going to make me stay quiet or something like that. I don't really get it, but I think that they must be looking at me as a fucking threat. I don't even know why they are actually worried about me all that much. I mean, I have not done a single thing that would be worth getting their attention. At least, I don't think that I have." After Brad said that, I was placing my hands on my head and then I was just rubbing my hair, as if I was just refusing to believe that I was actually doing this whole thing right now. That I was in a situation where I was going to have to somehow protect Brad against the people who are working in all of these cities.

That was when I was telling myself something else. That I was never going to tell myself that things were fine, and that I had to deal with anything at any night ever again. Every single time that I started to think that I was totally fine by that point in time, something would show up and throw my entire life away once again. It was totally annoying to be dealing with, and I was just fucking over it at that point.

But despite the entire situation, I knew that I would not really be able to justify getting angry at Brad. He was just a simple eighth grader. How was he supposed to feel like he was safe in any means? If anything, he was honestly probably doing the best he can to remain safe given the fact that he was a fucking thirteen, maybe fourteen year old guy at this point in time. As I was thinking about that, and I was telling myself to consider these points of view, I nodded in acceptance as if I was deciding that I needed to get right into serious mode right then and there.

"I guess I can keep you safe. Or at least try and keep you safe. I have no idea how well I can do, but I can see from the look on your face that you are really needing that extra assurance of safety, and I guess that I am willing to provide you with this." I said, and I was feeling like I was setting both of us up for failure at that moment. But again, from the look on his face, he was already feeling so much happier hearing me say this, and I knew that I needed to get my shit together in order to be there for his sake.

"I really don't know how well I can keep you safe though. That is the thing that you need to understand. I hope that when I clear this up for you, you do not get super high expecations of me to be the greatest protector or anything like that." I said, and I was seeing that Brad started to calm down more and more, and I was seeing that while he was still wanting me to be the greatest hero of his time, that he was also starting to remain calm and be real with himself when he was actually hearing me tell him all of these things.

"Fine, I guess that this is the case. I just wish that I don't have to be worried about my life anymore." After Brad had said that, I was hearing that there was such sincerity in his voice that just not being able to do this was going to make me feel awful. I just couldn't get his hopes up, but at the same time, I was telling myself that I just couldn't hurt him and leave him down since he needed me more than anybody else at all. I then looked forward and I was preparing myself for what was coming next.

"Well, there is one thing that I know for sure, and that is I will never let anything hurt you. I need to be there for you and make sure that you are at least feeling safe, even if this ends up placing my life at risk. Which I guess that I have to accept at least the possibility of something like this happening." I said, and then I went to my drug box, and then I took out my next pack of cigarettes, my next bag of heroin, and my next bag of meth and weed. I knew that the LSD would have to be used soon, as I was feeling like the date of the confrontation was coming up very soon, even if I didn't really know what the confrontation would really be at that point in time.

Eventually, I flicked on the lighter and I was starting my first cigarette, ready to get myself into so much trouble that I knew that there was no way that I was going to survive. I turned towards Brad and then I said "Does your family know where you are right now? I feel like I should be able to tell them what we are doing at the very least. Make them understand that I am not trying to kidnap you or anything like that." I said, still as worried as ever that I was going to get caught by the police, and let me tell you one thing right now, that would not be in any way a pleasant experience. Brad nodded, as if he was understanding my fears, and understood that should be a quick stop before anything else.

Despite the rough situation that I was thinking Brad and I were now forced to be in, I was telling myself that if anything, it was going to be nice to finally see Tucker and his mother. Even though I had barely seen Tucker in my life, I was always telling myself that I was going to be able to meet them that time. Every single time I went out, I was slowly trying to convince myself that this would be the time that we would meet, even if I was starting to sort of give up all hope on that whole thing once in for all. How little I knew was that I was going to truly meet him soon enough, and that I just needed to wait a whole longer.

We went inside of the car, and then once we were in the car, I was looking right at Brad. "You know, despite the fact that I don't really think that you trust me all that much, I still am glad to get to know you. Being friends with you actually makes me feel like I have done something good in my life for once. I can't believe that I am now starting to finally feel like I am getting something good with my life now. But I truly think that I am doing the right thing now." After I had said that to Brad, I was seeing that something about me opening up was actually making him feel better. He was feeling better to know that I was finally getting more and more relaxed, as if he was thinking that he was glad to see that I was calming down, and that I was actually becoming something of a normal and easy to hang out with guy now. As I was thinking about this, I started the car right up and then Brad was just looking forward.

"I am just scared about how my mother is going to react to see you around. It is not like I think she hates you or anything, but I think we both know that every time you come around, there is something that puts us in danger. I think that you are just as aware of this as I am." After Brad said that I nodded, thinking that it was utterly impossible to argue with him on this. As I was thinking about the whole situation, I was telling myself that this was really going to be one hell of a rough ride that we were going to be going through, I just had a feeling that nothing we were going to be doing ever would really be in in the words of 'safe'. Not that they ever really were in the first place, but I was especially sure that this was the case now, and I was thinking that Brad and his mother had every single reason on the fucking world to not like me at all, and to not really trust me in the first place.

"I am tired right now. I mean, with all the school work, and everything going on at my friend life and the fact that my mother looks like she is scared to be doing anything anymore, and I am thinking that there is a huge recipe for just my life not being nearly as pleasant as a fourteen year old should be." Brad said, and then while he was aware of the fact that he was kind of sounding whiny, I was seeing that he really did have a bunch of valid points and I was thinking that if I was like him at all, then I would mostly be feeling the same exact fucking way with him.

"I guess that if I really knew what your life was like, the life of somebody who realizes that nothing is every really going to go his way, and that there is nothing about this world that is going to give anything to you, then I think that perhaps I would be feeling the exact same way that you are feeling. I mean, when I found out all of these things, I was about sixteen or so. Damn, sixteen was one of the worst years of my entire fucking life, and I don't really know if that title is going to ever really change." I said, and then I was taking out another cigarette as we pulled up at Brad's car. "But I can tell you something, and you know this is true when I am the one who is telling you this, but things get much easier over time when you grow older and you grow a bit sort of numb to the fact of life that you are having right now."

When Brad had heard me say this, he looked right at me, as if shocked to hear me of all people be the one to tell him that life was getting better. He was getting the exact reaction I was hoping that he would have gotten, The realization that if I was the one whow as feeling this way about life, he was seeing that there was nothing about life that was going to be all that big of a challenge once he was telling himself that he was going to eventually go through it, and that it was just a part of life. "Thanks for telling me this Sheldon. I really believe in you right now. When you are the one who is saying this, I feel like I really can believe you." After Brad said that, I was seeing the smile coming on his face, and then we were walking right to the house where I was now about half way through the cigarette, and I was just thinking about the fact that I was probably going to get into a fight soon enough and I was prepared for this.

As I was inside of the house, I was looking right at Brad's mother. She was coming right out of Tucker's room, and I could hear that she was trying to hold some tears in her eyes. As if dealing with her child like this was one of the saddest things that she had ever seen, which in all reality, it really probably was. A part of me was feeling like a little bit of a coward, thinking that maybe I did not really want to see him after all, knowing what it was going to be like to see that kid in this condition. I was telling myself that maybe I reallyw as not ready for something like this at all.

"Hey Sheldon, I was wondering when you were going to be showing up again. I had a feeling that sooner or later, you would have figured out what was going on. And then you would want to come here." After Brad's mother had said that, I was trying to figure out what exactly I should be saying, that maybe I couldn't really come up with anything after all, and that I was sort of being an idiot for this at that moment. But then as I was thinking about this more, I was sitting down on the living room couch and then she sat down next to me and Brad was sort of just standing up, as if not really wanting to associate with either one of us.

"I just wanted to make sure that Brad was still doing fine. I didn't really want anything to happen to him. If something were to happen to him, I would be worried that it would all be my fault, as if me being there really could not change anything. But I don't really know, maybe I just simply don't fucking understand this at all. I just don't understand how anything in this whole world is happening the way that it has. I have no idea why I can't ever see Tucker, and I feel like I don't really understand his problems because I haven't seen him yet, and I just feel like if I just fucking saw him, then I could understand him a bit more." I said, and then after I mentioned the name of her younger child, I could see that her mother was really not sure what to say.

"I know that you wanted to see him at some point, and I get that you feel like you are sort of obligated to be seeing him eventually, but please don't force yourself to be doing this. Please don't force yourself to be knowing my younger child. He is utterly broken, and I don't really think he would be able to understand you at all if he were to be seeing you. He would be sort of thinking that you were a bit of a strange guy who he would probably never meet again, so he might not really even try to talk to you. Besides, when he tries to talk, the words can barely be heard, and he sounds like he is just in pain the entire time." After she said that, she was looking right at Brad, and I could see that they were both thinking about this problem. As I heard this, I was feeling much worse for even just bringing up the subject at all.

"I'm sorry that you are feeling this way about your son. I know that it is hard for Brad to be going up with a brother like this. I bet it must be even harder for you to be raising a child like this. I get it. I think I get it I should say. But at the same time, I just feel like there is a part of me that feels I need to know him. That if I don't really get to know him, then I guess that maybe I would have failed him." I said, and then I finished up when I said "I feel like it is one of my responsibilities to get to know this kid so that way I can be able to see how I would be able to help you guys. Since that is one of the things that I really want to do, is just be able to help you out.

"Trust me, it is more than just a little bit hard. To just say a little bit hard is one of the biggest understatements that I have ever heard in my entire life. But I am not angry at you for feeling like this right now. I can tell that you are just sort of saying that, and you are just trying to make me feel better." After she had said that, I was glad that at least we were having some level of understanding on that regard. I was taking out a cigarette, and then I was starting to smoke it a little bit, just thinking about the situation that they were in, and I was thinking about how I could be able to really help them out, if that was even possible to do.

"I think that maybe during the summer or something like that, I should meet him once or twice. See if I can be able to get to know him better that way. I think that when I get to know him better, then I guess I will be able to see if I could actually be able to do something better, or if at the very least I can be able to just provide sort of a support group. I feel like I should be trying to do that at the very least." I said, and then I just wanted so badly to help this fucking kid. I so badly wanted to see how badly he was actually disabled, if he really was at all, and if I could be able to actually go down and change anything. It also made me still want to do something else. I wanted to meet my father, and I wanted to punish him for everything. And I was still certain that I wanted him to fucking die. I didn't care how barbaric that sounded, I needed that.

"Do you think that you would be able to feel the same way if you ever saw him again? Do you really think that if you saw him again, you would be able to understand what it is like for us to be saying this? I think that if you saw him at all, it might break you down ever further than it has already started to break you down. And I don't really think that you would be ready for something like this. No offense, but I seriously do not think that you would be able to hear this and not go down even further the rabbit hole of your addiction or not. Since you seem like anything can really break you down and make you start to get even further addicted." After Brad said that, I looked up at him, and while I was annoyed at him, I was feeling like he was telling the truth. As he had said that, I actually pulled out some of the crack that was in pocket. I didn't really deal with that in a couple of weeks, since I only started to get that back a few shipments ago, and then when I saw that, I started to smoke it a bit.

I could see the look on Brad's mothers face turn to one of short term horror when she was seeing me starting to smoke crack, but she was telling herself to just hide how she was feeling, and as she was telling herself to hide how she was feeling about the situation, she looked right back at me, and then she was just thinking about how to continue the subject. "All in all, I think that you just don't really what we are going through. And that is not a bad thing. I think it is a good thing that perhaps you just don't really fucking get it. If you got it, then that would be a fate that I would never wish on my worst enemy, and that means I would especially not wish it on you." After she said that, I thought about that, and then I was finishing getting my high, or at least the starting phase of it and then I was just taking it much easier by that point.

I then stood up and then I was looking right at Brad's mother. "I promise that I will do everything in my power to keep your family safe. That is the one thing that I can promise that I will do. I don't really know how good I can be able to pull this off, but I need to at least try to do this. But I was just wanting to make sure that you were fine, since Brad and I are going to be hanging out now. I just hope that Tucker is fine. I do plan on seeing him soon, even if I am not really as ready for it as I would like to pretend that I am." I said, and then I was starting to wave around a bit with the initial reaction to my crack high, but when I was getting back into the mood again, I was telling myself that there was nothing to wrong with just smoking crack for a bit. Maybe in a couple of hours, I might get into my heroin, and then before I go to bed, for the sake of better sleep, I would get into the weed.

Brad was in the car with me once we got inside and then after a moment, he took a deep breath and then looked right at me. "I am sorry that you are finally now starting to see what our life is like. I don't really think that my mother means anything bad to you when she speaks like this to you. I think that she just simply can't see what it would be like for somebody else to be understanding the pain that she is having to experience on a daily basis with Tucker. I think that if you were there from the start, she would be more willing to suspend her disbelief. I mean, Tucker is about six or so years old now. Since he came into your life when he was about four, and that was nearly two years ago. I can't believe that you have been a part of my life for nearly two full years now. The time really does fly by fast." Brad said, and that was one thing we could agree on. The prospect of this time passing by as much as it has was really shocking.

"I don't really know how things have happened the way that they have. I guess that maybe when you are busy living life in a way, things just sort of go by. You never really even think about it anymore. I guess that maybe that is for the best, that I don't really even think about this too much. Also, when you are spending pretty much half of your life on a daily basis in that gas station, you pretty much realize that I have spent a full year in the fucking gas station." I said, and then I thought that the idea of spending a whole year in that gas station was just crazy to even think about, as that was one thing I just could not really fathom at all.

Eventually, I parked the car just at the parking lot of the mayors hall. I didn't really know why I did that, and I was thinking that maybe if Brad was going to find out the truth, he was only going to be slightly less pissed off at this than Misty would have been. I still had been doing thes emonthly updates with Jimmy White for nearly two years, even when I was in recovery, he was just the one that made the visit over to the gas station instead. We had built up a strong bond, and despite the fact that I was thinking that maybe there was something else to him, that I really did trust him. "That guy is really strange honestly. I think that I don't really want to go there." Brad said, and then I nodded. I placed my hand on his shoulder and I just thought of what I could say.

"I will only be in there for like five minutes." I said, and then I got up and left the car. I walked inside of his building, and I went right to his office. "Hey Jimmy, I was wanting to just ask you a question..." I asked, and I was seeing that Jimmy White was utterly shocked to see me here as if not really sure what to be thinking of the fact that I was visiting him, and not even on the update time.

"I was wondering... What you would be doing with my friends if they did something that you didn't agree with. Would you punish them or something? Like would you be hurting them? Maybe even kill them?" I didn't know why I was suddenly asking him this, when just a second ago I was telling myself that I did trust this guy. But maybe when I was telling myself this, I was thinking that maybe I didn't really trust him as much as I was thinking, and now being at his office was what was changing this. Jimmy just shrugged for a second.

"I will do anything that I feel like is important to make sure that I still remain at the top of my job, and make sure that I am one hundred percent certain this city remains safe. Do not ever get mistaken. That is the one thing that I am always going to do. I am always going to make sure that my city is safe before anything else. Even if this means that you might have to say goodbye to some of your friends. But I am not saying that this will for sure happen yet. I haven't felt the need to do it. But long story short, yes, I will do it if I feel like it has to be done." Jimmy White said, and the more that he said that, I was seeing that he was indeed liking the idea of doing this more. I was thinking that he was indeed actually already planning out the events in his mind. I was feeling the high really kick in and I had the balls to just do something right there that I never would normally have had.

I pounded my fist on the table. The hardness of the pound actually shocked him for a second as I saw him move back for just a short second. "I will never look at you the same way again if you kill anybody that I care about. I will bring down your entire political career. I am not really the smartest tool in teh shed, but I am smart enough to figure out when you are doing something. I am smart enough to see that these people are not safe when you are around. I believe that you trust me, and that makes me feel a little bit safe, but that doesn't mean that I really think that the others are going to be safe. I think that you never cared for them. How true is that statement?" I asked, and then Jimmy White, while shocked at my sudden courage, was aware of the fact that this was all because of the high that I was in and then he just placed his fingers together.

"Young man, it is just a part of the job. It is just a part of how we run the business. It is not really anything against you per se, but honestly, I think you just need to relax. You need to see the fact that I have a good job ahead of me. I am the one who understands what is at stake much more than you. All you care about is your drugs, and I am not even sure if you care about anybody or anything else besides your drugs." Jimmy said, and while it was harsh, I was thinking that maybe there was a small level of truth to what he was saying. I was then looking away, just not really wanting to say anything.

"Fine. I guess that maybe you could be right. I just don't know though. That is what I don't really ever understand. The fact that you became the mayor, and you trusted me. You came along and you decided to act like you needed me. I don't get it. If you claim that I am too focused on the drugs, and care for nothing else, then why do you make me work for you? I just don't really understand this..." I said, and then after I had said that, I was just staring right at Jimmy, just feeling like I needed to know the truth. I just needed to see his perspective, and then maybe I could understand my boss at least a little bit.

"Because I know that you can't lie to me. With how fucked up are you, I know that you only have one function. To speak the truth. You may think that you are smart, and that you can hide the truth from me, but you are not really even fucking close to doing that. I don't really think that you can decieve me. Besides, I think that we can relate to each more more than you want to admit that we do. I think we really actually are close to each other, in much more ways than one..." After Jimmy White said that, I was just wanting to argue with him, but even then I knew that I couldn't. I just nodded in acceptance, realizing that he was winning. Just like how he always did. Then I walked out of the office, and once outside, I saw Brad coming out of the car and then I laid down on the top of the car, and I started to smoke some of my heroin as well, but not all of it to keep some for later.

"Sheldon, what were you doing in there?" Brad asked, just more curious than anything else. I was looking right at Brad, now dealing with the affects of two highs going on at once and then I was thinking about what I was going to say next, but I was not really sure what I could say.

"Something that in hindsight I really should not have done." I said thinking that this was the only thing I could be able to tell Brad and I was thinking that if I told him anything else, I would be going into some territory that I was feeling like would make him lose his trust in me. I mean, unlike Misty, I doubted that I would be able to get it back with her, I think that Brad would forgive me after a few weeks or something like that, and certainly by the time we met next since the last time we fully hung out with almost four months ago, even though we did see each other in August for the briefest of moments.

"Sheldon... I am so sorry that you are feeling like this. I am sorry that you feel like nothing you do ever goes well. I think that maybe we should go out for a party. I mean, there is a party in about an hour or so with one of my classmates. I think that maybe they would not really mind that you're here. I mean, you're only eighteen." After Brad said that, I was thinking that it was odd that I was only eighteen, since I was already sometimes rounding up to nineteen when I was thinking to myself just on moments when I was alone and everything.

"Yeah sure, I think that it would be kind of cool to be going to that. Have not been to one in nearly three years." I said, and then I fell down onto the street when I was just trying to get off the car and then I opened up the door, and dragged myself inside of it, and then I started up the car. Eventually, Brad got inside, thinking that this was not really a smart idea after all, or thinking that this was going to be a ton of fun, and that we were really going to be in for a fun ride.

I started the car right up, and then when I was starting the car up, I was listening to Brad tell me where the party was going to be and the entire time that I drove there, I was processing what Jimmy White had been saying to me. I was thinking right then and there, that despite the fact that I never wanted to admit it that Misty was possibly right about this guy. That I had been had, and that he really was this evil bad guy. I didn't want to admit to falling for it, but at this point in time, I was sort of resigning to fate, no longer able to deny the truth no matter how much I wanted to.

I ended up driving for about fifteen minutes or so until I found a house that had about fifty or sixty people around it, and I knew for a fact that this was indeed the party that Brad had been talking about. I was excited to be fucking around for a night, and getting right back into the main business of what I should have been doing, living the fucking life. I was thinking that if Jimmy White could find a way to bring me back to school, so that way, I could be able to mess around there, then I would be on top of the world and I would be forgiving him. Since I was now totally forgiving him for the fact that he was telling me that he was better and smarter than me, which to be honest, he kind of was.

"Brad, you are a fucking hero. You are doing gods work right now." I said, and I was totally meaning it, and when I was saying that to Brad, he was looking like he was thinking this was pretty funny how I was telling him this stuff for just simply bringing me along to a party, and he was thinking that maybe I was taking this a little bit too seriously. Then when he thought about it, he just shrugged. "But seriously, before you go in there, do you actually think that your mother would want you to be going in here?" After I asked him that, Brad just simply didn't have any sort of reaction, as if not really sure what to say to this, and I was already thinking that this was going to be a pain in the ass.

"Fuck it. I don't really care what she says. If she turns out to be opposed to this, then I guess that this will be the reality that I will have to live with. Besides, I don't have to tell her what I am doing right now. I think that she is more worried about my brother than she really is about if I decide to mess around at a party every once in while." Brad said, and I was seeing that he genuinely believed it, and since he was really sounding like he was thinking this was the truth, I decided to leave the subject alone, and then I sighed in relief, knowing that I didn't have to force Brad to stay in the car or anything like that.

We got right out of the car, and I decided that for the party, I was going to leave it at cigarettes. I would finish up my heroin when I got out of the party, and then when I went home, before I would sleep, I would go through my pot and then I would be ready to go to sleep. I saw that Brad was looking a little bit wistful at the fact that I was doing drugs in front of him, especially since this was a party and I was thinking that when they were at a party they were thinking that this was the one time that they actually wanted to get into stuff like drugs and everything.

"Once you are old enough. I think that you will be ready for it soon. I just don't really think that you would be ready for something like this quite yet. I don't want you to feel like I am just forcing you down or anything like that." After I said that, I saw that Brad was just looking like he was just wanting some so badly, and I was considering actually indulging in him a little, but as I was thinking about the idea of indulging him a little bit, I was thinking about the fact that this could start a new addict, like how just that one day at the middle school had started up the addiction for me. I just thought that I was really doing the best thing I could to protect him by not giving him these drugs, and not forcing him down this path of life. I was thinking that if there was one thing that his mother could not deny me, it was the fact that I was at least not making him go down this path.

"Well, I guess we can't waste any time now. I mean, I want to be here for as long as I possibly can. I hope that they will be accepting of you being here." After Brad had said that, he was thinking that maybe me being there was going to be the one real problem of this whole thing. We went right inside the house, and once inside, I was seeing a bunch of blaring music going around, and I was seeing a bunch of people going all out. I knew that this was going to be one of my few chances to finally catch at least some of my desired popularity again. So with that, I looked at Brad and told him to do whatever he had wanted, and then after I said that, I was ready to get right down to the partying mood, and I went to the main room where the party was taking place at.

I started to dance around for a couple of minutes. I spent probably about five minutes or so just dancing around, and just acting like a total silly goose on that regard. I didn't really think that anybody understood why I always did stuff like that, just danced around at parties and stuff like that. In fact, considering the fact that this was many of these peoples first impressions of me, they were in fact thinking that it was just strange and that I was just more of a trouble maker than I would really want to admit about it.

During the dance, I jumped up, but instead of landing right on my feet, I was walking around with my hands about four or five steps, and I was thinking that this was going to make me go down as the biggest par core star in the fucking town, which I thought was going to be a good way to start some form of reputation in this party, along with the fact that I was the crazy dancer and then be the guy who people sort of knew as the one that worked at the gas station.

The more that I was fucking around at that time period, I was just not really caring too much for anything else. I was just too busy living in the moment, which I thought was the most important thing that I needed to actually do. But eventually, about thirty minutes after I was at the party, there was eventually some pay offs that I was getting for the fact that I was just sort of partying to the extent that I had been at that point.

I was just taking a break after my hands and legs were starting to hurt, so I just sat down, and was simply thinking at that moment that I was just going to take some form of a cigarette break. That was all that I was thinking that it was going to break. Take a break long enough to just smoke a cigarette, and then after about three or four minutes of this, I would go right back to the party scene. And then I would be able to just rinse and repeat.

After I smoked that cigarette, I saw that there was a table and that there was a bunch of cans of beer. I grabbed a can and then I was drinking it after I had opened the can. The more that I was drinking the can, the more that I was thinking that being high on heroin, smoking cigarettes, and then getting drunk was just the best way to be living life. Eventually, that was ruined when there was a girl who went up to me and poked me on the shoulder. I turned around and I was looking right at her. I was smiling as I saw her, thinking that she was really fucking sexy.

"I have never seen you around before. You seem like a pretty chill guy honestly." After she had said that, I was smiling, to be honest. I was thinking that it was great that what I was doing was giving me some form of a pay off, and she was noticing the fact that I was fucking around enough to finally get her to be looking right at me. I was then thinking of a way to finally get them to respect me and then maybe we could be able to fuck and just have some anonymous sex, which I had not had in a really long time, and I felt like I earned the right to fuck up a girl now. I was just thinking of how I was going to get her to believe in the idea that this was really what I wanted.

"Well, I just sort of got invited to the party, and I thought that I might as well come along and partake in it. I have no real other reason to do something like this. I just wanted to be a party animal for one fucking night." I said, and then I was slurring my words, since I was starting to feel the heavy hit of the beer coming in, since I had not really drank in a while plus this must have had a high percentage to it. But I felt like that since this made me weaker in a way, that this would make me fall to what she had really wanted more and more, and I was actually thinking that this was a good thing for me. To start to fall weak to what she was trying to accomplish there.

"I think that tonight, you and I should go to my place." She said, and then I was smiling at that like a fucking idiot. The idea of scoring sex with her was really just all I wanted at that moment, and since she was offering this to me, I was just going to go along with it, and I was going to just have this be the best night of my life. Even though I was thinking that there was still something else I needed to make sure of.

I felt like I needed to be there for my friend Brad. I was thinking that since Brad was here, I needed to be there for him. I didn't really know why Brad was here, but I was thinking that this was just all that I needed to do. As I was thinking about the fact that I needed to be there for Brad, I was thinking that it was really only just for the drive home that he needed, and that I could mess around here for just a while longer, and that when I dropped him off, I can have her lead me to her house, and then that was when we could be able to have some awesome sex.

As I was thinking about the sex that we were going to be having very soon, I was telling myself that Brad would probably be smart enough to really figure out what is going on. He would be able to see what I did, and then he would actually probably be almost proud of me for the fact that I managed to finally go all the way for the first time in a long time. This was what I was actually thinking at that moment, before I came to realize that I was actually thinking about a person who didn't really care all that much about this type of stuff, as annoying as that may have been, and as much as I wished that he was able to see the good ends of just being a player and everything.

"What brought you here to the party?" The girl asked, and I could tell that she was just trying to see me break for her, so that way she and I could talk and then I could be able to come off as something of a total idiot to her. I was indeed actually thinking that it would be fun. I took a second beer can, thinking that this second can would be enough to really tip me over. Then I was smoking as well as I was slowly drinking along the fucking beer can, thinking that the can of beer was finally going to let me open up my life and everything. Eventually, I kept on drinking more and more, until I got through the entire can and the girl started to place her arm around my shoulder, and I was seeing that she was ready to start making out with me and everything. I was totally ready to embrace the fact that we were going to start kissing around and everything.

I was smiling I glanced right at her, and then when I was seeing that she was feeling sort of better for the fact that I was showing at least a little bit of interest in her. She kissed me right on the cheek, and then I was blushing as she kissed me. Then when she kissed me and I blushed, I placed my arms around her shoulder and then I was kissing her right back. Then I started to place my mouth on her neck, and I was starting to suck on her neck, ready to give her a fucking hickey. I was just so out of it, that I didn't even think for a second that I was starting to look like I was a little bit of a idiot. But then she was moaning the entire time that I was sucking her neck, as if thinking that she was going to look like the coolest chick in the planet when she was going to be done getting the hickey, and I was thinking that it was going to be a shame for the fact that we were never going to see each other again for the rest of our life.

Eventually, we started to walk to the bathroom of that house, and while we were in the bathroom, I locked the door and then we took off each others clothes, and then we got right on the bathroom counter. I think we spent probably the next ten to fifteen minutes just having some of the most passionate drunk sex that I have ever had in my entire life, and I was thinking about how wonderful she was. I was loving every second of when I was feeling her, as I was embracing the idea of just making love with a sixteen year old girl. I was thinking that making love with a sixteen year old girl was one of the best moments of my entire life, and that was something that I was going to do over and over again. I was telling myself then at that moment that this was entirely due to the fact that I was just in high school still, and that there was no way that I was going to be like my parents. But there was a part of me that was truly scared that maybe there was something else to this, as much as I was hating this.

Eventually, when I got my clothes on again after we were having sex, I was looking right at her. I was taking in the moment. "Do you think that we can do that again?" I asked, thinking about the idea of having another round of sex with her would be one of the coolest things to do in the entire world. I was actually thinking that she and I really needed to do it again. I was then thinking about how I was starting to feel a little bit less drunk. Maybe it was because of the fact that I did something of high activity, and I was just sort of wasting my wasted ness away. There was a part of me that was almost convinced that this was just a placebo effect, and then I was telling myself that I just needed to be fucking realistic with this type of shit. When I was telling myself to be more realistic on this, I was looking right at her again, and I was seeing that she was considering this.

"Yeah, I think that we could do this again. If we see each other again at the end of the party then maybe we can do it again." The girl said, and I was seeing that she was on fire in terms of facial expressions. I could tell that she was thinking the moment we had was something beyond what even she was thinking that it was going to be. I was glad that I had been able to make her feel like I had given her exactly what she had wanted, and then I walked out of the bathroom, and I was taking out a cigarette, and then the more that I was smoking it, the more I was thinking about going to meet up with Brad again, as if I had done the one thing that I needed to do at that moment. I had done the one thing that I really wanted to do when I had come to that party. That was what I was thinking at that moment right then and there.

As I was walking around the house, I was seeing that Brad was talking to a girl that was about his age. That was when I was starting to think in my slowly more sobering state that this girl I just fucked really was not sixteen. She was probably closer to just thirteen or fourteen, which meant that I had sex with somebody who was barely even a fucking teenager at all. In all reality, that thought really actually did make me feel like I was a bit of a disgusting fellow, and then after I thought about what I had done, I was telling myself that it really didn't matter all that much what I had done. She had egged me on, and she was making me feel like I was going to be the boy that she had wanted, and I had indeed given her just this. As much as you may think it is terrible for me to say this, in a way, she really was the one who was to be blamed for what happened. She was the one that made me feel like this was okay for me to do, and she was the one that really wanted it, and I gave her just that.

I was just watching Brad as he was talking to this girl, as if he was actually finally having a chance of being able to have a girlfriend, or something like that, that they were going to hook up and everything. I was thinking that it was great that they were finally getting something going like this. I was smoking a bit more the entire time that I was watching this, and then the more that I was smoking, the more that I was sort of cheering for the idea of them getting laid and everything.

Eventually, the more that I was thinking about it, the more that I was just simply very proud of Brad. I thought that Brad finally got what he deserved. He finally got the girl that he thought he wanted, since I would later find out that Brad had a crush on this girl, and he was trying to sort of make her fall for him for a while and he was thinking that this was going to be the way that he could be able to actually get what he had wanted, to get her to finally pay attention to him. I sat down and the more that I was sitting down, and thinking about the fact that I just got laid and that he might get what he wanted, I was thinking that going to this party was entirely worth it, and that there was nothing about this party that was bad.

As I was thinking about the fact that this party was a miracle for me, I saw another couple of girls getting next to me. "You seem like you might be a bit old to be here right now." They asked, and they were really not even trying to accuse me of anything, probably because of the fact that I was having sex with underage girls or anything, and then I was just simply not sure what to say. I just shrugged, and then I looked right at them.

"I guess I just did a good job hitting puberty earlier than anybody else. I would not really worry about it all that much honestly. I think that I just like hanging out with you guys. Maybe I haven't really been hanging around here enough for you guys to notice that I was here." I said, thinking that maybe she was actually going to believe in me. She seemed to be considering what I had said for just a few seconds, and then the more that she thought about it, it had seemed like she was kind of giving up on the situation.

"So, since you are here, do you like the party so far? I really think that it is fucking awesome." After she had said that, I was thinking about what to tell her. I enjoyed this more than the other party that I had been to. That much was for sure, but I didn't really know if she was going to want to hear the details about my other party, even if it was going to just expose how I was to her, and make the entire situation much more uncomfortable for her. As if she would truly realize that maybe I was a bit of a fucked up sex addict, and that I was kind of a pervert in some way.

"Well, I think that this is a pretty good party. I just hope that the parties that people talk about the high schoolers have been as great as they are hyped up to be. I would be fucking excited if that is the case. People talk about those being the best parties in the entire fucking world. I want to go to those so bad... Guess I can't though since I am not really old enough yet." I said, and then the more that I was saying this, I would not know it at the time, but I was actually able to get away with this stuff at the time, since in all reality, I really was going to be seeing these people a lot more, and I was going to be much more connected with them than I would ever expect.

"I think that it will be awesome when we see you at school again. I think that you really have a good chance on being one of the most popular and respected people at school. All you need to do is just take advantage of what you have right now." After the girl had told that to me, I was getting a little bit tired of everybody telling me this. Not because it was something that didn't flater me, but because in all reality, it was pissing me off how I was not really getting something like this at all. I was never going to get the chance that they were talking about, because I never seized the moment until it was way too late for me to do anything about it, and here I was, with people suddenly acting like I was suddenly the greatest guy in the entire world.

Eventually, as I was thinking about everything, I was seeing that Brad and the girl that he was starting to pick up with walking towards me and the girl that was next to me. It seemed like her friends had given up trying to get to know me, since I was already talking with her right now, and they felt like as a result I pretty much had already made my choice at that moment, and I could see that this was kind of making them a little bit sad, knowing that they wouldn't really have a chance on getting to know me.

"Hey this is one of my friends Sheldon. I saw him one day and he tried to hang out with me. I wasn't really sure what to think at first, but he is a nice enough guy. Maybe we can all hang out with each other eventually." After he had said that, he was looking right at the girl that I was talking with, as if feeling terrible for getting in the way of our conversation. Once he was starting to realize what he had done, I was seeing that he was actually looking away, and he was just remaining silent for a moment longer. I felt bad for the fact that I was looking at him like this, and I was thinking that he really did have the best intentions in mind, even if the interupption was slightly annoying, he had no real ill intentions at that moment.

"Hey, sorry... I didn't know that you were already talking with a girl right now. Sorry for getting in the way of your conversation..." Brad said, as if trying really hard to find a way to get himself out of the conversation and to make everything seem like it was all chill and everything. After Brad said that, and there being a part of me that was thinking that this was reminding me exactly of what I would find an annoying brother to be like, I realized that I could not really stay too angry at him forever. Even the girl that I was talking with didn't seem really all that annoyed at what he was doing, as she could tell that he was truly feeling sorry for the moment.

"Hey, I think we have seen each other at school lately. You're Brad, right?" After she had said all of these things, she was holding her hand out to Brad. When Brad thought about it, he felt as if one simple hand shake was not really enough to ruin the bond that he had been making by that point in time. When he had shook her hand, he was looking right at the girl that he was talking with earlier, and she seemed like she didn't really care at all there.

"My name is Tiffiny. This is Sophia." The girl that Brad was hanging out with was saying, and then I looked right down when I heard the mere mention of the name Tiffiny. I was feeling like I was a terrible guy once again, and I was telling myself to just not think about the fact that I was talking with this girl right now, and I was thinking that she just didn't really know what was going on. As terrible as it sounded for me to say it, I was thinking that in all reality, she was kind of too dumb to really notice that it was me. Then there was the fact that I was thinking that maybe there were multiple people named Sheldon, and that if she thought about it, then she would think that maybe this was not the Sheldon that possibly ruined her life. Or maybe she started to grow up and realize that maybe she wasn't really telling the truth when she was coming up with rumors about me and everything. I was telling myself that she was just simply not really thinking about it, and that was going to be my one single saving grace at that moment.

"Yeah, I saw that Sheldon was here smoking some cigarettes, and I thought that we could talk with each other a bit. He is a really chill guy right now. I don't really think that there is a single thing that is too wrong with him. I just think that he is just fine." After Sophia had said that about me, I was smiling and I was feeling so much better as she had said all of these good things about me, and I was thinking that if she really truly felt that way about me, then I needed to sort of fulfill her expectations on everything. I was smoking another cigarette while we were talking, and I wasn't even doing it in order to prove her point. I was just sort of doing it as a way to sort of relief myself. That was the only reason I was doing it, to be totally honest with you. But I was thinking that they really did not actually care all that much. Everybody knew I smoked, and there were other people who smoked, so there was no real reason to pretend like I needed to contain myself at all.

I stood up and then I was looking out the window. "I think that maybe we all want to be doing something else right now. I think we all have some different goals at the moment..." I said, and I was just sort of thinking about the idea of having sex with Sophia right now, and I was thinking that maybe if I was a good enough wing man, I would be able to get Brad to have sex with Tiffiny. I knew that it was terrible fo rme to be playing a wing man for a fourteen year old dude or something like that, but I felt as if Brad was going to thank me later. Besides, he could say that he lost his virginity earlier than me, so with the extra years of not being a virgin plus my poon tang history so far, I think that by now, with the extra two years, he would be the best player in the world by the time he was my age.

Eventually, we were walking out of the party house and then entire time that we were walking out, Sophia was holding my hands, and I was feeling the blush coming along to me. I was thinking about what it would be like to have sex with two girls in one night, and I didn't even care that they were both in the middle school, and that I would be done with high school if I did went all the way through the entire thing. As I was thinking about the fact that Sophia was liking me, I was thinking that all I needed to do was just not have this information be revealed to Misty, as if she found out, she would be so mad at me, and I think that this would start another road of her getting mad at me, and I was thinking about the nightmare of what it would be if she found out that I was the Silver Shell. I was thinking that she would have every right in the world to be pissed at me, as if I actually deserved her to be hating me forever as a result of this.

Eventually I led them all down to my car where Brad got in the shot gun seat, and then after Brad was in the shot gun seat, both Sophia and Tiffiny got right in the back seats. I could hear that they were talking with each other. When I was hearing something else, and this scared me. I went to my seat and grabbed my machete and then I was holding it right out ready to use it at any moment that I felt like I needed to. I was totally convinced that there was going to be a fight that I would have to partake in at any moment. I was taking a deep breath, taking out another cigarette, and I was thinking that the other people here would not see me or care about what I was doing at that moment.

I was seeing that Brad was getting more serious the second that he saw what I was doing. He knew for a fact that I would not be doing something like this at that moment if I was not one hundred percent convinced that I was going to have to be fighting for both of our lives. In fact, I was seeing that Brad was actually crossing his fingers, hoping more than anything that nothing wrong would happen to any one of the three of us. I was looking right at Brad, and then once I was looking at Brad right in the eyes, examining how he was thinking, the more that I felt like the two of us were coming closer and closer to being fully understood with each other.

I looked right ahead and I was seeing the guy that I was scared to be seeing at that moment. It was a guy who looked like he was wearing a robe or something like that. In all reality, it was really funny to be seeing him like that. If I wasn't one hundred percent sure that he was going to be the guy that I would have to fight with soon enough, then I would have actually been tempted to fucking laugh out loud. But I was telling myself that the two of us were going to be heading into a battle of the death and that this was not a joking matter. "Why are you here? Why did you kill my boss Devon?" The guy asked, and then I was confused for a second. I almost forgot entirely about that incident six months ago, where Devon died. I was thinking that maybe he had finally found out where I had lived, and how he was going to take out the most petty form of revenge possible. I was kind of pissed that this was going to be the condition of this ultimate duel, but I then thought that I could not get too distracted, as I still needed to protect these other three people in the car.

"I had a bit of a vandetta that I needed to take care of. I don't really think that it is your business what I was doing at that moment." I said, and then I was seeing that the guy was getting angry at the way that I was talking to him at that moment. He seemed like he was about to scream at me, and I was seeing that all that I needed to do was just make him angry. If I just made him angry, then he would be too clouded in his thoughts to actually do something, so then that would ruin everything.

"Your father took over the business, and then he ended up making it a thousand times worse than it already was. You may not like how it was originally handled, but at least Devon was actually thinking about the money. At least he was caring about the financial aid of the job. Your father just seems to only care about the sex. That is all he fucking cares about. He just cares about coming off as this alpha male who just fucks these people. Sure he still gets money out of it, but it seems like he doesn't care about the money. Even Devon seemed like he was at least regretting what he was doing, but he saw the purpose of the job at least." After the guy said that I shook my head, and I did not want to deal with his lies at all.

"He didn't care about a single thing in the world. He didn't regret anything. He just wanted the sex. He just wasn't as dumb about exposing it as my father really is. He is just smart about hiding the fact that he is just doing it for the sex." After I said that, I was ready to challenge this guy, and I was ready to see how much he was really going to try and act like I was wrong. I was seeing that he was actually at least thinking about what I was saying, as if at least having to admit that something like this could be true.

"Well that is where it comes in. You at least admitted that your father only cares about the money, and he doesn't even hide it. At least Devon hid it very well. At least Devon pretended there might be other desires that he had. And yet, you took that way from me. I was finally getting respected. I was finally producing good revenue for my family. I even got a fucking promotion. I was producing on average of two conceptions a week. That was until your fucking father took over, and now I am lucky if I can get one woman pregenat every single month, which barely provides my family any fucking money at all. At least compared to what we had earlier. That is almost a eighty seven percent fucking drop. You ruined everything." After he said that, I was now annoyed at the fact that he was openly admitting that he was just in it for the money.

"I thought that there could have been at least a couple of good people that would have been in that job. I thought that there could have been at least a couple of people that hated what they were doing, but sill felt like they needed to do it for something else. You just sound like you only cared for the women, and you are not even really trying to hide it anymore. At least those people who hide it I can respect a little bit, as at least they had a disguise on. But this is beyond anything that I could accept." I said, and then after I said that, I was then ready to take this guy down, and I didn't really even care what he was going to try and tell me at that moment, In all reality, I was tired of hearing him complain, and I was tired of this debate. Both of these things added up made me really tired of this conversation right away.

"Why are you so tense? Are you protecting something right now?" He asked me, and I was just looking right at him, and I was seeing that he was picking up what I was thinking, and the more that he was picking up what was actually going on, I was thinking that he was going to try and find a breaking point for me, as if this was the one thing that he really needed.

"No, you're protecting someone right now. Who is it? Do you know what they think about you? Do you think that they really have any respect for you at all? Or are you just lying to yourself to make yourself feel better? You probably are just lying to make yourself feel better. When I am done with you, I am going to find them, and I am going to gut them, and I am going to make them even knowing you the worst mistake that they have ever made in their entire fucking life." After they said that, I was then taking a deep breath, ready to fight this guy for anything that was worth of me.

"I will not let you find him. And I certainly will not let you hurt him. That is something that I can never do. That is the one thing that I have better than you on. The fact that I do at least care about the people who are around me." I said, and then after I had said that, I was holding onto my machete very tightly. I was seeing taking a gun out and then he fired the gun. I dodged the bullet and it just left a dent on the actually hood of the car.

But then that was when I took my chance to destroy this guy. I just ran right past him, and then I swung the sword, and then when I was done, I saw that I did not miss the mark at all. I was seeing him looking right at me, angry at the fact that I managed to beat him. Then he fell down to the ground. He was having a tear coming down his eyes. I went up to him and then I held him. "Do you promise that you wil kill your father? Will you be there for my family?" They asked me two simple questions, and while I felt like they would be hard to give him this, I felt like it was the one thing that he really needed. I nodded and told him I was going to give him exactly this. I believed at that moment that I could do this. He thanked me for the promise, seeing that I meant it, and he went limp, and then I closed his eyes. I then went to the car, and started it right up and put the machete in the trunk and then I started to drive off, running his body over and cracking the entire thing.

As I was driving back home, I was thinking about Brad and the fact that he seen me do this to another life. It pissed me off, but he knew and I knew it then that I really had no choice, even if we wanted to pretend that I did, we both knew for a fact that I really did not have a choice at that moment. I was then looking down at the street, and I was thinking about the fact that all of these people I was killing was slowly starting to make me feel a little bit sick. It was really starting to get to me, all of these people that I have killed, but it was also getting to me the fact that I knew that deep down, I had to do it every single time. Even if people wanted to think that I had a choice, I knew right then and there that I did not.

Despite this, I was feeling worse over what I was forcing Brad to be seeing all of this time. I knew that he was going to have so many things in his life ruined over what he had been seeing all of this time, and I was thinking that there really was no way in hell that I was going to be able to change this for the better, and make him actually forgive me or anything like that.

I got to Brad's house, and after we were there, Brad looked right at me, as if actually slowly forgetting about what he was seeing and replacing it with the good stuff that had happened. "I really enjoyed hanging out with you. It is always nice to be hanging out with you to be honest. I think that you and the others are really fucking cool. Besides, I think that we should be seeing each other soon, so that way, I think I would be able to tell you how tonight goes." After Brad had said that, I was seeing that he was looking right at Tiffiny. I was seeing that she was looking excited as well. That in all honesty, she was actually totally seeming like she didn't even care about what had happened all of those years ago.

Right as Tiffiny got right out of the car, I was looking right at her, and I was seeing from the look on her face, that she was really fucking happy. For the first time in her entire, I was seeing that she was truly, genuinely happy at what was happening. I was thinking that this must have been her first time that she had it willingly as well. As I was thinking about that, I was feeling even better about what was happening. I was thinking that if anything, Brad was going to sort of be her fucking hero. The guy who can make her see that sex really was not all that bad of a thing, and that she just needed to be there with a person that she appreciated. A person who she felt like she could really connect with. I started up the car again, and then I was heading right back home, thinking about the night that I was going to be having with Sophia.

As I was at the house with Sophia, we got right out of the car and right inside. Once inside, I was seeing that she was looking right at me, as if trying to decide if she really wanted to ask me some questions or not. She really was trying to decide if any of this was actually going to be worth bringing up. "Why did you have that fight with that guy just a few minutes ago? I saw that he tried to kill you, and you had every fight to do what you did... But what really drove that to happening in the first place?" After she had asked me this question, I was thinking about if it was going to be worth telling her the truth, or if she was going to be thinking that it was going to sound fucking stupid and insane for actually hearing this. That she was going to be thinking that she was talking to a fucking mad man this whole time.

"Trust me, if you knew what was going on, you would think that you would never want to be here anymore. Just know that I am doing my part to make sure that this town is as safe as possible. It may not look like it at the moment, but everything I just did right then and there was totally important. Everything I did was something that had to be done." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing that for a moment, she was considering what I had said, and she was thinking that maybe I was telling the truth. But then she was looking away, afraid to be asking me any more questions, thinking that if she did so, she be hearing things that she would never even comprehend the idea of hearing.

"Well, I think that you might be right. As much as I don't want to admit it. But with that being said, I think that maybe we should... you know... have a bit of fun..." Sophia asked, and then she was just sort of thinking about the fact that she was asking this to a guy who she could clearly tell was much older than her and much older than he tried to be, and I was nodding. I then got high on heroin after smoking it for a moment, and then we both took each others clothes off as we went to my sleeping bag and then we had sex that night, and I was loving every single second of it, embracing the fact that I had sex with two women in the one single night, and thinking about how this must have been one of the best times of my life up until that point in time.

Eventually, as we were done having sex, I was seeing that she was asleep pretty quickly. I got out of the bed, and I placed some underwear on. I walked right to the window and then I was staring out into the city, thinking about the fact that I defeated yet another person who was working in that corrupt group. One single person, and I probably made no difference tonight, but it was something that I was able to be proud of, because it was finally placing me one single tiny step closer to victory. If this happened every once in a while, then I was going to eventually be able to be at the top of this whole thing, and all I needed to do was just keep going at this whole thing. I just needed to really do this. I just really needed to get ahead of this fucking game.

Eventually, I took out my weed. Once I was taking out my weed, I started to smoke it a bit, and then I was thinking that smoking some weed was the thing that was going to be the thing I needed right at that moment. I was slowly getting tired the more that I smoked it, and then I was pretty much through my entire bag before I even knew it. When that happened, I was happy over the fact that I fucked my brain up even more. Then after that, I took out another cigarette, and then I was smoking one of them, and I was feeling like the smoking was just one of the few things that I wanted more than anything else in the entire world. Then when I was smoking smoking the cigarette, I went to the sleeping bag and slept with Sophia that night, thinking that she was going to be another person I needed to protect more than anything else in the entire world.

Eventually, when I woke up, I was seeing that Sophia was out of the house. I took a cigarette, and then I started to smoke it as I left the house after I placed on my clothes and was slowly going to the gas station, where I would have to do yet another shift, and go through another day of my fucking life, and letting this event slowly become history more and more with each passing day.


	82. Gas Station File Part 2

Part 12: Gas Station Case Files part 2 (Wyatt and Misty)

It was a while after this when Misty was feeling like she was wanting to talk with me again. She was feeling like as if she needed to actually talk with me, and get to know me a bit better. As I was thinking that this was not the route I wanted to go down, as I did not want Misty to look at me as some form of a traitor or something like that, I was also telling myself that she was going to find me and talk with me eventually, so I just sort of had to accept the fact that she was going to find me eventually.

As I was figuring that this was all we really had to be dealing with, I was thinking that maybe if she wanted to trust me more, and for there to be a level of actually understanding between the two of us, I decided that I was finally going to tell her the truth about what had been going on in my life. I felt like it was time for me to finally tell her the truth about the Silver Shell, even if I was thinking that this overall was a pretty bad idea, and that I was totally convinced that she as going to be tempted to stop being friends with me as a result of all of these things that are going on now.

Despite how much I was wanting to make Misty feel better about me going around being a hero, I was totally convinced that she was going to call me some form of a hypocrite for just telling her not to do certain things, and then I was going to be going around and actually doing these things right then and there. I was smoking a cigarette as I was looking down at the ground at the store, and I was looking to see that Wyatt was coming into work. I was seeing that since it was getting around near Winter Break, that was when I was thinking that Misty was going to be here and free for many more hours than usual.

Despite the fact that I never really talked about a bunch of our meet ups or anything like that, they did happen. We still did hang out and talk with each other on a semi normal basis. I mean, I felt like we were sort of friends, and that she did trust me, and that I was able to trust her, even if I was thinking that she was starting to see the fact that maybe some of the things that I had told her were a bit of bullshit, and I was feeling awful for the fact that I was bringing her this level of annoyance.

"You seem like you are about to make a really big mistake." Wyatt said, and then he was kind of sounding a little bit bored. I was looking right at the guy, and despite the fact that I was wanting to come off as a cool guy, and I was trying to make myself sound a little bit badass, I was feeling like I needed to tell him the truth of what was going on. I felt like he was the only one who would really understand how I was feeling at that moment, and when I was feeling this way, I decided that I was going to just pull the trigger, and get his opinion.

"So you know of this whole Silver Shell thing that had gone on back in the day? I think that you might have heard about it by this point in time, even though I think that I have tried to do a decent job hiding everything about it..." I said, and then I was feeling like that was the biggest lie of all time, and that I had in no way done a good job hiding this thing at all. Then I was looking right at Wyatt, as if trying to see what his reaction would be, and what he would be saying to this.

"Well, I think that I might be able to trust you enough to tell you this. But fucking fuck it... I was the Silver Shell. I went to Wayside, and I thought that I was doing something decent. I thought that I was being a hero, and in a way, I sort of was being one by going out there and actually saving some people. But I guess that maybe this was one of the mistakes that I made. I just thought that I was all fine and dandy, when in all reality, here I was, going around, almost getting myself killed, and probably getting Misty really pissed at me when she finds out the truth as a level of me sort of being a bit of a hypocrite." I said, and then I had honestly felt like if Misty did not really want to be my friend anymore, despite how much it was going to hurt me, I would have to fucking accept it all.

"I thought that it was pretty common knowledge that you were the Silver Shell. No offense to you at all, but you were not really doing a good job hiding it. I mean, I was able to figure it out pretty fast. You were going around and you were gone from work for over a fucking weak. Then you come back and you are more fucked up and damaged than usual. I don't really care though. I think that you were honestly trying to do the right thing, and the more that you are trying to do the right thing, the more that you are more of a hero than you will ever think of yourself to be. I think that you need to accept the fact that you are a hero. Just think about that for a moment. You actually did something that nobody really actually does, even if they want to do it." Wyatt said, and then I laughed, thinking on how it was kind of funny.

"I guess that maybe to you it was pretty obvious. But I was just thinking about the idea of maybe telling Misty the truth. When I tell her the truth, I don't really know if she would want to look at me anymore, and she would accuse me of being a fucking liar and a fucking hypocrite, which in all reality, I really am sort of being one. But I don't want to make her feel like she is not going to be able to be friends with me anymore. I want to still be friends with her, even if it does mean that I am going to have to admit some things to her that I know she would not really like. And that is what is scaring me, what can I finally say to her that will make her feel like I am not sort of betraying her by this point in time?" I asked, and then after I had asked him this question, I saw that Wyatt was trying really hard to feel like he could help me out here, but I was seeing that she was just sort of not really sure what to say, and he was thinking that maybe I was just over thinking it, and that it was really was simple as that.

"Trust me, when people find out something about their friends, they are always going to be upset at first. As if thinking that the fact they were not told these things is a sort of betrayal of their trust. I think that it does make quite a bit of sense. But at the same time, I think you just need to be open with her. If you are not open with her, then she is going to be even more angry at you. Just tell her how you feel, and then you will start to make her feel like she respects you more, because as a result, she will begin to think that you are the one guy who she can feel like she can talk with. That is what she really needs. She needs somebody she feels like she can talk with. That is one thing that I am feeling like I can be able to say right then and right there, and not really need any sort of confirmation on." Wyatt said, thinking about his previous lovers.

"I know that I need to tell her the truth. I just know I need to. That is as simple as it really is. I will never tell myself that she doesn't need to know the truth. But at the same time, I just feel like if I tell her the truth, she will just not want to see me again, and as terrible as it is for me to admit, maybe I would hate that even more." I said, and then after I said that to Wyatt, I was not at all afraid to admit how selfish I was being, but I didn't really care.

Even though I fully reallized that I was being one of the most selfish people on the planet, I still felt the need to just at least think about the fact that I was sort of feeling this way at that moment. Eventually, despite the fact that I was feeling like I was having a lot of time to really talk with Wyatt about these things, I was seeing that Misty was walking right into the gas station, and then I was seeing that she was looking really happy to see me. I was seeing that she was actually thinking that seeing me was going to be one of the best things to have when I was in Winter Break.

"Hey Sheldon, I was wanting to see you again. I was hoping that you would have been here after your shift was over, since I really could not see you before hand. I will try to change that for the better though. Since I really care about you right now." After Misty had said that, I was looking right down, feeling like this was going to change the moment she found out the truth about me. I was feeling like I was about to cry from the fact that she was saying that she wanted to trust me.

"Misty, I was sort of wondering if you were ever really wanting to be seeing me again." I said, feeling like even if she brushed it off at that moment, that I needed to tell her how I really felt at that moment. I was in no way scared to admit what I had felt at that moment. "I just thought that you were hanging out with Edward and everything. That you never really had the time for me..." I continued, and then there was another subject I felt like I needed to ask her at that moment. "So Misty, how has your hero business been lately? Have you been making progress on this?"

She had talked with me about it a couple of times before, and it seemed like she was sort of making progress on this whole thing, but at the same time, I was still feeling like I needed to try and let me know a couple more of these details, even if they were details she did not want to admit to. "Well, I think that I am doing okay at it. Not nearly as good as I want to say that I have been doing, but I would say that I am doing okay on this whole thing. I just hope that I don't really get in danger from this. I feel like every time I go out there, that there is something else to this whole thing. That I really am creating a lot of problems right now." After Misty said that, I was thinking about a different subject, something that could bring us two closer.

"Well, I am wondering something else. Something that I know can sort of make you a bit annoyed with me bringing it up, so I hope that you are kind of prepared for that... But how is Edward taking this whole thing? I know that Edward doesn't really want you to be doing any of these things right now, so I hope that you don't get too pissed at me talking about this right now... But I just feel like I would not really get my mind off of the subject until I ask you and everything..." I said, and then after I had said that, Misty was looking right at me, as if sort of annoyed at even the very mention of Edward, but then I was thinking that this was silly, since they were friends and everything. Even if they really did not agree at all on any of these things.

"I guess that maybe I just feel like he doesn't really understand that I have my own intentions on this whole thing. I get that he is just scared about me and everything. I get it, I really do... But does he have to treat me like a fucking kid by doing this?" Misty asked, and I was not really wanting to tell her she was sort of a kid, even though I was only nineteen, so it wasn't even really like I was all that deep into adulthood either. But I was indeed an adult, no matter how scary the entire thought set about that really was, and how much I was feeling like I was not really ready to be an adult.

"Well, even though I have never really once hid the fact that I don't really fully approve of your choices on this matter, I have always said that this was your choice, and I will never change my views on that. I always will say that this is your choice." I said, and then after I had said that to Misty, she was thinking that it was so nice that I was saying that, as if thinking that this was the one thing that could bring us together. "I mean, I think that when somebody tries to do something good for the fucking world, that they should be given the chance to do this." After I had said that, I was thinking more and more that maybe she already knew that I was the Silver Shell.

"Sheldon, I always feel like you and I have a bit of a better connection than everybody else here. I feel like you are the only one who gets the fact that this is my fucking choice. If I feel like I need, or I just guess want to do this, then I should be allowed to do this. I feel like I should be allowed to go out there, and live a bit of a life myself. I should be allowed to be a hero. I should be allowed to actually do something that I feel like is the best thing for the sake of the city. Which nobody does." Misty said, and I knew she was talking about the mayor most of all.

"I think that everybody should be allowed to do the one thing that they want to do... No matter what the case may be, and even if I think that you are clearly putting your life literally on the line, I think that the choice is still yours. That is something that even if Edward does not like, he needs to fucking accept this. I think that even if Edward thinks that you are making the worst choice on the planet, that he needs to sort of move along from this thing and deal with this." I said, and then I was sort of laughing at this, and the more that I was laughing at this thing, the more I was wondering to myself that in all reality, what was I thinking to this ordeal that really was so funny. Nothing about this was really all that funny. But I guess that maybe I just needed to pretend to humor myself at that moment, to be thinking about there was something to justify the fact that I laughed there.

"Misty, I know that this may seem a bit sudden to you, and you might be afraid to be telling me this... but I feel like I need to know the truth... But are you and Edward dating right now?" I asked, and then Edward was looking right at me, as if trying to figure out the point to this question. Even Misty was sort of shocked by this, but she was just more shocked that I had the balls to do this.

"Well, I am not really dating anybody right now. Not even Edward. I don't even know if I could date Edward though. Not for the fact that he doesn't agree with my ideas of being a good person and saving people, even though it has worked with all of the people that I have saved, but I think that maybe it is just because I am sort of feeling like he is more my best friends than anything else. I feel like he is more just somebody who I can trust as a friend, and somebody who I can trust just to express my feelings towards. I don't really know, I guess. But I am thinking that maybe there are some other people who are close to me, who I am starting to think maybe be better for me in terms of a relationship... And I don't really know if Edward will like that..." After Misty said that, I was wondering if she really was talking about me or not, as fucking narcissistic as that was really sounding. But despite this, I was starting another cigarette, and even Wyatt seemed to be thinking that it could have been me as well.

Despite what we were talking about, and the fact that I was feeling like there was a big conversation that we were able to have at that moment, I was hearing a loud noise around us, and I was starting to become more confused at this, and I was wondering what we were going to be dealing with at that moment. I was actually seeing the look on Wyatt's face go from one of finding that this situation was sort of funny, but then when he had heard that noise, he was actually getting really scared. "I guess that I will check this one out. Since you both are looking like you need me to sort of clear things up with you guys right now." I said, and I was thinking that even if this was slightly annoying, I was feeling like this was going to be the only way to make them feel better. I was starting to walk on my way down there, and the more that I was walking on down there, there was something else that was going on at that moment, and that when I was thinking about what I was going to be seeing, and as I was thinking about the fear that had spread across both the faces of Misty and Wyatt, a part of me was thinking that maybe I should be taking this shit just a little bit more seriously, and that I should actually be a little bit scared on what I was going to be finding down there.

Eventually, I was down in the basement of the gas station, which I would probably go down to once a month just to make sure that there were no real break ins or anything. It was a issue I only really had to deal with every once in a while, but I was thinking that maybe when we were have to deal with this, that it was probably smart, since not tending to this would probably create even more break ins, and make the whole thing even worse for the reputation of our store.

The problem had only really happened once since then. I was smoking for a bit, just trying to relax myself a bit, since I was thinking that smoking was still the one thing that was really keeping me relaxed at that moment, and then I was seeing that there was a sort of shadowy shape. I didn't really understand what I was seeing, so I looked around for a bit. The more that I looked around, there was something else that was starting to really confuse me even more than anything else. That there was nothing really going on around me, and I was starting to think and get more convinced that literally nobody was down here, and that as much as I hated to admit it, that maybe I was going a little bit insane for thinking that something was going on in the first place. As I had been telling myself that, I was thinking that this whole thing was pretty silly.

The more that I was down there, the more that I was certain of two things at that fucking moment right then and there. That one of them was the fact that I was starting to go insane, and that I was sort of breaking down or anything like that. When I was thinking about the fact that I was breaking down, and that the fucking things going on around me was making me insane, I was thinking about something else right then and there. That I needed to get to these people right now. So I was walking right up the stairs, and then when I was thinking about what I was going to be telling the people at the top of the stair case, but then I was hearing that there was a second noise.

Despite the problems that I was having at that moment, I was thinking that I needed to just check one more time. Even though I was certain that this was going to be a waste of my time, and that even trying this was going to be a pointless ordeal, I was still going out of my way just to check and make sure that this was all fine. I started to check these things around for a little bit longer, but then I was looking up and I was seeing that there was something that looked like a simple fucking shadow. Not even something that looked like that since you could barely see what was going on around you, but the fact is, that I was actually looking at a fucking shadow that was a total apprition.

As this was going on, I was standing up and I was holding my hand out, the more that I was holding my hand out, the more that I was really wanting to have this monster just grab my hand, and then I could start to feel like there was a bit of a shock between us. Something that could make me feel like there was something of a connection going on. The shadow was holding out their hand to me for a couple of seconds, and then I was taking a step closer to it.

Eventually, as I touched the shadow for a moment, I was seeing that the shadow was feeling scared to be touching me. There was a burning feeling, when there was a touch at us. I was feeling so much pain at that burning feeling, and I was wondering what I had been doing to deserve something like this, and then I was pulling myself away. I then looked away, and then as I looked right at the shadow figure, and then eventually everything went away, and I was certain that maybe I was just going through a giant fucking hullicination.

When I was thinking that I was finally going fucking insane, there was a part of me that was telling myself that it was kind of amazing that it had been taking this long for me to finally break, and despite the fact that this was the way that I was feeling, and that I was actually thinking that this really was not all that bad, I was telling myself that I just needed to just sort of calm down, and maybe just not even fucking tell anybody else what was going on, since they would not have believed in me anyways. Despite the fact that I had been telling myself this throughout my entire situation, there was another thing that I had been thinking about. The fact that I was finally making some real progress on something else. That this was when I was going to finally have no choice but to tell Misty the truth. If I didn't tell Misty anything, then as much as I hated to admit it, I would have been lying to her this entire time, and I knew for a fact that she did not deserve something like this. She did not deserve for me to resoundingly reject me this entire fucking time.

But then there was a small part of me that was forcing myself to question the seemingly silly question and kind of retarded for even thinking about it in the moment, I was thinking that maybe there was a small chance that this was actually the truth to what was going on. As I had been thinking about this whole thing, I was telling myself that maybe if these things were actually true, then I was going to have to be dealing with a lot worse than Misty being a bit annoyed at me for not telling her the truth, and I was going to have to deal with a lot worse than people thinking that I was a fucking liar and a terrible friend, and that any chance that I had of being with her being thrown away. As much as I was never expecting to admit this, that did not even fucking matter. The only thing that mattered would have been to save people. And to make the problems here more exposed.

At the top of the stairs, I was seeing Wyatt and Misty looking right at me. They were sort of wondering what was going on. Not that I had gone down there, since I had already been down there, and they saw me fucking going down there. It had been something else that scared them. Well scared was the proper word for Wyatt, but pissed was closer to being the correct word for Misty. As if I was doing something that she really would not forgive. I then looked away, not sure what to say. I was just preparing myself for some sort of lecture when I was seeing Jimmy White coming right to me. As if he had been looking around to find something to buy for a moment, and then he had found the one thing that he had really wanted, and was ready to get it.

"What can I fucking say Sheldon. I haven't seen you in a while. You did not give me a update this month. I was expecting you to fucking update me. I was hoping that you would have more honor than something like this." After Jimmy White had said this, I was looking right at Misty, as if scared to see what she was thinking, and I was totally convinced that if I even looked at her, she was going to just jump towards me and want to strangle me for many, many good reasons. I was then looking right at Jimmy White, and I could tell that he wac clearly enjoying every single second of what was going on.

"I was going to leave you alone about the whole issue if you had promised that you were going to fucking update me on New Years day, but there is something that as much as I hate to say it, that makes me feel like you don't really trust me. You don't really want to talk with me, and I can't believe I am even thinking this, that you don't want to be working with me anymore. Despite how much I have been nice to you, and I have been working with you on what you fucking need, and you are not giving me even this..." After Jimmy White had said that, I was seeing that I was really going to have to explain a lot of things to him. I was going to have to come up with a lie to make him think that we were still good with each other, which I was hoping we were, and I was also thinking of a way to talk to Jimmy White and make him think that we were still tightly connected, which to be honest, I was thinking that we were, but I was starting to think that maybe slipping up every once in a while would not be all that big of a deal. Something I realized I was very wrong about.

"Listen, it was just a simple fucking mistake. I didn't really think that the lack of one update was really going to get you so worried about me. I am still alive, so there is nothing to worry about here. Besides, I don't really think that anything is going on that you really need to worry all that much about." I said, and then after I had said that, I was looking right at Misty, hoping that she was going to be fine with this, and if anything, thinking that it was nice that I had been trying at the very least to be pushing this away, to make him think that nothing was wrong. "I just think that maybe you are simply too worried about my friends. I have really nothing to say against them..." I said, just trying so hard to make him calm down.

"You know, as much as I want to believe you and think that you are providing some insight to my fears right now, I am not entirely sure what to say. But I guess that if you really feel that way about your friends, then I guess that I really have no choice but to be trusting you. I just want to see that you really are being honest with me though. If you are not, then I think that we are going to not have a very pleasant time with each other at all." I could hear from the way that Jimmy was sounding, that he was planning every single word of this out, as if thinking about the way he was going to make me realize what he was saying was a sign that nothing he wanted to do was in this conversation. That he was thinking talking to me about this, and telling me off like this was actually something he would feel sad over.

"Hey, don't worry about it Jimmy. I got this under control. Trust me, if I feel like they are in danger in any way at all, I will tell you right away. I trust you. Even if I don't really know you all that well, I do trust you..." I said, and the more that I was saying this, the more that I was seeing him stare right at me, as if trying to figure out if he was going to fucking break me. I was gulping as he had said that, and then I was looking off in a different direction. This time at Wyatt. I could tell that he was feeling bad for me, considering the situation that I was now in, and he was feeling bad that I had a ton of things to be explaining to Misty now.

"Sheldon, I want to think that you are being truthful to me. I think that you are being truthful to me. But I am starting to wonder something else. Something that you may not really want to say. Something that I think I need to actually start to consider. That maybe you are too fucked up with your mind and your health to actually be able to tell me the truth. Not because you are planning to not do this. But because you are just thinking that certain things are fine, but in all reality, they really are not, but you just simply do not fucking get it. I want to think that you and I have some common ground. But when you are fucked up on drugs so badly, I am starting to think that maybe you can't fucking do this. That you can't really give me what I really even need. That you and I are starting to separate from each other more than you would want to admit..." Jimmy White said, and I felt like he was actually feeling bad over this, as if us having differences was truly a shame.

"You know, I think that you are just simply looking too deeply into this. I don't want to make you think that I don't trust you. But come on, you are telling me that I am just a bad guy. Somebody who can't do what he said he would. Look, I get it... I messed up on a month. I didn'y update you once. But please see that this is the first time that something like this really happened, and you may not want to admit that, but the fact that this has never really happened if keeping you from hating me so much right now. I think that you start to understand that I can be reliable. That I can do these things normally, and that I just slipped up once. I think that when you understand this, you will eventually forgive me..." I continued, and then after I said this to Jimmy White, I was seeing that he was slowly givig up on this whole thing, as if realizing that fighting me about this was just not really even worth it at this point in time.

"Fine... I guess that if you insist that things will be fine, then I suppose that I will give you another chance. You are right, as much as I hate to admit these things, that you have been pretty good on these things so far. You haven't really done anything to prove that you can't do these things, so I will give you another chance, and you better fucking go with it this time. You better keep on top of these things from now on. This is strike one. If you fail again, that wll be strike two. And if you fail a third time, then you know that is strike three, and I think you and I both know where this is going to lead..." After Jimmy White said that, I nodded and felt like he and I totally got it. If I failed again, he was going to take massive measures, and he was going to kill me.

Either he was going to kill me, or he was going to kill somebody else who was close to me. Somebody who I cared about. Somebody who I feel like deserved to be living much more, and I think that both he and I knew that there would be many people on this list, and that he could be able to use that in a way to make me break down, and feel weak and make me feel like I was useless. But as I had been thinking about this, I was seeing Jimmy White walk away, and then when he was gone, I was smoking another cigarette, and then I saw that Misty was looking right at me... I could tell that this was going to be the fight I was preparing myself for this entire time.

"Sheldon, I have beem telling you for the last two fucking years that this guy was not to be trusted. And here you are, basically showing us that you had been working with him the entire time. I seriously do not get what is wrong with you for thinking that I was not going to be pissed when I found this thing out. You had been going behind my back this entire time, and here you are, acting like you can be able to justify the choices that you have been making right now." After Misty said that, I was just looking down at the ground. As much as I was hating this whole situation that I sort of forced myself into, I was telling myself that she did have every single right in the world to be angry at me, and that I should have been more respectful of how she had actually been feeling about this whole thing.

"I know that you have been telling me not to trust this guy. Maybe you are even right, and that trusting him is a big mistake. But I will never really even know if I don't fucking try and see what he has to say. I need to see what he ha sto present to me. I need to see his arguments before I make the true final judgment on what I can really can say about this whole thing. Please Misty, I know that this is going to make you lose any trust in me that you already have, and make you think that maybe you don't actually want to be friends with me anymore, but I hope that you get that this just a choice I made when I was sort of forced to be making one." I said, and I was just wanting her to relax a bit. I was wanting her to not feel like I wronged her. I wanted her to feel like even if she did not like the choice that I made, that I was just making the choice that I felt like was making sense right then and there.

After I started to explain myself to her, I saw that she was still looking mad. "Why did you tell him these things in the first place? I don't really get what you feel like the need to just turn behind us and go behind our back on a daily basis is really even... We are supposed to be friends. We are supposed to be working with each other..." After Misty said that, I raised my hands up and now I was getting pissed at this whole thing.

"But we actually are friends. I don't feel like how you can say we are now. I feel like you and I are actually pretty close. I trust you, and I think that you actually know this. I trust everything you say, and I would make sure you are safe, and I would do everything to make you see that your values are heard." I said, and then I just said "I wanted to keep you safe, and he seemed like a good option to do just this."

"He is not a good option. There is nothing about him that shows that he is a good option. Everything about him is the exact opposite of a good option. He just simply gives off the vibe of somebody who is only in this for himself. Even you, if you don't want to admit it, can be able to over look the fact that you are thinking you made the right choice and see that he does probably only care about himself. That he does only think that his scheme is the one that matters. You must truly get this..." After Misty said that, I was seeing her starting to look like she was about to cry, as if the fact that she was having this conversation was the one thing that she never thought that we would have been having right at that moment.

"Misty, I am so sorry that uou feel this way. I really am sorry that this is the way you are looking at me right now. I get that you think I do not care for you. I get that you think the idea of me doing this is terrible. I get it. I really do. But I think that even if you do not want to admit it, that you know that I would never do a single thing to purposely hurt you. Everything that I would be doing would be to make sure that you are safe, And despite what you may be thinking, you must be seeing that I am keeping you safe. There is nothing that has happened to you at all. Nothing at all, and you are acting like I am wrong for what I am doing right now." I said, and despite the fact that I was seeing her being pissed at what I was saying, I was seeing that she was at least thinking about it. She was at least letting the words be considered.

"You know that even if I have lied to you, and I will say that I have lied to you about many things, some of which I am not proud of, I will still be there to make sure that you are good. Make sure that nothing can be able to happen to you. If you put aside your own opinion on the matter, you will surely see that your safety really is the top prioritry that I have right now." I just waited for her to say something else, as if thinking the words she would say to me were the most important things that I could be facing right now. I was thinking and truly honestly believing that the entire friendship we were having right now was right on the line at this very moment.

"Sheldon, I get that you think that you are really out there for me, and that you are sort of the champion of this gas station. In fact, I will fucking say it, it is great that you feel this great about yourself. I respect the fact that after all of this time, you are this on top of yourself now. At least you look like you don't want to kill yourself, but I don't really know if I would be able to trust you all that much. Especially after you have openly admitted that you have been lying to me for a very long time. That makes me feel fucking betrayed..." After Misty had said that, I was wondering what I could say that would make her see that I was trying to make this all right.

"Misty, I know that everything going on right now makes you feel like I am betraying you right now. I fucking get it. I fucking understand why you feel like I am ruining everything. Please understand that I get it. I would not even be telling you to calm down if I thought you weren'y justified. You have every reason to be justified at what you are feeling over what I am doing... But please, if you can find it in yourself to at least think about it... that would be great." I said, and then Dakota was looking at me, as if considering this, and thinking that the fact I was this open about how I felt, giving such clarity in every single word I said, was something he never saw with me.

"I don't really get it Sheldon. You admit that there are a bunch of things that you did to me, to turn behind my back, and sort of was lying to me... And yet here you are... trying to act like you deserve another chance. I get that you are thinking you are doing the right thing. I get it. I really do. But please, tell me what other lies you have told me. If you promise to be real with me right now, then maybe I can consider where to go from here..." After Misty requested this very reasonable request from me, I decided that maybe I should tell her. Maybe I should tell her about the Silver Shell thing.

"You know, I lied to you on many things. But there are many things that I am not proud of. For instance, and I know you are not going to be happy at me saying this... But I am the Silver Shell. Or at least I was the Silver Shell, before my armor broke after only a week or so of having this. But then not only that, but I am also going out and doing many of these things on my own. And I lied to you about everything related to this friend group, because I thought you did not need to know." I said, and then after I said that, I was prepared for the wave she was going to be giving me now. Feeling like I deserved every single second of it.

"So not only did you work for the one guy that I was telling you I wanted you to have nothing to do with, but then here you are, telling me that you are doing the thing that you said you never wanted me to do, which is now making you a massive hypocrite." Misty said and it was at this poing that even thoiugh she was right and she had a point to be upset with me, that I was still gettimg annoyed with her, and I was tired of her getting in my fucking business about this whole thing, and at that moment, I didn't really care if I was showing how annoyed I was with her about this whole thing.

"I only said that I would prefer it if you did not go after them. I only said I would prefer it if you didn't fight these monsters and tried to be a hero. But I don't mind if you did this. I know that this is entirely your choice, and I am letting you do exactly that. And yet here you are, acting like I am a person that down right said that I wanted nothing to do with this. You fucking know that this is not the fucking truth." After I had said that, I was wanting her to challenge me. I was wanting her to try and tell me that I was wrong. I was wanting her to get angry at me, and to dare act like she had a right to be as angry at me as I was. But then it was at this point in time, Misty was just looking down and then she was just shaking her head, refusing to express anything besides that.

"You know, I never thought that I was going to be getting something like this from you. I am telling the truth right now. I mean, I thought that I could be getting something like this from fucking Edward, or Sam strangely enough, but I thought that you would have acted like me doing these things was me living the dream. I thought that you would have been able to fucking support me on this whole thing. And now you are telling me that going behind my back and being the Silver Shell was actually okay for you to do? To act like I was allowed to be treated like garbage? To be treated like nothing really matters." After she had said that, I kept my hands up and I was feeling like there was no real way she could be able to understand this whole thing.

"I thought that you would understand that I have different things to be dealing with than this. That I have to focus on some other things right now. I thought that you and I were were able to sort of be in sink with each other. But here you are, acting like me doing this is a huge pain in the ass. I guess you never really care at all. I guess that you just think that I was going behind your back and doing these things for you? I was doing one true task, and I had one goal in mind, since that was the only thing I really felt like i needed to do at this point in time." I said, and then after I was telling Misty had said that, and then I was taking out another cigarette, and I was shaking this entire time, feeling like it was time to just release some of my feelings I was having at this moment by just smoking for a bit. As I was doing this, I was seeing Misty looking away from me, as if she did not want to see me doing this to myself.

"Oh my god, I guess that you don't really understand the thing that pisses me off. I don't care why you did something. I don't give a fuck about your agenda. The thing that pisses me off about what you did is that when this all happened, you never told me what you were doing. You never even thought on what it would be like to be seeing what we thought on the matter. You didn't even think that you could take the time to see how I had felt about the entire situation before you went around and did something like this? How would you think I would have felt if I would just randomly find out that you died from what you had been doing? It really would have been one of the worst things that I would have experienced. I don't think that I would ever really be able to get over what that feeling would have been..." After Misty said that, I was feeling awful over the fact that she was saying this, and there was a part of me that was actually starting to consider what she had been saying for once.

I did have to actually think about it. I did think about how shitty it would have been for her to randomly find out that I had died, and that there was nothing that she could have done about this. I was looking away, and then the more that I was thinking about this whole thing, the more that I was thinking that maybe I should have thought about these things before I actually went around and did any of these things. As I had started to think about the whole ordeal more, I was actually feeling like maybe I couldn't really defend myself on this whole thing anymore. I was thinking that I just needed to let her rant at me, and treat me like I couldn't really figure this whole thing.

"Misty, you're right... I never thought about that stuff. I know that this makes you angry. You have every angry to be mad at me over this whole thing... You really do. I get it. I went around and I lied to you. That is as simple as it really is... Trust me, if I found out that a friend of mine did that, I would be mad as well. But I think that as much as you hate it, you do see what I did and why I did it. I just hope that you will be able to move on from this, and you will be able to accept the fact that I made this choice, and that you stop getting all sour wuss about it, and you actually accept the fact that I did something. Besides, this was many months ago. I know that this is not a good excuse, but things change over time. If I had hindsight kicked in, I don't think I would be able to ever do something like that ever again. I don't think I would ever be able to get myself to go in there and fight those people again. Doing that whole thing pisses me off..." I finally said, and then after I was giving off this level of clarity to the entire situation, I was looking right at Wyatt, wondering if he was just going to continue listening, or if he was going to try and take sides. Honestly, I was kind of hoping that it would be the former, but at the same time, if it was the latter, I was thinking that maybe I could be able to see if we were really as in sink with each other as I thought that we could have been.

"I don't really know how I feel right now. I need to really figure this stuff out. I guess I need to know if I can really trust you, considering all of the things that you have said to me... I don't really know if I can trust you, and I guess that with the fact that you have been turning behind my back and telling me off every time that I do something like this, then I guess that I can't really trust you... I don't ever really think I can be able to trust you ever again no matter what I may try to do..." Misty said, and then after she had said that, I was just hoping that this fight can end. "Sheldon, I just don't really get it. You keep sending me mixed messages, and you are acting like I am not able to do something, and then here you are, acting like you can do this exact same thing. I just don't get what makes you think that you are able to do something, but that I am not allowed to do this either... If you would just explain that to me, then I guess that maybe I can sort of understand it. Maybe I can sort of understand your perspective."

"I am not really expecting you to understand my perspective. I don't really care though. I think that you are just too idealistic to get my perspective, even if I don't really like it. I guess that you just seem to think that everything is going to go your way, and that you don't need to worry about the back ground motivation to do anything that I do. Because let's be honest here, and I know that you are thinking the exact same thing, you would never fucking get it. That is totally fine. You don't need to fucking get it. But that is how we have to accept things. We never understand things that don't follow our general narrative. I guess that you will never get why I made the choices that I made. That is fine, and as much as I wish that you were able to understand where I am coming from, I guess that you will just never really be able to see it from my perspetive. You will want things to go your way, and that is entirely fine that you are feeling like this... But I guess it does not really matter now." I said, and then there was a loud screaming noise that sent chills down my spine. It reminded me of the labyrinth, and that was something I never wanted to think about ever again.

"Okay seriously, I am not saying this to come off as a dick, but I need to figure out what is going on right now. This conversation will have to wait..." I said and then after I had said that, Misty nodded, and she seemed like she was able to be on my side at least on this one. Even if we did not agree on a good many things, we both still did have good intentions, and we were both wanting to do what was best for the people in this city, and that was pretty much just how it was going to be done. Us putting aside our own opinions when it needed to be put aside.

I was looking around the store, and I saw that there was a huge knife that Wyatt brought her on the cases he felt like we needed to use it. Since my machete was in the car, and I wanted to waste no time, I grabbed that black knife, which was pretty much a sword, and then I was taking a deep breath. As I was walking down, the more that I was going out of the store, thinking that when I got closer to the bottom, and there was no noises, that I needed to check out the back of the store. Misty was right behind me, and as she was behind me, she was taking a deep breath. "Sheldon, I know that you care about. I guess I should appreciate this better..." After Misty said that, I held up my hand and that was my way of showing that until this was done, we were not to talk a single word more on this subject, and Misty seemed like she was just going to accept that, even though she was indeed wanting to talk to me more.

As we were walking to the back of the gas station, I was scared at what I was going to find. I was holding my hand up when I saw a little bit what was going on. I was using this as a way to tell Misty to not come near, and as much as she wanted to help me, I could tell that even she was not wanting to argue with me on this one. "Stay at the station. Do not leave the station under any cost. When Wyatt ends his shift, if I am not back by then, have him drive you home. If I am back before then, I am driving you home right away." I said, and then after I had said that, even Misty seemed like this was a good compromise. She ran right back in the store, and I was holding the sword knife right out, ready to use it on any case in which I had felt like I needed to use it.

The more that I was bending down, and looking at the woman that literally had her brains blown out, I was placing my hand on her chest and I was feeling terrible over what I had been seeing. Something that I thought I would never see in my life. It was another person that I went to high school with. Her name was Kara. She was a freshmen when the whole labyrinth incident happened, which had meant she was a year younger than me. I looked up and then I was seeing that there was a guy with a smile on his face that he gave himself. By that meaning that he cut the smile right on his face, and as I was seeing that, I was just looking down, fucking disgusted at what I was seeing.

"Have I met you before?" I asked, and I was holding the knife down, ready to not use it. Despite the fact that I was wanting to take this guy down, I was thinking that he and I were not really going to get right to the fighting, and that I might as well actually talk with him for a while.

"We went to school together. You were the one that destroyed the labyrinth. You are a fucking idiot for thinking that you took care of this entire thing. My father was one of the cops that you killed." The guy said and then he said "My name is Jacob. Not that you would really care..." Jacob said and then he held out a knife that was covered in blood. "She was slowly down in her child production rate. Already produced five babies though in the last four years though. Can't really complain too much... I even got to father her last one. My boss told me to take her out there, and get rid of the garbage. That is what I just did. I promise I will not hurt you." After Jacob said that, I was holding the knife down, and then I looked down. When I looked down, for some reason, I couldn't really see here there. As if she had just vanished for no real reason. I then looked up and then i was seeing that Jacob was gone as well.

I was confused at what had been happening. Either they moved away at really fast rates, or I was going crazy. I took out another cigarette, and then when I was smoking it, I was thinking about what I was going to tell Misty and Wyatt. The more that I was walking back to the station, I was seeing that there was something that was being dragged into the forest. This time, I felt like there really was something, and I was following the foot steps, and then the more that I was following them, I kept going at this for several minutes.

The more that I was in this forest, the more I was getting scared on what I was going to find in there, sort of as if I was going to find William's beyond decomposed body in the forest, and I was thinking that I was in no way ready for that shit, and that seeing that would literally be the worst thing ever.

The more that I was thinking about how terrible of an experience that it would have been to find that body in there, I was still thinking that there was something else I was missing. That there was something else that I didn't want to admit, but when I was getting closer and closer to reaching the edge of the forest, I was starting to admit was more than likely to be the truth. That she really was not dead, and that she and Jacob were sort of working together. Despite the fact that this sounded terrible, I was thinking that maybe there was a compromise between the two.

I reached a small clearing in the forest where I found Kara and Jacob, and they were looking right at me. She was wiping her face off, and then she kissed Jacob right on the lips. "I guess that you were just like the rest. Thinking that I would actually kill the person that I was working with. Although I was telling the truth about everything else up until that point in time. Miss Kara has had four great children, one of which was mine, but they were all given up so we could get the money for the labyrinth, and I was totally telling the truth that you killed my father. That makes me want to get revenge at you." Jacob said, sounding more serious this time.

I didn't really want to hear it from him anymore. I was just standing there, and I was thinking of the best way to be fighting them, knowing that this was going to be the only way that I would be able to get out of here. If I tried to tell the police what happened, I would be framed, and that would be everything just thrown away. I felt like I could not trust the police at all at this case. That was something I felt like I really could not do, just actually talk with them for even just a moment. I didn't even trust David all that much, as I was fearing that since he was the sheriff, he was going to be sen down thia path of being a monster, and somebody who I could not really trust at all. I really did not feel like I could be able to trust this guy, no matter how much I was telling myself that he was not a bad guy, and that it was really just the people around him. But despite the fact that I was feeling that way, I just did not take the risk, and I was still looking right at the two people who I had formerly gone to school with.

"You see, Kara was taken in by the business, but I started to feel bad for her, and I felt like I was starting to like her quite a bit. In a more romantic sense. When I started to feel that way for her, I decided that I could be able to make a deal with my father, a deal that could be able to at least sort of grant her protection. When I made that deal with my father, I could tell that he was not really sure how to take it at the moment, but I think he was starting to warm up to the idea of what this could really lead down into, so he eventually agreed with the idea, and here I am, saving the one girl who I really care about. He said that he would release her, but she needed to do something else in return for the business. She was so desperate to stop having her body being used as a sex tool that she went down and broke into the idea. It was easy for him. Anyways, the deal was that he would have her help me track down all of the people who have been enemies of the business, and we are meant to silence them..." After he had said that, I was holding my knife sword thing very tightly and I was thinking that it was terrible how all of these things turned into this type of fight, but I hated even more than anything else that even if I didn't want to, I sort of had no real choice but to do this. I had no real choice but to be fighting them off for the safety of Misty and Wyatt, and I was worried most about them right now, since they were right still in the gas station, probably wondering where I was at this point in time.

Eventually, as this was happening, I saw that Jacob was laughing a bit. "I got to admit, we had quite a bit of fun finding out more about you and your history with your father. You should have treated the man with more respect. You know he has done a lot to be there for you and your mother. He even loved your sister more than anybody else in the world would know..." Jacob said and then that was when I screamed at him to shut the fuck up, not even caring how stupid it all sounded, but the moment he mentioned my sister was the moment I had lost any tolerance for the moment.

"You never bring her up around me again! I tried finding her! I knew I was not a good brother, but she was deserving better than this shit that happened to her. She does not deserve to have her memory ruined by you guys making fun of her, and talking like my father was actually right in what he did. You are fucking sick! Do you know what he did to her?" After I had asked them that question, they both looked at me and they were wondering if I was the one who had gone insane, and that I didn't really see the art in the moment, and that whole look was just pissing me off even more.

"He showed her how much he loved her. He showed her his undying affection to his daughter. That is something that should be respected, the fact that he was not scared to show how he had felt. I think that more people should be like that with their children. Just being there and showing them the truth. I mean, when we have a daughter, I might be tempted to show her the truth of how much I love her. I will be tempted to show her the fact that she really makes my world, and in the most affectionate way possible." After Jacob said that, I was wondering how I lived in a town where I, the guy whow as constantly into drugs, was the guy who was the least fucked up out of every single person in this town, and how I was the only one who really understood what was at least some form of basic morality. But here I was, hearing these people condoning the things that my father did to Riley. When I was hearing that, I was disgusted, and I was never wanting to hear any more of this, for the fear of how much more they were going to be taking this, and how much more fucked up he could really make this.

"I don't understand any of the things in this town. We live in a place where it is considered okay for a father to rape and impregnante his own fucking daughter, the person who was supposed to be the one person he protected. He loved me much more than anybody else, even more than me. He even admitted to this whole thing. And as hard as it is to accept, I do understand that I live in this type of city. I get that. But the fact that you guys are defending him, and acting like this was okay is the sickest thing I have ever heard. The fact that people are acting like he was just in the way that he treated her... I can't even handle that idea right now." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing that Kara was just remaining silent, as if she was actually considering what I had been saying.

"Well, you do know that Riley was rather pretty. I mean there are some girls in this town that I can understand you acting like this over. Some really disgusting ones that are not worth the sex in any way. But damn, if I was old enough at the time she went down, I would have fucked that bitch as well." Jacob said, and then I was wanting to literally cut his fucking head off, and then Kara actually added onto it, as if thinking that she was supposed to be going along with this, and the more that I feared it, the more I was thinking that she wanted to go along with this. As if she was actually as fucked up in the brain as I had been, if not even more... If that was even possible.

"I mean, I am a girl, but if I was a dude, I would be feeling the exact same way as Jack did. I saw some pictures of her when we were visiting your father one day. He was just telling us all about you and your weaknesses. You should probably not talk to him about all that stuff. You know, in general, you should not be trusting anybody like that. When we saw the pictures, we saw how great she looked, and we were hearing of his feelings towards her, and how much he wanted to have her around again. When we saw him feel this way, there was no way in hell we could not feel bad for him. He was broken, and he was obviously dealing witha lot of heart break when he was talking with us. You seemed to ruin everything for him. Not that you did it. That was the one thing that you did that was good. You got rid of that sheriff, who hurt Riley just because her off spring were not really up to par. You should at least give your self that. That you gave your father some decent revenge for what happened..." After Kara said that, and how much they were breaking down RIley and making her sound like a fucking girl who deserved something like this, I was thinking that for my own personal sake, I needed to kill them both off right now.

Eventually, I was just at that point where I was just tired of their talking, and then when one of them was getting closer to me, I just swung my knife thing right after I grabbed them by the hand, and then I saw that their arm was gone. When their arm was landing on the ground, I was looking right up and was seeing that Jacob was sort of processing what was going on. I saw that there was a bunch of blood that was coming right down on the ground, I saw that Kara was running right at me and then she pounced me and then I landed on the ground, and then I was feeling like I was about to have a head ache very soon. Then when I was thinking about the pain that my head was in at that moment, I was pushing her face away from me and then she punched me in the face with her left arm. I then grabbed the knife that was now on the ground and then I gripped it. As I gripped it as hard as I could, I stabbed the knife right through her back and then I threw her right down on the ground after I dragged myself up and then I pulled the knife out. Then I was seeing that Jacob was just shocked at the fact that I had finally had the courage to stand up for myself and be fighting them off. I swung the knife around a couple of times, and I cut his arm, and then his leg a bit, and then I managed to cut his knee right at the point where I could feel the knee crack a bit. After this, I swung the blade right on the top of the chest and then I swung it right through the bottom of the chest, and then after I had done this, I was seeing him just topple on the ground. I was thinking that despite how lame it kind of was that I took him down this easily, I was thinking that I was just beyond sick and tired of dealing with these people around me, acting like I was a idiot. I was just so over people treating Riley like she deserved what happened, that I just needed to let out my anger for a moment. Then when this was done, I placed the knife back in the sleeve as I rubbed the blood off and then I was starting to smoke another cigarette at that moment.

As I was smoking the cigarette on top of the bodies, I had been thinking about how many people that I had killed since this whole thing started. I was thinking about the fact that I honestly felt like every single one of them had deserved this whole ordeal. I felt like they all deserved to die, and I was not telling myself in anyway that I was wrong. I was then walking out of the forest, coughing up and feeling like my throat was giving in while I had been smoking and that I was seriously starting to get closer to dying from the exposure that I had been giving myself to the throat. Eventually, I reached the gas station again, where I was looking around, and I saw that Misty was there and she was seeing how covered I was in blood and everything else.

"I think I should drive you home." I said, and then after I had said that to Misty, I was seeing that she had been thinking about this, and then she nodded, as if she didn't really like this. I looked at Wyatt and said "I guess we will be seeing each other soon. Thanks for talking with me." I said, and Wyatt waved bye at me as we left the gas station. I was walking to my car, and then I was seeing that Misty was still looking right mad at me. As I was seeing her looking at me, I was starting to see something else in my mind. Something that I felt like she did a good job hiding, but now as right there for me to see. The fact that she hated me. I was convinced that she hated me. That she wanted nothing to do with me anymore. I was convinced that there was nothing she liked about me, and that being around me was a pain in the fucking ass. I was thinking that this was going to be a lot of stuff to make up for her, but at the same time, I was thinking that I needed to really try and do this for the sake of our friendship.

I was starting the car up, and then I drove in silence for a few minutes until we eventually reached the entrance of her house. I pulled out a cigarette and started to smoke it as I was looking at Misty. "Is there a chance that you and I are still going to be friends? Do you think that you might even still want to be looking at me anymore? Be around me? I don't really think that you would want to see me anymore. But in all honesty, I really want to make things up to you. I wanted to make you feel better. I thought that as the Silver Shell, maybe you would be inspired in a way to be doing these things. To be going around, as a hero. I thought that you would have wanted to do this..." I said, and I was seeing from the look on her face that she really was not buying what I had been saying. She clearly was thinking that there was more to this than what I had been saying.

"Sheldon, I want to believe in you right now. I really do want to believe in you right now. You are a friend of mine. But when you do this, and you are acting like you can't even talk with me, and you can't even trust me enough to know these things that you are doing, I think that maybe I don't really want to talk with you either. I think that maybe I don't want to be friends with you anymore. I think that maybe you are not the guy that I once thought you would be... And I am sort of feeling like a dumb ass for admitting the idea that I thought you were different from the rest. I can't believe that I actually thought you were different..." After Misty had said that, I was seeing her looking right at me, as if making peace with this whole thing to herself.

"But would it have been really so hard for you to try and act like you were going to trust me enough to tell me more of these things? Would it really have been all that hard for you to act like you were able to really be open with me? I don't see why this would have been the biggest ordeal for you to go through. Just to be open with me. I thought that we were supposed to be respecting each other... And yet here you arem just not even telling me a single thing in the world. I think that you do not really respect me, and I have to admit that, as much as I hate to admit this..." Misty said and then I was placing my head against the steering wheel, hoping that anything could get her to at least try and trust me again.

"Misty, please, I don't want you to be thinking that I feel this way about you. I really don't feel that way about you. In fact, I trust you more than anybody in the world. I feel like you are the only person who really is wanting to make a difference, and make things better. I think that you are the only one who I can bring my hope on. And yet you are telling me that you want nothing to do with me... I just don't get it. I wanted to be friends with you. I wanted everything for you to see that I cared..." I said, and then after I said that I cared, I was seeing her looking at me for a moment, as if really letting the words sink in, and she was actually considering what I had been saying. After I had said that to her, I was seeing that she was looking down, clearly feeling bad for me, as if thinking that maybe she was wrong about me after all. She opened the door though and then she was looking right at me, and I was seeing that she was trying really hard to come up with something to say to me.

"Listen Sheldon, I really want to be your friend. Even with all of the things that are going on right now, I want to be your friend. But with the fact that you are basically openly admitting to the fact that you are lying to me, and that you are saying my opinion and my feelings don't matter, I don't think I would be able to really look at you the same way again. I want to know somebody who really appreciates my values and listens to what I say. Please, I get that I want to be your friend, and you want to be my friend. Maybe one day, when you are no longer lying to me, and you can prove that you are telling the truth, then I might be able to want to be friends with you again. I might be able to trust you once more. If you can prove to me that everything you are saying is honest, then I guess you do deserve another chance." As Misty said that, I was looking right down at the ground, and then the more that I looked down at the ground, I was rubbing my haid.

I was just thinking about what she had just said, and I was thinking about what I can be able to do in order for her to see that I was now going to do my best to really fulfill her promise. After I thought about this for a moment, I was thinking about Wayside and I started to think about the fact that I could be able to get her to see that the things I told her of Wayside could be true. I was thinking about the fact that I was putting my life at risk again, but this time I really did not care at all. I was looking right at Misty, and there was a small smile on my face. Misty was wondering what was bringing this on my face, as if kind of annoyed that I was being so calm and joking about this. But when she was seeing me like this, I was seeing that maybe she was starting to piece it all together as well.

"I think that I do indeed have a way for you to see that I am being sincered right now. I think that if you just come along with me for a moment longer, you and I can have a moment with each other..." I said, and then after I said that, I was seeing that Misty was tired of the shit that I said, but despite how tired that she was of it, she was thinking that maybe I was indeed telling the truth. "Please, Misty, I know that you still feel bad about talking with me right now, but just give me one chance. At least give me this much..." I said, and then I was holding my hand forward. As I was doing this, I was seeing that Misty was slowly thinking more and more about this, and she was slowly thinking that maybe she really should be giving me a chance, even if she was not totally on board with it at that moment.

"I can't prove myself to be telling the truth if you don't even give me a chance to do so..." I said, and then after I had said that, I was actually seeing that for a moment, she was actually thinking about this. Considering what I had been saying. As she had been considering this whole thing, I was seeing her slowly nod, as if thinking that giving me one more chance was not too terribly awful to do.

"I will give you one more channce. Like Jimmy said, this is strike two. You working with him is strike one. You being the Silver Shell is strike two. If you turn out to be not giving me what I think I need to know, then that will be strike three, and I am not going to be holding back at it at all this time..." After she had said that, I nodded, as if thinking that while this whole situation sucked, that even if I hated to admit this, it was indeed a sort of sound compromise.

"Let's get it started now." I said, and then Misty got right in the car, thinking that this was going to be annoying but that she was still willing to give me a chance. She felt like even if she didn't want to admit this, that I did deserve another chance. Eventually, I turned the car on, and then after I turned the car on, I was driving down the road, and I was thinking about how this was going to be one hell of a journey. I was thinking about trying to get her to see all of these things going on was going to be a really big task, but that it was indeed something that I needed to be ready for.

The more that I was driving off, the more that I was seeing her slowly close her eyes, and I was seeing that she was thinking she could at least catch some sleep from this. I was thinking that this was a good idea, and then I was smoking another cigarette this time, and I was thinking that this was going to be my redemption story, and then I was telling myself that she was going to forgive me eventually when she did see what was going on, and that she just needed to be seeing these things for herself before she would finally really fully forgive me, but I was telling myself that it was going to come along soon enough. That she would see that everything I would be showing her from this point forward would be one hundred percent the truth, and that she would have no choice but to start to trust me as a result of that. I honestly thought that this was going to be where my salvation would be. That this would be where I can really change everything for the better.

As I was making the drive, and the closer that we were going towards the new city, the more that I was getting ready to be dealing with this whole thing. I was ready to be dealing with her admitting that I was telling the truth while also getting angry that in order for her to get this truth, that maybe there was a couple of lies that came in here before that point in time, as if she was still thinking that she was not getting the answer she wanted. But I promised myself that this would change for the better now.


	83. Showing Misty The Truth

Part 13: Showing Misty The Truth

While I was getting closer to where Wayside was, I was getting more and more convinced that there was going to be a fucking battle coming up. As I was thinking about that, I am thinking that maybe this was the best choice I could make for her to trust me, but the worst choice I could make if I was wanting to give us any form of safety. So in the end, I was really not too sure what the choice I was making being correct or not. I was telling myself though that we were already really unsafe by the things we had been doing and that was a really good reason to just not worry all that much about this. As I was telling myself to just focus on the end goal objectives, I was able to put aside my fear of not protecting Misty much more, thinking that in the end, she was old enough to probably figure out a way to defend herself on the needs to. I felt like there was no way that she couldn't do the most basic things like this on my own. I was thinking that if she needed to actually think and be logical for a few moments and think about her safety, she could fucking put things together in which she would be able to keep herself safe. I was more worried about myself in a way. I was thinking that there was no real way that I was going to be able to really keep myself away from danger, and that doing all of these things were really going to be a big fucking mistake. I was totally thinking that if I was going to get Misty in danger and if she died or something, in a way I would be feeling like Riley was sort of coming back to my life in a way. I would feel like I would have been failing her again, and I would not be able to ever fucking handle this. I was smoking a cigarette and as I was smoking this one more, I was seeing that Misty was considering a way to try and keep this conversation, and see if she could be able to get me to calm down on the subject.

"Sheldon, I can take care of myself. I mean, I get it, many people still think I'm a kid and everything. I accept that. But I have fought for myself many fucking times. I think that I will be able to defend myself at least a little bit. I am more worried about you honestly. I don't really know if I could be able to trust you to defend yourself. I mean, you are always messing up, and you can't go more than a few minutes without thinking about your next high, and when you want to fucking do drugs, and you always seem to be thinking about when you are going to be having sex next. I mean, you are thinking you are doing a good job hiding it, but I know for a fact that you are always looking for ways to have sex with me. I mean, in a strange way it kind of flatters me, but at the same time, it is kind of disgusting, and I am not even going to pretend that your urges to have sex with a ninth grade student are in any way normal." Misty said, and I was thinking about how in all reality, I never really tried to hide this at all, so her acting like she was able to see some really big thing in me was kind of her giving herself way too much credit.

"I know that you want me... I guess in a way, that does kind of make me feel a little bit better that somebody looks at me like this. It makes me feel like I really do have somebody who cares about me. That does make me feel better. But at the same time, I just wish that you were able to look at me as something else rather than a sex object. That is how I feel like you see me sometimes. Just as a young and great sex object. If I knew that you were not like this, then I feel like I would be able to feel much better over this whole thing." After Misty was telling me this, I was thinking about what she had been saying, and I was thinking that maybe I should be making her feel better. Although I didn't really know how I would be able to pull this whole thing off.

"I am sorry that you think that I look at you that way. I guess that maybe I should have been thinking about what you wanted more. I guess I should have been there and really thinking about the things that you value much more than I already have been. I guess that maybe I am a dick after all. I guess that maybe I should be able to finally acknowledge that I have not been the best friend in the world. I know that I have not been the best friend in the world. But let's not pretend that you are perfect either Misty. I am sorry, but that is true. I really like you, no point in lying about that anymore. I really want to see what it would be like for us to get together. That is something I really want to consider... but I mean, you have done some things that I think you should be thinking about as well. You have not been seeing me much lately. In fact, when I was in recovery in the gas station, you never really went out of your way to ever see me. It was like you never really cared, like you never were friends in the first place. Almost as if acting like you even knew me was the biggest challenge of your life. I don't get the way that you act like I am this terrible person when it really would not have been all that fucking hard to just see me once or twice. Would it have really killed you just to do this? Just to see me a couple of times? I don't really get how you act like I am the one who has all of these mistakes to redeem myself for when you never really even took the time to be seeing me..." I said, and then I was seeing that Misty was looking at me.

"You know, I get that you are scared of Jimmy White, and you hate the fact that I am working with him. I get it. You have every single right in the world to be pissed off over the fact that I turned my back around you and did not talk to you about these things at all. I get that you feel like I really went behind your trust. But don't act like what you did wasn't awful either. What you did was terrible. I don't even care about the fact that you didn't really see me. There are other things that have been going on when we talk with each other that I feel like you have been really letting me down on. Some things that I really feel like you should see my perspective on, and at least try to see why it pisses me off so badly..." I said, and then as I was finishing up my cigarette, I was throwing it out my window, and then I was already starting another one.

"You always just talk about yourself. You always just talk about your problems. Every time I bring up what is going on with me, and my problems, I am only really doing it in a way to show how in a way we can relate to each other. That is the only way I think you will ever be able to work with me, and listen to me, as if you actually will be able to pretend like you fucking cared for me at all. I think that you just simply hate me. You never really cared for my values at all. You never really took the time to just listen to what I have to say. In fact, you act like what I have to say is one big fucking hurdle that you have to be going through. I think that you just want to rant at me for different things, and I don't really mind it all that much. But do you think that maybe every once in a while, I would want you to listen to me? That way, I would feel like my insight is at least being taken in? Do you think that maybe you could have given me that? That maybe you could have tried to pretend to be interested on what I have to tell you?" I finished, and then after I finished this, I was looking right at Misty, wondering what she was going to say now.

I was hoping that she wouldn't try and defend herself too much on what I had been saying. I mean, I did truly mean every single word of what I had been saying. Surely, she must have been seeing the way that I had been feeling. Even if she did not really agree with me, she surely must have been at least thinking about it, and thinking about what I had been saying, and she must have understood that I must have been telling the truth, at least in my own perspective. I think when she would be able to see this stuff, she would be able to understand that I was not really to be fucked with anymore, and that was when she was going to finally treat me with a bit more respect. I was just telling myself that this was what I was wanting and what I was hoping and thinking would be able to happen. Even if she was not perfect, and not the best friend in the world, surely she must have been able to see that I just wanted some form of simple improvement on this whole thing for me to be able to appreciate her so much more. I was seeing her thinking about t his more, and I was seeing that she was actually considering what I had been saying. As much as she hated to admit it, and I knew that she did not want to even thinking abouut admitting it, I was seeing from the look on her face that she was starting to see that even if she was scared to say so, I was telling the truth. "Sheldon, I am sorry that this is the way that you had felt. If I had known that this was the way that you would be feeling, I would have done so much different to make you feel like your values were more important. I can't even imagine how shitty you must be feeling when I do this all the time. God, that makes me feel like such a asshole." After she said that, I was placing my hand on her shoulder, as if trying to do my best to make her feel better. I really did want her to respect herself and feel good about what she was doing, even if I was now going out of my way to show some of the problems that I really had with her, and I feel like I had needed to express these problems that I had been having.

"Look, I just feel like there needs to be a two way street of respect that we can look at and see and understand. I feel like if we can do this, then things would be so much better between us. I feel like as long as we really express how we feel with each other, that there can be progress made between us. I know it sounds silly to be sounding like this, but I believe this is the case. I believe that we just need to talk more, and see what is bothering both of us. If we can do this, I think things would be so much better between both of us." I said, thinking that even if Misty was going to try to find a way to change how she had felt, that she and I were going to try and give ourselves a two way street of respect here, just as I had been saying I had wanted.

I was seeing that from the look on her face, that she was really thinking about all of this. I was seeing that she was starting to think that she was a terrible friend this whole time, which was not what I wanted her to feel per se, I just wanted her to see my perspective, even if it did mean that I was going to be kind of an asshole. Even if it did meant that I had to show some of my deeper feelings on this whole thing every once in a while. Besides, I was thinking to myself that it was hard not to look at her at least sort of like a sex object, after the fact that I had indeed had sex with her and everything, so a part of me was going off of personal experience. I was thinking that she was kind of being hard on me this while time for being a simple teenage male. I mean, when it came to biological needs, even I could not stop myself every once in a while. But I did feel like maybe I should treat her with more respect as well, and I was thinking that if this was what she had wanted, that was going to be what I was going to give her.

"I guess that no matter what I say, and no matter what you say, we are both starting to sort of see the flaws we have. I guess I should be thankful that I found out the truth for this reason alone. I mean, now we are here, genuinely talking for the first time in a long time, really about how we both feel on many issues, and we are both seeing how things are being affected around us. I guess that if we never had these things found out about each other, we would never be having this conversation. I know that you don't really think that I care about you. I guess when you see what I have been acting like around you, I can sort of understand it. But for the longest time, I thought you never wanted to really see me as more than a girl who happened to hang out with Sam, and a girl who was just sort of there, and you were sort of viewing me as a trophy in a way. Like you were excited to have at least one female you talked with. And that was one of the many reasons you were looking at me for the sex, was because I was one of the first females who showed you that there was a even one percent chance that I would be looking into stuff like that. I guess that when I think about things now, I should have been more honest with myself. That maybe you wanted to see me and get to know me because you were actually a good person, and you wanted to make sure that I was fine, and you wanted to actually have assurance that you and I were indeed friends." After Misty said that, I was feeling like she finally got it, even if it took a very long time for this to really come up, and even if this was one of the longest coming conversations that we were supposed to have, even if we refused to understand it at that point in time.

"I think that we just needed to really let it all out. I mean, when there is just the two of us, in a car, then we both really have the time to explain ourselves. I mean, I never really felt like I would be able to get this chance to do this when I was around other people, since I was always worried that they were just going to laugh at me and pretend like I was a waste of time and space. That my opinions were not valid. And when I see somebody who wanted to talk with me at all, and was even sort of caring about what I caid, I was happy. I was happy to even think that I had a chance of making a new friend. That you would be a friend of mine. That was something I was in love with the idea of. And I mean really in love with the idea of. I wanted to make you see that I was appreciating the sentiment, and I guess that maybe I didn't do a good job at all. I guess that maybe you and I should have started slowly, and that way when we got to know each other more, we would be feeling like things really made more sense. I think that I should have been paying you more attention than Edward or the others, since it is looking like you and I are trusting each other more than anything. We are having the most real conversation I have had in years right now. Right in this fucking car, where we are simply not afraid to be saying how we feel. I guess that maybe we just sort of needed the wake up call. And I think that when you see the things that I am going to show you in just a moment, you will be seeing that I am really willing to expand myself, and show you that I am willing to give you what you want." I said, and then I pulled up right where Dakota lived and then killed the engine.

As I was there, a part of me was wondering if they even lieved there anymore, and I was thinking on how much that was going to suck if they did not. I was thinking if he did not, then this was going to be a big fucking hassle explaining to Misty that somebody lived there, but did not any longer, and I was afraid that she was going to accuse this of being another fucking lie. I was really not in the mood for her to be acting like this, so I was just walking right up to the front door. I knocked on it and then after I knocked, I was seeing Misty looking out the window, as if waiting for something to happen. I was taking out another cigarette, and then I started to smoke it a bit. As I was smoking it, I was looking around and just hoping that this was going to be one fucking deal shorter than ever. I was smoking for about the entire cigarette when there was the answer.

I was seeing that Dakota was there, and he was just looking more shocked to be seeing me there, as if he was wondering what brought me here at such a late hour, so long after we had last seen each other, considering the fact I had not seen him since New years this year, which was almost a year ago. "Hey Sheldon, I was not really expecting to see you here. I thought that you never wanted to come here again..." Dakota said and I held my hand up, as if showing that this was the truth and then I was pointing towards the car where Misty was.

"She and I got into a bit of a fight a while ago, and we are still sort of doing it right now... But she decided that she was finally going to give me a chance to show myself that I was not entirely lying about everything." I said, and then I was thinking about what it would be like if she found out the truth of Riley, and then I was telling myself that I can put that one off for a while longer, thinking that she really did not need to know about that one for a while longer, and that she would really be able to probably see that this was going to be the one thing I needed to leave out. I was hoping she would get it. I was having my hand forward, and then Misty was slowly getting out of the car, as if not really sure what she was supposed to do. As if she was thinking that I was telling the truth, and that I had proven my point, and that anything after this point was entirely fucking petty.

Despite how annoyed I was at the way that she was suddenly thinking that she had no real time for any of this, I was telling myself that this was just her way of showing that she was sort of finally giving up on the fight, or at least she was considering the whole thing that I had told her earlier, and she was thinking about what she was going to be able to do to change herself for the better, and how she was going to try and make herself a better friend, because despite all that I had been saying to her, I could tell that she was clearly wanting to see some form of change in her life style. She had finally realized that in a way, she really did go too far this time, and she was wanting to see that she wanted to make up to me for this whole thing. After I saw that she was wanting to do this, I was thinking about Dakota, and our conversation and what we were going to be doing now.

"Well, since you are here now, despite how late it is, and I wished that you got to me sooner, you might as well come in and stay here for a while..." Dakota said, as if he was hating the fact that he was saying this, and as a result throwing away any chance that he had to sleep for the rest of the night. As the door was closed, I was flicking away the finished cigarette on the ground, and I was wondering why Misty never mentioned the whole me smoking thing. Maybe she really did not care all that much about the fact that I smoked, which I guess was one thing that I could be able to say in her defense, that she was able to let me have the one basic fucking thing that I felt like was giving me some form of sanity.

As we were inside of the house, Dakota was looking right at me. "I feel bad for you. I really do. I think all about what you had to deal with, and I think about the things that you had to do in order to make the people you cared about the most safe. When I look back at these things more, the more that I start to realize how much of a great friend you were really. I mean, I appreciated you back then anyways, but now I do even more, because I see the fact that you werre really out there for those people who you felt like were almost family in a way. Well, I should say a better family than how your real one was treating you, since you never hid the fact that you felt like your real family was complete fucking garbage." After Dakota said, that, I was looking at Misty as if waiting to see what she was going to say about this whole thing, if she was going to react, or if she was wanting to see this continue more before she finally made her final opinion on the matter.

"I mean, you really changed things around here. I mean, a lot of things are still going on here... You know, you really did not take care of everything, but you did a good job getting a real start on this whole thing. You showed people that there was still some hope that they could have in the future. That is something that I still feel like was utterly invaluable. Something that no matter what happens next, you were able to really do something great on. In all reality, I feel like we need to appreciate the sacrifice that you made. You nearly got yourself killes to do what you did. And you showed no sign of caring. In fact, you seemed like you were fine with the fact that you were going to possibly die soon." After Dakota said that he was looking right at Misty.

"I think that you really found somebody great with him young lady. You may not really see what he is like, and you may not really see the full value of having him with you, but trust me, when you see what it is like to be with him, and you see what he has done for everybody, and the work that he is willing to put in on a constant basis, then you will see the fact that you really got something. You will see that you found somebody who is not going to change anything about himself for anything." After he had said that, I was thinking about what to do next.

I was thinking about how I could be able to change the subject to something that was more pro Dakota, and less focused on me, since I was there to partially just talk with him and visit him, and talking about these things were always making me feel like I was just sort of a novelty item more than anything else. "Well Dakota, I was wondering how you have been doing lately. I mean, as much as I like you talking about how great I am, and how much this does boost my ego a little bit, I need to get right to business right now. There are some things that I feel like we really need to discuss." After I had said that, I was waiting for his reaction. He took a long nod, as if he was thinking that maybe there was only so long that we can talk about the past before we got to the present, for better or for worse, depending on what we were going to be talking about with the present exactly, just hoping I didn't talk about the ever growing and worsening organization.

"Things have been doing alright enough lately. I mean, I am finally getting enough money to where probably next year, I will have enough to get an engagement ring. I tried to get one for my girlfriend the last couple of months, but there was a break in that happened to our house and since that was one of the most valuable things in there, that was of course the thing that went away first." Dakota said, and I could hear the sadness of his voice coming in. I felt awful for him, and I was trying to find a way to make him feel better. But then there for a moment I was thinking that it was probably for the best this was happening. We were only nineteen, and I was thinking that maybe he needed a bit more time to really know if he was ready to settle down like this.

"Well, I would not really let it bring you down. I mean, for all we know, maybe your girlfriend is already trying to get something for you, and in a way, this is going to help her out since this means that she will be able to surprise you with something that she is going to be getting you." I said, and that was me trying to sound as nice as possible with the whole thing, but I saw with the look on his face that he was not really at all convinced.

Even then I sort of knew that it was a bad attempt at trying to make him feel better. I could see that Misty was looking at me, as if thinking and wondering if this was really the best that I could do for her. Then I was looking right at Dakota, and then I was smoking another cigarette as if trying to get myself out of this. "So Dakota, I am wondering, and I might already know this, if a couple of years ago is any real indicator, but who is your girlfriend now?" I asked, hoping and sort of thinking that it was still going to Ashley. But I was telling myself that it was almost impossible for teenagers to still remain together after all of this time.

"Well, I think that you might have heard of her... Although it is not the girl that you are thinking about. Ashley and I remained together for about another seven months after the whole incident at the labyrinth, but I think that she was thinking that us being together was going to constantly remind her of those older days, and I don't really think that she wanted that anymore... As much as I wish that she would have given me a chance, I do see where she was coming from, sadly... Anyways, the person that I am dating right now is actually Willow. You know, the girl that Jack went on a date with at prom..." After Dakota said that, I was shocked and then I was thinking that it was kind of a good thing he did not have the ring at that time then.

"Well, considering the fact that she is only like sixteen fucking years old, I don't even think she can marry yet. I seriously am not at all worried about proposing to her..." I said, and then I was continuing my cigarette, and I was thinking about how I was a nineteen year old dude that had a heart breaking crush on an amazing fourteen year old girl named fucking Misty. I just wanted her so badly, but even I knew that it was probably smart to stay away from something like that at least for the time being.

"I know, I should probably wait to propose to her until she is our age or something, but that is like a three fucking year wait, and I don't really know if I want to be fucking waiting that long." After Dakota said that, I was thinking that maybe it was something that I could not blame him on. At least we lived in a state where they coudl legally have sex and everything. I was thinking that I had to wait another two years to be able to legally have sex with Misty, but that didn't really stop me since I was already fucking her and everything.

"I do understand where you are coming from. I mean, I am also pretty impatient all the fucking time. I think that there is something about patience being a virtue though..." I said, thinking about the fact that I was not really patient for Misty, and if I were, then I would have been more respectful about the fact that this was the law and everything. But then I was thinking that there was nothing really all that wrong with being out there with the laws, and sort of throwing away any regard that you have of them after a while.

"I am always worried every night when Willow comes back home from work. Since she works the late night swhift. It pretty much forced her to drop out of school. But I am always worried that she is going to come back, and something like the labyrinth is going to come up again. And she is going to reveal that she is pregnant or something like that. Sort of like what happene dto Ashley. I mean, we are not really still together per se, but we still do keep in touch and meet up about once a month or so. Which is sort of my way of keeping up with her and making sure that she is safe and everything. It is the least that I could be doing for her. And the very least for the child that she had. Too bad that the sheriff ended up being her father once the DNA tests were done..." After Dakota said that, he was looking at me, and then he was looking at Misty, as if thinking that he sort of got into a territory that he was regretting now, thinking that maybe he should have kept his mouth shut. But then he was thinking that she was going to find out something like this anyways.

"I guess that Ashley was the last woman he impregnated before I took care of him. Thank god at least he is gone now..." I said, thinking that I was still able to consider myself at least a little bit of a hero for the fact that I had something like this. I was then looking at Dakota, as if thinking that there was nothing wrong with asking him the next couple of questions.

"What was the name of her child?" I asked, and then I was just hoping that Dakota would be able to trust me enough to let me know these things at least a little bit...

"Her name is Carly. She was born seven weeks after Ashley and I broke up. I still visit them on the first friday or every month, as a sort of tradition. When we meet up, we go out and go to the local pizza shop. It is a once a month sort of thing we do. Just catch up on our lives for the last month or so, and then we talk about where I am, where she is, and then she just updates me how Carly was doing then. She turns two in March, and I think that I am going to do something big for her. People grow up so fast. Thankfully she found another boyfriend though to keep her on track. His name was Louis." Dakota said, and I was wondering what it was with all the once a month traditions. First there was me getting the drugs once a month, then there was me updating Jimmy once a month, and then Dakoat meeting Ashley once a month.

Despite the thoughts that were going on in my mind, I was thinking I had heard that Louis name before. I felt like I may have even met him before. I think he was somebody who worked at the Wayside school before. I think I may have met him for a brief moment when I was hanging out with Todd, or at least heard of him during those times.

"How long have you been with Willow for?" I asked, and then after I asked him this question, Dakota had to think about it for a moment. He was actually taken back by the question for the moment, as if all the memories were sort of a blur by this point in time. Then when he was thinking about it for a couple of seconds longer, then he snapped his fingers and he said that they had been dating since February, but they had been seeing each other and he had been helping her out on school and stuff since the start of last year, and then after about six months of them helping each other out, then they decided to go out on a date, and then it went from there. I was feeling glad for him and while I wanted to say more, I couldn't since there was a knock on the house.

I was thinking that it was just going to be Willow. So I felt like there was nothing really wrong with me answering it. So I was looking right at Dakota as if waiting for his reaction. "I haven't seen her come out this early in a while. Maybe it was just not a busy day at the job." After Dakota said that, he shrugged, and then he told me it was alright for me to go down there, and see what it was. He was thinking it was still better to be safe than sorry and everything. So I stood up and then I walked right to the door where I slowly opened it, and when I was heading on there, I was starting to become more and more certain that this was not going to be what Dakot was expecting it to be. But he seemed relatively confident that this was going to be what we were going to see, and I didn't want him to be worried about anything, so I just kept it to myself as I opened up the door.

I answered the door and then I saw that it was a guy who looked to be about sixteen years old or so. He was already taller than me, probably five foot ten or so. He was looking like he was wanting to get right down to business. I knew that this guy was familiar with his blue shirt, white under shirt, and green pants as well as his freckles. I knew right away that it was Todd, the guy who introduced me to the labyrinth all these years ago. "Sheldon, what were you thinking when you came here? I was walking home, and I saw your car coming by... Everybody knows this car since the whole Silver Shell incident. God, you are sometimes even dumber than I could have thought that you were..." After he said that, he walked right in the house, not even waiting for any form of permission.

Once he was inside of the house, Misty was looking like she was just confused as hell. "I mean, when you come here, you are instantly putting yourself in danger. You are already making this a huge problem for yourself..." After Todd said that, I was thinking that I already got this, and that I really did not need the lecture he was giving me right now. "But since you are here now, I guess that it doesn't really matter. I guess that maybe I can help you out right now, and you can help me out. I want to fucking get down to some business." After Todd said that, he was seeming like he was being totally serious, and I was telling myself that it was probably best to be listening to what he was saying before instantly telling him off.

"Well, what were you planning on telling me?" I asked, and then after I asked him this question, I could tell that he was already not even really waiting for me to let him talk, and he was just keeping his eye on the door.

"So I have a friend right now who is thinking she is being followed around. No, it's not Jenny or her mother again. Although I am worried about their safety as well. It is another one named Maurecia. She hasn't really talked with me in a couple of weeks, and I was thinking that maybe I did something that really just pissed her off or something like that. Then today she randomly talked with me, and was telling me she was just worried that I might have been in it as well. When I promised her that I was not, she was telling me to relax and she was aware of that, and that she was just being paranoid. Then she was telling me that there had been somebody who had been following her home every day. Then three nights ago, he grabbed her while she was walking home and then dragged her to his house, and then I think you know where this is going to go." Todd said, and he was placing his head on his face, not even being able to believe that he was talking like this over one of his friends. "She is so fucking young..." Todd said, and then I was thinking that it was funny for a fifteen year old to be talking like this. "She's only thirteen. She deserves something better than this to happen to her on her fucking eighth grade year..."

I was thinking about the big fucking significance of eighth grade. That was when Riley went missing. That was when I started to get into drugs. That was when this Maurecia girl had this happen to her. This was how old Brad and Jenny were, although Brad was some months older than both of them since he was already fourteen. I was thinking about sad it was for these things to be happening to everybody. I then took out another cigarette and started to smoke it. Once I was done with the cigarette, I took out a small amount of heroin in my pocket and then I smoked that as well, thinking about how I was going to need to get a mega high before I did something, think I already knew where this was going to go with his request. When I thought about it, I thought about how I might have met Misty in eighth grade.

"Well, I mean I guess I should have not been thinking I was going to go to Wayside without some form of fight. It seems like I am constantly getting into some form of a fight every time I do something big in my life." I said and then Todd was shaking his head, as if thinking that this was not where he was wanting me to go with this.

"No, despite what is going on, I think you and I both you are getting near your limit with how much more you can be doing these things. I think that there is something else that you can do this time. I want you to tell me how you do this. How you are able to have the courage to be doing this fighting..." Todd said, and then after he had said that, I was seeing the two of us looking right at each other, and I was thinking about how this was one of the most insane things that he could be asking me for. I was thinking that he was going to get me killed by asking me to do this for him. I then shook my head, and I was thinking about how this was one thing that I could never make him suffer through.

"I don't know what you must be thinking right now young man. But the thing is all of these fights are scary. They are things that nobody should be doing. If I had a chance to never be going through all of these myself, I would have done just fucking that... I only do it when I feel like I absolutely need to be doing this. I only do this when I feel like I have no choice but to do this stuff..." I said, and then I was seeing that Todd was rubbing his red hair a bit, and then I was seeing that he was going through the exact same dilemma that I had been going through.

"I know I was not that strong three years ago during the labyrinth. But I was younger and I was more scared then. I didn't really think about what I was doing. In fact, I was thinking taht when the moment was there in front of me, that running away was the best thing that I could have done. But in hindsight, that was something that I very much regret doing right now. This time, I am totally ready to fucking help you. I mean, there is more than just the labyrinth, and I think, no I am almost certain no matter how much I hate to admit it, that Maurecia is going to have this happening to her over and over again until she gets pregnant." Todd said, and then he was thinking about something else. When he looked at me, and there was the faintest hint of a smile on his face for a second, I knew that we both felt the same unspoken desire. That it was a shame he wasn't the one to impregnate her. I was then looking right at Misty, and I was thinking about how it wasn't a shame that I haven't done it yet, despite us having sex. Despite the fact that neither one of us knew it, we both had a lot of the same things, despite the fact he was clean on drugs, and I was totally crazy on drugs all the time.

Despite the fact that we seemed to have a shared interest for a couple of moments, I was thinking about what Todd was saying. I felt like this was one thing that he and I needed to work together on. I was then looking at Dakota, and then I was looking right at Misty as well. "Dakota, what do you think about this whole thing right now?" I asked, hoping that he would be able to work with me on this whole thing, but I was worried that he would not be, and that was what was scaring me. The fact that it looked like he was just not really wanting to get too involved with this.

"I mean, this is the main reason I am always so worried about what is going to be happening with Misty. I am always worried that she is going to get attacked by being out there alone. Do you really think that this is going to be what happens?" Dakota asked, and then he was looking right at Todd, as if wondering why this guy just always came into peoples houses without really asking for what anybody wants him to do. But then Todd nodded, and then he started to speak up again.

"I think that this is a very likely think for you to assume would happen to your girlfriend. Maybe you should ask her about this type of stuff soon. I think that as sad as it is to admit, that there is a chance that this could be the truth, and that she is scared to be telling you these things because she is scared to be this open about everything. As if telling you these things is going to make you think less of her..." Todd said, and I could tell that he was forcing Dakota to be thinking about these things, and I was thinking that Dakota just did not really want to admit it, but at the same time, he was thinking that there was a small level of truth to what he was saying there.

"Well, I think that I should go and talk with your friend if you think that this is going to help me figure things out with her." I then looked right at Misty, and I could tell that we were both thinking the exact same thing, as if she was not wanting me to get away from her at all, as if thinking that I was going to be the one thing that would keep her safe if her fears were going to be proven true.

"Well, since we are here right now, we might as well get started right now." I said, and then I was looking at my drugs in my pocket. I was seeing that I had a sliver of meth, and then I was seeing that my heroin was mostly gone, but I had a abundance of weed and still a whole pack of cigarettes and the six left of my current pack. I then decided to smoke my remaining meth when I went into Dakot'a bathroom.

Then when I was out of the bathroom, I took another cigarette out and I was smoking that as well. "Well, I guess that maybe it is time to start heading out now." I said, and then I toppled down to the ground for a brief moment, and then I started to vomit right on the ground for a very long time, all of the drugs mixing together badly plus the other drugs that I had already taken by this point sinking in. Then I started to stand up and then I fell down again after about ten feet and then I was seeing Todd holding his hand out, as if thinking that this was going to be a really bad situation for us to be in, and that he was now kind of wishing that I wasn't so deeply in these drugs by this point in time.

"I'm fine. I just had a bit of a negative reaction." Then I was looking right at Misty, and I was feeling like my mind was literally going to fucking blow up, but I was telling myself to grow the fuck up, and not think about the pain anymore. As I was thinking about the fact that the pain was not all that big of a deal, I was then seeing Todd just not really sure if asking me along to this was actually such a great idea after all, and then I was seeing that Dakota was just wondering if he was going too fast in the whole praising me thing, and that he was starting to think that all of those good things he had said about me was a honest mistake, and as I was thinking about the fact that he was looking at me like this, I was feeling awful, and that was showing that I had let a friend down. But I didn't really care, since I was wanting those drugs so badly that I wasjust more focused on these things than anything else, even if those things were supposed to be really important and the main things that I should be looking for at that moment.

"Well, since I got myself taken care of, let's get going. You should probably tell me where Maurecia lives. I think that she should be able to help me out if you are there, since she might feel like she is able to open up a bit better with you in the area. At least I hope that this is the case." I said, and then I was wondering if what I was saying was actually true, but I was just telling myself that I was hoping really badly that it was the truth, and that she was going to be able to trust me a while longer.

Eventually, we started to walk outside. I went right to my car and got in the drivers seat. Then when I was in the drivers seat, I was seeing Todd get in the shot gun seat, as if he was thinking that he was the one that needed to be there, since that way he could be able to lead me around. I didn't really object to that idea too badly. Although it was going to be a bit of a shame to see that Misty was not going to be at my side for a while longer.

"I mean, she might not really be super excited to be talking with you. Considering the fact that she had never met you before, and she might not really know if she is supposed to be looking at you as a friend or not. In all reality, I would not really worry all that much about it. Just show her that you are not really judging her all that badly, and tell her that you are not going to tell anybody else what is happening." After Todd said that, I was thinking that this was not really going to be happening since I knew for a fact that I was going to be telling these things to David, since I trusted him more than anybody else in taht entire police force, and I was thinking that he was going to be the only one that I could really trust here.

"I would not really blame her if she feels that way about talking with me. I mean, it is going to be kind of hard to be opening up to a person who you are scared to be seeing for the first time." I responded, continuing my drive, and then as I was driving, I was smoking a couple of cigarettes. And as this was happening, I was thinking that there were a couple of things that I needed to do. Some things that I needed to get across before I really talked with Maurecia. I needed to pick up Willow, and I needed to get a quick talk in with David, to be explaining what I was going to be doing.

I looked down and was still feeling relieved to know that the machete and knife thing that Wyatt had in the gas station was still with us. I was telling myself when I came back, I was going to give that right back to Wyatt, and be telling him that I really did not mean to be using it as long as I had been using it, even though in all reality, despite how crazy it was for me to think, this was still only one day so far, so it was in no way that long. I told Dakota we were going to be picking up Willow first, so he started to lead me down there first.

It took about six minutes or so to get down to where Willow worked, and the entire drive there, I was seeing that there was a level of silence that was growing between the four of us, and I could tell that none of us were really getting what we had wanted. Once I was at the place where Willow worked, which was a burger flipping joint. I think the same one I went to before I had my final battle at the labyrinth all those years ago. I looked right at the crew when the car was parked. "I want you all to stay in here. Don't start to pursue me under any cases at all." I said, and then I got out of the car and then I was taking out a bit of my weed and then I was smoking it a little bit longer. Once I was done smoking for a bit, I was walking right inside of the store. As I was inside of the store, I was looking around, and saw that there was only one person there, and that it was Willow, and that she was working on the closing shift. As I had been looking at her, I was seeing why Dakota was taking such a liking to her. She really was beautiful, and I was thinking that if I did not have my eyes out on Misty already, I might have tried to get her to like me, and to try and fall in love with me. "Hey Sheldon... I have not seen you in a while..." Willow said, and I could tell that she was trying to keep it professional, and I was seeing that me being there was something that she didn't exactly want, but that she was shockingly not going to object to. In fact, in a way, her being there was almost showing a certain level of indifference. As if she really actually did not care nearly as much as she thought she would to be seeing me there. Eventually, despite the fact that she was still sort of not really sure if she was wanting to be seeing me or not, she decided that it did not really matter all that much.

"Well, I was wanting to make sure that everything was all fine. Dakota was telling me that he was a bit worried about you. I mean, is it really true that something could be going on?" I asked, and I was feeling like the fact that I had asked her this was a really bad choice, but then Willow and I were staring at each other. She nodded, and then she responded next.

"You know, what do you want? This will be paid by the house..." Willow said, and then I was shocked at that, and then I looked up, and ordered the number four large combo. I took out a cigarette, ready to smoke the next dart of my pack. "Well, there is something going on, and Dakota may have every right to be worrying. Because it is going to be making the money situation much worse here." After Willow said that, I was then sitting down at the closest table to where she was working.

I had been exposed to this stuff for so long that I knew what she was saying right away. "I know that it sounds terrible for me to say, since I barely know you, and I haven't seen you in several years... But what would really be bad about the idea of just adoption? I mean, it can prevent some really bad things to your body that could be caused by abortion... Besides, it will get the people who did this to you off your back... And on top of that, it can make it so that you and Dakota can still be able to live together under a two name house for a while longer... But please tell me, who is the father?" I asked, and then Willow was looking at me as if she really was not wanting me to talk about this, but thinking that it was best for us to be talking about this after all.

"The father is your fathers assistance manager. His name is Ryan. He claimed that he was going to be my eventual senior project mentor. I mean, he seemed a nice enough guy at first. But then after I met him a couple of times, he took advantage of me. I mean, I am only a junior right now. Well, I would be a junior right now, if I wasn't forced to drop out and get a job and then before this happened. He didn't even just do it once. He did this every fucking night until he knew that I had concieved. He even told me that he was going to force them to adoption, and sell them to a guy in Chicago who hasn't been able to have a child due to infetility. He is willing to pay like two million dollars for the child. I mean, I guess that according to Ryan, he is doing it for the best sake of the sake. But he could have at least told me these things first. He just said that he wanted to make me feel like I was special, and he worded it in such a way that he made it sounded like I was wanted by somebody. But then later on, he explained he had no real love for me and was just doing it for the job. It really hurt me when he was saying this shit. I mean, he did it with me before Dakota really had a chance, and I thought that I wanted to show my love for Dakota by having sex with him eventually. But this ruins that plan. I mean, there is no debate about the adoption. We're giving them up either way. I don't want to fucking raise a child. But at the same time, I am also helping the town by doing this. But for fucks sake, I want to help out in any way possible, I just wish that he wasn't as assertive about how he did it... I strangely did not even mind the whole thing, once he explained it, so it wasn't rape, but I just wish that there was further clarity." After she said that, she continued as she placed the meal down and I ate it a couple of bites at a time while I was waiting for her to continue. It took me about four bites or so before she continued.

"Well, here is the thing. He has good intentions. I felt like he was right in what he was doing. That was why I accepted. We met up every night for probably seven or eight weeks before I became pregnant... That was why I showed up so late eventually. But I don't know how Dakota will feel about the fact I cheated on him for any reason. I am not sure how he will feel about the fact I am giving up my first child for adoption to some rich guy in Chicago for two million dollars to the town. I don't know. I chose to do this, but now I am worried about how he is going to feel about any of this when I tell him this stuff. I just hope he doesn't hate me too much. I mean, I am already three months into the term..." Willow said as she was starting to cry, and that talking with me about this whole thing was just finally sinking in to her, the whole magnitude of what was happening.

"My god, Dakota is going to fucking hate me. He is going to feel like he isn't special. He is going to feel like I did something to him that he will never be able to forgive. But I just hope he sees that I am doing this for the sake of the town... I just wished that Ryan talked with Dakota and I both on this, so we could have came up to some form of an agreement. And he said that if there were twins, he would be willing to bring it to five million, and that on the very off chance it was triplets, that he would let us have the third one that was born..." Willow said, as if suddenly thinking that there was a small chance in the world she actually wanted to give birth to triplets, on the chance that she would be able to keep one of these children. I was feeling like despite the fact that we barely ever met, that the two of us were able to really connect on this, both of us knowing what it was like to be going through this, considering what I went through with Riley.

"I am very sorry that this is what you have to be going through right now. I can't even fucking imagine what it must be like that this is what you are having to be worried about so badly right now. It seems like something that would be coming out of a fucking nightmare. After everything I have gone through, I have seen some pretty messed up things, but never one where literally the entire basis of a relationship is on the line just because you did something that you feel like was the right choice." After I said that, I was starting to finish up the food that I was having, and I was thinking that none of what I was saying was really all that insightful, and that I should have been ashamed about the fact that I was being this fucking not deep at all about what I was saying, but I was just trying to find something to be saying at that moment. Eventually, as I had been saying this, I was seeing that way that Willow was just trying to process the whole situation, and I was seeing that she was feeling fucking awful over this entire thing. I was feeling like she and I were going to have a lot of things to discuss once we were really in the car with Dakota and the others. But t hen there was a part of me that was thinking that maybe I just didn't really need to let them know what was going on and that it should be Willow that tells Dakoat what is going on.

"I guess that I am not the only one who is dealing with these things. As much as it kills me to admit these things. I just wish that there were more things that I would be able to do to make Dakoat see that I care about him, but when he sees what is going on, as much as I hate to admit it, I doubt he will really want to be seeing me anymore. He will probably be thinking that seeing me is a terrible mistake. As if I had let him down. I am going to feel so fucking awful seeing that look on his face. It is going to fucking make me so fucking sad." After she said that, I thought about this for a moment, and then I was thinking about the fact that despite the fact that Willow and I barely even knew each other, that this was going to be one of the most important conversations that she had in a while.

"We should probably get to the car now. I am with Dakota and some othe people. They are probably wondering what is going on to make things take so long right now. I mean, I don't really care all that much what they are thinking to be totally honest, but that is something that I don't really want to create any sort of controversy on or anything..." I said, and then I was thinking about how Dakota would probably be getting the idea in his head that Willow and I were probably going to try and get together or something stupid like that, which was not at all where I was trying to go with this, but I was fearing that this was going to be the conclusion that he would be jumping onto.

"So Sheldon, if you don't really mind me asking, why are you here anyways? I mean, it is not really any of my business I guess, but I can't really help but just be a little bit curious..." After she had asked me this, I thought about this for a moment, and then I was thinking that she was just probably seeing where this was going to exactly go. And as if she was sort of hoping that I would be able to continue talking with her for just a moment longer. As if these conversations, or I should say this conversation, was something that was making her feel better, like I was changing how she was feeling about certain things by doing this.

"Well, I was having this argument with somebody, and she was thinking that I had been lying to her this whole thing on many things, and I was wanting to show her that I was telling the truth. I wanted her to see that I was not lying to her at all. I was hoping that she would be able to believe me. It seems like no matter what I told her though, that she was not really fucking buying it though..." I said, and then after I had said that to her, I was seeing that Willow was looking like this was kind of a shame. Like this was something she was really sad to hear. I then was thinking it didn't matter.

"Do you think that Dakota will be able to really forgive me? I am sorry that you have to be dealing with that problem about your friend not believeing that you are telling them the truth. I wish that you were not. But if you were there, and you saw all the things going on, you know that they are. But in all reality, I don't want to leave this place because despite the criems going on against women, this is still the greatest town on earth. There is still a level of safety and kindness that is here as long as you obey what the rules are. I think that this all you really need to just do. Just listen to the laws, obey them, and actually partake in the things that the people who own this town want you to do, and everything will all be fine..." After Willow said that, I was seeing that she was just saying this in order to make herself feel better about the whole situation. I did not really blame her for this. I mean, it was just her way of trying to justify the things that were going on down there, and I could tell that she was still not really fully convinced on this whole thing, but I was just seeing it was all she wanted to do, was to even remotely believe that this was just the normal line up of things.

"I think Dakota will be fine with everything once it is all explained to him. He will see that you didn't really mean to hurt him. After alll, he already had to deal with somebody who was exactly like this before, and I think that by this point, he will be used to it. He may not like the fact that you were dealing with this whole thing, but he will realize that it was not your fault. Trust me, he will be willing to listen to you..." I said, and despite how confident I was in the fact that I said that right then and there, there was still a small part of me that was not really sure. That was scared Dakota was not really going to be happy about this whole thing. That he is going to accuse Willow of betraying him, and then not wanting to see her anymore. As sad as it would have been for Misty, I think we both knew that there was at least a small chance that something like this could happen.

I was smoking another cigarette, as Willow took a long and deep sigh. "I just hope that you are right. If you're wrong, I don't know if I would be able to look at him again. I think that just looking at him would be horrible for me... Like it would actually hurt to see the guy that I was supposed to make happy, but in all reality betrayed..." Willow then was finsihing up her thought set as I was getting done with my meal. So I stood up and looked right at her as she was actually considering this horror and the entire situation that she was now going through.

"Well, I think that either way, we really do need to be heading out now. I think Dakota might really be wondering what we are doing now." I said, and then I was starting to walk out of the store and then I was seeing as Willow was debating this whole thing in her mind. She seemed to be thinking that I was right, so she decided not really to argue with me anymore as she got right up and then she was starting to follow me for a bit. As I was about to open the door to leave, Willow just simply thanked me, and I was telling her that it was no problem and that I enjoyed having these conversations with her. I told her that it was my pleasure to actually be catching up with her after all of this time. And I was meaning it. I didn't just say that to make her feel better. I wanted to see her more, and doing that was something that I really felt good about.

Eventually, when I was in the car again, I started to think about what I was going to be doing next. "Todd, I will need to do one other thing, and then I will be going to be seeing your friend Maurecia. I just need to get this figured out right now..." I said, and then after I said that, I started the car up and I was starting to drive right to where David was, hoping that the sheriff and I could be able to really work together here, and that he could be able to give me some advice on how I could be able to really make sure that Maurecia and the other people were safe. I mean, I was still sort of wanting to do this alone, but I guess that the idea of Todd helping me was not really all that terrible of an idea. I just didn't really want it to happen. I just hoped that David would be willing t o work with me more, and not brush me off considering the fact that I did create a lot of problems by being here in the first place.

I was seeing that Todd was not really super in love with the idea of delaying this any further, but he could see that I already made my choice, and he decided that he was thinking it would be better not to really argue with me on this, but I could see that he was just hoping that Maurecia would be fine with this delay. In fact, he was sort of wondering if she was going to be happy to see them at all, or if him being there was going to somehow make things worse for her, as if these were going to bring back bad memories or something like that. As I was thinking about that, I was thinking that it would kind of suck if Todd was going to have to deal with shit like that already when just trying to be a good friend for her.

"So Dakota, why did you decide to bring Sheldon down here to see me?" Willow was just trying to sound casual about it, but I would be able to tell that she was still not really fully feeling like she could be safe with this subject around him, as if bringing it up was going to be the worst choice in her life she was going to make, and she was genuinely convinced of this whole thing. I was just thinking of how I could be able to make her feel better, but then I was telling myself that as much as I wanted to get involved, this was still going to be their discussion.

"Well, I just was telling him how I was worried that you were not always safe. I thought that he just needed to check on you, to be sure that things were all fine and stuff. I guess that maybe you don't really feel like you need me around all that much right now anymore..." After Dakota said that, I was seeing that Willow was actually starting to feel just a little bit bad over the fact that she was asking him these questions, but at the same time, she was telling herself that there was no need to feel bad over just asking him a couple of simple questions.

"Look, I just think that I can take care of myself. I mean, thanks for worrying about me, but you don't really need to be doing that... In fact, to be honest with you, I would kind of prefer that you did not..." After Willow said that, I was seeing that this could really turn into some form of an argument if somebody didn't come in and try to tell them to cut this shit out, and just accept the fact that Dakota was just worried about her, and wanted to make sure that she was fine. But at the same time, I was telling myself that it really was still none of my fucking business, but at the same time it was getting in the way of the drive, and I started to think that as a result, it was my business.

Eventually, I pulled up at the police station and I looked right at Todd. "I know that you didn't really want me to do this. I know that you are probably pissed that I am doing this right now... But I am just going to talk with the sheriff. I can trust him. I think that he will actually be able to help us out..." I said, and I did genuinely believe this. Todd was not really sure at the moment, but then when he was thinking about it, he seemed to remember which one the sheriff was, and he seemed like he was starting to relax a little bit more, albeit a bit more reluctantly.

Once I was seeing that he had been calming down on the subject and I was getting to feel better on this, I finally felt like I was given the right to go, so I got right out of the car, and then I was smoking a cigarette when I was thinking about the moment. Once I was getting right in the mindset of smoking for a bit, and that I was going to be able to connect with David a bit if for nothing else, I was then walking right on inside of the police station, and there was a part of me that was thinking that this could have been the wrong choice. But then I was thinking about the fact that if I did not tell him these things, then they were all going to be stuck with me, and that certainly was going to be a bad choice, so I was telling myself not to be worried about it too much.

I walked right inside and then I was sitting right in front of David in his room, and he was sort of shocked to see me there, but not terribly so. "Listen, I was wanting to be talking with you on a couple of things for a while. Some things that I think you really need to know..." I said, and then I was just hoping that David would not tell me to fuck off. I was seeing the look on his face though, and I was seeing that he was being very serious, and that was making me feel so much better. That he was not just pushing me away.

"Well, a guy who I have talked with a couple of times, Todd, I think you might know him a bit, had told me that something happened to one of his friends Maurecia... He says that he thinks she might have been sexually abused. I think that he wants me to at the very least find the culprit. I mean, I am not going to go around and killing everybody. At least not on purpose. But I do admit that I get that self defense is a thing, and I think we both need to understand that. Once I am done with him though, I am going to figure out how I would be able to help this Maurecia girl be fine, and not feel like everything in the world is goint against her. I know how that feeling is, and I don't really want that to happen either. I will just do my best to make sure that I can keep her safe and find who did this. I am just more worried about the people that are with me right now. I am wondering if you are going to be able to keep them safe for the time being. I mean, there are two sixteen year olds, a fourteen, maybe fifteen year old, and Dakota. I don't really trust any one of them too much." After I said that, David was thinking about this. He nodded, as if thinking that he was going to be hating this agreement, but he seemed to understand that there was no point in forcing me to not do this.

"Fine. Just make sure that you don't do anything too stupid. I mean, I will not really get too serious with charging you on many things. But I am not going to give you a free pass. If you are directly hurting people for any reason, and getting in the dafety of the general town, you will know for sure that I am not going to let that just happen. But I think that you already understand this..." After David said that, I held my hand up, as if to show that I got it, and that I didn't really need to be reminded too badly on these things. I got up and then I was looking down at him, thinking that there could be other things I could talk with him on.

I didn't really know what else I could talk with him on, thinking that the idea of pursuing many of these subjects were going to be a bad choice, but at that point, I was thinking it did not really matter if these were bad choices or not. If this was going to piss him off, he needed to get a fucking grip on his life. I mean, he was the fucking sheriff. He needed to be taking this whole thing much more seriously as well. "David, I know that you are worried about placing your life on the line and everything, but that shit won't fucking matter if you are not going to actually try and fix the problems going on in this fucking town. You need to finally get to business, and you need to see that sitting on your fucking ass is not really doing anything to help you at all. I mean, I know that I am coming off as a bit of a hard ass. But my sister died and it is because nobody did anything. She has been gone for several years. I am almost four years older than my sister will ever be, and it is just the reality that I am going to have to live through. I have yet to be seeing her only living child, her six year old son Tucker. I need to see him, since I feel like doing so will be the only way to actually to actually place all of these things behind me. I just need you to be working with me right now. But when you are telling me that things are going to be fine, and you tell me not to be pusuring these things, it makes me feel like you might not even really care about what is going on..." I said, and I was just not caring at all if he was going to get mad at me or not. I wanted to express how I felt, and if this was going to get him mad at me, then so fucking be it. He can be a hard ass to me about these things later I suppose. But I needed to fucking get my position across. I needed to get him to see that I was being utterly serious about everything that I was saying. I was seeing that he was just not really sure what he was going to say in order to defend himself.

"I am very sorry for what happened to Riley. I can't fucking imagine what it would be like if I was the one who had this happen to their sister. It must be one of the hardest things to deal with in the world. But I am the sheriff. If I die, then there will be a deputy who will take over and I have a terrible feeling that he might be even worse than Garrett. At least Garrett seemed like there was some care he had in some of things that Todd was telling him about, even if it was entirely for his own selfish purposes. At least it looked like he might have cared a little bit. The deputy under me looks like he couldn't give less of a shit." David said and then I pounded my hand son the table, and I was just not really caring how angry he was going to be at the way that I was reacting.

"Listen, I am the fucking guy who has been fighting for his life every fucking day since this whole thing was exposed to me. I think I have more of a right to tell you to get to fucking business than anybody else. I think that you have no real right to try and tell me off right now, since I am the one who is trying to make your fucking town safe. I feel like I am the one who gets it better than anynody else." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing the look on David's face, and I could see that he was having a comination of feeling geuinely sorry for me while also getting a bit annoyed that this was the way that I was going to be treating him, as if he was annoyed that I was thinking I had the right to be acting like this to the sheriff.

"I just want to see justice brought here. I just want to know that my fucking sister didn't die invain. Is that really too fucking much to be asking for? I asked, and the more that I was pestering him on about these subjects, the more that I was wanting to see what he was going to say. The more that I was wanting to see how much I would be able to push him to being just way too pissed off at me.

"I get that you are worried about your sister, and that you wish she was avenged, but I think that you and I both know that going in crazy like this is not smart at all. I think we both know that this would be a very big mistake. You may try and act like things are all cool and that there is nothing wrong with doing shit like this, but don't really fool yourself too badly. You know that we are both getting very close to fucking dying just by doing these things. So please just spare me the fucking lecture of how I should be doing my job. I am already having a hard time making sure that the people don't fucking die. I have a lot of things that I have to worry about. I have a lot of things that I have to sacrifice just as much as you do. If not even more." After David said that, I was thinking that there was going to be a short moment in which we could connect, but then I was telling myself that this was just the sheriff, and I should never get too attached to him under any cases.

"I get that you have a lot of things that you are worried about. I am sorry if I am coming off as an asshole right now. I am really sorry if you think that I am over whelming you a bit. But I just want to make sure that you were the right choice to be taking this whole job over, and while I wouldn't say you were the wrong choice, I do have to admit that there is a little bit of worry that I have with this whole thing right now. I want to like you, and i want to trust you, but at the same time, I am just not really all that sure yet. I just feel like I need to see you in action a bit more before I can really say that you were going to be the fucking hero of the fucking day." After I said that, I was waiting for him to get angry at me, and I was waiting for him to tell me to get the hell out of there. But I was seeing that he was just sort of feeling bad for me, as if he was finally starting to try and see what things were like in my perspective. I was thinking that he was just trying to understand me at least a little bit.

"Listen Sheldon, I get that you are really angry right now... I think that I would be angry as well if I was seeing a bunch of these things. But I think that you and I both know that we need to be playing this the realistic game. That we both need to be taking this slowly. I think that this is going to be the only way we will actually get through this whole thing, the only way that we will both actually survive. Is to just take things easy. And to just make sure that we survive. If there is one thing that I think we both know deep down is that nothing is really going to really go well until we actually realize how we are going to be doing things in which we can both survive. I get that you think that dying is not the worst thing in the world, and that you think you somehow deserve it, but trust me, I need you to stay around as much as you need me to start looking at this job more seriously. We both need to work with each other a bit. So please don't get killed out there." David said, and despite how much I was wanting to fucking blow my brains out, I knew that he was right. I nodded, and then I walked out and then I went to the car where I started up the engine to go to Maurecia's house, where Todd was leading me there by promise.


	84. One Hell of a Strange Town

Part 14: One Hell of a Strange Town

It didn't really take all that much time to finally reach Maurecia's house and I looked right at Todd as I parked at the front yard. "I want you to come in with me. Even if she has a hard time opening up to me, and she feels worried about talking to you about this, I think that if you support her and make her feel like she is safe to talk with us about this, then I think we will be able to really make some progress on this..." I said, and then I was seeing that Todd was looking down and then he nodded. He didn't want to force Maurecia into any of this, but he was thinking that it was impossible to really argue with me on the stuff that I was saying, so with that, he opened his car door up.

I then looked right at Dakota and the two ladies that were in the car. "I want you guys to just be safe. That's it. Do whatever you think is going to keep you safe... I bet that if people are looking for me, they might be trying to find you, and as a result, your house will no longer be safe. But I think that there is one place that can keep you safe." I said, and then I pulled out twenty dollars from my wallet. "Just go to the local hotel. I trust that this place can keep you safe for a couple of hours, even if they start to suspect you eventually, I think they take too long to really find you guys right away." I said as I was thinking on if this was a good idea.

"If we see any cars driving by and they look like they might be related to the people in this organization, then we will. But I think things will be fine enough to wait for just a few minutes." Dakota said, and I figured that this was the bets compromise possible, so I decided that I was not really going to argue with him about this, even if I had felt like this was a terrible idea.

"Fine, do whatever you feel like you need to do. Just please make sure that the girls are safe..." I said, and the idea of them being in danger was really hurting me in on the inside. I really did not want something to happen to them, no matter what that was going to require. I then got right out of the car and then I went to the front door of the house and then I knocked on it. Todd was standing right at my side, and he was placing both of his hands at his side. I was seeing that he was trying to look cool and collected, but the things going on in his mind were really anything but this. I could see that his mind was running at a fucking million miles per hour, trying to process the entire situation that he was in at that moment. Once the knock had a few seconds to settle, there was and answer and I was seeing a girl wearing a red dress with a blue skirt and blue hair and she was looking like she had fought a fucking rhino. I was seeing as she was just trying to keep her calm and composure together. When she saw Todd, she hugged him right away, and I saw that for once, he was just not going to try and fight it off. As if he was thinking that he better suck it up this one time. Eventually, Maurecia let us through into the house and then she was looking right at me.

"Who is this guy right here?" Maurecia asked, and I could tell that she was just trying to be safe for her own sake. I was not taking any fucking offense to this whatsoever, and sadly I was able to see why she was feeling this way.

"I am somebody who Todd has worked with a couple of times. I think that he trusts me enough to talk with you for a while. I heard about what happend with you. He knows my methods, and he knows that I am not going to just sit here and let shit this like fucking slide..." As I was saying this, I was seeing from the look on her face that she was starting to believe me a little bit, and as a result, open up with me a little bit more than she thought that she would have.

"Yeah, I guess that there is nothing too wrong with talking with you right now. I just feel like I can't really process anything that is going on. I mean, I thought that nothing would ever happen to me. I mean, I hear stories about this stuff happening to other women all the time, and I know what happened to Jenny's mother, but I think that it is still not what anybody should be expecting to be dealing with this on their owm..." After she had said that, I was thinking about this, and I was finding there was no way in the world that I could argue with her on this whole thing. There was absolutely no reason for her to be dealing with this at all, and the fact that this was her life, and that she was now dealing with this was something beyond painful. I then looked at Todd, and I was sort of wondering if he had anything that he could say to help me at that moment, and if he and I were going to really be able to work this out as much as I was hoping.

"Well, no matter what the case is, I am going to be here to be helping you out right now. There is nothing to it but that. I am going to make sure that whoever did this to you understands that this is totally unacceptable, and I am going to make them suffer." I said, and then after I had said that, I was truly meaning every single word of what I had been saying. Eventually, I was seeing that Maurecia was starting to sort of embrace the idea of me being there to help her out. As she was thinking that it was better to have me there for her than nobody at all, she was then thinking about what the guy who had done this to her looked like, to see if she would be able to help me out much at all.

"Thanks Todd for being there for me. If you were not, I don't really know what I would be feeling in life right now. I think that I would honestly want to fucking die. As much as that is terrible for me to admit. But to know that at least one person is there to believe me... That is something that I will never let down..." After she had said that, Maurecia was thinking that the introductions had been going on for long enough, and that it was time to get right down to business.

"So what did the guy look like? That is the best way to start me off right now..." Todd asked, and while I was thinking that it was odd he started this for me instead, I was still telling myself that this was him just being out for his friend, and that this was just his way of showing that he was meaning business, and that he had no desire to be messing around at all. Then Maurecia was just sitting down on her couch, and then after she was thinking these things through a bit, I could tell that there was a small part of her that was not sure if she was fully ready to trust me or not.

"Well, he looked like a middle aged guy. Probably early forties. He had brown hair, green eyes, and was probably about six feet tall or so." Maurecia said, and then after she had said that, Todd was thinking that this was good decription at all. But then I was thinking about an idea that I was having that sounded insane at the time, but in hindsight was actually a pretty good idea, and one of the best ideas that I had.

"Todd, I think that when we are done here, I should drive all of us back to Tremorton. Then when you guys are there, I have a friend who can probably be able to help us out. Or at least the two of us. Then we can come right back down to Wayside, where we can continue doing this looking. Maybe everybody can hide out at my house or something..." After I had said that, Todd was thinking that while this was random and a bit strange to do this late at night, I could tell that he was sort of seeing the logic to this whole thing. So when he was thinking that maybe this whole thing could work, he nodded and then he was looking right back at Maurecia again.

"Sorry for the interupption. But we have a lot of stuff to plan out right now. What were you saying just a moment ago?" Todd asked, knowing every single word of what she had said, but he was just trying to get the conversation back to where it was at originally. He was not even all that annoyed that I did changed the subject like that. But he was wanting to make it clear that Maurecia was still the main focus that he had, not that I really had a problem with that. I was having more of a problem that he was sort of giving off that impression that nothing else mattered as long as she was safe, as if that was the only thing that mattered at all. I wanted him to pay at least some attention to the other people that were in the area.

"Well, I think he had been following me for a while. But I was kind of stupid at first. I just sort of assumed that he was going to work or coming home from work at the same time that I was... For some reason, I was not really able to figure out the real intentions that he had, and I can't believe that I was this fucking naive about the whole thing. Anyways, eventually, he was talking with me one night, and he was seeming nice enough. Now before you say anything, I get the whole idea of don't talk to strangers. I already knew that, and I don't really need to be reminded of this right now. But I didn't really think there would be anything wrong with just casual talk here and there. I thought that if anything, small casual talk was to be encouraged. I know that this is a bit of a stupid thing to assume, but I was just trying to be nice with him. Is there anything wrong with that?" After she was starting to get all defensive about this, I was seeing that Todd was trying to be annoyed at her, but at the same time, when he was hearing her, he just could not really get himself in that mindset.

"I just didn't really think that there was anything wrong with talking to him a little bit. Honestly. I guess that maybe I should have been smarter about things when I look back at it, but is there really something so wrong with thinking that people are not all fucking evil?" Maurecia asked, and then she was getting ready to stop feeling sorry for herself and to continue talking, despite the fact that sh ewas clearly holding some tears in as she was talking, and I was feeling like I was watching a train wreck, and that it was not even really her fault at all.

"Well, anyways, I just talked to him once, and that was what I thought that it would be. I never thought for even a minute that it would be anything else than that. But he was following me more often than I would have wanted him to. At this point in time, I was able to start to see that there was something going on. That he clearly was wanting to do something else. That he was having some really bas intentions to do something with me. But I just simply ignored him, and the more that I did this, it was seeming like for a while, he was not really looking at me. I thought that I was safe eventually, although I was still keeping my ground up. It was only after about a month or so of this when he eventually grabbed me, and then he took to me to his house by carrying me over, and since nobody else was really around, they could not do anything, even if they had wanted to. Then he just had his way with me when I was there. As if I was not anybody with real fucking feelings. As if even the idea of me being a normal person with human feelings was something he did not really comprehend. And that was a couple of days ago. And when I saw him, he said that he was going to do this once every few days until I got pregnant, since he had a job that he needed to fulfill, and that I was going to be the person that he was going to use to fulfill his job. And the thing is, I totally believe in him..."

I was looking right at Todd, and I was just wanting to see what he was thinking, but when I was looking at him, I was just not really seeing any fucking reaction coming out. It was as if he was feeling total fucking indifference. Then he was glancing right at me, and then I saw that if anything, there was something in him that was thinking he was not really going to be able to do anything to help her out, as if even the idea was wrong.

"Well, I think that you should just keep yourself away from him. I know that this is easier said than done, but I think that maybe going down a different route will be able to take care of that at least for the time being... But I think that I am still going to be looking for him. Sure the description is vague, but I think that maybe if I am lucky, I can find somebody that will be able to fit at least the basic bill that you have. And when I get the sheriff to be working with me, I think that he can start to crack down on this case a bit more, which you may not think is a great idea, but the thing is, it is always nice to have at least one person at your side just in case something were to go wrong..." I said, and then I was standing up and starting to smoke another cigarette, ready to start to get right down to business.

"I think that the longer that we wait here, the more that there is a chance that somebody wull be coming after me. I am going to bring you guys to my house about an hour away. I want Maurecia to not leave the house under any cases. I am going to let Dakota be aware of this... But I don't really know what else I can do besides just that..." I said, and then I saw that Todd was starting to slowly accept the idea of doing things my way more, even if he was still thinking that he would rather have it be done a different way, he was thinking that it was a decent starting place if for nothing else.

Todd was getting himself up, and I could tell from how he was getting up that he was in a little bit of pain. Not enough to make him want to stop what he was doing or anything like that. But enough to show that he was not really going to be thinking that this was a walk in the park. I was walking right out of the house, and then the more that I was walking out of the house, the more that I was seeing Maurecia was just placing her head on Todd's shoulder, as if thinking the man in front of her was going to the only one who would be able to keep her safe. As much as I hated to admit it, and no matter how much I was wanting to tell myself that I could keep her safe, a part of me was just keeping it to myself, thinking that she would be sadly right on this whole thing.

"Todd, I just don't want to be worried about him anymore. I want to feel like I can go around this town and still be safe. Is that really too much to be asking for? I just want to be able to hang out with my friends, and I just wish that I could be able to be here and feel like I am safe. If I had that feeling, then I would feel like being around you and the rest of the crew was worth it. I mean, think about what happened to Steven and Kevin. I mean, Kevin just left the town because he felt like this town was just too scary to stay at..." After she said that, Todd was just placing his hand on her shoulder and then he was moving her a couple of inches away, but just so he would be able to look at her directly. Just the face was enough for her to understand that he was going to do his best to keep her safe and then he kissed her forehead and then after that, they followed me down the stairs, and they were both ready to head to Tremorton for their first time.

I got right in the drivers seat, and I was wondering if we were just not in the house for a very long time at all, and that as a result, they never even had the chance to leave even if they had wanted to do something like that down the road. "Dakota, I'm bringing you all to my house. I think that this can be a good place to hide. All the way in a different town entirely. I also am going to be bringing some people along with Todd and I as we start to look around for ways to figure out what is going on..." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing that Dakota was not really in love with the idea of us going out there alone, but I was seeing that he was able to see that this was just a way to actually keep Willow at least safe, and then I was seeing Misty and when I was looking at her, I was seeing that she was wanting to argue with me.

"Sheldon, you made your point. You were telling the truth. But do you really need to be going around and possibly put youe entire life at risk to prove that you are not a bad guy? You made your fucking point." I was hearing from the way that she was saying this that sh ewas clearly trying to hide the sadness in her voice, as if scared of what was going to happen to me.

"Listen Misty, I get that you are thinking that this is all a part of some stupid petty argument that we had or something, but I am trying to actually keep these people safe. And since you are with us as well, I also want to make sure that you are safe as well. So please for fucks sake, don't make this about me. And don't make this about any argument that we were having earlier. I simply do not care at all." I said, and I was telling from the way that she was looking right at me, that she was thinking it was best not to fight with me on this.

"I'm sorry. I am just worried about what can happen to you if something like this were to hurt you more..." I heard that she was being serious, and that she was thinking something happening to me was going to be the worst thing in the world.

"If something were to happen to me and Sam, tell Edward what is going on. If I am not back home by noon tomorrow, tell him what is going on, and tell him to come down with anything he can use to fight. Tell him he can even bring Brad and Wyatt if he really wanted to..." I said, and I was thinking that Wyatt had no real chance of happening, but I was thinking that just doing this was a way to show that I was trying my best to keep her safe while also taking advantage of some pretty strong people as well.

I took out another cigarette and started to smoke it as I started the car up and I was starting to drive down the path way towards where I had once lived. The more that I was driving down there, the more that I was starting to become more and more convinced that no matter what choice I was going to make, that there was going to be a grave fucking mistake that would come along with it. Despite the fact that these were the thoughts that I was having, I was thinking that this at the very least was better than just leaving them in the town for something to fucking to happen to them and everything.

The entire drive was just keeping on edge. I was just sort of scared of what was going to be happening when the police would find out that I was here. If anything, when the police found out, they were going to find a way to make me suffer even worse. I was telling myself that as long as David was with me, and as long as he was helping me out, I was telling myself that I was making the right choice. I was telling myself that David was going to find a way to make it so that I could be slightly safe when I was doing these things in general.

No matter what I was thinking during the drive though, I eventually reached where my house was in Tremorton. During the ride, Dakota was trying to get to know Misty a bit more, since they only really met during the whole new years party. I could see that Todd was not at all thinking about small talk, and that he was more focused on what could happen with Maurecia. I was thinking that Todd needed to relax a little bit more, and I was thinking that he was needing to just see that everything was going to keep her safe. But then as I was telling myself this, there was a small part of me that was starting to think that it would be really scary if I was here, and if I was in the same situation as he was. I was telling myself not to get too annoyed with him, even though I was starting to get a bit more confused on why he was taking this more seriously than I was, and that he was acting like he had been going through much worse than I had been.

"Well, I think that there is one thing that is good about the idea of coming to your house. I mean, you do have a good point in that coming here was not a bad idea in the way that there will probably not be all that many people who are going to be showing up as well. So I think that maybe you should just leave, and not make any fucking case about you being gone. I think that if you do this, then people will just think that you are living a normal life." Misty said to me, and I could tell that she was just trying to out aside any bad feelings that she was having, and any of that argument was just starting to go away.

"I guess that maybe I can do something like that..." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing Dakota getting out of the car first, and he was looking at the other three ladies, as if thinking that being here with them was going to be a little bit annoying, and that he wanted to be helping me out more, and that he shoudl have been there instead of Todd, but I was seeing that he was able to accept the fact that the choice was already made, and that there was no point in trying to make a fight about it.

"Todd, don't feel like you are forced to do anything that will place you in danger." After she said that, I was thinking that Todd was going to try and find some edgy way to defend himself, as if acting like this was the one thing he needed to do in his life. Even though I was thinking that this could be a little bit annoying to deal with at that moment, a part of me was thinking that she just wanted to make extra sure, as if thinking that the worst could still easily happen. Even though I was saying that I was kind of finding it to be annoying that they were doing this right now, I knew that she was right. That this was possibly the last time that they would ever see each other...

"Yeah, I am going to be fine. Just don't do anything yourself. I don't want to hear any stories about what you are doing right now. If I find out that something is happening to you, then I would be pretty mad." Todd said, and I could tell that he was saying this in a way with an edge to his voice that was intentional because he wanted to prove his point that this was something that he was not going to be fucking with at all. After he had said that, I saw everybody out of the car as Willow thanked me for the conversation we had earlier, and then I smoked a big fucking cigarette and then I was ready to start heading on down to where Sam had lived, thinking that it was time to get right to work.

When I was going on my way to Sam's house, I was thinking about how it had been a while since I had last seen him, and I was thinking that in a way, I was kind of being a dick by just randomly coming up and then asking him on a bunch of questions, as if I was just using him around again. I was thinking that it was terrible that I had been treating him like this. I was smoking the cigarette and then I was looking right at Todd. "I know that you are worried about Maurecia. Don't worry, I fucking get it... But do you think that there is a slight chance that we kind of over thought it? Do you think that there is a chance that there really is nothing coming after us right now?" I asked, and then after I asked the younger man this question, he was just remaining silent for a while and then he just gave a few simple words.

"I don't really know. I guess it is possible that we might be able to get people to really believe in us. I mean, it is also entirely possible that nobody is really out against us right now. I don't really think that this is the case though. I think we both know for a fact that things are going on right now that is putting our entire friend group at risk, and even trying to act like this is not the case is honestly kind of criminal." After Todd said that, he was just looking forward. He was refusing to look at me as if looking at me was sort of the worst thing that he can do for himself. I was smoking the last bit of the cigarette when we were getting close to where Sam had lived.

"I guess that you are right. I just wanted to sort of make myself feel better. I wanted to make it sound like there was at least a chance that nothing bad was happening. I guess that I am lying to myself though... Or at least there is a very high chance that I am lying to myself. But in all honesty, I don't really know. I feel like there comes a point where really nothing is as bad as I think that it might be. That maybe there is going to eventually be something that will go in my fucking favor. Even if I know that this is a bit silly for me to really assume. But god damn, I am allowed to get some hope for the situation right now, aren't I?" I asked, and then after I had been asking him this question, I was looking to see what Todd was going to be saying. I was wondering if he was thinking at all in the same level that I was. I was wondering if he even thought for a moment that I was reasonable about just simply wanting things to be fine. Even though I was thinking that Todd was not really fully on my side on this thing, I was seeing that he was just trying to convince himself that there could be a small chance that this was right.

"But I just think that no matter what the situation may be, we should always be looking out for what we are doing right now. That we should always be careful about the things this town is throwing at us. I think that there is nothing wrong about being a bit careful at least. I think we can agree on that at least. That the idea of just being careful is the one thing that is smart of us to do." Before we could continue this debate further, I was looking right at Sam's door, and I was thinking that it was indeed time to get right down to business. So I opened the car door and Todd did so as well, knowing exactly where this was going to be going.

I slammed the door shut when I was out of the car and then I walked right to the front of the house. I knocked on the door and then waited for a few seconds. I was looking right at Todd, as if wondering what he was thinking about this whole entire situation, and I could tell that he was still unsure about bringing Sam along, but I could tell that he was just wanting some allies, and that for that very reason alone, he was just going to go along with this, and that he wasn't really going to be fighting me too much on this. As I was looking right at the door, I was glad that I did not really have to wait all that long for him to answer the door and he was just looking right at Todd and I, as if starting to think that this was not going to go the way that he wished that it would.

"What is going on this time?" Sam asked, and I was feeling bad for sort of throwing this on him, as he was well aware of the fact that I was only visiting him when I needed his help like a ton. I was thinking that in a way, it was kind of making me a bit of a shitty friend right now. As I was taken about the way he had asked me this question, I was thinking about what I was going to say to turn the subject to be a little bit more in my favor.

"Well, I was sort of wondering if you wanted to help Todd and I right now? You know, there is something going on right now, and he feels like he needs as much as help as possible, and I was thinking that he could be able to help you out right now." I was then starting to wait for the time when Sam was going to tell me to take care of this myself, and that I should not even bother asking him about these things at all.

"I don't really know what this whole thing is going to be right now. I don't really know if I want to be getting myself involved in some things that are none of my business. But there is nothing really much going on today. I guess that I would not mind checking this out just this one time." Sam said, and I could tell that he was already starting to regret saying this, and he was already starting to think of the way he was going to get himslef out of this in case he was going to be in as much danger as he was fearing that he was going to be in.

"I know that tou don't really get it, and I get that you are probably wanting to hang out with Susan right now, on the event that she is still here right now or something, but I think that you might be able to really help us out right now. So can you please just help us? I know that you probably are kind of annoyed at me just doing this all the time, and you are probably just wanting to hang around, but trust me, this is going to be very important..." After I had said that, I was seeing that Sam was sort of giving up on this fight and then he nodded, as if thinking that it kind of sucked how I was never coming just to hang out with him one on one, as if thinking that he did want more stuff to do than just this.

Eventually, Sam started to follow us to the car, and I was thinking that he was clearly considering what is going on. He got right in the back seat, since Todd was already in shot gun. I was in the drivers seat, and I was thinking that it was time to get rid of this car soon. That having this car was just a bit of a hassle, and that I should very much considering expanding to a better car or something like that.

The more that I was driving by, the more that I was thinking about all of the things that I had set myself up. The entire time that I was setting myself for failure right now, the more that I was thinking that there was no way in hell that I was really going to be able to help Todd, as much as I hated to admit it. I was thinking that no matter how much I wanted to be the hero, that Todd would be a better hero than I was, and that even Sam would be a better hero than me. Although soon enough, I would see that he would not really get that chance, as terrible as it is to say out loud, and you would soon get why.

"Todd, I hope that you are fine with me bringing this guy alaong right now. I believe that I need as much help as I can get if I want to help these people right now." I said, and then I was just sort of seeing that Todd was not really saying anything. As if saying anything at all was going to be a big fucking hassle. I guess I did not really blame him for the way that he was feeling there.

The more that I was driving, I was telling myself that he was not really all that against this. I was just telling myself that he was more worried about Maurecia right now, and when I was telling myself this, I was actually believing in what I had been telling myself. The entire time that I was dirivng back to Wayside, I was thinking about how the pack I was having was almost out, and that I needed to fucking get a new fucking pack. I didn't want to go to the gas station, as I didn't want to make it super obvious again that I was skipping out on another shift, and forcing Wyatt to do the job for me again. I was telling myself that there was possibly no words in the world that would be able to describe how fucking over it he probably was. I was thinking that it was a shame that I was like this as a friend and a helper to him, but I was thinking that maybe deep down, he did not mind all that much, since this was adding money to his pocket and everything.

I reached the gas station near the entrance of Wayside, where I had been before and where I used to be getting my cigarettes. I got out of the car and when I got what everybody wanted in the car, I bought it all. I grabbed a twelve pack of energy drinks, a bunch of junk food, and then I also grabbed two packs just to be safe, and then I went to the car again. "So Sheldon, do you mind explaining to me what is going on right now?" Sam asked me, and then I was looking in front of teh gas station, telling myself that it might be exciting to see one that was even more messed up than the one that I had in my home town, that it would be interesting to see the journies that they were always going through at this place.

I decided to give Sam the semi short version, and then when I was done, Sam was taking a deep breath. "I thought that all of this stuff was over with by now. I thought that the police learned their lesson, with the destruction of the labyrinth. I mean, that was a big news event." Sam said, not even bringing up the fact that I did it and that Todd had been a part of the helping to bring it down, and then Ken had to deal with the fact that most of his body was brutally broken as a result of all of the things that had happened. It made me feel terrible, and while I was thinking he had mostly gotten over it, that didn't mean that I was thinking that it was something that I could forgive myself on. I found it kind of ironic how the moment Ken starte dto forgive me on this whole thing was the moment I started to get to the point where I was not able to forgive myself, and as a result was increasingly hating myself more and more. As if I was wanting to hurt myself even more.

I always loved the idea of hurting myself, and I was thinking that there was one thing that nobody really wanted to admit about me doing this, and that was that I was doing the entire world one big favor by doing this. That getting myself killed by any means possible was going to fucking save the entire fucking world. I honestly believed that if I had died, then nobody would really care all that much. In fact, people would probably be thankful for what I did, and if anything would be holding my dead body up as a banner of how to fucking do the right thing for once, that this would be the one time that I ever did the right thing. I was just hoping that Sam did not mind it all that much. "Well, I just wished that none of these things were happening anymore. If that really too much to be asking for? Is to just fucking wish that these problems were done with by now? I mean, I never thought for even a minute that I would be missing my brother bitching about everything. At least he had a bunch of valid reasons to be doing so, and everything going on right now totally justifies the anger that he probably feels over the entire fucking city. As much as I hate the guy, I think that maybe he might have a right to be acting like this." After Sam said that, he was feeling like he was hating the fact that he had just said that he was seeing where his brother was coming from on anything, as if admitting to this was the worst thing that anybody could ever do in the entire fucking world.

"Well going through a hase of self loathing is not going to help anybody. I should know that this is the truth..." I said, and then I was wondering if Sam was going to realize that I was just never going to ever look at myself in a positive light again, and I was wondering if he even cared. In a way, I was kind of hoping that he did not since I was tired of people just trying to make me feel liek I was appreciated. I was tired of people acting like they really cared for me. I knew for a fact that they did not, and to even pretend that they did was somethong that I was lying to myself on. But at the same time, I knew for a fact that just complaining about something was not going to really make any fucking differences to a single damn thing in the entire world. That all of this hating myself shit was only going to just fuel some flames that people would be telling me were not worth it.

"Well, I guess that you might be right. I mean, if you are the one who is saying this of all people, then it really must be true. I guess I should be thinking about what you are thinking through in your mind..." Sam said and then I waved my hand down to show that it really did not matter at all what he was thinking of me.

"Honestly, here is the thing right now. The longer we just talk about things, and the more that we just rant about how shitty this fucking world is, then we are never going to fucking get anything done. We all know this, so let's fucking stop right now with this shit." I said, and then I started the car up. I drove for about ten minutes or so until I eventually reached a place where Todd told me to look at first. The fucking school. I never wanted to go back here, but even I knew why he was suggesting this place, and as a result, I was just telling myself not to complain about it all that much. Once we were parked though, I looked right at Todd, and I felt like the question that I was ghoing to be asking him was going to be obvious enough, and I was thinking even fucking I was not this insane to do this. "How the hell do we get into this school, or are you suggesting that we go back down to that fucking place/ Because I don't even think that this is possible."

"I think that we just need to break into the school. I mean, it is winter break right now. And I don't really think anybody is going to care right now. If anything, people will just be thinking that we are some teachers who are trying to get some work ready for their students when they get back to school." After Todd said that, I was totally not at all convinced on what he was going to say. But then I nodded, and I was thinking that in order to bring somebody to justice in this land, I did have to break the law at least a few times. So I was getting myself in the mindset of breaking into this school once again and then I got out of the car.

Once I was out of the car, I was taking out another cigarette and I was taking in the moment, thinking that this was either going to be the smartest thing I would ever do, or the worst thing that I would ever do. I was not really sure which one it was going to be, but I was terribly convinced that it was going to be exactly like this. I was looking right at Todd and Sam as they were getting out of the car, and I think both of them were really thinking about what was going on, and they were both probably thinking that this was a much worse choice than either one of them really wanted to admit.

I walked right to the school and I had the giant fucking knife and machete and everything in my hands. I was at the door when I kicked the door down, and then I was thinking about how I did not need both of these weapons. So I handed the machete right to Todd, and I was sticking with the giant fucking knife, thinking that this was going to be a better weapon for me. I was thinking that after all of this time, I was finally with a weapon that I could be able to actually use and not feel like it was too heavy on me or anything stupid like that. I just wished that I was going not have to use this too much in the next few minutes. I didn't mind using weapons when it was needed, and I know that I had needed to use them a lot of the time, but that didn't mean that I was really fucking gun ho excited to just go around killing people, but as terrible as it was for me to admit, I needed to do this every once in a while.

As we were in the school for a few minutes, I was seeing somebody sitting down on a chair in the middle of the room, as if they had been wiating for us for several minutes. I took a long and deep breath, already fucking tired of where this was going to go, since I had a feeling I knew exactly where this was going to fucking go. They were waving us down towards him, and then as they were waving towards us, I was thinking that I might as well get this over with now. I went right up to him, and Todd and Sam were right on my side. "You probably should be running the show right now." Sam said, and then I rolled my eyes, as if thinking that he had already stated the obvious. Then I looked right at the guy whow as sitting right in front of us.

"Sheldon Lee. I am one of your biggest fans. I have heard all about what you have been doing lately, and I have to admit that it is pretty exciting. I thought that you were never going to show up though, since I thought you might have been a coward when it really mattered. Not that it really bothers you, since I think you know exactly where I am coming from right now..." After the guy said that, I was ready for this conversation to really go down hill, but I was telling myself to just keep calm and keep collected.

"I got to say the labyrinth was a pretty bad idea. You taking that place down really causes us to take the security here much more seriously, as we now started to realize that we kind of can't really fuck around anymore. I think that this is one thing that we all got to thank you for. The fact that you finally opened our eyes up to the mistakes that we were making. I mean, damn there were a lot of mistake sthat we had right opeen for somebody to come along and take down. I guess that you don't really get it though. You never really understand what it is like to have these glaring mistakes showing up right in front of you. In fact, it makes you think a lot about where you are taking the business. I almost thought that we were finished, but we just started to really beef up security around the town, and we started to bring more of an iron fucking fist to this place. We are not going to let these things be exposed, no matter how close we fucking get to having our entire operation fucking exposed. So with that, I think that I have to be thanking you." After they said that, I was thinking that this was going to go badly, and I was totally expecting this to just get much worse by the minute.

"I don't know what you really want with us right now... And honestly I don't really care all that much. You are sounding like you are fucking insane, and I don't really care if you are going to hate me for saying that. But when you are talking about how doing this actually make syoue job better, it makes me lose any respect that I have for you." I said, and then the guy clapped his hands together, as if he was excited to be seeing me acting like this.

"Oh trust me, when you act like that, and you have that fucking spark going on with the way that you speak..." The guy said and then he was pointing his hand at his head, as if trying to emphasize the fact that I was some great thinker or something like that. "I think that you still have your edge after all. I really fucking like that. You never really look like you are about to get weaker, and you are still going to be a great fucking contributor to the business in the way that we are a fucking hydra. When you kill somebody who works in our crew, then you finally bring us two more people. You bring us a stronger business. You bring us one step closer to our salvation. One step closer to fucking bringing everything together."

I was thinking that despite how awful the things he was saying were, that there must have been a level of truth to this whole thing. I mean, I was not really going to act surprised if my father was turning out that he had been working throughout this whole thing, and was planning this entire thing this whole time. That me doing this, and me falling under what he was doing right now was the one thing that he had planned for me right from the start. As I started to think about this, I was looking around and I was waiting for people to come along and try to attack me or something like that. I was totally one hundred percent ready for this.

"Who is going to be here to take me out this time? I mean, I doubt that you are here just to tell me that I am helping your business or anything like that. I mean, that might be a little bit tempting for you to make that the entire point of the meeting, but I have a feeling that there is more to this than you really think right now." I said, and then after I had said that, I was getting myself ready.

"Sheldon, I think it would probably be smart not to really provoke this guy right now..." After Todd said that, I was looking at him as if wondering why he was suddenly acting like this was a really important thing to be doing right, to be planning things out. I mean, he was pretty much the expert on this whole thing.

"I think that you already know where they are, and when they are going to be coming. You might not be ready to fucking accept that fact, but you know that I am right on this. So I think that you just need to open your mind up a little bit more." After he said that, I was looking right around, and I was thinking that even if I hated to admit it, I probably knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Well, you and I are going to be meeting up many more times. Much more than you probably ever thought that you and I would. My name is Will. I hope that you remember that name. I think we might be meeting in just a couple of months. But for now, I need to continue my job." After he had said that, he clapped his hands and then he vanished, and then I was wondering how that happened. I was thinking that I must have been really fucked up on drugs. I was taking out some of my heroin, and then I smoked it for a moment before getting ready for what I was thinking would be the next big battle.

"Sheldon, do you really think that you should be smoking right now? I mean, you are starting to really mess everything up by doing that. I mean, look at you. It looks like you are barely even able to look at something straight for more than a few seconds..." Sam said, and then I was looking at him and I was feeling like my head was fucking hurting, and while I was listening to him, my head was just not really letting me process what they were saying, and I was just wanting to get the job done, and that was the best way to help me out. Was to just smoke around and think about the best things in the world, like my sex with Misty that one time.

I was walking forward, as I was feeling my heart pounding and then I was seeing that Todd was still thinking about all that was going on. "When I came to you to get you to help me out, I thought that you were actually going to be helping me out. I did not really think that you were just going to go around and fucking get high all the time. I guess that you are not like the man that I thought that you were, able to actually do something when everybody needs you to do this. I guess that you don't really care at all what we say though..." After Todd said that, I was starting to feel myself collapse a bit more, and I was feeling like I was not really in the right mindset to process what exactly Todd was saying, which was making me just want him to shut up.

"I know that you are trying to make me feel bad for the habits that I have, and I know that you want me to be this clean guy. For some stupid fucking reason, everybody else wants that of me. Everybody expects that of me. But I don't really think I will ever be able to give them this wish. I think that they are having false hopes and false insecurities when they think that something like this can fucking happen. So please, I want to help you out, and I will do the best that I can to make sure that you get the help needed, but this is all that I am going to say about the matter. Now if you don't mind, we have a job that we need to fulfill. So can we just get to work?" I finished saying what I wanted to say, and then when I was done speaking my mind about the matter, I started to walk further and further out of the area. I was seeing that Sam and Todd were looking at each other, as if wondering what was making me insane.

Eventually, I was out of the school that I was telling myself that this time it would indeed be my last time I would ever go in there, and then I was thinking about if I would really hate that idea all that much, or if my mind was telling me that this was what it had wanted much more than it really was. I was starting to finally debate in my mind that maybe I was wrong about what I had wanted, but I was telling myself that it did not really matter all that much what my brain was telling me. I saw that Sam was right behind me, with Todd right next to him. "I get that you want to do something right now, and that you are really focused on that. I won't try and stop that. But do you think that maybe you can let one of us drive or something for the moment?" I heard Sam ask me, and while I was not really wanting to do this, I was thinking about the high I was in, and even then I was losing a lot of focus on many things, and I was thinking that as much as I hated to admit it, they were right about this. So I reluctantly agreed to let Sam take the car, and then I was in the back seat before I knew it, with Todd riding shot gun. I was taking out of one of my energy drinks, and I was starting to drink it as I was smoking more of my cigarettes.

I was moving around a bunch as Sam was driving, and I was groaning a lot without saying any real words, and I was sort of in the mindset where nothing I was thinking really was actually proper. I was thinking that everything that was around me was just a bunch of buzzing noises. I was not really even thinking I was hearing anything anymore. Not that it really mattered. I was thinking about the fact that even if I was thinking that I was still in the right place, that maybe Sam was actually right about what I was saying, even though I was still refusing to admit the fact that he could have been right in front of him, as to do so would sort of be admitting that in a way, my father would have won.

Eventually, the drive was starting to come down to a bit of a halt when Sam was at a food place. "I'm hungry right now..." Sam said, and I was wondering if he had actually meant it, or if there was something else going on. I was thinking that if this was actually true though, that I might as well go out and get something to eat as well. So I opened my door and then I was getting out of the car. I was seeing that both Todd and Sam were really not all that excited for me to do this. But I could also see that they were really not wanting to fight with this as well. They decided that I could probably be able to function for a while. At least long enough to place in a proper order. That was what I was honestly thinking at that moment. So I was finishing up my energy drink, and the more that I started to drink it, the more that I was feeling like there was a small short term surge of energy that was coming along my mind at that moment.

I was inside of the food place, which looked like a sandwhich joint, and I was ordering my food. I was giving off a bad smell as Todd would later tell me when this whole thing was over. I was sitting down and waiting for my order when I was looking over for just a moment. I was seeing that there was somebody who had been one of my teachers there for a second. Or at least I was thinking that this was one of my former teachers. I was starting to get myself up and I saw that both Sam and Todd were looking at each other for a moment, as if worried about what I was going to do, thinking that I was going to really mess things up just by doing this.

I started to stand up, and the more that I was getting closer to this person, the more that I was feeling a sudden courage to talk with them. I placed my hand right on their shoulder and then they were looking right at me. "Sheldon... What are you doing here?" They were asking me, and when I was taking a moment to process what I was seeing, I was starting to realize that I was indeed not actually seeing one of my former teachers, but I was seeing somebody who used to own my favorite food joint when I lived at Wayside, and that was before I was forced to get a fucking life that was all about crime fighting and everything.

"Hey fucker, did my father fuck somebody to give you a baby? Did my father fuck you to get you pregnant and sell your babies? What the fuck has he done? Do you allow all of your female co workers just to be fucked by him so they can sell their children to people for money? Do you think that anybody really cares about anything? Do you think that you are fucking invinsible? Because this town is going to have all of their secrets revealed. You are a fucking asshole. Letting these people have their lives ruined alll for the money." I said, and then I was looking at the person who was preparing our food, and he was looking like he was scared at what I was saying. "Hey young Jimmy over there, if that is your name, did you fuck anybody and are you getting paid to fuck up young girls to get them to produce babies to the country? I don't even care if you are. I just want to know who I need to bash their heads in next with..." I said, and then it was after this when Sam was getting up, and he was glad that the sandwhiches were ready. He placed a bunch of money down on the table and then he dragged me to the car. Todd looked like he was totally embarassed to be around me. He was embarassed to be around the only person who had the balls to tell the truth.

As I was in the car, Sam placed the sandwich right down on my fucking lap, as if he was not even sure if he had wanted to feed me anymore given the stunt that I had pulled off. "You know, when we are supposed to be doing something, I was hoping that this could have been at least relatively secret. Not you just going around and fucking exposing us to the public... Here you are though, just fucking screaming and telling people that they are a bunch of rapists, when you have no real idea what you are saying..." Sam said, and I could tell that he was thinking that I really took it too far this time, although I was not thinking this at all. I was feeling like I was the only one who had the balls to say something, and to try and expose this town for what it was. "I get it, you are mad right now, but please don't try and expose us anymore. I don't even know if I want you around right now anymore."

"Listen to what you are saying..." I said, and then I was taking out the sandwhich and the entire time that I was eating this, I had felt like I had been eating something utterly divine, and as if this was the one thing that I just needed more than anything else in the entire world. I felt like eating this food was something that the gods sent down for me. "I finally decided that I was tired of the lies spreading around, and even if people are not fully ready to believe in what I am saying, they are going to at least consider what I am saying, and they are going to think that there is a small chance that what I am saying is true." I said, and then Todd was thinking that this was just fucking insane, and he was starting to think that he really needed to try and tell me off, but despite the anger that he was feeling, there was a part of him that was thinking there could have been some method to the madness.

"Sheldon, nobody is going to believe somebody who is literally fucking high as a kite. Nobody is even going to think that you are telling the truth. There is no real reason for them to be thinking that you are telling the truth. In fact, if I had heard what you were syaing earlier, I would probably be thinking that you were crazy. It was not like everybody who works here does this all the time. Have you ever considered that not everybody does this shit all the time? That not everybody in a part of this fukcing job." Todd said, and then I was thinking that something like this was not even fucking possible.

"No, they are all a part of it. This is what they have been telling me the whole time. Every single one of them is involved in a way. You know that this is the truth. You know that everybody has something to do with the business, and that is why they are working here at all, to make it look like they are innocent!" I was tired of what this guy was saying, and I was thinking that I was really making both of them lose any respect for me. But I was wanting to get my voice across, and I was wanting to to really hear what I had been saying. Sam was looking away as he was driving along and then he eventually pulled up at the gas station we were at earlier, as if thinking that this was a good place to hide and make sure that nobody was really seeing what was going on.

"I get that you think that you are onto something right now, and who fucking knows, maybe you actually are, but right now, I need somebody who I can trust. Somebody who I am utterly certain is not going to cause any problems. I am willing to work with you guys. In fact, when I come back to this town, I am reminded of all the things that I needed to do that I never really had the chance to do, but when you are acting like this, I am never really going to feel like I am going to get the chanc eto do something like this. Not when you are going around, spreading around a bunch of stuff while you are fucking high..." After Sam said that, I was placing my hand on his arm, and I was doing this as a way to get him to stop talking, although he seemed to really be annoyed with the fact that I was acting. But this time I was actually trying to help out and not in the way that I was thinking that I was helping out.

I was seeing as Sam was just wanting to rat me out even more. "Sheldon, seriously, I am trying to talk with you right now, and you acting like this is making this fucking impossible. You are making a conversation right now one of the hardest things that I could be able to accomplis. So can you please just calm down and listen to me for just a moment and just consider what I am saying to you?" After Sam had been asking this, that was when I was finally able to form words in my mouth to get him to listen to me for once.

"Sam, I seriously want you to be seeing something right now... Please wait to give this lecture for a moment longer..." After I said that, I was seeing Sam getting really annoyed and he was looking right up and he was seeing what I was talking about. He was seeing somebody coming right towards us, and it wasn't just one person. It was something like three or four people.

We stopped and Sam carefully lowered one of his windows and he was just listening to what they ere saying, thinking that there was a small chance that they could be having information that was really important to us. "Do you really believe that the sheriff cares about what we are doing? The last one didn't give a shit. Remember, he was actually working with us all the time. I think that this guy just simply doesn't really want to talk about it. Sure he doesn't help us out, but that does not really mean that he wants nothing to do with this job..." After the first guy had said that, that was when another one of them was speaking up a bit.

"That one fucking creepy dude who keeps showing up once every few months is slowly one piece at a time bringing things together. I mean, sooner or later, the sheriff is going to feel like he has to check things out a bit. I mean, there is no way that he is going to take care of all of these things alone. Especially since he is the only officer who seems to want to have any option to stopping these things. I think that he just wants to do something but he doesn't really know exactly what he is doing. I mean, that is what police are like... Besides, once he sees how fun it is to make those women beg for mercy, then he will come along and partake in this." The other guy was saying and they were getting in their car and then they both closed their doors and started up their drive away.

Eventually, when they were away, I was taking out my second energy drink while I was smoking some more cigarettes, feeling like the high was getting a little bit calm, and I was telling myself that if this were to lead to another battle, that I was going to save my next high for later. "So Sam, I know that you are thinking that I should not be going after those people, but I think that we both know that I am going to do just that. So before you can tell me not to be doing this, just spare me the lecture, and you can tell me if you wnat to help or not. Either way, I want to know right now, so I can get right to work..." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing that Sam clearly did not like where this was going to go.

"Well, I know that you are right. And I agree with you that you should be going and checking this stuff out. I just don't really like what this all means. I mean, people are able to openly talk about this stuff without any real fear. That is kind of scary honestly. I never really thought that we were going to be in a situation where we were not only in this town, but we were able to see them just be so open about what they are doing that it is almost like they are just bragging about the whole damh things." I didn't really care though what Sam was saying, since in a way he was just sort of talking in a echo chamber here, which I was not really sure if this mattered all that much. Todd was just looking at me, as if wondering what he was going to say now.

"Sheldon, I know that we were just kind of telling you to stop doing what you were doing, but now that we know that there is somebody who we can encounter right now, I think that I am going to have to take that statement back. I think you should be going back to doing exactly what you are normally doing." After Todd said that, I could tell that he was not really super happy about saying this, but then Sam was starting the car up, and I was thinking about getting my next high, which I was sort of deciding that I was going to do once I was done finding these people, as a sort of way to get myself to relax a little bit more.

As Sam was following more and more what was going on, and he was telling himself several times in his mind that he was really going to regret this whole thing, I was thinking about how despite everything so far, I really could not blame him for the anger that he was feeling, and that if anything he was totally justified for the way that he was feeling. I was just hoping that I could keep myself together for this whole thing, and I was just really hoping that my next high could be able to help me out now.

"Sheldon, do you really think that you are ready for something like this? I mean, what if they are going to lead us to where several of these people are working together?" Sam asked, and I was wondering if he was just asking this to sort of be more for himself, or if he was actually genuinely trying to help me out at that moment. Either way, I was not really sure and I didn't really know if I even cared all that much what he was really thinking. After all, on multiple cases, he was telling me that what I was saying pretty much did not matter at all. But I was also telling myself not to get too petty.

"I know that you are worried baout how I am able to handle these things, but on many of the fights that I am having right now, I had been high. I was even high during prom. Fuck that was a great night. Just dancing my heart out, and not caring what everybody else was thinking about me, and I was able to make Emily feel like she was really going out with some great heart throb with the fact that I was this great dancer and everything. Damn, if I were able to go back and look at that again, I would do it in a heart beat..." I said, and then Todd stopped me right there.

"This is no time to really be thinking about your great experiences at school dances bro. I mean, come on. I want you to actually take this seriously. I mean, do you really get what it is actually like to know that somebody you care about will never be sane again? I remember the way that you treated Kevin before you went down into the labyrinth. You were so utterly rude to him, and you made him feel like he was useless. I hated the way that you treated him, since it made him weak during the battle, and made him feel like nobody fucking liked him. All because you decided to act like he was not wanted... Do you want to know what it is like to know that nobody wants you? Do you take this seriously at all? Or do you feel like this is a game?" After Todd was giving me this lecture, I snaped back at him, and at Sam, tired of the shit they are telling me this whole time, wanting none of it anymore.

"Stop acting like I don't fucking get it! Do you know what it is like to have a father who rapes your sister for several years, forced her to get pregnant over and over and over again, and then because her babies were not really propering functioning, they were all killed and then because your father wanted to fuck your sister so much, the fucking sheriff decided to just kill her due to her babies not fucking being able to function and then there is one left. And you want to connect with the one that is left, and make them feel like they are fucking values. But they are in a mental state where they probably do not know what you are expressing and even if they did know, they probably wouldn't get it. I have been living with this for nearly three years, and I want to make Tucker feel like he actually fucking means something. I want to kill my father for the shit he made Riley go through. I want to avenge Riley because she did not say this. I do not give a FUCK how much I say this, and how repetitive that this is, because you simply do not get it, and you probably never will get it, because you are thinking that you really had this the worst." I said, and before they could say anything, I was contiuining.

"And not only that, but the fact that my father is still in the business. He got out of the whole situation perfectly fine. If anything, his resolve is now stronger than ever. Because he will never be distracted by Riley, and he will be able to focus on the raping of hundreds of other women, and be able to make tens of milluons of dollars for the city, and to know that this is the only way that any money can be provided to the family. It is fucked up beyond belief." I said, and then Todd seemed to think about that for a moment.

"Believe it or not, when you are not tellung anybody this shit, and you are just keeping it to yourself, nobody will ever be able tos ee your perspective, and nobody will ever be able to really understand where you are coming from. I didn't really know what is going on with your family. I am sorry for that. I really am. That must be the worst thing in the world to be dealing with. But there are other people who have other things going on... That they are dealing with the fact that my parents are some of the biggest higher ups in the entire town. They are pretty much like running this whole thing. My parents have barely ever spoke to me since I moved here, and they are just doing this because they are always working out the logistics of this town. My father has produced, get ready for this crap right now, over one hundred and ten kids since he has moved here, pretty much thirty a fucking year. That fucking pisses me off, and I hate this so fucking much. My mother is just working with the legal side of this, letting my father do this. In fact, when they told me this about this in a cassette tape, she was saying that her love for him grew even bigger with the fact that we are the second richest family in wayside, and she can't wait until I turn eighteen, so I will be forced to do this... I want to kill my parents as well, but I know that if I do, I will get arrested, and that I will be the one who is framed as the bad guy. So I have to let them do this. If you don't get it now, then I don't think you ever will." After he said that, it was Sam to decide to take his turn in tragic story telling, to try and bring us together.

"The only reason who my brother Ken is even alive right now is because he was taken the hospital after he was beaten to near death in a forest. And the worst part is that they are barley fucking listening to the fact that we want him to relax and stop doing these things. If anything, he takes this as a chance to be a real dare devil, and a true fucking asshole to all of those people that actually believe in him. Trust me, when I found out the truth of his birth, I was shocked. He was born as a result of this entire group. And I was born naturally, but that our father is not our biological father. He decided to buy us because he thought that our mother was hot, and he was forced to buy us in the process. He didn't relaly want us, and that is why he is so old, is because he was too old to really have kids on his own right, because nobody would really want to fuck him, but he managed to get what he had wanted just by buying people for his own sake." After Sam said that, I felt like he was wanting to fucking throw up as he was saying this, as if the idea of his father being like this was something that made him want to die, but it was a fact he had to live with forever now.

As I was thinking about that, there was a moment in which I had to really consider these things. "I guess that maybe not everybody really gets what they want. I guess we all have a fucked up life. But I doubt that this is going to suddenly start to bring us together. We all feel like we are the one who has it the most fucked up, and we all feel like we are the one who deserves the biggest sob story, but I guess that it doesn't really matter." I said, and then when I had said this to both, I could see that Sam was pulling up somewhere, and I was thinking that maybe this was going to be where I had to fight these people.

Eventually, Sam was parked and then he killed the engine. "I guess that we are never going to get anything done when we are all trying to make ourselves feel like we have the saddest story. I think that the longer we sit here and exchange these words with each other, the more that we are going to get distracted from the real point of this whole thing. So how about we just cut the shit, and we just all agree that we had a bad moment with each other, and that all of our lives are fucked up, and then after that, we can get serious about the job that we really have at hand right now..." After Sam said that, I was forcing myself to listen to him and then I nodded. I got right out of the car and then when I was outside of the car, I was looking right at Todd and Sam when they were getting out of it. There was the two guys walking in someplace that looked like an abandoned shack. I was thinking that this was not at all sinister, and then I was pulling up another set of cigarettes a bit.

The more that I was smoking, the more and more that I was convinced that I was probably going to die before the battle would even start from something like a heart attack. Sam was looking right at the shack and Todd was really tempted to go in there, if not to stop the rapist, but to at least stop them from doing anything else by this point in time. To stop them from impregnanting any more women, and making them feel like they were unloved and everything.

"So how do you really think that we should be doing this stuff?" Todd asked, and then he was thinking about how he was going to be trying to come up with at least some form of a plan, and I was getting tired of him being the planner. I personally just really wanted to go in there and bust some heads. What could have really been so bad about wanting to do things that way? I thoyght that if anything, Todd would really be cool with that idea, and not just going around and acting like this was a big fucking stupid fucking mistake. I was just thinking that maybe he didn't really understand how impatient I was. I know that people say patience was a virtue, but when this type of shit is going on, that is not the case at all.

"They are probably waiting for something to show up. I bet that may be why they are here right now." I said, trying to form coherenet thoughts as I finished the can that I was on and then I threw it down on the ground and then I was taking out some cigarettes and started to smoke it, thinking about how I wanted to go through the entire pack before I went in there. I wanted every single one of these to be gone when I was going to go in there and fight the enemies. There were still seven or eight, which means that I was going to have to go through most of them in one sitting. Not that I really fucking minded this, it was going to provide for the challenge of this fight.

"When the thing that they are waiting for shows up, then we start to go right in. If there is nothing that shows up after a while, then I think that I am just going to go right in there and take care of the job myself. I don't really know if I can trust you guys all that much to go in there. I think that you might be a bit too careful, when there comes a point in which you just have to go in there ready to fucking fight. I mean, my father does not how to go in and do things smart, and that is one thing that maybe I should be thanking him on. If I were to try and go in and do things normally, I think that I would be going fucking insane. I think that I would be fucking acting like I can't wait." I said, and then after I said that, I was waiting for both Sam and Todd to be telling me to go and fuck off and take things more seriously, but I was seeing that either they were thinking the same way as me, or they were just so used to this that they could not really get themselves to be telling me off anymore.

"Well, I don't really know if I will be able to fight these people off that way. I mean, I want to be a little bit smart about this. Is that too much to be asking for? To at least be thinking a little bit more about what is going on?" I guess you don't really fucking get it at all... I mean, I guess when you have nobody who is next to you, then I might be feeling that way. But I have my parents and Susuan, my friends and even ken to some extent that I have to think about." Sam said, as if finally starting to think for the first time that he might not even be able to survive long enough to be seeing Susan again, and this made him feel terrible, like a terrible boyfriend to do this.

Eventually, there was somebody passing by that I never thought that I would meet in my entire life again. Somebody that in hindsight, I kind of wished I never really met for the rest of my life, as it was sort of reminding me of the many failures of my last few days when I was at Wayside. I saw Emily was right there, and she was looking right at me, and she was wondering what I was doing there, and there was the part of me that was wondering the exact same thing, but with her instead. Like what she was doing there, and if she was sadly aware of the things going on down here, or as much as I hated to admit it, that she was in this whole thing, and that I was going to throw everything that we could have had away by trying and end this fucking business. I was wondering why she would want to do this though. "What the fuck are you doing here?"


	85. Part of the Business

Part 15: Part of the Business

I was thinking of a way to tell her the truth while also having her not really worry all that much about me at the same time, and when I was thinking about how I was going to try and do this, I was sort of thinking that it was going to be impossible. But despite the fact that I was thinking this way, I was also telling myself that I just needed to be real with her, and that if anything, she needed to know the truth of what I was doing at that moment. "Well, I was coming back here and I was looking into some things relating to the labyrinth and other business deals going on here right now. I am just really worried that there is something going on right now, and I feel like and I think you can agree with me on this one is that I am going to be the only fucking one who is going to be able to do anything about what is happening here." I said, and I was honestly thinking that she was going to be really proud of me saying this, and I was thinking that she was going to start praising me, and that I had done something that nobody else would really do at all. But despite the fact that I was thinking and feeling this way, I was seeing that she was giving me a look of utter terror. As if she could not believe that I was doing something like this. Almost as if I had actually started to do the one thing that I never thought she wanted me to do. Despite how horrible it was for me to even consider the idea, I was wondering if Emily was actually a part of this whole gang after all, and that this was something that she wanted me to not really get involved with.

"Sheldon, I don't fucking think you really get what you are doing right now. I think that you are making one of the worst choices in your entire life right now... After she had said that, I was wondering what was exactly making her say this, and I was actually thinking that she was starting to just be worried about me, and that she was entirely talking about my safety, and that I was starting to feel a little bit bad for her. I was actually thinking this way for once in my life.

"I am the only one who did anything related to bringing down this labyrinth. I think that if anything else, nobody else really understands why I am doing any of this. I don't mind that they don't get it. But to be honest, the fact that you are acting like this right now makes me wonder if you really get it either. I am thinking that maybe you just are looking at things on the fucking bright side. And I guess that there is nothing wrong with looking at things on the bright side, but I think that you just seem to not really understand what the whole problem is right now. I think that you are just thinking that things will go back to normal if you just ignore things and act like nothing really is happening at all. But if you actually think for a fucking moment that I am going to just fucking sit here and act like nothing is happening, then that is where we are really going to fucking divide. That is where you are really fucking wrong. I am not going to just fucking sit here and let anything fucking happen to this city, no matter what happens to me. No matter if it gets me in danger or if I am about to be thinking that I am about to die, then it is a price that I have to pay in order to make sure that the people in this town can be safe. I think that this is one of the things that you and I will never fucking understand. You and I will never understand the different ways that we look at each other. We think that things are all fine on your hand, and when you look at my hand, I think that everything is just utterly terrible. I don't really think that anything will change the way that we think about this whole thing. But no matter what fucking happens, I think that you also know something, and that is that I am refusing to just let anything happen and that I am going to refuse to pretend that nothing happened. So I am going to head into that shack, and I am going to see what I can do to change things right now. I am going to do whatever I fucking can to make sure that everything changes for the better. I think that just sitting around and pretending that this town is great is the worst thing anybody can do." I said, and then I was looking at Todd and Sam, not giving a single damn in the world over the fact that I was going on this giant fucking rant right in front of her, and seeing her general demeanor starting to fall down a little bit.

"Sheldon, I think that you have already done quite enough to say that you have done your part. I think that you just need to relax a little bit. Nobody is really thinking that you need to give them anything more. Trust me Sheldon, I certainly do not think that you need to do anything else now..." After Emily said that, I was thinking that it was not really a matter of what she was wanting, and more of a matter of what I was needing.

"You know, I think that you are just trying to think that everything is all fine. That nothing wrong is going on here. But I think that deep down, you must come to fucking realize that I am never going to place this behind me at all. I am never going to let this fucking slide. I think that the fact that I am going to take things and go with it shows another thing that nobody really wants to admit, that the fucking drug addict is the best functioning person in this town. The fact that the drug addict is the one that knows what needs to be done. I think that it makes total sense that people do not want to say that I get it, but they know deep down that this is the truth..." I said, and then Todd was thinking about what he was going to say next.

"Look Sheldon, I know that you are wanting to talk to this girl right now, and that you think you need to clear some things up right now, but I think we both know you don't have twenty four fucking hours to do this. I think you and I both know we need to get right to work." After he had said that, I nodded.

"Emily, as much as I hate to admit it, Todd is right at this moment. I need to get right to work right now. You can help us if you want to right now, in fact, I am actually thinking that if you were to help me out, that would be fucking amazing. But in all reality, if you think that things are fine as they are, no fucking offense, but I don't really think that I can trust you right now. I think that you might be the problem that we are dealing with right now..." After I had said that, I was seeing the look on her face give off one of shock and hurt.

"Sheldon, I know that you are thinking that I don't understand these things, but I am willing to listen to you when it comes time. I am willing to give you a chance to tell the truth. I am giving you a chance to just explain how you are feeling about things right now, but when you are saying stuff like this, I am starting to think that you are the one who really needs to get a fucking grip on life. You are the one who needs to realize that you have a bunch of problems. That you need to get things together right now." After Emily said that, I was holding my hand up.

"Listen, if you want to be helping us right now, you can do this. If you don't, then you just can leave us alone now. You don't need to do either one, since I know that this is your choice, but I don't want to see you hurt. I really can't imagine what it would be like to see you hurt." After I said that, I was starting to get tempted to cry a bit, and I was seeing the hurt look on her face for a moment, as if sorry to see the look that I was giving off.

"I am sorry Sheldon. I get that you want to help out. That is really great my friend. But I want you to understand that this is going to get yourself killed, and I am going to let you know that I am not going to be a part of this. I want to see you live a happy and full life. I don't want this to be what happens to you. Please understand that I want you to be able to live and be happy. This suicide mission, as this basically is right now, is going to do the exact opposite of just that. I want to help you out in the way that I care about you and that I want you to be fucking safe. Nothing else in the world is keeping me from wanting to tell you off more than this." After Emily had told me this, I honestly felt like I needed to try and get her to see my perspective, and then I was telling myself as much as I wanted to have her see it, in all reality, she did not. If she simply refused to fucking get it, then that would be something I would have to face later. I was taking out a cigarette, finally glad that she was at least no longer going to be on me about that anymore.

I think that it was just more of a matter that she finally realized that I was not going to budge on this shit anymore, and that she might as well just give up on that shit before I got really fucking annoyed with her for trying to get me to change everything about myself. Despite the fact that I was hating the way she was caring for me, I knew that this was all that she was doing. Just trying to show some love and care for me. "Emily, I know that you are wanting me to be safe. But you at least at one point wanted me to be responsible. You know what, for once in my life, I am finally doing this. I am finally trying to be responsible for once in my life. You fucking get that? I want to do something in my life that actually amounts to something good. Not something of just shit and something that makes me feel like I am just letting the world do its own thing, and that I am letting these women get hurt. I thiught that this was going to be the one thing that I needed to do in my entire fucking life, and I am doing this right now. So please, I just want to continue my streak of doing something that fucking matters." I said, finally glad that I was able to stand up and state what I believed in at that moment.

As Emily was listening to me, and she was considering what I had been saying, I could see the wheels turning in her head, as if she was finally starting to get this a little bit. As if she was finally starting to see the poingt that I was trying to fucking make there. In fact, when she was thinking about the point I wanted to make, I could see that she was starting to look more and more defeated as she was thinking about how in a way, to herself at least, she was sort of being selfish. I did not want to give her that impression, but as horrile as it was for me to admit, it was one that I was willing to roll with if it meant that she would no longer try and tell me to stop doing what I was doing.

"I guess that you really feel like you have to do this. I respect the fuck out of the fact that you are so set on something right now. In all honesty, it impresses me that you are finally just telling yourself the truth. I will not get in your way on that at all. But what I do need to know is something else. Something that you need to at least consider when going into there right now. And one that I want you to finally at least just try and admit that you could need to be honest with yourself on. Do you actually fucking think that you are ready for any of this Do you actually fucking think that you are ready to go in there, and fight the people who are working down there, and try to change things? Do you think that you can really be able to face the challenge with these horrible people? I think that even if you do not want to admit it, you know for a fucking fact that you are not at all ready on anything like this. You are totally seelling yourself way too fucking high if you think that you are ready for this. Please, just be ready to admit that to yourself. At least I have the balls to do it for you..." After she said that, I was totally offended by what she was syaing, but despite the fact that it hurt for her to say that to me, I knew that she was telling the truth. She was being up front and real with me, and not at all scared to tell me that I was needing to at least prepare for this more. I was willing to admit the truth, even if I hated to do so.

"Emily, I am so sorry that you are feeling this way. Maybe you are right right now. Maybe you are the one who is telling the fucking truth. We get it. I fucking suck. I am terrible at this. I don't know what I am doing... I don't need to be told about this now... But I have a goal to finish right now, and the longer that I am here right now, talking with you about this, and trying to make you see my point, the more that I am going to risk there being these people just leaving us alone, and then I will just never fucking get anything done. Please, I want you to understand that I don't care if I am ready for not. I know that this is going to get me killed sooner or later, and I know that one of these days, when people are asked if they remembered or cared for me at all, they will fucking say no. They will be saying that they never knew or gave a shit about me. I am fine to admit this. I am fine to admit the fact that I still have along way to go to actually matter in the eyes of people. But I am sure as hell doing my best to actually do this now. I am sure as hell doing my best to actually make a difference here." After I had said that, I was waiting for anything to be said about that statement, and I was wondering what Emily was going to say, if she was finally going to break and be on my side now.

"Sheldon, I just appreciate the good things that you say that you have done. It shows that when you get down to business that you really do care. I love that about you. Even though we are not together anymore, and I think we both know that this is never going to fucking happen now, and that the very idea of this happening is just fucking out there, and just going to be out of reach, I think that I am still able to love something about you, and love how much you have shown to have great dedication to the matter at hand. But I think that this is going to be gone when you do this. When you talk about the gang just being the worst thing in the world. Maybe it really fucking is. Maybe you are telling the fucking truth, and that there is nothing worse than what is going on right now... I am sorry that you feel this way right now... I truly am sorry that you are just so fucking broken, and I can actually see it in your fucking eyes, how much you are just feeling the wear and tear on what you are doing. You just look like you have seen a million fucking battles already, and I really respect every single thing that you have done by that point in time. I love the way that you just take things honestly and the way that you don't really have any problem with telling the truth. I can never want to see that go. No matter what I think of what you have eventually become." After Emily gave me her monologue of her desires to make me feel better, I was just nodding and thinking more and more about this.

"I really do need to head out now. I can't wait any longer. Seriously, I have put this shit off way too fucking long now. I get it, you don't like what I am dooing right now. You don't need to make your point any more clear, but I understand that you need to get out of here if you want to be safe now. I will hope to see you again soon, but please just make sure that no matter what happens, you remain at least relatively safe... As for me, my safety does not matter all that much." I said, and then after I was done saying this, I was seeing Emily just slowly nodding and then she left the area, and there was a part of me that was wondering if perhaps she already had this sort of all planned out from the start.

Once Emily was gone, I was placing my hand on the back of my head, as if wondering where this was going to go now. I was taking a deep breath, not even sure where this was actually going to go. "I feel so bad about rejecting her like this. I mean, I was doing the right thing though. I hope I was at least. I mean, I am trying to fucking keep her safe." I said, and then there was a part of me that was thinking I really did not know what I was talking about, and there was that section of me that was thinking that everything I did was totally out of field.

"Let's not waste any time though. We will neve rknow if you were doing the right t hing or not if you don't get to work right away..." After Todd said that, I was telling myself that he was right, and that if I was just going to try to get a single fucking thing done, then I needed to get right to the mind set where I was planning all of this shit out. I was walking towards the shack, and the more that I was heading there, the more that I was wondering what Todd and Sam were thinking, if they were actually even agreeing to what I was doing at all.

"So Todd, do you think that this is where Maurecia's attacker is? I mean, I guess that it doesn't really matter all that much either way right now, since I am going to take care of that eventually. But right now, I need to know is I am actually going to accomplish the original goal at all..." I said, and then after I had said that, I was wondering if Todd was even still on that anymore, or if he had given up on that shit a long time ago. Not that it really mattered right now, since I was dealing with this shit right now anyways.

"Well, they might be in there. I don't really know though. I think that we should just right in, and see what is going on inside. Who knows, I might even be able to do something right now that is beyond just petty revenge for Maurecia. I never really knew how evil this whole gang was, and how evil this entire organization really was until I started to find out what they were doing with Maurecia. I mean, I just thought that it was simply cruel what they did to her." Todd said, and then I was looking through the pupil, to see what was going on in there, to see if there was any indicator of a battle going on or anything.

"I am trying to figure out what is going on in there. I can't really see though. It seems like there are a bunch of guys in there though, sort of moving around..." I said, and then I was just looking closer, to try and pay closer attention to everything, although I was not really sure if that was going to help out or not, but I was just figuring that I may as well at least try. I was looking at every single detail of what was going on, and then I was sort of coming to my own conclusion.

I was seeing that there was a few beds in the area. On the beds were what I knew to be a bunch of girls, probably ranging from fourteen to probably mid forties or so. I knew that nothing about this was being done since this was just one small building out of what I felt like were hundreds of them, and then there was the fact this was benefiting the entire town, as a result there was no need to try and do anything about it. This was something that I knew was just being allowed for the benefit of the town, as if the entire town was finally making some great progress on this whole thing. I hated it, and I hated that unless if David was there, the police would arrest me when I was exposed, and then he would hav eno choice but to play along with it, and then everything would be thrown away.

That was when for a brief moment, I was actually fucking thinking that I can fucking just accept the fact that this was all where it needed to go. I was telling myself that maybe Emily was right, and that I should have just chickened out, but then I was thinking about what else I could do. I was seeing a bunch of guys getting on all the girls, and I was seeing that they were having their way with them, and that after so many of these incidents and so many times that this happened to them, that they were just not even protesting anymore. I knew that they just did not even feel the pain anymore and were just sort of numb to this whole thing. Which made me look away in anger. I was then looking at Todd and Sam.

"I thought this was going to be a simple run in and run out... But I guess that maybe it will not be that fucking easy. I think that we are going to have to do a really fucking big fight anyways..." I said, and then after I had said that, I was thinking that Todd might be willing to do this, but I had no fucking idea what the hell Sam was going to do. I was thinking that since Sam was sort of forced into this whole thing, he might try and quit on this whole thing. Not that I really fucking blamed them on this whole thing. It was crazy that this was even happening at all. But then I was started to walk closer to the door of the house where Sam placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Do you think that maybe you should come up with at least a little bit of a plan first? I mean, what you are doing right now is pretty crazy. You are going to fucking just pretend that you can go in there blindfoleded and come out? I am sorry Sheldon, and I support you for wanting to do this, but can you at least think about a plan first?" Sam asked, and then I was thinking for just a moment about what he was saying, and I thought that it could be true. But then I was telling myself that it did not really matter now anyways.

"The longer that I am there, the longer that these women are going to get abused by these terrible men. In all reality, even if I get killed right away, I am going to at least be a bit of a distraction. I can at least provide some time for the girls to have some chance of being able to fucking escape. That at least I can fucking do. So please Sam, I am going to go in ther, and I am going to take whatever is thrown at me, and I am going to do something that should have been done a long time ago. And that is getting one step closer to my father. This is going to make me one step closer to being able to hold my own in a fight against him, and my fucking god, that is something that needs to be taken care of right now. So I am going to fight my way through now, and I am hoping that I survive a little bit longer." I said, and then I opened up the door as both Sam and Todd was wondering what to do. "And if it seems like I might need to get some help, you can come in and always just provide me some assistance anyways. I bet that you would be willing to do it if things get really bad." I sort of knew where this was going, and I knew that I was giving them too much credit, but who really fucking cared.

"I guess that this is the truth. I just hope that you are fine." After Todd gave me his shitty good luck, I smiled since I was thinking that it was nice that he was showing any form of support to me at all, and then I went right inside of the fucking shack where I was going to have to fight for my fucking life. I was going to have to fight to make sure every single moment counted, no matter what happened. I was even ready to do the fighting, even though even at that moment, I had no deisre to be fighting a single damn person in this entire shack, and I was scared to do it if this had meant that I was going to fucking have to throw away even a little bit of respect that these women had with me at that moment. But I knew that in the end, when they looked back at this, they would understand what I was doing.

Once I was inside, I was seeing that there were probably two dozen beds. About six on each wall of the shack, and they were all in the case of bunk beds. Every single one of them had a woman that was on it. I saw that about a third of them were being left alone as they were already pregnant, and that there were about two third of these people getting abused by these guys. The ages of the men ranged from about nineteen all the way to the early sixties. I was thinking about how I was thinking that even if I was going to have to deal with the fighting against this gang, that I did not want to see the actually fucking happening. I was thinking about how I did not want to see what was happening to them, even if it meant that it was throwing away any form of credibility that I was having. I saw that there were about twenty men in there, with about three of which just sitting around and keeping watch on everything, and one of them was writing something down on a desk, as if they were keeping a log of all the things that were going on here. Seeing this made me angry, and seeing it made me want to fucking hurt them so badly. But I was telling myself that this was not the way to be doing this, and that in all reality, I was going to be making things even worse by trying to fight them all.

As I was thinkig about that, thinking about the pain that these women were in, I was telling myself that nothing I could do would ever make these people feel better for what I had done.

I was thinking about how no matter what happened, I could not really fucking do this. I could not really fucking accept the fact that these women were getting so brutally abused by these guys, and I was thinking about how this was just one fucking shack, and that there were probably hundreds of houses in the town, and then I was thinking about something else, that I did not want to think about. Something that I could not really fathom that I did not think about earlier, but now when I was there, was totally unavoidable for me to at least consider the possibility of.

The fact that I was going to have to consider what it was like that maybe that was another way people were not caught for so long. That maybe women were brought down here or there or any of these places for a couple of nights, maybe a week or two, and it was considered a 'business' trip, and then when they were pregnant, they returned and then the man in the relationship was paid to pretend that they were having a normal baby of their own, and that they had sex before she left, and that was able to keep the secret. And that this was their way of keeping things at least a little bit more under wraps if the labyrinth was filled up, and if there was no fucking way that they could be able to hide anymore with those women, and to avoid huge missing peoples cases. Because a woman going missing every six months to a year was tragic yes, but it was not the end of the world. In fact, people go missing all the time, and it was just run for the course. But if something was happening every few days, this would get caught. Or maybe even some of these women were taken in for a night, and then they were brought back, and that every few days, until they were pregnant, they were doing this, and this was going to be their way of covering up what they were doing to the younger women, and that when they were pregnant, they could come up with a fake boyfriend. That was explaining in a way why there was a woman getting pregnant three or four times in a semester at my school, almost at a rate of once a month. But teenage pregnacies were the norm at the time, you must come to remember, and that this was nothing too far out of the accepted ideal, at least on the suface.

As much as I hated the whole thing, and was utterly disgusted by the fact that it was going on, I did have to admit a couple of things. The execution was genius, and that they were even this dedicated to the whole thing and that nobody figured it all out showed that they were really much smarter than anybody else wanted to admit. I knew that this was something that I was not going to be able to stop, and I did not really care to figure out more of the real like details on this whole thing, since I was thinking that I already kind of figured this whole thing out by now. I was smoking a cigarette at the time, and then I was wondering what it was like to actually be in this gang.

As terrible as it was, I was thinking that maybe they were onto something. Not with the idea, and that was something I could never admit that they were doing good on, but the execution of this whole idea. I felt like they could be able to pull this off no matter if I wanted it or not. I then shook my head, as if not at all understanding why the hell I was finally admitting that this was possible in my mind. But then I was telling myself that this was because they had managed to make something as terrible of an idea as this actually almost work. Despite how fucked up it was, and there is no way around that, I did have to admit that it was almost impressive they were able to make this work out as well as it had.

When I was thinking about this fact,a nd I was thinking about the fact that I was honestly almost starting to get it, I was thinking that there was no way in hell that I would ever be able to consider myself loyal to Riley, when I was actually getting this deep in almost actually understanding them. But to defend myself, I was telling myself that in order to defeat your enemy, you had to understand them first, and I was telling myself that your enemy was just sort of the one person who was going to be at your side this whole time.

It was more true than I really wanted to admit. That my enemies were at my side more. I mean, as great as my friends were, they were always a certain piece of the time, and they could always come and go whenever they felt like this. But my enemies were stuck there, and they were going to do something to me on almost any case that they had the chance. It was fucking ingenious. I was getting in the rabbit hole though, and that was something I could never fo though.

I then saw that one of the guys was looking up and he was finally seeing me. "Who the hell are you? Why have you decided to just randomly come in?" The guy asked, showing a but of concern as he looked around, looking like he was actually scared to see where this was going to go, and he was scared to see what I could be able to do to this place if I just really tried.

"I was just hearing something, and I thought that I needed to check something out right now. Make sure that nothing was going on..." I said, and then after I had said that to the guy, I was seeing him looking right at the others, and I could see that all the guys were stopping what tehy were doing, which was as a result giving the women a break, and then they were all looking at me, wondering what I was going to be doing now. "I am not really too sure what I should be thinking of this right now..." I said, and then after I had been acting like I had not really planned this at all, I was seeing that perhaps this facade was not really working as well as I was hoping that it would. This really fucking pissed me off, and I was wondering why in the hell they were doing this in the first place.

"You know, I don't really think that this is your business right now. You have no real fucking place trying to do anything right now. We are doing the thing that nobody in the else really wants to right now..." The guy said, and I could see that he was scared out of his fucking mind. I could tell that he was trying to make this look like he was taking this really calmly, as if he was thinking that he could be able to scare me away on this whole thing. I was thinking that this was whole thing was going to be his down fall. I just needed to make him sound like he was on top of this, and to do so, I had to indulge him a little bit longer there.

"I think that you might be onto something here. You mighy have a decent idea here." I said, and I was feeling like I was totally forcing every single word out of my mouth, but despite the fact that I very much hated to admit something like this, I was telling myself that this was something I needed to say. I needed to act like they were smart and that I got this. Even if I did not get it at all, and even if I was thinking that these people were fucked up in the head for even trying to pull this whole thing off. "But I think that maye you should have been a little bit more fucking careful on where you were doing this. I mean, if you were more careful on this, then you would not have had to deal with somebody catching you, and seeing what you were doing. Do you think that maybe you should have thought about that a little bit better?" I was seeing that they were all getting really annoyed with the way that I was running my mouth, as they were wanting to call it, and that I just needed to shut the fuck up. But I was not going to let them have this whole thing. I was not going to let them think that I was not going to put up some form of a fight here, even if it was still getting me right in danger. Even if it was ruining my only chance of being able to be safe.

"You do not get to act like you understand how we do our business. You are wrong if you think that even for a moment, you are thinking that you understand these things better than us. I think that you should be thinking very carefully about what you are saying right now..." After the guy said that, I could tell that even he was not really too sure if he was confident on what he was saying. This was going to be my fucking weapon. I needed to get him to think that he was scaring the shit out of me, that I was actually worried about where this was going to go. But I didn't really think that I was doing too good as I was staring right at him, and looking right at everybody else.

"I have a father who can probably pay for me to get out of trouble if I get caught by the law for taking care of any of this. I mean, I think that you guys don't really have that much of a thing to go for you. So in all reality, I think that if anything, you should probably be a little bit more worried about what you are saying. You should probably be thinking about what you are going to do when the police catch you." I said, and I was trying to pretend that I didn't really know what I was talking about, even though I was feeling like I was doing a terrible job on this whole thing, and I could tell that from the way that they were looking at me, that they could not believe that I was actually saying this shit, wondering how they were going to be able to break my fucking bubble. But then they were seeing from the way that I was looking at them, they were seeing that there was a chance that I was totally making up the way that I was making this up as I went along.

"Do you think that you already knew about all of these things before, and that you are just fucking pretending like you don't really get this? I mean, just from the way that you are looking at me, and the way that you are shaking, it makes me think that maybe you are lying right now. Or that you are too scared to show that you don't know aht you are talking about, and that you are just trying to hide this whole thing... God damn, it is honestly sad that you think that you can have this whole thing under wraps." After the guy said that, I was seeing the women in the place looking right at me, as if they were wondering what they were going to try and see what I was thinking. I was just trying really hard not to break this facade, no matter what was going on.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I know nothing like this before. I think that you are fucking lying to me. I am going to take this whole thing down, even if you think that I can't possibly fucking do this..." I was trying so hard to give off that look of not fear, but it was getting more and more clear that I was not really able to hide this whole thing.

"You know, I don't really have a point in talking to you right now. You think that you are coming off as this big bad guy, and that we have to fear you. You make it sound like we should respect what you are saying, when you can barely keep yourself composed under anything. I think that you are much weaker than you want to admit that you are. I think that it is almost sad that you are trying so hard to make us fear you. It is as if you are trying to prove something to somebody. I think that you should not be trying so fucking hard right now. But not that it really matters now, since it seems like you are just going to see what it is like to go against the law of the land, and what it is like to try and take things for youself." I could see that this guy was getting much less scared the more that he was talking with me, and I was seeing that he was now starting to think that if anything, he really had me.

"I am not going to fucking deal with this fucking shit." I said, and then I was holding my hand to the knife, which I was feeling like should have been their first indicator that I was not going to support them, the fact that I had been holding this thing this whole fucking time. I then was keeping my cool, as much as I was wanting to, or could be able to.

"Oh great, now you are acting like you are so much better than all of us and that you don't really need to be dealing with us now. I guess that you just don't really know what you are getting yourself into. I think that you must really have gotten a big fucking ego going on right now if you think that you can just brush us off, and act like we don't need to talkw ith you. We could kill you right now. If you noticed, we have nearly twenty of us here, and you just have one." After the guy said that, I was shrugging, still giving off that facade of not really giving a single shit in the world.

"I am not acting like I am better than anybody. I know that I am better than you because I am not some sick fucked up guy that thinks that it is alright to fuck women on a daily basis, and that it is alright to sell them." I said, feeling like this conversationw as one big fucking broken record, but at the same time, I was not really giving a shit anymore. I didn't care how much I had to say this. "I feel like I have to deal with shit like this ona daily fucking basis, but I just don't care what you guys say anymore."

I finally decided to just drop all of the facade, and that I needed to show how tired of this evil that I was. I was seeing that these people were now much more excited to be having this debate with me, as if they were finally read to try and get me to change my fucking mind.

"You know, I think that when you see what we truly have to offer, you will be enjoying the business much more then you are letting on. I mean, just give it a try. You already look like you are fucked up on every other regard already, so you might as well. Besides, there are a lot of women here who like this job, and they support the job that is being set forward." The guy said, and I was thinking about Willow.

When I thought about Willow, I was so fucking sad, wondering what had made her think that she needed to do something like this. I felt so bad that she was forcing herself onto this, and I was wondering if she was now starting to regret this though. Not like what she was saying, but what she was actually fucking thinking. What she actually fucking believed. I wanted to know that shit so badly, and I was feeling like I needed to get to the bottom of all of this, no matter what the fucking case may have been.

I was waiting for Willow to talk with me more about this. But then I was thinking that none of this was Willow's fault, and that she must have been convinced that this was a good idea, and that surely she would not have been forced into this on her own right. I just felt like this was something that she would never fucking sign up for no matter what the case may have been. "You know, I am kind of tired of listening to you right now. I am kind of tired of you acting as if we are supposed to actually be listening to you, and like you really know what you are doing. I think that even some of the people you care most about are in this, and wanting to do this. Or are at least working on the details of this. This is a town effort. The reason that nobody really comes here is much more simple than you are thinking that it is..." After the guy said that, I was starting to remember the shit that I was told earlier, and I was remember the things that I had to experience at this town, and I was thinking that maybe what they were saying was actually true.

"Because you signed up these people to do the job. Because you made them work here, and you convinced them that working here was actually a good idea. I know the story behind this alreay. But I think that there is something else." I said, and then I was trying hard to remember this whole thing more, but then when I did, the truth came to me.

"Because you make them accept what was happening before they moved here. You made it very clear to the parents that in order to move here, you were going to force the sons to start working at this job when they were young, when they were teenagers and could do this on their own. You also led them to a propaganda camp when they were younger, to make them be trained into believing that this whole thing was fine. That this is how people should be when they are fully grown men. I don't really get it though. I don't really get why you feel like this is something that you can get away with doing. I know that you also made them sign up let their daughters go down here when they hit puberty, or soon after moving here when they are already hitting puberty, and that if you did not want the daughter to go up for another year, you had to pay them forward or let the mother take the toll for one year. I don't know how you guys are able to keep this under wraps though. I remember this, because it was told to me by somebody whow as greatly affected by this whole thing. Do you guys kill these people if they do not agree to do this job?" After I had said that, I continued my talking, and I was not really going to let them continue talking anymore. "I know that you are thinking that I should figure this out by now. I get that when they are in the town, that you kill the mother if she has already been given forward once and there is no funds taken care of, and you take the daughter anyways and then you give the father a ninety day silent contract to do this. I know all of this right now. But please, how do you guys actually hide these details from the public before they move to the town? How do you take care of them if they do not agree to this job before coming here? Do you kill them as well?" I asked, and then I was thinking that the answer was obvious as I was glad that Brad did not live here as the entire life of his would be thrown away when he was just a few years older from now. I was disgusted at the idea of Brad doing this, thinking that he would have actually been cool with this. I was also thinking that it would be obvious that they did this because they did not want the entire fucking town exposed right now. And that this was the only way to hide things, was to give that family a 'accidential' death that gets put on the news paper and everything else. This was how the government did not track this down. Then I remembered something else. The fact that there was a senator who had set this whole thing up, and that he was elected on this campaign platform, to make the state wealthy again. I was starting to realize that they did not need to hide anything, since we already knew this. We already were aware of what was going on, and since he was the senator, he was able to make this legal in this county, even if the government wanted to do anything about it, there was nothing they could have done, if they even knew about this.

I was thinking these people were a bunch of dumb fucking bastards for the fact that no matter what happened, they could not fucking get caught or punished for the shit that they did. Since everything they did here was totally in the bounds of the fucking law. I was hating the fact that I even had to be thinking these things through right now. That I was even thinking about how these things had been legal in the eyes of this law, because of how well these things were planned out. I hated it, but I knew that this was the fucking truth.

"You know, I have to hand it to you, the people who started this clearly thought this shit out. They knew what they were doing when they started to do this whole thing. Even if I hate to admit the fact that you guys were onto something, I still have to say it. But for fucks sake, I think that there is something that you guys never thought about. The fact that there are some people in this town who had passion right now. The fact that some people in this town fucking care what you are doing. The fact that some of us are not going to just let this shit slide, and that if we knew what you were doing, we would have killed you and everybody else involved a long time ago. But I guess that you don't really care right now..." After I was saying this, I was seeing that the guys here thought this was a riot, the fact that I said anybody cared at all. They clearly did not care if this was what was going on here this whole time.

Despite the fact that they were not really caring about the fact that I was giving any form of general praise to them at all, they were sort of looking at me, as if seeing how much I was willing to take this whole thing. "I guess that when you start to see what true art is, you finally will become to see that you were wrong to ever judge us in the first place. Who knows, maybe you just need to see the true glory of what we are doing right from the start. I think that you just need to see why we are so great, and why this job is what needs to be done." After the guy said that, I was shaking my head this whole time, as if thinking that this person was insane for thinking for even a second that I was going to buy into this shit.

"I don't believe in you at all. I don't believe that you are suddenly going to make my entire perception change on this whole thing. I think that you are having too much of an ego for your own good." After I had said that, I was waiting to see their reaction, and I was waiting to see where they were going to take this whole statement that I had just made.

"If you think that we are not going to make any changes here, I guess that you might be giving us enough credit. But we are not going to try to fight you on this, you fucking saint want to be." After the guy said that, I brought the knife forward and I was not really wanting to put this off any longer. I knew that since these people wanted to have this type of sex all the time, I knew that this was going to be my way of giving them justice, and giving them what they had truly deserved.

"You knew that this was going to resort to some form of a fight. Let's just get this shit fucking over with..." I said, and then I was seeing as one of the guys was coming closer to me, and he was looking like he was generally scared of what he was going to be doing right now. He looked like he was only about one or two years older than me, and I was feeling bad for what was going to be happening. The fact that I was going to be killing people if they did not step down. Eventually, the guy punched me right in the face, and he was doing it right at the nose, and I knew that he was trying to break my nose. All he really did instead was make me hurt for a few seconds, and I was just holding my nose for a moment. Then I brought the knife up as he was about to try and do something at me again, and then I stabbed them right through the fucking arm.

As I stabbed them right through the arm, they screamed really loudly, as I was starting to feel a little bad for them, but I was still feeling like I had to do this. Eventually, I pulled the knife right through their arm and then they were carrying the arm a bit as if trying to make it feel better, and I could see that there was a bit of a tear coming down their face from the pain. He eventually sat down on the chair, and then he was looking like he was about to cry. I saw some of the women looking shocked at what I did, and even though they did not really approve of it, I think that they were both knowing deep dpwn that this was what I was trying to do to make the point be made.

Eventually, when I was done thinking about that guy, I saw two more coming right at me and one of them was coming right at my arm and then I kicked them right in the chest and before I knew it, I stabbed them right in the heart, and took them out that way. I was glad to have taken that one out, and then I was looking at the other one, and I was ready to take care of them next, thinking that this was going to be the only way that I was going to fight them off.

They had a pocket knife and they tried to stab me right in the chest when he brought it out, and he almost got me right in the neck, and cut it open. I then punched them right in the face and then the knife fell right down on the ground and then I grabbed his fucking face and then I started to slam their face right in the wall multiple times, and I was making the guy bleed out as much as possible. The more that he was starting to bleed out, the more that I felt like I was really giving this asshole and the other asholes what they had deserved.

Then after this, I stabbed them right at the back and then it came right through, and then they were gone by this point in time, and then I was taking a bunch of long and deep breaths, just hoping that this entire thing was done with by this point in time. Eventually, there was something else that I was thinking about. The fact that I was going to kill my father one time, and I was thinking that even if I got to kill my father, there was still so much of this to be going through and that I was still not done with what I was doing. But even then, I was telling myself that killing my father would at least be a good fucking first step, and that I needed to have revenge for Riley. That was one of the things that I was telling myself that I wanted to do before I fucking died. Was to make sure that Riley was avenged. It was all I wanted, and that was all that I was ever going to try and take care of.

Eventually, when I was done with that shit, I saw that I still had like another thirteen or so to be going through, and the more that I was thinking about the fact taht I still had so many to go through, I was telling myself that I just needed to get right to business. I saw one was taking something out of the bed, I knew that this was going to be a gun. I had done enough of these fights to know what this was going to be, so I ran right to the guy and then I slashed them right through the chest and then they fell down to the ground. I then placed their gun right in my pocket, not at all ready to use it, but willing to get it away from everybody else, sicne in all reality, I did not really like to be working with guns, and I was just feeling like using them was a bit of low taste. Then there was somebody else who was coming at me, and then I grabbed them right by the neck and then I stabbed them twice, and each stab was a bit slower than the other due to the slower pull out when I was done.

I had taken down about a third of them and then I saw a guy pick up a baseball bat as they swung it right at my ribs, and the amount they hit me by was so fucking hard that it actually made the bat crack and snap in half, and then I was screaming a bit and then after this, I grabbed the upper half of the baseball bat, the part that was still broken, and then I slammed it right into the guys face, causing him to bleed out and die this way. Eventually, I grabbed the lower half, thinking that I could take out another guy by doing this.

The other one was coming right at me. I was not even paying all that much attention as I just flipped the bat around and then I stabbed the bat right through their chest again, and then after I had done that, by this point I was seeing the bat nearly showing half of the remaining bit on both sides of the person, and they were on the ground and I was now done with seven of them all. I was glad to know that I was nearly half way over with this, thinking that it was really losing the luster to be fighting these guys, but it was the only way to safely bring these people out and not get the women in more danger. I stabbed the guy that I hurt at the start of the battle right through his back when he was not looking, as a way to get that over with, and then right when I pulled out, I was now half way there by this point.

When I was thinking about the fact that I was half way through this bullshit, I was starting to think on how I could fight the other half and be effective while doing so. I knew that either way, this was going to be a fucking hassle and a half, I knew that this was not going to be anything that I would get any real fulfillment out of, but I just needed to get these fucking people destroyed now. The ninth one grabbed my head and then slammed it right down on the tabel twice and then before they could do this the third time, I grabbed them and then I threw them at the wall, and then I stabbed then one at the neck when they were at the wall, and they fell down on the ground where I still had seven to be going through.

I was so glad that this thing was taken care of by now, and then when there was another one who was near me, I ran as fast as I could right past them and then I slashed them right through the edge of the chest, where there was now a pretty seeable gap, and then they fell down to the ground before they even half a chance to try and do anything to me, and then by this point, I was just counting down the six that were still left. I was so glad to see that I was winning, since I always brought a knife to a fist fight, and when I used a gun I was able to take them out right away since I had used it so many time.

Even though I was thinking about how I did not like to use a gun, I took it out, and then I was thinking about how much that I had left. There were six people left, which meant that there was one bullett for each one of them, and you sure as hell bet that I was going to use them as well as I could, to get the best milage out of this that I could. I held the gun as tightly as I could, and then I fired the gun several different fucking times, and each time that I did it, I was taking one of the people out. The first one was barely having time to process this, and then the second one was looking scared, while the third one looked like they were trying to fight back at least a little bit, the fourth one was just trying to leave the house before I shot them but since I knew what they would tell the police and the fact that I was not a ally of the police I would lose any chance I had of winning if I didn't take them out, the fifth one was was grabbing the pocket knife from the ground but they never had a chance to do this before I took them out and they were gone, and then the sixth one was taken out right when I was seeing that they were finally processing what was happening and they thought that now that they were done processing this, I would be having a harder time defeating them. I was done with this, and then I knew that it was time to save the women that were in here.

I saw that they were all tied up. I grabbed each one of their ropes, and then I was starting to untie all of them, wanting the women to be safe, but there was one woman I knew was not going to make it. She looked like she was sick, as if she could not really handle what was going on, and I knew that there was a very high chance that she would be dead by tonight, and besides, it looked like she was several months pregnant. I was hoping the child can be safe, and that the other twenty three can be safe as well.

I was feeling awful while I was unwrapping her, and then with each one that I was unwrapping, I was feeling more and more like I wanted to cry. Eventually, I had unwrapped every single one of them, and I was tired of trying to save every single one of them. They should not have been needing saving. This should have never been a fear that they were going to have to deal with. I eventually got every single one of them out of there. I saw Todd and I was seeing Sam there waiting for me as well with the twenty four women, and they were all looking utterly tramutized. "You need to bring these women to the hospital. There's only three people who can sit in the back, which means that this is going to require eight fucking trips." I said, taking out two cigarettes, and I was smoking both of them at once. I felt like by this point in time, I had earned two of them at once, and I didn't want to do them differently, I wanted them both to be enjoyed at once. I then eventually slumped down on the wall and then I was sitting down, just taking a long and deep breath.

I could not really believe any of the things that were happening, and I was truly feeling like the entire world was falling apart around me. "God you guys, this is fucking impossible for me to do. I am literally losing it more with each one of these battles, and I am feeling like the people around me are finally fucking winning." I said, and then I was placing the knife right down on the ground. "You guys can use the machete in the car in case you need it. And one of you can use this if you feel the need to." I threw the empty gun at the two guys and then said "There is ammo at teh back in the car. Hopefully it will be enough. More hopefully, you don't need any at all." I said, and then I was taking a long and deep breath as Todd and Sam nodded and they were starting to bring threw women in the car. They felt like they needed to bring all the pregnant ones first, and then work their way from there.

I was just sort of thinking about how proud I was of these two guys for pushing through all of this, and I was thinking that they were the real heroes of this whole thing, for giving through the fight, and not giving up at all. I was thinking that eventually, even when I was dead and gone, that the two of them can help me out. I was taking out a bit of meth and a bit of heorin. I then put both of them in my pretty small ass bong at that time, but it was still big enough to make a good mix, and then after that, I started to smoke it as much as I had wanted, just thinking about where I was going to go from here. I was getting two highs going on in my mind at once, and both of them were slowly killing me, but I was thinking about how glad that I was was actually getting killed by these drugs, since I was thinking that the sooner that I was gone, the better that it would be for the town, and I was thinking that there was no way in hell that the idea of me surviving was actually the best thing that I could have been doing.

"Do you think that you can help save any more of us eventually?" One of the non pregant ones asked, and I could tell that she was just wanting to talk to me in order to make it seem like there was going to be some form of a good conversation going on here. I was thinking about this as I was placing my hand on my head, as if I was going to fucking get a head ache and I was feeling like I was going crazy a bit. I was so glad that I was in these drugs for the most part, but right now, when there was a nice young woman talking with me, it made me feel fucking weak and like I was failing to do something yet again. I was thinking about how I was going to reply to her, but I was not really sure what I could say, so I was thinking about some form of a generic response to make her take it easy, as well as making her think that I had something else that I was going to be doing here.

"I think that I am going to try as best as I can. That much I can fucking promise you. I fucking love to help. I want to help out so fucking badly. But for gods sake, I am feeling like I am having the biggest head ache in the entire fucking world. I think we need to just celebrate the fact that we even have some of us here right now." I said, and I was feeling like a utter asshole for saying this, but I was hoping that what I said could get them to think about what was going on a bit more, and they might be thinking that if for nothing else, that I might actually be right here. I then started to throw up a bit on the ground, and the more that I was throwing up, the more that I was just utterly disgusted at what I was doing, feeling like I was making them fail. Then when I was done, I was pulling out some of my heorin again and tnen I saw that I only had one more round to smoke. I still placed it in the bong, and then smoked it, and then after that, I took out a cigarette, and started to smoke that as well.

I was thinking about how much I wanted crack. I was thinking about how great it would be to smoke so much fucking crack that I was going to feel like my head was about to explode. I was thinking about how if I got my hands on more crack, I would be able to start to catch the good old days again and be able to love the world once more, and be there with the people that I cared the most about in the world. You know, when I was still having a good time with Dakota and everything.

I was just not really even paying attention to what was going on around me as I was watching the car come by, and pick up more people, and then they were starting to drive away a bunch of times. Each time that this was happening, there was something else that I was thinking about how Todd and Sam were probably thinking about how they were going to throw me away, and probably even join sides with the other guys who are working in these groups just to throw me away. When I thought about that, I started to also think that this was something that should be happening to me. I was starting to think about how the entire world would be a better place around me when I was gone, and then I was laughing my fucking ass off when I was thinking about that more and more.

"You look like you really need a break." One of the girls said to me before she was being taken away. "I mean, look at you. It looks like you are about to die at any minute. I would not be surprised if you are, given the stuff that you are doing right now. I mean, god damn, you have been smoking so many things just in the last couple of minutes. But I will not nag at this anymore. I think that you should just maybe think about what you are doing a little bit more. I guess that maybe though, I might be seeing you again... I hope that things are better for you when we see each other again..." After she had said that, she went away and then I was placing my head down and then I was closing my eyes to take a bit of a sleep.

As I was finally sort of sleeping, even if it was just for a moment, I was telling myself that I was going to eventually find peace with Riley. I was telling myself that I just needed to get right to work, and that soon enough, when Riley was safe, I would be able to start to make some peace with what is going on. I can't believe that I am actually starting to think that there is a chance that I am going to put this entire thing behind me. It just felt like it was wrong for me to feel like I could be able to get through any of this, and that the more that I was trying to get over this, the more that I was telling myself that it was fucking disgusting to be feeling that way about myself. Even though I wanted to forget about everything going on, I was also scared out of my fucking mind now.

The idea that Riley might eventually start to become a bit of a distant memory was making me get a fucking head ache, it was making me think about how nothing I ever did was for the better purpose of anything. I thought that Riley would be laughing at me when she would see me. I mean, her brother turning into a drug addict who can't even fucking function on anything besides a bunch of drugs and everything must have been the funniest thing in the entire world, and then when I was thinking about what else she would be finding funny, and I was thinking that she would be finding this failed quest to make her feel better and avenged funny, thinking that if she was alive, she would have been telling me to just let it go, and that she moved on and that it is time for me to move on. That she is already away from here, and that my drug addiction was making a bigger deal out of this than it really was. Even though I was thinking that it was fucked up, and that I hated myself even more for thinking it, there was a part of me that was wondering if she actually might have enjoyed what my father was doing to her, and that she agreed to this from the start, and that was why she was gone for so long. That he was connected with her, and that since he was the only man she would see for long periods of time, that he was going to be the one who would really make her feel better. I was thinking that I should never forgive myself for thinking this way, but I seriously was just not able to help but think that way for a moment, and I was wondering if maybe I was harsh on my father on what could have been a agreed upon movement between my sister and my father.

I think that this thought set that I was having was sort of one of my final attempts to actually defend my father a little bit, as if trying to think that this was not nearly as awful as I was thinking. I was actually thinking this shit for a moment, as much as I hated to fucking admit that I was thinking this. I was actually almost even starting to flirt with the idea that this could have been true, and that the love that the two of them had with each other was one of the biggest things in the entire world that I would never fucking get.

But then there was something else that I started to remember at that point in time, something that instantly ruined my fucked up and desperate thory. Something that made me remember that things were just much more closer to the reality I hated than I had ever wanted to admit. That was the fact that she was crying that one time a couple of months before she went missing. Crying like she had the worst reveal in the world happen to her ever. As if she was thinking her entire world had broken down. As I was thinking about that, and I was thinking about the fact that she was weeping so badly over this, I knew for a fact that she never even remotely agreed to her being raped over and over again by my father. Not even raped at all, but by her fucking father of all the people in the entire world. I was thinking that when she was having to deal with this, there was a part of me that was thinking that even with all my drugs, that despite me saying I had it worse originally, when I took all these things together, and then I see the fact that she was only fourteen years the entire time when it started, that she was having it ten times worse than I would ever have it. Just fourteen years old when my father stole her entire innocence that she even could be having left, and then threw the entire world away because her father decided that we fucking needed to move to fucking wayside. I fucking hated my father for thinking that this was such a great fucking idea.

I opened up my eyes when I was thinking that the pain of her was growing too much for me to even try to comprehend, and then I was looking right at the fact that all the women were gone by this point in time. I saw that the car was pulling up, and that Todd and Sam were getting out of the car. I stood up and then I was looking right at the shack. I was getting an idea in my mind that was going to sound fucking crazy, but I really did not care all that much, and that was to burn this shack down, to send a clear message to entire rest of the town, to make it clear that I was not to be fucked with.

I was looking right at Todd and I was looking right at Sam. "Do you think that we should bring this place down?" I was wanting to know their opinion on the matter, and I was thinking that they were probably going to try and get me to see that this was some form of a terrible idea, when in all reality, this was a fucking great idea, and that they were insane for not seeing the value of this whole fucking thing. Despite the fact that I had been feeling that way about them at that moment, there was another thing I wanted to tell myself.

I needed to fucking just have some sex right now. Not the type of sex that was in this town, but the one that I had with Emily back in the day. The sex that showed that there was somebody who loved me. That was what I needed right now. I needed to have somebody fuck me with love, and show that they even remotely appreciate the shit that I am doing for them right now. I was thinking that the entire world was fucked up, and that just having some sex was the only thing that could change my entire perception. I was just wanted to get fucked, and fucked so hard that I was going to feel like I was going to make peace with everything else in the world by the end.

"I don't really know what we should be doing. But we need to make sure that nobody comes here at all, that much is for sure..." After Sam responded, I was brought back to the moment, and then I was wondering how I was going to do this. I then realized that to my knowledge, I did not have a single thing that I could be able to use to destroy and throw away this fucking place. I was thinking that even if this was a good idea, that it just did not fucking work at all, and that this was a terrible suggestion that I had just for even thinking about it at all.

"I think that maybe we can just check up on it every couple of weeks or so. I think that there is nothing you can really do besides just that. Just walk right in, and make sure that nothing is going on here every few weeks. And if there is, wait until all the guys are gone, and then take them all out of there and bring them to the hospital. Every single one of them, no matter how much time it would take to do this." Todd said and then after Todd told me that, he was looking right at the shack, and I could see that he was deeply in thought. As if he was really finally piecing all of these things together. "Well, thank you for everything that you have been doing so far." After Todd had said that to me, I was thinking that it was so much better that somebody was able to give me some form of appreciation to the shit that I do, no matter how fucking hard it is to do something like this.

"Well, you're welcome. I knew that I should have tried to do something with you. I knew that you were going to need my help eventually." After I said that to Todd, I was seeing that he was just sort of keeping his fists balled, as if he was just angry over what had happened with Maurecia, and I was wondering if this was going to change him as much as what happened to Riley had been able to change my life. If that was the fucking case, that would have been the most awful thing in the entire fucking world.

"Well, thanks for actually having the fucking balls to do something like that. Thanks for actually having the balls for keep to your promise every once in a while. I would hate it if you were not like that. I would hate it if it were to turn out that you were not even wanting to help. I really respected everything that you have done, and I just hope that despite your drugs and everything, that I will grow up to be even half the man that you have become." After Todd tried to be this open to me about the way he was feeling of my job performance, Iw as just shocked that he had been saying this, and I was thinking that he had to have been just trying to make me feel better, and that she really did not feel this way. There was no way in hell that he was actually thinking that I was this type of great hero.

"Well, I think that we are going to be seeing each other again soon. I wish you luck on the whole thing with Maurecia." I said, and then I started to walk to the car again after Todd shook my hand and then I went to the drivers seat. I saw Sam sit right down next to me, and I was just wanting to talk to him more, but at the same time I did not really know if words were enough to really describe anything that I was actually feeling.

I started to drive out as fast as I could. Eventually, I was seeing that Sam was just trying to decide what he was going to say next. That he was not even sure what he was going to say this time, and then after I thought about that, I was just thinking that there could have been nothing wrong with just letting this be a silent ride. But then I was thinking that maybe he was starting to finally see where Kevin was coming from, in the way that he was right about the terrible person that I was, and that he was wrong for ever giving me a chance. I was still seriously thinking the worst on all of these things.

The entire drive home, I was just seeing Sam just staring at the window, not even giving me a look. Not even thinking that he could handle the sight of me. I was annoyed at that part though, I get that he was not really wanting to do anything, but I was annoyed that he was thinking that the best thing to do was just totally ignore me the entire time. Despite the things that I had been thinking, I eventually dropped him right off where his house and it was at this point when Sam decided to look right at me. "Sheldon, do you think that there is a level of validity to what they are doing? I hate to even consider the idea that they might be right, but there is a part of me that is starting to think that maybe they actually are. As much as I think it is disgusting to give this to them." I could tell that Sam hated this idea, and I could tell that the more he was saying this, the more he was hating his life.

"I don't really know. I need to see it more and take it with a more objective eye to understand this..." I said and then I saw Sam nod and then he walked out of the car and went right to his house. I eventually went to my house where I told Dakota, WIllow, Maurecia and Misty were thing. Dakota, Willow and Maurecia decided that they were going to take a taxi ride home. When they were gone, I looked at Misty and then after a while of talking, she eventually kissed me and then we eventually ended up having sex again that night for our second time ever. By the end of this all, she went home and two days later, I got the news paper of a woman dying while giving birth and that the baby was bought for adoption by a guy for five million dollars. I wondered if her deathw as set up for all of this to happen this way. It pissed me off, but then I told myself not to think too much on it. Not much else really happened until late March of 1966, where once again, my life would change rapidly.


	86. Jimmy White

Part 16: Jimmy White

It was March 21 1966 when I really started to have every single thing that was going on around me just change rapidly in the course of just one fucking night. As if everything that I had been thinking could have been done was just gone and that everything in my life that was already bad was going to escalate to be ten times worse than it was already, and I did not even think that it was possible to have something like this happen at all. Despite all of the things that I was thinking for this to be impossible, I was still telling myself that this was all just a part of reality, and that when I looked back at everything, I was thinking that it was really hard for me not to see the hints when I was looking at this in hindsight. That all of the hints were really looking at the entire conflict going to the way that it had been resolved, and I was even thinking that when I think about it, Edward was right about every single thing that he had ever said, as much as I fucking hate to admit it.

The conflict started when there was a knock that was on my door. I was just smoking a small bit of crack from my monthly supply, since I had started to get that now. I was telling myself that I was only going to have the major drugs when I was in my house, but when I was outside at work or with other people, I was just going to stick with cigarettes. I was still having my LSD on the table, and I was telling myself that I was going to be using this very soon. I had no idea why I was telling myself this so much, but I was just sort of feeling like this was going to be what would happen.

There was a knock on my door and I answered the knock after a few seconds. I was seeing Edward standing right there waiting for me. I was shocked, and knew that something serious was going on, considering the fact that he never bothered me unless if there was a full on emergency. And that I was thinking that even if he was pretending to get along with me, that he was only really doing it when I was around other people, but when it was just the two of us, he hated me. "I was trying to get ahold of you for a while. But it seems like you have been really busy lately. I know that it is crazy to hear that I am the one who is coming to see you here, but I think that when you hear why, you will probably not be shocked at all over what I am going to be telling you."

"What is going on that makes you need to see me right now?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to get right to the questioning, and that he was really was not wanting me to waste any time. I was feeling the high coming in right now, so I was taking out a cigarette and smoking it instead. I had the current pack in my pocket, but as I was thinking on the thing he was going to be telling me, I was telling myself that I needed the other pack. So I got right inside, and then I grabbed it and placed it right in my pocket. When it was in my pocket, I was then looking right at Edward again and then he was just looking right down, as if he was genuinely sad over what he was going to be telling me.

"I was just wanting to tell you that I think that Misty has officially gone too far with her operation, and her wanting to take down the entire fucking thing going on around town. I think she is finally going insane. I don't really think that she would understand from me, but I think that you just need to talk to her about all of these things. As much as I hate this, I think that you are a better person to be talking to her about all of these things than I am." After Edward said that, I was really now wondering where this was going to go, and I was totally one hundred percent ready to get right to work, if it had meant that I was going to be keeping her safe. I was sort of adopting the protective brother stance at that moment, as strange as it was.

"Hey here is the thing. I think that she does really care for what you are thinking and what you tell her, but she never really realized that you might have been telling the fucking truth. I was scared out of my mind when she started to talk to me about all of the things that she had been wanting to do. I thought that she was insane. But I never really thought that she was going to do all of this stuff. I thought that she was just telling me what she had wanted to be doing. I never really took it much more than that at all to be totally honest." After I had said that, I was waiting for Edward to snap at me for the whole idea of just bringing her into this whole ordeal.

I think that it was just because of the fact that he knew that I was just sort of doing a better job winning her over that he did not get angry. I wanted to make him feel better. "Sheldon, I just am worried about what is going to happen to her. I want to make sure that she is safe. I want to make sure that the person that I saw grow up as my semi close neighbor grow up and become the nice and great young woman that she did. And then she throws this all away just because she thinks that she is able to have a good idea that if she has to go around and fucking safe this fucking city. It is so over the top what she is doing. And it is actually kind of pissing me off that she thinks that she can do all of these things, because now she got herself in a place where she is going to fucking die. And there is nothing that we can fucking do about it." After Edward said that to me, I was feeling like even if it was just for a moment, I was finally starting to know him a bit more for the first time in over two years.

"Edward, I know what it must be like to have something like that taken away from you. Before you ask me if I do, trust me, I really get it. But the thing is, that even if the worst thing ever happens to her, at least she choose for herself. Even though I wished that she would make it to the tenth grade year, I know that some thing could always happen and that there is always a chance that this could not really happen. I just want to make sure that she felt happy. I did not really think that she was actually saying anything all that awful." I said, and I was wondering what Edward was going to tell me, and I was getting fucking scared for what was going to happen when Edward would let the words sink in for more than just a couple of minutes.

"I never really thought that anything could happen to her though. I was wanting to see her eventually grow up and have a family, and become a successful woman. I thought that if there was anybody else that going to figure this whole thing off. I just wanted to make sure that everything was going to go perfectly. I am guessing that this is never going to be the case. There is something that also scares me about Misty. The fact that she has barely gone around and talked with anybody, and the fact that I am thinking she is starting to get into some of the really bad sides of town. As if she wants to become some form of a pimp or something stupid like that." After Edward said that, he continued before I could say that "I guess that I just wanted to make it clear that I used to do some of the exact same things back in the day. I used to drink around a lot, and I used to fucking be crazy as well, but it seems like I am starting to calm down a little bit. I am starting to see the priorities in my life that I need to follow right now. I just want to make everything clear to Misty that things are going to eventually change, and that she does not need to get so deep into everything that she has been doing, if she is even willing to give me a chance to be explaining all of these things to her. For all I know, she might not even want to talk with me anymore, and she might actually just decide that she wants nothing to do with me. I don't want something like that to happen. But I am scared that this could happen." After Edward said that, I was seeing the fear in his voice really coming through now.

"I don't get why you are suddenly coming along and trying to get me to support you right now. Why you are suddenly acting like you want me at your side. To be fucking honest with you, I don't even know if you are lying or not. I don't really know if you are actually meaning it. You know, the idea that you need me at your side. For all I know, you could be lying through your fucking teeth right now, and then I would look like an idiot. I mean, it is not like you ever really respected and trusted me in the first place, so you can't really act like what I am saying is all that crazy right now..." After I had said that, I was looking right at Edward to see what he was going to say, if he even wanted to be saying anything at all.

"Listen Sheldon, I know that I have not been nice to you at all. I get it. You think that I don't trust you. And I don't really know if I still don't or if I am starting to or not. I don't really know at all. But I will never get to choose if I don't get to fucking give you a fucking chance to prove yourself right now... I need your help with Misty right now, can you please spare being an ass to me, and can you please actually work with me for once in my entire fucking life?" After he had asked me this, I was starting to think that maybe I was being a bit out there, and that I should have been listening to him a little bit more, and giving him more of a chance from the start, but given the thing between us, I didn't really know any better. "But Sheldon, I really want to make Misty come home safe. I know that there is something about her that you like. That you really think she is the best girl that you ever got to know. I know that this is how you fucking feel. You don't do a great job hiding how much she has really meant to you. I respect everything about that, and I want to get to know if you actually like her in the way of her as a human being, or if you just view her as a sex object." After Edward said that, I was baffled at this. I mean, yes I had sex with her, and I will never hide the fact that I did, and I will certainly not hide the fact that I enjoyed it very much. I mean, how could I fucking not enjoy this whole thing with her. She was a fucking sex bomb, and easily the hottest woman I have ever met in my entire fucking life. But there still was more to this than just the sex. I mean, I have seen her and listened to her for many hours on end, and I started to finally get to know her better as a person, and I know for a fact that there was more to her than just the sex appeal. I mean, I really wanted to be her friend, and I wanted to keep her safe. I didn't really know how I could be able to keep her safe. But I needed to prove to Edward that I liked her for more than just the fucking sex, if that was even possible.

"Edward, I know that you do not like me. In fact, I would not at all be shocked if you just down right hated me. I don't really care though. At least that is something you can be honest with me about. But I care more about her than just a sex object, no matter how hard and crazy that may be to believe. I mean yeah sure, maybe when I first met her, and I was not really ever talking with her as a person, I sort of thought of her as a sex object, somebody that I wanted to sleep with. I mean, she was some young and hit girl. But was more to this besides that." I said, and then after I said that, I was looking at him, and then I was thinking about what I had just said to Edward.

He just looked down, as if thinking that even with how little he trusted me, that he did not want really to hear something like that. "I heard somethings that Sam told me about conversations that you has with him recently. Are they true? Are you a fucking pedophile?" After Edward asked me this question, I was barely able to wrap my mind around it. I knew that he was really placing me against the wall, and I remembered the exact conversation I had with Sam that led to this happening. Here it was:

-So it was on January 6th of 1966, and I was thinking about just opening up to Sam, trying to be a friend with him again. A real friend, and not just somebody who was in the same room as everybody else who I was starting to hang out with. I was staring right at the car window, since we were out on a bit of a driving trip, just to be able to relax a little bit. I was looking right at Sam, and then I took a long and deep breath. "I think that I might go back to the high school after all. I mean, I have placed it off for too long, and I think that I can pull off a bit of a miracle if I really tried." I said, sort of thinking that this was possible in my mind, but I was thinking that in the more practical sense, that this was not able to really happen at all. "Besides, there are some other personal reasons why I would want to go there..."

After I had said that, I was seeing Sam looking at me, as if wondering what would really make me want to go back to the high school for some random reason. He was in fact not believe in what I was saying at all. "Well, I would like to hear the truth Sheldon..." He said, and I could tell that he was mostly being truthful.

But there was something else that was happening at that moment. I think I was wanting to set up a self destruct moment while also just getting to know him a bit more. So when these two perfect storms were all coming together, I think that there was just something that was just going to lead me to give him more information than he would probably really want to know about at that moment. I think there was a part of me that was hoping that he would hate what I would be telling him, so he would tell other people, and then it could hurt me in the end. It turned out that this was starting to go this way.

"Well, there are the young ladies there that I really want. I mean, I am sexually attracted to younger women. I have ever since I have remembered. I want to feel them sucking me off, and then to tea bag me. I also want them to sort of feel the pleasure of this old man treating them well. I want them to understand that I will protect them when I am with them. I want this shit so badly, and you might not really even get why I want this so badly. Even I don't really know why I was cursed to see the lovely attractiveness of a the young women. I just wish that more people would see this, and not even really judge me all that much over this whole thing. I think that I want them to see that I can make them feel fucking loved, which they fucking are when they are around me to be totally honest with you." I said, and then I was just seeing that I went too far, and I was wanting to get arrested. I wanted to get Sam angry at the shit that I was telling him. I wanted to have him lose all hope that he had in me, and then decide that he did not want to be my friend anymore.

I wanted to be Sam's friend in the way that I wanted to have somebody who had really grown to be trusted by me at my side. Since I really believe in everything that he says, and I believe that he is being sincere. But in all reality, I am scared of Sam being too good for me, and that was why I was doing this to myself. I felt like I should have not been given the chance to be his friend, since in all reality, he needed to expand beyond me and see what real friends were like, since I was feeling like I was not a real fucking friend and everything. I was thinking this as Sam got me back to reality. "So Sheldon, do you really actually feel this way. I mean, are you really one of those fucking pedophiles even though you are fighting against them all the time? Isn't that a little bit hypocritical right now? I just don't really fucking get it. I thought that you were more than this..."

I knew that Sam had every right to be mad at me, but I felt the need to still say something. "You know, I am not the same as them. I really am not at all the fucking same as those fucking assholes. I never have, and I never will be. The difference between them is that they might not even really want to be these type of people, but they do it because they feel like they have to. I find myself wanting to do it, but I will never ever do it because I never want to do something like this. I will kill myself before I molest a young girl, and I truly mean that, since I feel like that will be the least evil thing that I would be doing right now. I just want to actually express my feelings. I will never want to try and be in the same group as those people, since they never really know what they are doing. I mean, just have a bunch of thoughts that are coming to my mind after all of this time, and that is mainly because of the way that my father has raised me, since he has changed my entire fucking life without even fucking trying this. I mean, that is what makes me different from those assholes. I understand why it is awful, and I will never do something awful like that, no matter what is going on." I then took a long and deep breath, and I was seeing the look on Sam's face change several times, as if not really sure what to be thinking.

"I guess that maybe you are different from them right now. I think that you are telling the truth and that is what really matters. You truly feel like you are different from them. And I can see from the look on your face, and the stuff that you have told me earlier, that you truly do feel sorry for everything that is happening right now. You know that doing this is wrong, and I think that you will do everything to prevent this from happening. That makes me respect you so much more, because it makes me know that you will never do something terrible. But it doesn't change the fact that you are this type of guy with these type of feelings. I mean, I trusted you to not do these types of things. I thought that you understood the pain that it causes. So just knowing that you are that type of person, the person who has some desires to be doing this, even if you don't actually do it, is sort of scary for me. I think that you must see why I am reacting like this." After Sam said that, I took a long and deep breath, and I knew that he had every right to be feeling this way with me.

"You have every right in the fucking world to hate me. You have every right in the world to be fearing me. But I think that you know that I am telling the truth when I told you that I would rather kill myself than let this shit happen. You know that I will do something like this if I get tempted to do it. If I get tempted to rape a woman, I will kill myself. That is why I sort of want to be at the school though. So I can get to know the girls, and see them for who they are, and see them for what they really represent, and then they can fall in love with me already, and I will fall even more in love with them than I already have, and I will make them see that they are the most valuable people in the entire world. I just wanted to make them feel better." I said, and then after I told Sam this, I was just sort of wondering how much deeper I was going to have to dig this fucking grave for him to just lose all hope in me.

"I just don't really know what I should be thinking right now is all. It is just a lot of information to take in. The craziest thing about it all is that even with all the things that you told me, that there are two things that I have to say for your defense. One of which is that you never really kept this secret, and that you have always sort of made these preferences open in some fashion. I should have figured it out sooner, and there is no real reason for me to act like I did not understand this sooner. But at the same time, even beyond that, there is something else. The fact that I believe that you are going to stay innocent. It is more what other people will believe in..." After Sam said that, I was thinking about that very problem, and I knew that this was going to change how everything went if they had known. They meaning the rest of the group and the town. The rest of the gang and especially the town knew that I was fighting pedophilia despite fitting too perfectly into the picture.

"I just want to be a normal guy. I mean, I love my drugs, I love my young girls, and I love the idea of revenge way too fucking much for my own safety." I said, and then as if on cue, I was taking out a cigarette and smoking it, and then I was sort of doing it to prove my point. "I just fucking hate the fact that nothing around me ever really seems like I am a guy that can be considered normal."

"There is nothing wrong with not being normal. Trust me, I think that you are perfectly fine the way that you are. At least you are real with the way that you are expressing your emotions. I mean, I really respect that in all honesty. Like I respect the people who are just willing to fucking express what their deepest thoughts really are. I just think that you are one of the greatest people that I have gotten to know, even with your massive fucking flaws, you really do seem like you fucking care a lot." After Sam said that, I nodded as if thankful at the fact that he understood me at least a little bit.

"I hope that maybe one day, people will see the good things about me, and want to be my friend for those good things." I said, and then after I had said that, I was just thinking about what it would be like to have a normal fucking life. I knew that it would never happen, but I was just pretending for a moment that I was. I started to smoke a second cigarette as I was thinking about this.-

After that memory was done playing in my head, I was seeing Edward still looking right at me. "I can't talk about this too much right now. We need to get the hell out of here. I think that we both know that we need to fucking find Jenny right now..." I said, and then after I said that, Edward nodded, as if thinking that he was sort of glad that I was finally dropping this fucking subject. As if thinking that he did not really want to get too deep into this. At least not nearly as much as he thought that he did. I was driving as slow as possible, looking around every single fucking cranie to find where Misty was. Eventually, I parked the car and I was seeing that there was a bunch of people that I used to know in the area. "We should split up." I said, trying to make sure I can safe Edward at the very least.

As Edward was looking at me, I could tell that I was being totally serious with the way that I was saying this, and he was seeing that I was really not in the mood to fight with him on this at all. "Fine... I don't like this... But if you really want me to do this right now, I will do as you asked..." After Edward said that, I could tell that he was sounding a little bit sorry about this whole thing, as if he was not wanting to force me through this whole thing. "And Sheldon, there is something that I want to tell you before you go... And that is even with all the things that I have been saying to you lately, that I am really sorry for everything. I am sorry for the way that Misty treated all of us. I am sorry for everything that has been going on lately. I just wish that you have the best of luck." After I heard Edward say this to me, for some reason him telling me this was really what I needed to hear. It was what I wanted to hear, and I could tell that he was actually meaning every single word that he had been saying.

"Don't worry about it bro. If there is one thing that you are right on, is that Misty is much more important to be dealing with right now. I think that we really need to start looking right now, before we get too distracted..." I said, and then when I was done with that, I started to head off out of the car. I was seeing that Edward was leaving the car to, and that he was going the other way, to make himself less noticed. I was taking out my machete, since that was the only weapon I had after I returned the fucking knife that Wyatt brought to defend the gas station back after my shift was over with.

As I was walking for a while longer, I was getting myself ready for what was going to happen next. I was getting out another cigarette, and then I was starting to smoke it for a while as I was walking closer to all of these people. The more that I was walking, the more that I was seeing Misty right there. I was seeing that she was sort of being cornered, and that was going to be my way of trying to help her out which was to get them distracted from her and to be looking at me. I was going to be the biggest hero of the week just by doing this.

I saw that they were tempted to laugh a little bit as they were seeing this. They were seeing me, and they were just thinking that the way that I was composing myself was one of the amusing things ever. "Please leave her alone. I am the one that you are wanting to mess up. I was the one who had been doing all of those things throughout the last couple of towns, trying to be a hero and everything. She was just a fucking distracter for my business." I said, and I was trying to fucking make this look good but I was thinking that I was not really doing a good job at all. I was just thinking that I was going to fall apart right then and there.

"Oh yeah, and what makes you think that we would be willing to think you are telling the truth, you fucking asshole? You are a complete dick for interrupting the conversation that we are having with this wonderful lady." After they had said that, I was already ready to beat this guy up, and make these people fucking miserable.

"You know, I think that you have heard about the Silver Shell before..." I said, finally remembering that stint that I pulled off a year ago, and I was now thinking that it was finally a good thing that I was able to keep this lie up, and I was thinking that maybe for once, Misty would be glad that I was the Silver Shell as it might actually be able to save her fucking life. "Well, to tell you the truth, I am the Silver Shell. It was a big thing in Wayside, the reveal, but I guess that the news did not really spread all that far. The fact that I am the one who is going around and taking care fo the crimes here. I am an independent agent, doing everything on the best case in the world. I am only fighting for what I think is good for the entire town..." I said, and I was actually meaning every word of what I was saying. As I had been saying this, I was seeing that these guys were starting to see that I was not putting on the facade, and that I was actually telling the truth about what I was saying right then and there... When I was seeing the look on their face, I was seeing that they were just fucking scared.

"God damn, you are seriously the Silver Shell... But how are you the one who was pulling all of these things? You do not look like that fucking guy at all. You look like you are barely able to fucking compose yourself at all. You look like a fucking old ass man who aged badly." After the guy said that, I was thinking that it was funny how they might have been saying this, and then I was still holding the machete, and I was ready to fight these young men, no matter what the case may have been.

"Because the thing that makes me different from everybody else is that I am able to actually keep a clear mind on what I want to be doing right now. I have no fucking desire to mess around here any more. I have one goal in mind right now, and that is to fucking save these people, no matter if it gets me killed or not..." After I had said that, I was finally starting to really get much more serious about what I was saying, and the facade that I was originally putting on was starting to become something much more. I was starting to actually get into the mind set of being the Silver Shell once again, and they must have been seeing that I was finally right in that mind set again, and this was when they were wondering if they were going to be able to really fight me at all.

"Well, you don't have your suit on anymore. You probably are feeling much more weak about what you are doing now. You probably think that you can fight us right now... I think that you are wrong about that. I guess that sooner or later, everybody slips. You are just one man with a machete. We are seven men with a gun. If you were wearing your suit, you would have been able to stand a chance, but right now, I think even you know that this is not really going to fucking happen." After the guy was telling me this, I thought about that a little bit more. I was thinking about Misty, and I was thinking that it was nice for once that she was at least a little bit serious about the whole crime fighting thing, since I can always just get her to join along in this fight, and help me out on the event that I really needed this. I felt like this was going to keep her and I united, and I was going to fuck up these people, while also giving her the chance to show that she was a better fighter than I ever thought that she was.

"I mean, I have been fighting for quite some time. A few years in fact. I think that I have much more experience than the fucking guy on drugs would give off the look that he would be. I think that you just need to really think about how I managed to pull this off so easily without any real problems..." I said, and then I was now holding the machete with both hands, wondering if they were finally going to start to get a little bit more afraid, but I was thinking that this was more of the best world case than anything else. But then I was totally ready to fight them off right then and there if this had to be done, and they must have seen that this was the case.

As I was now finally in the mood, I saw one of them take out their gun and they fired it and I just managed to side step when they fired the gun. I was used to that first shot always sort of sucking, and it always gave me a couple of seconds to start a lead in. I always needed to just do what was safe, since in all reality, doing what was safe would be the only way that I could safely be the one who would win the fight. Then when I was next to the guy who fired once, I grabbed his arm as another one was pulling out their gun and they fired it and I was holding this guys body forward, and he was the one who got the bullet given to him in the chest and then he fell down to the ground. Then when this was done, he was on the ground, and that was all that there was to this. I then saw that the other guy looked scared for a moment, wondering what else we were going to be doing. I then stabbed them right through the heart when he was trying to process the fact that I had taken out one of the guys already, and showed absolutely no sign of letting down when I was doing this.

By now, I had already taken care of two of them, and I still had five to go, but I was now really in the mind set. One of them fired a gun at me and I knew that it was about to hit my arm, so I lifted my arm for a moment and then the bullet hit the other guy right behind me right in the neck, and as a result he was killed off that way. Which meant that I had three of them taken care of by now. Then with the fourth one, the one who had fired the gun at me earlier, I just sliced his neck open by a really rough swing, and then he was holding his neck as he fell down to the ground. That was meaning that I was now half way done with the group.

When I was seeing that I was half way through this whole battle, and it had only been about a minute or so, I was wondering when I was finally going to start having fights that would present me more of a challenge. This was getting really easy. I mean, after so many years of this fighting, it sort of lost the luster that it originally had. In fact, it was almost like this was just a practice session for when the real battles would be taking place. Such as when I would finally be confronting my father and giving him the punishment that he had deserved.

The fifth guy fired several bullets at me, not just waiting to do one like the previous two had made the mistake of doing. They were thinking that if they fired all their bullets at once, eventually at least one of them would have hit me. They were right when one of the bullets hit the top of my leg, but it was not really all that close to any major body part, and after all the shots that I have taken, it was not really all that big of a deal to have another one. In fact, I was thinking that this was just adding to the battles that I had been going over by this point in time. I then decided not to let the bullet really get to me when I just cut their arm off, and then when the arm was cut off, I swung again, and made a large open wound right on their chest, and then they fell down dead as a result of this. I then was seeing that the other guy fired at me again and then I was so glad that the bullet had missed my spine, since I was thinking that I would not really want to be paralyzed for the rest of my life. It hit me a couple of inches to the left of the spine, and then the bullet barely really hit me, and then I pulled the bullet right out of me and then I did something that I never really thought that I could do. I flicked the bullet right through the fucking face of the guy and the bullet went into their eye and then through their brain. I then realized that there was only one of them left to be fighting with after this.

I was then looking at this final guy, who was seeming much smarter about this whole thing. He punched me right in the face, and then he started to hit me over and over again, seeing that guns were not really doing it against me. As he was punching me over and over again, I fell down to the ground, and then I was looking right up when he started to stomp right on my chest. "I know that you are no longer actually doing anything. I don't even believe that you were the Silver Shell. I think that you are taking credit for something that somebody else did because you were at the wrong place at the right time. I fucking hate people who are acting like this. Acting like they can take credit for everything going on. Eventually, I was about ready to talk once again.

"I was the Silver Shell. If you were paying attention to the news, you would have seen." I said and then after I had said that, there was a gun shot and the guy fell down to the ground dead. Misty was looking right at me and she helped me up and then I was grabbing my machete again.

"Sheldon, you really are one of the craziest people that I have ever meant in my entire life. And that is why I like you. Why I think that you are one of the best and most real people in Tremorton. Sheldon, you saved my fucking life. I can't fucking believe that I have been denying all of things this whole time. I mean, we have been working together all of this time, and I have never really seen the one person who really does everything for me right before anything else is given the chance to do this..." After she had said that, I was seeing her hugging me as tightly as possible.

"Misty, I was worried about you. Edward was worried about you. I think you need to start doing something else right now. I think that you need to see that this job really is not for you at all." I said, and then after I had said that, I was seeing that she was scared to be looking at me, as if scared to finally admit that we were right, and that she had been wrong on this whole thing.

"I am so fucking sorry that you have been trying to tell me these things this whole thing, and that I have not been listening to you this whole time at all. I should have been listening to you more often. You are a fucking hero. You are the only one who fucking cares about me. I fucking love you Sheldon. I fucking honestly love you..." After they had said that to me, I was shocked at the fact that she had told me this. I was not really ready for anybody to be telling their love to me, but I wanted to make her happy. I really fucking wanted to make her happy, no matter what the matter may have been.

"Please, don't worry about this. You don't need to love me..." I said, and then I was patting their back, and then after I had said that, I was seeing that Misty was shaking her head, as if she was feeling that she really needed to get this whole point across. That she really needed to tell me the fucking truth. As if telling me the truth was the only way that she could feel at peace with herself right then and there.

"Sheldon, I don't need to do this. I want to do this. I want to show you how values the things you are doing have been to me. I mean, you have been there for me ever since the start. I understand why you lied to me this whole fucking time. I understand why you have been doing all of these things. You were really trying to keep me safe." After she had said that, she kissed me right in the lips, and then the longer that we were holding the kiss, the more that I was feeling like there was some actual love going on between us. When the kiss was done, she was leading me back to my car, and I was thinking that I knew exactly where this was going to go now.

As we were in the car, I was looking around to see where Edward was, and I was seeing that he was simply just not around anymore, as if the fact that he was told to get away was something that he was taking a little bit too seriously. I was then starting the car up, and I was thinking that maybe if Misty and I were to go somewhere in a relationship, I was telling myself that this was going to be the last time that I ever had to fucking fight anybody anymore. That I would never have to fight a single person in the world anymore, and that maybe I really can put all of these things behind me for the rest of my life. I think that maybe even my father would sort of go back to doing what he had wanted to do, since I was telling myself that he was going to keep away from me, and that as long as he was doing this, I could even put the whole Riley thing behind us forever.

Eventually, Misty and I drove to the edge of town, and I was feeling like a teenage dirt bag when I was doing this, and then I was ready to go along to have sex with her, and let this sort of creating a bonding and then I would start to eventually have some sex and then we could finally become a fucking couple. That was the way that I was looking at it, and I was honestly believing that this would be the fucking case and everything. I didn't give a single fuck in the world that I was kind of a teenage dirt bag, and in a way I was sort of proud over the fact that this was the case. I was then thinking about where this was going to go, and then after I thought about that, I eventually was starting to take off Misty's clothes. I was seeing her getting on top of me. "Sheldon, I can't believe that I never realy realized just how much you were actually there for everybody. How much you were really caring about what people were always going with all the time." After Misty was telling me this, I was starting to just think about where this was going to fucking go.

"I really like you. I just wanted to make sure that you always got what you wanted. Or at least if you didn't, I would show this in a way that would make you understand why I am refusing to do this whole thing." I said, and then after I had said that, she was taking my clothes off, and I was getting ready for what could have been the best sex of my entire fucking life. I was waiting for her to take all of my clothes off, when I was pretty much done with her, considering the fact that she has been having sex with me for the third time now.

When I had sex with her three times, I was thinking that despite having sex with her was not really all that fucking new, the fact that I had been doing it like this with her, and then I was thinking that this was something entirely new by this point in time. The fact that I had finally done it as a start to a relationship with her, and that she had finally chosen me once and for all. Eventually, when my clothes were off, we moved our way to the back seat, and then we were having sex there, and I was not giving a single shit in the world who the hell was going to be seeing what we were going to be doing. If they did not understand the fact that I was having a nice time with this girl, then they were never going to fucking understand how long I had been waiting for something like this. I was seeing that Misty was finally acting like she was having the sex that she had been waiting her entire life for, and I was ecstatic that I was finally becoming the man who had been giving her everything she wanted.

We eventually got this whole thing done, and when I was done with having sex with her, we remained with each other and rested for a moment. That was after we put our clothes back on obviously, since we didn't want to have people just seeing two random naked people in the fucking car, which would be kind of funny for a split second and then utterly annoying for the rest of this. But when we were together on the back of the car, and I was seeing her sleeping on me, I was thinking about how my life had just so much in the last three fucking years. Everything turned around for the better so much that in all reality, it felt fucking wrong that it was going so well for me. I was honestly feeling like there was going to be something that was going to happen very soon. I was then telling myself that this was not going to happen so fucking soon, and that I just needed to take in the moment and that was the start to a relationship that I was having, no matter what was going to come of it, and no matter how long that it would be fucking lasting.

"I fucking love you." I said to her when she was resting and before I closed my eyes. We were resting for about an hour or so before she got up, and I was getting up a couple of minutes later, and I was thinking about where this was going to actually go now. "So Misty, what do you fucking feel now?" I asked, happy that she and I were now finally forming something together, and that I finally was starting to turn this around, and get the love that I was thinking that I had deserved this whole fucking time.

"I think that I am just going to have to take a couple of days to really get used to how much this was going at such a fast pace, and how exciting that this really fucking is..." After Mistry had said that, she was looking right at me, and I could tell that she was still thinking that she had made the right choice, and I was going to do whatever I could to make her see that she did make the right choice, and that she did not need to think about the whole thing at all. I thought that once she saw that she had made the right choice, that we were going to go so fucking far on this whole thing, that she and I were really finally truly fucking meant for each other.

"Sheldon, I wonder what you and Edward were talking about earlier. I mean, you were talking about how you were worried about me and everything. Is all of this fucking true?" After she had asked me this question, I wondered why she was so worried about me telling her the truth on this whole thing, since in all reality, I was telling her the truth. I did not really know why she would be thinking that I was not. But then I nodded.

"Edward really cares about you. He was talking about how in a way, he had seen you grow up, and he was worried about what was going to fucking happen to you. He was worried about the fact that this was really starting to take a fucking toll on you. I think that you should probably show him that you really did not mean anything by what was going on, and that you do care for him... I really think that this is the least that you could be doing right now..." After I had said that, I was seeing that Misty was considering these things.

"I feel so fucking bad for him. He was one of my first friends. I guess after a while, I was so in the idea of being an independent agent that I never once thought of what it would be like for him. What it would be like for him to be seeing me in all of this danger. I think that maybe I just did not really care all that much. Well, I hope that I am going to show him that I do care. That I have taken everything that he has said and done into consideration. I hope that he starts to see just how much I really appreciate what he has done for me..." After she had said that, I was seeing that she was feeling totally remorseful for what was going on, and I was thinking about where I was going to make her feel better. I was thinking that anything I said to her was just not really going to work at all.

"I am so sorry that this is what you are having to worry about right now. I think he understands that you have no real intention on making things any harder for you. He just wants to make you feel better. I think that you probably get that though. You probably do understand that you are just somebody that he really wants to see go far in life. Misty, I mean, be honest with me... Do you actually feel proud over the things you have been able to do in your life? Are you actually proud of yourself. I mean, I don't want to make you feel bad, but I just want to know the truth. I just want to see if you actually are thinking that you are doing the right thing right now..." After I had said that, I was waiting for her to tell me to fucking off. I was waiting for her to tell me that she did not need to be dealing with this hit right now. But then after she had told me the things that she wanted to do, and if we were really going to make this work, I wanted there to be a level of brutal honesty with the two of us at this moment.

"Yes, I am proud of some of the things that I have done. I am even proud of some of the things that you have done. But if we are going to be dating, and if you are actually wanting to make this work out, you need to get serious about quitting this whole Jimmy White thing. I am not going to fucking let you work with that man anymore, so that way I can fucking feel like you are actually giving me what I feel like I need to know that you are willing to give me. I want to know that you are actually going to leave this whole fucking thing behind. Are you actually going to give me this?" When Misty was asking me this, I was thinking that this was going to be really hard for me to do. In a way, he was my fucking boss, and he was the fucking mayor of this fucking city. How in the fuck was I not going to be talking with him?

But I was seeing from the look on her face that she was totally being serious with what she was asking with me. After I was seeing the look of utter seriousness on her face, I was choosing that I was finally going to give her what she had been wanting of me this whole thing. I was thinking that she wanted me to do something, put in a bare minimum of effort into this relationship, and I was thinking that even if it was something I did not want to do, I was going to have to do this. "Yeah, I will talk to him soon. Just let me finish this next month update, and then I will tell him that I am going to have to wait to do more updates for a while. That I won't be able to work with him for the next few months, and maybe when I tell him this, he might pick up the cues eventually." I said, and then I was seeing right from the look on her face that she was not amused, and that she wanted more from me, but I was thinking that I was not really going to give her what she had wanted, since I was going to really be placing things at a giant risk if I did something like this.

"I want you to not talk with him at all. Is that really so fucking hard for you to give me?" After she had asked me this, I was holding my hands up, and I was thinking of how I was going to get her off my care for the time being, and how I was going to make her see that I was not having any desire to continue this whole debate.

"Trust me, cutting ties with him at all is going to be pretty rough. You need to fucking accept the fact that this quite possibly the best thing that I can tell him. I mean, it is going to be the only way to keep us safe, and it is going to be the best way to make him eventually get the message that I am not his fucking bitch anymore. Just let me tell him these things, and then he will fucking but this shit soon." After I had said that, I was seeing that from the look on her face, that she was not at all excited where this was going to go, but that she had started to accept this in general.

"I guess that if you think that an indirect answer is the best way to make him get away from us, then I guess that I am going to have to accept this, no matter how annoying this whole thing may have been." Misty said, and I was seeing that she was really not wanting to give this the answer, but I was thinking that no matter how much she had hated this, that there was nothing she would really be able to do besides just accept it. I was feeling a lot better this fucking time.

"You know, I am just scared about what you are going to be getting yourself into right now Sheldon. That is the truth. I am worried that you don't really know what this is going to be like. I am worried that you don't really know the nature of how awful things are in this town. But now when I think about it, I think that maybe it is the other way around. That I don't fucking get it, and that I am the one who doesn't get it. I mean, I thought that since I have been here my whole life, that you were the one who needed my help since you have sort of just barely moved here, but now I really do see that the roles are much more reversed than I would ever like to admit it." After Misty had said that, I was seeing that she was starting to cry a little bit. Not wanting to believe in the fact that she and I were actually having this conversation.

"Misty, I want you to understand that I am going to do whatever I can to make it so that you can live here and be safe. You know that I am telling the fucking truth. You know that I would really do anything that I have to in order to make sure that you are fucking safe. You know that even if you are worried about me, that you do not really need to worry about me, and that if anything, you need to just be worried about yourself. Worried about what is going to fucking happen to you if you get too deep into this whole thing." After I was telling Misty this, Misty was just sort of thinking that she needed to give up on this whole fight.

"Thanks so much for being the hero of this town. I think that maybe you are the one who should be doing things around here, and that you are the one who is going to be the fucking savior of the people here. I guess that I just need to let you run the fucking show, no matter how much I am tempted to be going around and helping you around and such. That this is never going to fucking happen, no matter where this may go. I just wish that I would be able to help him out." After she had said that, I was seeing her crying so much, worried that I was going to die, and now suddenly the roles were now reversed. She was the one who was scared for me, and she was suddenly seeing what the whole fear that Edward had from the start was, now that it was so switched around.

"I know that I need to be safe. I know that deep down though, it does not fucking matter. Why I need to stop thinking soo deeply about trying to do something that we both know will never happen. We both know that I am not going to be fucking save. You know that I am never going to try and be out for my best interests, outside of a couple of minor events here and there." I said, and then after I had said that, I was just wondering how much this was going to go further, and how deep this would be.

As this was happening, we were getting back into the general bulk of the town and then I parked the car, knowing it was fucking time to find Edward. I was out of the car, and I was looking around, wondering where the hell the fucking guy was. I was worried where Edward may be, utterly scared where this was going to fucking go. I was wondering why the hell I was even doing all of this stuff, and that being with Misty should have been enough for me.

"Do you really know where he might actually be?" After she had asked me this question, I was wondering really hard where I was going to be finding this guy, and I was not really sure if I was going to really be able to find him no matter how fucking hard I really would try. I was then just not really sure what to say right now.

"I don't really know right now. I guess I might have some ideas on where he might be right now, but I don't really think that anything that I am going to say really matters all that much." I said, and then after I had said that, I was looking at Misty and I was wondering what she was going to be saying to this, and if she had some ideas on where he might have been. As terrible as it would have been to say, I was wondering if we even knew if he was safe at all anymore. I was starting to think that there was a really good chance that he might not really be all that safe at that moment.

"I guess that we just nee dto look around. I don't really want to be playing the fucking looking game. But I think that this is what you have to do when you have a friend that you really are worried about trying to save." After she had said that, we were starting to look forward, and I was ready to get the hell out of here. The longer that we were walking around, the more that I was just trying to piece all of this together.

"Misty, what if Edward was telling the truth, or that he was just right this whole time? Do you really think that maybe you might actually be in much more danger." After I had been saying this whole thing, I was seeing that Misty was just not really wanting to go down this rabbit hole again, but when I was getting ready to be chewed out by her, I was seeing the look on her face when she was seeing the context of what I was asking this question for. I was seeing taht Edward was on the ground, and I could not even tell if he was alive or not anymore, and I was seeing that the man in the purple jacket, as I would later associate him with, was just standing there right above him, as if he was waiting for the two of us to be here.

"You have been a hard duo to fucking pursue. It seems like you really do worry about your self preservation than you are wanting to admit that this can be..." After he had said that, I was wondering where this was going to go. I was wondering if he was going to be telling me that he was planning this whole thing out from the start, and that he was the eveil one behind all of these things, and that if anything, Jimmy White was innocent, since he was trying to keep us safe.

"Who the fuck are you?" I asked, and I was acting like I was courageous and that I can really pull this whole fucking thing off, but I was seeing that he was not really buying this. That he was actually finding it a bit ammusing that I was acting like this at all. I was seeing that he was thinking about the way that he was going to make it very clear to me that he was not at all scared of what I was going to do, or even what I was going to try and do. I was just looking down, and I was getting ready to be fighting him no matter what was going to happen.

"You know Sheldon, I was not even going to take care of you. In fact, you are sort of in the wrong place at the wrong time. I almost feel bad for you. But there is a job that I do need to take care of, and that I need to fucking deal with you being here. Sort of like a fucking pest. I mean, Edward right here was not at all my original target either." After I heard the man in the purple jacket say this, he was walking right up to me. He grabbed me and then he was holding tightly and then I was feeling the pain of his grip coming in and then he threw me right down to the ground and a couple of feet away. I was looking up, and I was seeing that he was coming right towards Misty. He grabbed her and then he was holding her up by the neck. Not exactly choking her, but still holding hard enough to make it clear that she was not going to fucking escape.

"This is the person that I was told that I need to clean up. I mean, I was thinking that the hype around her is honestly a little bit over blown, but I guess that when you are scared, you just need to express your fear to other things. I think that Sheldon is going to have a fun time watching this. I think that I am going to come after you eventually. Just not right at this current moment. I think right now, you are just meant to sort of be watching where this is going to be going." After he had said that, he was looking right at Misty, and he was smiling as he had been staring at her, and seeing the fear coming right to her eyes, as if she really did see that she had gone too far, and she was looking right at Edward, and how he was not moving. We both knew the truth of the matter, and I was hating to tell her this, but I think she already figured this out by now.

I was just trying to get myself the courage to do something right then and there, but I was paralyzed by the fear of what would happen to me if I were to do something. I knew that it had made me a coward, and somebody who was not out there for the person that needed it the most when it had mattered the most, but at that moment, despite how terrible it had sounded, I was just sort of letting this thing happen and I was just kind of watching, just to see where this would be going. If anything, how awful this whole thing was in a way made me intrigued to be seeing where this would be going. I wanted to help, but as long as I was not the one who was getting himself in into danger, I will willing to just be a watcher. I didn't realize until right then and there how much I had cared about simply living. Just making it to the next day.

"I was told by a certain contractor that you have been causing problems in his life. I do not claim to know what his business is, and in all reality, what he does is not of my concern. I was given a job to make sure that you were taken care of, and that you will no longer provide any real problem for his job from this point forward. So I would suggest that to make this easier for both of us, you just stand here and let me do my job and then we will be done with this." The man in the purple jacket said and Misty was trying to say something in protest. But she was quickly being forced to just listen to this guy and his ramblings, and the more that I was listening, there was a bit more that I was seeing to just how truly evil some people actually were in this world. that they would be willing to kill a freshman girl just because she truly had the best intentions in the entire world. That she truly wanted to do something good for the town, and that this was why she was getting this type of treatment. It was honestly fucking disgusting when I was looking at it.

"I think that there is no real reason to be fighting any of this. I mean, you did give it your best shot. You almost actually made a difference. Do you not see just how impressive that actually is? You actually managed to scare some people on what you were doing. I think that you just need to be proud of yourself for that very reason alone. But I think that you will not get this, since you will want to act like you could have done so much better..." After the man in the purple jacket was saying this, the more that Misty was trying to fight him off, but the more that I just wanted to see what was going on. It was like a car crash. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get my eyes off of it. I needed to know where this was going to go next.

I was just wanting to see where this was going to keep going, no matter if this had meant that I was going to allow Misty to die. If that was the price that had to be paid, then I was going to have to roll with what had happened.

"You already knew from the start that you were getting yourself into an impossible fight. You already knew that you were not going to succeed in your goals, no matter how low you had sunk them down to be. It is all your fault that you ended up shooting this fucking high. It is all your fault that you actually thought you had a chance to pull this thing off in the first place. But I guess it does not really matter now anyways, since you are now going to understand that nobody really cares for you all that much. They in fact think that you were simply a waste of their time, and that all the things you have been trying to do are all going to end up being a massive fucking throw away. You should have just focused on living a normal life." After the man in the purple jacket had said this, he was wanting to see how long he could continue this, and he was looking at me as if wondering how long I was going to sit there and just let this thing happen as it was going down right now. I was seeing that he was wanting me to go out there and try to do something, but since I was just sitting there and doing nothing, he was seeing that I was not really falling for the trap that he had been setting up for me.

I was just looking down, not really wanting to actually do anything, but at the same time I was refusing to give him the pleasure of watching her die. I was just sort of going to let this whole thing happen, and then I was going to be hating my life after wards for letting this whole thing happen in the first place. It was all just a never ending cycle of hatred that I was having for myself, and I was all too used to it by this point in time, but at this rate, I just did not want to be thinking about it anymore.

I did not want to be thinking any more. I was scared to see why he was hurting me any more, I was wondering why he was choosing to hurt me. I knew that was the real reason he was not going after me. He was wanting to see me suffer, because for some reason, he knew that this was going to be the way to make me break. Even though I was already broken by this point in time, so this entire situation was already just really cruel in the first place, and I was wondering what this world had so against me to continue doing shit like this to me. But when I was thinking about this more and more, there was a part of me that was wanting to end this whole dispute once and for all. There was a part of me that wanted to destroy this guy and everything that he had been standing up for by this point in time. I was not even sure how it was going to be possible, but I needed to find a way to make this guy suffer for what he was trying to cause me.

"There is nobody that is going to be missing you when you are gone. Soon enough, everybody will just remember you as a distant memory, and they will only remember the things that you did with them when you were hanging out with them. When you are gone, the only person that will remember you is the one that is fucked up on drugs, and doesn't even know how to forma fully coherent sentence in writing. Is that the way that you want to be remembered by? The girl who was one of the many so called lovers of the guy who will never get his life together?" After he asked her this, he was looking at me, and then he was excited to be seeing how I was reacting. This entire thing was literally making me fucking sick to watch, and I was not really able to handle seeing this anymore. I was going to have to find a way to go along and help her out, and I knew that I could not find any real excuse not to do it by this point in time. So I was getting myself up and I was slowly starting to walk towards the guy, ready to take things out on him, and ready to show that I was willing to fight if it had to be done but then he saw what I was doing, and as a result, he started to hold tighter, and I was hearing some cracks going on by this point in time. I was just utterly horrified at this scene, and I knew that as much as it was disgusting me that I was not going to do anything about it, because even if I had wanted to help out, this guy would be stronger than me, and would be able to easily beat me in a one to one fight if I even tried anything against him. Besides, there was something else that was stopping me. I was holding my hand out to my chest and then I was dropping down to the ground, and I was knowing what it was right then and there. It was my heart starting to fail a little bit. All of these drugs were finally taking a toll on me. This was starting to feel like a little bit of a blessing considering the situation I was in, and considering the fact that I was just sitting here, and with each passing minute, I was regretting doing this less and less. I was regretting sitting on my ass less.

"I think that you should have really looked at the people that you were hanging around with before you decided to get in this crowd. You really have nobody to blame but yourself. You really have nobody to blame for the things that you have gotten yourself into other than yourself for the fact that you actually believed this was going to be as nice as you had made it out to be in your you ended up losing a friend of yours, and it is soon going to be so much more than just one simple fucking friend. you are going to lose everything that you had been fighting for, and you are going to lose any form of accomplishment that you had been making so far. But I think that you must understand this by now..." I was just wondering when this was going to be over, so that way I could get into my weeping.

I was just wanting this whole thing to be over with, and I was just wanting this punishment to be done so that way I would not have to see what was happening with her more and more. "Don't worry about it too much though. I think that one day, people will see what they have missed out on, and they will see that you have been something special to them this whole time. They will see that they were wrong for deciding that they wanted nothing to do with you. They will wish that they had spent more time with you than they ever had before." After the guy had said that, he was starting to do something I was really not expecting at all. I was expecting maybe a choke out, or shooting, or maybe stabbing. But what I saw was much different, and to be honest much worse than anything else that was offered to me earlier. He just placed his hand right at her chest and waited for a moment before he stabbed right through her chest, and then he was holding his hand out on the other side, as he was watching her gurgle a bit, and then she eventually gave up and then he threw her on the ground after he removed his hands. Then when he was seeing her body, he was thinking about how much of a wasted chance this really was. Then with that, he walked right over to me and then he was looking right at me. "Consider this your last warning for trying to get into things that are simply none of your business. You probably know that things will be much worse for you if you keep this up now." Then with that, he started to walk away as I got up and then pressed my hands together and then balled the fists up and then I was looking like I was about to cry a bit.

The more that I was there, the more that I was hating myself more and more for the fact that I did not do anything. The fact that I was too much of a fucking coward to be doing anything. I was telling myself that I should have tried to do something more to help out with this whole thing. Even though I was just sort of tired of all of these things going on, I was telling myself that I had brought myself to this turn out. I was the one who decided to just watch and see where this was going to go. I did not really do anything to help out at all. I was sort of being a terrible friend, and certainly not at all somebody who was actually a good partner.

But despite how terrible it was, I was thinking on how I was given another chance to live at all. When I was thinking about the fact that I had been given another chance to be living yet again, I decided that I needed to take it and go with it no matter what the case may have bee. So I was just walking over to my car, and the longer that I had been heading there, I was thinking about what I was going to be doing now that I had been given yet another chance to try and make things right in this world. I was thinking about what things would be if I actually took things a little bit more seriously than I had been by this point in time.

Once in the car, I was placing my head on the wheel for a moment, and then I was just wanting to cry, but at the same time, I was thinking that no matter what I wanted, or what I tried to do, I was not going to get what I wanted. I was just sort of accepting what was coming along. I then was thinking about the things that Misty and I could have done together, just the great big life that we could have been living. I was thinking that this would have been great to live, but that life was just cut short for the good ones, and too long for the bad ones such as myself. In all reality, I should have died from the smoking that I have been doing lately, and that I should have died from the other drugs as well, and the long hours of working, and all the fights I have been having. I decided to stop sulking around though and I started up the engine, and then I was driving along my way back to work, back home, and then just letting myself drown in sorrows for a lot longer than I was willing to admit.

Despite the fact that much of this was my fault and that I should have been more assertive and more willing to actually work to get the job done when it needed to be done, I was telling myself that it did not really matter anymore. That it was just sort of something that I needed to accept, and that I needed to move forward and try to fucking work on the real things that mattered now. I was telling myself that I needed to try and get more things done with my life besides just sulking and just trying to in general get everybody in the world to be feeling bad for me. When I was home, I was starting to smoke some more of my weed since I was wanting to space out my other supplies a bit more than I had been by that point in time. So when I was getting myself in this mind set, I closed my eyes for a moment and then I was just going right to sleep. I would deal with the questions and the thoughts of what had just happened later, but for now, I was just letting myself finally catch a bit of a fucking break. I felt like that no matter what had been going on, I did deserve a bit more of a break than I had already been given by this point in time. I was telling myself that Misty deserved to have been given another chance, and that I was wrong for ever letting something like this ever happen to her, but I was telling myself that this was just how fate was lining things up to be, and that I just had to sort of accept the fact that I was never going to really get what I wanted, and that I was never going to be allowed to get anything like revenge ever again, no matter how great something like that would have really been.

No matter what would happen now though, I was telling myself that I was utterly certain of one thing. That the entire town was out to get me in some way. No matter what I was wanting to think, I was not to trust anybody in this town no matter what that would mean with people always thinking that I was just some form of a lone fucking wolf. I would just fucking grow to deal with that shit on my own anyways. I would rather have something like that than the entire town pretend that they were my friend but then they turn their back on me, and then they reveal that they had hated me this whole fucking time. I was feeling like I was just sort of tired of all of that, and that in order to prevent that, I had to keep my eyes focused on the prize.

But then I was forced to start wondering to myself, did I really even know hat the hell this prize was? Did I really even have any idea where this was going to fucking go? I was just sort of here right now, grieving and I was not really doing a single thing about it at all. I was just acting like a sour puss, when in all reality, I needed to be taking things more seriously than I had already been by this point in time.

The next few days were sort of a blur. When people found out what happened to Misty and Edward, they found out that Edward was just barely alive, and that the man in the purple jacket had actually either just barely kept him alive, or they did not realize that he was able to give in one last little fight before he would be gone forever. But there was no mistaking in any fashion what had happened with Misty. She was gone before they could even try to do anything to save her. The best they could do was just make the treatment a little bit less painful for her parents. I refused to so much as even make eye contact with them the entire time that they were sort of talking with other friends of hers. I never really realized how much other people in the town knew and respected her. Or how fucking fake everything was in all reality, since in all reality, I was thinking that many of them had been phoning this in from the start, to make it look like they were caring, and to make it look like everything that had happened had actually affected them in some way. It was just how people were now, and I was fucking disgusted by this, but in all reality, there was nothing that I could really do about these fucked up preps. It had really fucking pissed me off, and I was wanting to beat up the people that were lying about it, but I knew that I would be doing more harm than good, and then I was thinking how Misty would hate this and she would not at all support me just getting angry. Even though I had every single right in the world to get angry, I was telling myself that doing this would not be helping anybody else out besides my own selfish needs. That the only person in the world who would be getting anything out of this whole ordeal would have been me. As I was thinking about this, I was also thinking of the way that I would be able to change things around for the group that I had gotten to know.

I mean, Edward now truly probably did not want to talk to me anymore, and I had zero will to blame him. Sam was seeming a little bit distant, but I thought maybe we could talk for a bit. I thought that he and I could clear some things up for a moment if we were to finally get the chance to do something like this. Brad was just more totally shocked at what he was seeing, as if the sight of what was happening was just confusing him and making him question more of his life again. I did not really know if I wanted to talk to him much more after all of this stuff, more to keep him safe as well as possibly even Tucker by doing something like this. I was trying to keep my best intentions out for them when I was doing this.

I was just sitting down one day and it was about later July of 1966 when I was still at work. When I was at work, I was smoking more than a healthy amount of cigarettes even for my standards on that day. I had probably gone through six or seven of these bad boys in the matter of just a few hours. I was just not really caring though. I was thinking that if I died at nineteen, then it would not really matter all that fucking much what would happen to me. I mean, I was allowed to smoke as much as I damn well pleased, and I was going to take advantage of this the more that I was given the chance to do this. I did not give a single fuck what everybody else was thinking of me when I was doing this though.

I saw two people coming in through the door to the gas station. I was seeing that it was Brad and then I was seeing that it was another older girl, probably nineteen. So around my age in all honesty, maybe a couple of months younger than me. I was wondering what Brad was doing here, but I was thinking about how I should at least remain partially cordial to him. "Hey Brad, haven't seen you in a while..." I said, and I was hoping he did not pick up the tone of my voice. We both knew that I hadn't seen him since the night before he graduated. He was probably pissed that I skipped out on his middle school graduation, and was not going to be there for when he started high school. I was also wondering though if it was possible that he had totally moved on from that though.

"Well, I was wanting to give you some really serious news. Although I am not too sure how much you really even care..." Brad said, and I was trying my best to not let this jab really get to me, as it was actually kind of hurting me when I heard him say this, but I was telling myself that he really was still salty over that shit, and I was wondering if he was ever going to get over it, or if that even mattered anymore and he had already made up his mind.

"Can you please spare me the commentary and just tell me what the fucking news is?" I snapped a bit at that, sort of tired of everybody treating me like utter garbage and I was not really wanting to let this be used against me as well. "I know that I have not been really there for everybody, I get that. I am a asshole. But please just tell me what I need to know..."

I saw Brad just sort of taking a moment to consider what I had been saying, and there was even a small part of him that was thinking that he had taken this too far, and then he nodded and figured that he might as well tell me the truth, since I was clearly just not in the mood for him to be making any sort of judgement on me at all.

"Well, Ken has not been found anywhere near since he had gone missing lately. I think that he might actually be dead right now." Brad said and then after he said that, I was just starting to get more serious, since this was quite the jump to make, and I was wondering what I was going to do to help him out now, considering the fact that I was now starting to realize how he was not wanting to really jump on trusting me all that much.

"What makes you think that he died? That is a pretty serious accusation to be making." I was getting a little bit closer, and I was starting to get more composed, and I was seeing that look on Brad's face telling himself that he was thinking that maybe he did make the right choice in telling me this after all. That maybe when these things were told to me, that I was able to be a big help and not the idiot that I was usually. That was when Brad was remembering why we were ever really talking with each other in the first place. Because at one point, even if he did not admit it now, he used to really trust in the things I did. That perhaps he just needed to unlock something in me to start up that fire in me again.

The girl who I now remembered a bit better when she started to talk to me as Susan, started to address me. "Because Sam was found dead in a soccer field last night, and less than twenty four hours later, his brother ends up going missing as well. You have to admit, it is pretty strange." Susan said before she let out a resigned sob, and then she started to continue her thought set. "I can't believe that Sam is dead right now. I can't fucking believe it." After she had said that, I was just taking in a long and deep breath, not able to help but just feel utter pity for her.

I remembered the last time that Sam and I ever talked with each other. It was four days ago by that point, which did not seem that long, but as I was letting sink in, that time would grow more in the past, and with no more talks, would grow to eventually be several months and even years, and shall I be granted the blessing of the devil, maybe even decades. He and I were talking about how growing fears for things going on around him, as if he was now starting to admit that the paranoia that people had was real now. I was hearing him talking about how even he was seeing the man in the purple jacket, and how at first he thought people were just making him up to sort of get themselves out of a situation, but now he was starting to see that this man was indeed real. He had said that he could not believe that this guy was actually real, as if the very idea of it was just fucking insane. But now that the truth was here, he was feeling like he just needed to confront the facts a little bit more, and that he needed to accept the fact that he was wrong about the things that he was assuming earlier about everything.

He even apologized to me for saying that I was lying about him being a real thing, and that he was saying it was just hard for him to believe, and that the very idea of this guy going around and being like we described him to be was just a little bit silly. But now when he was here and talking with Sam and getting to him more, he was wondering if what I said about Misty and our final time seeing each other was actually real. I told him that it indeed was, and that I would never lie about anything like that. Despite all of the things going on around us, I was seeing that Sam was sort of giving into fate a bit more, and then accepting what he had been told more and more.

Sam was just scared, and when I was seeing him in this state, I saw that fear really coming through. I was seeing how he was not even trying to hide it anymore. He wanted some help really fucking badly, but he didn't fucking get it. I was feeling bad for him, but I did not know how I was going to make him feel better, since I was thinking that maybe it was just impossible for me to do something like that. That nothing was going to make him safe. And it turned out that I was right, as much as I didn't really think it was possible at the time. I thought the idea of me being right about anything as crazy, and here I was, actually thinking and saying shit like this.

I looked right at Brad, just as I was really letting these facts sink in a little bit more. The fact that nothing that was going on was really quite like the way that I wished that it was. That a lot more of what I remember was true than I had ever thought that it would have been. I never thought for even a moment that the stuff that I had been thinking in my mind this entire time was actually true. Despite all the things that I had been thinking, I was telling myself something else.

"You know Brad and Susan... I have something that I need to talk to the fucking mayor about..." I said, and I was wondering what they were going to be thinking of me saying this, and I was wondering if they were really going to be supporting this idea or not. I was telling myself that no matter what would happen, I can pretty much do or say whatever I wanted, as long as I was at least keeping a clear grasp on this whole thing.

"Sheldon, before you go though, can you be willing to tell me some things. I think that I really need to know what you are going to be doing..." After Susan said that, I was shocked at what she was requesting of me, but I knew that she deserved to be hearing more from me, and she deserved to know what I was really going to do, if that was what she was wanting to talk to me about.

"Are you going to be going to his funeral soon? Do you think that you will support us soon?" After she had asked me these questions, I was not really sure what to say. I knew that she was just needing a friend, but I was not really too sure where I can help her out. I was not even too sure if I would be able to help her out even if I had wanted to do that. I was thinking that this was just impossible for me to do, no matter how much I may try to act like that I could do this.

"Well, I think that I can be able to possibly show up. I don't really know. I mean, it all really depends on how my schedule lines up and everything... You know, busy life and everything. I pretty much have something going on every single day." I said, and even though I could tell that both Brad and Susan did not like this answer, they knew that it was true enough for them to not really argue with that, and that I was still keeping this to some level of just not wanting to turn things around to be against me. Besides, I was sort of thinking that unlike Misty who going would just hurt me, I was thinking maybe going to Sam's would help me find at least some form of peace.

"But Sheldon, I think Sam actually considered you to be a friend. Somebody that he could really trust. Now when he is gone, and there is never going to be a chance to so much as see him again, you are turning around and acting like you never even fucking knew him?" Brad asked, and I could tell that he was clearly in some form of emotional pain as he was asking me this, and like he was thinking that this made me some terrible person, for doing three things now.

"You already skipped out on Misty's funeral. Everybody else went there. Even my brother went there. But then you decided not to show your fucking face. I thought that you were supposed to be there for her, and then you don't even do something like that... I don't really fucking get it at all. I thought that you were supposed to see what it was like to be there for a friend, somebody who needed the help." After Brad said that, I was wondering if he even wanted to see me again anymore. I was wondering if he had any form of respect for me. I was wondering as terrible as if it was something that I even cared about anymore, if he had liked me or not. I mean, no matter how hard I tried, I was never able to get to see Tucker, and that was the whole reason that I started to talk with him in the first place. I never really was in this for Brad, in fact, I was thinking that Brad was just a second deal to this. A third wheel, and one that I did not really need to still make the fucking thing rolling still.

But then I was telling myself something else, that even if I did not want to be dealing with him judging me or anything, I knew for a fact that he was still the only one who was really going to connect me with that kid, and that the moment I stop talking with him was the moment I would lose any chance to talk with Tucker at all. So no matter what I was thinking of the whole ordeal right now, I was telling myself that I needed to at least pretend to be getting along with him. I needed to at least pretend to be his friend, even if he was not going to do the same for me.

"I get that you are mad at me. But I have a fucking life too. I mean, I said I was going to try and show up. Why in the fuck is that not enough for you to get the fuck off of my fucking back?" I asked, and I was waiting for his reaction, and I could tell he was clearly thinking about what I had been saying, and then I was seeing that maybe I was just scared to say the truth, and that he should not even get angry at me for this. I was just seeing that Brad did not want to push me further, no matter if it made any personal gains for him or not. I was thinking he just needed to see my side of things before he made any reservation to go around judging me.

"Sheldon, I just wanted to know if you really cared at all is all I was wondering. I was wondering if this really had affected you as much as I thought that it really had. I had no real meaning to make you mad or anything." Brad said, and even at that moment he knew how shallow that it was to say something like this, and even then he knew that he really was digging his grave by pursuing this whole matter. But I knew that he really did not mean anything of it. He was just wanting to know the truth, and he was just wanting to see how deep he was going to have to dig in order to get it, even if it did require him pushing me beyond my limits.

"Don't really worry about that anymore. Just tell me how it went if I can't go. I think that no matter if we like it or not, we are going to be seeing each other a lot more in the next few years." I said, and I was thinking that I would be able to take this two different ways. In the direction in which I would be able to finally get the balls to talk with him more often, and then maybe be around enough to where Tucker had grown up enough to try and be friends with me. That was one thing that I was sort of hoping for, but I was thinking it would not really be that way. The way that I was thinking was that it was going to turn out much stranger than anybody would ever really be able to expect. That maybe they were really not ready for this turn out at all. That maybe I was not actually going to do this, but I was thinking that I was now ready for whatever was going to be coming up soon.

"I don't really get it..." Brad said, and I was glad that he was clearly not knowing what I was doing right now, since I did not want him to judge me, and to try and change what I was doing. I did not really frankly care what he was thinking. In fact, I was telling myself that he was just going to fucking have to suck it up on what I was planning on doing if he was really going to be my friend. I was also hoping that unlike Misty, he did not really mind the fact that I was going to be talking with the mayor and that I was going to try and change things with that guy soon enough.

I eventually drove all the way down to the mayors office, and then I got myself out of the car. Once I was out of the car, I started to smoke yet another cigarette, and then I was sitting down in the chair in front of his desk, wondering what he was working on, and I was wondering how I was going to start the subject. "So I think that we have some things that i want to discuss with you. Some things that you might try and act like are not true. And who knows, maybe you are right. Maybe they are not true, but I want to really talk with you and see what you are going to tell me. I want you to be real with me." I said, and the I was seeing him looking right at me.

"What is it that you are wanting to discuss. In fact, I have a new contract for you. One that I think you will really enjoy actually. I just need to have you indulge me a bit." After he had said that, I was feeling like my head was about to burst, but I did not really fucking care. I was just wanting him to just get straight to the point, since I knew that he was going to keep this going as long as he wanted.

"What is it that you want me to do?" I asked, trying to keep my calm as I was starting to slowly see more through what the mayor was always just trying to do. I had a feeling that I was starting to finally know what was wrong with him, and I was thinking that maybe I could be able to break through to him if I had wanted to.

"Well, I was wondering if you would go back to the school, and just pretend that you are a student, pretend that you are among the young crowd again, and for the next four years, just do something very important for me." After Jimmy White said that, I was just confused as to all hell what he was meaning. I was wondering why he needed me at the school for this. I was totally not getting this. But I was just too busy getting buzzed by a shit ton of cigarettes to even give a crap about the fact that this made no fucking sense.

"Why do you need me to go back to the school? Can you just have a new student there?" I asked, and then I was seeing that Jimmy was thinking I was playing a really good game with him, and he was wondering how much more I was going to really get into this, and if I was going to finally get my head out of my ass, but then he was continuing his discussion.

"Well, you know, I think that you have some really important reasons to be doing this. I mean, you are a fucking desperate man who wants so badly to take his life and turn it around. You want to actually think that going back to high school, and reliving those years that you lost will change it. I mean, I don't really get it either, but I mean, you can do whatever the hell you want. There is also the fact that you are wanting to connect with that young kid Tucker again, and i think that you might be willing to work with me to do something like this, and I think that you know that bringing you back to that school will increase your chances of being friends with Brad, and that talking with Brad more and eventually being real friends with him will make you interested in working with Tucker again, so therefore you are getting what you are wanting. I think that you know where I am coming from right now. You also know that I am a good man. You know that I have a very needed job for you to do, and you know I will never trust somebody who I have not worked with for a while on this project, as they would simply botch it up really badly, and you might see this too. So just understand that there is also that Jenny girl. She is going to be going to school here, and I think she might want to see you again. You know, see if you are really the man that she thought that you were. If were really the hero that she made you out to be in her mind. Or if you are just some big fucking sell out. Trust me, you do not want to let that woman down. She has been wondering about you ever since she sent that letter to you..." Jimmy White was really doing a good job making me weak, and he knew how he was going to reel me in, but I was not there yet.

"Please fucking just tell me what the fuck the actual contract is? I really do not have to be wasting right now..." I said, and then I was seriously not giving a fuck in the world what he was going to say to my reaction. If anything, I was excited to see his reaction, the shock of how I was talking to him really making him see that he was really not the man that he was thinking that he was. That one of these days, he was going to see that he should not be taking me lightly, and that wen you get me pissed off, that I was going to fucking snap, and I was going to just place up a general fucking fight. Eventually, Jimmy White got right back into his general mood, and he was just thinking of what he was going to say with the new information in mind.

In fact, despite how much it took him back when he very first heard and saw it, I was thinking that he was now liking and was ready for the challenge that was coming up. As if he was tired of the same old story between me and everybody else. He was wanting to actually make this work, and he was wanting to make this something that can make both of us get something. "Well, I eight people who are going to the high school as ninth graders this year. I want you to keep an eye on all eight of them. They are really not to be messed with. I in fact want you to go around and eliminate every single one of them. These are people who were a part of my business, well their parents were at least. Their parents decided that they thought they were better than me, and they had a better idea of what they think this town should be like, and I simply do not want to have them get a fucking ego going. I don't want these children to grow up and be supporters of the fucking crimes going on here all the time, wouldn't we? In order to do so, you need to eliminate every single one of them. I know what you may be thinking. You may be thinking that befriending them is easier. Well guess what young man. This isn't a fucking fantasy world where people can just talk things out with somebody and then they are all fine and dandy. If somebody needs to die, they need to die. You must know this..." After Jimmy said that, I knew he was right. So many people deserved to die and had been killed, and I felt like I was kind of that guy as well, but I knew that if these people were going to get involved with the labyrinth or other parts of this city organization, then they really did need to die. Them with their parents, and everybody else they knew that supported this fucked up thing. All bets were off, and if people were going to try and act like they did not deserve it, then they were fucking stupid and triggered little fucking light and idealistic fucking assholes who needed to get fucking real with this world.

"And besides, there is something different about all eight of them that shows why they must be killed. You know when that guy Todd and his friend Kevin were talking about the monsters at Wayside? You see, those were also true, to some extent, and there is some form of branch off that is coming from that with these eight students. You actually would be doing something for the town if you did something with them for that very reason. I will not tell you right now, but you may understand why it matters when one day you know what the word replicant means." After Jimmy was telling me the point of this contract, I felt like I would be willing to accept if if I knew about all eight of them. I also didn't know what the word replicant meant at the time, and I didn't give a fuck, but when I did later know, I understood perfectly his need to drag on the fact that these needed to be taken cared off as death as well.

"Tell me about them, or what you know of them at least. I think that when I have a idea what things are like with them, I might be able to actually figure out what I should be doing with them." I said, and then Jimmy White was excited to continue this discussion up since I was showing at least some form of interest in this, and even if I was not fully on board, I was at least pretending to do this, which was what he was fearing I would not even give him that of.

"Well one of them is named Scott. He is a star athlete. Probably the strongest of them all. Don't even try to fight him in hand to hand combat. But I think that this is not really your area of strength anyways, so it doesn't really matter anyways. Then you have the one named Maria. She used to be a star student, but sadly she was turned away from this stuff when she started to join her parents business, and now she is a really devious person who tricks everybody into believing in something she says when she is entirely doing it for her own personal gain. Don't trust a word she says, and take what she says and probably go with the opposite to get what she really thinks on some matters, and use that against her. Next you got Darren. He has been practicing hunting for a very long time, and he knows how to really be a good shooter with his gun. You should probably try to get him in single hand combat if you want to take him out. You also got Leon, who is a very smart kid, but not at all able to fight to save his life. Just take him out back one day and maybe drug him up some to make him not as smart, and then have your fucking way with him. He will be very easy to take down when you actually fight him. You also got Zoe, very attractive and very popular for that same reason. The only way to make her like you is to be popular, and when you do that, go on a date with her. You must be aggressive on this one, you must insist on the sex with her. When you are in the same room as her all alone, kill her then. Harry is the name of the next one. Not much is known to him, but it is stated before that he is very allergic to any kind of humus. Just give him some, and he is sure to die almost instantly. But it is a matter of slipping some in his dipping cause and to do so in a way he does not notice the color change. Next is Rosa, don't be fooled by her looks and her name, she is deadly, and she will not go down without some form of a fight. She will make you wish that you were having a plan this whole time. The last one is Ray, and there is absolutely no info on him and his strengths and weaknesses. I have no advice for you on him, and you will have to probably fight for your life against him for that very reason. That he will not let himself down no matter what the cause may be." After Jimmy said this, I was just considering what he had told me, and I was thinking that there was no way in hell I was going to remember what he had just said on any of this, and that he may as well have been speaking to a fucking goat this whole time.

But I decided that I was going to at least pretend to understand what he had said. I am going to at least pretend to understand the fact that he was thinking that I was already going to be able to pretty much take down every person in this entire school, since he was wanting me to pretty much kill half of the fucking staff here.

"You know, I hate this. I hate the fact that I am going to be going in all alone on this. Are you sure that there is nobody at all who can help me out on this?" I asked, and I didn't even care how fucking whiny I sounded, I just hated the situation that I was in, and I wanted to change this right away.

"Well, I can't change how the situation is right now. I gave you a job, and that is pretty much the extent of what you need to know right now. So just try your best to make sure that it works." I was wondering how he was able to pretty much quickly shoot me down by just saying this whole thing, but I was just wondering if he could have been able to help me at all. "Besides, I am already helping you solve your personal problems, and I need you to go around and take the job seriously. I mean, sure have some fun, but don't get to carried away. There are four years in high school, and eight targets, and eight semesters. So all I am asking for is just two targets per year, which is just one per semester. As long as you take down one per semester, I will not get in your business about it. But if you fail to give me that, I will get much more angry at you about this, and I will begin to voice my anger more towards you, since I think you have no real interest to help me." Jimmy White said and when he pointed out he one per semester thing, I thought it was much more feasible than I ever imagined.

"I guess I will see what I can do about this whole thing. To be telling you the truth, I don't think that I can really pull this off too well, but I can fucking try at least. I can at least do that for you." I said, and then as I was saying that, I was almost feeling glad that I was finally getting what I had wanted in my life for once. People were finally showing me, even if it was just the mayor, and even if it was just for his own gain, that he wanted me in some fashion at all. It made me feel important. And I felt like there would be some people who would understand this, even if they hated some of the choices that I had made.

"Yeah, I think that I can do this just fine. I was not really too sure at first, but since it seems like you actually want and respect the idea of me helping you, it makes me feel like maybe I can actually pull something off with this after all. Since Misty is gone, and Sam, and pretty much my entire friend crew, do you really think that I still need to do the monthly updates anymore, or can I start doing them a little bit more spaced out?" I asked, hoping that it would be the latter, but not too shocked if it was the former.

"Not just every month anymore. I expect one every damn friday when you are done with school. Every single one of them. But in return, I will be giving you twenty times the pay. I will be giving you five thousand dollars a week now, for twenty thousand a month. Soon enough, you will be one of the richest people in Tremorton, and you know this." After he had said that, I was shocked at what he had just told me. That was like almost as great as being a millionaire in my mind. That was totally worth going by every week. Stopping by every friday for a ten minute update for twenty thousand a month was the best steal in the world. But to make sure that the work doesn't become too hard, you should probably ask for a change in your hours, or find a way to do out of school education..." After Jimmy said that, it was annoying, but I understood it. I saw the logic of this, even though I wanted to be a fucking full time worker there, since that was also giving me quite the bit of bank as well. I mean, I was now earning nearly five dollars an hour, which was eighteen hundred a month basically.

"Now that I am here, I am curious about something else. I am just curious to know how you are going to actually get the teachers to not care what I am doing. The fact that I am going to be twenty on my first year there..." I said, thinking that this was going to easily be the hardest part about this whole thing. I thought that no matter what I am going to be doing, the age thing alone would already do a pretty good job exposing me for what I was, and I did not want to do this at all.

"Well, I will just tell the teachers to pretend that you are only fifteen years old, and when it starts to show up that you aren't, I will find a way to convince them to turn a blind eye. Pretend as if none of this is happening. Besides, I can just go into your records for the school and remove about four or five years from your age on the transcript. Or something simple like that. I think you do not need to worry about it at all. Trust me Sheldon, I know what I am doing." Jimmy White said, and I was thinking that he was telling the truth all too well, and that he did know how he was going to change these things around for me.

"I guess that maybe this is better than nothing." I said, and then after I said that, I started to smoke another cigarette, and I was thinking that this conversation had gone on for as long as it really needed to. I felt like there was zero need for us to continue this back and fourth for like an hour on in. I left the mayors office, and I was starting to think for the first time that he could have been evil. That this was something much worse than I ever thought, and that he was really planning all of these things from the start. That he knew what was going to happen to Misty from the start, and that if anything, he was glad when his biggest critic of that age range was finally gone, and that her being gone simply took care of the entire problem at hand. I wondered if he knew the man in the purple jacket, if he knew my father and the rest of the business, if he was actually making some real progress on this with them being in the scene. I was thinking that while it was unlikely he was this fucking evil, I was also telling himself that I was just going to finally find a way to break him down, and then when he was broken down, I would be able to finally change things to go in my favor. He was somebody I wanted to expose shall I need to, but the others gave me more of a wish to just take down than anything he would ever do. He was not really the one I was all that worried about at the end of the day.

Despite the fact that I was thinking that maybe I was looking at this too deeply, and that I should have been more realistic with the way that I was thinking about these things, and then I was telling myself that while he was not perfect by any means, that he was not this pure evil guy that I was starting to think that he could have been. That perhaps he was a little bit hard to judge, and as a result may look evil, but I did not really think that he was all that bad, he just needed to have a more aware perception on what he was saying and what he was doing. I was thinking that maybe he just had a hard time pitching what he was thinking to others, and that it was a personal weakness that he had.

The next two months went by casually, and I was barely even sort of making any public attention on what I was ever doing at all. I barely talked with people besides Wyatt when I was entering and leaving my shift for about ten minutes a piece, seeing that he was starting to become the only absolute in my life now, and that he had been through the entire thing with Misty. I did go to Sam's funeral, but I did not talk with anybody at all and I was just a spectator at the back of the room, smoking the entire time, and when I got home that night, I got so fucking drunk that I ended up waking up in my entire vomit covered floor, and there was a part of me that was actually proud of myself for this. I eventually opened up the LSD and was ready to take it, but then I decided that I was not going to bother taking it, thinking that I was instead going to use it for the contracts that were given. I remembered one of them was told that they would be better off being given a drug or something. I did not remember which one, but I knew that one of these was the case, so I was going to pretend that I got it well. I was going to let them take the drug without them knowing, and then I can kill them that way.

Other things that happened at that time was that two weeks before the school year started, Brad came by to visit me and he was telling me about how he was starting up his freshmen year of school, and how he was going to try and become more popular this time around, and how he was hoping that he could get at least one relationship going by the time that he was done there. I was thinking that this could be a good goal, and that was when I decided I would eventually go along and tell him what I was going to be doing now. he was entirely shocked at what I was going to do, and he felt like this was a crazy idea. But he told me that if it was a chance for me to get back into the swing of things, and eventually graduate, he would support it. I actually liked his way of looking at this. I did not tell him about my contract, thinking he would not be nearly as forgiving of me on this at all, and that he would have hated what I was doing and would have tried to get me arrested there. Not that it really mattered though, since I was better than that anyways. It was at this time when Brad decided he going to forgive me, and that petty grudges were not really best to be held, and they told me that they were at least happy to see me changing things around. He also said that this year, after school one day, he would introduce me to Tucker, and he said he was actually telling the truth.

Once he had said that, I smiled and I was thinking that he really meant it, and that I was finally getting what I wanted for once in my entire fucking life. I smoked some more meth that night after the talk and then I thought about Riley more, and thought about Misty as well, and I was smoking some heroin before I went to bed, letting the possible embrace of death coming to me.

Eventually, the school year started once again, and when that happened, I was thinking about what I could have done next. It was on the first day when I walked inside, scared on where the next four years were going to take me. I knew the feeling all too well, even though it had been nearly four years since I got it last. It was crazy to think that if somebody was a freshmen when the labyrinth incident happened, they would have graduated easily by now. But I was not allowed to think about this when somebody tapped their hand on my shoulder about ten minutes before the first bell rang. I looked over and I was confused at what I saw.

A blond girl, about fourteen or so, just staring right at me. "Hey, I noticed that you looked a little bit confused for being here. Did you go to orientation?" I shook my head at that question. "Oh okay cool. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

I thought about it, and thought it didn't really matter too much. "Sheldon Oswald Lee." I said, and then I held my hand out. She smiled when she heard that she took my hand.

"I'm Jenny. I heard about you. I think it's awesome you're here. I am very excited to get to know you." She said and I knew that the future was bright as I looked right at her. But I had to remind myself that no matter what, Misty truly was the first beautiful girl.


	87. Year One

Training at JewelBeemon Hall

Year One

Once Ken was thinking that JewelBeemon got all that they had wanted, he was standing up and then he was pointing down towards the ground. He was tired of being thrown around the way that he had been. "Please, I was told that you were going to be the person that was going to help me. I need to be trained. When can I be able to start?" Ken asked, just trying to get through to this guy, and trying to make him understand that this was what he needed. JewelBeemon just remained silent for a couple of moments, and then after they remained silent for a while, they just waved their hand forward a bit and then one of their digimon grabbed Ken's shoulder.  
"They will take you down to where the training hall is. You will be seeing what you will be needing once you are there." After JewelBeemon said that, they were looking right at Ken as if they were going to try their best to emphasize this next thing that they were going to tell him. "You better not waste this chance. I do not want you complaining or acting like you had it rough. I am giving you a chance to prove yourselves, and you need to prove that this was worth the chance that I am giving you." After they said that, Ken was able to see from the look on their face that they were totally meaning it. They were not going to be fucking with Ken at that moment. As Ken was looking right at JewelBeemon, he was just looking down at the ground again and then he started to go down the path that he was being told he needed to go down and then he was telling himself that this was the exact opposite of what he had wanted to be doing. He was wishing that he was going to be taking training directly from JewelBeemon, and that this would have made it all worth it. Not just training with one of these random digimon who was living at this hall.  
Once Ken and the digimon that was going to tutor him was outside, they were right out in a empty snow field, where they were just going to be training down in a really cold climate. "You should never keep your guard down, and you should never be thinking that at any moment that you are going to be safe." After they digimon had said this, they pushed Ken right down to the ground and then he was feeling his ass hurt for a moment.  
Ken was feeling the pain of this moment and then he was thinking that maybe he was not really ready for something like this. He was slowly getting himself back up and then he was pulling something out of his pocket. It was that green energy sword that he had been given earlier from Jake, and he was sort of forgetting about the fact that he had that, but now he was ready to be using this. He turned it on, and he was hoping that the breathing he was having to struggle with due to his gas mask wouldn't get even worse with the fact that he was on top of a mountain.  
The digimon brought their hand forward and then there was a purple sword that came out of their arm, and then Ken was wondering what the hell was going on. He was just thinking that there was a huge disadvantage that they had already, due to the fact that they were having to use a random sword like this, while they had a sword that they had from their arm. But then Ken was thinking that he was having decent chances against this monster, since if for nothing else, he did still have something.  
The digimon swung their arm blade around and then Ken blocked the weapon with the energy sword, and then Ken was thinking that by swinging his sword, he was going to break this sword a bit. But then he saw that his sword just managed to deflect the other blade, which was showing Ken that the other blade was much more durable than he could have ever imagined in the first place. Then once they hit each others swords a bit, Ken was looking back and then he was seeing that JewelBeemon and the other digimon were watching the fight that was going on, and Ken was feeling awful for the fact that he was pretty much getting to get exposed for the stupid fucking fighter he was on his very first night there.  
Then Ken felt a giant surge to fight harder when he was seeing that there were other digimon watching the fight. Ken swung the sword as hard as he could, and then he saw the blade hit the ground and slice the snow a bit open, and then as he saw that, he looked right at the digimon who was dueling with him. Then Ken was just pulling the sword out from the snow and him having to deal with this was already taking him a long enough time for him to get elbowed in the chest by the digimon who was dueling with him. This time, Ken was not falling right down on the ground, and he was feeling much better about the fact that he was not having to deal with that level of looking stupid anymore. But then Ken kicked the other digimon down on the ground and then Ken was bringing his blade right down to just above the digimon that he had been fighting.  
After he had done that, Ken felt that he had sort of won the first battle that he was going to be having here, and then he was looking right at JewelBeemon. "You seem to know a basic understanding of how not to get too distracted when you are in a duel." JewelBeemon said, and then they were walking down the snowy path and holding their hands out to all of the digimon in the building. "These digimon are named Stingmon, and they are my allies, and they are the breed that I have made, who would be able to eventually evolve into me when they become the heir to the hall." JewelBeemon explained. Ken was not really sure why he was being told this, and he was thinking that he really did not need to know these things.  
"Your actual real training starts tomorrow. That was just a warm up session. Don't get used to something like this happening again. We were going easy on you, to see your basic battle moves." JewelBeemon said, and then after they had told Ken this, they were pointing towards the door. "You will be living here until I determine that you are ready to fight and be able to move out to this world all alone. Since you are not a Stingmon, I can't let you live here forever. But I can be able to let you be a tempomary member of this hall. I have trained a few digimon in my time. But I have never trained a human before. That is something that will be interesting for me to see." JewelBeemon was then waiting for what Ken was going to say, and if he was actually ready to do this, and if he was really even wanting to do this at all.  
Ken walked inside of the training hall once again, he saw the other Stingmon that were behind JewelBeemon coming right inside of the training hall. Then there was the Stingmon that he fought standing up again, and he was seeing that even though this was a test run, that digimon was still feeling angry that they were taken down by this guy. They felt like they should have been able to take down Ken due to the fact that they had never seen Ken fighting before, and even if he was a decent fighter, he did not really have as much experience as what they had, and that this was something that was borderline insulting to their eyes and their reputation.  
One of the other Stingmon who was in the hall now with Ken pointed towards a room that was behind a golden door. Ken was wondering why the hell there was a golden door, and he didn't really care all that much. Ken and the Stingmon walked down the hall a little bit and then once they were at the door, they opened it and showed Ken what was on the other side. "This is the resting chamber. We sleep here every night. There is no time that you need to go to rest, but all of us get up at the same time, so if you don't want to mess with your sleep schedule, you should be putting that in mind." Then after the Stingmon had said this, Ken was looking down and saw that it was just a roll up sleeping bag for them to sleep on as a bed.  
"What time do you guys get up every morning?" Ken asked, and he was just wondering what they were going to tell Ken, but then when he was waiting for that, he was telling himself that it probably didn't really matter all that much and that he just needed to focus on the main things that mattered more than everything. That he was going to be here for quite possibly the next several years of his life, and that he might as well have accepted that now and that he was going to just have to get ready for the fact that he was going to be here for so long.  
Then Ken placed the hilt to the energy sword right next to the bed and despite the fact that he was thinking about taking off the gas mask, he was thinking that this was not the smartest choice for him to go with that idea, so he was just telling himself to keep it on no matter how much that was going to and make him feel uncomfortable and everything.  
But then he was thinking about what he was wanting to do now. He was not really sure if he wanted to go to sleep or not, but he was telling himself that he didn't need to go to sleep all that much, and that he was just going to relax a bit more, and then he was thinking about what his first training session was going to be like. He was thinking to himself that his time here was going to probably be the worst experience of his life, and that he was just going to hate every second of being here, but then he was telling himself that this was what he needed to do. He needed to do this training, and he needed to take it as seriously as he possibly could.  
As Ken was laying down on the bed, he was not exactly going to sleep, but he was just sort of letting his mind drift around. 'You know, I really think that if Sam was seeing what I was like at this moment, he would be telling me that I was a idiot for doing something like this, and getting into all of these things, but what the hell was I was supposed to know about going into this? I didn't even want to go into this digital world. I was just forced to go here. I was pushed in through a fucking blue gate, and now I am basically fighting for my survival. Everything that I am doing right now is pretty much just trying to survive. I don't really even have any other way to put it besides this. I am just trying to survive, and I am trying to get back home soon. That is all I really want to do. Is just be able to return home, and be able to place this whole thing behind us. Besides, I am sure that even if my parents thought that I was just missing or dead, they would have stopped grieving me and that they would have been more focused on Sam, because he was the first born, the first to die, and he was clearly the favorite.'  
As Ken had been thinking all of these things to himself, he was also telling himself that it just didn't really matter all that much. 'I don't even think that my parents wanted me around all that much anyways. I think my parents cared so much more for Sam that they would be thinking that my death would really not be all that big of a deal by comparison. I think that if anything, they would be just simply careless about it all. I know that most parents would not feel that way about the fact that a child of theirs has died, but in all reality, I am the second person that this happened to in such a short amount of time that they probably just are not even really able to piece this together anymore. I really highly doubt that they care all that much anymore.' Then when Ken was thinking about this more, there was a part of him that was thinking that maybe this was all for the best. Ken was telling himself that it was better that this was just how his life was.  
Ken was just thinking that he needed to accept the fact that he was simply not wanted. That was really all that it was. The people in the city didn't want him around, and that was something that was becoming much more clear as time was going on. And the more that he was thinking about the fact that people didn't really care all that much for him, the more that he was thinking to himself that maybe being here was for the best. That maybe if he just stayed here, he would have been more at home than he would have been at earth. Once he was starting to realize that he was much more at home by being here than he was at earth, that was when he was feeling like his life was sort of crappy. That it wasn't even really his fault though. That if anything, it was the fault of the people who were living in this city for not going out and actually acting as they cared for him. Now he was thinking that maybe he should just stay here.  
When he was starting to realize that being here was probably better for him, he was also telling himself not to even think or worry about it all that much. In fact, he was starting to go above and beyond this. He was actually thinking about the different places that he could go in this very open world. He was also thinking about the people that he would be able to be friends with. The digimon that he could help, and then when he was piecing all of these things together, there was honestly a part of him that was starting to sort of get excited about being here.  
Then when Ken was thinking that, he was also thinking along the lines with himself 'Plus, I have done a couple of things since I have been here. I am doing a few things that I am not really proud of, and maybe when I get the hell out of here, I will be able to actually do the fight thing. You know, the one thing that I should have done right away. Actually try and be a hero. Not like the comic book superhero who just fly around and do nothing. No, I am talking about the heroes who actually go out there and make a difference. That is what I should be doing right now.'  
Then Ken was telling himself that once he was out of JewelBeemon hall, he was going to go out and try his best to be that type of hero. That he was going to try and do his best to be a fucking superhero. As he was thinking at this rate, and he was thinking about what it would be like to be a superhero, he was telling himself that this was going to be the chance he needed to turn things around for the better now.  
Ken actually thought right then and there that he was going to be doing the only thing that his life was set up for. The only thing that he should have been thinking about doing in his entire life. As he was telling himself these things, he was thinking about what his life was going to be like when he was all out there, doing the best things that he could have been able to do now.  
The more that Ken was telling himself that these were the things that he needed to do, the more that Ken was falling asleep and actually having a good time going off and drifting into the night. Not that he was thinking about anything else really. Ken was telling himself that if Sam did see him going around and being a hero, then this truly could have been something that his older brother would have been actually proud of him over. That Sam was going to think that Ken did the one thing that he would have done if he was given a chance of being in this world on his own. Ken was telling himself that Sam would not at all object to this thing, and as Ken was telling himself that Sam would indeed not be objecting to these things, that was when Ken was feeling more at peace and that he did the right thing by talking with these digimon at this hall right from the start.  
As Ken was starting to think that he was indeed making the right choice by doing this, he was getting himself ready for the future. As the future was starting to become something that maybe Ken was actually going to be a bit proud of himself over, and that this was going to be a good choice that he had made, he was also getting himself ready for what was to come. He knew that they were probably telling the truth in that the training was not going to be all that easy. That this was going to be the biggest struggle of his entire life to be going through this whole thing. Ken was also telling himself that it was not time to start thinking about this and to start turning his back on the people who probably cared most for him and everything.  
The night went along and Ken was just having some dreams about when he was back on earth. Dreams about Wayside and what it was like to grow up there, and the more time that he had been away from Wayside, the more that he was missing this place. He was thinking about how much he was going to love going back to Wayside and to just be there with people that cared for him. Ken did know that every single person at Wayside really did care for him and respect everything that he had been doing. Ken was just letting his mind drift off the more that he was thinking about all of these things, and then he was thinking about how Todd and everybody else was doing.  
Todd was probably running for class president this year. It seemed like as time passed, the more that Myron had sort of given up on the idea. He still wanted to be class president, and he would have liked being class president. But surely he must have been seeing that this was going to be a much bigger struggle than it would have really been worth going through, and as he was thinking about that, he was starting to decide that it was indeed not worth going through all of this anymore. Eventually though, Myron seemed to start to be involved in the politics of the school, but instead of running for president and all of that stuff, it seemed like Myron as just more sort of supporting Todd and his campaigns. It was a strange level of unity that these people who didn't really like each all that much coming through at the end. And that was what Ken was really liking about the fact that they started to talk to each other more and they were able to respect the company that they both were able to give each other. Ken was just sort of thinking about what he wanted to do now, and how much he was going to want to try and reconnect with them once again once he was out of this digital world. Then when he was thinking that he was not really going to establish that much of a connection with them anymore, there was a part of him that felt the pain of that coming through. He was starting to feel the pain of the fact that none of his life was going to be the same anymore come though. Not only was Sam gone, and not only was he in this world, but there was the fact that he was pretty much forced to get rid of any form of normalcy that he actually had in his life earlier. But then as he was thinking that he just didn't want to do this anymore, the more that Ken just wanted to go back in time and be able to relive those good old days once again.  
The next day, when Ken was thinking more and more on how he was going to actually make all of this work out, and the fact that he was never going to get what he had wanted, there was a large part of him that has started to accept the entire thing. Once he woke up though, that was pretty much thrown away when he was seeing the Stingmon he had been training with earlier staring right at him down at the bed. "It is time for you to actually get ready for your first day of training." Once the Stingmon said that to Ken, this was when Ken grabbed the energy sword hilt that he was going to probably be using until there was a better weapon than just that. Once Ken stood up, the two of them left the room and went right to the immediate front entrance of the hall rather than where they were training at earlier. Stingmon punched Ken right in the face which made Ken drop down on the ground and then Ken was feeling like he was starting to feel like he just had his jaw breaking. He knew that it didn't actually break, but it had just felt that way at that moment.  
Then Ken was thinking about that for a moment, he grabbed his energy sword again and then he turned it on. He placed both of his hands right on it and this time he was ready to just start hacking and slashing and taking this thing down. Ken swung a couple of times really rough but Stingmon kept blocking every single one of them. "You are too head strong when you do this. You need to focus on what you are doing." It seemed like Stingmon was actually starting to sound mad when they were talking about Ken, as if they were refusing to believe that they were wasting their time doing this.  
Ken was then thinking about what he was being told. He had been kind of annoyed at the digimon just acting like they were able to just be this type of smug asshole right from the start, and that Ken was just pretty much a waste of their time. Ken then ran right towards Stingmon with the energy sword being held tightly with both of his hands and then at the end of the run, Stingmon just moved away and then Ken saw that this was a huge mistake when he started to slide across the snow and then he saw that he was barely even surviving at that moment anymore. He was right at the edge of the cliff. Then when he was seeing that he was at the exact edge of the cliff, Ken started to walk back a bit and then Stingmon grabbed him and then they pulled him back several inches where the energy sword dropped on the ground, and then Kenw as starting to feel a little bit of a struggle at that moment when Stingmon was placing the energy sword right at his neck.  
"If you had taken one step further, you would have died. If I was a natural enemy, and not somebody who you are training against, I would have killed you when you were looking away and you were walking backwards." Stingmon said and then they were watching as Ken was starting to really struggle and he was really looking like he was scared for his own life. "You know, it is kind of sad, that you are acting like you can do this stuff, but you are just useless. You will not be able to compare to us." Then Stingmon threw Ken down and then Ken was grabbing the hilt of the energy sword before it fell down beyond the cliff and would never be found again. And then he was feeling his hands touching the very edge of the cliff. "You know, you are a coward when you are doing this. I can see right through you, the way you are looking, and the way that you are scared, that you are a coward. You need to accept the fact that nobody ever really cares about you because you actually never did anything of value. You were always too scared to do anything that actually fucking matters." Once Stingmon was done saying this, Ken hated how close this digimon was to hitting home with him, but then he was thinking that maybe this digimon did really relate to him much more than they were ever really willing to admit, as they were describing him so well. Which meant either this digimon was really old, or they felt the same way as he did.  
As Ken was thinking about this, he was thinking about what it would be like for him to actually try and get to know this Stingmon better. As he was thinking about how he was going to get to know this Stingmon better, he felt like it was a challenge he needed to under take, and one that he was honestly willing to undertake, if they would actually pay respect to him as well.  
"You are right. But the thing that you are wrong about, and the thing that you clearly don't understand about me right now is that I am well aware of all of these things. I know that people do not like me. I know that people do not give a fucking damn about me and everything." Ken said, and then as he was staring at Stingmon, he was wondering what the digimon was going to say. "And please don't try and find some random thing that really messed up my life that you somehow know about and everything. Don't fucking even bother. It is not going to fucking work."  
Stingmon was just kind of shocked at the sudden vehemence of what he was saying. Ken clearly was not really trying to mess around, and he was just trying to see what Stingmon would try and say to him, and Stingmon knew that as long as they talked with him, he was going to actually have to have care in his words, which was something he didn't really understand.  
"Well, you might know just bad and hard everything is right now, but one thing that you might not understand is the fact that you are not the only one who has had their life affected by the man in the purple jacket." Stingmon said and this was when Ken looked up very confused. Ken knew damn well who they were talking about, and Ken was wondering how Stingmon knew who that person was. In fact, that was the next thing Ken was about to ask. But it had seemed like Stingmon knew what he was going to ask, and his answer beat Ken to the asking.  
"Well, the thing is, he has been visiting this hall many times. He is a rather famous adventurer. I think that he probably just knows exactly what you are doing in your life, and he probably thought that sending you here was going to be the best thing to help you out. It seems like he is a relatively nice guy." After Stingmon had told him this, Ken was just looking at Stingmon as if he was not able to believe that he had actually heard this digimon tell him this.  
"You are wrong about that. Maybe he is different with digimon. He is a terrible man. He has ruined everything in my entire life. I am utterly convinced that he was the one who killed my brother, and while I don't really love my brother or anything, he deserved much better than this, and he broke nearly every single part of my entire body. I had to spend a month pretty much wearing an entire fucking body cast." Ken said, thinking about the final battle that he had at Wayside, and he was thinking about the pain that he had been invoked there.  
After Ken was thinking about that terrible moment, he was starting to think that this was the day his life really started to turn around for the worst. That was when he realized that everything was going against him, and that he might as well have never even tried because he had to love everything that he ever worked for all in the course of just a few minutes.  
"Well, maybe he was just thinking that you were not all that important or special at the time, but now that he knows the value that you present, he might be doing this with you in order for him to try and reverse his entire position on the matter. I think that once you give him a chance, then you would be able to really understand why he was doing this." Stingmon said, and then after Stingmon had told him this, Ken was just feeling like he was quickly losing any form of reliability that he had with the digimon by this point. Ken really did feel like he was connecting with Stingmon, and then this happened, and then Ken felt like everything that he had started to build up with them was throw out the fucking window. Ken just wished he could be able to explain to them why this guy was evil.  
"Please, don't try and defend this guy. I feel like if you were actually there to see what he was like, then you would understand why he is so fucking awful. He was one of the worst things that ever happened in my entire life, and I am convinced that if you were there and if you actually saw what he was like, then you would be on my side here." After Ken said that, he was just waiting to see what Stingmon was going to have to say. As he was waiting for Stingmon's response, he was just looking away and then he was just trying to think of a way he would be able to show Stingmon just why this guy was truly fucking awful, if Stingmon was even able to have their views changing and everything.  
Despite the fact that Ken was feeling like Stingmon was never able to be changed, Stingmon was looking right at Ken and then they were just trying to think about what they had wanted to say next. "Well, he does come by every once in a while, and maybe when we see them next, I might have my opinion of him start to change. That is a very real possibility. Even though I don't really know how my ideas will change, I will try and see it your way." Stingmon said, and Ken clearly knew that they were just saying this to make him feel better, but Ken did appreciate that the digimon was even trying to act like they were going to keep an open mind. That made them think that maybe this entire thing was not so hard to follow.  
"I just feel tired of having my entire life be a constant struggle. Everything in my entire life has been just one big struggle, and I am kind of tired of not having anything work out in my favor." Ken said, and then as he was having this open monologue outloud to himself, he was just sort of wondering if Stingmon was actually going to keep in line with what Ken was saying, and Stingmon was wondering what exactly they were going to say. If they were actually going to try and help him out, or if they were just going to talk about themselves and sort of make Ken feel like he was being left out again.  
Even though he was feeling like he was not sure what Stingmon was going to say, Stingmon sort of spoke in his favor. "You know, I guess that becuse of the fact that I am not a human, I will never really be able to understand where you are coming from. But I do admit I want to see what your earth is like. I have heard about earth a few times from him, and from what I have heard, it seems like it is a nice place." After Stingmon had told Ken that, Ken was thinking about earth and he was trying to see if he was going to be able to really see it their way.  
Ken sort of shrugged at it. "I guess it is a nice place to some extent. I mean, there are certainly some visual wonders about the whole thing. But holy shit, when you have been around there for as long as I have, then you start to see a little bit of the problems that go on here." Ken said, and then he was thinking about just how awful that fucking place was, and he was wondering if Stingmon was ever really going to be seeing it his way. Despite the fact that he was doubting that they were going to see it his way, Ken just sort of was thinking to himself.  
"I hope that I do see it at least once. That is all that I really want." After Stingmon had said this, that was when Ken was just thinking about what earth was going to be like when he came back there. Eventually, Ken just felt like none of this really mattered all that much anymore, and that Ken was just going to have nothing really be in his favor anymore. And he was thinking that after being there for a day, that all of this training and fighting was sort of getting to him, and he was feeling like this was going to be one of the hardest things he was going to have to do, but he felt like in the end this was going to be worth it.  
As Ken was starting to get a little bit of a stronger resolve on the idea of continuing his training down at the hall of JewelBeemon, he was getting ready for what was going to be happening next. Once he was telling himself to get ready for what was going to happen next, the two of them walked right inside of the training hall, and Ken was starting to get progressively more ready for the challenges that were up ahead of him, and he was excited for what was going to be happening next.  
The next month or two passed by fine enough. Every morning, Stingmon and Ken would get up and do a drill match where they just fought each other and Stingmon would slowly try and teach Ken more moves on how to fight, and soon enough Ken was starting to actually get better at the fighting. Ken was thinking that he was going to eventually be able to hold his own ground against the digimon out there in the digital world when he left the mountain, and he was telling himself that maybe if he took his training seriously enough, he would be ready to get out of the hall by March of 1967, and then he was thinking that this would have still been nearly eight months that he would have to be there, which was just fucking ridiculous.  
Once it was around early October of that year, Ken and Stingmon were just sitting down as Ken was trying to warm himself up with a fire after a training session that they had. "You know Ken, when I first met you, I thought that you were not really ready to be training here. And I am still not really sure if you will end up being as good as any of us, but at least you are trying. At least you are putting in a real effort, and I have to give you credit on that." Stingmon said, and then Ken was trying to decide if the digimon was trying to compliment him or not. Either way, Ken wasn't really too sure how he was going to feel about the whole thing. Ken felt like he fucking sucked when compared to Stingmon and everybody else.  
"I think that I will never be able to compare to you guys. I mean, you guys are fucking digimon, and you are living in the digital world. You guys are pretty much meant to be ready to fight every single day. I was never really born to fight. Humans can be able to fight, and we are perfectly willing to fight if it means our safety, but we were never fucking born to fight. The idea of being born to fight is simply just not really in our fucking blood. I mean, we will do it if we have to, but that is about as far as it will ever be able to go with us." Ken said, and then he was wondering if this was just how it was really meant to be. That Ken was always going to be weaker than the digimon, and even if him at his strongest was still going to be weak when compared to digimon and he was just pretty much going to have to fight with luck and everything in order to even survive.  
As Ken thought about that, the more that he was thinking about the life that he would be living here even with all of the training that he could be able to get here, that this was going to be mostly pointless. When Stingmon was starting to see that this was the way that Ken was thinking, they decided that maybe it was time for them to come in and try to make him feel better, even if it was not going to be the at the same level of digimon, that at the very least he could still be able to put up some form of a fight here and everything.  
"You should never give up. Think about what life would be like if you never even tried to go out there and do the fight thing. If you never even tried, then you are the one who is going to be left behind. Just think about what things will be like when you get out of here. Think about the times in which you almost died, and now that you are here and you are getting a decent amount of training, then even when you are at your worst, you will still be able to place in a much better fight than you would have been if you were out on this world all alone." As Stingmon had been saying this, they were waiting to see what Ken was going to say, and he was just not really wanting to say anything.  
"I just don't really think that this world is meant to be friendly to humans. I think that the humans here will always be weak to everybody else here. But even if I just try and fail, at least I will still probably be stronger than most of the other people at earth. When I get to earth, then maybe I will be able to actually make a difference. But I am not really sure if I am ready to go out there and try to bring people back to safety and everything." Ken said, thinking about what it was going to be like if he was going to become some form of a superhero. It was silly for him to be a superhero, and even he knew that this was not going to happen, but he was thinking that even the illusion of being a super hero was going to be one thing that would be able to keep him going.  
"Ken, I think that you should always think about what you are doing in the long run. You should always be thinking about what you will eventually be contributing to the digital world. You are one of the first humans to have been here in a very long time. Maybe even one of the first ever, and you will be able to go around and turn things around for the better for all of us. I feel like maybe there was a little bit of destiny that was calling you to come on over here, and to change everything about the problems here. I think that you were sort of the hero that was meant to come in here and save us all." Stingmon said the same thing twice, but since their mind was sort of on auto pilot, Ken didn't really care and Stingmon didn't really think all that much about it. He also said the same things over again when he was talking and when he was sort of having a generic stream of thoughts here.  
"So Stingmon, what is so special about humans coming here?" Ken asked, and he was just sort of trying to see the value of it all. He was just trying to make himself understand why he was so special about just being a human who came here. "I can't be the first human here. You claimed that I could have been. The man in the purple jacket was here, and he could probably be much closer to the guy that you are imagining would come in and save you all." Ken said, and then after he had said this, he was wondering what Stingmon would say to this thought.  
"I mean, I don't think that he is the evil person that you have made him out to be yet, although he may end up being that guy when I see him again. But I never really thought that he was going to be some great hero or anything. I just thought that he was a decent guy, and that was about as far as it had actually gone." As Stingmon said, there was a part of Ken that was feeling better for the fact that even Stingmon admitted that this was not a hero, even if Stingmon was still on the idea that he was not such a bad guy, which Ken was telling himself that he would see later on, so he would not really say anything at that moment.  
"I truly think that once you start to see what he is like, and you start to really pay attention to everything that he says, even you will not be able to defend him. Even you will see through his flaws, and you will see just how much he has been playing with every single person here. Trust me, all you have to do is just pay attention to what he is saying, and it will become obvious." After Ken had said that, he was waiting to see what Stingmon was going to say, even though he was uncertain that Stingmon was really going to play along with this super easily, and Ken was just thinking that they needed some time more than anything else.  
"I don't really know. I mean, I am at least able to see what you are talking about. I am going to at least give it a chance. Even if I hate to see what he is really like." Then when Stingmon had said that, Ken and Stingmon were just sort of looking right down at the fire again.  
After this discussion, Ken and Stingmon had gone back to their training, and Ken was telling himself that he should never try and get himself too attached to this entire situation, and that getting attached to these people were going to be the worst mistake that he would ever be able to make in his entire life. Well not really these people as much as these digimon, since that was still what they were more than anything.  
It was another few weeks after this, and it was at the digital world version of Thanksgiving when Ken was reaching his next point of bonding between Stingmon in their training sessions. They almost always had a small discussion after a training session, but almost none of it really worth taking note about and after a while almost all of the subjects were the exact same things over and over again and Ken was starting to feel like the conversations were kind of just mending together after a while, and that he was not really even grabbing too much out of them anymore, as horrible as it was for him to admit this.  
"You know, we have never had a human come and here and celebrate any one of these special days with us. Even the man in the purple jacket, when they have had the time to come along and visit us, it was never during one of these special days, and it seemed like he never really took care in celebrating any of these days. I wonder what makes him not really see the value of these days." Stingmon said, and Ken was thinking that this was yet another sign on what this guy was actually like.  
"He doesn't talk to you or do any of these things with you guys on big days because he never really cares for you. He never really cares about what these days have to offer him. He might have never really seen the value of these days, and I think that he just will never really change his views of anything." Ken said, wondering if these were the things that were going to finally break through to Stingmon, and then when he was thinking about how hard it was going to be to break through to Stingmon, he was thinking that maybe this was going to be the hardest part of his training, getting this digimon to finally see the perspectives that he had gotten now.  
Ken was wondering when and if Stingmon was ever going to finally understand the perspectives that Ken had gotten, and not just see them. Ken was thinking that maybe Stingmon had now seen them, and was able to sort of see where he was coming from to some extent, but maybe he did not actually understand or agree with them. And that was what was really getting to Ken. The fact that this digimon was never really going to understand and see what he was meaning about anything.  
"Well, I guess that the only thing that you will ever have to worry about if what your parents think about you. What they think about the idea of you being gone is. They might be thinking that you are dead. I think you have actually about this to me before. How you are worried that they think you are dead now. Do you think that you will be able to get them to finally see that you are fine? That there is nothing that they have to worry about. I guess that maybe this is going to be the thing that will always make you second guess your choices." As Stingmon had told Ken this, that was when Ken just simply nodded. There was nothing about what he was doing that made him feel like he had made the right choice with his family and how he went with that. As he was wondering what his choices were really like, Ken thought about Susan, and for some reason, Ken was feeling like he really left her at a bad time. That he really should have been there for her. Not just to make sure that Susan was dealing with Sam's death well and everything, as Ken was thinking that after a few months, that she must have been able to start to move on and everything. But because he was thinking that maybe there was something that he should have been doing for Susan that could really change everything. Like the idea that maybe Ken had gotten her knocked up or something and then he had left her behind. He doubted that he had actually gotten her knocked up, but there was the part of him that was thinking that maybe there was a small chance that something like this happened, given how much luck was pretty much against him and everything.  
"Hey Ken, when you go back to earth, do you think that you will want to bring me along and everything? Do you think that there will ever be a chance that I would be able to survive on earth and actually be accepted on earth?" After Stingmon had asked him this, Ken decided to just be brutally honest and shake his head.  
"No, I don't really think that the world will be able to accept digimon here. They will be too scared. I was the exact same way when I came along here and I first met you. Every single one of you guys scared the shit out of me. But then I was telling myself that you are just some digimon, and that in this world, I am the monster. I am the alien, and I am telling myself that I have to see it from your perspective." When Ken had said this, that was when Ken was thinking about the other things going on here. "When I was at my middle school, I just felt the need to fight these monsters as I felt like my very life was at stake by not fighting them off and trying to get them away from me." Ken said, and then after Ken had said this, there was nothing that he could really do about what he had been saying, and he was hoping that Stingmon would not relaly judge him for what he did back on earth and everything.  
"Well, at least you are telling me the truth. At least you are not dancing around my odds of actually living there fine enough. At least you seem to see the value of just being real with me." After Stingmon had said this to Ken, the more that the two of them were just sort of processing everything.  
"I just wonder how it must be like to have my parents be doing thanksgiving right now, with neither one of their sons around. I think that this is the thing that really gets to me. The fact that my parents probably are really missing me. I think that they will not want to be celebrating these days anymore, just because of the fact that we might be alive or anything like that." After Ken had been thinking about the fact that his fake death was really changing everything, and Ken was just feeling mega awful for this fact. Ken was just feeling like he was one of the worst sons in the world, that not only was he doing this, but the fact that he was feeling like he didn't really even feel all that affected by the fact that this was happening.  
"I should maybe try and go back to earth for at least one day on Christmas, to see what they are like. But I am worried that if I show up, they will start to think that I am going to be back for good, and then if they see something like that, they will be broken beyond despair when they come to realize that I am not really there for them on that regard. That I am not really there to make them feel super better. I just feel like it would be the only way to make me a better son for them and everything." Ken was thinking that he was just a really awful fucking guy, and that as a son, he had utterly failed.  
But then Ken was thinking that this was time to move on, and that he needed to place all of that behind him for good. He was not really the guy that they wanted him to be, and that was really all that there would have been to it. Ken was just using this energy and this anger that he had gotten from this and he was just applying it even further to his training, and he was just forcing himself to be focusing on that even more than ever.  
As Ken had been getting better at the daily battles, and then after a while, Ken and Stingmon started to increase it to two spars a day, and then by the end of the year, three spars a day. Once at the time they woke up, and then they would eat lunch and then they would have to go again, and then after that they would go again and then eat again, and then after they ate again, they would have to go to rest for the night and then they would be ready to do this again for the next day.  
When Ken was learning that there was a library down at the training hall, Ken felt like he needed to go down there and see what the archives were, and if he was going to learn anything when he was down there. But when Ken was heading on down there, Stingmon was seeing what he was doing. "Ken, you know that you are not supposed to be going down there. You know that JewelBeemon does not approve of his apprentices going down there. I had told you this last night." Stingmon told Ken and then Ken was looking at the digimon he was starting to grow to trust. He was also hoping that they weren't being too loud for the digimon here, and that they were going to come along and see what he was doing.  
"I am going to go down there no matter what. I need to figure this stuff out right now. I have a feeling that the secrets of the humans in the digital world will be down there. I want to figure these secrets out right now. I am going to be able to see the entire world from a different perspective again." Ken said, and when he had put in the word again, he was talking about how he had barely really even gave digimon much of an open mind earlier. And that this was going to change his views on life.  
"You can always just gather the knowledge for yourself. The library was sealed off for a reason. There is a reason that JewelBeemon is the only one who goes down there. I should have never even told you about that place. Do you want JewelBeemon to lose any trust that they have gotten from you?" After JewelBeemon had asked Ken this, that was when Ken shook his head.  
"I don't even know if I trust JewelBeemon or not. There is no real reason for me to trust them. They have shown to never trust me. So there is no real reason to trust them back." Ken said, and then he was walking down the stairs to reach that room and then Stingmon placed their hand on his shoulder.  
"You know for a fact that you will be expelled from here if you ever get caught breaking his rules. There are more places in this hall. More interesting places that I think you would like to check out more when you learn about them." After Stingmon had told Ken this, Ken was looking right at Stingmon and he was wondering if he was going to make Ken calm down and try to behave himself a bit better.  
"I still feel like I need to go down there. I feel like going down there is the one thing that I need to figure out this entire mystery. But if you say that there are other places here, then I may as well try and see them now. I may as well see what you are talking about." Ken said and then he was looking at the entrance towards the library several yards down. Ken was just wanting to go down there so badly, and he felt like he needed to go down there.  
After a while, it wasn't even the want that was driving him anymore. It was the need to do this. And when he was thinking about the need, he then looked right up at Stingmon. He was placing his head down. Despite the fact that he had no real desire to be going along with JewelBeemon and their request, Ken was thinking that this was what they had to do if he had to be safe.  
Ken was then thinking that the idea of him being safe really did not matter all that much. When he was thinking that the idea of being safe did not matter all that much, he was actually genuinely feeling that way, and that he was thinking that this was going to still be really unsafe no matter what he did, being at this training hall. But at least if he was going out there and doing this, then at least he could be able to get some answers along the way.  
When Ken was thinking about the idea of getting answers, Ken decided that he was just going to pretend that Stingmon really had their words get to him, and that he was absorbing what Stingmon had told him, and then when they were asleep, he was going to be as quiet as possible. He was going to make Stingmon actually think that they had won this debate, and then maybe there would be so much time that would pass by that maybe it would actually be like that Stingmon had won the debate. So much time before he would even be able to get the next chance to go down there and see what he was going to be able to find out down there.  
As Ken was walking up the stairs again, he was just simply telling himself that all he was going to do was just simply wait. As he would wait for a while, then he would have the chance to go down there again, and once he was down there again, he was going to do the one thing that really mattered. As Ken was actually thinking that eventually he was going to be able to one-up Stingmon there, there was another part of him that was telling himself that this stuff really did not matter, and that he was probably going to get these answers sooner or later anyways.  
Eventually, the two of them went back to the sleeping room. Before Ken was able to go to sleep, Stingmon tried to pull them aside. "Ken, you know, I am worried about you. That is why I am reaching out to you so much. That is why I am trying to relaly break through with you right now. I am worried that you are going to go down there again. I know from the look on your face that you are going to go down there. You are really wanting to see whaat is down there. I know that I want to see it as well. But I respect the will of JewelBeemon. I respect the will of what our master tells us, and you should be doing that exact same thing as well." Stingmon had said, and then Ken was feeling like he was not really wanting to hear any of this. He was not really wanting to be lectured by Stingmon anymore.  
"Listen, I get that you are claiming that you are worried about me, but in all honesty I don't even believe in you. I believe that you are just telling me this in order for you to sound like you are just and that you are righteous. I think that if I were to suddenly die, that you would not really give a shit about me. And I don't even blame you for feeling this way. I just don't want to be a part of it anymore. I am just not really sure if I can believe what anybody says to me anymore if it is even remotely on the level of being a good comment." Ken said, and he was actually meaning every single word of what he had been saying.  
"Ken, you have been here for almost half a year. I think that soon enough, you have to see that people do care about you more than what you may think." After Stingmon had told Ken that, the more that Ken was just not really listening. He was not wanting to listen. He was not really caring to listen. He was not going to let this digimon just act like they were going to be able to really get close to him, and that they were the one who was on the higher moral ground.  
Then when Ken had been thinking that, the two of them walked outside of the hall for a moment. "Please, just watch what I am showing you." Stingmon said to Ken when they were outside and then they were pointing down at the city that Ken had been to a couple of times before. Ken was smiling at the memory of the place, thinking that this was starting to be a little bit nostalgic. Then he was watching fire works going off and the voices of the city cheering and then Ken was realizing that this was one big celebration. "It is the new year. The digimon down there throw a huge celebration every single year here. I think that I want to go down there once and see what it is like down there. To see if it really is as amazing as I believe it to be." After Stingmon had said this to Ken, even Ken was starting to think a little bit like that. Even he was wondering what it would be like to celebrate the new year down there.  
As Ken was thinking about what it would be like to celebrate the new year down there, he started to realize for the first time truly how much he missed being at earth. How much he missed celebrating the new year down there. When Ken was starting to think about how much he was missing celebrating the new year with his friends, and the people taht he really grew to know and trust, that was when Ken was thinking that maybe he really did overhype how awful earth was. When Ken was thinking about that, he was heading back to sleep and he was thinking about what it would be like when he would go back there, almost wanting to go back there now.  
Ken slept for a while, and the entire time that he was sleeping in the area, the more that he was thinking about what it would be like to live the entire year of 1967 in this training hall, and he was thinking about how even if he had hated to admit it, that was exactly what he was going to have to do. He was going to be spending the entire year here, and for fucks sake, he was going to be hating every single minute of this entire excursion.  
The dream that Ken had that night was actually of him on earth at the new year. He was walking down a pathway, and the entire time that he was walking down the pathway, he was seeing that there was a small drizzle of water going on, Ken was feeling like the drizzle was sort of reflecting his mood in a way, and how much he was just kind of thinking about how he was messing up all of the good things in his life.  
When Ken was thinking about his life, he saw that Sam was walking down the road during the dream. Ken was thinking that it was strange that he was seeing Sam in his dream. He was looking down and seeing that his entire set of clothes were becoming increasingly more drenched and everything. That his clothes were increasingly so not really having any chance of actually giving him any use, and that the only thing that was coming out of them was pretty much being a thin layer between him and the actual rain, and that him running around naked was not much worse than doing this.  
But that thought was not that big of a thing he was thinking all that much about when he was seeing that Sam was getting further and further away from him, and then Ken was running after him as fast as possible and he was going to do his best to catch his brother before event he was thinking he would see happen. He was thinking that he would prevent his death in this reality, and therefore sort of change the timeline.

But even then, despite him thinking that in his mind, this could lead to an actual change, he was telling himself that he needed to just be realistic. There was no way that this was actually going to work. There was no way that he was going to be able to change what happened in the past by going to the future or anything like that. He just had to accept the fact that it was a lot cause. It was a cause of the fact that this was a dream, and what happened to Sam was real life, and that nothing could change what had happened in real life. He was telling himself that he had to be realistic, even if it meant that it really was time for him to let go. But he didn't really want to let go was the problem. No matter how much he was telling himself that he needed to let go, there was that part of him that was just not fucking doing it. He was not even a fan of Sam, and there was still the part of him that was clinging onto any last bit of keeping him around in the memory of his. It was honestly kind of sad in his mind, and mostly pathetic he was sort of forcing himself to admit. But at the same time, he was just telling himself that this was just his way of coping. It was his way of trying his best to be able to accept what had happened.

As he was thinking that this was just something he was going to do for the time being, he was watching as Sam was doing something that he was not really prepared for. He walked right inside of the gas station of town and Ken was thinking that this must have been a divergence from the actual timeline. Unless if Ken was seeing an entire fictional event, or if Ken was seeing a real event but it was in a different time than Ken had been thinking it was this whole time. Either way, Ken felt like he had to figure out what the hell was going on. Ken walked inside of the store and he was remaining away from Sam in order to not get seen, and to avoid any unneeded conflict going on.

Once Ken was inside of the store, he was seeing Sam talking with that guy who worked there. Ken knew that they were sort of friends, and that they talked to each other for a bit, but Ken was wondering why Sam was visiting him during the shift of all times. He thought if anything, they would see each other when the shift was over. "I heard everything that happened lately. I know that it must have been rough on you when you found out the truth. I know that you two were really close, and that must have been really rough for you." Sam said, and he was sounding like he couldn't care less. As if he knew full well what was going on, and that if anything, he was glad that this person was gone. Ken was sort of seeing a different look on Sam than even he was used to. Ken was just not really able to understand how this guy could not see through what Sam was saying, or if he was really that desperate to have somebody help him out.

"I just sometimes wonder when these things happen, why it was never me. I wonder what this universe has against me to constantly throw this type of shit at me. I mean, I am doing my best. I mean, I saved some people from certain death, and I even have been trying to reform myself a bit. I fucking hate it." The gas station worker there said, and Ken was thinking that it was a terrible situation that this man was finding himself in. He must have been utterly tired of all of the shit that was being thrown at him. He must have really thought that the entire situation was not only unfair but totally unjust as well. Ken was trying to place himself in this guys shoes, and he was trying to think on what it must have been like to be this type of person. As Ken was thinking this, Ken was then starting to wonder if maybe he did actually have it easy. Ken was thinking that while his life was no trip in the park, just by looking at the expressions on this man, Ken was clearly seeing that there was more to how terrible this world was than even he was thinking.

"Well, maybe think of some of the life choices that you have made. Think about some of the mistakes that you have made. When you think about that, then perhaps when you start to realize these mistakes, you will start to see that maybe the universe if trying to get you to change yourself, and then you can be able to become the best person that you would possibly be able to ever become. I think that you should be thinking about all of the good that this situation has to offer." Sam said, and Sheldon was looking at him as if wondering what the hell was wrong with Sam for him to be saying this, and the guy looked like he was about ready to beat the tardation out of Sam. And given the look and the hint of what Sam was saying, Ken was feeling like Sam deserved it. But that was where the dream had ended.

Once the dream was all over, Ken was not really too sure what he was supposed to be thinking. What did that one guy do to make Sam hate him so much, even if he never directly said it, this was really obvious that this guy utterly despised him, and was going to go out of his way to make him lose anything that he had going for him. But despite that, the more he was looking at the guy in his mind, and the more that he was actually thinking about it, he was telling himself that he had actually known this guy before. He had felt like he had seen this guy a couple of times before, and that this was the guy who had changed Ken's life to some degree, even though he certainly didn't really do it on purpose. At least Ken was thinking that the guy did not change anything on purpose.  
The more that Ken thought about it, the more that he was starting to think that had things been done differently, he was starting to think that maybe this guy just did not really deserve what the world had going for him. And the more that Ken thought about it, the more that Ken was certain this guy was going to die very soon, and that Ken could and should have done something to actually help him out. But then as Ken was thinking about that trouble, he was thinking that there should be better reasons for him to return to earth rather than just helping out one random guy who he had no idea about or anything.  
But as Ken was thinking about this guy, the more that he was telling himself that there was nothing really that he could get out of helping this guy. Just helping him would at best sort of place him at the higher level of humanity. But then as he was thinking about this man, there was one thing that he was starting to become even more certain of. He was telling himself that if for nothing else, this man really needed a friend at his life. When Ken thought about how much this guy just needed a friend, the more that Ken was starting to think that maybe he should actually talk to the guy at the very least when he went back to earth. Just to see if he was sane at all or not. To see if this guy was actually managing to himself mostly intact and not totally losing it and everything. But there was one thing that was for sure, Ken was certain that Sam was not a real friend of his, no matter what Sam said, or how he acted when the guy was around him, Ken was thinking that Sam was just using the guy to his best ability. And Ken certainly felt fucking awful for him when he was thinking about that. How his fucking brother was pretty much using him like this.  
The entire time that Ken had been training that day, for some reason Ken could not stop thinking about him. He had no idea why he was thinking about this guy so much. It just made no sense to him that he was thinking about this guy. For some reason, Ken was thinking about how this guy was going to be the most important person that he could possibly ever meet in his life. He was nearly certain that this guy was going to be the one person that he needed to see to make sure that the entire balance of things would be normal. Ken was starting to believe that he was the only one who was going to save everybody, even though Ken was not really sure how a chronic smoker was going to be the one guy who was going to save the entire world. Ken was just thinking that it was a bit odd how he was actually sort of being convinced that this was all that he really needed. Despite the fact that this guy was a chronic smoker and looked like he had been having sex with girls several years younger than him, and overall just sort of a deviant from the norm, Ken also knew that this guy was actually a decent guy at heart, and that this guy did not really deserve the treatment that Sam had given him. The more that Ken had actually seen and known about Sam, the more that he was growing to utterly hate his older brother, and despite how fucking awful it had sounded, was almost kind of glad that his brother had been gone. He should have felt differently about him, but he really could not help but have felt that way by this point in time.  
Eventually when the training session was over, Stingmon sat down and was motioning Ken to do the exact same thing. "You are thinking about something right now. What is going on?" As Stingmon asked Ken that, there was just a moment of silence, and then as Kenw as thinking about things for a short moment, he was starting to remember the name of this guy, despite having only met him like twice and both of those times being a very long time.  
"You know, I never really thought about it all that much, since I have barely even known the guy, I was thinking about the person that I have personally met a couple of times back in the day. This guy named Sheldon, a guy who had lived in the same town where I lived in... twice." Ken said, but then as he was thinking about that a little bit, he was looking right at Stingmon as if he was wondering what the digimon was going to say. "I know it sounds strange for me to be thinking about this all of a sudden, and in all reality, I don't really even get it myself. But right now, I am just thinking about how this guy seems to be the key to everything. And I literally mean that when I say this. That he is going to change the entire world." Ken was thinking that he was shooting for the stars a little bit, but he was just sort of trying to get his point across.  
"What is so important about this Sheldon guy that you are thinking about him all of this time? I just don't really seem to understand this all that much." After Stingmon had said that, Ken was waving his hand up as if he was trying to get his point across, and that doing this would be the only way to really get his emotions across. Not really even sure why he was feeling like he could only do it like this. But then after this, he was just looking right at Stingmon.  
"There is just something about him. I think in the way that he composes himself, and the way that he works at his jobs, and the way that he looks at his goals. I think that this guy is somebody who can get shit done. When he really puts his mind to it. I only met him a couple of times, and both of the times that I had actually met him, I thought that he was very focused on the goal at hand. As if the goal at hand was really the only thing that actually mattered at all, and that getting in his way was going to be the one thing that you should never ever do. That if you got in his way, that he was going to just throw any respect he had for you away." Ken said, and then after he said that, he was actually really thinking for a moment and he felt like he was able to piece it all together.  
"I think in all reality, that is one of the main reasons why he never really had a lot of respect for me. He was convinced that I was just going to be some guy who was getting in the way, and that just being around him was going to create more problems than anything else. I don't really blame him for feeling that way when I look back at it. I was only like thirteen years old, and I was the only member of the group, or that entire setting who looked as if I never really seemed to be all that focused on anything at that moment. That the entire goal just seemed to be passing along me." After Ken had said that, he was looking right at Stingmon and he was wondering what the digimon was going to say to him. "Sort of like how I think you were feeling about me when we first met. It looked like you were really thinking that I was just going to be a waste of time and space. I guess I don't really even blame you all that much though, as annoying as it may have been." Ken said, and he was just thinking about what he needed to do now. He was thinking about how to change everything to be looking better for him.  
"I just didn't really think that a human would actually be serious about any of his goals. I never really thought that it could be possible. I thought that a human would have been just a giant ass slacker at life and everything. And then I am starting to see you. It looks like you are at least sort of trying. It looks like you are at least doing your best to keep up with us, and that is something that I am actually going to give you credit on." After Stingmon had told Ken this, he was wondering what would make Ken start to realize that there was nothing that he was all that he had to really even worry about.  
"I never really had a bunch of dedication in my entire life. I thought that I was just going to be sort of going along with life, just working at that gas station for a bit." Ken said, and then he was thinking that it must have been strange how he never really talked to that Sheldon guy during his shifts at all. He had thought that they had seen each other in passing. But then when Ken was thinking about it, he was thinking that he had seen this guy with a bunch of pimples all over his face more often than he had ever seen Sheldon. Since his shifts were at eight to midnight on school days, but since he dropped out, it was eight to four. That was when Ken was thinking that Sheldon just simply didn't really have the same hours that they had.  
"Damn, what is it with everybody just working at the gas station? It seems like everybody who lives on earth works at the gas station. Is that just some really easy job or something like that?" Stingmon asked, and then Ken was laughing a little bit at their reaction. He was thinking that it was indeed a little bit funny just to hear how confused Stingmon was at the entire idea of people working at the gas station so much.  
"Well, I think that my brother Sam suggested me to work there after a couple of things happen to me in my life that got me in a lot of trouble with the law. Oh fucking boy, that was no fucking fun. But I think that was really where it all came down to. I think that Sam just thought that since Sheldon worked there, and since they were supposed to be friends, that he could bring me right there and that could sort of be a baseline for my revenue." After Ken said that, he was wondering what Sheldon would be feeling about the fact that Ken had not shown up to his shifts in several days. No not just several days, literally like an entire half year by this point. If anything, Ken just assumed that maybe this guy was just assuming that Ken was no longer working there at all.  
"See, it looks like your brother did care about you at least a little bit. It seems like you do have a brother who at least had a base value of caring for you. If he was able to actually go on and find a job for you and everything." After the digimon told Ken this, he was not so convinced. He was more convinced that this guy was just doing this for his own personal gain, and knowing Sam, it was nothing that would shock him at all. Nothing about the way that Sam would use him would shock him at all.  
"I really don't think he ever cared for me. I think that this is all just a part of his plan. I think that he just only likes to do stuff like this if he feels like it will benefit him. He literally plays that game more than anybody should ever want to admit." After Ken was telling Stingmon these things and these thoughts that he was having about his brother, the more that he was wondering what his brother would be saying if he was still alive. It was a bit silly for him to imagine what his brother would be saying if he was still alive. The answer seemed to be totally obvious to him. To Ken, it would seem like he would just say no to all of these claims, and that he was not this type of guy at all. He would deny it so much that Ken would maybe actually start to believe in him if he had said it convincingly enough. But Ken really highly doubted this. Ken really highly doubted that this guy could be able to rectify his image to him, and Ken was becoming more certain that it didn't really even matter all that much.  
"My brother just feels like he was a walking train wreck. He seems like he tells me that I was the one who was a mess, but holy shit at least I understand what I am doing with my life. At least I am sort of getting where I am coming from. At least I actually had some idea what being a decent fucking guy had actually like. But I don't really think that he cared at all. He just wanted to see everything go just his way." Ken was then thinking about what must have happened with Sam to make him turn around and become such a terrible person. "Honestly, I think that if he had been nicer to me, then I feel like everything would be great. I hated the fact that he had been this way with me, and I just wanted to be a good man to my brother."  
As Ken was pondering what Sam would have been doing if he was in his shoes, he decided that Sam would not have been at JewelBeemon hall. "But despite this, and the fact that I barely know Sheldon and therefore should not give a shit about him, but I think that we need to get to know him. I really want to be friends with him. Well, maybe not friends, but somebody who will actually be able to help him out. Somebody who can be there and make him see that not everybody is pure evil." Ken said, and then he was thinking that it was going to be impossible.  
"I doubt that he would reject the idea of you trying to be your friend. He might be confused that you are suddenly wanting to be his friend, but once you are given a chance to really show yourself to him, I think that he will have a much bigger appreciation for the things that you have been doing and trying to do than he did earlier. I think that soon enough, he will never want to treat you the same way that he has been doing so far up until this point." Stingmon had said to Ken, and then as Stingmon was waiting for Ken to respond, the two of them really had nothing to say.  
"I just don't really care all that much anyways. I don't care about the way that he looks at me. I think that he is not really all that important on that regard. If he doesn't like me, he doesn't like me. Simple as that. What is more important is the fact that he is going to be the man who could really be able to turn the tides all over the place. I think that he is the only one that really can save the city. I mean, now that I think about it, I feel like he kind of already saved Wayside from the disasters that it was starting to go through at the end of the fucking school year." As Ken had said this, he was then thinking about the final battle.  
"What made him such a great hero at the end of the Wayside years that you had? That is what I am really curious about, if you are willing to tell me that story. I mean, you are probably going to tell me what happened anyways, so please don't really worry about what I am going to say or anything like that." After Stingmon had asked Ken this, there was the fact that Ken was not really sure if he had wanted to even live those days again. He was just thinking that living through those days were going to be the worst thing that he could do to himself. But then he was thinking about what Sheldon must have done, and he was thinking on how much Sheldon had his life on the line at the end.

"You know, it wasn't really anything one tiny thing in particular that makes him a hero. He did a bunch of smaller things. Things that nobody should have been forced to do, but given the line of what he needed to do at the time, and what he was going to get out of it if it had failed, he was not showing any sign of backing down. That is one of the things that really does make him a bit of a special hero. The integrity that he had to put forward at the end. Even when he was sort of brushing me off, I feel like there was a part of him that was sort of looking out for my safety as well. I think that he was just worried about how I would be, and that was what he was really going for." Ken said, and despite how much he had hated being put down by the guy, and how much it had hurt him on the inside to be basically treated like spare goods, he did tell himself that he had to remind him of what it was like to be in Sheldon's shoes. Just in those few times they talked, Sheldon had sort of a darker history to everything that he was saying. Not like gothic or anything like that, but certainly forlorn and a bit sinister.

And Ken was actually thinking that if he had really known how the entire life that he had was like, Ken felt like he would have been able to really understand where the guy as coming from. Either way though, he was thinking that the way that Sam had sort of thrown them both away was one strange thing that could be able to sort of bring them together. Even if Ken over read into it and Sam was actually loyal to Sheldon and Sheldon was loyal to Sam, then they could be able to connect in the way that they could talk about his brother, and the friend that they could have both had, but sadly really did lose the chance on being able to make.

Ken was then pondering where things would be when the training was over with. "You know, the time that I have spent up here has made me rethink what I have wanted to do multiple times. Maybe way too many times to be totally honest. But I still have one goal that had never gone away no matter what."

Stingmon looked at Ken, sort of thinking that they knew exactly what it was going to be, but hearing Ken sort of put it into words was going to make things much better for Stingmon and much more worth it. "What exactly is that goal?"

"I want to actually be there for the people who tried to do good for me. Not only that, but there is a part of me that thinks that the idea of going out there and being an actual hero for the digimon, or the people, would really be the best thing that I could be able to do. Like I would finally be fulfilling my purpose in my life. Like I am doing the one thing that has been presented to me this whole time, and that I should have been doing right from the start." After Ken said that, he was then thinking about the whole Concador thing that he tried to do. It had failed, and he hated every second of doing it in hindsight, but he did think that it was a start, and he was thinking that it was indeed something that he could at least put his mind to rest on.

"Well, when I was in school still, before any terrible things really happened where I currently live, and before I was brought to this strange world, I was trying to do just that. I was trying to become a bit of a hero myself. I was thinking that I would actually be one, and I was thinking that I could do something that nobody else really had the courage to even try and do. I even did a couple of things that I would say were actually good, and I did save a few people from certain death here and there. I did what was considered to be impossible. For a while, and at one point in time it had looked like I had started to restore the hope that the people had in here. It was something even I thought I would not be able to do. Actually restore hope in the people who lived in this town. But it was something that I did do, and it is something that I will forever be proud of." Ken said, and then after he was talking about how he was proud of what he did, he was thinking about it more, and the more that he was starting to realize that he was indeed proud. There was no lie in what he was saying. Going out there and just in general making sure people actually felt safe was the one thing that he had been doing that he had felt like did give him a general sense of purpose. And that alone was something that he had to hang his hat on.

"You know, despite all of the things going on here, and the fact that I am sort of leaving everything in my life behind, the more that I am thinking about what is ahead of me. The more that I am thinking about what we could do now. And when I think about what I could be able to accomplish, I am actually sort of really getting in the mindset in which I can make this whole thing work out. I can actually make the idea of having a hero persona work out. Which I never really though that I could do. I thought that it was something that I was just going to be dreaming of. But I am not dreaming it, because I am actually going to go out there and start a movement. When a movement is started, and people start to even get a slight glimmer of hope, you are doing the one thing that I think most people just want to do, but will never get the chance to accomplish." After Ken had been saying this, he was then laying down entirely and he was staring as the snow was starting to fall down and it was sticking onto his clothes.

"You know, I have never really been out and having these types of long dialogues with anybody in the snow. Most people just don't like the snow to try and do something like that. I think they are much too busy trying to get warm, and trying to not freeze their fucking asses off that they don't really take the moment to see what is ahead of them. They don't really take the moment to understand that life is too fragile for something like these petty scabbles. If you want to call them that." Ken just wondered what Stingmon was thinking, and he was wondering if Stingmon was even listening to him anymore. Not that it would really bother him all that much, or as much as it should, if they weren't.

"I think that you just don't really appreciate what is given to you until it is taken away from you. I am feeling like this is what you are going at right now, am I right?" Stingmon asked, and then Ken thought about it and then shook his head.

"Not quite exactly that. I mean, I am just tired of everything going on here. But that is not it. I do sort of appreciate some things that I thought I didn't really have, but truly did have, such as good friends at the school that I used to go to. That is something that I never really appreciated until it was much too late for me to go around and show it. But what I was getting at was the fact that I never really realized how much I wished I could have the stuff that I never really got, but now I am wishing really badly that I did get them. I really wish that I had these things." Ken clarified, and then after he said that, he was thinking about what was really missed out on and he was wondering if he was ever really going to be seeing these things ever again. As he was thinking about that, the simple chance that he could never even try these things once more, it was sort of getting to him.

"Do you really think that we should try and seize the moment when it is in front of us? It seems like you are sort of thinking about things in that regard. It seems like you are trying to tell me that if you were to go at these things again, you would indeed go right at it and you wouldn't really try to not do these things anymore." As Stingmon had said that, Ken nodded a bit and then he was thinking about what was being offered next.

"I honestly just have a hope that I will see these things again. That I will indeed be given another chance. When we are going to be given another chance to make things right, I am going to go right at it. I am going to do something that I never really thought I could do. Something I never really thought I would be able to try and reach. But when I go for it, and when I really try my absolute hardest to make something work, I realize that this won't really be all that much of a challenge. At least I don't think that it will be a challenge. If it is not a challenge, then I think that this is the one thing that I can be happy for. But I know that this will never be the case, as life is always a challenge. There is nothing about like that if not a challenge. Life is in general one of the biggest challenges that you could be going for." After Ken said that, he was thinking about how life being a challenge was just to really add to the thrill of it all.

As he was thinking about how life was just a challenge and how the challenge was for the thrill, he then started to wonder what else there would be to say to this. He was then thinking about what he could have been able to do when this was all said and done. When this was all really finally over with. As he was thinking about what life would have been like when this was all over with, he was thinking that there was no real life. After Ken realized that there was no life, and that maybe in a way this was all meaningless, a part of him was feeling like it had just simply made more sense that way. It had made more sense to just say that nothing in life had really made any real sense.

Not that everything in life was ever going to make sense, and the idea of even thinking that things could make sense was something that Ken was a bit of a break from reality. Nothing in this world made sense, and no amount of trying to explain things away would be able to make it ever make any sense.

"Well, I think that the only thing that I can say for sure is going to happen is the fact that I am no longer going to just sit around anymore and let people act like I am in general just being a nutcase. I am not one, and I am going to make people see the value of what I have to offer. I am going to make people see the value of which I want to bring forward. The values that I think are vitally important to everything. I mean, I can't really place it into words that would totally justify what I am thinking, and I think that even doing so would be sort of in vain, but it is the way that I am currently viewing things. It is the way that my mind is currently thinking about life as it if going forward. No matter what happens next, life is just going to be moving forward, and just staying back and letting nothing come of it is not really going to do anything good. I am not going to get anything out of life if I don't at least try and sieze the moments when they are given to me. I mean, it is perfectly fine for me to be feeling this way. It is perfectly fine for me to just simply want to live, is it not?" Ken asked, and as he was rambling, he was wondering when Stingmon was going to say something, if they were going to say something of if they were going to let Ken keep going and just rant on and on and on. Honestly, despite how nice it was for Ken to just sort of ramble, the more that he was wishing that Stingmon would just sort of speak up. He was wishing that Stingmon would break the mold a bit, and try to at least convey something. The lack of any response from the digimon was really making Ken feel even worse. He was just sort of wanting the answers now, and he was thinking that the answers were better than being left open. At least with the answers, there could be something about it that he could place behind him.

"Do you really understand what I am saying? I am not really trying to place you on the spot, but I am just curious to see what you would tell me." Ken was wondering when Stingmon was finally going to open up, and he was wondering if Stingmon was ever really going to open up the way that Ken had been doing so, or if heaven forbid, Ken actually had more life experience and stuff to talk about then even Stingmon had. It was strange and wrong for him to be thinking about having more experience than somebody, but at the same time, he was slowly accepting the option that this thing that he was feeling like was his mentor was not really going to be there for him anymore. As he was thinking about the lack of having a strong support there for him anymore, Ken was just thinking that this was just typical. This was just the thing that he really needed. That this was the thing that was really going to make things so much better for him. Of course, it was a huge level of sarcasm, and he didn't really feel that way, but when he was pissed, and when he was feeling like there was no hope, that was all he had for him.

Despite the fact that he was thinking the fact that Stingmon was pretty much not giving him the bare minimum of what he had felt like he should have been given, Kenw as thinking that maybe Stingmon just did not really get it all that much. He was thinking that maybe someday, Stingmon would finally be able to really see where he was coming from, and his problems he was trying to express. But then as Ken was thinking that maybe the digimon just did not get it, Ken was wondering if there would be a way that he could be able to really make them see where he was coming from and the problems that he was having at that moment.  
"I think that there is something about you coming here that was needed. I think that if anything, it will be able to really make you see where the things in this world are coming from. I think that maybe the fate of you coming here was not really all that shocking. But what can we really say now?" As Stingmon had been expressing the fact that they were thinking this was all just fate, Ken was thinking that this was the fucking obvious.  
"Yeah, thanks for telling me the one thing that I was able to already figure out. I didn't really need this. I get that this is all a part of fate. As there is nothing that I can do about being here, and that simply making a big deal out of this is just going to be a giant waste of time." Ken was then wondering what about life was really trying to fuck him up so much. Ken was wondering what he had really done to make any of these really justifiable. Ken then thought that he was over everything. He was just so over everything that had been thrown against him, and he was thinking that the world was just a cruel place.  
When Ken was thinking about how the world was just a cruel place, Ken was then thinking about how much the world was never going to change as a result of this. He was thinking that there was no point in even thinking that the world could change, when the idea of it changing would be sort of a tall tale. "I think that at the end of the day, I just have to take things out on the job. I have a lot of training that I still need to do. Much more than I ever really thought I would have needed to do. I thought that I would have been able to come here and just get the job done and then be out of here in a couple of weeks. I thought that JewelBeemon was going to give me just the most basic of sessions. I was not really expecting JewelBeemon to actually go all in on teaching me. I mean, as just a human, and not even a digimon, I thought that he would never really have the desire to do much more than the bare minimum. I guess that maybe I underestimated how seriously JewelBeemon actually takes these lessons. I thought that JewelBeemon just simply cared if things were going in their own way.  
"I think that when he saw how much you needed it, and how much you were going to be in danger without it, that they were willing to expand their reaches out for you. I think that if anything, you should be glad that they are doing this for you. If anything, you should be thinking that this digimon is going to be your greatest hero, since in a way they sort of are. They are the only one who is going to keep you safe, even if you don't really want to admit it." Stingmon said, and then as Ken was thinking about it, he was thinking about how much of a fucking shame that this really was. The fact that the only thing that was going to keep him safe was just some random digimon who he had barely ever talked with.  
"It is crazy how even after all of this time, I have still barely talked with JewelBeemon. I wonder if they even care all that much about helping me. I wonder if they are just going to be using me for their own army sake. I think that the monsters here, I mean digimon, are planning on taking over the world, and that this is all one big contest, and I think that maybe JewelBeemon wants to be in it. I would not really blame them that they must feel this way. I mean, it is a jungle in a way, and the jungle can't really be tamed." Ken said, and he was thinking that it was odd that everybody was just sort of trying to get to take over, and they never even cared about any form of unity, as if even the idea of unity was just too much to ask for.  
As Ken was thinking about this, and as Ken was just sort of wishing that there was nothing that he would have to be fighting for on this extent, Ken was starting to realize that this was not really going to get this. Ken was just thinking he was never really going to get what he really needed in his life. Ken was thinking about how he never really had a single thing that went for him. Not a single god damn thing in this world was ever really going in his favor, and the only good things that were in his life was sort of the idea that he was going to be left alone for the rest of his life soon.  
Despite the fact that Ken had Stingmon and the entire crew in JewelBeemon in his life at that moment, that soon enough they were going to be gone from his life. When he was thinking about how when he was going leave the hall eventually, and as a result lose every bit of bonding that he had ever gotten with them, there was a part of him that was wondering if this was even worth it anymore. If it was even worth trying to form a bond with them. Despite the fact that he was thinking this, he was shaking his head. "You know, in a way, this conversation is sort of going to make me go down in the history of the hall. That the hall will sort of be able to really remember me for the rest of the history of the digital world. When I leave, I am going to be leaving my entire life behind here up until this point in time. I am only going to leave these conversations here with you, and that is totally it. There is nothing that really matters here, and I don't really care what else is left here after I leave here, since in all reality, I will never really get a chance to see what it is like." Ken said, and then as he was looking at JewelBeemon, he took a long and deep breath and thought about his next question.  
"Do you know when the man in the purple jacket is going to visit again? I feel like I really need to see him again. I feel like that is going to be the only thing that will actually make me feel any peace here at all, fighting this guy, or at least talking with him. If I talk with him, and I really see what he has to say, then maybe there is a small chance that I can see what is telling me, and I will actually sort of understand what is trying to accomplish, even if I don't agree with what he is trying to accomplish, I can understand it." As Ken was thinking about this, and then as he was saying this, there was nothing in his mind that would totally justify everything going on here.  
"You know, I think that he will probably visit us sometime. Probably when JewelBeemon is able to get a chance to contact him again, he might tell them that you are here, or just mention a human being here, and even if it is a casual mention, they will actually come here just to see you. And from it sounds like, you are going to be ready to see him just to have these conversations and establish some level of truth with them." After Stingmon had said this, Ken nodded, thinking that this confrontation would be the one thing that would really place it all in a level of sense.  
Then when Ken thought about what he wanted, he was then thinking about what was really even presented at him. Nothing was really being presented to him, and there was no real chance that he could pull it off in the way that he considered to be justifiable there.  
The only way that Ken was thinking that any of this was going to be workable was if he would literally throw his entire life away, and to be honest in his life, he was really starting to think that this was worth it. "I think that I just need to accept the fact that I virtually no life at all. There is no way that I am going to be able to act like I am going to pull something worth while in my life, since in all reality, there is absolutely nothing in my life that is actually worth while. Everything that was considered to be possibly worth while in my life was thrown away when I was younger, when that final battle took place at wayside. I think that this is the best way that I can say it. Then I started to capture it again when I started to sort of become a superhero again, but then after a while that whole thing is just thrown away. I was never really going to actually do anything good. But I thought that I was doing decently here. The whole superhero gig ended in the worst way possible, but it was in a way that makes it feel like it was actually fitting and that the entire situation that I built myself in was sort of building up to that one single moment." After Ken had said that, Stingmon was just wondering what they were talking about. The way that it had ended, and they were really wondering what was so bad about it that Ken was actually saying that this was sort of fitting.  
"Well, in all reality, I should have realized that it was never going to work out. That nothing I ever really planned out was going to even remotely work out. Like nothing I actually do matters anymore. But I was caught by the police and the police thought that I was the one who was the terrorist, I was the one who was considered to be the trouble maker. And that is what I really hate here." Ken said and then he took a deep breath. "I hated the fact that I was the one who was the criminal and everything. When I was caught, my father, who was the one who was on the shift, talked with me a bit and it had looked like he had lost any respect and hope that he had left in me. As if he was not even wanting to think about me, and the fact that he was not even wanting to think about the fact that I had started to break the law and everything. But I knew that everything I did was the right thing, and that I should have done it. I knew that he would never get what I was doing, and he would never see that this was what I really needed to accomplish. I think that nobody would ever really get it, as they would never really give me a chance to explain."  
Then when Ken was thinking about the way that his father was looking at him, and the way that this built up a really strong and harmful dynamic between them for a while, Ken was starting to wonder if this was the right thing for him in the long run. "Besides, if it weren't for his getting on my case, I would have never actually done any good in my life. I would have never gotten a job, which was able to start to change my life a bit. And I would have never gotten my first set of experience out in the real world, and I am starting to think that maybe the job that I had was actually really important for that reason. The fact that I was actually getting a experience in the real world." Eventually, Kenw as thinking that there was nothing left to go with this, and there was nothing that he needed to talk about anymore. Besides, this conversation was getting kind of boring to him and he had no real desire to be even looking at this anymore.  
"Well, the thing about this is that you will never get any answers to what you are looking for." Stingmon said, and then both Ken and Stingmon knew that this was the truth. As Ken was thinking about how he was not going to really get the answers he would be looking for, and the more that Ken was thinking that this was indeed the truth, that was when he was just sort of accepting that whole matter of fact in his life. Ken thought that it was time to accept the fact that these things were just not really in front of him for to really just move around with earlier.  
"Well, in all reality I have to tell myself that I don't really even have any plans or any answers that I feel as if I need to find. I am pretty boring on that regard, and I am sort of glad in a way that I don't really have any answers that I am looking for, since if I had them I would be very disappointed and I would be feeling like things would be even less in my favor than they already have been by this point in time, which is utterly amazing and really hard to hit that level of bullshit. If my life if already even less in my favor than it is by this point in time." After Ken was saying this, the more that he was thinking about what really would have been given to him if he was actually looking for answers. He was wondering what he could have wanted answers on, aside from the fact that he just really wanted to know the whole dynamic between Sam as well as the guy in the purple jacket. If he had known the dynamic between them and the fact that they had actually been worthing with each other, if they were working for each other, then the more that Ken would be able to sort of accept that reality of life, which would set up another round of problems for Ken, the idea of accepting the two of them working together, so for his own sake, he was thinking that Sam had not actually gotten that low. That he didn't have that little of respect for the actual way of life, and if this were to happen, he would officially make Ken look like he was a pretty decent guy.  
At least Ken had rejected even the mere idea of working with this guy, and if Sam had not done something like that, then in all reality, Ken was now only the one with less problems. But then Ken was thinking about the things that Sam had told him, and he was telling himself that Sam was right on a good many of these things, even if he was hating to admit it.  
Sam was right in the fact that at least he was having a good social life. It was hard for ken to really get a social life, no matter how much he tried and no matter how much he was sort of wanting one, he was never going to get on that level compared to Sam. There was nothing that Ken could do to actually make it look like that Kenw as having a higher ground than Sam at least on the basic surface. But then when he was thinking about that, there was a part of him that was thinking that maybe having a bit of a social life didn't really even matter all that much, and that he was thinking too much into this.  
Well, despite all of these things, there was something that these conversations were really able to give Ken. 'These conversations and all of this training is really giving me the sense of purpose. A sense of purpose is the one thing that this training hall really gave me that I had been missing out on. I should maybe start to be thankful for JewelBeemon on that. I have started to see the things that matter a bit in life. The life that I should have been really going for, and that I should be trying to live when I get down there. The life of a hero. Now I know when I think about it, that Sam would really never try and go for that idea of life. He would never care about that, and that is another reason why I am better than him. At least I am actually trying to do the right thing. When I see how he interacts with Sheldon, and everything else, I can tell one thing. He only really gave a shit about himself. He only was ever worried about what would work in his benefit, even at the risk of everybody else.


	88. Year Two

Year Two

It took Ken a while to believe the fact that he had already been training up at JewelBeemon hall for over a year by that point in time, but eventually when he was thinking about how his life had been lately, he had come to realize that this was the case. In fact, that was when he was feeling even worse about his whole training situation, feeling like he had really let Stingmon down this whole time. This was when it was showing at his training, and how he had been losing focus that day. It was at this point, when Stingmon felt like it was time to finally talk with Ken and try to get to know them a little bit more.

"You seem like you have not really been focused lately. I am wondering what the problem is right now that you have been not focused on your training so much." After Stingmon tried to catch up a conversation with Ken, that was when Ken was just looking right at Stingmon, and he was just not really sure what he was going to tell Stingmon, thinking that there was not really anything that Stingmon could be told that would make them understand his feelings on the situation.

"Well, I was just starting to realize that I had been here for about a year or so now, and when I started to realize that I have already been here for a year, I just feel like I have not been doing all good here. That I am not really all that good of an apprentice. I feel like if anything I have been wasting space this whole time. I just feel like I should be more respectful to the digimon here, and what I have been placing forward is not really doing this at all." Ken was saying not really sure if Stingmon was going to understand this, and he was just speaking out loud. Stingmon was looking right at Ken, not really too sure if they could say anything that could be able to actually make Ken make feel better. "Please just try to think of things from where I am coming from. I mean, I am here with a bunch of monsters who are ten times the fighter that I am right now. I am not even able to be able to actually put up a fight against you guys unless if you guys purposely do bad, and I know for a fact that this is the way that you guys are training me. That you are purposely doing bad to make me feel better, and to make me feel like I am actually going to be able to battle. But I know that this is not really how things are with me." Ken did feel better when he was voicing the truth out loud. The fact that when compared to the digimon who lived here, the fact that Ken fucking sucked. There was no way around the fact that he was just not all that good when next to them. There was no real reason to even pretend that he was a good apprentice.

"Ken, but think about where you were a fucking year ago. You were a disaster a year ago. Even when we were sort of letting our guard down, and we were really throwing it the entire time, you were still having a bit of a hard time. At least you have gotten to the point where you are decent enough to give us a decent fight when we are on a bad day, and that is still much better than where you were earlier. But think of the fact that the digimon that you will be a decent fighter to digimon that are not in the hall. Once you leave the hall, you might be able to put up a real contest against us. That is better than nothing at all. It is still at least able to show that you are indeed making some form of progress." After Stingmon said that, Ken was just looking right at Stingmon, as if feeling like he was not all that changed into feeling much better or anything like that.

"Look, I appreciate the fact that you are at least trying to make me feel better, but the thing is, I am not really all that into it right now. I don't really feel the love right now. I hope that you understand the fact that I am just letting the truth really sink in, and when I let the truth sink in, I guess that maybe I will never be at the level that any of you are. No matter how hard I am trying to be at your guys level, I will never get there. I mean, digimon are literally born to fucking fight, and I am not that way. I was never really born to fucking fight, no matter what the case may actually be." Ken was starting to feel awful for the fact that he was just sort of shit talking himself. But them after they had said that, Ken placed his hand right on his face, and then he was wondering if he was just destined to be considered to be the dumbest guy in the entire world.

"Ken, you were never coming in here to be the strongest fighter in the universe. You have been sent here to just get better, and that is what you have been doing right now. You have been getting better at fighting right now. That is something that you can be saying to make yourself feel better right now." Stingmon was just trying to make Ken feel better, but no matter how hard they were trying Ken was just not really buying it at that moment anymore.

"You know, I know that you are just saying things that makes you think I will be taking this better, but in all reality, I am sort of not actually buying this. I don't believe that I am going to be a good fighter. There is no point in even trying to pretend that I can be a good fighter. But thanks for trying to give me some form of a pep talk right now." Ken stood up and then he was thinking something else at that moment. "If you think that I can get better, I might as well start trying. I am going to go and try my best to get better at this job. In fact, I am going to go right back in there right now. I will do my best. I want to make you feel like I have a fighting chance." After Ken said this, Ken started to walk back in the training hall.

As Ken was inside of the training hall once again, Stingmon was just thinking about his apprentice. In all reality, despite how much Ken had been shit talking himself, in all reality, he was doing much better than he was giving himself credit for by that point in time. Stingmon was just hoping that eventually, Ken would be able to go out there, and then they would be able to fight and put up a good challenge, and indeed actually see how good of a fighter that he actually was. Stingmon was just wondering if the world really was as easy to live out in as they had been thinking, or if it was harder, and in all reality, Stingmon and rest of the hall really were not all that strong compared to the digimon out there. That idea was indeed actually scaring Stingmon, because this would be admitting that maybe they were not really ready to go out in the real digital world after all.

Once Ken was in the hall once again, he was looking around and for the first time since he came to the hall a year ago, he was seeing every single digimon in the hall looking right at him, as if they were sort of wondering what the young man was going to say. They were wondering if Ken was going to be able to figure out what the meaning behind this current meeting was actually by that point in time.

"Ken, you have been here for about a year or so right now. You are going to be getting in the next test right now. Every year that an apprentice has been here, when we bring them in, you are supposed to be given a test to see how far you have come, and you are now meant to take this test today. I hope that you have been taking your training seriously." JewelBeemon was starting to look right at Ken as they had said that, waiting for Ken to look like he was breaking down. But he was seeing that Ken was not quite broken down yet, and then JewelBeemon smiled. "It seems like you might be more ready to do these tests than you expect. I will be ready for your test in the top floor. Do not waste your time."

"Do you think that you can tell me what my first test actually is?" Ken asked, hoping that he could be able to get some context clues on the situation that he was going to be in coming soon, although he was starting to get convinced that the digimon had no real wish to tell him anything, which Ken knew was pushing him further down the road of not being able to pull anything together.

"You need to come up to the top floor if you actually want to see what we are going to be testing you on. I have no desire to be telling you these things, as it would be kind of cheating." After they had said that to Ken, this was when Ken was starting to think that perhaps he really was not going to be in a good position at all. That he was going to be sort of fucked on this whole test in the first place. Eventually, JewelBeemon was coming out of their seat and then they were looking right at Ken.

"I hope that you are as good as you have been looking like you have become during your training. If you turn out to fail this test, I am going to be very disappointed in your performance. I might even be tempted to force you out into this world on your own, given the fact that I would have given you a whole year to try and turn things around, and you have not been able to actually make any progress shall this thing turn out the way that I am fearing for you." As JewelBeemon was making Ken feel even more insecure about this whole thing, Ken was looking right at Stingmon and he was gulping. He was thinking that this was not going to go the way that he was hoping. Ken was starting to get utterly convinced that he was going to fail this test.

Eventually, JewelBeemon was out of the room and then Ken just looked right down on the ground. He was preparing himself to get kicked out of this hall, totally ready for the worst outcome humanly possible. Stingmon was placing their hand right on Ken's and for the first time, it was starting to sound like Stingmon was there to support Ken, and actually make him see that his fears could be true rather than just forcing Ken into being a fighter, and trying to make him something that he just was not. "Ken, I know that you are scared. There is a chance that you don't pass this test. But if you don't pass this test, I feel like you should be having somebody at your side at least for the start of getting out in the world again. I think that maybe I will leave the hall and be there at your side shall this happen. I think that I am actually believing this to be the best choice for your life right now." Stingmon had said this, Ken was just trying to not really think that there was no chance he was going to be able to make Stingmon proud. But he was telling himself that Stingmon was being nice at that moment, so he was trying to make it look like he was not really losing all of his hope at that moment.

"Don't feel forced to go down this path with me if you don't feel like you want to. I have a feeling that going down this road is going to be a much bigger problem than you may be thinking that it actually is. I think that if I get kicked out of here, I might just start down my own path of life, and I am going to just have to accept the fact that perhaps nobody really likes me anymore. I think that I should just accept that if I fail at this session, that my death is going to be near at that moment." After Ken said that, he was starting to get convinced that he would die soon if he failed. This was the thing that was making him feel like he needed to really try as hard as he could to pass this test for the sake of being able to possibly pass this test, even if he was thinking that there was no real chance that he could be able to do this.

"Ken, you have been putting in a lot of effort. I am sure that even if you don't do as well on future years, I am certain that you will pass at least this first years test. I am certain that you don't need to worry about things too much. So please, when you go up there, just worry about doing your best and I will possibly even try and actually convince JewelBeemon to let you stay. Maybe they will actually listen to me when I try to make them feel like you deserve to be here." After Stingmon had said that, Ken was slowly starting to think that maybe Stingmon could be able to pull this whole thing off, even if it was going to be really hard to do, he was thinking that the digimon who had been at his side, who had really seen his practice, and had seen him putting in hours of hours of effort into this, Ken thought maybe this guy could be able to convince JewelBeemon to continue training with Ken for even just a little bit longer.

"If you can be able to get them to open up to the idea to actually train me further, even if I fail this test, I will feel so much better about being with you. I just hope that they actually listen to you." Ken said, and he was still utterly convinced that this was just not going to go this way, but he was telling himself that it was best to have at least some form of hope. "I guess that there is no point in staying here anymore. I think that they will be waiting for me now. Even though it is not going to be a pleasant experience seeing what they are wanting to show me at all. I just have a feeling that I am not going to be ready for the test. I just think it is going to be something that I have never seen before." Ken said, and after he had said that, he was feeling like he was totally convinced that this was going to be the thing that would throw his entire life away by this point in time.

"Just give yourself some hope. If you think that you can pull this off, I am going to actually think you can do this. You just need to have some hope in yourself. As silly as it sounds to be talking like this, but I think that deep down you are starting to realize that I am right about what I am saying." After Stingmon told Ken this there was just a part of Ken that was telling himself that there was in no way in hell that Stingmon was correct about this whole thing. But then Ken shook his head. Ken started to walk to the door to the upstairs. He was telling himself that if for nothing else, it was going to be really fun to see what was indeed going to be up there for the first time, since he had never been up there before.

As Ken was going up the stairs, he was telling himself to relax a little bit, and he was telling himself that nobody really cared all that much what they were going to see up there. In all reality, they had probably already been in there a couple of times, just to see what it was like up there. Just to prepare the room for when Ken was going to be up there. But then Ken told himself that there was one thing he needed to be proud of. And that was that he was even still being given a chance to prove himself at all. That he was given a chance to try and live a life where he could be able to be trained on how to fucking fight, and be able to prove that he was not going to just be here just because he was forced to be. When he was at this world, he was going to give it his utterly best effort, even if it was meaning that as a result, he was sort of throwing his entire life away. That he was just taking the training much too seriously, but at the same time, he was just telling himself to focus on the training, and not be thinking about the other things going on at that moment.

Once at the top floor, he was looking around and was more surprised than he was feeling like he should have been to see what was around him. It was just a totally blank room, and Ken was not really sure what he was supposed to be expecting in there. Maybe he was expecting there to be some form of a training room in there. When Ken saw that there was nothing up there, he was just thinking that perhaps he was not really giving these things enough credit at that moment. Ken was looking right at JewelBeemon, and they looked like they were ready for the trails that they were going to be giving Ken. "Young man, I know what you may be thinking about the training sessions in here. You must be thinking that they were pretty rough, and you probably think that you were not really even ready for what was going on down here. I guess that you are not really ready for the true tests that are going to be presented to you." After they had said that, Ken had seen from the look on their face that they were being very serious on every single word that they had been saying.

"Please explain to me what is going to be even rougher about these tests than the normal training." Ken said, and he was just trying to see what the digimon was going to be telling them. If anything, JewelBeemon was actually excited that Ken was asking them these questions, as if ready to prove to Ken just how shitty these things were going to be, and how little of a chance that Ken actually had on fulfilling his tests at all.

"You know, you just have not even started yet. I guess that maybe you need to see what these tests are going to be like now. Well, for one thing, nobody is allowed to be helping you at all. You are totally, one hundred percent, meant to be doing this entire task on your own. This is a trail that you must do without any form of guidance." After JewelBeemon said that, Ken shrugged as if thinking that this was not as bad as they were really expecting, and that this should have been expected from the start.

"Well, the first test is going to be presented to you right now." JewelBeemon was now smiling as they were saying that, and they snapped their finger. There was a couple of holes that were opening right up around Ken and then Ken was just trying to keep himself in a place where he could not fall down. But in order to do that, Ken jumped forward and then after he jumped forward, he was looking right at JewelBeemon, as if he was shocked at the way he was being treated right then and there, thinking that even at the moment, this was too much to be handling.

Once Ken was on a slightly open area again, he was looking right at JewelBeemon. "Oh my fucking god, what the hell was that?" Ken asked and then he was just brushing his dirt off a little bit and then he was shaking his head. Then when he was staring right at JewelBeemon, he was honestly trying to see if he could be able to test JewelBeemon to see if he could be able to get them to break down a little bit. But the more he was looking right at JewelBeemon, the more and more convinced he was becoming that he didn't really even care how Ken reacted.

"You know, I have been telling you for a while now that the test was going to be coming along, and you are acting like you are shocked when I throw a test at you? You are fucking pathetic. I guess that maybe you were not ready to go out in the real world after all." After they had said that, JewelBeemon seemed like it was going to be nice to test the patience of Ken and see how long it would go before Ken decided that they had enough of dealing with the crap JewelBeemon was giving them.

"Fine, if you are insisting that this is the thing that you want to do, I guess I will just shut up about it now. I just never understand what it is with you specifically. You are making my brother look like a reasonable guy." After Ken said that, he was actually telling the truth and then there was just a look on JewelBeemon's face that was showing the fact that they did not really care at all. If anything, they were thinking that the way Ken was reacting was actually really fucking funny.

"Here you go." After JewelBeemon said that, they snapped their finger and then there was one of the Stingmon at the hall coming right at Ken while slowly walking. This was not the one that Ken had been training with earlier, and Ken was thinking that this was going to remove any sort of knowledge that he was going to be having with this battle. Then Ken was taking out his energy sword, and then he was holding the point right down to the ground, and then Stingmon was running right towards Ken. When they were running right towards Ken, they turned right to the side, and then Ken was seeing the sword almost hit him, and he was holding the energy sword with both of his hands. The sword was now right up in the open air, and he was feeling like he was ready to fight the enemy. Well, Stingmon wasn't really an enemy, any one of them, but at that moment, he was forced to put himself in character. He was forced to pretend like Stingmon was indeed his biggest enemy at that moment, and when he was in character, he was thinking of a way he was going to be able to fight Stingmon and even be able to have a chance to defeat them at all.

Stingmon swung right down on Ken and then Ken blocked the attack, and as the attack was blocked Ken was just wondering how much longer he was going to able to even keep up this fight. When Ken was thinking about the situation that he was in, he looked right down and then he kicked right at Stingmon's knee, and then they fell right down to the ground. When Stingmon was on the ground, Ken was thinking for a short moment that he was going to be able to take down this digimon right then and there.

But then Stingmon was looking right at Ken, as if ashamed that Ken was able to fall for all of this, and then Ken was thinking that there was never really a chance that Stingmon was going to actually go easy on Ken. When Ken was running off away from Stingmon he saw the digimon start to fucking fly right towards him, and Ken was thinking that this was totally unfair that this was happening. "When the hell did it become thing that you can fucking fly?" Ken asked, and he was just trying to hide how scared he was at that moment. But then Stingmon slashed right at Ken, and then Ken was just hiding behind some form of a pillar. When they swung the blade, and then it hit the pillar, the pillar split it half and then the upper half broken down and then Ken was barely saved when the pillar landed on the ground only a inch of so away from in front of him. Then he took a deep breath, as if unable to believe the fact that he had just gotten himself out of that entire thing alive. Then he was standing right up and then he was looking right at Stingmon. He swung his energy sword weapon right at Stingmon, and then he saw the blade hit Stingmon right on the shoulder, and then Ken was seeing Stingmon started to groan a little bit as he had been hit right on the shoulder.

After Ken was thinking that he was fine for a moment, he ran away from Stingmon which was just his way of giving himself a short moment or so of being able to get away from this thing. Then when he was in the center of the room again, Stingmon flew right at Ken and this time he was much more used to this and then Ken just blocked the attack, and then when he was seeing the block sink in with Stingmon, he was seeing that Stingmon was starting to get a bit more serious about what was happening. The two of them kept dodging all of their attacks back and over again, which was showing that they were now putting in with a good fight with each other. After about a minutes or so of these pointless slashes and dodges, Ken kicked Stingmon right in the face when there was a couple of seconds to have a chance to fight them. Then after this, he kicked Stingmon right in the chest which made them fall right down on the ground. Then Ken was holding the blade right above the body of Stingmon and right before he was able to take the stab, JewelBeemon seemed to have some honor in his apprentices when he was calling Ken to stop what he was doing right then and there.

"I get it. You have made your point. It seems like you might be able to fight against my apprentices when you are given the chance to. But there is something else that I want you to try out right now. Something that you might not really be ready for." After JewelBeemon said that, they were walking right towards Ken, and the digimon was smiling as they were walking right towards the young man, and Ken turned off the blade to the energy sword, and he was just staring at the digimon who tried hard to be their master, when in all reality, they had barely taught him anything at all. If anything, the Stingmon who had been giving him lessons was his master, and not this JewelBeemon at all.

"What is the test that you are thinking that I am not really ready for?" After Ken had asked this question, he was watching Stingmon get a little bit more excited seeing how Ken was at that moment. They liked the way that Ken was just losing all the hope that he had in his eyes, thinking that at one point he could have been able to win this fight, but now he was starting to see that he was having no real chance at all, and this reality was really starting to sink in with him. "I felt like I did a decent job during that fight. Even if I didn't really win against them, I still gave a decent challenge..." Ken said, hoping that he was not really boosting his ego to the point where Stingmon was going to tell him off by that point in time.

"You know, that is just all action. There comes a point when fighting a monster is something that you can predict. You can sort of guess their movements, and it doesn't really come off as all that impressive when you fight them enough. But this is something that we have never taught you. I want you to go down to the bottom floor of this hall. Even below the library. But we are going to go in the left direction, where you will never even see the library at all. I don't really trust you to not check these things out." JewelBeemon said, and then after they had said that, Ken was just remaining silent. He didn't really care what JewelBeemon was telling him. Eventually, JewelBeemon walked out of the training room on the top floor. When he was thinking about how dumb this actually was, Ken turned right at Stingmon. The one who had already been training him this whole time.

"You probably think that JewelBeemon treats you unfairly. They never let anybody go down to the library. Not even us. You don't need to worry about the fact that they choose not to let you see what is down there." After Stingmon said that to Ken, he was just wanting to see what Ken was saying. Ken was tired of the way he was being treated at that moment, but then Ken just shook his head.

"You know, I just can't handle anything that the world throws at me. It seems like nobody cares about the fact that I never really seen anything here. I think that the digimon here expect so much more from me than I can really deliver." After Ken said that, he was feeling like he was coming off as whiny, even to himself, but at that moment, he was thinking that it didn't really even matter. "I just want to actually understand the mindset of JewelBeemon. If I was able to see their mindset, then I guess that I can maybe be able to fight them a little bit."

"Ken, JewelBeemon has never fought a single thing in several years. They only save the fighting for apprentices who are at the peak of their training, at the end to see if they are ready to move on. That has not happened in a long time. The last time that a apprentice came along and trained up that high, JewelBeemon almost actually lost the battle. They actually grew to look at this man as an ally, with the way they were able to fight now. I think you know who this guy actually is." After JewelBeemon said that, Ken thought about it a little bit, and then he realized right then and there that Stingmon was probably talking about the man in the purple jacket, which was making Ken wonder just how many digimon this guy really knew, and he thought that maybe this guy was already aware of how exactly Ken was doing, and that they had been talking about all of these lessons together, to try and increase the chances of Ken failing during the training.

"I don't really care. When I am done with this training, I am going to fight JewelBeemon, and when I fight them, I will be able to defeat them. I am convinced that I am going to defeat them." After Ken had said that, he was thinking about the fact that Ken just pretty much said he was going to kick JewelBeemon's ass, and even right then and there, at his peak of excitement, Ken was utterly certain that there was no way in hell he was going to be able to defeat JewelBeemon when he was training on his own right. But then he was thinking that JewelBeemon and him were going to be able to see just how good Ken really had gotten when he was out on the field.

"I can't believe that you are honestly thinking that you can do this. I am impressed that you are making this type of declaration. Do you think that perhaps you aren't as ready to do these things that you may be thinking about this?" After Stingmon had asked Ken this question, Ken was just tired of everybody telling him that he couldn't do something, and that was making him want to fight this guy and put them in their place. That was one thing that Ken was really wanting to do when he got in this training hall with JewelBeemon. That was just the one thing that he was going to try and figure out. He didn't know really know how he could be able to pull this off.

"I just think that maybe when JewelBeemon gives me an honest chance here, I might be able to impress them in more ways than one." Ken said, and then after he had said that, Ken was wondering if he was going to finally make Stingmon just see that there was nothing more than a simple desire at his mind. "I just don't really understand why JewelBeemon is pushing so hard. I am just a normal guy after all. Unless if he actually expects me to go around and try and change the tides if this world or something stupid and over the top like that. I doubt that there even is a way I could be able to fight monsters in a real fight or become somebody who can turn the tides of anything when I can barely defeat something in training and when I almost died back at Wayside just because I was fighting a guy who was ten times more fit than me." Ken finished his ranting, feeling like it was time for Stingmon to take a turn on the talking at that moment.

"Ken, I think that you just need to let go of the past. You seem like you are never going to be able to get anything done as long as you are living in the past as much as you have been so far, which as much as you may not want me to admit it, this is really starting to get in the way of your overall performance. And that is something that can be a really big problem." After Stingmon said that, Ken raised his hands up as if he was showing that he was getting it.

"Everybody has told me it was time for me to let it all go. I want to let it go. I am trying to let it go. But I have a feeling that my life is something I will never want to leave behind. As if I think that if I don't leave this behind, then the truth will be around forever. But that is the best thing about this whole thing." Ken said and then after he had said that, the two of them were walking out of the top floor now that they were the only ones in there, and then they were out of the room and slowly all of them got right down to the stairs that the next test was going to be, and Ken was wondering how bad this test really was going to be.

Ken was looking right at Stingmon. "Do you really know what this test is going to be like? I am just really curious." Ken had asked, and he was ready to hear what Stingmon had told him, as if thinking that perhaps this was going to be all the information that he really needed. But then he was seeing the look on Stingmon's face, he was seeing that perhaps Stingmon wasn't going to reject him out of annoyance, but tell him that they had a lack of knowledge due to them not actually knowing at all, and this was scaring Ken. The fact that they really might not have known at all.

"I don't really know. Every single time that somebody comes down there, the test is different. So I can't really tell you what is going on down there, since if I tried to, I would probably not really be able to tell you the truth." After Stingmon had said that, Ken took a deep breath and he was thinking that he was really not at all ready for something like this. He was telling himself that he really was losing any form of judgment that he could have on the matter. As he was thinking about the fact that he was having no real chance to win a single thing in the world, Ken was walking down the staircase, and then Stingmon was right behind him, just waiting for Ken to finally open up and be more willing to have different things to do.

Eventually, Ken was at the bottom of the stairs, and he was looking right at JewelBeemon when he and the other Stingmon were around the area, besides the one that Ken had been talking with earlier. JewelBeemon was coming right in front Ken, and the more that JewelBeemon was getting to Ken, with each progressing step, the more that Ken was just trying to make himself look even remotely composed. "This is a test that you will not be ready for, no matter how much you may try and think that you are. The other things so far do not really matter. This is the thing that really determines if you have failed or not. I think that you will be able to understand why this test is so vital when you actually go in and start to take it a bit for yourself." Eventually, Stingmon was holding their right arm forward, and then Ken was really not sure why they were hyping this up to be so important. "In fact, even though things have been mostly fine for you so far as of this point in time, there is a chance that you might actually die during this test. And that will be nobodys fault besides your own." After JewelBeemon actually said that there was a chance that he could die here, this was when Ken was actually starting to get a little bit more scared over the fact this was it was now going to be like. He did not really understand why he was actually training here now, if he was thinking that there was a chance that he could fucking die there.

"Do you know what the point of the test is? Like what is the test exactly meant to be?" Ken asked and then he was wondering that since he wasn't asking what the test itself was, that perhaps Jewelbeemon would be willing to actually tell him these details. JewelBeemon thought about that for a moment, and then after they had started to think about what they wanted to tell Ken, if they could tell Ken anything, they took a deep breath and then thought of a couple of simple details that they could tell Ken that would if anything make him more scared. Even though they felt like Ken could not a couple of things, they wanted to tell him information that would scare the shit out of him, which would be able to put Ken right back in his place at that moment.

"It is a test that shows you something that scares you. More than anything else in the entire world. Something that you have been able to confront or been able to move on from, and it is sort of showing a way that you could be able to fight this reality, and change it for what it is." After JewelBeemon had said that, Ken was wondering if he was going to have to deal with the final day of Wayside, or if he was going to be dealing with something else. Something else that he may not realize it at that moment, but was actually even worse for him and for his sanity than he would have ever thought it possible to be. But then JewelBeemonw as just staring at Ken, as if trying to get a reading on when Ken was going to finally figure this whole thing out.

"I have no real desire to let you know what the event is, which is clearly what you are wanting to tell me next. But when you go around and you see what is down there, you will see what is truly awful about the test that you will be having to deal with. I think that if anything, you will be more broken about having to see what is down there a second time than you will be just trying to take the test again. The test is going to be the one thing that will see if you really are cut out for being an apprentice here." After JewelBeemon tried to explain the trail to Ken, there was a part of Ken that was thinking that maybe JewelBeemon was not really aware of what Ken was always seeing and what he always had to be dealing with and everything.

Eventually, Ken nodded. He looked right at JewelBeemon. "You know, I don't really understand you at all. I don't understand your test, I don't understand your methods, if you even have any at all, and I don't really understand the fact that you are making me confront my fears in the way that you are making me do this." Ken was finishing up what he was saying, and then he was looking right at JewelBeemon. "But that being said, I am thinking that you need to prepare yourself to be disappointed if you are expecting me to give up right now. I am going to go down there, and I am going to try my best to prove myself worthy of this fighting." After Ken said that, he was truly thinking that he was going to have a good chance of being able to finally prove JewelBeemon wrong, and that the fact that he was going to be taking this test at all was showing that JewelBeemon was going to not think too lightly on the enemy this time.

"If you think that you are going to be able to change my perception on you, then by all means, go ahead and try to show me. I am thinking that you just trying to build yourself a ego. But I think that when you see the test, you might finally see why you are not really cut out to be doing these fights at all. But I guess that you do deserve a chance to show me that I was wrong about you. Wrong about the way that I am looking at a human. But here you go, this is the door you need to go down in order to fight your next test. Do not come out of there until the test is totally complete. You won't even be able to even if you wanted to. If you never come out, and that means that there is no chance for you to, then that means that you failed the test, and that you are going to die in there." JewelBeemon said and then they took a deep breath before continuing. "Not that it really matters what happens to you. If you fail, then it just means that you were not able to handle the pressure, and that just means that you are going to be down there for the rest of your life, and that you were the one person who was just not able to pull out something good with what I was giving them." After JewelBeemon said this, Ken was thinking for a short moment that maybe JewelBeemon was actually disappointed in what they were saying, as if despite how much they hated to admit this, that they were actually wanting to see Ken pass as they had wanted to see him kick ass.

"I will go down there now. I guess that there is no point in waiting any longer." Ken said, and then he was turning on the energy sword that he was having, and then he started to walk down the hall way, and this time, Stingmon was really not at all in his ability to have at his side anymore. Which meant that no matter how much he had wanted it, he was sort of just going to be left alone.

Ken opened the door, and then he closed it when he was on the other side, and then he was holding the sword right in front of his face, and then he was just letting the green light sort of show him the way of where he really even needed to go.

The longer that he was in there, the more that the darkness was actually growing to be pretty light, as if Ken was walking into a different world or a memory that he had earlier, and he was thinking about how much of a hassle that this was going to be. Despite his initial fears, those were starting to become more and more true when he was seeing the area that he was inside. It was like he was seeing the last day that he was at Wayside once again. Something that no matter how hard he tried, he was never able to really get out of his memory.

Eventually, this was when Ken was starting to think that there was a small chance that he was going to be able to rewrite history by doing this. Not really like time travel, but sort of slightly change one single event to make this outcome much better. Once Ken was starting to walk around he was seeing the building in which he had gone to school at for a couple of years before his life was thrown into the field of shit hood, and the filed in which he was never able to even have a chance to do anything normal ever again. But then he was seeing the structure to Wayside school.

Despite the fact that he had been to school there, and had a decent amount of good memories there, he had forgotten what the school had looked like. He remembered the part that it was thirty stories high, since it was impossible to ever forget about something like that, but he had totally forgotten about the fact that the floors were all different sizes, and that there were literally ladders at the structure, and that there was some trees in a open area on one floor, and then there was a giant flag right at the top of the building.

Once Ken was letting the challenge sink in, he was breathing heavily and then he thought about the fact that this was going to be his one chance to be able to defeat a less powerful version of the man in the purple jacket. It was petty, and he knew for a fact that he was just needing to let go of this grudge, but he was thinking that perhaps if he was able to fight this guy, and beat him this time he would be able to move on, and actually put this all behind him in his life. That he would be able to think that this would have been done with that part of his life. Eventually, Ken was walking right in the school.

As he was inside of the school, he was thinking that maybe there would have been no real chance that he would be in this school and not be considered to be some form of a predator to the school, considering the older age of this version of himself, plus the fact that he was wearing a gas mask. He also thought he would not start a paradox as long as he was not going to get caught by Ken, and even if they saw each other, considering the fact that he was wearing a gas mask, that perhaps he was going to avoid this, since they were not really explicitly looking at each other. Once he was going up the building, there was something that seemed different to him and this was when he was taking his first divergence from real life by that point in time. He saw that there was the nineteenth floor.

There was barely a nineteenth floor at all, and that was when Ken was thinking that there was something down there that he needed to fight and take care of. As if him not addressing this issue was something he was going to regret very much when he was coming here. The more that he was walking down the pathway, the more he was seeing that there was something going on at the end of the hall that was scaring him.

At the end of the hall, Ken was seeing that there was a bloody foot print there. Ken looked up and then he was seeing that there was a guy that was looking like the flesh was coming right down off of him. Ken was trying not to get distracted by how disgusting this whole thing was. Ken took out his energy sword, and then he spun the sword around and then he was pointing it right at the zombie guy. The zombie monster was running right at Ken and before Ken could even process what was going on, they bit at Ken's arm and then Ken was breathing in pain. Then he stabbed the zombie monster right on the back. Eventually when he was done stabbing this thing, he was seeing that Todd, Maurecia and a younger version of him were walking up. This must have been right after the conversation with the hologram Davis. Ken did not want to even increase the chance of getting caught, so he punched the window and then he forced himself to fall down the hundred and ninety down to the ground once again, and he was not really expecting himself to be safe at all when he had landed.

The more that he was falling down to the ground, he turned around and then he was placing himself right above the zombie monster and then he was turning off the energy sword. Eventually, the zombie landed on the ground and this barely saved Ken's life. Then he walked to the energy sword as it was several feet away from him after the landing and then he picked it right up again. Then when he grabbed it again, he was turning it right on again.

After he had turned the blade on, he was walking down the street again, thinking that there was going to be one final battle that he needed to still take care of. He still needed to defeat the man in the purple jacket, no matter how much he had distracted himself by doing this, and no matter how long this was really going to take.

He knew that this was going to be his only chance to do something like this. Ken knew that since he was going to have to see this guy get much stronger, and with this guy getting much stronger with each passing year, that since this was now four years ago this would be far enough in the past to where Ken honestly believed that after a year of training at the hall that he was now going to be able to fight off this guy in this timeline even if not in the current timeline. Ken was telling himself that this whole thing really made no fucking sense at all.

Eventually, Ken walked around for a while, and then he was seeing the factory that Steven had died in. When Ken was seeing the factory, he was really wanting to go in there and actually try and save him once and for all. But there was a part of him that was thinking that maybe if Steven did get killed in there and that if this was how the timeline was lined up to be the way that it was, that maybe this was something that he should just be leaving alone. Then considering the fact that he was going to be going around and trying to defeat this guy in this timeline, so therefore changing the timeline, he was thinking that there was no need to be having this debate with himself. He needed to go in there and be a hero for once in his life, and he was actually going to go in there and finally save somebody for once in his life. When he was thinking about how he would finally be a hero for once in his life by saving Steven, he started to run down the street and he was going right to the factory, where he was going to have to fight the replicants that had killed Steven, and as a result be saving Steven. Ken was still having a hard time believing in the fact that replicants were actually real by that point in time.

When Ken was thinking about the fact that he was going to be saving Steven, once inside of the factory, he was seeing that there were two of these replicants standing right at the entrance of the factory, and Ken was looking around. As he looked around the factory, he saw that there were about nine or ten of them inside of the place. Ken was thinking that this was going to be a rough ride, but that he needed to take down every single one of them if he was wanting to defeat the one who had killed Steven.

When the first two were pursuing Ken, he turned on his energy sword and then he was telling himself that this was one of the first times that he needed to use this in a real fucking fight. For once, he was needing to actually get serious about this whole thing.

One of the replicants tried to grab Ken's arm, obviously to break the very important body part as Ken slashed right down on the replicants hand, and that was cutting it right off. As he cut the hand on, he was seeing that there was a combination of blood, and some wires coming out of them. Then they punched Ken right in the face and then Ken was wondering how an arm stub was going to hurt him so much, as he felt the pain of the punch really getting to him at that moment.

After Ken was thinking about his pain, he kicked the monster right down on the floor, and then he was swinging the sword right across the chest of the second replicant, and doing this was killing them right away. After he had killed the second replicant, Ken taking it very much easier, as he was seeing that replicant falling right down on the ground. Ken thought that this replicant was way too easy to defeat, and for a moment Ken was thinking that it was kind of pathetic that the replicants were able to take out Steven. But that was before he really knew the fact that these people really were extremely strong, and that Ken was just sort of lucky on that first one since he had been able to distract them when he was fighting. Ken was then looking back at the replicant and then he was seeing that with their good hand and their stub of their missing hand, that they were still wanting to fight Ken at that moment. When Ken was seeing that no matter what happened, that he was still going to have to fight this replicant, Ken was telling himself to get serious at that moment.

When Ken was seeing them ready to fight, Ken didn't even get a chance to get ready to fight them, the monster just punched him right in the chest. Not just punched him right in the chest, but Ken was actually feeling like there was a bone or two in his body actually breaking from how hard this punch was, and the fact that this was on their stubbed arm. When Ken was starting to realize that this was the case, Ken was thinking that if this guy used their good hand, Ken would have actually had the arm actually go right through Ken's chest, and then as a result, Ken would have had a hole right in his chest, and then he would have died right on the spot from the hole in his chest.

When Ken took a couple of steps back, he was feeling a small amount of blood coming right out of his mouth, and that was making his situation even worse with the fact that he was having a gas mask being worn at that moment. The gas mask was literally the only thing that was actually saving him at that point in time, but at the same time, it was going to cover all his face with blood since there would be no other spot for the blood to be going at that point in time. Then the replicant was walking closer to Ken, and when they were holding out their good hand before Ken even had a chance to think about anything going on, Ken brought the energy sword blade right up, and he was seeing that the blade was right through their chest. The replicant and Ken were just staring right at each other for just a short moment, with both of them wondering what had just happened, and then Ken was wondering how much pain this really brought the replicant in, or if they didn't really care about getting stabbed at all.

Eventually, despite the fact that it was going against the best interests of his safety at that moment, Ken pulled the blade right out of their chest, and then Ken was taking the moment very carefully. He was not really wanting to risk his safety any further. He was scared of the fact that this stabbing didn't really kill the monster at all. Despite this, Ken was scared of the situation he found himself in at that moment.

Even though Kenw as thinking that the idea of fighting these replicants was going to get him killed unlike his fight with the man in the purple jacket he was starting to think that maybe it was better for him to die rather than Steven. Considering the lack of anything that Ken has done since then, and the lack of actually meaning anything in his life has made Ken start to think that maybe him dying would actually be the best thing for him to do. Even though he was thinking down upon himself and starting to think that maybe his death was the best option for the world down the world, he was telling himself that maybe there was still a reason he was chosen by the man in the purple jacket. As much as he had hated to admit it, he was thinking that maybe there was indeed a method to the madness of that mother fucker, something that could almost be able to justify the many choices that he had made up until that point in time. Something that could make Ken thing that this was the right choice, and hell maybe even given the context of what is going on, the only choice that he was allowed to make at that moment in time.

As Ken had started to realize that maybe this was the only option that he had, he was seeing the next replicant kicking him right in the neck, and Ken was almost feeling the bones crack in there which was making Ken think that he was starting to really get dangerously close to dying at that point in time. Then Ken used the energy sword and then slashed the leg right off, and then after that had happened, Ken was staring right down at that replicant, who was now on the ground. After Ken was thinking about what happened, the replicant was looking right at Ken. "What the hell are you doing right now? Why do you hate me so much?" The replicant asked, and then Ken was actually looking down at them, and he was feeling awful when he was looking at the guy who had grown up to be a monster, and he was thinking that maybe Ken should be saving this guy after all.

"By my contract, and from all of the things that I have heard about your breed, there is no real reason to be saving you at all. You are not real people. You are robots that act like you are flesh and bone, but that is a part of the act. When you are seen by people, they think that you are a real human being, but in all reality, nothing about you is genuine. I do not think for a second, even if it makes me a terrible human being, that you deserve to be saved. I don't care if your other replicant friends hate me for saying this, and I don't care if I am going to go to hell for killing what is I suppose a person, then I will accept the idea of going to hell with a tone of grace." After Ken had said all of these things, he was having a big smile across his face, and then he had sliced the energy sword right across the chest of the replicant, killing them instantly and when he had killed them, he was actually smiling because he knew that he had gotten rid of a public menace.

Ken was looking right forward, and then he was seeing that there was another one working on some racks of the factory. This was when Ken was walking forward, and then the more that he was walking forward, the more that he was starting to piece some things together in his mind. The entire time that he was limping there, he was breathing very heavily, not really sure what he was going to say to the replicants when he was there, and he was thinking that he was just going to fight them and deal with them that way, not really going beyond that at all. Then Ken was turning on his energy sword when he was seeing one of them working on a couple of notes and he was walking right behind them, and he was holding the blade right up and he was planning on taking a large swing.

But when he was right there, and he was looking down at the notes of the project, he was confused as all hell on what he was seeing. There was nothing about what he was seeing that he felt like he could understand seeing. It was a bunch of notes on how to create a gate. When Ken was looking at the notes, despite the fact that he didn't get it at first, he was thinking that maybe the gate was going to be one of those things that he had seen right when he had gone into the digital world for the first time. That was when a bunch of things were starting to sort of come together in his mind, and he was feeling like everything was sort of piecing together in a way that he was not really wanting to admit to at all. Then he was looking right at Ken and it wasn't really even planned to do this at first, but then right when Ken was looking down at them, the guy grabbed Ken by his left hand, and they were holding onto him very tightly, and then Ken was feeling the pressure of their hold getting to him even more and Ken was at this point where he was only holding the weapon with his right hand, since it was the one in which he wasn't having the threat of having his entire fucking hand breaking.

Then Ken slammed his head right on the head of the replicant, and then Ken was feeling extremely stupid that he did the fucking head bash technique, but it was only way to get the gut to let go of his hand, and when Ken was looking down at his hand, and he was seeing that there was some bones of his hands sticking out, he was feeling utterly disgusted at what he was seeing, and there was a part of him that was feeling like he was about to throw up at the sight of a bone of his body sticking out, and now he was hating the idea of even trying to let this replicant get a pass even more than before, and Ken was starting to become more and more convinced that these things were public menaces. And Ken was thinking that whoever made the replicants were a bunch of people who were out to get some power, and Ken was indeed telling himself that he was going to find the person who had created a bunch of replicants, and then Ken was thinking that he was going to actually go out and kill this man, since killing this gut was going to be the only fucking way to actually make the production stop.

When the head bash was done, and then the replicant grabbed a gun from the table, they fired the gun, and then Ken grabbed the weapon with both of his hands, and he deflected the blaster shot by a narrow margin, and now Ken was telling himself that this was totally worth it, getting this fucking energy sword, and then when he had deflected the blow, he kicked the guy right in the face, which made him fall right down and then he slid across the table and was on the ground by the end of it, and the gun was on the ground by now. Ken ran to the gun, and then he had grabbed it, so that way, he was going to be able to have a gun and then a energy sword on each hand and that can increase his battle capabilities by a large margin and then he was seeing that there was a replicant who was seeing what was going on and was already trying to get down and attack Ken. Ken fired the gun and hit them right on the upper chest and then he was seeing that the replicant was looking like they were getting weaker, and then Ken was thinking that he could be able to get a few extra seconds when it came to fighting this guy that he was currently dealing with.

The current replicant got up and then something happened that Ken was thinking was totally unfair. There was their hands that grew into something like silver swords or something like that. "Oh come the fuck on. That is taking this way too fucking far." After Ken had said that, the guy was swinging his arm around a couple of times, and then Ken blocked the attacks that were going on, and then he fired the gun right at that gun, hurting them for a moment and then after they had done that, he was seeing that the replicant used their hand blade and tried to stab Ken right in the chest, but it only hurt them for a brief second or two, but then Ken was seeing that despite them trying to actually fight for a while against Ken, that there was nothing they could really do and then they were starting to walk back a couple of times and then Ken stabbed them right in the chest when this was happening, as he was seeing the guy looking right at Ken and for the slightest hint of a picosecond, he was feeling bad for this guy, but at the same time, he didn't really care at all. He was thinking that if replicants were going to try and cheat their way into being able to fight like a bunch of machines, then he was thinking that there was nothing about these machines that deserved a chance to be living at all. And he was not at all ashamed to be admitting that feeling that he was having, and if anything, he was embracing the feeling much better.

Then after the replicant was gone, there was Ken looking around and him seeing that there were still about seven or so left of them to be fighting. Ken was looking at the entrance of the factory and then he was seeing that Todd and Steven had not really shown up yet. That was when Ken was starting to get the worst thought in his mind. What if Steven and Todd didn't go to this factory, and they had actually gone to a different place all together. Then when Ken was thinking about this, that was when Ken was starting to think that maybe it was not really worth doing this at all, and that Ken was putting his life on the line for no real reason.

That next replicant, the one who Ken had shot, finally got up and were starting to get more in the mindset of actually being able to fight. The replicant jumped right at Ken and then they punched him in the face a couple of times, and then the monster hurt Ken really badly. Well, not really a monster as much as being a replicant. Ken then was feeling like he was starting to have his head break or something like that.

Once Ken had gotten over the pain of what was going on, Ken was getting up and then he was grabbing both of his weapons that were on the ground. Then when he was thinking about the fact that it would be best to just shot them in the fucking head and then kill them for just getting close to them at all. Ken was then taking a couple of steps back, and then he fired the gun, and the replicant had the bullet coming right through their forehead. As they were coming closer to Ken, they stopped walking right on the spot and then they were looking right at Ken. Eventually, despite the fact that they were stronger than Ken in every single way, it was the fact that they had that bullet in their head that threw everything away. They fell down on the ground and then they were dead at this point in time.

Ken was then thinking of the battle that had been going on lately, and then the entire time that Ken was thinking of the six replicants that he was forced to be fighting with now. Ken was just showing the energy sword to the other replicants, and he was seeing that two of them were behind him, and that the other four were still on the front side of where he was. Which meant that at this point in time, he was pretty much having no chance on being able to take them all down and do so in a manner that wasn't putting his life at risk at this point in time. Then there was one of the replicants that came to him, and there was a knife that he was holding, and then Ken was thinking about the fact that even if Ken had cut their fucking hand off, they would have still have been able to fight and everything. Ken was now just thinking that he was going to have to fight the one that was looking like they were the biggest threat to him. The one with the knife was trying to bring the knife right towards Ken, but then Ken shot the guy right in the hand, and then the knife dropped to the ground and when they were taking in a second to let the pain sink in, Ken then just swung the blade and cut off their hand. But then the guy picked up the knife with their other hand and was smiling at this whole situation. When Ken was seeing the smile on their face, that was when Ken was utterly certain that life was not really going to go in his favor. Then they ended up throwing the knife right at Ken, and then it actually hit him right in the left arm, and Ken was too busy to take the knife out of his arm, which was giving him a lot of pain at that very moment.

When this was going on, Ken tried his absolute hardest not to focus on the knife that was in his arm, but then after he was thinking about that whole problem, he was now giving himself a bunch of motivation at that moment, since he was still getting over the pain of the moment, while also getting himself just focused on the fight at hand, and he was thinking about what would happen to Steven if he didn't do any of this stuff. Then when this was done, Ken slammed the edge of the gun right at the nose of this guy, and the gun sounded like it was breaking his nose. Then when he had broken the nose of the replicant with how hard he had slammed the gun right on him, he swung his energy sword and then he sliced off the head of the replicant, and that meant that he had now taken out half of the replicants by this point in time.

After Ken had taken out that replicant, Ken saw that another one managed to hit him when he was not in their direction, as they had punched him right in his back. Ken felt like there was the start to a crack on his spine at that moment, and Ken was already feeling a bunch of pain at that moment, and then Ken was starting to want to die, but then at that point, he was now getting himself focused on what that replicant was doing and he saw that this replicant not only had their fists, and then they were holding a wrench with their hand. Then the replicant swung the wrench at Ken and then at this point in time, there was the fact that the gas mask was now starting to break a little bit. Then when he was seeing the gas mask starting to break, Ken was actually kind of feeling glad that this was the situation, and then he was actually seeing a lot of the blood that was coming out of his mouth actually hitting the ground by this point in time. Then he grabbed the arm of that replicant and then he was moving their hand a bit, and then the wrench dropped right down to the ground as Ken was feeling like he was now relieved for the fact that he was able to start breathing normally again without a bunch of blood clogging everything up. When the wrench was on the ground, he dropped the gun and then he picked up the wrench again. Once he was holding the wrench, Ken was ready to take down this replicant, and then there would only be four of them left by that point in time.

The replicant that Ken grabbed the wrench of looked a little bit scared for the smallest hint of a moment, as if they were not able to believe the situation that they were now in. When Ken saw the look of fear that was on their face, Ken was actually feeling like he was in power at that moment, and then after that moment, Ken was feeling like he was going to enjoy the moment that he was now in being able to get this replicant to see the fear in the moment.

Then Ken started to swing the wrench a bunch of times, and with each progressing swing that was going on, Ken was hearing the body parts breaking more and more, and Ken was taking in great pride in hurting and breaking the body parts of the replicant, as it was truly showing a huge sign of power that he was having at that moment. As Ken was thinking about the power that he was in when fighting this monster, Ken probably swung more times than was really needed, as he would admit in hindsight, as he had pretty much swung down on that replicant so many times that their face was a bloody mess, and they were basically not even alive anymore, despite the fact that they were still sort of standing.

Despite how edgy this entire thing was Ken was still sort of at the peak of enjoyment at that moment, and he was feeling like he was sort of on top of the entire world. When Ken was thinking about the enjoyment that he had taken, he had sort of forgotten about the fact that there were still four other replicants that he needed to take care of at that point in time. When Ken was taking that fact in his mind, he was looking right at the others and he was waiting to see what they were going to say, or if they were even in the range of reacting to what he had done anymore, since they were too scared of what Ken would have done if they saw what they were thinking, and they were scared to see how much he would hurt them.

The next one actually tried to get the wrench away from Ken by grabbing it away from him. As they were doing this, they were pulling tighter and tighter away and they did it so badly that Ken was actually feeling like he was going to lose his hand if he had not let go or anything like that. When Ken was thinking about the fact that he was possibly going to break his hand by just simply not letting go, Ken knew right then and there that it was better to play it the smart way and to just let them have the wrench. So he let go of it, and then after he had let go of the wrench, the next replicant started to do the reverse treatment of Ken. Which was only able to be relieved when Ken looked down for a moment and grabbed the gun, but that was only after several swings that the replicant had taken out on Ken, and started to batter up his body, and was causing his body to bleed out way too much.

When Ken was beaten up by so many swings of the wrench, that was when Ken was starting to feel just numb to the pain that was going on at that moment. He just simply had felt so much pain that in all reality, it never really even bothered him, and he was thinking that he was going to be feeling much worse when he was going to be fighting the man in the purple jacket. The more that he was thinking about it, the more he was convinced they were going to be the biggest problem that he was going to have to be dealing with. But then when the guy was about to swing at him again, Ken fired the bullet and then he fired a second time, and then the replicant dropped down to the ground, which meant that Ken had taken care of that one as well. This made Ken actually feel like he was slowly standing more of a chance to take this fucking thing down.

Besides, when Ken was going to be done with these replicants, Kenw as thinking that there was nothing he wanted more than to deal with the man in the purple jacket, and now he was finding himself regretting getting involved in this whole thing, as he was now at a point in time when he was barely able to be really weak when he was fighting the man in the purple jacket, and now he was starting to get to the point in when he was actually thinking it might have been best for him to just leave Steven dead, and he was actually thinking that he had made a big mistake by trying to save Steven at all. This was seriously the type of mindset that he was getting himself in, and he would admit that in hindsight he was incredibly ashamed of the fact that he was starting to feel that way, but at that same time, he didn't really care at all. He was just sort of venting in his mind out loud to the entire situation that he was in at that point in time. But despite the fact that he was thinking that this was what he would have rather happened at that moment, Ken was telling himself that there was one thing that he was thinking in his mind, that he would rather deal with the pain of rejection over anything else at all.

The next replicant grabbed Ken and then they slammed him right down on the ground, which Ken was knowing this was happening, and this time, he kept his face on purpose about half a inch or so off the ground, so that way it would not crack or anything like that. When he was thinking about the fact that his face would not crack at all, he was thinking that this was the one thing that he was thinking was really in his favor by that point in time. Eventually, when Ken was thinking that the replicant was having their guard way too down to actually notice that this was the plan that Ken was having this whole time, Ken then pushed the replicant up and then right when the guy was just a mere few inches about them, Ken then stabbed the energy sword right through the chest, and then that was something that was making them much weaker.

Then Ken stood up, when he was thinking about the fact that the replicant was pretty much dead now. But at that point in time, Ken just dragged the blade right up their body, and then after the killing was done he looked and saw that there was still two more that he would have to going to be dealing with now. Then after the replicant was finally killed off, there was the part of Ken that was honestly thinking at that moment, that he was going to finally be able to have the edge that was really given to him at that point in time.

When there was now two replicants to deal with at that point in time, Ken was just checking the gun, and then there were only a few of the bullets left to deal with at that point in time. When Ken was thinking that the bullets were not really going to get him that much further, and then Ken just focused on how he was going to make every single bullet really count. But before he could really be thinking about this, he felt another replicant punching him right in the chest, and then Ken felt like he was about to cry from the pain that was given to him at that moment, something that every single time that was happening to him, he really was taken by surprise by something that honestly he should have been used to at this point in time, and not really even thinking about the whole fact that it hurt him all that much. When Ken was done with the initial feeling of pain that he was having, Ken was turning on his energy sword and he was trying to deal with the fact that he was getting punched over and over again, with each one of them intensifying the pain by about ten times or so. But then when Ken was thinking about the fact that Steven was going to be alive as a result of what Ken was doing, he was always getting himself back in the mindset that this was totally worth it. It was totally worth the fighting for the fact that he was saving Steven at that moment. No matter how much pain he was in at that moment, he was honestly telling himself that the pain was going to be nothing compared to fucking death, so when he was telling himself this, that was when he was focused on just taking down this monster.

Ken had been punched like nine or ten times in the course of that many seconds, and then when Ken was seeing that there was a short break in the moment, Ken was finally ready to take this second to last replicant when he was forcing himself to stand on ground, and be extra firm about the fact that he was not going to be taking this anymore. Then he slashed off both of their hands and then once he had slashed both of their arms off, then he shot them once in the back and then he stabbed them in the back as well. After all of these attacks that he had taken out on the replicant, he saw that the replicant was falling right down on the ground, and now that Ken had defeated them all, he was looking right at the final replicant. They had just been sitting there, bored out of their mind, and they looked like they had just sort of been waiting their turn, as if this was just one big fucking game.

When the replicant was now the only one that was left, they started to walk closer to Ken. "I was getting kind of bored waiting for you. I thought that you were going to die from those weaker beings. In fact, it was honestly kind of pissing me off, thinking that they were going to be taking care of you all on their own, and that I would never get a chance to experience the action. I haven't fought in a very long time, and it is starting to piss me off the lack of fighting that I have been experiencing lately. But not that it really matters anymore. Here we are now, and it is time for us to get right down to business."

After Ken was hearing the way that they were talking, Ken was seeing that the guy was sounding totally serious about how bored that they actually were. This was when Ken was thinking that maybe he was not really putting himself in a good spot right now. Maybe Steven and Todd were having the problem against this one, and not really even the other ones at this point. Since despite the fact that those ones were kind of hard, they were probably going to be nothing compared to this fucking asshole, who he was totally convinced would be over the fucking top hard and fucking impossible to defeat.

Then when Ken thought about that stuff, Ken was just thinking about the couple of bullets left that he would be able to use as a last result, and then he was thinking about the fact that he still did have his energy sword in which he was able to use in case something came up and he needed to use it. Then he was pointing the on blade right at the final replicant and then started to speak. "There is no reason for you to live. You are a unnatural birth. There is nothing that justifies your existence on this world." After Ken said that, even he was cringing inside of how lame that line was, and then he was looking at the replicant and then they were looking like they were still finding the stuff that humans said very amusing by this point in time.

"You know, it never fails to amaze me how fucking stupid humans are. I was created, just like you were, and I was given a job that I needed to go with, and I am going to do my best to work this job out. No matter the fact that it is placing my life at risk by doing this, I know that it is worth it for the sake of making my creator proud. Besides, it wasn't like you were anymore legitimate than you may think you were." After the replicant said that, Ken was hearing the seriousness of their voice and that was what scared him for a moment.

"I don't understand your logic right now. My family had me normally. My parents loved each other, at least back then, and they supported me and my brother as we grew up. I don't get where you are trying to come at, but what you are saying is totally false, and you should never judge me before you even listen to my life or anything like that." After Ken had said that there was still a level of uncertainty that was in his voice, and this was something that the replicant was liking to hear from him. After the replicant had been hearing the greater level of uncertainty with what Ken was saying, they were starting to wonder how long it was going to take for Ken to sort of break down and admit that they knew him much more than he would really want to admit, and this would bring down any level of safety in his life at that moment.

"Well, I guess that you might be old enough to know what the truth of your family is like. There comes a point in time where you might not really know what you are dealing with. I think that if you finally know what the whole context of this thing is, then I guess that you will be able to finally start to make peace with the facts of life." After they had said that, Ken was just looking at the replicant, as if he was uncertain what exactly to say. He was just thinking that the replicant was going to drop a bomb shell that in all reality, he was not really ready to hear at all.

"When you were not even born, and this town was breaking down and needing wealth, there was an organization that was created. Your mother was one of the people who was affected by this, because she was indeed forced to have to deal with this whole new life style in which she was pretty much just going to be used for profit. However, there was something that saved her, and made her able to try and live a normal life. And that thing was your father. He came along and he bought her, who already had Sam at that point, and was pregnant with you. After he bought your mother and Sam, there was no need to sell you anymore as she already gave the town a lot of profit by that point in time, and there was no real need to buy you at all anymore. But that was not really the whole story. He bought her on the hopes that he could be able to have more children with her, so that way he would be able to eventually pass down the family line and he can continue the empire that he had already made with his family and his wealth. But he was old by that point, and there was the fear that you and your brother would reject the business if you were aware of it early on, so he quit and joined the police force, and pretended to be a hard working officer, in order to act like he is a guy who cares about the greater good when in all reality, he only cares about the business. I think that even if you want to deny the things that I am telling you right now, that you must be able to see that I am telling the truth right now. I guess that it is just going to be hard for you to realize when you think about it, the fact that your entire life is a fucking lie." That was when Ken was thinking about the things that were being told to him, and despite how much he was hating to admit it, the whole thing really did make a ton of sense, despite him really refusing to admit it at all.

When he thought about the fact that during the conversation he had with his father when he was caught for trying to be that super hero persona, he seemed much more angry about his job being on the line than he was angry about Ken and his safety. If anything, looking back at it, it sounded like he didn't even care when he was talking about Ken's safety, as if the whole thing was just collateral damage. When Ken was thinking about that, this honestly was just pissing him off. He hated the very idea of the fact that he was just considered to be sort of side damage, and then he was looking right at the replicant he was conversing with.

"I admit that there is a chance that you could be telling the truth. But in all reality, none of this really makes any sense to me." Ken said, and then he was almost catching himself not wanting to fight this guy anymore, even though that was clearly what he should have been doing, and that clearly being his original intent. The replicant just didn't really seem to care about the fact that Ken was sounding like he was finally losing any respect he had in his family.

After Ken had thought about the fact that his family was all one big fucking lie, he was telling himself that perhaps it really would not be all that big of a deal if he had just left the area all together, and finally started to live his own life. As much as he was wanting to admit this, he truly thought that if he had left them and not really ever saw them again, then they might just not really care all that much. If anything, if what Ken was thinking about his father was true, his father might actually be glad that he was gone, so that way he can focus more on this business, and when he was just focusing on the business, then he would sort of become a monster of his own. That was something that actually indeed scared him, the idea of the fact that his father was going to be spending the last few years of his life being the next big monster and everything. But then after Ken thought that, he was coming to another thought that was even worse for him, something that he should have never thought of, but now when he was thinking about it, the more he was starting to think that maybe this was the best case situation for him. Which was to kill his father, and then he ending his business that way. And then as a result, he could get his revenge on his father just being a part the corrupt establishment that he had been told to fight against by Todd all of this time ago.

After Ken thought about that, there was a part of him that was thinking about some other things. The idea of killing his father rather than dealing with the man in the purple jacket might actually be a good idea. It might actually be something he could be able to do in order to redeem himself in the eyes of other people. Given his age, there was probably a lot of sins that he created that killing him would be able to change and in a way sort of rectify.

As Ken was thinking about the fact that it was going to be impossible for his father to redeem himself in any meaningful way, that was when Ken was telling himself something else by that point. The priorities that he was giving himself by that point in time. He was going to kill this final replicant, and not give a single shit in the word when he was doing this, since in all reality they deserved to fucking die, and then he was going to fight the man in the purple jacket, and make them suffer for the treatment that had been given to him this whole time, and then when that was done, he was going to go along and then find his father and then when he would see his father, given how old and weak he really was, there was going to be no problem that he would have silencing this fucking monster. Once he was thinking about the idea of silencing this fucking asshole, he was sort of getting sick in his mind a little bit. Over the fact that he was pretty much considering doing this to his father, and the fact that his father was the person who had helped raise him for the first sixteen of seventeen years of his life, and this was what he was going to be doing in return. But he was telling himself that this was indeed something that he had needed to do. This was the one thing that he could do in order for everything to finally turn around and go in his favor.

Despite the fact that there was still a small part of him that was hating this idea, he was telling himself that this was indeed for the best thing for him to do. So when he was thinking about that, he was just not really going to get into the idea of feeling awful for doing any of this. Then the replicant popped all of their fingers and then they ran right towards Ken. As they were running towards Ken, that was when he had swung his energy sword right down, and then that was when the replicant was looking right at Ken, and that was when Ken was seeing that slashing down at that guy was barely doing any real damage to them. That if anything, slashing them down didn't really do anything besides just leave a cut right on their chest. Then Ken was just scared of what he was really going to do next when the guy who had been called a replicant went right at Ken and then they grabbed both of his hands. After they grabbed both of his hands they applied pressure and eventually after applying all of this pressure, they started to snap at his bones and the more that Ken was feeling the crack, the more that Ken needed to stop them from breaking both of his hands entirely. Then Ken kneed them and once he had kneed them, they fell right down to the ground and then Ken took the gun and tried to kill them by the gun shot. The gun shot just simply disoriented the man, and then when Ken was seeing that they didn't really care about the fact that they were shot, and then they actually just rubbed the blood off and then they punched the gas mask so hard that it was cracking even further, so it was more pretty much useless even if Ken wanted to use it further, but Ken was just still wearing it for the fact that there was a part of him that was feeling like he needed to use it.

He wasn't really even certain why he needed the gas mask so badly, but the more that he was put in these situations, and the more that his fucking face was getting fucked up, he was telling himself that he was still making some use out of this, since if he didn't have this thing in the first place, then he was going to have a face that was so fucked up that nobody really would even want to just look at him. They would consider the very sight of him to be some form of abomination.

After this, Ken grabbed the energy sword that was dropped on the ground as the guy grabbed at Ken's leg and as Kenw as falling down to the ground, he was using this moment to his advantage. He swung the energy sword right down at the guys left arm, which basically took the entire arm off in one fucking blow, and then Ken was thinking that this was his best chance to really weaken them down to the point where they would be totally useless and couldn't do a single thing on that left arm. So there was still the right arm that he needed to take care of, but it was going to be much simpler from this point forward. Now that they only had one arm that they could use against him, to be able to even stand a chance on killing Ken, which even the replicant was seeing was probably not going to happen at that point in time.

But the replicant was not going to give up on this whole thing, since they were thinking that this was going to be the only way to really get any real damage out on Ken. They punched him right in the chest three times with their right arm, and all three of them started to create more of the hole that Ken was fearing in his chest. The fact that this hole was starting to actually become real was what had been scaring the shit out of Ken. The fact that he was going to die from simply having a hole right in his chest.

That was when Ken just swung the energy sword and then he cut open their chest a little bit, which was pretty much getting close to killing them, and then after that swing was made then Ken swung the energy sword and took off their second arm entirely. after this, Ken kicked them right down on the ground. When he had done that, he just looked right down at the replicant, hoping that this fight was going to be over with for now, and that the replicant would get it in their mind that Ken really did not want to be fucked with all that much.

"You seem to think that you have beaten my creatoe just because of this fight. He will see what you have done, and he will have greater resolve than ever to take his revenge out on you. Then he will kill you, and he will create anothe replicant based off of you who will only be able to follow his simple demands. His simple demands of being able to provide a profit for him. He doesn't really care anybody else besides himself. But that is the main reason many of us replicants went out of our way to help him. Since by doing this we would have been able to finally get some form of a life. We actually would be able to be considered beings that live dup to our true purpose. We just wanted to fulfill our life purpose, and in order to do so, we just became slaves to the over all vision. We ended up becoming the one thing that we feared that we would be, lifeless creatures. But I guess that it doesn't really matter now, as you removed the one chance that we had to possibly get something else by this point in time. Do you really think that you have done something good by killing all of us? You are still a murderer, no matter what you may be trying to tell yourself about our identity. These facts will not really make you feel any better, even if you are telling yourself right now that it does..." After the replicant was saying this, Ken started to think more about what was being said to him, and the more that he listened to the replicant speaking, the more that he was actually starting to think that maybe this replicant was telling the truth. Even though he hated to even pretend that he was seeing the perspective of the replicants, he was lying to himself if he was saying that he could not.

Then Ken was looking in a different direction. "You should have just left. You should have just tried to live your own life and act like nobody really owns you. When you try to live a life, and when you try to really take a hold of something, you perhaps really don't need to worry about these things." Ken said, and then once he was done talking, the replicant was just simply refusing to speak. As if they were not wanting to admit that Ken might have been right about this whole thing.

"You know, it is a lot harder to be living no life than you may think. I fucking hate you. Not because of what you did to me or my fellow replicants, but because you act like you know better. You act like things are very easy to follow. You act like everybody is able to live their own life, and do their own thing, but in all reality, you don't really care. You just only care about one thing, and that is your own further living. What that guy told you before you entered the digital world a little over a year ago was the truth. That people only care about passing along their family line. Even though you may not think that you have done that quite yet, you have been more effective on the idea of passing along the family line than you may think that you ever would have. You thought that you had no chance of doing this, you thought that you could not get yourself to do this due to personal preference, but here you are, already no longer the furthest down the line that your family goes. And you don't care. You don't even realize it. In fact, you think it will be more of a burden, because you are a fucking asshole idiot who doesn't see who truly needs you, and who truly is suffering without you." After they had said that, the replicant looked right at Ken, and then that was when Ken was wanting them to shut the hell up by that point. But he didn't have to wait, since they stopped speaking and died from then and there from the wounds.

Once Ken was outside of the building, Ken took a long and deep breath and then he threw the gun away, thinking that he only really needed his energy sword. At this point in time, he was just wanting to have some form of sanity restored to him. The only way he could do that was to fight the man in the purple jacket not even caring if he was going to create some form of a paradox and growing more and more certain that the factory would not be helpful at all since he had not seen Todd or Steven come by, so he was fearing that nothing he really did mattered. That in all reality, they might have gone to a different factory and that he saved nobody by doing this. This was a fear he was having and he was sort of accepting this whole thing, despite sort of hating the idea that this was the case at that moment. Even though he was tired of thinking about how he did nothing of value, he ddin't really care at all, and he was just thinking that perhaps this was all a part of how life was just lining up against him, to make him feel like he was never going to get what he had ever tried to fight for and the more he had thought about it, the more he was thinking that this was just a part of his fate was supposed to be really going for him, and he was thinking that there was no real point in trying to fight this and even less of one trying to even remotely really change it, but he was thinking that maybe there could have been a point in trying to delay it a little bit, which would have made things start to go in his favor a little bit more.

Once Ken was in the forest though, he was thinking that it was his time to confront this man, and that it was time for him to put his fears at rest. He was in the forest, and right when he got in it, he took out his energy sword with his right hand, and there was a small limp that he was having this whole time, right as he turned on the energy sword. After he had turned on the energy sword, he was now ready to be fighting the man who had ruined his life. Then the more that he was walking down the path, there was nothing that really even mattered to him that much more at that moment, since the only goal was to take this guy out, and he was not even shooting to defeat his father or anybody like that anymore, as he was starting to realize that this was really letting him down by this point. His father would have to be in the present, and at a later trail, as much as he was hating to admit this.

Eventually he was seeing the man in the purple jacket. There was nobody else in the forest behind him, although he knew that Kevin, the younger version of Ken, was going to be there. He was looking right at the guy in the purple jacket, and then he was smiling when he was seeing Ken. "I guess that no matter how hard I beat you down, you are never going to understand that I am the better fighter than you." He said, and then after he had said that, Ken was taking a deep breath and he was realizing the situation that he was in now.

"Are you saying, that you already have done this?" Ken asked, and he knew that both he and the man in the purple jacket knew what he was talking about. The man in the purple jacket was really thinking that everything this Ken man did was worthless and would never really amount to anything.

"It is not my fault that I am stronger than you all the time. You are worthless, but you may as well try to fight me this time, and you might even have a chance against me if you really did take your training at JewelBeemon hall seriously. That means that if you really tried, maybe in ten years from now, you would have beaten me right now. And yes, before you even question me, yes I did know all about your experience at JewelBeemon hall. In fact, I was one of the people who tried to set up your fate to send you there. I knew that this would be what would set up my plans to be as I expected. Sure Jewelbeemon may not really know my plans, but what they know is not all that important." The man in the purple jacket said, and then he just appeared right in front of Ken without even giving him a second to process what is happening. Then he pushed Ken right down to the ground and when Ken landed, he felt like his head was about to crack due to the fact that he hit the bottom of a tree really hard.

The Ken stood up and then he kept swinging his energy sword, but at this point in time he was mainly doing it out of anger rather than trying to actually take this guy down. He managed to get in a couple of really good hits on the man in the purple jacket right on the shoulder or something like that. Then he swung again, and then the blow this time was right on their leg. Despite the fact that he might not have been all that good this time, he was still just making so much more progress against this guy than he was doing at his younger self. When he was fighting at his younger self, he was barely able to get a single hit on the guy, and the one time that he did manage to hit the guy, it was a really bad hit and he was barely getting any damage at all. Then the man in the purple jacket grabbed Ken by the gas mask and then when they pulled the gas mask off of Ken, that was when Ken was having a really hard time breathing. He had not been breathing normal oxygen for so fucking long that he actually felt like doing this was not the norm at all. He was looking right at the man in the purple jacket and then he slashed the energy sword right down, and this time when he swung it, he took it right on the left hand of the guy, and he ended up almost cutting their hand off. But while he didn't do that since he took his hand away fast enough, he still did manage to take off the tips of each of his fingers. That was when Ken thought that on future fights, even with his hand still mostly there, he did give himself a small advantage over what was going to be happening in future fights.

Then the guy held his hand out and then as he was holding his hand out, Ken was trying hard to keep the energy sword in his hand but for some reason this guy had some form of mind power on that thing. He just focused enough and the energy sword flew right to the guy. Then Ken was terrified at this moment considering the fact that he saw that the guy in the purple jacket truly looked like he was not going to hold back this time

Then they swung the energy sword for a good swing and then after the swing, his left hand was taken right off with seemingly no effort. Then eventually, when his hand was taken off, Ken looked right at the guy and he was refusing to believe that this had actually happened at all. But then he used the stump on his right arm and then punched him right in the face as hard as he could. Then the man in the purple jacket was so shocked by the punch, he dropped it to the ground. Then Ken punched the guy over and over again with both of his hands not even caring if he was causing some infections to gather on his hands, but he was thinking that it did not really matter since one of his hands was broken in the first place. That was something that he had felt like was the much bigger problem than just simply not being able to cause himself good health with his remaining hand. Then he saw that both of themw ere getting tired by this point in time. Ken started to feel like he was about to fall down to the ground, and the man in the purple jacket seemed to understand that this was their best chance to take advantage of Ken and make him even weaker at that moment. That this could be a chance in which he could even kill Ken, which they would not really mind this time considering how much Ken really let them down and were not at all like they were expecting him to be like, since he was barely really even doing a good job at all with the training at JewelBeemon that they were being presented with.

Then the man in the purple jacket kicked Ken in the chest and then they slammed him down to the ground and then at this point in time, Ken wa slooking right up at the guy, and then he was holding his taken off hand. Then with his blood covered face, and the entire situation, Ken was taking a bunch of deep breaths. The man in the purple jacket was walking right towards Ken and they were smiling at this moment. "You thought that you actually had a real chance of being able to defeat me, My god, you are fucking worthless. I thought you would have gotten better as a result of your training and to give you credit, at least you put up a better fight than your younger self, but it seems like you are still worthless. It seems like you still need to be training more." Then with that he grabbed Ken and before he grabbed Ken, he had managed to grab his energy sword and then the man in the purple jacket snapped their left finger. When the finger was snapped, there was the blue gate that was opening right up and then they were shaking their head.

"I guess that nothing you really do matters anymore. You will never be able to beat me, no matter how much you have been trying." Then when he had said that, he threw Ken right through the blue gate and then after this happened, Ken landed right on the ground of the room in which the test started up. Which had meant that they were forcing this test to be passed.

Ken was looking up and then he was holding his broken off hand the entire time that he was slowly walking his way out of the hall. As he was walking, the more that he was thinking JewelBeemon was just not going to approve of the fact that he got out of this test in this condition. At this point in time, Ken was actually thinking that it would be better for him to just leave the training hall and never even come back by this point in time. When Ken reached the normal floor, he was looking forward and he was seing a bunch of Stingmon all in the area, and that JewelBeemon was still there. Ken was excited to get this over with, and there was a part of him that was thinking that maybe dealing with Jewelbeemon would be less evil than dealing with the man in the purple jacket.

Eventually, Ken was looking right at JewelBeemon when he was forcing himself to be staring right at them. The digimon just stared right at Ken, and then they were shaking their head. "At least you got out of there. I didn't even think that you could be able to accomplish something like this. Maybe I should have been giving you more credit than I thought you deserved." After JewelBeemon had said that, they waited for a couple of seconds before continuing.

"That being said, it is time for you to continue your training. You are here now, so there is no more time for you to waste. I hope that this provides you a lesson on when to leave the past behind." After they said that, Ken just nodded and as much as he had hated it, he was thinking that maybe he did get it this time.


	89. Escaping JewelBeemon Hall

Escaping The Hall

Eventually, when all of the training was starting to become extremely trite and repetitive, he was finding something within himself that he was feeling like was going to be a really dangerous perspective, and he was scared that he was going to get his friends killed as a result of just getting angry at this whole ordeal. But Ken was just thinking that despite the problems he was having with the training hall, he was telling himself that this whole thing was still mostly worth it, and he was thinking of what he could be able to manage with this whole thing.

Ken devoted most of his time to the fighting and the training and the more that he had been doing this, the more that he was thinking this was getting kind of boring, and he was feeling like he was really losing any sort of respect that he was having for himself. He was feeling really down upon himself, as if he was a terrible man, and that he was just messing up his entire life by doing all of these things. Eventually, as Ken was thinking about the fact that he had failed on many of the things he was supposed to be doing, he was actually feeling like he was going to be letting the digimon who had been owning this hall down, and that was something he was never really wanting to do. He was never really wanting to let down the digimon who had been training him, and he was going to do everything in his power to make them see that he was a good guy, and that he wanted to really show that he was taking his training seriously.

So for those reasons, Ken was forcing himself to be focused on the moment every single time he was training. The more focused that he was on this training, the more he was fighting down Stingmon every single day, he was not relaly even bothering with the daily dialogue that he used to love to have with the digimon, but at this point in time, he really was just not really giving a single shit in the entire world. Even though Ken was thinking that at least this Stingmon was able to at least tolerate what he was doing here, he was still feeling like he should have at least done his best and made it not look like he was just a bit of a dumb ass throughout this whole thing.

Eventually, Ken was just not really caring all that much on how much he was hating this stuff. Despite the fact that after two years of being there, he was feeling like he was mostly knowing these things, he really was not going to let any one of these things get in his mind, no matter if he was thinking he was making decent progress or not. Besides, it had looked like JewelBeemon was getting a little bit annoyed over all of the training Ken was doing, and the very slowly moving up in progress. Ken was thinking that JewelBeemon wanted better results very soon, and that was something that made Ken convinced that he should just stay out of the normal hall for almost all hours of the normal day, to avoid seeing them around and everything. Eventually, when all of these things were happening, Ken was just thinking that if he stayed out of the training hall itself on most of the day, and he was just focusing on the training itself, then JewelBeemon would finally be able to sort of accept the fact that Ken was still doing his best at this point in time. But no matter what was happening at this point in time, Ken was just thinking that it didn't really matter that much what JewelBeemon was thinking, since they were just sort of a random digimon, and as a result, they were sort of a hard ass more than anything, and Ken was starting to tell himself that these things didn't matter, what they were constantly thinking of him. As Ken was telling himself this thing, he was actually becoming more certain that this was a terribly bad mind set, but even though this was a terrible mindset, and even he knew that this was a terrible mindset, he was telling himself that it didn't really even matter what they were thinking anymore. After two years of dealing with this digimon, he was telling himself that JewelBeemon really did not know what they were doing, and what they were really actually doing at this point in time, and that when Ken would see JewelBeemon again, that this whole thing would just go all over the shitter. Ken thought that JewelBeemon really didn't really care about anything anymore, if they ever really cared anymore. This made Ken think that after two years, he was starting to see that even if Stingmon somehow cared for him, then nobody else in the hall cared for him, and that the thought of this was sort of making him feel better and feel like he was more at peace with the hard truth, but it was still the truth that was reminding him sort of why he hated Sam so much in the first place. The fact that Sam just seemed like he was self absorbed into everything else, and that was something that even if he hated this whole thing, he had to remind himself and be telling himself. He was always telling himself that there was no way in hell that these people would be able to actually compete with how terrible fucking Sam was, and that everything about Sam was just one hundred percent fucking dispiciable. Eventually, as Ken was thinking about this, Ken wanted to get one thing extra clear to his mind.

That no matter what the case was, even with all of this stupid fucking training that he had grown to utterly hate, there were still other things he needed to be dealing with at that moment. He needed to deal with the fact that sooner or later, he was going to go out there in the fucking digital world, and then when he was going out there, he was going to have to fight the hardest that he possibly could. Even though these things were always coming to Ken's mind, he was reminding himself of this fact. As Ken was thinking about this, Ken was thinking that it would be pretty fun to actually try and go out there. Well fun would not at all be the correct word, the correct word would be interesting. It would be pretty exciting to finally see if he was going to actually pull this thing out in the end of the day as well. When Ken had started to think about these things more and more, that was one thing that Ken also told himself. That he needed to get out of there as soon as possible. Well, needed was a big word, and it was kind of silly to really be saying needed, but he should at least be looking at what he was going to try and do. He was thinking about the fact that going out there was something he needed to be practicing for more and more every single day. Even if he was not really practicing the fact for being able to make JewelBeemon like him more, he was just sort of doing this for the sake of making himself actually more of a fighter when got out there more. He was fighting more and more every single day that he was here, and then the more that he was doing this, the more that he was fighting and training and he was just keeping his mind out of these things. The training was just sort of a huge rinse and repeat cycle, and it was one of the biggest pains in the asses that he had to deal with, even more than the school life, as he was thinking at the time, but he didn't really know what else he was going to do besides just deal with it. Ken thought that even Stingmon was feeling better about his progress, and seeing that Stingmon was feeling better about the progress that he was making was one of the things that made Ken start to think that this was the one thing he could tell himself was making this thing better. Was just the importance of fighting more and more. Eventually though, Ken was getting tired of it, and after a few more days of this, he was finding himself into a tough feeling and situation.

While Ken had been getting more and more tired of training here after a few days of thinking that he was giving it his all, and telling himself that he was giving it his all, there was something else that he was also starting to think. He began to wonder to himself, why the hell was he so tired of this stuff in the first place. He was thinking that it was so strange that he was feeing this way, and that he was so set on not having things go in his favor, but then he was thinking that if he was tired of this, he was thinking that maybe he just needed to get more serious with the thoughts that he was having, and he was starting to think that he needed to get more in depth with what about the digital world or at least this training hall that was pissing him off.

It seemed so sudden that he was suddenly hating this thing so much, but at the same time, he was thinking that mabe it was time for him to be thinking more about himself than anybody else. He was thinking that it was time for him to care about himself more than anything, and that him finally focusing on himself was the one thing that really made sense to do at that moment. So despite the fact that he was training hard during the day, during the night, he was getting serious about these debates that he was having with himself, and the more that he was thinking that there was something else he didn't want to do. He was starting to debate what it was like to finally question his own choice. In all reality, coming to this training hall was nobody's choice besides his own.

Eventually, when Ken was telling himself that he was already regretting his choice to go to this training hall, he was telling himself that none of this was shocking himself, that he was tired of everything going on around him. He was tired of everything not only just not going in his favor, but the fact that he never made the right choice. When he was thinking about the fact that he had never made the right choice, he was telling himself that this was really not at all surprising, and then Ken was thinking that life was just a pain in the ass. He was telling himself that when he finally decided what was wrong, he was going to talk to Stingmon about this, and then he was going to see what Stingmon can say to this whole ordeal he was going through, if they wanted or could say anything on the matter at all, which Ken would not be surprised, as much as he hated it, if they claimed they did not.

But despite the feelings that Ken was having this entire time, there was one thing that he was thinking about that he never will want to admit for the rest of his life. The fact that he was so scared to be making the truth come out at that moment. It was making him feel like he was weak for doing this. But then eventually as Ken was thinking that he was going to have to make peace with the fact that he was possibly making mistakes, he was also telling himself that Ken was just bored and maybe it was just the fatigue that he had been feeling over this whole thing was really pushing all of this to the same extent that it had been going on. As he was thinking about JewelBeemon, there was one other thing that he needed to admit. And that was the fact that he needed to accept the fact that there was always a path that he could go down eventually. That there was a real path he could really make himself proud of, and that all he needed was just to keep his eye on the ending goal. As Ken was telling himself to just be thinking about the ending goal, Ken told himself that no matter what will happen in the future, he would be pushing in all the effort he would be able to possibly put in regardless of the situation that was going on right then and there.

There was something that Ken was thinking at that moment, the moment that he was waking up one of these days. As he had been getting up, he was thinking about the fact that Stingmon just didn't really see where he was coming from, and he was also thinking that Ken and Stingmon were just not nearly as good of a duo as he had been hoping that he was thinking that he would have been. After Ken was thinking that in all reality, the digimon was not really in his side on anything, and that Stingmon was just sort of watching him and training him for the sake of the idea to be able to pretend they were just sort of fulfilling their job at that point in time.

But then Ken was thinking that there was something else that had been going on. "Ken, I see that you are distracted right now." Stingmon said, and then Ken had been looking at the place where he had lost his hand from fighting the man in the purple jacket back in the day. After Ken was thinking about the fact that he had lost his hand in a way that he was never thinking even possible, he was telling himself that maybe he did deserve this whole thing after all. Ken was then just looking up and then after he had said and he been thinking about the fact that he did not deserve a single thing in the world that had been going on at that point in time, Ken was just feeling like he was going to be able to at least talk with Stingmon for a little bit at that moment, to at least get the digimon to see what they were thinking of him at that moment.

"I guess that I am distracted right now. I am just thinking about some things right now. I don't really know why I am thinking about all of these things so much right now. I am just trying to figure what is placing me off of here right now. But I think that when somebody tells me what the problem is, then I think that maybe I am going to finally go the way that I should be going. I am going to finally accept the fact that I just am at a stand still, and that life is never really going to go my fucking way right now." After Ken was thinking about the fact that he was still sort of in a stand still, he was wondering if that was really such a bad thing at that moment.

"Well, you know that you will need to do your best in these lessons, and that you can't place these things off forever. I think that you are aware of what is going on now. I think that you just understand the point of why you are here. You came here because you wanted to train and you wanted to get stronger, and fucking sulking around and acting like you are in the worst spot in the world is not going to give you that. As much as you are not wanting to admit that this is the truth, you know that this is true. Now when you are going to finally see these things for what they are?" Stingmon asked, and it was at this point in time in which Stingmon was not even caring if they were sounding like they were being a bit of a dick at that moment. They wanted to make Ken see that there was more to this than they really wanted to admit it.

"I get that this is why I am here right now. I am not going to deny that fact. I get that there is more things that I need to take care of right now. I think that maybe I have over stayed my visit here. I am not going to fucking try and lie about the way that I am feeling on the situation that I am in right now. But I guess that you will never understand why I feel like this right now. I don't really even think that you care all that much. It just seems like you are only there to sort of just trying to pretend you like me. I get that I have already said these things before, but I guess that you don't really want to admit the truth. Even though this is the truth, and I am able to tell that this is the case, you probably just don't really care. I think you have never really cared all that much what I say." Ken said, and then he was feeling it was terrible that he was sort of having this type of a hissy fit in this moment, but when Ken was thinking about what he was doing at that moment. there was something else that he was telling himself.

That was that there was still something about this whole situation that he didn't really understand. He didn't understand why these things had been bothering him so much. As he was thinking about the fact that he was not really sure why these things had been bothering him so much, there was something else that he was telling himself. And that was that he just needed to sort of accept the fact that not everybody really had the same values as him. When Ken thought about the fact that Stingmon never really cared, and there was that other sinking thought that was going on in his mind, he was having sort of two heavy hitters going on in his mind. Two things that he felt like he was just going to have to start having to peace together.

That was when Ken was telling himself that he was really missing out on so many things. There was another thing that he was sure about at that moment. And the thing that he was certain about at that moment was something else he was not really sure what to think about entirely. He was thinking about the fact that Stingmon and JewelBeemon almost seemed to be working together. Not in the way that they were in the same hall, so they sort of had no real choice, but the fact that Ken was thinking that they were actually trying to throw his life under the bridge in some form or fashion. It was something that he was willing to look back on as totally stupid, but there was something else he was telling himself he needed to say. That maybe being stupid but also safe was better than being smart and dumb. Better than just not looking into different things and just thinking that things were totally fine as they are.

As Ken had been thinking about all of these things, and the fact that this was what he was finally feeling like was the truth, there was another thing that he told himself at that moment. That life was just a fucking pain in the ass. That life was just not what Ken wanted things to be like at this rate. Eventually, Ken was starting to think about the pain that the fake hand was giving him. He didn't really know why, he was thinking that the pain he was giving himself by just having it was in some cases even worse than the pain that he was giving himself by just having the arm be off, and then at least there would be no doubt that nothing had been going to be in his favor. At least then with the total missing arm, he was going to be able to at least be real with himself. But then with this, with this arm stump, he was telling himself that he needed to be there, and he needed to pretend to be happy, and he needed to act like he didn't really mind the fact that he had this thing on, but in all reality, this fucking arm was pissing him off more than anything else in the entire world.

"I guess that thinking about things too much longer are not really going to turn things around at all anymore. I guess that I need to go home now. I need to get right back in the mindset of other things. I need to start to train today." Ken said, and he was telling himself that he was going to pretend to be in the mood, and for a moment, it was almost working. He went through the training practice session that day, and it was almost feeling like he was able to do the session just fine. But then at the end of it all, there were a couple of things that he was thinking about at that moment. One of which was the fact that he was thinking he really did not want to be there, and the other was more subtle, but at the same time, he was thinking it was a big mistake for not getting it at all.

It had been two years since Ken joined the order of JewelBeemon. After he joined the group, he had started to think that the world around him was different. He was looking at the world in a way that he was never really expecting to really perceive it. As if he was not really too sure where this was actually going to go. In fact, the fact that this was just how his life had been the last two years, while it was something of great promise when he first joined the order, was something that in all reality, he was starting to see was actually one of the biggest mistakes that he had ever made in his entire life, and he was not at all ashamed to admit that at all.

When Ken was going through his now repetitive and boring daily training session, he was thinking about expressing how he had felt to JewelBeemon, hoping that the digimon would be able to understand how he had felt. Since it was really starting to bog him down, and it was really making him feel like he was losing any desire to continue this shit anymore. He felt like he was just wanting to go out there in the world. "Stingmon, I know that you would not really get it at all. You would probably just think that I am wrong for even having these ideas right now, but at the moment, I am thinking about leaving this fucking hall. Going out, and actually living a life. I think that I have been here for two years now, and that this is a long enough time for me to really get used to the entire world around me. I feel like this is just the one place I don't really even want to think about going to anymore. I am just sort of tired of even thinking about being her anymore. "Ken said, and then he was thinking about how much he had really grown to just fucking hate life by this point in time, and he was not really caring what Stingmon would say to this anymore.

"I guess I sort of get it. I mean, you have been here for a while. Maybe finally going out there and seeing the world a bit more is what you actually need right now. I think that you should just try to explain yourself to JewelBeemon, and see what they have to say about this. I think that they would not really mind the idea of you going out on your own. You just need to get them to be aware of the fact that you are now feeling this way about what is going on. I think that no matter what you think of my master, that they do have a little bit of an understanding of how young men like you are." Stingmon said, and then Ken was thinking that it was just fucking crazy how he spent two out of his eighteen years of even being alive on top of this mountain, and he knew nothing besides how these digimon looked pretty much, which was making him feel real down right at that moment.

"I don't really think that you understand how your master works. Maybe it is because of the fact that you have lived with them for such a long time that you don't get it, but I think that you are indeed giving your master way too much credit. I guess that if I lived with something for so long, I would start to feel the need to defend this... No fuck that, this is not even all that true on its own. Since I knew exactly what my older brother was like, and I felt like he was one of the worst people that I have ever gotten the displeasure of getting to know in my entire fucking life." Ken said, and he was just feeling very firm about the fact that he was growing to hate his brother more and more as he was looking back at it, and Ken was starting to think it would not be shocking if his brother actually had wanted him dead before Ken felt even remotely that same way about Sam. It was easily the worst situation that the two siblings were actually in.

"I think that you just feel that way because you were not able to actually have a family that really was at your side from the start. I feel bad about the fact that you are that way, but don't really worry about it. I just think you need to talk to JewelBeemon. Once you speak to them a bit more, they will at least be forced to listen to you, and then they will see that you are in no way a bad dude, and they will actually respect your wishes. They may even be able to actually start you down the road." As Stingmon said that, Ken was trying his best to be feeling this exact same way about the situation, but no matter how hard he was trying, it was fucking failing for him to actually feel that way at that moment, so he was just shaking his head, and he refused to admit this anymore.

Despite the way that he was feeling about the situation, Ken nodded and then he was feeling like he could just let the subject drop. "Yeah, maybe you are right. I guess I could at least talk with them and see what they would say to this." Ken said, and then after he had said that, he was just trying to tell himself that JewelBeemon would be fine with this. Eventually as Kenw as telling himself that JewelBeemon would be fine with this, he got himself into that mind set that he just needed to ask the digimon for some help in terms of getting the hell out of there. Eventually, he was ready to be asking them the questions that he felt like he was putting off for far too long by that point in time.

Eventually, Ken was ready to do it, even though a part of him was utterly convinced that this was going to fail. "Fine, I am going to try and ask this question to JewelBeemon. I doubt that it is actually going to work out, but I think that maybe you might be right here. I might as well at least try and see what they say to my offer. I just really hope for fucks sake that they are going to give me a chance to do this." Ken said, and then he was walking right to the door of the training hall and then he opened the door. Stingmon was right at his side, feeling like he was going to finally help Ken out in this fucking way.

As Ken was inside, he was seeing that JewelBeemon was just sitting down, and they were sort of wondering what Ken was going to say. They were getting tired of everything going in Ken's direction, but they were thinking that there was a chance that what was going to happen now would be able to finally go in their favor. So Ken was eventually right in front of them, and then Stingmon was right at Ken's side, as if they were excited to see that Ken was finally having the courage to sort of taking things to his own moment.

"Master JewelBeemon, I know that you have not given me the approval to get the hell out of here, but I was hoping that you would let me go now. I mean, I have been here for nearly two years now. I feel like I have started to make a decent amount of progress here. I know that I am asking a lot of you, and you have already given me many things, and I think that maybe asking you for this is not nearly reasonable enough of a thing to be doing right now, but I feel like for both of us, that this is the best thing for us to do. That I can just get out of here, and start to move on and make my own life. My own journey. I think that this was what you really wanted of me in the first place anyway. Just to finally have the balls to get out there and do this shit on my own. I feel like this is the one thing that we both need in fact. So please just let this thing go, and I will go out, and I will be the hero that I have been wanting to do now. So I hope that you say yes to my offer to let me out of here. I hope that you don't see that I am asking too much of you or anything like that at all." Ken said, and then he was feeling like this was going to get him either out of here or dead.

"You come in here, after barely surviving your last test, and barely making any progress, then you come along that you can go out there and fight the monsters of the digital world all on your own. I think that you are making a bit mistake by even making this assumption right now." After JewelBeemon had said that, they were looking like they were tempted to get up and start questioning Ken on my motives of the moment. Ken was starting to think that he was really not making the right choice on the whole ordeal. But then Ken was just looking down, and he was trying to find a way to explain things to make it so that way JewelBeemon would actually be able to side with Ken on what was going on, actually make them see his perspective for once in their life.

"But here is the thing, and this is something that has been told to me from time and time again. Even if I am not all that great when compared to you, I will still probably be pretty decent when compared to everything else that is out there, I think I will be fine. And besides, if I leave this area, then I guess I won't really be much of a problem for you. I think that this might be the best thing for you right now. To just get the hell out of here, and then I can move on from my life, and then you can be able to start training the digimon here better and not have to be dealing with me right now anymore." After Ken was saying this, he was waiting for JewelBeemon to finally respond, as if thinking that this conversation went way more down hill than they would have ever comprehended that it would have been able to actually take.

"I took you in because I was seeing that there is potential for you to be one of my main helpers. I thought that you could be able to help my army out when I was going to go out there and try my crusade." JewelBeemon said to Ken, and as the young man heard JewelBeemon reveal their true intentions, Ken looked at the Stingmon in the area. The general ones that were already in the hall and standing around seemed to not pay what was going on even a second notice, as if they already knew all of these things. But then he was seeing that the one that had been training Ken up this entire time seemed to be sort of confused.

"What is the point of this training? Why are you trying to send me on a crusade? I thought that you were just trying to save me and make me able to be out there in the world and have a chance of survival. I thought that you actually cared about what could happen to me." After Ken had said that, that was when he was seeing that JewelBeemon just felt bad for Ken for the fact that he was too stupid to figure this out on their own.

"You know what, I thought that you would have figured these things out. I thought that you would have learned that you should never trust anybody with all of your respect. That you should never try and make some friends in your life, because they can turn on you." JewelBeemon had said, but then Ken was thinking that this was a bit of a bad combination, and that Ken would rather not be dealing with being a total recluse at that moment.

"The thing is, I would rather pretend to have friends who are there for me who can care about me over nothing and be forced to just live a life where I am basically having to look over every single second of my life. I just want to act like there is somebody out there who cares about my well being." Ken said, and then he was keeping his right hand right where he was holing his energy sword, as if he was ready to be using that at any moment to take down these enemies. Well, he was hoping that he could trust the Stingmon that trained him at least long enough to where they could be able to fight with each other for a moment longer.

"I know what you are probably thinking right now. You probably really think that you can figure this out. But I think that you are just not able to fully understand the fact that nobody else is really going to actually going to be at your side." JewelBeemon had continued for a while longer, and then Ken was just looking away and then he was just sort of feeling like the biggest idiot in the entire world for not being able to really figure these things out all at this point in time. Then he just was looking down, feeling a bit sad over what was going on at that moment.

"I still want to know something. This is going to be going back to the original point of my question here. I have made it very clear that I have no interest to really help you out right now. I think that even you must see that I have no interest in helping you on that level. So would you be willing to just give me one final lesson, and then if I pass on it, then I am able to get the hell out of here. But if I fail the test, then I have to stay here until the next year when I get another chance to finally prove myself here." Ken said, and then after he had said that, JewelBeemon was just watching Ken as if they were not able to understand the fact that Ken was still acting like this was any form of a option at all, and JewelBeemon was starting to think that they were actually even dumber than they possibly even remotely thought that Ken would have been.

"I don't really care what you want right now. You thought that I would actually let you out of here just because you pass a test? I am going to let you leave this place. You came here, and you are going to stay here, and that is all that there is going to be to this whole thing. I will not try and change my opinion at all because you are starting to feel like you don't really want to be here anymore." JewelBeemon stood up and then they were walking right towards Ken, and this was when the teenager was feeling extra scared of the master that they had for the last couple of years, finally thinking that they were going to break down and actually make Ken's life the most miserable that it possibly could have ever been. As Ken was actually thinking that he really fucked up this time, he was just looking away, as if he was still not going to fucking budge on this whole thing. Eventually, when Ken was just thinking this, he was thinking about what he was going to do next. He had two options.

One of them was to just leave this place, and to deal with the fact that he was not really allowed to be going anywhere anymore. Pretty much resign and let this be his life forever. That was one of his options. But then there was the second option, and that second option was to actually declare that he was done with these things, and that he was going to go on with his life, and make an enemy with JewelBeemon and the rest of the Stingmon that there in this hall, at least that was what he was thinking could be able to really happen. But as he was thinking about the fact that these were his two main options, he knew that neither one of them were really going to go in his favor at all.

"If that is how it is going to be, then I fucking quit. I am not going to go with you anymore." Ken had said, and then after he said that, he simply started to walka way. As he was walking away, the Stingmon that had been training him all of this time was actually thinking about what was going on, actually thinking that maybe they should be leaving with Ken. As he was walking off, that was when Stingmon started to actually follow him, rather taking the side of this random human than the side of the digimon that was now openly admitting that they were planning on taking over the entire digital world. That was when JewelBeemon waved their hand, as if they were trying to indicate something else, and that was when all the Stingmon came forward and then they were all having their beam swords from their body turned on, blocking his way from escape.

"I told you that you were not going to get out of here. I said something, and while you are in this hall, I am your master still. You are my apprentice. You will be my protege who will take over after me. I already made my choice. You are a human. That gives you a huge advantage that as much as I hate to admit it, that digimon will never be able to have. This makes it so that the digimon fear you and will respect you. This is because they are not too aware of human culture, and they fear what humans are like. you can use that fear to bring them to cower to you. That is why you need to stay here, and why you are going to take my spot when I am no longer master here." After JewelBeemon had said that, Ken was just looking right back at JewelBeemon, thinking that this was going to be one of the worst mistakes that he was going to make, and that he was being a wreckless teenager no matter how he was looking at this matter was going to be sort of a dumb ass.

"You know, the thing is, that on earth, I would be at an age where I would be considered an adult now. I would not be old enough to where I would be expected to make my own choices in life, and not be following what my guardians tell me to do all the time. I think that you are messing up and making a big fucking mistake by telling me to follow down your path. I have every right to choose what I am going to do right now." Ken said, and even he knew at that moment that he was sounding like a bit of a idiot while he was saying this, but at that moment, it was sounding like it was a good comment. Then JewelBeemon was just watching in silence as if he was wondering what Ken was finally going to do. Then he was grabbing the energy sword, as if totally convinced that he was going to have to be using that right now. That this fight was going to be the one that would really determine if he was really ready to actually go out there in the digital world. Mainly because he was starting to become more and more convinced that this was going to be the fight he might die at if he wasn't careful enough.

"That is where you are already making the next biggest mistake in your assessment here. You are not on fucking earth anymore. You are in the digital world. Just because this world was created by some beings that were from earth does not mean that we are on earth. I guess that you just don't really understand the difference between the digital world and your 'real' world. I think that you need to understand that the rules here are so vastly different that you just don't even know how to comprehend." After JewelBeemon had said this, Ken was placing his finger right on the button that would turn the blade on, getting more and more ready that he is going to use this thing.

Eventually, Ken was just thinking about several things at that moment. 'I need to find a way to get out of here. I need to actually manage to survive is the bigger thing. I have no idea how the hell I am going to survive this fight is the biggest problem going on right now. I think that every single one of these Stingmon is better than me. And I only have one that might be working at my side. That is going to make things so much harder for me right now. I just don't fucking know what I need to do right now. I think that no matter what choice I make, I am going to really regret this whole thing. But I need to make this choice.' After Ken had said that to himself, he was then looking at the Stingmon that he was thinking was going to be at his side this whole time.

Despite the fact that he was thinking that this one Stingmon was going to be at his side, there was another part of him that was telling himself that he needed to be real here. 'I guess that maybe there is a very high chance that this Stingmon is just trying to make me weaker, and trying to make me think that they care about me, and they are going to turn on me. But I need to think that there is a chance that I might be able to have at least one thing at my side. I mean, back at Wayside, Todd was at my side. Maurecia, Dana, Myron, Jenny, Shari, Steven were all at my side. Even Wyatt and Sheldon were sort of on my side at that moment. But holy shit, I don't really think that anybody is at my side anymore. Even if my brother were at my side when he was alive, the very fact that he is dead ruins that, and there is the fact that I fucked his girlfriend, which would make him hate me forever if he had found out about that. I am certain that they are not really at my side either, Susan I mean. Besides, the only one who I think that would sort of be on my side if we were on earth right now would be Brad. But he is giving himself lung cancer right now by the mass amounts of cigarettes that he has been smoking, and I don't really think that I can trust him all that much, as terrible as that may be for me to admit. I think that he is going to die before he would really get the chance to see if he is an ally or not. Maybe that is for the best, thinking that he might really be at my side before he might be able to ruin any doubt that he is not. God, that is really going to suck fucking ass if it turned out that he is at least not at my side right now.'

Eventually, Ken was looking right at JewelBeemon, and there there was one stream of thoughts that went through more in his mind before he had finally made his choice. 'Besides, there is only really one way that this can go. I think that either way, I am going to have to fight all of these Stingmon. If I can take down even some of these, I might be able to actually reduce who is here, and I might be able to fucking destroy JewelBeemon's wishes of taking over the entire digital world. Now that I think about it, that can be something that I might be able to really use to go in my favor. Damn it, even if I die, I can say that I help prevent the size of their army growing at least a little bit more. I guess that this at least can be something that I can hang my hat on. All I need to do is just fight them until they were either all gone, or until I manage to just fight my way out of here. There is not even all that man monsters here right now, so it won't really be all that big of a trouble to deal with now. I least, I don't really presume that it would be able to be all that big of a deal. This is one of the hardest choices that I have in my life. I mean, I have already chosen that I am going to be fighting these things right now. That is easy for me to decide. The matter is more of which one I am going to go with first, and which one I think will give me the highest chance of being able to survive. The route that can get me the most kills, as if I was trying to get the high score of a fucking video game. Fuck it, it worked enough times when I was at Wayside. I guess I can just go right in and fucking swing the whole thing, and be able to hope that this is going to go the way that I am hoping that it would, and I think that luck will go in my way, and I will just kick ass taking this guy down.' That was when Ken had felt like he had made his choice.

When Ken felt like he had made his choice, he turned on the energy sword and really let the green light shine brightly to show his purity, and then he turned around to one of the Stingmon that was blocking their way, and then he swung right up their body, and then that was when all of the other ones started to get ready to fight him, ready to kill him in case it needed to be done.

After he was in this fight that he was not really too sure on if he was going to regret, there was one thing that he knew for sure, that this was easily the worst and dumbest choice that he had made in his entire life up until this point in time. One of the Stingmon hit Ken right in the face with their left first, which had a few spikes on it, and that was able to give Ken a bit of a bleeding nose. He was walking back for a moment as the Stingmon who was at Ken's side this whole time got behind the digimon who hurt Ken and stabbed them right in the fucking back at that moment. By doing this, this limited down how many Ken had to fight by just another single one.

Eventually, Ken and the Stingmon who was helping him out had their backs right towards each other, and Ken was telling himself for a moment that this was the most cliche thing that he was in at that moment, the situation where the two of them had their backs to each other. As this was happening, Ken was taking a deep breath, just not really able to process the fact that this was now where he was at this moment. The fact that he was fighting these monsters in the first place.

As one of the other Stingmon started to swing at him, Ken and that Stingmon blocked each other back and fourth for a few seconds, and Ken was feeling like his lower amount of training was slowly starting to get to him as he was really not able to hold his own against this digimon, no matter how hard he had been really trying to do this. The Stingmon jabbed the blade and it cut a huge mark right where Ken's left leg was, and then Ken grabbed them by the shoulder, and then he stabbed them really deeply and then he pulled them out after a few seconds. It sucked to him that even after two years of this training, and doing it daily, he was still sort of having a hard time keeping up with fighting them at this point in time. He turned around and saw that the Stingmon who was working with Ken was able to sort of do a decent job fighting two of them at once.

After Ken watched for a couple of seconds, he was seeing as the Stingmon was at his side slashing one of them down and taking them down this way, and then they were still fighting one of them at that moment. The entire time that this fight was happening, JewelBeemon was watching, as if finding it very entertaining that Ken was actually doing this, but with each one that he had defeated, they were starting to think more and more that they might actually have a chance on surviving this after all, which was making them feel much more excited to see where this was actually going to go.

Eventually, as this was happening, Ken was forced to get right back into the fight when there was another one that came at him, and Ken was thinking that it was nice that they have doubled up on him quite yet, as that would have made things much worse than they already were by this point in time. As Ken was thinking about the fact that he was almost certainly going to lose this fight, he thought that he still managed to take down two of them on his own, and that Stingmon took down another two, so four of them had been defeated by this point in time. The fight that Ken had with that Stingmon lasted for about two minutes or so, since he was barely able to keep up with the attacks at all, and he was thinking that the fact that he really exerting all of his efforts into this one digimon, and the fact that he was just simply a human doing this. It was at this point in time when he was thinking that he had a greater chance of being equal to the man in the purple jacket that he had a chance to be equal to any of this digimon, since at least he was not biologically created to be a huge fighting monster.

Despite the fact that this fight lasted about two minutes or so, and he was barely able to really keep up with this whole thing at all, he did eventually defeat that Stingmon by slashing them right in half, and then Ken looked right around and then he was taking a bit of a deep breath, and then after that point in time, Ken was wiping his face, and he was just sweating at this point in time, probably because of the that he was feeling from the energy sword all right up close to him for prolonged periods of them. But then Ken was thinking that maybe he should get a different weapon for that very reason, so that way he was not going to get even more worn down by just simply having this weapon near him.

Ken was holding the energy sword down, and he was looking like he was kind of hunched over for just a couple of seconds. It was just a bit of his pose that he was having, and then he was looking right around, and he was seeing that as the battle was going on, Stingmon was getting better and better at this, slowly being able to take down more of these monsters. Ken thought that maybe it was because they were gathering the experience of getting more and more of these fought rather than just like one or two of them, and then by that point, they were able to know how to fight these things more than anything else by that point.

The fight was lasting for a while, and the entire time that this happened, JewelBeemon barely moved a single muscle and Ken was struggling to take down even a single one at a time. There was another one that came to him, and they kicked him right in the face, and knocked a couple of teeth off of him, and then Ken was feeling like his artificial hand was about to break again. After his trial that he had gone through up at his first year of being there, Ken was given a fake hand that looked like almost an exact replica by JewelBeemon. That was the one thing Ken felt like they had done well. And then Ken was thinking that there may have been something that was programmed in there to help give him the edge in a battle, and that maybe this was actually scripted right from the start, and that JewelBeemon had actually planned this whole thing out from the start. Ken would really not at all be shocked if this was what was going to happen. That feeling that Ken had to go through with a fake hand was sort of like taking baby steps for the first several days of having the new hand, and it was now seeming like JewelBeemon was only being nice to Ken because they knew what was going to be coming out of this if they did this.

Ken was now totally and utterly convinced that there was a new function in that other hand that was given to him, and that he just needed to find a way to activate it. Ken decided that when this battle was over, and he was about to escape, he was going to figure it out then. So he was just fighting that Stingmon for about a minute and a half or so, but he eventually took the digimon down and he was looking over and seeing that Stingmon was only having to deal with about one of them left, and Stingmon was looking like they were kicking ass by this point in time. By the time that they were done fighting around, they were looking right at Ken, and that was looking like this was going to be exactly what Ken needed. He looked forward and he was watching JewelBeemon.

Ken was looking right at JewelBeemon, and then he was turning off his energy sword. There was a split second of thought in his mind that was telling himself that he really did make the wrong choice by doing this. "I defeated all of your Stingmon here. You really did not have that impressive of a army if you actually thought that these digimon would have been able to take over the entire world on their own. In fact, it is nothing short of stupid that you guys actually felt that way." Ken said, and now he was feeling like he was being a bit cocky and then he was rubbing the fake hand a little bit, still convinced there was something there. Now JewelBeemon was getting extra excited, to see where this was going to go now.

"I think that you over estimate your odds. You think that this was something that I didn't at least consider the outcome of? You must be thinking that I at least considered this outcome. I at least thought that this could have happened. But if you are actually thinking that I didn't at least think this, then you really are probably more stupid than I ever would have thought that you were. God, I can't actually get over the fact that you were thinking that I didn't at least consider this to be an actual outcome. Anyways, there is something that I think you are not considering..." JewelBeemon said, and then they were balling up their fist a bit more, and then Kenstill was thinking that maybe he should have been more careful about this whole thing right from the start.

Eventually, Ken was looking at the Stingmon who had been helping him out this whole time. "I will admit though, I did not really expect that Stingmon to actually think that they should be helping you out. I did not actually think that they were going to fall under your perception of life. That is the one thing that I will admit that I could have never even fucking fathomed this whole time. I mean, how did you manage to get a very loyal digimon to even start listening to you?" JewelBeemon questioned, and their hand was right at their chin, and Ken was thinking that it kind of sucked how this whole time, this was pretty much the only thing going in his favor the whole time.

"I don't really understand though... What is even the point of you trying to take over the world in the first place? Do you really think that this is going to give you anything? I just don't really understand it. Maybe that is one thing that you and the man in the purple jacket have in common." Kenw as pondering out loud, wondering why this entire thing was always going back to that stupid fucking guy, and in all honesty, it was actually kind of pissing him off by this point in time.

"I think that this is one of the few things that you will never understand. The fact that there is a jungle in this world. Not a literal jungle mind you. But we are all digimon that are fighting for survival. Despite the fact that there seems to be the appearance of some form of law and order when you were at Metal City for the first time, and there was a council, there is something of a war going around the digital world at all times, going on in different ways. We are just a simple section of the war. One that is able to actually plan out and wait for when things are starting to go in our favor. We are actually smart enough to do things like that. But I don't really think you would understand. You don't understand that we are having a never ending world war." After JewelBeemon was walking towards Ken, Ken had been feeling like at that moment that this was actually going to be the one time he might actually have a chance in fighting JewelBeemon after all. Ken was sure that he was not going to really stand a chance, but at that moment, he was just not really caring if he was going to defeat this thing. If he could at least weaken it a little bit, then he could be able to get the hell out of there soon enough.

"So there being a digital war is your excuse for throwing away any honor that you have?" Ken asked, and he was raising his voice as he had said that, throwing any sign of patience that he had away, and then he was looking right at JewelBeemon seeing that they had not really given a single shit over the fact that they were talking like this at all. "I thought that you would have used this as a chance to show at least some form of honor and respect for the life of actually being reasonable here. And yet here you are, telling me that fighting a war totally justifies the idea of letting your entire clan fucking die? I just killed your entire clan basically just because you wanted me to join you in a fight that I had no interest in at all." After Ken said that, he was tired of talking down to JewelBeemon, but as he was talking more, he was hoping that sooner or later he would be able to actually make this digimon break down more and that JewelBeemon would actually support him. Despite the fact that even at that moment, Ken was thinking it was going to be a tall tale, he was still going along with this as much as he felt like he could have been able to go along with this.

"I think that if you actually knew the fucking truth of this place, you would not really be acting so high and righteous. You would not be acting like you are knowing what you are talking about more than you actually do. If you actually knew what this world was like, you would never tell me that I was making the wrong choices. But here you are, speaking as if you have every right in the world to tell me that I am wrong for the way that I am acting right now." After JewelBeemon said this, and for the first time, they were really taking in the damage, they were thinking that maybe Ken really was somebody they had to fear much more than they had wanted to admit.

"I think that the lack of any humanity that you have right now is easily the biggest weakness that you have. If you actually knew what it was like to be a normal fucking digimon, then you would be more respected. There would be more digimon who would be here to train with you. That is where you made your biggest mistake if you were to be asking me on the matter." After Ken had said that, he was really feeling like he was basically committing suicide in front of JewelBeemon, and that any chance they were able to give Ken to speak his mind out was just being more and more thrown away at this point in time. Then Ken was thinking that this was what he needed to do at that moment. Make them angry, and make them actually start to freak out over the fact that he was placing the digimon down like this.

"In all reality, I think that you are the one who really doesn't know what you are talking about young man. It is a shame that no matter what has happened with you, that you still do not really understand what it is like to actually have some level of common understanding of the way that things are run here. I guess that maybe you just have a problem with the way that life is perceived in your eyes at this moment. I guess that there is nothing else that I can say right now. I think that even though it is fun to debate with humans and everything, that it is time for us to leave this all behind, and I think that you know exactly where this is going to be going now. I think you know that I am not going to willingly let you leave this place. But if you are going to try, and if you are going to try and leave this world behind, then I guess I might just try and prevent you from even surviving, to decrease the risk of the truth being let out here." JewelBeemon had said and then Ken was now getting right back in the mindset that he was feeling like he should have been in this entire time. He turned on the energy sword.

"Ken, we should probably get out of here. I don't think that you really have a chance to do this right now. There is no way that you are going to destroy JewelBeemon." Despite the way Stingmon was kind of sounding like a dick saying this, Ken was still thinking that there was a level of truth to what they were saying, but Ken was thinking that he still really needed to try his best at this.

Eventually, as the energy sword was turned on, JewelBeemon threw their cape away, and in hindsight Ken realized that them having a cape was the most cliche thing that this monster could have had. Then there was a spear that they had grabbed. Once they had the spear in their hands, Ken was thinking that this might be a fight he could win after all, considering the fact that this was just a spear, and Ken had a weapon that can literally cut through fucking things with no real problem at all.

Ken stabbed JewelBeemon by doing one of those pointing attacks, and then the energy sword hit them right in the shoulder, and it managed to cut about a half inch deep and then JewelBeemon held out their hand and then Ken flew right across the floor, and then he was feeling like he was about to have to go to the hospital, or at least that would have been the case if he had actually been on earth at that moment.

Eventually, Ken was standing up again and then he was taking a deep breath, not really wanting to admit the fact that this digimon basically just showed some form of force power. Stingmon slashed their blade right at the left side of JewelBeemon and then there was a scream that was held for a couple of seconds. Then there was the spear that the digimon had, and then they pushed the spear right through the chest of Stingmon and then Stingmon flew right across the room as well. They were on the wall for a few seconds, and then they forced themselves up after this, and they were starting to slowly walk on over to JewelBeemon, and then Ken had to grab the energy sword hilt again, in order to still have something that he would be able to actually use against this monster, knowing that this fight was something he really did not sign up for at all.

Ken started the blade up again, and the sound that it made was pretty cool as Ken was starting to realize at that moment, but when they were thinking about the fact that there was another chance that Ken had to get rid of that fucking spear. Ken felt like if he was able to take down the fucking spear, then that would really be all that they needed at that moment. All Ken was focused on at that moment was just getting that spear away from them, and then he would be fucking set.

Then he was running right towards JewelBeemon and then he swung his energy sword as hard as he could and when he was swinging it, that made him take a second to really process what was going on at that moment. He saw that JewelBeemon and their spear did not really break at all, despite the fact that Ken hit it with all of his might. That was when Ken was getting scared on where this was going to go next. As Ken was thinking about the fact that he had just fucked up his chances at that moment, that was when Ken was thinking about what he else he could be able to do in order to get this digimon to get at least a bit weaker and everything.

JewelBeemon then swung their spear around to the point where it landed on the ground, and by doing this, there was a small earthquake that it had caused in the hall. Ken fell down right on his moment and then JewelBeemon kicked Ken right in the face when he was on the ground, to further the nose breaking situation that he was already being given at the start of this whole thing. Stingmon flew right to JewelBeemon with their beam sword pointing right towards the neck of JewelBeemon, which they felt like despite how strong the digimon was normally, that there was no way in hell they would be able to survive a fucking stab to the fucking neck.

But JewelBeemon knew what they were planning on doing before the flight was even taken, and JewelBeemon grabbed their blade right with their left hand, and they were looking like they had not been feeling any amount of pain at all. Then JewelBeemon looked right at Stingmon and then they laughed for a couple of seconds. "You think I don't remember those types of moves? Do you forget the fact that I originally was a Stingmon of my own, before I managed to evolve and become stronger than you?" JewelBeemon was saying, and they were starting to crack the beam sword to make it useless, and then Ken jumped up and then he kicked JewelBeemon right in the chest when he jumped up with both of his feet and then JewelBeemon rolled on the ground for a few moments, and then their spear went away, and then Ken was thinking that this was going to be his chance to finally get an advantage over the digimon, if he was lucky enough to actually get that.

JewelBeemon just looked right at Ken, and they were thinking that it was slightly sad that Ken actually managed to get even a short term advantage them for even a moment. But then Ken tried to stab them in the neck, which would kill them, but then JewelBeemon blocked it by raising their hand up, and then Ken was just stabbing through their hand, and creating a hole right in the hand. JewelBeemon did not look like they were really in that much pain at all. It was as if JewelBeemon had to deal with this before.

Then before Ken could withdraw the blade, JewelBeemon was standing up, and then they were pushing Ken right down to the ground and then Ken was feeling the ejection of the blade happening as JewelBeemon pulled out their hand, so any short term advantage that Ken might have been able to have was literally thrown out the window right then and then. Then JewelBeemon was starting to grab Ken's head with both of their hands. They were ready to give the killing blow when Stingmon flew right to JewelBeemon's face and since JewelBeemon was more focused on trying to kill Ken, for once they did not notice what was happening as Stingmon stabbed them right in the eye, almost killing them right on the spot. It actually made JewelBeemon let go of Ken and yelp for several long moments. For a brief moment, Ken was actually feeling bad that this was the situation that JewelBeemon was in, since despite how awful they were, the thing was still a normal and breathing and real digimon.

Eventually, Ken was thinking that this really was his chance to get the hell out of there. He was holding his fake hand for a moment, and he was feeling like there was something of a bump eventually, He started to mess with the bump a bit more and he was seeing that there was a bit of a latch. He opened it right up and then he was seeing that there was five buttons in there, one for each finger.

When Ken realized what this was probably meant to do, Ken was aiming right at the torch that was closest to him. He pressed the second button and then his hand opened up their index finger and then it shot something that looked like a bit of a missile right to the torch which not only collapsed that bit of the wall where the torch was, but it was starting a fire on the ground, and Ken was thinking that it was ironic that he had been able to use the one thing that JewelBeemon gave him for his own favor. It really was one of the most ironic things that he could think of in a way. Eventually, as this was happening, Ken and Stingmon left the training hall and then Stingmon looked right at Ken.

"Not really the way that I was expecting to leave this place. Burning down and destroying the place that I grew up at, and spent several years of my life training at." Stingmon said, and then after JewelBeemon had said that, Ken nodded. He was placing the hilt of the energy sword right in his pocket. Then when it was in his pocket, there was something else that Ken was thinking about at that moment. That it was time to really start a new life out of there. Eventually, Stingmon placed their hand on Ken's right shoulder. "But I guess that we can't really stay here forever. I think it is time of us to leave, before we actually start to think about us regretting this choice that we made. I think you did the right thing, as much as I hated to admit it." Stingmon said, and they were feeling a little bit pained as they had said that. But they told themselves this, they knew this was the truth.

"Do you actually think that this is going to be a better life? Do you think that maybe I really did make the better choice? I have a feeling in hindsight that I made the wrong choice, and I feel awful for it. Maybe I should have stayed with JewelBeemon, and let them train me. Now I am having to deal with the fact that I not only lost the one digimon who was willing to train me to make me better, but I now I might be in a world that is even worse to be dealing with. I have a feeling that there might be a small level of truth to the statements that JewelBeemon had made and that I was not really ready to go out there, as much as I hate to admit it..." Ken said, and then after he was starting to admit this flaw a bit more, that was when he was thinking that Stingmon was just going to tell him that he really royally fucked it up by this point in time.

"Don't really worry about it all that much. You made your own choice, and it is something that you are going to have to live with, even if you think that it is going to be fucking impossible to deal with for the time being, but trust me, you are going to be fine. You are ready to go out there in the world. Just give it some time, and everything will be lining up to be in our favor for once. Just wait some time for it." After Stingmon had said that, Ken really did not know how to feel about the fact that Stingmon was actually trying to make them feel like this at all. It just feel like it was simply too much to really be expecting out of Stingmon, and he was feeling like he was a shit head for everything at this point in time.

"Stingmon, I know that you are trying to make me feel better right now, but I am not really sure if I really am feeling it right now. I guess that maybe I would rather be here than dead right now. I would rather be out here mending my own destiny rather than dealing with JewelBeemon forging a path for me. When I think about that, and this option, I think that maybe this really is not all that bad of a idea. I guess that maybe in theory I made the right choice, but right now, I just don't really get it. I want to feel like I am making the right choice right now, but every single time that I think that this is happening, I am seeing that this is just now how life really is for me. Life really does not hand itself any favors to me as I have been forced to learn lately." Ken said, and then after he had said that, that was the one time that he was wishing that Sam would be here. "Why is it that when I feel like I need to have Sam at my side, is the one time that he is not at my side right now? I feel like this is honestly the one time that I wanted him to be at my side, to just tell me anything." Ken finally was just wishing that he did not say that to Stingmon, since openly admitting that this was what he was feeling was starting to make him feel more human than ever before.

"I guess that we will see if you made the right choice or not in due time. I am not really going to say anything one way or another for the time being since I feel like we really kind of have to let hindsight be the judge here, but as of right now, given the evidence, I think that your choice was good enough given the situation that you were in." After Stingmon said that, Ken was just not really sure what to say, and then he just kind of bored at that point in time, thinking that he was just going to pretend that he was making the right choice, even if he was thinking that this was not really the case.

"I know that you probably don't really understand right now the way that I feel. I feel like I am always making a bunch of big mistakes, and then I am having a moment where I am actually thinking that I may have made the right choice, and then I am now starting to think that maybe I didn't really make the right choice. I barely ever really made the right choice on anything in my entire fucking life. I just guess that maybe nothing really even matter anymore. I am not curious about something that neither one of us have brought up, but I feel like it is important to finally at least talk about the idea of this." Ken started, and then he was looking right at Stingmon, as if seeing if they were starting to think in the same field as he was at that moment.

"Do you know if JewelBeemon actually survived that attack of not? I have a feeling that this will not be the last time that we see that digimon. I just think that we are going to be seeing them soon enough. I don't know why I feel so certain that this is going to be the case, but something about the situation that I am in right now makes me think that I didn't really stop JewelBeemon, and that at the very most, I had just been able to really delay them for a period of time. I just wish that I was able to know if I had been able to place that part of my life behind me or not. I guess that we will find out soon enough if that is the truth or not." After Ken had said that, he took a deep breath, and then after he had said that, Stingmon was just not really saying anything else by that point in time.

"I have a feeling that JewelBeemon might come back eventually. I doubt that you would really ever see something like that happen. I think that I will find out that JewelBeemon is alive when they try to create a new army with me or something. But I don't really know if there is going to be the chance that you and I will still even be working with each other anyways in due time. I think that in all reality, we might not really even know each other by this point in time. I don't really know if you want to even have me at your side anymore. I would not be shocked if you don't." After Stingmon said that, Ken just seemed to consider the prospect of having Stingmon at their side more. Despite how hard it would really sound, he was not really minding this all that much.

"I guess that we will just see how fate determines things. I don't really know if having you chill around with me is really all that big of a problem. I mean, if you were at my side more, I know one thing is for sure. I would be able to to have something that can share the insanity of this journey. This journey is fucking crazy, and it has barely even started. I think that you would be able to understand what things are like more when you see things and be right at my side." Ken said, and then after he had said that, Stingmon and him were just thinking about taking a break for the night, since they were about a fifth of the way down the mountain, and they were really starting to get pretty fatigued.

"I just think that despite how hard this journey really is, that this might have been one of the best choices I made in my two years up there. I finally did get to understand the corruption that JewelBeemon had, and I was able to finally take them out, or at least a part of their group, which I feel like is giving me a bit an accomplishment when I am here. I think that if they actually went through with their plans, they might actually have been getting forceful with me. They might have actually gone through with their plans to start a huge conquest, and I am glad that this was something I was able to at least stop from happening." Ken said, and then he was thinking about where his sights were going to be next. And that was the fact that he needed to find the man in the purple jacket and confront them once again to try and make them weak and destroy them.

As this was the conversation that Ken was having at that moment, and there was some more time that was passing time, Ken was getting just too tired for him to really process what was going on, and he was too tired to really continue having this conversation, as much as he enjoyed debating with Stingmon and everything. Ken was just looking right at Stingmon, smiling a bit more. "Thanks for being there for me when I was fighting off their other Stingmon and when I was forced to fight JewelBeemon. I thought that there was going to be a small chance that you were going to turn on me, and that you were going to show that you were actually on the side of the enemy. Well, the enemy for me, and that I was actually the enemy this time around when looking at you. And that you were just pretending to only support me when you were just trying to get me to fall under what you were saying and everything." Ken was saying, and then after he was saying this he was just sort of thinking about what it would have been like if Stingmon did not support him. He almost certainly would have died since he would have had a bunch of Stingmon to fight, plus that one, and the fact that there would have been none at his side to even help him out, and then that meant that this would have been totally over with. Ken was thinking about the simply loyalty that Stingmon was showing Ken was the only reason that he was probably even alive at this point anymore, as much as he was hating to admit this. As much as he hated to admit it the fact that he was pretty much not even going to have a chance to do anything else.

"Well, I just wanted to help you out. I think that you were really needing the help, and that you getting help is the one thing that you needed more than anything else. I get that you were just not really getting the fact that I trusted you more, but when I listened to you, it was like the stuff we were saying to each other was much more natural than the other conversations that I was having with JewelBeemon. They seemed like they never cared for anything, and now looking back at it, I guess that it is not all that surprising that this is the case." Stingmon said, and then Ken was just thinking about what it would be like to have a master your entire life that just cared about the idea of taking over the entire world, and that meant that they never even cared about the individual digimon more than anything else. That would have made Ken feel really bad at this rate, even worse than anything else.

"Well, I think that there is one thing that neither one of us are going to want to admit something right now, but the fact is that we need to work with each other now. We are going to have to work together now, and I am going to have to place all of these things that we have talked about together, and I am going to try and see what it is like to be helping out the digimon here. I really do feel like this is something that I can do. You know, actually be something of a hero for once, and not just somebody who just pretends to be one." Ken said, and that was all he was feeling about the situation, and then the more that he thought about this, Ken and Stingmon thought about what it was like to be a hero.

"If you do try and be a hero, and you actually try and turn things around for the better here, then I think that I should be right there at your side, since you are the only thing in this world that seems like you actually care about these things. I think that that will be the one thing that will keep me at your side, no matter how bad things really get between you and everything else, if they really are getting all that bad at all. Which for all we know, things may not really be as bad as you are fearing that it is going to be." Stingmon said, and then they were just clearly trying to sound hopeful for themselves.

"You know, I have been here for a while. I have been able to see the world for itself before I came here. I think that I know what this world is like a bit more than you. I didn't know the world at the top of the mountain more than you. But once we reach the bottom of the mountain, I am going to be the one who is going to have to be leading the way. I am going to have to be the one who just explains what to say and what is going on. I know that if JewelBeemon is right about one fucking thing, is that the world down there is sort of messed up." After Ken said that, he was feeling bad for admitting that JewelBeemon was actually right about something, which was something he was not really really wanting to admit at all, and the idea of even admitting that this could have been the case was almost torture for him considering the case.

"I guess that this is the truth. I really hope that things are not really as bad as things are expected to be, but I am telling myself that I have to honestly accept the fact that this could be the case. But Ken, if it really is this bad, do you think that you could be the one who can change things, or do you think that you are lying to yourself at that moment? I mean, I don't want to sound like a dick or anything, but I don't really think that you have seen everything so far." After Stingmon said that, Ken rolled his eyes a bit.

"No shit I have not seen everything yet. I know for a fact that I have not seen everything yet. That is not fucking rocket science right now. How about you try and tell me something that I don't fucking know?" Ken was snapping a bit, and that was when Stingmon remained silent, wondering what made Ken so snappy at that moment. Eventually, he was just feeling a bit bad for the way that he was treating Stingmon, thinking that the digimon really did not deserve that treatment, and this was the treatment they were getting here. It made him feel kind of shitty.

Eventually, Ken was starting to feel like his eyes were bagging a bit. "Besides, I don't really know if I really am the only human who has come here. Every single time that I think that I might have been the first one here, there is something that I think and see that truly changes things in my perspective. I don't really think that I will ever be able to meet the man in the purple jacket again. As much as I want to see him again, considering the fact that he had really made things personal, I am not going to see him again, even though I really need to if I want to try and make peace with the fact that he killed my brother and the fact that I am here right now." Ken said, and then despite how much he hated his brother, there was something else he was always thinking.

It was something very simple as he was thinking about this. 'He still deserved a real life. This is something that the man in the purple jacket just threw away. I mean, if I died, I think even Sam would be feeling the same way again. I am already nearly as old as Sam was when he died. I can't really get over the fact I am soon going to be older than my brother ever was. Just turning nineteen which is next year, then we will be the same, and then turn twenty, which is only one more year after that, and I will be older than my brother will ever be. I wanted him to live a real life. And I am sort of getting that chance in a way, even though I am here right now, and I am actually having to admit that I don't really have a real life going on. There is no fucking life talking to a bunch of random monsters right now. I guess that maybe I should not be so hard on myself, since I really am trying right now, but who really cares all that much what is going on and everything? I just want to pull things off right now, but whatever. I will still be doing my best here.' Eventually, he told Stingmon good night, and then he closed his eyes and that was when he was done for that night.

The next day, when Ken woke up, and then he started to walk around for a bit to the edge of the cliff. As he was looking at the rest of the mountain that he was going to have to go down, and then when he was thinking about what it was like to go down the huge mountain, Ken was just looking right at Stingmon. "Ken, are you really sure that you know what you are doing?" After Stingmon asked him that question, Ken was holding his leg out, and he was thinking about what it would be like to fall down that cliff to his death. He never really had the desire to do something like that, but he was just wanting to sort of pretend that this was something he was seriously considering doing. After a few seconds of Ken considering what it would be like at least for the sort of thrill that would come along with it, Ken looked right at Stingmon as if he was getting himself right back in the mindset that he was thinking he needed to be at that moment, which was to think about the journey that he was going to have now.

"Sorry, I was just sort of thinking things out a bit more. I don't really want to die at all, but I need to at least think about what it would be like to at least play with the idea a bit more." Ken said, and then after he had said that, he was staring right at Stingmon, hoping that the digimon would not try and call him insane at that moment. Since he really was not wanting to deal with Stingmon trying to reject him for just being a little bit curious and everything. But then he was thinking about going down the rest of the mountain, and then he started to walk down it. Although he thought for one single small fleeting moment that it would be sort of a relief to just go down there, and then to start things a new.

Eventually, as Ken and Stingmon were going down the mountain, he was feeling like he was ready to fucking take on the new trials that were going on. Stingmon and Ken remained mostly silent throughout most of the days as they were going down the mountains, and Ken was just sort of thinking about what it would be like to find out that the world was still not really the seeming like what he remembered it would have been, which could have been the case considering the fact that he had been up there for two fucking years by this point, long enough to change anything.

With each night when he would be ready to go sleep, he was having his conversation with Stingmon. It was at this point in time, Ken was starting to sort of open up more of his life to Stingmon, and it was at this point when Ken was starting to think that Stingmon actually really was an ally here. Ken was thinking that if he could finally be able to trust a single digimon in this world, it was Stingmon. Ken started to talk to them about the good things that were going on in his life back on earth. The moments when he and his family would actually go out and have hang outs with each other, and when his parents and him would have some days in which he was sick and he was forced to miss school, and he was just able to bond with his parents for a couple of days.

On each day that Ken was walking down there, he was starting wondering when Stingmon was finally going to start opening up to him, and Ken was thinking that the only way he could really get the trust in Stingmon that he was feeling like he was starting to get in them, that he was thinking Stingmon just needed to talk to him for a while, and then once Ken started to really know what Stingmon was like, then he was feeling like things would finally make some fucking sense at the end of this whole thing. Ken just felt like he needed to talk to the digimon. That was all he needed to do.

With each day that they were getting closer to the bottom of the mountain, and each day that Ken was becoming more and more like this in his mind, the more he was telling himself that he needed to question Stingmon right away, and he needed to finally talk with them about everything that he was thinking Stingmon was lacking, that Ken himself really was trying to do good on, and Ken was going to try and express to them that he had felt like he needed to get some of the same from Stingmon. Of course he would be respectful about what he was going to do. And he was certainly going to really pester them about it, but he felt like he just needed to really get them to understand the fact that he was not going to let this slide anymore.

The more that Ken was thinking about the fact that he was really feeling like he was sort of missing out on what he was needing the most in the entire world, Ken was starting to think about the way he was going to word it. The simple wording of it was what Ken felt like was going to be the most important way he was going to get through to the digimon. He didn't want to be a dick about it, since he was scared that doing something like this was actually going to make Stingmon want to talk to him even less, and then that was going to sort of ruin the point of anything that he was going to be trying to accomplish here. After Ken was thinking about the fact that none of this was really going to go his way, the more that he was sort of thinking to himself that as much as he had hated to admit it, that maybe he should just leave the subject alone.

As Ken was thinking about the fact that he should probably leave the subject alone, the more that he was thinking that this was not what he had wanted at all, and the more that he was thinking that he was never going to get what he deserved. But even though Ken was thinking about all of these things, the more that Stingmon was thinking about how they were starting to see the look of defeat on Ken's face, and they were seeing that maybe they really should try to talk with him a bit. That simply talking with him was the one thing that Ken really needed more than anything else.

After Stingmon was thinking about the fact that Ken had actually needed this, Stingmon told himself that once Ken would finally break and ask them about these things, that this would be the set of questions that they would actually answer and that despite the fact that the fact that Ken was thinking that this was never going to go in his way, Stingmon was thinking that maybe Ken could be shocked at the fact that they would be able to finally start to give Ken what they felt like they really wanted. With each step that Ken was walking down the mountain, the more that Ken was thinking about the fact that despite the pain in the ass the last couple of years he went through at the mountain, that things would finally go in his favor, and then Ken would be thinking that this would still be better than staying up at school this whole time.

But throughout time, Ken eventually reached the bottom of the fucking mountain, which took about six days to do over all, and when Ken was at the bottom, eventually Ken was feeling like the test that he needed to go through was over. When Ken was at the bottom of the mountain, he was looking up and then he was thinking about the fact that JewelBeemon was not really going to actually pull things together at all. Ken was actually thinking about the fact that he was ready to finally fight JewelBeemon again on the event that this was what he was thinking was almost certainly going to happen, since he was convinced he was finally going to destroy that digimon, as he was becoming more and more certain that he was going to have to fight them.

That night, Ken was laying down on the sky and then he was looking at Stingmon through the edge of his eyes, thinking about what he was going to tell the digimon about how he had been feeling, and then he was blinking a couple of times. "Hey Stingmon, can you please tell me a couple of things? What do you really think it would be like to finally go out there and live all on your own? Did you always really have the wish to go out there and then live a life of your own?... Or do you really think that perhaps you were given so much propaganda that you will be telling me that you never wanted to go out there? Because you were somehow convinced that just following the propaganda is the best way to be going out and living life." After Ken said that, he was carrying a certain tone to his voice that was making Stingmon feel bad at that moment, and Ken was in no way caring about the fact that he was sort of putting Stingmon down in that regard.

"Well, I thought that I could at least always see what these places had to offer. But I have a feeling that you are wrong. You might not really understand the fact that I want to actually see what this world is like before I really made an opinion about what I was feeling about this place... I just don't want to instantly think that everything here is this super terrible thing that you are totally trying to convince me that it is. I mean, I get that you are trying to make me see your perspective, but please just try and be real here now." After Stingmon told Ken this, that was when Ken was feeling like he was wanting to actually argue with Stingmon. He was really not understanding the reason why he was wanting to argue with Stingmon so badly, but he was really feeling the urge to do this at that moment.

"But Stingmon, you have never seen these things. You are willing to admit that this is true. You are willing to admit that you have not really seen the things that I have seen. So when you are willing to admit this, why are you still trying to act like you are knowing how to keep an open mind? Why are you just not willing to admit that I am right about this? I know what this world is... I want to change things. And yet here you are, acting like there can be some good here. I mean, I don't like JewelBeemon, and even before their reveal, I felt like they were a bit of a jack ass, but at least JewelBeemon did say some thing that were true, as much as I deeply hate to admit it. At least they were telling the truth about the fact that anybody could take over the digital world if they had wanted to. I fucking don't get it. At least fucking accept the fact I know more than you." Ken said, and he was seriously not even caring that he was sounding like one of the most edgy people in the world, since he was really in the mood to challenge Stingmon, and he was wanting to see what it would be like to see Stingmon finally give up on this whole thing.

As Ken was looking at Stingmon, he was studying the look on the digimon's face, as if he was thinking that Stingmon was starting to kind of lose some hope that he was actually having in Ken, almost on the level of losing some respect to the human, and that was something that he was not at all scared to fucking admit at all. In fact, they were now willing to sort of admit that this was the true.

Eventually, Stingmon was just angry at this moment, but they were telling themselves to be a little bit careful at this moment to not get too angry at Ken, since they were afraid that if Ken was going to lose respect for them, then everything would be thrown right out the fucking window. "Ken, I get that you think you know much more than me on these things... I get it. But please understand that I am keeping an open mind. I get that you somehow think that this is the worst thing in the world for me to do, to keep an open mind, but I am not one to judge things right when I first hear something. Since when has that been something that was a problem?" After Stingmon asked that, Ken was thinking that this entire thing was really not going to worried about what he is going on at that fucking moment. But then as Ken was thinking about the fact that he was going to throw this whole thing away with Stingmon, he was starting to think of something else that he needed to do right then and there, as much as he was hating this.

"You know, I may admit that I am kind of an asshole. I get it. I'm not fucking stupid. But here is the thing, when you are going through the things that I have, and when you have seen the things that I have, then there is no real reason to keep an open mind. There is no real reason to even pretend that things are going to actually go your fucking way. When I am thinking about the fact that nothing really even goes my way anyways, then I guess that I am just starting to be real with myself. I am telling myself the truth right now. I don't care if you are angry about this. Okay, but when I start to tell myself that things are going to go my way, then I am lying to myself and I am thinking that things will never really are supposed to be in my perspective. I will never understand the point of this lie." After Ken had said that, he was just hoping that Stingmon was just going to let this whole debate go at this point, but they were still hoping that Ken would see the good values of this world, even if it was fucking impossible for him to be opening up at this point in time.

"I will just see how things are, and then when I see things for how they are, I will finally see what is getting you so riled up on this whole thing. That is all that I am going to be going with this. I guess that maybe if you actually heard what I am saying right now, and you are more open to be seeing what I want to say, then you will be more open. I guess that if things were the other way around, and I listened to you more, then things could be more open to me. I don't really care though. All I have to say is that I think I will just be willing to wait and see how things goes. There will be nothing else that I am going to say to this besides just fucking that. I will just leave this at this." Stingmon said, and then after this, Ken was just starting to feel like his eyes were getting heavier by this point in time.

"I think we can agree on one thing right here and right now. That life is never going to be the same way again. That things will never be the way that I think they actually deserve to be. But I think that when we start this journey, I think that I am going to try and be a nice guy to the world again. I am going to try and not be harsh on the things that are going on right now. I am going to really try my absolute best to be a good player. But these things are going to be very hard for me to do. But my god, I am going to try, just for your sake." After Ken had said that, the more that he was thinking that this was indeed one thing he can do.

"I think that as much as I am talking down about life right now, I am going to at least try and be positive on the world. That is what I am going to do right now. I am going to see what this world is like, and then I am going to try to see what makes you feel so different on all of these things, but when that happens, I am going to just be done with this once and for all. I just will be going through the struggles as they come and go, and I am going to take this one fucking day at a time." After Ken admitted that he was planning on taking this one day a time, he was seeing that Stingmon was now starting to look better about this whole thing.

Once Ken was waking up the next day, Ken was thinking that there was something else that he wanted to do at that moment. He stood up and then after he had stood up, Stingmon was looking right at him, and then they were thinking about the way that they were actually going to be able to help Ken for once in the time that they were here, and then after Stingmon thought about the way that they were going to finally try to help Ken out at that moment, that was when Ken looked like for just a short moment that he was actually being grateful for what was happening. As if Ken was thinking that Ken was not really screwed all that bad after all, and that even if Stingmon did not entirely agree with their assessment, they were able to at least be open to the idea that this was just how it was going to be now.

"I was thinking about something that JewelBeemon told me when I was up at the top of the mountain back in the day. Something that I think even if we have had our problems in the past, you will be able to really be happy to see..." After Stingmon had said that, Ken was thinking that this was something that Ken was going to be excited to see. Ken was actually seeing from the way that Stingmon was looking at them that Ken was finally going to get one thing that was going to be in his favor. One thing that would show him that maybe Stingmon really was at his side, and that he was wrong about the way that he had been treating the digimon.

"I really hope that what you are showing me is actually going to be worth this. I really do not think that I will have the time for this if it turns out that it is not what I think that this is going to be." After Ken said that, despite how much he was pissed off at Stingmon for different reasons, and how much he was thinking that maybe Stingmon really did not care all that much for his opinion, he was thinking that maybe Stingmon really did actually care about him. That maybe Stingmon really was actually out there to help him out, even if it was hard for him to finally admit that there was some things that could help him out here, and some things that he felt like could be able to really help him get a boost in the over all battling scene.

Eventually, Ken was starting to follow Stingmon and as he was following them more and more, that was when Ken was thinking about another thing on his mind. That maybe he was wrong about Stingmon. There was something going on there, even though he hated to admit it that he was wrong about Stingmon. When Ken was thinking about the fact that he could have been wrong about Stingmon, he was telling himself that maybe this really was not all that hard of him to be willing to admit at the end of the day. Eventually, even Ken was thinking that he was going to finally see a digimon that he could be able to trust, that was when Ken was starting to sort of look on the good end of things in the digital world, if there really were actually good things in the digital world, and even if Ken was thinking that such a thing would be really hard for him to do this.

Despite the fact that Ken was thinking that these things were going to be fucking impossible to really actually happen, such as things working out in his favor, he was telling himself that the fear of just things in this universe hating him was even worse than the idea of feeling like there were some allies of his. As he was thinking about what it would be like to finally have some allies, he was also thinking about the fact that there really was nothing too bad about him feeling a bit more safe. When Ken was thinking about what it would be like to be safe, Ken was also thinking about the fact that the only good thing about what was happening, was that even if the item that he was being given, or the thing he was being shown turned out to be a huge fucking sham, at least he could fucking say that he saw what Stingmon wanted to show him, and by doing this, at least he could say that he did try. And the idea of saying that he did try was something he felt like Stingmon would be glad that they did. The fact that Stingmon wanted to show Ken something, and the fact that Ken was now finally open about the fact that he had felt this way about the whole situation, the fact that Stingmon tried to be nice to him and the fact that Ken was feeling like he was starting to open up more to the idea of what things could be like if he admitted that Stingmonw as trying, then the more that the two of them could be able to finally turn things around for the better.

As this was happening, there was one single tree that was near the edge of the mountain. Well, near the edge meaning that it was about an hour or so away. Eventually, Ken was placing his hands on the tree, and then he was looking right at Stingmon, as if he was not really sure what he was supposed to say to this at all. "What are you wanting to show me?" After Ken asked them this, Stingmon was just not really sure what he was supposed to be saying. Ken was feeling like talking to this digimon was going to really make him too open and too trusthworthy on different things. Ken then heard Stingmon tell him something that he felt like was really obvious, and Ken was feeling even kind of stupid for the fact that he didn't really figure this out at all right at the start of this whole thing.

"You know, you are supposed to dig some of these things up now." After Stingmon said that, Ken was starting to move the dirt away from the area, and then after he was doing this for a moment, he had spent about minutes or so on this digging thing, and then when he was done messing around with the digging, there was a tresure chest that he was seeing. When Ken was seeing what this treasure chest was, he was actually feeling the weight of what was in there. Ken smiled at the idea of what he was going to finally find in there, and then he was opening up the box a bit more. Stingmon was just standing away when they were watching him open the box.

"I was hoping that you would appreciate what you are going to find there. I thought that you would not really get angry at all of these things. I was scared that you would be thinking that I was not really loyal to you all that much, but here you are, and I am hoping that this shows that I am indeed helping you out right now. After all of the things that we have been doing together, I think that this is the least that we could really be doing at this moment." Eventually, after this point, Ken was holding everything was given to him, and he was feeling like he could no longer deny the fact that he was going to finally be able to actually trust Stingmon by this point in time.

As this was what he was thinking, Ken finally processed what was in there. There was a bunch of armor, and when he was looking at all of the armor, he was feeling like it was actually still pretty light, and it was still able to help him in short term fighting. He also saw that there was a gun, and that it had a bunch of reloads worth of ammunition, and then there was a sword and a hilt right there as well. He placed the armor on, and then he placed the gun at his left side, his boxes worth of bullets right in both of his pockets, and then he was seeing that there was still the energy sword hilt in his right pocket, which made that one really heavy. Then after this point, there was a huge thing that looked like a wallet. When he opened it he was seeing that there was twenty thousand dollars in there. Ken looked at Stingmon shocked, and then after he was seeing this, he saw that there was some form of a face protection. Maybe not the gas mask, but it was sort of a mask to some extent. He put it right on, and then he felt like he was now ready to take things further now.


	90. Destiny is Calling Me

Destiny is Calling Me

As Ken was walking towards the town that he had not been at in a really long time, his first thought as he was getting closer was 'Destiny is Calling Me.' As if he was really thinking this was something really great coming along soon. Even Stingmon was noticing his more excited expressions as he was heading down this path way, and even though Ken was going to admit in hindsight that maybe this was not really all that big of a deal, but he was just wanting to justify the feeling that he had been having this whole time to himself. Eventually, despite the things that were going on in his mind at that moment, there was another thing that Ken was telling himself.

Stingmon was feeling like they could be able to break the silence on this whole thing, as if thinking that Ken would actually be more open about talking with him since they were now out of the path way, and they were sort of able to think about things a bit more casually. "Hey Ken, do you really think that things are going to be better? Do you really think that you are going to turn things around now?" As Stingmon was asking Ken this, they were not really all that sure what this man was going to be saying to them.

"I don't really know if I am going to turn things around or anything like that. But I guess that it does not really matter. I am just telling myself that things are going to be better. I am allowed to be feeling like things are going to turn around. I feel like there is nothing really all that bad about just being optimistic. I know, it is crazy that I am the one who is saying that about things, but in all reality, I am sort of tired of being a bit of a sour puss. I know that you probably never heard that word before, but that was a word that my brother really coined before." After Ken said that, Stingmon was just thinking about how it was nice to see Ken even try to be happier.

"Well, at least you are not really all that angry at things anymore. It seems like you are finally more open to just being relaxed, and just thinking that things are not really as terrible as you may be worried that they are. I am glad that you are finally thinking that way..." Stingmon said, and they were wondering what Ken was going to say, if Ken was going to really say anything at all, or if Ken was just going to keep it to himself like a fucking strict asshole.

"I don't know, I still have a lot of things that bother me and everything. I guess I am just at that point though where I am not really going to let these things at least publically bring me down anymore. I think that I am just sort of tired of this happening. I am tired of always just feeling down about everything, and I don't really want to do that anymore. I think that when it comes time, it is better to just not be angry at things anymore, and it is better to just look at things at least a little bit in a positive light. I think that this is honestly the very least that I can do for the world. I mean, I am not really on a great out look on life, but in all reality, to just even think that there is a chance that things can go better, I think that this is something that is worth looking into. I think that it is worth at leats pretending that things are all fine and dandy. I know that it sounds a little bit stupid to be acting like this, and to speak as if life really just sucks, but it is not like everything is super great though..." Ken said, and then he was feeling like no matter how much Stingmon may be willing to listen to him, he was still feeling like it was a bit of a problem for him to just talk like this, and to talk like everything was just one big evil fucking thing. And in all honesty, he was just sort of tired of all of this shit. He was just wanting to look at life a little bit more positively, and he felt like there was absolutely nothing wrong with feeling that way at all.

"Ken, I know that you think that you are probably going to be all fine now, and I really like how you are starting to feel better... But don't you think that as much as I hate to say this, that you are kind of forcing this on yourself? I mean, when you were just getting that armor and everything, you were talking like this was all a terrible set up, and that you were not really going to be able to pull anything together at all. But here you are, now talking as if you are all fine and stuff. It just seems like it is a little bit sudden is all." After Stingmon had said that, Ken was a bit annoyed that they went from acting like Ken's attitude was shitty to suddenly acting like him being a little but more positive was a huge mistake. He had a fucking impossible time reading the feelings that Stingmon had, and for a moment, Ken was thinking that it was harder to read a digimon than it was to read a woman. But then after he laughed at that, he was thinking that since he was going to be hanging with this digimon for a while, he might as well try his best to be able to get to know them.

"I guess that I am just feeling like I now actually have a chance to live. I mean, I used to be scared to be doing these things since I thought that there was no real chance to live at all. And I didn't really think that I wanted to be ready to pretty much be setting myself up for death or anything like that, but I guess that now that I have this armor, I feel like I might be able to have a small chance to be able to pull this off. I think that I could be able to survive. As crazy as it is for me to say that this is the main thing that suddenly made me feel like things were just not going to be working or anything." After Ken said that, he was starting to wonder how much longer it was going to take for him to reach this city that he been to earlier, and now he was excited to be seeing how much it had changed in about two years.

"Ken, I get that you are feeling better, and that is great. Trust me, that is something that I am very happy for, knowing that you are no longer just feeling down upon everything now. I am just saying that it all seems a little bit sudden and everything..." After Stingmon said that Ken was forced to be thinking about what they were saying, and Ken did suppose that this change in attitude at that moment was probably a bit sudden, but at the same time, he felt like there was nothing really all that wrong with that.

"I know that it is sudden. I know that people don't really change in the snap of a finger. But I think that maybe I just don't want to be angry at things anymore. I think that I just want to at least pretend like things are going to go well. I think that this is all fine. To just at least think and pretend that things are all good. I mean, what is really all that bad about at least trying to tell myself that things are going to be fine..." Ken said, and then after he was saying this, that was when Ken was thinking that it was time to just let the subject drop by then.

"I know that it is really none of my business. I know that there is nothing wrong with being a little bit positive at all. I just thought that it was a little bit odd. I guess that I will just leave the subject alone, since you are sort of sounding like you have made your choice on the matter. Not that it was a choice that I minded or anything, let me tell you. I think that it is nice that this is the choice that you have made." After Stingmon said that, there was a moment in which they were silent as Ken was walking closer and closer to the town that he was wanting to see.

Eventually, Ken and Stingmon were getting near the town, and it was something that both of them were seeing just from their eyes. "I guess when you just don't fucking think about it, and you just sort of turn your mind to the whole thing, things just kind of go by a bit faster. I think that you just need to turn your mind off to things going on around you, and then before you know it, you are going to be at your goal." After Ken had said that, he was thinking that it was nice that he could be able to tell himself this, and he wasn't really sure if he was supposed to believe what he was saying right then and there, but there was a part of him that was actually buying into what he was saying at that moment, and that was the bit that was scaring him the most, the fact that he was actually starting to fall into what he was saying, and he was actually starting to believe in the idea of just sort of winging everything, even though that was in no way his fucking style at all.

Despite the fact that Ken was feeling that way about himself, there was something else that Ken had been telling himself. He was telling himself that he just needed to be able to understand what Stingmon was actually thinking. If he understood what Stingmon was actually thinking about the whole issue, then he would be able to see if he was going to actually get some help from this digimon, but then he was telling himself that it really did not matter what the digimon was actually thinking all that much.

"So Ken, what really is your goal once you go there? Do you really actually even have one right now? Or are you sort of just going in blind, not really sure if what you want is going to be how things end up?" Stingmon asked, and Ken was now starting to wonder why they were the one who was suddenly starting to be a little bit of a hard ass on all the things that they were saying, and Ken was starting to think that the reversal of roles was a little bit annoying. Even though Ken was thinking it was a little bit annoying, and he was starting to see why it was bothering Stingmon so much, Ken was thinking that maybe Stingmon was looking at things a little bit more naturally.

"I think that once I am there, I am just going to try and keep them safe. That is all I really want to do right now. Just make sure that the digimon are safe. I don't really even think that this is a terrible goal in all honesty. I would actually go as far as to say that this is a noble goal, I just need to fucking get serious about this stuff. I just need to get serious about actually making sure that all the digimon are safe under my protection, as hard as that may be for me to suddenly start acting like I need to sort of grow up in a way. I guess though, there comes a time when everybody is supposed to be growing up, and I am going to start using this as my chance to take that moment." Ken said, and then when he was done saying that, Ken was thinking that there was no need to really drag this conversation out any further than he had already been taking this, and that if anything, trying to get Stingmon to see his perspective was something that he honestly felt like would not really work.

"I guess that I will leave you alone on the subject. I just wanted to make sure that everything was all fine with how you are perceiving things. I don't really think that you really know what it is like to think your whole entire life on one thing and then in a couple of days of being out in this world suddenly starting to realize that things are not really as you expecting it to be..." After Stingmon said that, this was when Ken was thinking that Stingmon was the one who didn't really always fucking get it, and that Stingmon was the one who needed to fucking grow up and try and see things their way.

"I think that you are really not thinking that I am dealing with as many things as you think that I have. I really do know all of these things already. I have had to live with the idea that there was no real different world for the entire sixteen years of my fucking life, and that this is suddenly the world and the life that I have to be exposed to and that this is how things have been the last two years. Now I don't even know if earth is the fucking same anymore, and I will not at all be shocked if things are totally different if I go back there, as much as I fucking hate to admit that my world is different from what it once was. But then now I am not even sure if the world that I am already in is still the same or not. I mean, it probably is still mostly the same, and I am thinking that I am sort of blowing things over the top right now, but I think that it is very likely that things that I grew up with are just going to be thrown away with the snap of a fucking finger." After Ken was saying this, he was waiting to see how much Stingmon was wanting to challenge him on this whole thing, if they wanted to at all.

"Ken, I know that sometimes I say things that kind of piss you off. I guess that if I were in your position, I would be feeling the exact same as you on these things. But I think that you know that I don't actively just try and make you fucking angry. I don't try and make you feel like I am not listening to you. I never really wanted you to feel like I am not listening to you and everything. Please, I just wanted to add to the conversation..." After Stingmon had said that, Ken was just trying to make himself not annoyed with Stingmon all that much, but despite how much he telling himself not to be annoyed at this point in time, there was still a part of him that was having the most basic of human emotions that was still making him feel like he just was at least a little bit pissed off at the fucking digimon who had been at his side this entire time.

"I don't really know. I mean, I get that we are sort of stuck with each other, and that I should probably be a little bit more forgiving of you and everything. So for that reason, I might as well try and keep it to myself, even if there is a large part of me that just really wants you to understand my perspective..." After Ken had said that, he and Stingmon were just sort of relaxing at this whole thing, and he was feeling glad over the fact that Ken was even trying to pretend that he was all fine and everything.

"I think that we should always just remember that no matter how pissed we get at each other, for the next very long time, we are going to be stuck with each other, and we just have to accept the fact that we need to just work with each other now... I think that when we both realize that we are going to be forced to work with each other, I think this is always going to make us start to forgive each other a little bit. At least I hope that it will be able to make us forgive each other a little bit more. I know that if there is something that you do, then it will make me start to try and forgive you bit more, since I don't want to lose your trust, and I don't really want things to start to go against us for any real reason..." After Stingmon said that, Ken and the digimon were both thinking about where this was actually going to go, and Ken was getting his mind to sort of try and understand the fact that Stingmon might actually be right on this whole thing. Eventually, Ken and Stingmon were actually at the new town, and when they were there, Ken was getting himself ready for what he was going to be doing next, and he was thinking about how he was going to start his fucking job against saving the fucking digital world.

Despite the fact that Ken was feeling like he was really under ready for this job, he was still thinking that at least trying to pull it off was something good. Ken was thinking that there was nothing that he really wanted to do by this point in time by this first day that he was out in the digital world cities again. He was looking at the stores that were open, and he walked to one that looked like the pub that he had been going to during the past, thinking that this was a good place to be starting his search.

Stingmon was not really sure what all of these places were, and it was due to this that they were sort of just letting Ken do his thing, thinking that he would be a good guy to lead this trip and everything. Once Ken was inside of the pub, he was looking around, and he was seeing that there were a bunch of digimon looking right at him, as if shocked to be seeing that there was a human there. Some of them might even start to remember which one this was from two years ago, although for many of them to know that this was him was going to require a bit of effort.

Despite the fact that Ken was just still a visitor there, a part of him was thinking that he needed to at least try and take things calmly, since he really did not know what the digimon were going to be doing to him, and he had no idea what questions they were going to be asking him. In all honesty, he was thinking that he was not really ready to be doing any of this yet. As Ken was sitting down at the front of the pub, he was looking right at Stingmon. "Is this your first time coming here? Never mind, I already know what the answer is. I just wanted to try and create a quick conversation with you." After Ken said this, he was feeling like this conversation really was not going to go anywhere. He was feeling like this conversation was actually if anything a little bit pointless, as much as he had not wanted to admit that, he was thinking that this was the truth.

"So what do you want to drink?" The digimon who was serving the bar was asking and trying not to give off any annoyance to the situation going on, thinking that it was best to try and at least pretend that they were professional in front of the human, to not lose business. He was going to give them business, no matter how annoyed he was with the idea of this guy randomly starting up a conversation without even ordering anything, but they were thinking that them being an ass about it was going to be even worse than just keeping quiet.

"I think I would just take a simple beer." Ken said, and that was when he was looking right down on the table, and then he was just sort of trying to act like he didn't pick up on the fact that the digimonw as annoyed with him at the moment, as he was thinking that the digimon was really not doing a good job hiding this whole thing. Ken was thinking that even though the digimon was kind of being an asshole about the whole thing, he was also telling himself that this was all a part of the business, and that when you have been owning this type of business for a certain amount of time the digimon who owned these things were probably tired of it by this point in time. But Ken was glad that he was living in a world where they were not really all that strict on drinking age and everything. So when he ordered, he was not really feeling like he was making too much of a hassle about this whole thing. The digimon placed the drink down eventually, and then Ken was starting to drink it after he made his small payment needed. Then when the payment was made, he was seein that the digimon was not quite as annoyed anymore, since he did his part of the whole ordeal.

"You don't need to try and talk with me right now. I mean, we have already talked a lot here. If you wanted to talk with some other digimon or something, then go ahead and just enjoy it. I mean, you are a human after all, and it is something to always show that you are just a normal guy when you have conversations with other beings." After Stingmon had said that, Ken was thinking that it was strange the digimon was telling him this, since in all reality, he was not really all that worried about getting their approval on anything. But then Ken was thinking that maybe the digimon was actually jealous of him talking with other digimon.

Despite how silly this sounded, Ken was turning towards another one. "Hey, what is the word going on around town?" After Ken asked them this question, he was just feeling like it was simple enough, and he was feeling like the digimon would probably be able to work with him on this. Eventually, as he was waiting, he was looking up and seeing that the server was just contiuing their job, so that meant that he was able to talk for as long as he had wanted. Then when that was happening, he was looking back at the digimon and he was trying to see what their expression was. They just seemed to be thinking about the question at hand, as if they were actually trying to remember something, but not really sure if they could remember what was exactly going on anymore. Then when Ken was getting annoyed and about to give him and he was turning his head away, the digimon got back on focus and started to talk again.

"Well, there are rumors that there is a group of digimon coming by in the next couple of days to meet the mayor or something like that. Just some random business meeting. Nothing I was really paying any attention to in all reality. I just heard about it, and I never really thought about it since in all reality I didn't really think that it mattered all that much. But yeah, if you wanted to go and check that out, then you should probably talk to the mayor soon. I mean, they might want to talk to you since you are a human and everything, and the humans always get the mayor a bit interested..." After the digimon who was talking to Ken had said this, that was when they were going back to their drinking. Despite how annoying that it was to be hearing the digimon pretty much give Ken no regard, he was thinking that if he were in the digimon spot, that this would be sort of the way that they would be treated as well. Eventually, despite the fact that Ken was starting to sort of think in the spot of the digimon, Ken was looking forward and he was just taking a long look at the picture in front of him.

As he was looking right at the picture, Ken was thinking about several things. He was thinking that while Sam would be having a better life than him at this point in time, and no matter how much he hated that fact, he was telling himself that Ken would probably be better in this area than Sam was. As much as Ken was thinking that Sam would have been better off than him as a whole, he was thinking that maybe he was going to have to give himself credit every once in a while. And that when he was doing this, he was actually starting to feel a little bit better about himself. Ken was even telling himself that there was a small chance that Stingmon would be able to change him and mend him to actually be a better person than even Sam was. While Ken was thinking that this was really going to be kind of hard to accomplish, he was willing to admit that there could be some form of a miracle that could happen here. Eventually as Ken was thinking about that, Ken was starting to get himself ready for the challenge that was ahead, and that was to pretty much survive until he really had the chance to finally grow up and mature a bit. Mature and grow up to the point where Sam would be able look like the one who needed to grow up by comparison. It was a far out there goal, and Ken was thinking it would take a while to get there, but he was thinking that he could get it if he just worked for it hard enough.

After Ken was thinking that he was actually more ready for the job of the digital world than Sam ever could be, Ken was telling himself that he was going to have to get right into the job before he could do anything else. After Ken was telling himself that he needed to get right into the job of saving the digital world to eventually prove his point on what he was thinking with Sam to be true, and then that was when Ken was telling himself that he was going to be visiting the mayor again. "What days of the week are the mayor available for?" After Ken had asked the digimon this, that was when the digimon he was talking with did not really know if they wanted to continue pursuing this subject any further.

"I don't really know what days of the week are best for them. I have never really had the need to talk with the mayor. I am sure that there are a bunch of digimon who know what days work best for them. In all reality, I am just sort of thinking about just minding my own business since in all reality I don't really need to do anything now with these people..." After the digimon had told Ken this, he was getting a little bit annoyed at the prospect of wandering around until he finally found at least one digimon that was finally able to give them the time and patience to just listen to them for a while.

Ken looked right at Stingmon, and then he was thinking about where this was really going to go next. Ken was not really sure if this was a good idea. He decided that it was better to be looking around and try for results than to just sit on his ass all day and not even try to get any form of a solution at all. So when Ken was telling himself this, he was getting himself out of the chair, and he was thinking about where he was going to start his investigation, if he was even really going to get much of one done that day.

As he was getting out of the pub, Stingmon was just thinking about what Ken was doing, as they were catching themselves wishing that Ken would have taken a little bit of a break before he started to get right to business. Besides, it was kind of annoying that Ken was just never even taking a moment to try and have a real normal conversation with anybody, and that doing this was just sort of showing how Ken was just never able to do anything that was just nice and casual for once in his entire life.

Despite the fact that Stingmon was thinking that it was kind of annoying that Ken was just doing this all the time, they were still telling themselves to try and be loyal to Ken, and as a result, they were just leaving the pub with Ken, and they were just keeping their critique to themselves, thinking that in all reality, Ken didn't really mean anything too wrong with just going out and doing this right away.

Once out of the pub, Ken was looking at his money, and he was thinking about the entire situation that he was in at this point in time. Ken was looking right at Stingmon, not really too sure what he was supposed to say now. "Where do you think could be a good place to know when the mayor is open to be talking with us?" Ken asked, and then after he had asked Stingmon this simple question, his digimon seemed like they were not really too sure on what to say, and they were thinking that in all reality, it did not matter all that much.

"I think that the best place to start your look will just simply to go to the fucking mayors office right now. When you do this, they will probably have some form of bulletin board that explains their hours or something like that..." After Stingmon said that, Ken was just rolling his eyes at how practical but obvious the answer was to the point in which Ken did not even consider this before. So when Ken was thinking about that, he started to walk towards the mayors hall, and he was just sort of piecing together what the first question he would be asking the digimon would be. If they were even open to talk at all.

Despite the fact that Ken was telling himself that this was all that exciting or not, and Stingmon was just mainly there to make sure that Ken was still safe, as they were just worried about what it was going to happen to him if he were to go in there and the digimon was really busy and everything. Despite the problems that Stingmon was thinking that Ken was going to possibly get himself into by doing these things, there was a small part of Stingmon that knew that Ken was going to try and have a huge resolve that would show that he was not going to break down to matter what the case may have been.

Eventually, Ken was staring right at the door of what he was thinking was the mayors house. Stingmon was right at Ken's side and then they were putting their hand on Ken's shoulder, and then Ken was just looking that there was a bunch of digimon working around, as if they were just getting some discussions done by this point in time. Ken was seeing that the mayor seemed to be really fucking busy, and that was when Ken was actually wondering if this was actually what he should be doing by this point in time.

As Ken was considering these things more, that was when Ken was telling himself he was not allowed to be thinking about this. When Ken was thinking that there was no real reason to be thinking about something that he was telling himself he wanted, no needed to do, he was opening the door. Stingmon was just looking around, and they were sort of wishing that when Ken was in that thinking state, that he would have turned around, but they were thinking that this was just not how life was. When Ken was inside of the mayors hall, there was a huge moment in his mind that was telling himself that he was making a big mistake. The digimon that Ken was thinking was the mayor was one that had a similar attire to fucking Jimmy White, which was why Ken was making that judgment right away.

"You know, when I was sending you to do this job, I thought that you would have been able to actually able to take these things on. I thought that you would have been able to do the jobs and everything. You have made a bunch of mistakes, and not only have you been making these mistakes, but you have started to make me think that you are not really all that loyal to me at all. I think that you are just trying to bring me down, and I have no real business with that. I run this city, and I have to make sure that every single digimon in this town is safe, and what you are doing right now is hurting my chances of making this happen..." After the mayor was saying this, they were just looking right at the digimon who they were talking to, as if wondering what they were going to say, and wondering if the digimon was going to find a way to defend themselves.

"Just give me one more chance. That is all that I really want right now. If I fail this time, then you can punish me in any way that you want... But I just feel like I need to be given one more chance to show that I am actually loyal to you..." After the digimon had said that to the mayor, the mayor was just thinking about what they were going to say to him to make them understand that this was not something they were wanting to entertain.

"Fine, this is going to be your final chance. I really mean it this time. If you fail again, I think that you will be given more than just a simple punishment. I think that you will be wishing that it was something just as simple as a nice punishment..." After the mayor digimon said this, the digimon they were talking with seemed to actually believe in what they were saying. They just simply nodded and then they were walking away from the hall. Ken was looking at Stingmon, and Ken was wondering if he really did make the right choice after all. He was telling himself that this was probably the wrong choice.

As Ken was thinking that he had made the right choice, he was walking right to the fucking mayor, and he was telling himself that this entire situation was just a fucking big hassle. Despite the fact that Ken was there, he sat down and then he was looking right at the mayor of the town, and the digimon was just not really sure what they were going to say to them. "I felt like I need to talk with you a little bit. I am new to this town, and was wondering if you had the time to speak with me at all." Ken was trying to remain mostly cordial throughout the entire thing. Even though he was doing this, and he was thinking that being polite was the best thing that he could have been doing at that moment, there was a huge part of him that was screaming at himself to not be doing this, so much so that he was feeling kind of stupid for trying to make this work out as well as he was wanting to make it work.

"I am not taken for a while longer I guess. If you really need to talk with me right now, I guess that I can make some time for this." After the digimon had said that, Ken was then starting to consider where this was going to go now. Ken was just looking at Stingmon, and now that he was here, he was wondering what he would really be able to say that would not give off that impression that he was judging the digimon who had been leading this city, as he was not wanting to make them get angry at Ken before he could even really get a chance to do anything.

"You know, I was just wanting to know if there was anything that you really needing right now. Something that can help your town out. I feel like I can be able to actually help you out here right now. I know that this may be kind of hard right now, but I think that you can trust me here. I have no real reason to be working against you. After all, I have only been here for about an hour or so." After Ken had said that, he was just wincing the whole time, and then he was looking right at the mayor and he was seeing if this was going to have to turn to this into some form of a fucking staring contest for a moment. Even though it would have sounded funny, he doubted that this would have actually made anything really go in his favor.

"I guess that if you really want to help me out so much, I can be able to find something for you to do. I think that you might be able to be given a chance to prove yourself if you really want to do this so fucking badly. Not that I am actually thinking you can pull this off." After the digimon said that, Ken was just wondering what they were going to force him to do. "I barely even know you, and I don't really think that you have even given me a chance to show that I can trust you. But if it turns out that you are going to be an enemy, then I am going be able to get rid of you rather quick, since you are nothing more than just a simple imposter and I am the fuckin mayor..." After the digimon said that, they were looking right at Ken and they were wondering what Ken was going to try and say to defend themselves, and to try and make it look like they were more innocent than they were really making it out to be.

"What are you wanting to do right now? My partner and I can probably take care of this on our own." After the digimon had said that, that was when Ken was seeing the digimon just smiling a bit, as if waiting to see what they were going to think once the task was actually given to them, and if their ego was really going to last for much longer once the deal was dropped down.

"Well, I think that since I have a shipment coming by soon, or at least I am supposed to be having one come by soon, I think that you should make sure that it arrives on time. No funny business, I just want you to be there when the deals are made so that way things can be worked out with. Just bring the shipment here, and since there will be multiple digimon that are bringing in the shipment, just make sure that they able to come by here without too much of a hassle, and make them see that I am willing to accept their company much more than they are willing to believe..." After the digimon had said that to Ken, this was when they were smiling wildly, and then Ken was thinking about this whole thing, that was when Ken was thinking that he would be able to work this whole thing out in his favor, and he was going to be able to use the digimon against himself, and make them realize the big mistake that they were making by actually accepting this whole thing.

"Yeah, where is the shipment coming in? When should I be going out and looking for it?" Ken was asking, and he was thinking that this was simple enough, and he was just wondering what the digimon was thinking about the fact that he was so willing to do this whole thing, and that was when Ken was wondering if perhaps there was something about him jumping onto this whole thing so easily that was actually going to cause more harm than good, as much as Ken really hated to admit this whole thing.

"Well, the shipment will be coming in through the regular entrance of the town. Shipments are made twice a week from midnight to three in the morning. That means that the shipment will be showing up here in probably six or seven hours from now. That will give you a long enough time for me to see if you really are a helper, or if you are actually thinking that you are going to be able to use me and treat me like a fucking fool right now? I mean, I doubt that you are actually going to do anything that you are thinking, but who knows, maybe I am wrong about you right now..." After the mayor was saying this, Ken was thinking that there was no real way that he was actually going to get himself through this, as much as he was hating to admit this whole thing, and despite the fact that Ken was thinking that he was doing a decent job on this whole thing, hiding what he was thinking, he was thinking that everything was going to go right down hill.

"Well, I think that you might be a bit wrong about me right now. I am all fine right now. I just want to get a decent footing in this place, since I have not been here before, and I was just sort of hoping that you were able to give me some jobs. Now that I am given one, I am going to be heading out and I will be starting my watch... You know on the chance that they show up earlier than you are expecting..." After Ken said that, he was thinking that it was realistic enough to make this fucking excuse.

"I just want you to know that I am going to be watching you the entire time that you are here. Who knows, maybe I am wrong about the assumptions I am making of you, but until that is shown to me, I am going to just make sure that everything is all fine..." After they had said that, Ken thought that this was a terrible situation that he was in right now. Stingmon was looking right at Ken, as if wondering if he was actually as safe as he was assuming that he would be right now, and if his winging it skills were that good.

Eventually, Ken was finally out of the hall and then when Stingmon was looking right at Ken, they were just wondering what Ken was going to say. "I think that this is going to be pretty rough. I don't really even know if I am going to be able to pull this off as well as I thought that I was going too. But I need to still try. I mean, I just got to keep a decent composure. And besides, I don't think the mayor is any problem, I think it is the digimon they are having the deal with that might be the problem..." As Ken said that, Ken was just tired of the fact that he was going to live in uncertainty this whole way through.

When Ken was thinking about how if anything, this can be his chance to show the digimon who was the mayor that he was trying to help out, and not cause any harm, that was when he was thinking that he really had a chance to possibly pull this whole thing off, as crazy as it was, and as much trouble and effort that he was thinking doing this was going to pull him through, he still felt like it was time to at least place in the effort.

"Ken, I know that you are thinking that the digimon is not going to fall for what you are doing, but what if that doesn't happe? What if it turns out that they have basically decided from the moment that they had met you that they do not like you, and that you are nothing more than a pestering asshole? Have you considered that this could be what happens?" After Stingmon had asked Ken this, that was when Ken was just looking at Stingmon, as if he could not believe that they had just asked him this question, thinking it was beyond the realm of any reality that he had just been asked this question by Stingmon right there.

"Stingmon, I know that this shit can happen all the fucking time. I know that it is a risk to actually be talking with them at all. But that is not the thing that worries me. I don't think you understand the fact that in a way, I simply do not care. I am trying to do what I think is right, and I am trying to find a way to make myself feel like I am not worthless in this. I thought that you would be able to get that this is where I am trying to go right now." After Ken said this to Stingmon, there was a moment in time in which Ken was thinking that this was going to be a big fucking hassle.

"Ken, I know that you want to make some form of reasonable contributions or something like that, but I think that in a way you might be trying too hard on this. I think that you are just simply trying to fit into a group that you don't really need to try and fit into. That to be totally real with you, getting involved in will actually be a bit of a problem..." Stingmon was wondering how Ken was going to react over the fact that the digimon was pretty much telling him off there. But then as Ken was thinking of a way that he could be able to counter this digimon, he was just thinking that the two of them were really not in a good place to be working with each other, and that this was one of the worst mistakes that he had ever gotten himself into, actually thinking that working with Stingmon was a good idea.

"I get that you have different standards for me. But here is the thing, I am the person here. I am the guy who has to be dealing with these things on a daily basis. I don't really even care all that much if you don't agree with me here since in all reality, I barely even know what you are thinking all the time. For all I know, you are probably thinking that you would just want me to hang out with you all the time and everything. For all I know, you are just wanting to make it so that I am sort of soft locked to earth, and that nothing I ever do matters at all." After Ken said that, he was looking at Stingmon as if thinking that they were getting closer to arguing with each other, but then Ken was placing his hand on his face. "I can't believe that we are having this discussion right now, considering the fact that we are supposed to be working with each other, not fucking messing around and just pissing each other off. I think that when we are done with this, we need to find a way to get both of us to get at least some of what we both want, as if that is the only thing that really fucking matters. I think that neither one of us are going to be happy all the time, and that we should think of a way that both of us can try to find a way to where we can get a little bit of what we want. If you are willing to give me some form of a compromise." Once Ken had been saying this, he was waiting for Stingmon to try and find a way to defend themselves, but they were just remaining quiet. Ken was just feeling awful for this whole argument and all that shit.

Stingmon was wondering what they could be saying to Ken at that point, and they were actually thinking that they deserved to start to work with each other more and more.

Eventually, there was a bit of time that was passing before either one of them really wanted to say anything to each other. Ken was just looking down, and he was thinking that Stingmon and him were the worst duo in the entire world. Or hell, maybe both worlds at this point in time.

"I am sorry that this is all over the place right now? I just wish that I was actually able to make some choices and not feel like I am sort of bashing my head against the wall. I think that I just want to do something for which the entire situation feels like something that I am making the right choice on right from the start. Even though I don't really think that this is going to happen, I was hoping that you were going to be able to help me out here. Help me make the right choices. But when the two of us are starting to bicker all the fucking time. We are not actually making some real progress here. Nothing that feels like we are really moving forward.

"It is the fact that you are so uncertain of yourself that I am even having these debates with you. I am trying to make you see things from a certain point of view, not from just the view point in which you feel like you have to take on the entire world. You know, since you are not the only fucking person in the entire world right now. As crazy as that may be right now. I am trying to help you out, but you keep shooting down everything that I am suggesting with you right now." Eventually as Stingmon said this to Ken, there was a moment when Ken was forcing himself to try and see it their way, even though he had no real desire to be seeing things their way.

"Listen, I get that you are trying to help me. I appreciate this. And a lot of the time, I want to get your help. But I think that I need to do this watching job now. I mean, even if I had not wanted to do this right now, I sort of have no real choice to do that now. I mean, they have already given me a job for me to do, and that is something that I am going to do, since I am now worried about what you are going to do when I am dead, and I am worried that the mayor is going to do that if I don't do my job. Well, not kill me but find a way to punish me. You know, for not doing the one basic thing that I needed to do. I mean, those shipment digimon are still scaring me more, but I know that the mayor can do something with me right now." After Ken said that, Stingmon and Ken were just sort of at that point they wanted to not talk about this anymore.

"Ken, I like the way you are real with me. You are a guy who understands the fact that even if you are wrong, at least you put a level of clarity to this whole thing. You are always saying what you feel on this matter, and you are not really afraid of what we are all going to say, since in all reality, you just feel like you have a certain view point on some issue, and even though I don't like this or agree with the things that you say to me, at least the way that you say it presents a situation to where I can be able to at least accept it..." Stingmon said, not sure of if they were really feeling good about saying this to Ken.

As Ken was thinking that the entire point of what he was feeling across, he was waiting for Stingmon to respond to what he had been saying, if they were really wanting to respond to him at all. Ken even started to think that maybe he had finally won this debate once and for all and that they were going to leave him alone on this whole thing. "I am sorry that we are dealing with this right now, and I just wished that there was not this dilemma going on right now... But I don't really know what is going on now... So Stingmon, were you taught to like never question your bosses motives no matter what was going on." After Ken had said that, he was just thinking that maybe this was a casual enough thing to be asking, and Ken was thinking that Stingmon could be able to at least be talking about this with them for the time being.

"Well, nothing is life is really as easy as you may want it to be. I guess that maybe this is something that we all have to deal with over time. I don't really think that this is something that JewelBeemon had told me all that much about. I mean, JewelBeemon always told me to just fucking fight all the time, and that fighting is pretty much the only thing that matters. I think that fighting is the only real purpose that we ever have in all honesty. I think that in a way, our species of digimon were born to just pretty much fight and nothing else, as terrible as that may be to fucking admit. It just pretty much sucks to admit that our species don't really have any context or purpose or anything on that. I think that JewelBeemon just saw this and saw that we basically really had no real feelings on anything like that..." After Stingmon started to be more open about the fact that they were having no real purpose on this whole thing, their whole life and that fighting was pretty much the only thing that they really had. As they were finally starting to think that fighting was the only thing that they really had on anything, it really was just making them feel terrible.

The more that Ken thought about what it would be like to be born just fighting, no matter how much he had already been presented with that fact before, with his conversations with Stingmon before, there was a part of him that was thinking for the first time in their entire life. They were finally realizing what this whole thing was pretty much like by this point in time. That was making Ken start to sort of feel a little bit bad for Stingmon, as if the very idea of just fighting being the only thing that mattered was just fucking awful. "Ken, what are you really thinking about right now? What do you really think about what we have been talking about here?" After Stingmon asked Ken this, that was when the digimon and the human were almost getting a little bit more common here.

"Well, if I was born to just fight, I don't even think that I would be allowing myself to be living anymore. I think that I might actually just let myself die by this point in time. I know that it sounds a bit out there for me to be saying this, but when this is what I am forced to be pretty much presented with, I guess that I am just sort of able to finally express how I feel. I mean, I know that I will never see what it is like to be a guy who was born to do nothing but fighting, but that is all I can think as you are telling me these things..." After Ken said that, he was just waiting for Stingmon to say something, and he was wondering what the digimon was even wanting to do now, thinking that maybe Ken was just never going to be able to understand their perspective.

"Ken, I think that you will never really get what it is like. But believe it or not, I am not angry about this at all. I think that it is a good thing that you don't really get it. I mean, to think that you are just there to be fighting and nothing else, it really changed everything in your entire life. It just makes you feel like nobody really cares about you at all. I don't really think that what I tell you matters though, since I think that you have pretty much made your choice by this point in time.

"I think that you and I are very different. I know that there is nothing really wrong about us just being different, since in all reality it is the lifes that we lived that makes everybody and everything more unique in a way I guess. I don't really think that what I say matters though..." After Ken said that, he was seeing that the sun was getting much darker, and it was at that point in time in which they are going to have to start getting at least a little bit more serious about the job that they were at, since they were not able to really just mess around for too long.

"I think that even if I didn't really want to be doing this job right now, I kind of have no choice now. I have already been at this waiting area for several hours, and the sun is setting, so there is no real point in quitting now, even if it is going to be a bit of a hassle, and even if I am starting to think that maybe doing this is the wrong choice, I don't really have all that much of a choice here." Once Kenw as stating his views on the matter, Stingmon was actually thinking that for once, even though they did not really like the situation that they were in that maybe they could not really argue with Ken on this, and they had to sort of accept the views that Ken on the whole issue by this point.

"I mean, I didn't really want you to be doing any of this or anything, and I think that this is a terrible idea, but since you have been here for so long anyways, I do feel like if you just quit now, then you might actually be increasing your chances of getting the mayor against you, just like what you were saying earlier. I mean, I will still sort of be keeping the objections in my mind now." After Stingmon said that, there was a moment of silence and Ken was thinking about the behavior that was going on, and the fact that this was all one big fucking hassle at this point in time, and the fact that Ken was just wanting sort of tired of all the shit that was going on at this point, and the fact that Stingmon was always trying to fight them all the time.

Despite the situation going on, and the increasing disagreement that was going on between the two of them, Ken and Stingmon both felt like they needed to work with each other and everything. As Ken was working together on all of these things, Ken was just telling himself that having somebody working with him in some way was better than doing nothing at all. It was better to be having somebody to help him than to just go out there on his own, even if they got into a bunch of disagreements on every single thing going on by that point in time.

"Stingmon, even though we do not really agree on many things at all, and I don't think that either one of us are being secret about this whole thing, I think that you and I are just sort of messing around now. I just want to return to earth. No matter how long I am talking about the fact that I don't mind being here, there is no way that I can deny the fact that I want to fucking go back to earth. I really miss going to earth, and I just want to see some of my friends here. As much as I hate this whole thing, I need to be real with myself. I need to tell myself that I just have to accept the fact that life here is not really all that easy, and that I just have to see that life on earth is where I am meant to be, as much as I really hate to admit this. Earth is the only place in which I don't really understand what I can say anymore, and when I get there, I think that maybe people are just going to tell me that I am a social inept." Ken said, and then he was just sort of getting tired, and he was thinking about getting some sleep before he started this rea shift where he really had to be worried about the digimon he was going to have to fucking encounter soon.

"Just because we don't always really agree with each other doesn't mean that we need to hate on each other all the time. I am just a bit worried about everything going on around me. I think that you are able to accept the fact that I am just worried about things is all. I think you understand that I don't really mean to make things any worse for you. But I think that maybe you just sort of don't really get the fact that I am still just a bit worried about how things are with you. I think that you seem to get that we just have different methods to make these things work out." After Stingmon said this, that was when Ken and Stingmon were just sort of considering everything a bit further. As if thinking that maybe just all these debates were starting to make them really make them fully understand what is going on now. Make them both fully understand the perspectives of the other one. Eventually despite the annoyance and the things going on with Ken, there was a part of him that just did not really care anymore.

"I guess that no matter what I say, and no matter how annoyed I act around you, we are forced to be still hanging with each other. No matter what happens here, I think that we both understand that we don't really have a choice on this matter until we start to figure some things out for ourselves. I mean, when you think that you can defend yourself, and I think that I can defend myself, I think that maybe then we could be able to just move on from each other, and we can just act like we don't really need each other anymore. And who knows, maybe by that point in time, we don't really need each other anymore." Ken had said that, and then when he was saying this to Stingmon, there was a moment in which neither one of them were really wanting to admit the truth.

That they weren't around each other just because it was easy to do so, but because they actually needed to be around each other. That they actually needed to make sure that both of them were still safe in order to make sure that they could be able to survive, and that the fact that both of them were seriously starting to consider the idea of just leaving each other behind was sort of the worst choice that they could both really make on this whole ordeal.

"I think that we should just sort of go as far as we can right now. I think we just have a journey that we need to go across, and that is where we are right now. Do we actually think that we will be ready for the journey that is ahead of us? Do we actually think that the stars are lining up to actually show us a direction or forward progress? I don't really know if that is what is going to be happening, as much as I don't want to admit it. I mean, we are here right now, doing somebody's dirty work, and even though you were wanting to do this, I think we can both agree that this is kind of lame. The fact that we are not really going out there and making any real differences right now." After Stingmon was saying this, Ken and Stingmon thought that they both were kind of wanting something much bigger than they were having at that moment, even if Ken did not really mind this so much as sort of baby steps into the whole matter.

When Ken was thinking that this was all baby steps, he was also questioning some things to himself. Such as if these things were really worth it. If doing this shift was actually a good idea, or if as much as he did not really want to admit it, that maybe Stingmon was actually right and that Ken did sort of make the wrong choice on this whole thing.

But then as Ken was telling himself that there was a small chance that he had made a big mistake on this whole thing, he was just sort of looking up at the sky, as if thinking that admitting this was just the one thing that he could never get himself to admit, even if it was just showing his false pride in the entire situation going on. "Stingmon, do you really know what is happening now? Do you really think that the digital world will be a place where I am able to handle things anymore?"

As Ken was thinking about these things that he was not really sure if he was able to handle or not, there was another thing that he was thinking. "I think that maybe things really are just much better than I am admitting that they are. That I just need to not be so hard on the real world things, and that I need to see the good things that this world has to offer right now... I think that the world has some things that show me that things could be much, much, much worse. As crazy as that may be for me to admit, some things could be much worse in this world at any moment." Ken said, and then as he was saying that, he was wondering what could be worse than what he was doing, but he was also thinking that he was telling the truth, even if he hated that truth.

"Well, just relax here. I mean, think of the things that you are doing right now as a resolution. A new life resolution to just simply not fuck around and live life the best way that you would be able to make this..." After Stingmon had said that, Ken was thinking that as much as he was getting kind of annoyed at all of these conversations, he was able to at least appreciate the fact that Stingmon was trying to put on a bit of a positive attitude. "Besides, things are not really all that big of a deal here. I think that people just have a tendency to take things way too seriously. I mean, I have not met that many humans before, but if they are all like you, then I guess that maybe this might be a bit of a safe assumption." After Stingmon said that, there was a part of Ken that was just thinking that there could have been a level of truth to this whole thing.

"I don't really know what really matters all that much. I am just tired of things most of the time. I guess that it does not really matter where I go with this whole thing now. But what the hell should I be doing? Pretend like the entire world is all roses and happiness? I am not really going to let these things just get in my way and I am not really going to pretend that things really matter all that much..." Ken was wondering if Stingmon really cared about this all that much anymore, and then there was a couple of noises that were slowly getting louder and louder the longer that they had been listening, which was Ken's way of knowing that things were coming along by this point in time.

"God damn it, I don't really know what I should be doing now. It sounds like something is coming along now. I think that we should probably relax a bit more, and just not bother with things all that much. I think that our conversation is just going to have to wait a while longer." Ken said, and as much as he was not wanting to say that, he knew that he just needed to get right to business, even if he was not really ready for it, and was thinking that he was never going to be ready for this type of business. It seemed like Stingmon was starting to sort of think about what Ken was saying, and they were thinking that while it sucked that Ken was ending this conversation so early, he was able to see sort of where this whole thing was going. Stingmon was able to see why Ken was getting so serious about the matter right at hand there. Stingmon was just also hoping that he wouldn't get too angry with what was going on, and then Ken would just lose his mind and get himself hurt, or hell even killed by doing this.

As Ken and Stingmon were getting a bit more serious about the subject going on as well, Ken was thinking about what it would be like if he was forced to be fighting at that moment. When Ken was thinking about the fights that he was going to have to going through by this point in time. Stingmon even was getting quite a bit more serious, and they were a bit worried about what was going on. Even Stingmon was thinking that they were getting right to the point in time in which they were going to have to deal with the job that they had been given earlier and everything. As Ken was standing up and was totally ready for what was going to be happening next, Ken was keeping one of his minds on the energy sword hilt in case he was going to have to start fighting up soon.

But despite the fact that Ken felt like he was going to be fighting along soon, he was telling himself that he should not jump right to it. That he should have the patience to at least a little bit more open to the idea of not fighting, and he was just thinking that he should not be forcing himself into a fight unless if he was one hundred percent certain that he was going to be heading into one right then and there.

Even Stingmon was getting a little bit impressed at the fact that Ken was keeping himself composed for a bit, and that he was refusing to fight at that moment. Besides, given the job that he was given, he was forced to sort of keep this to himself for the time being. And then over time, the digimon were right where Ken was able to see them and there was a bunch of crates right in the area. As they were moving the crates down the road, Ken was thinking about how he was going to start this whole subject up, and how he was going to make the digimon notice that he was there, and that he wasn't really wanting to be messed around with either.

"The mayor sent my partner and I here to make sure that you were able to bring the shipment to their hall just fine. I am going to stay by your side and just make sure that nothing happens to you..." After Ken had said that, he was looking right at Stingmon, wondering what the digimon was thinking about the blunt but also relatively respectful way that Ken was keeping this whole thing, as if Ken was starting to think that being nice and calm about this whole thing was the best and honestly only way that he should be approaching this subject.

"Well, we really do not need your help right now. In fact, we are bothered by the fact that the mayor thinks that we can't take care of these things on our own." The digimon had said, and for a split second, Ken had been hearing the voice of annoyance and even slight sadness when they had been saying this. It almost actually made Ken feel bad for the fact that they were dealing with these things at that moment. But then Ken was telling himself that this was just a part of the job, and that he was not going to let himself get too distracted by these things right then and there.

"I get that you are probably annoyed right now, and I bet that it would make sense if I were you right now, but please just understand that this is a part of the job that I was given..." After Ken said that, he was actually starting to show a little bit of the annoyance come through, and Stingmon was wondering what Ken was going to be acting like if these digimon tried to tell him off, thinking that maybe Ken was really starting to get into some bad territory there.

"Well, if what you are saying is true, and this is just a part of the job, then I guess that I am just going to let you guys do this, but we don't really want to be talking with any of you right now. We are just going to be bringing the crates in, and we have some business to discuss with the mayor, and that is all that I want to hear from you right now..." After the digimon had said that, and then the crates were passing along, Ken was just bored out of his mind for that time being.

The digimon started to head on down to the mayors office, and then Ken was thinking about how he was going to try and converse with the digimon a bit, to make them not so rough on Ken for the time being and everything. As Ken was thinking that this entire thing was just a bit rough for him to deal with and everything, Ken was just thinking to himself that there was nothing that really mattered all that much about what he was doing at this point. "So, what made you start to work withe the mayor at all? I never saw him around before and everything. I am just a bit curious is all." After the digimon had said that, Ken was actually hearing the slight interest of their voice growing, and then after Ken was hearing this interest slightly grow, he was telling himself that maybe he should open up about things a little bit more there.

"Well, I have been going around the digital world for a bit, and this was a place that I found, and since I need some money around for a while, I decided that I could come by and just see what I can really do help out here..." Ken had said, and then after they had said that, the digimon was actually starting to believe in what Ken was saying, and they were actually going along in what Ken was telling them, thinking that what they were saying was really not all that far out there anymore.

Eventually, Ken was thinking that they were going to start to continue the conversation up for a bit longer. "You know, I am curious what made you involved with them for a bit... I am just wanting to know that a bit..." After Ken said that, the digimon seemed to be not really too sure what they were wanting to say to Ken anymore, even though Ken was seeing that they were not really wanting to talk to him at all about their working life, but at the same time, the digimon was also thinking that if this was a conversation that was started up by them in the first place, they were thinking that they could be able to give Ken the shitty version of the story just to get them off their back on this whole thing and then they could just be able to move on already.

"Well, I have just been sort of a free lancer, just getting odd jobs here and there, and I think that maybe you and I are common on that regard. But that also means that we are probably going to be working together for a while longer, at least until you feel like you have the money to stay out of here for good. I guess that you are probably just waiting to get out of here. Just in for the fucking thrill seeking, like a fucking dumb ass." After they had said that, Ken was wondering what their problem was, and if they didn't really even care at all for the fact that Ken was there.

"You know, I just wanted to make some small talk. You really don't have to be a fucking dick about this thing..." Ken said, and then after he had said that, he was seeing Stingmon give him a bit of a face to make them aware that they had been thinking Ken was taking this a bit too far. Then when Ken was thinking about what Stingmon was trying to express to them, there was just a part of Ken that was thinking that it really did not matter all that much what everybody really was saying anymore. Eventually though they reached the entrance to the mayors hall, and there was no real need to have this conversation continue anymore, and that was when Ken was thinking that perhaps he was able to get himself out of this one by just the sheer and simple luck of the draw at this point in time. Eventually, as Ken was telling himself this, the door opened and he could see the sly look on the digimons face as they were opening up the fucking door to the town hall.

Eventually, when Ken was inside of the mayors hall, he was thinking about how he was going to be able to get right to fucking work. He was honestly just sort of believing that this whole thing was just a very rough spot for him to be in at that rate in time. He was wondering what the mayor was going to be telling him, and he was wondering if they were going to be giving him a new job for him to do, just so at that rate he could be able to actually get things done with by that rate. "Well, it seems like you are able to do basic fucking jobs right now. I guess I will be giving you that right now. Not that I really trust you all that well, but even I have to admit when somebody can do a decent fucking job every once in a while." After the mayor said that, they were looking right at Ken, and then they were wanting to see what Ken was going to say, and he was seeing that Ken was just sort of keeping the comments to himself, as if he was a bit of a fucking coward. They were kind of annoyed with the way that Ken was doing this at that rate, and they were thinking that even if Ken was more open about the way they were thinking, then there could be a little bit of a dilemma going on there. Which would have made things a bit more interesting, and it would have made what could have been an eventual rivalry much more exciting to be going through.

"What were you wanting me to do now? I mean, I am here right now, so I might as well just do the jobs that you are giving me..." Ken said, and he was thinking about how this was going to be a bit of a hassle to be going through this, and Ken was thinking that in all reality, he really had no choice but to go through all of this stuff." Ken had said it in a way that the digimon who was the mayor even started to believe in what they were saying for a moment and everything. They actually thought for a short second that the human was actually wanting to work at this whole job, but then after they had been thinking about this whole thing, Ken was thinking that he was getting through this pretty easily, and that he really did not have to try all that hard to be getting this digimon to start to fall for what they had wanted, so that way the roles would be so oddly reversed that it would be really exciting to be seeing. That Ken would actually be fulfilling something by doing this.

"You know, I think that I am going to be sending you down with the digimon that did this shipment. I want you to go to where they carry out the boxes from, and where they do their business. I want to see if you are actually willing to work with me right now..." After the mayor had said that, they were happy to see that Ken was feeling like this, and they were getting to see if Ken really was loyal or not. They wanted to see where Ken could really be able to say where it all laid down at that rate, and that was what the digimon just really wanted more than anything else.

"That is going to be quite the long journey... Do you really think that I am able to pull this thing off? Ken asked, and he was mainly asking this in a way that was going to see if he could get himself out of this, but he was seeing that the digimon was really not falling for this anymore, and he was seeing that this was what he was going to have to deal with now. After Ken was starting to see through this, Ken was just wanting to see what the mayor was going to be telling him.

"I don't really take too much of an issue on that. I mean, if you are really going to be working with me as much as you keep saying that you are going to be, then I think you need to prove yourself right now. You need to show yourself that you can actually fucking keep up with the things that you are saying that you can do." After the digimon had said that, Ken was thinking that this was going to not at all be fun at all. Ken was just tired of this whole thing, but he was thinking that this was just sort of the situation that he had been placing himself in, and that he had to accept the fact that this was just what he had to be dealing with now, even if he had no real desire to be doing this.

"Sure thing. I just was not really sure if you think that I could be able to really do this or anything. But if you really think that this is something that I can do... Then I will do it as well as I can. I need to get these jobs done anyways." Ken said, and then when he was saying this, this was when Ken was thinking that this was really not going to go over as well as he was expecting that it would have, but he really did not even care anymore. He was just saying things where he was thinking that no matter how well he was placing this conversation in his mind, and no matter how much he was thinking that he was doing things, he was always going to make them really angry at that moment.

"I want to see you do everything just right. I believe that you are going to do this job much better than you are thinking that you will be doing. I think that you just need to give yourself more credit than you are saying..." After the mayor had said that, this was when Ken was wondering if he was going to be able to continue this subject for a bit long and everything.

"You know, I just don't really care all that much. I am here to do whatever you tell me to do, no matter what the whole thing may be. Who knows, I am just sort of scared is all. I will be leaving right when you want me to do this..." As Ken had said that, the mayor was just keeping a little bit quiet or something or something like that.

"You will probably be heading right right away. I think that the job needs to be done right now. I mean, you can ask those digimon what they are going to be doing. I think that you are not really going to be minding place this off as much as you want. I guess that you might be a bit of a coward on that whole regard..." After the mayor had said that, this was when Ken was starting to get a bit pissed off, and he was wondering what was wrong with the mayor to be making them this prompted and this tempted to have a fight with the mayor in the hall. Did they really want Ken to start a fight with them so badly?

"I am going to just allow that to slide. Even if I don't really want to... I mean, if you think that this is the truth with me, then I guess that maybe I should just be trying to prove myself that this is not what I am like. I guess that maybe I should be trying to show that I am a nice guy after all..." After Ken had said that, he was wondering if the digimon was going to get as easily impressed by this as they were thinking they would be, or if the mayor was not really going to say anything. So with that, Ken was just getting himself out of the subject, and he was just telling himself that the less amount of time that he was there, the less likely that they were going to be placed into a really bad fight between them and the mayor. When Ken was finally away from the mayor of the town, and he was getting himself right into the mindset of just doing this business, he was starting to wonder if he had made the right choice or not, and it was at this rate in time when he was starting to think that this was a terrible idea. He was now really just thinking that Stingmon had been right about everything, no matter how much he had hated to admit that he was right about this on any reason.

Despite the fact that Ken was sort of hoping to get to talk with Stingmon one on one a bit before they were forced to do this quest and everything, Ken was also telling himself that it really did not need to happen all that much, as much as he had hated to admit that fact. That he really did not need to have these talks with each other anymore, since they were already having a bunch of talks with each other by that point in time. This was all because the digimon that were doing the shipments by this point were talking with the mayor now, ad they were sort of just listening to this conversation before anything else could really be said or done, and they were not really wanting to expose themselves to the mayor or anything like that.

"I want those two right there to come along with you on the job. I want to make sure that they don't really try anything right now. I don't really want to have them act like they are to be trusted, and them have them blind side me. I mean, I could be proven wrong, but I don't really want something like that to happen to me right now. I trust you guys enough to just make sure that they don't really pull anything off is all." After the mayor had said that to the digimon, that was when Ken was looking away, and he was just sort of wondering how badly he must have placed himself into this whole thing to make this digimon really just this much against anything that he was doing. Eventually, as this was happening, Ken was just forcing himself to just focus on the topic on hand.

"What do you want me to do in case it seems like they are going to turn against us?" After they had asked the mayor this question, it had seemed like the mayor was sort of thinking about this just a little bit and everything. It had actually seemed like the digimon had not planned all of this out as well as they were sort of trying to make it look like they had been, and this whole thing was going to sort of be going against them soon enough.

"Well, if it looks like they are not really willing to work with you as well as they are acting like they are, I guess that you can sort of do whatever you feel like needs to be done. I mean, you can go around and just kill them if you feel like that is what needs to be done. If you feel like there is something else that needs to be done, then go ahead and just do whatever gets them away. I mean, in a way that is sort of your choice. If that means you have to kill them, then I don't really think that this matters all that much. But if you think that you should just find a way to force them to go away, and you think that you are not going to kill them, or you think that you don't need to do this, then I guess that it really is what you want. I just want you to be aware that you need to be careful of what you are doing one way or another..." After the mayor had said that, this was when Ken was sort of thinking that while he liked the challenge, that maybe he should be trying to get himself into a better situation to try and make Stingmon safer and everything, and to make it look like Stingmon really mattered much more than they really did, but then Ken was starting to think that maybe Stingmon really did matter much more than Ken was ever thinking that they did.

"I am wondering if you want them to see what is in these crates. What we are actually sending over. Since nobody besides us really knows what we are doing, and if they find out, they might be tempted to show other digimon what we are working on..." The digimon was actually starting to act like they were a little bit scared, and this was when Ken was thinking that he for sure needed to figure out what was going on now, and that this was sort of forcing any debate out of the window by this point in time.

"I don't really think that they should be seeing anything. I don't really trust them enough for anything like that. I think that they might be trying too hard to make this better and everything. They might be trying too hard to act like they are really matters of justice fighters and everything. I don't really think that they will ever really fucking understand it... But regardless of what they think, I am more worried about if they try to tell any other digimon what is going on, as if they think that this if something that the rest of the public needs to know about. In all reality, the digimon here do not need to know anything that we are doing right now..." After the mayor said this to the digimon who was doing some business right then and there, Ken was wondering where this was really going, and Ken was telling himself in his mind that he needed to figure out what the hell they were actually working on, and Ken was wondering if they could actually figure out the truth to the matter at hand.

Despite the fact that Ken was telling himself that this was going to be working as well as they were wanting to work, there was another part of him that was telling himself that he needed to know about this. "Besides, if they think that they want to do more of this, they might actually try and tell themselves that we are truly on the real bandwagon. I don't really think that they get it all that much. I think that they don't really know what matters all that much here, but I think that you should see their loyalty. I say that it they are still sort of working with us by this point in time, and they are actually working hard on this whole thing, then once something like that happens, I think that you could start to show them more often now. Just make sure that they are actually really willing to work with us before anything like that. I don't really think they will be able to put on a good facade or anything, and I think that they might say something like that, and they might try to pretend like they are actually wanting to help out and everything, then you need to really read the meaning between the words. Actually fucking thing about what they are saying, and don't really just act like you fucking understand anything. I do not want something to show up, and then have it all be your fucking fault right now..." After the mayor had said that, the digimon was wondering what else they could really say on this whole matter.

"How many jobs do you think that they should do before we start to think that they can be trusted?" After they had asked that, the digimon was honestly thinking that it was a simple enough question, and they were thinking that the digimon would be able to indulge them a little bit more. But then after they were saying this to the mayor, and then there was just a moment of silence, this was when Ken was sort of wondering if the conversation had finished up or now. Or if the mayor really even wanted to continue this conversation at all, and Ken was wondering how long this could really keep going before the digimon just tell their workers to just leave the subject alone and just move on with their job.

"I would say that after two full contracts, then they might be showing that they can be trusted, and that they are not really in this for the money. When they come down here and they get their pay check, I am going to give them a chance to leave the job if they really feel like they need to do this..." After the mayor had said that, there was yet again another long fucking silence that there was going on between them. Ken was feeling like that the conversation was truly over with, and Ken was feeling like there was nothing else he could really get any information out of even if he was casually listening to, Ken was feeling like it was his turn to talk with Stingmon more about this whole thing, and see what they were thinking in this whole situation. Ken was just thinking that nobody really could understand the situation that he had went through, but he was just not really caring anymore, thinking that Stingmon was just going to find a way to try and make Ken feel better and while Ken hated this, he didn't really feel like it had mattered all that much what they were saying.

"Stingmon, as much as I hate to admit it, I think that you might actually be right on this whole thing. I hate it when I have to admit that you are fucking right..." After Ken had said that, he was just sort of wondering what Stingmon was really going to be saying to Ken was just wanting Stingmon for once in their life to just not fucking rub this shit in for once in their entire life... "But I think that since we are here right now, and we are starting to really find out that something could actually be going on right now, then I think that we need to put aside our feelings on the whole matter, and then I think that we just need to get fucking serious about what is going on at this rate..." After Ken had said that, he was wondering what the digimon who had been working with him this whole time was going to say to this whole thing.

"Ken, I told you all of these things already. I told you that you were not to just think that they were fine and heroes. But since we are here right now, and you are right, and that this is the situation that we are in right now, I am not going to say anything, and I am going to fucking let this one slide, and I think that we just need to fucking work together for once..." After Stingmon had said that, there was a part of Ken was that was thinking that no matter the at the moment annoyed feelings that Ken was having on this whole thing, he was telling himself that soon enough, he was going to have to tell himself to just take it as was.

"I guess that I should have been listening to you more often than I already have bee. I just think that maybe I wanted to show that I was able to do things on my own. I guess that I should have thought about what was going on more, and I needed to finally admit that maybe I could be wrong on so many fucking things... God fucking damn it, now you are starting to get me to think that I am not as good at planning these things out as I thought. I promise that I will do better this time though..." Despite the fact that Ken was just sort of saying this as a half ass apology, there was a part of him that was actually meaning it, actually thinking that there was no real reason to be forcing himself down this fucking worm hole again if he could be able to help himself out of this.

"Well, I would not really feel too bad about it, I mean, everybody is just human after all. There is no real reason for you to be acting as if you are a terrible man for what you do. You need to be able to be open about what you are doing. I am sorry that you feel this way about yourself. I never really wanted you to feel so bad about everything..." After Stingmon had said that, they were actually starting to feel really bad for all of the things that Ken was always dealing with. Not his self loathing or anything, since Ken really did not hate himself all that much, but his self doubting which was happening all the time and really eating him up, and it was making Ken look like things were getting just even worse than they already were by that point.

As Ken had been hearing the fact that Stingmon actually sound like they were meaning it, there was something else that he was telling himself. 'Maybe Stingmon really is not as bad as I thought that they were. Maybe they really are much more loyal than I am giving myself credit. I think that maybe I should have been able to talk with them more, and just think about what they were really meaning about the meaning under the text. If that makes any sense. I just sort of hate everything that is going on... I just think that maybe things would have been much better if I am actually going to listen to them for once in a fucking while. I just wanted to do things on my own, and I wanted to just act like everything was something that I could keep myself composed on, but I am sort of never going to be able to do thing son my own. No matter how much I want to say it, I really need their help. I want to have their help on my side, even if it is going to be impossible for me to admit. Even if it is going to be fucking terrible for me to admit, and even if in a way, as stupid as it is for me to say, that it hurts my ego. But there comes a point in time when that shit does not really matter anymore. But no matter what I think on this now, I think that I just need to start to work with them more. I just need to finally be open up to the idea of having allies. As much as it hurts for me to admit, I am probably going to be here for the rest of my life. I am probably going to be here until the day that I die, and that nothing I say or do will change this, but no matter what I say now, I think that things are just going to go the way that the world wants it to go, and never really the way that I want the things to be. If things went my way, I mean Stingmon would be gone and I would actually be able to do this whole thing on my own. But I guess that this is not how things are, and I just need to be out there and have more friends than anything else.' After Ken was telling himself this, despite him not knowing this, Stingmon was sort of having a inner monologue on their own.

Even though Ken was thinking that he was a deep thinker, and that he was finally becoming real with himself, he would later find out that Stingmon was taking it much bigger than Ken would ever be able to fucking take it. That their way of taking this was nowhere near the level that Stingmon was going to be taking this at all. 'I think that when I started to travel with Ken, they were just really not wanting to do this on their own. They were thinking that they were scared, and that he could claim all of this himself. He could say that he was fine on the surface, and he denies his fears to anybody who tries to talk to him about this, but in all reality, this is something that just really fucking scares him. This is something that he wants to fucking work out on his own, but the fear of his death and the fear of letting down his brother is going to be the one fucking thing that will drive him to be pushing himself much more than he really needs to. I think that even if he wants to try and push himself deeper, that there is no real point in doing something like this. He thinks that he has to prove himself to somebody, but in all reality, he is the one that has to prove something to himself. He is the one that has to realize that he just needs to make himself feel better, not everybody else, since in all reality, we do not nearly matter as much as he may be thinking that we matter. I think that Ken just wants to make himself seem like he is calm and composed, but until he makes peace with himself, and he starts to see that he is not the bad guy that he is convinced that he really is, that is never going to happen. That is really awful, and I really feel terrible for him, and I want to make him feel so much better, and like he can actually take things more seriously... But I think that he just needs to expand a bit more. I think that he is a good man, and that he will see this eventually. I am hoping that at the very least that he is able to see this eventually... I will just see how things are going, and I am thinking that I will be here a lot longer than we will ever think that we were, and that this is one reason that I am convinced that I will be seeing how he grows up over time. And this actually makes me proud to say, as crazy as that is to say...' Eventually, there was a longer silence and then that was when the digimon who were going to be working with them was coming towards them, and they were going to get right to work on the shipment job.

As Ken was telling himself to just work more on the social skills, the digimon were getting right to the point. "We don't want you around, and I bet that you don't really want to be around us either. It is a perfectly mutual feeling right now, trust us, but since you are here, we are going to have to pretend like we are getting along right now... So let's just get out of here, and let's just get right to work on our job, and don't really bother us, and we will not really bother you. It really is just that simple..." After the digimon who was leading the shipments had been saying this, Ken felt like in a strange way this was a decent compromise, so he nodded, and then after he had nodded to this, the whole bunch of the digimon and the human left the mayors hall and then Ken was thinking more on this whole thing even more.

When Ken was heading down that path, there were another couple of things that he was telling himself. 'I need to just find out what they are working on right away. Once I figure out what they are working on, I am going to fucking leave. Simple as that. Just need to figure out what it is they are pulling off, and then I will get the job done, and then I will fight the mayor. Hell, I will even fight the digimon there is I have to. Despite the fact that I want to help the mayor out, the more that I am thinking that they are part of the establishment that I need to fight right now. They are the very group that I am telling myself that I need to take down, as crazy as that is to say...

Despite the fact that they are thinking that they really do have a lead on this whole thing, I have to admit that I think that for once, I have the lead on this whole thing, since I really am the one in the lead since I heard all of their conversations, and they may be acting like we were too dumb to really get it, but that is going to be their fucking down fall. We are going to show that we really do know what is going on, and we are going to fucking show that we have nothing to lose this entire time. I think that maybe the entire situation that I am in right would make it look like I don't really know what I am doing, and on the surface, I probably look like I don't know what I am doing, but that is going to be a part of how I am going to fucking win this whole thing. I am going to show that I am not really going to be messing around all that much. That I do have the lead on them this whole time. Even if they think that they are the ones who are in the lead right now, I am the one that really got it down by now... Who really cares though... I just need to find a way to make them fear what is happening. Find a way to make them fear me.

When they see that I am going to fucking kill their entire fucking establishment, they will see that I really do know what I am doing. They will see that I am getting this whole thing done right now. They are going to see that I have no real fucking problem shoving it up to them. They are going to see that I have no problem in the slightest in taking them down if I feel like their deaths are going to be the only fucking way in order to make it clear that Stingmon and I do know what we are doing, and that I have one real thing going in my fucking favor... I know that Stingmon thinks that I am a real hero, and who knows, this can be my fucking time to show that I am one. I think that maybe Stingmon and I will really be able to make something work for once in my life. That maybe I do not really understand how strong I am on this whole thing...

There is something else that I need to think about though. The fact that I am going to fight the man in the purple jacket sooner or later. I mean, everything that I am doing is leading up to this. I mean, I have no other reason to be doing this, and no other reason to want to stay in this world. I am trying to act like I am some fucking hero right now, but there is some other truth to this whole thing. Even though I want to save digimon, and even though Stingmon thinks that I am starting to become more of a hero on my own, there is nothing heroic about the fact that I am just sort of doing this all on my own. That I am just sort of doing this whole thing on my own limb. That is something that I really hate right now. I need to just be real with myself right now... I need to be real with the fact that the man in the purple jacket is somebody that I really need to kill. I am trying to get myself some revenge right now. I need to get myself some revenge for the fact that he cut off my entire arm, and that I have to get a fake arm and basically be a robot to some extent, then there is the fact that I am always fucking going back to the time he kicked my utter fucking ass that one time nearly half a decade ago. I totally have forgiven Sheldon for that whole thing. He really did not know better at the time, and I think that he would have changed this whole thing if he were going to get himself another chance on this whole thing, I think that maybe I just don't really know anymore. I think that Sam dying really was the last straw. I want to pretend like that did not bother me as much as it did, but for fucks sake, that bothered me much more than I will ever want to admit that it fucking did. That really fucking hurt me. That makes me fucking pissed the hell off right now... I mean, I think that Sam would have been better than me, and there is no real need to debate this in my mind, I am utterly convinced that he would be married with Susan and having his first child right now, and he would be a great father, but I am just not really that type of guy. I am not really the guy that I think that I am right now. I am the guy who pretend like he cares more about things than he really does. I think that if there is one thing that I can be sure on, is that if Sam was here right now, he would be wanting to lecture me so much right now, be telling me that I need to get my fucking game together at that moment. I guess that this is one thing that maybe I should be thinking about, and that is the thing that I need to just get me through this whole thing. The fact that Sam would be having a family right now, and that I need to be thinking about the family that I would be having right if I was still on earth. No matter what I think though, there is no fucking way that I am going to fucking have a family. But the fact that I need to fucking pretend that I am having a having a chance to have something like that happening, but I think that maybe Sam would not be as far as I think he would have been. For all I know, Susan and Sam would have broken up by this point in time, and that would have thrown it all away. That would have made everything pointless. As if none of this was really going to be all that big of a deal. I think that maybe I should understand the fact that everything that I say or do will start to reflect on what I am actually thinking on this thing, and that I should not get too over board on this whole thing.

One of these fucking days, there will be something else that I need to focus on. I need to really put aside all of my thoughts and feelings on this whole thing, and I need to start being more objective to the truth at hand. That in all reality, my parents are probably just so broken to the point of despair and that I just need to finally be able to see what they are dealing with. But when I am here in this fucking world, I am not getting this done with at all. I am not getting the one thing that I will feel like will perfectly place me at peace. The fact that I think that if I just fucking go into this, then I think that maybe nobody really fucking cares anymore. I think that maybe my parents have already placed this whole thing behind them, and they will probably be thinking that even if they wanted to see us more, they are going to just have to fucking accept the fact that this is not what they are going to fucking get... Even though I want so badly to make this work out, I do not think that this is going to be what is really going to be happening.

No matter what I may be saying on the matter right now, I just think that even if I wanted to place this whole thing down and just act like it doesn't really matter all that much, I know that it really does fucking matter. All of this shit really fucking matters. All of the things that are going on right here and right now really do matter much more than I will ever try and say that it does, even if I am making myself feel better by saying that it does not fucking matter. What else can I really say besides just that on the whole issue? I think that if my parents were to see me again, they would refuse to believe that it was me, and they would never want to see me again anyways as a result. I don't even really mind that this is the case. I think that I need to sort of accept the fact that this is not what they want, and that my death is sadly going to be the one thing that they will sort of be wanting more than anything, because they have sort of made peace with the fact that I am dead and everything. They will be feeling like my death is going to just be the one thing that they can be certain on, and that certainty is going to be the one thing that will keep them going on no matter what else fucking happens. I just feel like my death is going to really keep them moving forward, and going to make them feel like they do have some form of motivation going on here. Even if I don't really have too much motivation right now, the fact that I am going to be heading to where these shipments are being worked on, no matter what happens, one way or another, I am really going to fucking get this fucking job done, and I am going to make things work no matter what happens here. But no matter what I may be saying right now, and no matter if I am telling myself that I got this all under wraps, there is something else that I am going t o have to admit. That I am so out of league for this. That I am so fucking terrible of a human being, and that this is what I am going to just have to deal with now. But then again, I think that just sitting around and doing nothing when you know for a fact that something could indeed be happening is indeed even worse than just exerting yourself into a situation where you might not be safe. I would rather not be safe myself over throw everything else in the world into not being safe either. I want to do whatever it takes to make it so that the entire digital world can feel at least a small hint of unity around the things that I do, and that they will be able to think that I really got things fucking taken care of now. No matter what I am saying now, and no matter what I want to act like I am doing now, I am just needing to get right to fucking work right now. I need to fucking accept the fact that I am just sort of going all over the place right now. I guess that even if I wanted to act like this was all the way that things should be, that I should always just be getting right to work.

I mean, getting myself to work is one way that no matter what fucking happens, I can be able to do things that I know will be right. I think that doing things that are right is going to be the driving force to take down what is in here, and I think that no matter what happens, and no matter what they are saying, that is something that I just have to make peace with. That even if I wanted to go one fucking day of my time here without fighting, that I am going to have to keep fighting over and over and over again.

I think that maybe that is the reason that I am here right now, is the fact that I am supposed to be cleaning up this entire fucking mess right now. I have a lot of things that I need to clean up in this world, and I am the fucking janitor of the digital world, as sad as that may for me to admit. The fact that I am only really here to just make sure that nothing gets too fucking messy here. I mean, I guess there are things that I am going to be here for, but does this really matter all that much now? I mean, here I am, at least trying to do something, and the more that I am here, the more that I think that this is what I am supposed to be doing. Destiny really had been calling for me the entire time that I was here, and this indeed is my fucking destiny. This is indeed what I should have been doing right now. This is what I should have been doing right from the fucking start. Actually fucking fighting for myself, and fucking fighting for what I was thinking was actually right now. I mean, there is much worse things that I am going to be able to do.

I mean, as horrible as it is for me to say, I could have turned myself into a fucking villain and everything. I really fucking hate the idea of being a fucking villain. That is one thing that I will never let myself become. I am never going to allow myself to become a person who can fucking man who just ruins everything. I am going to be the one person who can pull things off, no matter what I am telling myself. I am going to just stay there, and I am going to bring everything forward. I have nothing really else to say besides this, and I hate the things that I am telling myself right now, but in all reality, I just don't really get what the hell I really have going on right now...

But no matter what the hell I am going to do this whole thing, I think that the fight is going to be enough to make the time I am having here worth while. Enough to say that I am actually fucking doing things the right way. I am going to see what is really so bad about this, and I am going to see what is going on now...' After this, that was when Ken was forced to be thinking about this whole thing for... And this was when Ken was going to see if he was really ready for the test that was coming along. Ken was looking at what was at the mountain that he was going to have to climb up. There was seemingly nothing to it at that moment, but Ken would later learn that this would be a strange base of operations, and would later see that this area was called Mt. Snakemore, and it had that name to resemble Rushmore from real life, and that this was all a part of the plan of the man in the purple jacket and what they really wanted to accomplish...


	91. Mt Snakemore

Mt Snakemore

As Ken was now in Mt. Snakemore, he was looking around and trying to see what the hell was going on here, and he was wondering what there would be that he was going to find along the way. Despite the fact that Ken was thinking that this was going to be a huge fucking problem, there was something else that Ken was thinking at that point in time. He was telling himself that this business needed to be attended to right away, and that there was nothing else that he needed to by this point in time. Stingmon was placing their hand on Ken's shoulder, as if wondering what Ken was going to say to the human who had been at their side from the moment that they had left the tower. "Ken, do you think that you are actually ready to take care of this business, or are you now starting to think that you are in over your head right now?" After Stingmon had said this to Ken, the digimon was just sort of seeing that Ken was not really sure what he was thinking at that moment. In fact, they were thinking that Ken was just not really caring all that much what was going on at that moment.

"I don't know if I am in over my head right now, and honestly I don't really care right now. I have something that I have told myself that I need to do right now, regardless of if I am actually thinking that I am ready for something like this or not... I have already given this quest to myself, so I need to just get right to work with now..." After Ken had said that, he was seeing that the digimon was just not really sure what they were going to be saying to make the whole thing easier, and the entire time that this whole thing was happening, there was something else that Ken was telling himself.

"Besides, I am already here right now, and if the mayor thinks that something is going on right now, then they might just throw me away right away, and then you are never going to get anything done, and you are going to be in a place on which you are never going to turn things around. I think that we just need to get the job done, and then get the hell out of here right now... Sort of a in and out mission, if you get this..." After Ken said that, he was looking around, and he was wondering what the digimon around him were thinking, if they were hearing what they were talking about, and if they were actually going to come along and try to do something to them. Ken was trying to get himself ready for something else at that moment. He was telling himself to get ready for the battles that could be coming up at any moment. As the two were thinking about how to get to business, that was when Ken was thinking about something else at that moment, if they were going to get out of there or not.

When Ken was thinking about what it would be like for digimon to know what they were doing, Ken was telling himself that this was all going to be a really hard situation, and he was telling himself that no matter what else was happening at this point in time, there was nothing else that he was going to do that would really make this entire thing much worse. "You know, I was thinking that you would like this place quite a bit. I was thinking that once you see what it is like here, that you would realize how smart this whole business really was. I think that the whole thing is finally starting to settle in right now..." After the digimon that Ken was talking with all of those hours ago said this, that was when Ken was thinking about what was going on now.

"You know, I think that this is kind of a interesting business right now. I don't really know though. I think that I need to look around more and see what else this place really has to offer right now..." After Ken had said that, he was wondering if the entire situation that he was in right now was actually where he was wanting to go with this, and he was thinking that the digimon was starting to see that Ken was doing a good job giving off a relatively convincing persona.

"Well, if you think that you want to look around more, then just follow me around right now..." After the digimon had said that, the two of them were walking around the area and the digimon was starting to just show Ken all of these things, just to make their point that this was not really to be taken all that fucking lightly.

"This area is where all the weapons of the town gets created. There is a war that is going to be coming up soon. You know that this is the case. I think that your master might have told you this already..." After the digimon said that, the digimon looked right at Stingmon and then the digimon started to speak again. "The digimon who is the mayor decided to give us this job to make sure that we pretty much just make sure that the business works well here, and that we consistently bring weapons here in order to make sure that this town will be ready to fight when the battles come. You may think that they are not going to be affected by anything going on, but they need to just take a bit of precautions to make sure that everything is fine. I think that if you really see this whole thing, and you see what they are fighting just to be sure for this whole fucking battle coming up anyways. You will see why this even matters now..." After the digimon tried to explain this to Ken, he was sort of thinking that the digimon needed to get to the point now.

"You see, I think that this is one of the benefits of getting into this fucking business. You will see this eventually. What it is like to actually contribute something of worth to this town. You must see that we are entirely just trying to help this city out right now. You must see that you are actually sort of just like us on a lot of these regards. You must see that you are like us on the regard that the entire digital world is a place that we are fighting for the best here right now. I think that you know that we are in the same group right now. We need to see how much we are really alike right now, you know to really piece this all together. For you to see that going after us and trying to change what we are doing is showing that we have the best intentions after all. Even if you do not really believe in what I am telling you right now." After the digimon said this, that was when Ken was feeling like he was tired of listening to them going on and on about this.

"Listen to me right now... I have a lot of things that I am thinking about right now... I am starting to think that what you are telling me is a bunch of bullshit. I think that you only really care about what advances you forward, and I think that you are only working with the mayor because you realize that the mayor is going to be the only guy who is actually going to be helping you out right now. I know that you are acting like this to make me believe in what you are saying right now... But let me tell you the truth right now... I think that you are just trying to come off as a salesperson, and not even really doing all that good at it I will say." After Ken was saying this, he was wondering what else the digimon was going to try and say to defend themselves and make Ken think that they were not so bad after all.

"In all honesty, I think that you just need to give us more of a chance before you start to brush us off so quickly. I think you need to see what we truly have to offer right now. I mean, just look at the weapons that we have made. For all you know, even if you do not think this right now, you might actually want to give us some business and buy some weapons from us, in which case you are feeding into what we are doing now..." After the digimon said this, they placed their hands firm on Ken's shoulder and was forcing them down a hall way at this point in time.

"I think that when you look to see the values of what we are presenting right now, then you are going to see the whole point of what we are doing right now..." The digimon was placing a couple of weapons that they had made and were stored inside of a box down on the table. "You know what we need right now, and you know that when you are getting ready for a war, you need to fight as much as possible. You need to have a weapon in order to defend yourself against these enemies. You may not want to fight and you want to be a pacifist, but we all know that this is not going to be what we will be getting. You know for a fact that you have no real chance to make anything work if you don't actually have something to defend yourself with."

One of the weapons that was on the table was something that looked like a ray gun. Ken was holding the gun for a moment, as he was just sort of wondering what this gun could really do. He fired it at the wall and after he had done that, there was a hole that was on the wall right where Ken fired the weapon. "The entire weapons industry also makes a lot of money in the first place. You know that the industry needs to do anything to create as much of a revenue as possible. You know that the revenue this business makes is helping out the digital world. You may not want to admit that it does, since doing so will be admitting that nothing is really the idealistic way that you are looking at things, but even you must realize that this is just how things are my young man."

Despite the fact that Ken was not wanting to indulge in them too much, and he was not really wanting to agree with them, there was a part of Ken that was telling himself that this digimon was indeed telling the truth, and that hey were really just looking at reality as much as possible. When Ken was thinking about the fact that the digimon was being realistic, there was another thing that Ken was telling himself, and that this digimon just really wanted to actually have Ken continue the business.

Despite the fact that Ken was just telling himself that this digimon was in this for the business, Ken was not really too sure what to say. He was thinking that saying they were just wanting business was a bit of bull shit, and he was having no real problems in admitting that he was thinking that he was seeing through the lies at that moment. "Well, there are some other things that you can be able to do to get some money. You can build better security to the town, and maybe more digimon will respect you that way."

"But that is only going to be a short term solution. That will not really help out all that much in the long run. I think that you must realize that this is the case right now. I think that you know for a fact that the security in this town is going to eventually break and then the digimon will start to be exposed to being in danger again. You know for a fact that there will be nothing more effective than actual fucking fighting power." After the digimon had said that, they had been staring right at Ken, and then he was waiting to see what Ken was going to say, but he was mostly remaining silent, as if thinking about pursuing this conversation would actually be an objectively big mistake.

"I think that even if there is some need to build some weapons, you can spread out the sources more than you are willing to admit. You don't really need everything to be just focused on combat, and that idea right alone is already going to be a major fucking problem." After Ken had said that, he was just thinking that whole he was playing it extremely unsafe, he was also telling himself that this really did not matter all that much in all reality.

The digimon was just looking right at Ken, as if they were trying to decide the way that they were going to finally break this guy down, and make him start to see the values of these weapons more. "I think that you need to finally look out for the smartness of this entire group. I think that you all need to see where exactly this is going to take us all. You will eventually see when these options are brought forward why we are doing these things on a regular basis. Not that it really matters all that much getting you to just give us your approval, since in all reality, the boss does not really care all that much what you are saying or what you think on most issues." The digimon was really doing their best to finally convert Ken, but the more that they had been talking to Ken, and the more that they were just sort of watching the expression on his face, the more the digimon was actually wondering if Kenw as going to finally fall for all of this bullshit.

"I never really believe in what a total fucking con man says. I think that you must realize that I have to be a little bit careful before I just decide to finally fall along with these things. I think that when you see what I have had to deal with, and the shit that I go through on a daily basis, you can see why I am totally not falling for anything at all. " After Ken had said this to the digimon, he was waiting to see what the digimon was going to say to Ken, as if thinking about how they were going to get through all of this, since they were sort of giving up on converting Ken and they were more worried about saving their fucking ass.

"I know that it may be hard to trust everything that is told to you. But it is better to trust something and just at least hope that it might be right over just rejecting everything because you simply are too scared to even admit that things could be the way that you are thinking that they are. I think that what you are doing is just making a really big fucking mistake. And I have no fucking problem just expressing the fact that I feel that way." The digimon had been continuing their conversation with Ken, and they were sort of wondering when Ken was going to at least give them another chance to continue talking, and then after they had been thinking about that, there was another part of them that was thinking that maybe Ken was not going to fucking break down no matter what the fucking case may have been.

"I don't really think that I will ever really fall for anything like that in my entire fucking life. I think that I am too smart to actually believe in any of this... I think that I can be smart enough to go on and see through bullshit..." After Ken said that, he was waiting to see what the digimon was going to say, and he was wondering just how much closer to their breaking point that Ken was bringing them down to, if they were really making any progress at all.

"I think that you are just going to have to accept the fact that this sail was a fucking bust right now. You just have not really done that good of a job convincing me to buy into your product. I think that maybe you should have tried a bit harder than you already were. I think that maybe your mayor did not really do a good job being a decent pitcher. Or maybe humans are harder to impress than fucking digimon are. In which case I am glad that I am a human for once in my fucking life." Ken had said, and then when he was starting to get the smallest amount of an ego boost, he was waiting for the digimon to slam him for the wording of his choice, as if trying to really find a way to make Ken regret opening up this can of worms in the first place.

"I don't really care what you think. Besides, even if you aren't impressed with what we are showing you, we can always just get rid of you. Nobody really needs you around right now. The digimon are tired of dealing with you, and you are tired of dealing with us. I think that this is setting up the perfect moment for something right now. I think you know exactly where I am going with this right now." After the digimon had said that, Ken was taking out his energy sword hilt, and then on his left hand, he was taking out the actual normal sword that Ken had been given earlier. This just meant that they were going to have to learn how to dual wield. But Ken was thinking that he was going to be in a situation soon enough where he was going to need to need two weapons at once. The better part was that he already kind of learned how to do this stuff earlier, since he was training on most fighting styles when he was up at JewelBeemon hall a few days ago, even though it was slowly starting to feel so fucking long ago.

"I don't want to be fighting right now. But I think that both you and I know, that given the way things are handled generally, that we are going to be getting right into this again. I am wondering if you are actually wanting to do this at all anymore. I think that when you fight a trained human, with a digimon already by their side, you will start to see how far out of this that you were thinking that this was. Thinking that you could actually be able to fight us at all.

"I think that there is no real point in putting this off any longer. I think that you must have seen that when you came here that there was going to be a fight that was going to come along eventually." After the digimon said this, Ken was thinking about something else, and he was trying to find some form of a compromise between what they were both wanting at that moment.

"Wait, before we fight, and I think that we are both sort of getting in over our head right now, let's talk about this out. I want to actually try some form of diplomacy right now. Something that maybe can get both of us to actually get some of what we want. How about we actually talk about the digimon here, and I will indulge your weapons, see what each weapon really is about."

The digimon was looking at Ken as they were slowly starting to smile, thinking that there was a small chance that Ken was smarter than they really gave this guy out to be, that maybe they should have given Ken more credit than they had already given them by this point in time. "You are one of the most interesting people that I have ever met young man. Just a moment ago, you were acting like you were really ready to be fighting me to the fucking death, but here you are, acting like you actually want to be turning things around now. I think that maybe you are giving yourself too much credit right now... But I guess that if you really think you can pull this whole thing off, then we might as well give you a chance right now."

"Okay, now that I am starting to finally get your attention a little bit, how about we start to take this a little bit easily?" After Ken had asked the digimon this, they have placed their weapons down as if to show that they were no longer going to be trying to fight me anyways. Ken was seething his blade and then placing the energy sword hilt right in his pocket. He was really going to try and take this as casually as possible, worried that this was going to go badly if he didn't really know how to take this shit easily.

"Well, I think that one thing we need to talk about is a sort of compromise for both of us. Something that I feel like we can both be able to really get here. You know, if you show me your weapons, and I don't try to fight you back after you are done, then I perhaps help you do the next shipment before I start to leave again and let you guys continue this job again..." After Ken was saying this, he was starting to walk to the exit of the room. The digimon was starting to follow Ken, starting to think that this guy was a bit of a coward, but despite how much of coward he was, he was still starting to show a little bit of intelligence.

"I guess that this can be a decent start to both of us getting what we want right now. I mean, I am not entirely sold on the persona that you are giving me, but I am willing to give you a chance right now." After the digimon had said that, the more that Ken and the digimon were sort of putting on the facade that they were pretending to actually get along, even though both of them were actually thinking this entire situation was nowhere even remotely close to where this was what they were wanting this to be like. The digimon had either wanted Ken to join them or to at least fight them to the death, but they were thinking that both of these would have happened any time soon. Ken was hoping that the digimon would be able to finally give him what they had wanted, even if this was impossible, and Ken was thinking this digimon had no fucking respect for what Ken wanted.

"Here we are all right now. We are finally really getting these things pieced together right now. You are finally willing to listen to me, and I am finally getting what I am wanting right now. I think that when you see what these weapons are really like, the more that you are going to see the genius behind this will actually be..." After the digimon said that, the more that they were starting to not really be sure of themselves. The more that they were thinking Ken was not really going to fall for what they were saying. The fact that Ken was smarter than they let one was just something that they were preparing for at this whole point in time.

"I am not really thinking that this is going to be the way that things are going to turn out, but I am still willing to give you a chance right now. I am just willing to admit that maybe I am wrong about some things right now." Ken said, but the more that Ken was trying to indulge them, the more he was seeing the reaction on Stingmon's face, and he was wondering what Stingmon was thinking about this whole thing. As if he was thinking that Ken was insane for even pretending that these things were going to be something that he would be rolling with at that moment.

"Well, I would prefer if you just went along with things for the time being. I think that everything going on here is going to be better as long as you finally give things a chance now..." After the digimon was telling Ken this, he was wondering how much longer the two of them were going to be debating this whole thing at all, and Ken was just hoping that the digimon would cut the act very soon, so that way they could finally start to get down to the business that really fucking mattered.

"So how long have you been working at this business?" Ken asked, feeling like he would be able to at the very least make some form of small talk to make the whole thing seem like the conversation wasn't really as hard as they were really thinking that this was going to actually be.

"Well, we have been working at this business for about as long as the time since the war happened. So about twenty two or twenty three years now. Although I have only really been working on it for about the last five or six years. I think that this business is something that I was not really ready for at all. But I think that this is not really all that hard of a job. At least not as hard as I was expecting it to actually be. I guess that it doesn't really matter anymore. I mean, I am going to keep going and expanding this business until the day that I am going to die, and then even then, my heir is going to go on and keep this business going on for as long as it needs to until it has the entire world under its protection." The digimon had said, and then after they had been saying that, Ken was totally just letting them speak their evil talk, since it was always a little bit funny listening to them talking about their big evil plans to show that they are the unbeatable ones.

In a way, it was impressive to see just how big their ego actually was, and it was always impressive to actually see that the digimon around always thought that they were going to be fine with no real problem on any of the plans that they were actually having. Ken was just thinking that eventually, none of the digimon are going to be dumb enough to be talking to Ken like this and they might actually think and realize that Ken was a more formidable for than they ever really thought that they were. But then as Ken was just thinking about what else they were going to do in this battle, Ken was also thinking about yet another point that he needed to get across.

"Well, what if the digimon that follow you have no real desire to continue this business, and just sort of let it stay stagnant, or if anything they actually go a different direction and move back from all of these things, as if they actually think that there is something wrong with what you are doing?" Ken asked, and he was thinking that it was a mostly valid question, and he was wondering if the digimon was actually going to at least consider what they were saying there. As if thinking that sooner or later, the digimon was actually going to start to open up more and more.

"Well, if that is the thing, then I just really hope that they don't start to change this business when I am still at least trying to have some fucking influence on the whole thing. I mean, this is my business in a way. I would be really mad if they decided to go so far against what the original goal was that they actually make this a more open business or however you are trying to describe this..." After the digimon said that, they were actually thinking that even the mere idea of this was just a pain in the ass to think about. They were thinking about what it would be like to see the business is heading on along this way.

"Well, I think that you need to understand that stuff like this could really be able to happen no matter how much you really want to change this whole thing. It may be hard for you to admit that you might not really have this under wraps as much as you do, but when you are heading along with these problems, and you are willing to change the direction that you are heading, then I think that everything will be much easier and better for you..." After Ken was telling the digimon this, there was more of this conversation that was starting to make the digimon at least consider the idea that this was a terrible place to be heading along with, but then Ken was just not really sure what he was going to say.

"You know, I think that I should just try and teach my successor the values of my path, and I think that when they see the values of what I am doing, and why I have been doing things this way for so long, I think that they will start to go along and work with us now. Just understand that there is no real point in any of this happening. There is no point in even fearing that this is going to fucking happen." After the digimon had said this, Ken was just tired of this conversation, and the one time that he was trying to open up to this digimon, they were pretty much just shooting him down, and Ken was thinking that maybe they deserved this kind of failure after all.

"I was just trying to help you out for once. I was trying to make it so that you would actually see why I am saying all of these things. But if you are refusing to understand and see my perspective, I guess that you are just having too much of a fucking ego to even possibly think that I could have been right on a single thing in the world. I think that if your business falls apart, then you have nobody to really blame besides you." Ken said, and he was just not really caring at all how blunt this was sounding, and he was wondering what the digimon was actually going to think when they were hearing Ken say this, and they were thinking of the best way that they were going to be defending themselves against the words that ken had given them.

"No matter what the truth may be, I do not have to subscribe to what you are saying at all. You are just trying to bring my guard down, and I will just let you know that I am not going to be falling for it nearly as much as you are expecting this to be." The digimon told Ken, and then this was when Ken was thinking that maybe it was time to just drop the subject for a while longer, thinking that if he was to get anything done, he was going to just have to keep the words to himself for a while longer, and pretend to hold this to themselves.

"I'm sorry if what I am saying bothers you. I was just trying to help you out right now. I hope that this doesn't really bother you right now. I think that you are just going to see that what I am saying has at least some chance of being true at some point, but for right now, you are just going to be living with a high fucking ego and you are just going to never look down and see the things going on around you. But until that happens, I just hope that you are all fine with what this business has turned into. I mean, even with all the things that I am saying, as much as I hate to admit it, I am still relatively impressed by the performance you have put up here. I actually mean that believe it or not. I mean, you really have done a lot of things here that would be considered impossible if you had asked me earlier. But you are showing that things are not as far out there as I would like to think that they actually were. I think that when I see what you are doing in greater detail, I might grow to appreciate these things more though, even though I don't really want to admit this." Ken was saying, and then he was seeing the digimon start to pique up a little bit more and get a little bit more impressed with the way that Ken was even pretending to be this open about the things that they were saying here.

"Well, I think that it is nice that you are at least thinking about the fact that you may have been wrong about the way that you have been acting around me. It shows that maybe you aren't nearly as bad of a guy as I would like to admit that you are. When you are finally at least pretending to be open about things right now. But no matter what our opinions of each other may be, we need to continue the business that is going on..." After the digimon said that, there was yet another question that came to Ken, and while it was strange for him to ask him this, it made sense to them at that moment.

"How do you think that the digimon in the town are going to react when they find out the way that you have been doing this business? You know, the fact that you have just been mass producing weapons and everything. I mean, it is kind of crazy and I think that there was a somewhat similar controversy going on a few years ago where I grew up." Ken said, and he was mostly talking about the sex ring, which was not related to weapons, but it was related in the way that there was an on service things going on but then there was something much worse going on underneath, when the truth was finally starting to come out more.

"Well, I don't really care all that much what they are thinking of me, since they don't really understand the point of the business that I am trying to lead. They might be thinking that I am actually going to be trying to listen to them and everything, but I think that they just don't really see how we are doing things our way, and that our way may be a little bit more destructive than they might really think. But they surely will approve when they see why we are doing this..." The digimon said, and then they were deciding to themselves it did not matter what they were thinking at all.

"I guess that maybe I was just a bit more worried about what was going to happen to your job than I thought that I was. I don't really care though. I think that maybe I just wanted to at least express what I was thinking on these situations a bit. I think that you should still think about what the digimon in the town are going to say. If they decide that they want nothing to do with you, then your fucking business is going to fucking die. When your business is going to die, then there will be nothing left for you. Then you might as well just let the business die that way, or you can try and go along and find somebody else who can go along and take care of the business for you. Because that is the only way that you are going to be able to fucking save yourself." Ken said, and while he was being a little bit blunt about this, he simply did not really care what the digimon was even going to say to this, and then he was just seeing that the digimon was just trying their best to come up with something to say against him, but the more that they were listening to him the more that they were thinking that what they were saying could have been true.

"You know, I am only letting you say these things since you are the one who I asked to help out and everything. I mean, I don't really have any respect for you at all since you are sounding like you are a bit of an asshole. However that being said, I can respect the fact that you are a human, and that humans usually are much smarter than what the digimon around here actually are like. Not that this is a very high bar to be totally honest with you..." After the digimon had said that, there was a moment in which Ken was just thinking on how to annoy this digimon even more, thinking that if he just managed to make the digimon more pissed at him, then the more that the digimon will start to respect the authority that Ken was starting to slowly present himself with more and more as they were actually talking.

"I think that you just are not really sure what it would be like if somebody were to find out what the mayor is doing. I think that the mayor getting exposed is the bigger fear on what is going on. I mean, there is no real problem that you need to have, as the digimon will probably think that you mostly had no real choice on the matter, and in a way they might actually feel bad for you, but with the mayor, they will know the mistakes that they are making right from the start, and as a result, they will not really be supporting them anymore, and will if anything throw away support for that digimon. In a way, I almost feel a little bit bad about the fact that this is what you are going to be going through on a regular basis." The more that Ken was talking, the more that he was wondering what the digimon was going to tell him, and the more that he was thinking that he was really digging himself deeper on each passing word. But on each passing word, despite the growing certainty that he was making the digimon really angry at him, he was still feeling like he needed to go through with what he had already started.

"Do you really think that the mayor and what they are doing is going to keep you all safe once the info is all revealed? I mean, I am not even trying to be fighting anymore on this, I am just a bit curious is all. I mean, once the mayor gets exposed, surely you know that your job is pretty much over with. But you can be able to perhaps at least change things, and as a result, when you are actually talking with the digimon who owns this town, they will think that you are just as corrupt as any of the general digimon that had been working with them. Or who knows, maybe I am wrong, and when they find out the truth, they might be thinking that the mayor is some great hero, and that they were going to act like everybody who works for them is some great savior and all that. Then I will be the one who looks like the idiot and the one who looks like they are making the big mistake for even trying to ruin their reputation in the first place. I know that I am thinking too deeply into this, but I think that there is a small chance that this can finally be the case." Then the more that Ken was saying this, there was a part of him that was just refusing to really believe in this whole thing.

"At least you are keeping all your options open right now. As much as it annoys me that you are talking about all of these things, and as annoying as I think that you are trying to change my perspective right now on everything, at least you are stating the fact that things can be a bit more subjective than you are thinking that they are." The digimon and Ken were almost starting to sound like they were even getting along a little bit more, and that the digimon was actually starting to make Ken be more and more open on the ideas that were possibly going on. Ken was just rubbing his head a little bit more.

"Well, I guess that you and I really have no idea what we are talking about anymore. I mean, we have just sort of been going back a fourth a bunch, but we are not really talking about the things on if either one of us are actually wrong. I think that it is entirely possible that neither one of us actually really know what we are saying, and that something else is going to be showing up along here. Something like say a digimon killing the mayor in the town, so then the secrets will be never fucking found out and then if they were, there is a chance that the mayor might sort of be considered to be doing the right thing and somebody who was fighting for the right fucking thing, or that the digimon who try to expose something would be considered liars. I mean, I don't really know if this is really going to fucking happen, but there is a small chance that this is going to happen." After Ken had been saying this whole thing, the more that the digimon and Ken were sort of wondering if they were just having this conversation just to stall the point of why they were even there in the first place. They had been originally trying to fulfill some fucking negotiations, and then they started to go on a bunch of really long fucking conversations on what it would be like if the digimon in the town started to find out what was going on. It seems like a bit of a sudden fucking change, and it was really not making the fucking point get across anymore.

"I think that you just need to really at least look at what we are doing more. I mean, it seems like you are slowly starting to open up to what we are doing more. At least enough to be saying that you might have been wrong about the way that you are taking things, and you might be wrong with the way that you originally looked at us. The fact that you are finally admitting this is something else." Ken heard the digimon had said this, and then Ken was just trying to get down to the point, now that he remembered what the fucking point of this originally was.

"I think that we have been starting to have a bit of a insightful conversation right now. I mean, I do have to at least consider the things that you are saying a bit. Even though I don't fully agree with everything that you are saying, I do admit that this could at least be possible. I mean, who really fucking knows though, I guess I don't really care all that much anymore what you are thinking about me now. But right now, there is something else that is going on, and that is that I think that the longer we delay things here, the longer we are going to go without really getting to the fucking point. You and I both know that this is the truth. That the longer we just randomly talk around, the more that we are really not going to get the point across." Ken said, and then he was wondering when the digimon would respect what he was saying for once.

Once Ken had to openly admit that he was at least considering what was being told to him, that was when the digimon was finally getting very excited and they were starting to think that Ken was starting to finally break down and realize just how fucking flawed he reallyw as at this whole thing. They were really thinking that maybe they had over thought what Ken was going to be like, and they were thinking that maybe Ken was notr eally as smart as he had been acting like he really was, and that in all reality, he was kind of an idiot for thinking that he was going to pull this whole fucking thing off. "Well, at least you are seeing our side of the story. You are finally seeing that not everything is quite like the way that you have been thinking that they are. Maybe you are indeed smarter than I have been thinkng that you are. Maybe I should have given you another fucking chance after all." After the digimon had said that to Ken, there was a part of the man that was really thinking that the bond between these two was going to be odd. But then Ken was telling himself that he should not get too attached to anything that this digimon was telling him, and that he needed to be much more on the job at that moment than he really was, and that acting like this digimon knew what they were doing was a really bad mentality.

"I mean, I don't really think that I have any real desire to go along with your business, I am going to still say, but I am going to actually make my thoughts on teh matter more open. I am just going to honest about the fact that I think that this is really just not going to work the way that you have been hoping that things are going to be like..." Ken said, and then he was seeing that the digimon was starting to slowly get more annoyed and even lose some hope with what they were trying to do with Ken, and they were seeing that he was not really as easy to break as they had really been hoping that Ken really was.

But the fact that Ken was here, just talking along, and even being sort of open to what was going on, was still making them think that eventually, the digimon was really going to be able to convert the guy into believing in what they were saying, and as they were thinking about this possible conversation, they were getting excited to see where Kenw as going to be taking this. "I just wish that you were able to start to come into this without the bias that you have been taking this whole ordeal right now. It is kind of a shame that this is the way that you have been looking at everything that I have been saying. Makes me feel like the business I have been putting in is not really all that appreciated. I mean, I have been spending so much time here and so much effort into this whole business, that to see anybody act like I was not at all worth doing the things that I am doing right now makes me feel sort of fucking insulted to be totally real with you." After they had been saying this, the digimon was waiting to see what Ken was going to say, and they were seeing that Ken was not really jumping onto anything quite yet, and that he was thinking he needed to have more things said to him in order to really fully buy into the idea that he was a shitty guy after all.

"I get that you have put a lot of effort into this. People put a lot of effort in everything that they have been doing, but in all reality, people just always get talked down upon, no matter what they are doing, and I think that you are just going to have to accept the fact that not everybody really agrees with everything that you are saying or trying to pass through. It just fucking happens." Ken said, and then after he had said that, he was waiting to see the digimon just tell Ken that they don't understand what it is like to be talked down upon, but as they were listening to Ken speaking more and more, they were just finding it more hard to really stay angry at the guy, no matter how much they wished that they could have been mad at this guy, and they were thinking that maybe Ken was just being a bit of a pragmatic realist.

"You know, I just wish that you were able to give me more respect about the things that I have been doing now. It seems like you don't fucking get it. You don't fucking understand the fact that people are tired of being treated like they don't fucking have a proper voice on any of the matters going on." It was when the digimon was saying this that Ken was utterly shocked at what the digimon was saying to Ken, and they were thinking that this comment was a borderline insult and everything. Ken had to be dealing with this shit all the fucking time, and then here the digimon was, saying that Ken did not ever have to deal with this. It was one thing that was really making Ken think that this digimon was taking this all way too fucking far.

"You know, it was something that I was at least able to tolerate at first, just listening to you talking like you get things that I don't, but this is where I am telling you that I have had enough. You are going around and telling me that I don't know what it is like to have everybody rejecting me all the fucking time. Well, I am going to tell you the truth right now, that is what I have to deal with on a constant fucking basis. I have to deal with this so fucking much, and yet you are telling me that I don't fucking get this. I think that you are fucking insane for saying this at all. I think that you are really digging a fucking grave with somebody that you are at least trying to make some business with, acting like you are some fucking self righteous fucking asshole, and that I am totally stupid to everything in the entire fucking world." Ken said this, and then he was seeing that the digimon was really thinking about what they had said this, and they were starting to think about how they were going to pull themselves out of this mess, if it was even possible for them to be doing this at this point in time.

"I just am allowed to fucking speak my opinion now. I think that you are sort of thinking too highly of yourself, and I am telling you some real things about yourself." After the digimon had said this, they both knew that due to Ken's short trigger, the more that he was starting to really lose any interest in the business deal, and the more that Ken was thinking about how he was going to make this digimon understand that he was not going to be messed with anymore. At this point, Ken was thinking that there was going to be a really big fight coming up soon.

"I was not really thinking that you were going to be taking this whole thing so seriously. I thought that I was just able to state how I felt on a matter without having you act like a triggered fucking baby. I guess that maybe I was giving you too much credit after all. I guess that maybe you should stay home and act like you are the better one out of us all. I think that you might as well just play along with everything..." After the digimon had said this, there was one thing that Ken was trying to get himself to be saying. He was trying to fucking shit on the legacy of this digimon, but at the same time, he was feeling like even though he hated to admit it, that maybe there was one thing that the digimon got on him. And that was a better mental attitude. Something that Ken really very lacked. He was lacking any form of common decency, and that was what Ken was realizing that he was needing to just get right down to being serious again. He needed to make it clear that he was a tolerant guy as well.

"I am sorry that you think that I don't want to listen to listen to you. In all reality, I don't really know how well you can handle a bunch of things. I just think that you are scared to admit the fact that you really don't have that good of a clue on a lot of things that you are currently doing at this point in time. I think that you should just see the fact that I have a lot of things that I have to accomplish, so you going around and telling me to basically fuck off is something that I get really fucking annoyed by, and I don't care that you are my guest, I am allowed to finally say my fucking opinion on this whole thing." After they had said that, Ken was just sort of thinking about what it would be like to really be in their spot. Not just thinking of it, but actually trying to really picture it. Once Ken was doing his best to really picture this whole thing off, he was not really sure what he was going to say, since he was not really sure if he was actually feeling bad over this whole thing. He was feeling more bad over it than he had been feeling over this earlier, but at the same time, he still wasn't fully into this all that much. He still did not really want to show a bunch of support to what the digimon right in front of them, in order to make them think that the guy was finally starting to slowly understand this whole thing, even though Ken was just thinking that Ken would never really get it since I would never be in their shoes no matter how much Ken tried to really get himself into that spot.

"I guess that it is probably a little bit annoying, I get it. But please just see that I am just pointing out my perspective on this whole thing, but when I just try to see myself in your shoes, I can't really do it. I don't know if that is a good thing or not, but that is just the truth." Ken said, hoping that the digimon would not get overtly upset at his speech, and understand his perspective.

"I guess that no matter what goes on here, maybe we are just not going to make this work out as much as we are hoping that this would have. I was really hoping for some great compromise, but it seems like you have sort of locked us out of getting one going on here at all, and that is sort of sad I have to admit, I really was wanting to get something going on here. But no matter, it seems like no matter what I was going to try and suggest to you, there was always going to be something that you were going to say that would shoot me down. I think that we were just sort of set up for failure no matter what we said at all, which in my opinion is a ahonest fucking shame." The digimon told Ken, and then they were shaking their head, and this was when Ken was feeling like he really had failed on this for the first time. This was the first time when Kenw as really letting the weight of what was going on set in, and that was when Ken was just sort of wondering what else he could say that could maybe salvage this whole thing at the very last second. It was only now when Ken was really starting to see how much he was wanting to change this thing around at least a little bit. It was only really now that Ken as seeing how much he had really fucked up, and how much he had wanted to change these things around things.

"I think that if we really put our minds to it, we could be able to find something that we would both like. I think that we just need to work a little bit harder to find that common ground. I just think we don't really see what we are really saying now. I think that we just want to get things set up now. So I am wondering how you plan on spreading this business out a bit more, I just want to hear out your proposal at least a little bit, so that way I can see if this is really as awful as I am fearing that it is, or if maybe I am being a bit harsh on this whole thing." Ken said, and then he was looking at Stingmon, and he was giving them a look on his face that was just saying 'I'm really fucking trying right now.' And Stingmon was just sort of not really sure what they were wanting to say, since tehy were sort of taking in a moment to kind of let this whole ship sinking bve processed. They were just processing how awful Ken was at trying to talk things out.

That was when Stingmon was giving Ken a look on their face that was giving away the obvious expressions that both of them were feeling at that moment. The look on their face was just 'next time, we're just fighting our way through.' As if doing something else was just not really even a fucking option anymore. Then when Ken was thinking about, the digimon was just sort of not really wanting to keep this up anymore, since they were aware that Ken was pretty much just doing surgery at this point, and they were sort of delaying this fight now for as long as they could, and they were kind of tired of just playing this game with Ken in all honesty, and they were sort of wanting Ken to just accept the fact that he had failed on this whole thing.

"I think that you really do not know how to negotiate anything if it was the last thing that you could do in order to save yourself." After the digimon had said that, Ken was rolling his eyes as if to give off the whole 'I know thing'. It made the digimon and Ken even sort of find one thing that they would be able to laugh about for even just a short moment. But as they were thinking that they were kind of thinking about how to at least find the moment sort of funny, Ken was thinking about what to really do next. Ken was thinking on if this digimon was going to set up a compromise with them to make this at least a little bit less bad, or if tehy were totally fucking screwed on this whole thing from the fucking start.

"Well, at least I really put in some effort this time. At least I actually tried to get something to work with us this time. So I guess I have to give myself at least some credit." Ken said, and then he was telling himself that this was the loosest form of credit that he could be giving himself this time, but he was just sort of trying to find something that could be able to get himself at least a little bit less feeling bad for himself now.

"I think that no matter how long we are trying to place this off, I think that we really both do know where this is going to end. I will give you credit on one thing though, at least you were actually trying to change how this was going to go. At least you wanted to actually change this to be a little bit more fair. I mean, I thought that you were just going to try and fight things from the start. I thought that you were not even going to try and see where we were coming from. The fact that you were even trying to do this at all, and gave me even one chance to explain myself shows that maybe one day, in several decades from now, if you even survive this whole thing, then maybe you might actually have a chance to survive the fucking business route. But I think that we both know that this does not really matter all that much now." After the digimon was saying this, Ken and Stingmon were planning on getting ready for what was going to be the fight now.

Ken was taking out the hilt to the energy sword, and he was telling himself that at least he really did try this time, and then he was seeing Stingmon starting up their blade, and then Ken was taking the sword out of his hilt, and then the digimon was just looking down, and then they were walking up to the alarm on the wall, and then they were just sort of wondering how long these people were actually going to survive this fight.

"I mean, I have to admit that you do have balls for trying to take on every single digimon in this entire mountain. If you even manage to survive this whole thing, then I think that you really do have a good future ahead of you, and you might really be the one who changes the entire fate of the world. I know that I am giving you probably too much credit right now, but hey, at least I am trying to be fucking fair right now." After the digimon had said that, there was something else that Ken was thinking. He was thinking that even though this digimon was a bit of an asshole, at least they were hiding this a little bit, and they were giving off the impression of being nice there for a moment.

"Do you really think that I actually even have a chance to fight you all off?" After Ken asked that, he was thinking about how he was goin to at least keep this as casual as possible, and how he was going to not try and delay this as much as he was sort of having a funny last second conversation. Just to see what his chances really were, at least according to this fucking digimon.

"I would say you have a one tenth of a percent chance on being able to get through here. I mean, not at all really likely, but you know, you could be able to prove me wrong. So yeah, I will give you that amount." After the digimon had said that, Ken was thinking that it was better than them saying that he had no real chance at all, although the reasoning behind this was a little bit lack luster, and he was hoping that they would have actually said something like they could have been confident in him or something like that, but this was making Ken think that there was more reason that he was going to sort of be the under dog of this whole case once again, and that no matter where he would really go on here, he was always going to be looked at as the under dog no matter who they were really talking with.

"But you know, I don't really think that what I say matters all that much. We are going to really know the truth one way or another soon enough. We are going to see if I was right about the way that I was projecting you. Since I am the first one here, you and I are going to have a really fun time fighting with each other now." After the digimon said this, Ken was turning on the energy sword, and before the fight started, Ken was sort of taking in one last look around.

As he was taking one last look around he was just making a short judgment. 'You know, I think that they might be mostly right about the fact that I really do not have that much of a chance at all. I mean, there is only Stingmon and I. There is this entire fucking business that I would have to be going against. God damn it, I should have just gone in fighting right away, at least then I would be able to have a short advantage on this right now. I would have at least been able to sort of able to turn this shit around. I don't really know though, I think that I am just going to have to take this as it is, and hope that I don't really end up in as bad of a situation as I have been expecting myself to be. There is just one thing that I need to fucking do. I just need to fucking take this one out, and I know they are going to sound the alarm, but I just need to start fighting as much as I can, and soon enough, I will have them all taken down. Maybe I giving myself too much credit right now, but I think that I have gotten myself out of enough pinches to really know how I can be able to fucking fight through shit, and how I could be able to fucking survive throughout this whole thing. I mean, I have certainly seen enough action in my life time. But who knows, maybe this shit has happened more often than I would have thought that it has, and that the digimon here are actually aware of these digimon that try to come in and fight around, and then I will just sort of be the one guy that tried to do it yet again. But then again, I am one of the first humans here, and I think that this could be able to give me a certain element of surprise that could give me at least a small start to this fight. I just have to really take advantage of this, and if I have two blades to be used, and then Stingmon has one, and even if I hate to use it, I could use that missile hand, maybe I won't be able to win, but I will be able to do certainly enough damage to get myself out of there, and then when I do that, I could be able to go right back to the mayor, and I think that maybe the mayor and I have a lot of things that we really need to be talking about. I don't really think that I am even going to pretend to have that coridal look anymore, and I think that I am going to just go in guns blazing right away. Yeah that is what I will be doing.' After Ken thought that to himself, he saw the digimon press the alarm and Ken was now ready to fucking fight.

As Ken was telling himself over and over again that the only thing that really mattered is if he would survive this whole thing, he was telling himself over and over again that this was just the one thing that he really needed to be doing now. The digimon went at Ken and then the digimon fired the gun at Ken, but he blocked the shot with the energy sword, and then when he had done this, the digimon that he was fighting actually looked scared for a couple of seconds, as if thinking that they might have fucked up a bit more than they were expecting by just getting into this fight at all. But then they were telling themselves that Ken was just a fucking good fighter, and that he was not going to need to let his guard down too much, and then everything would be fine.

Stingmon held out their left arm, which did not have the blade out, and then they fired their hand and then after this, the missile hit right on the ground and then the ground was starting to set a little bit on fire and Ken was seeing that he probably only had a minute or so to take care of this digimon before he would be forced to be fighting all of the digimon in the area, and that he was really wishing that he was going to be able to fight these things one at a time, and then he would be able to destroy them that way, and then he wouldn't have to worry about fighting to the death, since it was much less likely to happen when he was fighting one at a time. That was what Kenw as telling himself at least, although as he was telling himself this, there was a part of him that was thinking that maybe he was not really too sure on this, and that he had given the digimon there not even close to enough credit.

The digimon fired another bullet at Stingmon, but it did not really hurt them all that much since it was just sort of hitting the arm a bit, and it caused them to groan a little bit, and then they were just thinking that having a gun hitting them was a bit irritating, but at the same time, they were thinking that it was not really all that big of a deal what they were doing to them.

That was when Ken kicked them down and then he was holding his energy sword hand out in the direction close to the door when he was holding his blade right up in the air, the one that was an actual normal sword. "You seem to finally be releasing your anger a bit. I fucking love that. I want you to get angry at me. It makes you realize your true potential." After the digimon had said that, Ken just stabbed them in the chest, killing them right away.

Then when Ken had been thinking of this battle more, there was something else about this that he was feeling like he was going to be able to admit more, and that this was the fact that he was thinking that he should have been doing this shit more often. He should not have been scared to fight and kill a digimon if they were terrible, and if they were actually creating threats to the fucking safety of the entire digital world. This was making Ken actually fucking think that he was making the right choice by doing this. That he knew what he had to do from now on. Then he was looking forward after he was seeing the digimon turning down to dust and everything, and then he was bringing both his blades in the same area, as Stingmon was right next to them and then there was a door that opened and there was another three or four digimon coming right in the room, and sort of flooding the whole fucking area.

Ken did not really hesitate at all when these ones were coming at him. He swung his energy sword down and then he took one of them out very quickly as a result of doing this, and then the more that he was defeating, the more that he was thinking about how many he was going to have to be fighting now. Stingmon just stabbed one right down on the digimon in front of them, and then shot another missile right on another while Ken swung his sword to take out the fourth one. When that was done, both of them ran right out of the room, and they were wondering where they were going to be going with this now, as Ken was telling himself that Sam was actually going to think that Ken might have been making the right choice when they knew about what he was doing. They may have thought that it was a bit over the top, but they probably knew deep down that he was making the right choice.

As Ken was looking right around, he was just seeing that there was some form of an exit that he needed to reach. But even though he wanted to go that way and get the hell out of there, there was a part of him that was aware of the fact that he needed to take out these other digimon first, and then he was going to have to find a way to destroy this entire hide out and bring it to where nobody could use it. Or at the very least deactivate the weapons, so even if the place was found again, maybe the place could be used again, and then the place would be used to actually create some form of renovations. Make this a place that was actually fucking usable. That was when Ken was thinking that maybe one day, he would be able to do it and make the place worthy of use.

As Ken was thinking about what it would be to get the hell out of there, that was when he knew for a true certainty that this was just a fucking luxury. That this was something he would never really be allowed to get, at least not as easily as he was sort of hoping that it would have been able to really come. But then as Ken was thinking about the business offer that he was putting himself in, there was a huge part of him that realized that he deserved this whole thing, and that he had nobody to really blame but himself for the problems that were going on.

There were a few digimon that went at Ken, and these ones were something that he was not even thinking about anymore. he was just slashing them all down, and making them all to his prey right away. As Ken was thinking about this, there was a part of Ken that was thinking that he really did have this whole thing under wraps now. That he was really going to have this whole thing done within about half an hour or so, and that he was sort of thinking too deeply into it when he was telling himself that this was going to be a huge ordeal that was going to be risking his life. That was what he was actually thinking at that time, and he was feeling like in hindsight it was kind of stupid that he was thinking this, but at that moment, he really did not care all that fucking much. Stingmon had taken down a couple of his own, and Ken was seeing that the sword that was given to him before, that he was having all clean and ready for combat, was now totally covered in blood and was fucking disgusting to even witness. But then despite the sight, there was something else that Ken was telling himself, and that this was sign of him being able to fight through many battles and be the one who was coming right out on time, but then as Ken was thinking this to himself, there was another thing that he was telling himself there.

That even though he was sort of giving himself a lot of credit at that moment, that he was not really able to do this all on his own. That Stingmon deserved so much credit for helping him out. In a way, Stingmon was the true hero of the story, and to say anything otherwise would not be giving this digimon enough credit, and then kenw as just thinking that throughout all of their time in the digital world, Stingmon was truly the only reaon they were even alive anymore, and while it was a bit of a pain in the ass for them to admit this, Ken was well aware of the fact that this was just the fucking truth to the whole thing. As Ken had been thinking about how this was the truth, there was another thing that Ken was telling himself. That now at the very least he was having the balls to admit the truth to the whole matter at hand.

As Ken was getting much more serious about where this whole thing was going to go, there was another thing that Ken was telling himself, and that was when these things were all done with, and Ken was feeling like he was going to retire from digital world fighting, he needed to thank Stingmon, and finally admit that they were the ones who were out there to protect him, and that if it were not for them, then he would have been dead a long time ago. Even though Ken hated to admit this, there was that large section of him that was one hundred percent aware of the fact that this was the fucking truth. There was a point in time in which Ken would not even be able to pretend that he had a fucking ego, and he had to look at the fucking hard ass facts that were right there.

Stingmon was taking down a few more, and then Ken had destroyed about twenty on his own. The whole time that this battle was taking place, instead of them getting closer and closer to the door, they were going further down the fucking stairs, and Ken was thinking that in all reality, he was getting closer to the generator room that was probably needing to be attended to. For some reason, Ken was honestly thinking that it was all relating to a fucking power generator, and then as Ken was telling himself this, there was that part of him that told himself that he just needed to be ready for anything that was going to be coming up now. Ken was just sort of wondering if there was some form of like cheesy ass guard down there, watching over the generator, and then that was when Ken was sort of asking himself and wondering the idea on if there even was a generator at all, or if Ken was just sort of lying to himself this whole fucking time.

After a bit of this battling, Ken was seeing that he had gone down an entire floor, and then he was seeing that there was a bunch of boxes that looked like they were also going to be used for future shipments. That was when Ken was starting to really question the scope of this operation, and if it was much bigger than he ever thought that it could have been. Ken was thinking to himself that as much as he was utterly hating to admit it, that this was indeed quite possible. That there was more places this business was working for than just the one in this town, which was making Ken think that this was much more ticky than he ever could have thought that it would have been.

Eventually, as Ken wanted to do more of this fighting, there was something else that he was telling himself that he needed to really address. That was the fact that there was going to be a lot of things that he would have to explain to the digimon who owned the town in case that this was much different than Ken had expected, and that he ended up killing a bunch of digimon that really did not believe it. Despite how much Ken was telling himself that this could have been happening, there was another part of him that would be thinking that maybe the digimon who owned the town was in a way going to be wanting these digimon gone, and then what Kenw as doing was in a way helping them out, even if Ken was not wanting to be doing this at all. Even if Kenw as just thinking that this was not at all sort of a good thought to be having, he was telling himself that it was quite possible that this could have been the case.

Stingmon was looking like they were getting a little bit more tired, and as Ken was sort of seeing this, that was when Ken was now starting to think that he was now starting to get in a spot where he would be fucked, and that he needed to be much more careful about where he was going to be going now. That he needed to be thinking about where this could head, and when Ken was telling himself this, there was another thing that he was telling himself. That no matter what he was thinking about Stingmon, and the fact that they were starting to wear down now, he was telling himself that he was sort of impressed with what Stingmon had already done, and that was when Ken was telling himself that no matter what he could do or say now, he was going to have to start living up to the example that the digimon had given him, and that no matter where this was going to be going now, he needed to truly do his best to show the digimon that he did appreciate the work that they did for Ken, and Ken was going to have to sort of tell them how much they got him in the right place.

But despite the fact that Ken was telling himself this at that moment, and he was sort of looking like he could be changing at that moment as a result, when the battle was going on, the more that he was fighting, and the more that he was sort of putting these thoughts behind him, and the more he was telling himself that the digimon probably already knew how much Ken respected all of the things that they had been doing, and that it was not really needed.

Despite the brief moment of Ken thinking that he should have provided a bit of an insight to how much Stingmon had helped him, the more that he was fighting the monsters there, and just trying to even remotely be able to survive, that was when he was aware of the fact that if it weren't for himself just as much as if it weren't for the digimon, then he would be forced to handle all of these things on his own, and he was thinking that while he did know how to fight better due to the training that he had gotten from Stingmon, that not all of it was entirely credited to the fact that Stingmon had trained him. He had felt like there was something to the fact that he had done a lot of fighting on his own back at Wayside as well as when he first showed up there that was to give him a hint of credit to all the things that were going on at this point in time. He was starting to think that maybe he should have been more fair to himself than he had been this whole time, and that maybe if anything, he was over rating how helpful Stingmon really was, as awful that Ken told himself that it was to even be considering this, but he felt like he needed to at least consider the point a bit.

While Ken had been convinced that he was starting to maybe feel like he was better at this than he was giving himself credit for, there was another thing that stopped him from this thought set. This was when he was seeing a group of digimon coming in and they were all looking like they had been fighting for years under secrecy, as if they were the agents of some great fucking conspiracy, and Ken was telling himself that he really had no time for this at all, and that this was going to be a massive fucking sham if it had turned out that these things really could not even fight all that well.

When Ken saw that everybody around him had either been taken down already, or were backing away to let this small group do the fight for him, this was when Ken was thinking for a brief moment that he was wrong in the way that he was looking at this group, and that they were indeed going to be a bigger threat than he had imagined. He was placing both weapons towards the ground, deciding that he did need to take the time to examine these things for himself, to see what the digimon were actually like, to see if he could be able to break them down.

Despite the fact that he clearly knew now that he couldn't fucking negotiate to save his fucking ass, now he was actually trying to get things together, and Stingmon was watching him as he was slowly planning all of this out, and they were wondering what he was really thinking at that moment, and they were trying to see if he was really onto the right thing by doing this. When Ken was getting more concentrated on the fight that was coming up, he felt like his understanding of the matter was getting better the longer that he was examining these things.

While Ken thought that the idea of rough negotiations were just fucking not happening, the examination of these opponents was becoming easier to fully comprehend. He was seeing that they were all wearing some kind of black clothing, that they were all sort of in a posture that would out of those lessons that you would learn from karate, and they were all keeping still as they were doing this, as if they had really mastered the art of silence.

Ken shook his head as he was seeing this, wondering where this was really going to go, and if this would really be as simple as he was thinking that it would have been. It looked like they might not have been all that skilled in fighting all on its own, but at the same time, Ken was thinking that their composure was going to be a good indicator that they did know what there were doing, at least on some form of basis level, and that he should not really under estimate them all that much.

After Ken was feeling like he had made this judgment enough, he was seeing that the digimon were still remaining still as ever. And that was when Ken knew that once he made a move, they would follow suit, and that in a way, they were just sort of playing the waiting game with him, to see how he was going to react, and if he was going to break down at all.

Despite the fact that Ken knew it would be best to play the waiting game back, to sort of eventually make them break down first, there was a part of Ken that was sort of thinking that doing such a thing would be pointless in the way that this was just simply not going to happen. These beings were not going to budge under any means, and they were just waiting for Ken to be doing this first, and that the more he was waiting, the more he was starting to see just sort of how pointless this whole fucking wait was. So he jumped forward, but in a way that was sort of giving off a mini spin, so that way when he was up close to them, he would slash down right at them. He swung the non energy sword blade right down, but this was not really working all that well, and he was feeling the blade coming right through them, and then Ken looked up, wondering if he was going to be fighting a fucking ghost or something stupid like that.

When Ken thought about the fact that he was now officially dealing with ghosts as well as monsters, that was when there was a part of himself that was actually asking which one was harder to follow, since both of these were kind of fucking insane in his opinion. Even though Ken was thinking that this was just one big hassle already, he saw another force push him back and while he was pushed back a bit, he was able to get himself stiff and sturdy enough to where the fall back wasn't too bad since he already sort of figured that this would have been the case.

After Ken got that figured out, he was seeing Stingmon aim up at the ceiling, as if thinking that this would be the only way that they could actually do something to these digimon. So when the ceiling was starting to collapse a little bit after the missile they fired hit it, he was seeing that the rubble was starting to hit the ground a little bit at a time, and then Ken laughed as he was seeing this, finding it really funny for some reason. Even he was not really so sure why he was finding this thing so funny. Probably the sight of these things coming in and acting all high and mighty while also falling down to something this fucking simple. In a way, it was almost too perfect not to find funny. Despite the fact that when looking back at it, even he would admit that it wasn't really all that funny at all.

But then when this was happening, Ken was indeed thinking that he would have a little bit of a head start on this whole thing from now on. He was just needing to get the ghosts or whatever they were to stay in one spot. But then as Ken would later learn, not all of these would have been ghosts in all reality. He was seeing the digimon had just been able to move around at a really fast pace. This was what he figured out when he slashed the sword down on another one and in just one quick swing, he was already seeing that the digimon was bleeding out a bit due to the fact that the slash went right through their left arm a bit, and was sort of making the left arm a bit useless. That was when Ken thought that he was going to have a chance to figure this all out, and that he was just pointing more towards the things going all around him.

One of them jumped at Ken and then tried to claw his face open or something like that, which Ken was just able to slowly manage to push back with the fact that his extra fake hand did have a bit of extra strength to it, which had meant that nothing he was dealing with would be too much for him to take care of, since he was just going to be able to push it all away with relatively low effort. As he was pushing the hands away, he ken was pushing them up and then he stabbed them in the chest with the energy sword he turned on right at that moment. Then the digimon hit the ground, and he was seeing that the others around him were looking like they were finally seeing something that was new to them. The idea that none of them were really safe in a fight anymore, and that there was a chance that they would have been able to fail if they were not careful around him anymore. As they had been getting the idea of this to their mind, that was when one of them decided that instead of coming right at Ken, they were going to come right at Stingmon, which would remove half of the squad, and leave Ken twice as weak, thinking that the removal of one was going to be enough to start to spread some fear to this young man who clearly thought he was on top of the world at that moment.

When was trying to get into a strategy mode for the digimon, there was a part of him that was simply thinking that maybe he did not really need to play the smart game at all. He usually never did in the first place, so there would be no real reason to be starting to do this now. As Ken was thinking about that fact, he was kicked right in the face by a digimon who was in the group, and then Ken was just sort of shocked for a short second or two, but once he had gotten over the shock, he was ready to continue his fighting once more. That was when Ken stabbed the digimon right on the chest, and as a result made them much fucking weaker. Then Stingmon was cut open a little bit by the chest when they were fighting and everything, and Stingmon just simply held down on their chest for a moment and then when Stingmon was taking a moment to process what had just happened with them, that was when Ken was thinking that he now needed to try and help Stingmon, and while Ken was thinking this, there was another part of him that was sort of wishing that this was the other way around, since Ken did not really feel like he could be the one who can take care of both of them. But then when Ken was telling himself this, he was also thinking that if Stingmon were in his spot, he would be reacting the same exact fucking way that Ken was thinking, so when Ken was thinking that, there was just a part of him that was telling himself that he might as well actually just at least try his best to take care of this.

When Ken was thinking about how there was a good chance that Stingmon would have felt this way if the roles were reversed, that was when Ken was telling himself that he needed to take the job much more seriously from this point forward, and that he didn't need to be thinking about how much he was going to suck, and he needed to think about how much he was going to do the right thing by helping the digimon out right now. When Ken was telling himself this, and he was actually starting to believe in the fact that he was now doing the right thing, he was swinging both of his blade around a couple of times, in order to take down the digimon that way, thinking that this was going to be his only way to really do this. Was to really finally take in the art of dual wielding, and that he just needed to finally embrace it once and for all. Despite the fact that Ken was not really all that good at the whole thing, he was telling himself that it was better to get in the mind set of doing this than to just have two weapons and only really be using one of them at any given fucking moment. Then when he was swinging around a bit, he was seeing that one of the digimon was slashed right through the chest twice when he had done this, and then they were looking right at Ken, as if not really able to believe what had just happened and then they fell down to the ground.

Ken was looking behind him, and he was seeing that Stingmon was getting attacked by another one of these assholes. Stingmon just punched the digimon away from them, and they were trying to make that work, although it was pretty clear that this was not really working all that well. The digimon just simply moved back for a moment and then Stingmon swung their sword at them, and the digimon only got hit a little bit, and then Ken was thinking about how he could fight two things at once. So he was using his left hand, the one with the normal sword, to be aiming at the other three digimon that were near him, while he was using the right hand, the one with the energy sword, to be focusing on the one on the left direction that facing Stingmon. When Ken was helping Stingmon fighting a bit, and he was using just his right hand at the fighting over there, that was when Ken was sort of shocked at how decently he was actually doing given the case, and then he was seeing that Stingmon was able to fight much better, knowing that there was something now helping them out. Having two opposing fighters going against them made it so that this digimon really stood no fucking chance, and then they destroyed that second one relatively easily, and Ken then told Stingmon to just rest and that he got this one for himself, and then Stingmon was thinking that Ken might have been right, and then they were looking forward, and seeing a bunch of the weaker digimon still there, and then Stingmon knew that they still had to be fighting for a while longer, even if they had not wanted to.

When Ken was all alone, there was a strange part of him that was telling himself that he preferred it this way. That he wanted it to be like this, that he wanted to be alone, so that way he could take care of this whole thing on his own, and he didn't really need anybody at his side anymore. When Ken was starting to think on how he wanted to actually be alone, there was something that he was also thinking to himself. That at least even if he died, he was going to be able to say that he really did give this a good fight. He took down nearly half of the things that were down in this fucking base of operations, which was more than he ever really thought that he would have been able to say for himself, and as he was telling himself about the failure of his previous fights, there was another thing that Ken was telling himself. That this was all a part of the past, and that he did not really need to be thinking about it all that much. That he was going to be fine either way. After Ken was telling himself that it was better here than there, he was telling himself that this was just the way that Sam would have fucking do it. After Ken was telling himself that this was the exact way that Sam would be doing it, there was a huge part of him that was feeling proud of the conclusions that he was giving himself, there was another one of the digimon that placed both of their hands right at Ken.

When they were placing their hands right at Ken, there was something strange about the touch. It was like the digimon was actually starting to suck away at his life, and that was when Ken was wondering why the hell this digimon was like this. He was wondering why this digimon has actually been able to start to steal some of his life force away. Then Ken just placed the hilt of the energy sword right at the chest of this digimon when he was actually feeling like his blood was sinking away, when he was seeing something of him going right to the digimon, as if he was literally losing everything, and then he turned on the hilt since he turned it off right before this, and then he stabbed right through their chest, and killed them that way. After he had killed them, he was happy to see them fucking die, and then Ken was tired of everything, and then he was seeing that there were still two left.

When Ken was seeing that there were still two left, there was a part of him that was wondering if this was even worth it anymore. After Ken was telling himself that this was not really all that worth it anymore, there was another part of Ken that was telling himself that he just needed to be taking this much more seriously. That he needed to see what these two were capable of, and how he was going to be able to take them out. He saw one of them charging right at him, and they threw a bunch of things that looked like fucking ninja stars right at Ken, and this was when Ken was telling himself that he was totally over this whole bullshit, and that he was wishing that this was the exact opposite of what he would be dealing with on a daily basis. But then he got hit by a star on both his right and his left side, and then he cried after he stabbed the digimon in the lower chest, and then the digimon pulled the normal blade further, as if to show Ken that they were not caring what he had been doing, and that was when Ken was thinking that he was tired of these egotistical digimon, and then he pulled the sword out from the digimon before they could do this any further, and then he slashed their fucking head right off, and then he was taking care of them this way. When he was done with this digimon, he was looking around and seeing that there was just one left, and then he would be done with this forever.

There was barely any of this left that he had to be dealing with. He was just looking right at the digimon, and then the digimon held out both of their hands, and then that was when Ken saw that they pulled out claws from both of their hands. Ken was forced to be fighting this digimon much more, and the two actually managed to keep blocking back and fourth for about a minute or so, and then Ken was cut open right on the face, and then that was when Ken was just placing his hand on his cheek annoyed, and then he was thinking that he would rather just have a minor annoying dash of blood over pretty much being killed, and then Ken defeated the digimon when he just expressed his annoyance over this whole thing, and then he just slashed the digimon into three separate pieces, by using both of his swords to cut them right through, and then the digimon fell down in three parts, and then Ken was turning off the energy sword, and that was when he was looking at the ground for just a moment to process all the fighting, and then he was looking right at Stingmon. As if wondering what he was going to tell the digimon this time.

"You know, I am kind of tired of always fighting all the time. I mean, I should have been going to finish school now. I should have had a life full of just exciting journies with friends or something. Something that you know wasn't basically fighting for my life on a daily basis. I mean, I never realized how much I would fucking miss school until it was taken away from me. At least with school, there was a hint of normalcy to what was going on. But here, I have no idea what can be considered normal, or what is just totally out of fucking reality now." Ken said, and then he was feeling like no matter what the context of this would have been, he was always going to be fucking whiny, but he was feeling like he would rather be whiny and at least express his feelings out loud than be lying about this all, and he was feeling honesty was always the best solution.

Once Stingmon was trying to really listen to Ken, and to really hear out all of his feelings out the situation, there was a part of Stingmon that was thinking that no matter how much they had wanted to try and get him, that in all reality, absolutely nothing was really going to be changing this, that Ken was always going to just look at things the wrong way, and that he should at least be trying to looka things in the positive light. Then that was when Stingmon was telling himself that maybe he should not be acting too rough with Ken and everything, and that he was just trying his best to be open about how he had felt.

"Ken, I can't even imagine what earth is like. I think that I will be feeling much different about everything once I actually see what earth is like. I think when I finally see earth for the first time for myself, I will finally get it. But do you actually really think that this is going to be what is going to be changing things for yourself? Do you really think that going back to earth will change all your problems and make them good things? Or do you really think that you are just lying to yourself?" After Stingmon asked Ken this, there was a part of Ken that was telling himself that while it was blunt and a little bit annoying, it was still none the less something he had to fucking consider.

"I get it. I really fucking do. But at the same time, I feel like I should be allowed to at least pretend that this what needs to be done to fucking change things. I feel liek I should at least be allowed to pretend that this as simple as it really fucking is. Do you think that I should at least be given the fucking right to this?" After Ken had asked this question, he was looking right at the digimon, and he was sort of wondering if he really was taking his statements to the digimon too far, and if he should be considering how they had felt more.

"Ken, I get that you think that I am being harsh to you right now. I get that you are starting to think that I will just never fucking get it, but I am just trying to be real with you. I am just trying to make this clear to you that you may not really be needing to be worrying about this as much as you are thinking that you have to. I just wanted to provide a small bit of insight to this whole thing, to perhaps help you see all of these things once and for all." After Stingmon was saying this, that was when Ken and Stingmon were walking down to the final floor of this base, or at least what they were thinking was the final floor.

Once they were down there, Ken was just looking right at Stingmon before opening the door. "You know, even with all the debates we have, and even with how much I snap at you, I do know what you have been able to do to really help me out, and I hope that you understand that even with all of these things, I do appreciate the things that you have really been doing so far. It makes me feel like there is something there that cares for me. Even if it is a digimon, and not a real person. I guess that beggars can't be choosers though." After Ken said that, he was opening the door and once he was seeing the door open, he was seeing that there was indeed a large power generator.

But unlike what Ken was assuming he would have been seeing earlier, he was finding absolutely nothing in there. At all, it was as if the digimon up there had honestly thought that nothing would have shown up to create a problem. After Ken had seen this, he was thinking about where this was really going to go now. In fact, he even was walking down the hall way, thinking that this was all one big set up, and he was not even thinking in all reality that this was going to be all fine and dandy. He was thinking that there was going to be a big fight coming up, and that he was just not really seeing what the enemy was going to be at that moment. Eventually, he was right where the button that would shut down this entire business was. Right when he was about to touch the button, there was a voice talking to him, which was kind of out of nowhere, and it was trying to speak to him one final time to change his mind on all of this stuff, to make him see why this was wrong.

"You are willing to bring down this entire business, and everything that it had stood for, and what are you really doing this for exactly? Do you even really see what is going to be coming out of doing this? Or are you just too fucking blinded by some retarded agenda that you are some form of a hero? If you really think that you are some fucking hero, then you are the one who is making the giant mistake. You must come to realize by now that no matter what you do, nothing is going to change what has been set in motion. The entire plan around you has already started, and you are actually trying to change it. You must realize that tjis fucking futile." After the voice was starting to talk, Ken was finding it a funny how a giant random voice was just giving him a giant lecture while throwing in a bunch of swearing in there. It was just strange to be thinking how Samw as not the only one who would so something like this. As Ken was thinking about Sam again, he was then listening harder, and he was just wanting to hear how far this would be going.

"You may think that you are going to be able to stop the coming storm, and that you actually have a say on what is going to be coming up soon. But surely even you must see that there is nothing that you can do. You are going to fail just like how everybody before you has failed, and how everbody after you is going to fail. There is no change to this cycle, and nothing you have planned if going to make go your way. If this were a war, then you would have already lost a long time ago, no matter how hard you would be trying to change things." After the digimon had said that to Ken, there was more and more to Ken that was thinking this could have been true.

"God damn it, I am not going to let you lecture me about how everything I am going to be doing is going to be set up for failure. I have already had everybody tell me this shit. To be honest, I am kind of tired of everybody telling me this." Ken tried to make it sound cool, but instead it sounded whiny.

"You do not understand what you are saying, and no matter how hard you try to present yourself as a composed man, there is nothing that you can do to change the truth. That you are scared. I can hear the fear in your voice, and I can hear how you are trying to make it sound like you have no problem keeping in the fear. But in all reality, you are just trying to figure out your way out of this just as much as you are trying to figure out where you are supposed to be heading with your life after you destroy this base. We all know what your choice is, but we wish that you think about it." The voice continued, trying hard not to sound a bit sad there.

Ken was wondering what the point of the voice was, and if Ken really knew what he was doing after all, and if he was mistaking everything that he had been doing, that there could have been something that showed that he was wrong about where he was going from the start. Despite the fact that Ken had been thinking all of these things, there was something else that Ken was telling himself, and that this was just them trying to make him get thrown off guard, and that this was not what they were actually thinking at all.

"What even are you?" Ken asked, thinking that if for nothing else, he would be able to get some actual interesting information there, and he was just hoping the digimon would be willing to give this to him, no matter what else the digimon was thinking of Ken and Stingmon, he was hoping that they would at least be more open to him on this regard, just to at least clear some things up.

"We are the ones who your enemy set up to be watching over you. To make sure that nothing you do hurts his progress. To make sure that you understand the weight of what you are doing before you make a choice that you are going to regreat making. He wants to make you see the values of not doing what you think is the best thing, and to actually do what may in truth be the better choice, but even if it means that it is going to require to make you change your opinion on many matters." After the digimon voice had said this, Ken was just shaking his head.

"No matter what they may be trying to make me think, I am not going to fucking fall for this. I have a lot of things to take care of with this guy, and I have to prove my point against them. So if you don't fucking mind, I have a base to destroy, and I have you to shut up." After Ken said that, he was wondering how bad he was really going to be with these type of lines, and that was Ken was thinking that maybe he needed to put more time and thought into the things he was saying before he actually said them, to make the lines he was speaking seem like they have more value. But then he pressed the button, and afterwards, he was looking at Stingmon and that was when Ken and Stingmon started to get out of the base as fast as possible. Once Ken and Stingmon were out of the base, there was a few things showing the fire and it going down to the ground. Ken was looking right at Stingmon and then he took a long and deep breath. "Well, we have one other thing to do. We need to talk to the fucking mayor, and see what they are thinking now. They have a lot of explaining to do."

After Ken had said that to Stingmon, they were really just heaing down the mountain as fast as possible, knowing that they relaly had no fucking time to be wasting at all, and that simply fucking around was not really going to be helping out at all. So by just doing this, by simply having a goal in mind on what they were wanting to do, this was going to make things so much easier and better for both of them. Ken then thought about what Stingmon was probably thinking of the movement that Ken was making, and they were wondering what it was going to be like for them to actually be doing something that would be able to make them understand that Ken was really trying his absolute best to be pulling these things off at this point in time.

"I think that the way that you handled yourself in there is interesting. The fact that you even tried to talk with them at all, and the fact that you tried to make things going in our favor shows that maybe you don't really want to be going around fighting as much as I thought that you were wanting to be fighting. Makes me think that maybe there is more to the human race than any of the digimon said about you. I think that I should be looking at you more often, and seeing what you are actually capable of." After Stingmon said that, they were having absolutely no problem saying this to Ken, and they were indeed almost feeling good about the fact that they were saying about this guy, and that Ken was still a decent guy, but that he just needed to find something within himself to really unlock this.

"You know, I just was kind of tired of fighting, and there was honestly the part of me that was wanting to at least try to change this shit around now. You know, to see if this was even possible. To see if it was even possible that I could be able to get myself out of this without fighting. I mean, I see now that this was not going to happen, but I was wanting to see if it could happen. You know, at least be trying to expand on things every once in a while. Besides, fighting all the time is a little bit boring to be totally honest." Ken said, and then he was laughing a little bit at that one.

"Well, at least there was the effort that was put in there, and I think that if you really try to do something, then I guess that there is nothing else that I could say to this besides just that. You know, I thought that you were just going to be acting like you weren't needing to be doing this, and that we were wrong to even try to do something like talking things out. I mean, sure in hindsight we were sort of wasting time, and maybe we should have thought about this shit a little bit better. But I guess that maybe there is something else right now. The fact that you and I are right along the path to really be changing things now. We really do got a lot of things set along for perfection now." After Stingmon had said that, Ken and Stingmon were finally feeling like they were both starting to actually make each other really make the progress needed to fulfill both of each others needs a bit more.

"There is nothing that we are going to get out of this by just talking. I mean, sure words might be able to help each other out and everything, but that doesn't really mean that words are always the best. As crazy as it is for me to say that, since we have been talking to each other all the fucking time, and we basically do nothing besides just talking. But there is just a part of me that is feeling like I need to be fucking realistic here right now. That I need to at least try to tell the truth to myself right now." After Ken had said that to Stingmon, he was waiting to see what the digimon was going to say, if the were even wanting to say anything at all, or if they were sort of thinking about what Ken had actually been saying there, thinking that maybe Ken and Stingmon were really actually going to be friends one day. Not just human and digimon that sort of only worked with each other because they were sort of forced to be doing this, but a human and a digimon that actually got along.

When Ken was thinking about that, and he was thinking about what it would be like to get along with this digimon, he was already telling himself that he was sort of doing this. he was telling himself that it was flawed for him to be thinking that they hated each other. Maybe they were not really friends per say, but to be saying that they hated each other was flawed and was indeed something that they both needed to think about. But then Ken was telling himself only he really needed to be thinking about it, since he had been the one who was saying that they were hating each other, when in all reality, there was a chance that Stingmon did not hate him at all. Maybe wished he contributed more, but not really hating them. But then Ken was telling himself that the sooner he stopped talking and thinking about it, the better it was going to be for his own personal sake.

"Ken, don't worry about this stuff so much. You know that no matter what happens, at least you will be having me at your side. That at least I am going to be working with you. I think that you get this though. I think that you see that I don't hate you, and I don't want to throw away your values or anything. But I think that you just need to see that more for yourself." After Stingmon had said that, Ken was thinking how he was kind of tired of this talk, and how he did not really want to be doing this anymore. He wanted to just reach the mayors office, and he was wanting to talk to them, and see what they were wanting to say, and he was wondering if the digimon was just going to try and defend themselves for everything, or if they were going to throw away that persona just to show that they were not really giving a shit what Ken was thinking or anything. After Ken started to be thinking more about that whole thing to himself, there was another thing that he was telling himself right then and right there. That he just needed to think about what he was really doing right now. That he needed to take this one step at a time, and that there was nothing wrong with actually being natural about what he was doing.

"I get it. I get it. I need to not be so worried about everything and all that shit. But I feel like I am allowed to fucking feel like a human every once in a while. You know, have fucking human emotions and be thinking about my flaws and everything. I guess that you don't really get it though. Since you are not a human and you never will be a human." After ken said that, he was not giving a damn how blunt this was, and he was not giving a damn what the digimon was thinking about the way that Ken said this, since he was thinking that he just needed to be frank with them, no matter what this really led to. Eventually, they had reached the mayors hall where Kenw as going to start asking them plenty of questions about everything. And he was telling himself that no matter what their response was, the digimon better have a really good fucking excuse to explain everything that had been going on, and Ken was thinking that in a way, he did not really want to hear it, but he was only doing it just to make it clear that he was going to not be taking this lightly, and that this was not going to be a quick in and out action scene. He was going to make this miserable for the digimon, no matter what the cost may be.


	92. JewelBeemon

JewelBeemon

Ken was making it back to where the mayors office eventually was, and then Ken was thinking more and more about where this whole thing was going to be heading. He started to question is he was right about any of the choices that he had been making at this point in time. But then as he was telling himself this, there was something else that he was also telling himself. He was telling himself that there was no fucking reason for him to turn back on what he was doing right now. He had already made his choice that he was going to at least talk to the mayor of the town, and make him talk to him. Ken was over the bullshit of what he was going to be doing. He was over the bullshit of helping out the digimon who were just simply going to be using him. He felt like he needed a greater amount of respect given to him, and he was going to fight for this digimon to give it to him, or he was going to just fight his way through the digimon and then he was going to go somewhere else, where he was probably going to get it for himself.

"Ken, are you sure that you are going to be strong enough to fight what is going to be coming along soon? I think that maybe you just don't really know what you are getting yourself into right now. I am really worried about what you are going to get yourself into, and I don't want anything to happen to you. Then that would mean that I would have failed on one of the many fucking things that I decided I was going to do when I decided to join you." After Stingmon told this to Ken, there was a short moment that Ken thought about this, and then after he decided he was over the lies, he decided that there was something else he was wanting to do. He wanted to make the digimon understand that he was just trying to do something on his own, and that he needed to sort of see what he could even be willing to do on his own right.

"Stingmon, I don't really know. I think that since I already decided I was going to fight for myself, and that I need to do this, I am going to go down there, and I am going to talk to them. I get that you think I will not survive. Who fucking knows, maybe you are right, and I am not going to make it out of this alive. But does this really fucking matter anymore? I think that I have a right to be fighting for myself, and I have a right to make sure that I do something that I won't really regret doing. I think I have ever right to just finally be able to sort of be the one person that at least does follow through with the promises that I made. I said I was going to go down there, and that I was going to talk with them about what I had been seeing. I have no reason to not do this, and my possible survival is not going to be what I can say to stop me on these things. It might suck to think about how I won't be able to fully say for sure if I will survive something, but I don't really care all that much what you say about it. I mean, you are just somebody who is going to try and get me to change what I say time and time again. You never once let me have my own choice, and let me just stick with it. And I am quickly frankly sick of the fact that you never just let me be myself on these things." Ken finally just gave their full matter on the issue, and then they were waiting to see what Stingmon was going to say, as if they were going to see how much Stingmon was going to challenge them on this, if they were going to challenge him at all. When Ken was thinking about what Stingmon wanted Ken to do, there was a part of Ken that was thinking deep down the idea of safety would be nice, but he was also thinking that the idea of making sure he did something right for these creatures was much more important than any form of safety, and that was what he was telling himself all of this time.

"Ken, but maybe you are wrong about the mayor. Have you thought that maybe the mayor is actually not something pure evil, and that you are sort of jumping to conclusions right now? I mean, I just think that it is at least possible that you are wrong about this whole thing. That you needed to sort of see what you were talking about this whole time." After Stingmon said that, they were sort of waiting for Ken to try and challenge them on this. But Ken was thinking about something else at that moment.

"Besides, I don't really even know if you have gotten to know them enough for you to really make a true choice on what you should be doing. You have barely really seen them, and you are just sort of thinking of the worst before you even really give them a chance. I think that you were sort of just going in there to try and see what you can do to make them sound as terrible as possible." After Stingmon said this, there was just coming to the point in which Ken was sort of tired of this trite old debate, and he was wondering why Stingmon was even doing this so fucking much all of the fucking time. They felt like it was border line down right annoying that this was what he was having to deal with all the time.

"Well, I am going to talk to them one way or another. When I talk to them, I think we both know that we are going to see what they are really truly coming at. You know that this is what I usually do. You know that I usually like to stall out the stuff I do with just conversations and everything. Don't worry, I won't try for any form of negotiations this time. We saw that this did not really work as well as I had hoped. But I am still going to see what I can learn from them, just by talking with them a little bit fucking longer." Ken said, and then he just rubbed his face a little bit more. "So yeah, I think that this is going to be fine enough, just talking to them, and seeing what they have to say. I mean, nothing can really be all that fucking wrong about just wanting to take things at least a little bit fucking slowly." Ken said, and that was when Ken was thinking that he had come to the closest of a compromise that he could get with the digimon, and that no matter what they were going to try to tell Ken now, nothing was really going to work out as well as either one of them hoped, so they were going to have to settle for the in between option, one that can make both of them get at least something. But then Ken was thinking that this was just a digimon he was talking with, and that maybe the digimon did not really have as high of a voice on the issue than Ken really did, and that he should sort of exert his dominance on the matter more.

After Ken had thought about what it would be like to exert his dominance on the matter more, there was another part of him that was thinking about where he was going to be going with this whole ordeal. If he was really going to get the digimon to side with him at all times, and get them to sort of get off his case for a bit more than they had been already.

"Well, there is no point in debating this any further. We both know what we think on the issue, and there is no point in just us bashing our heads any further. So to spare us both the time and the annoyance, I am just going to go in there, and you are going to have to deal with what I am doing. Besides, I have something else I need to get to right now. I need to do something that I never considered doing before, but now I need to do this. I will tell you later, but who fucking cares what you think, since it will always be different from what I want in the first place." At this point, Ken sounded like he was actually pissed at this rate, and that was when Stingmon figured he should just let it go.

Once inside of the mayors hall, and Stingmon was asking themselves if they were really making the right choice by just sort of letting Ken do as he wished, he was thinking about something else. Ken was clearly scared of what he was even doing at this point in time. He was thinking that Ken just sort of needed to see that everything was going to be alright, and that there was no need to worry about what was about to be going down at any moment. As they were thinking this, they started to think about how they were going to tell Ken this. There was a part of them that was thinking that telling Ken anything was going to be pointless, as they had been growing more and more certain of just how fucking stubborn Ken really was, and that was when Ken was thinking about what he was going to say to the mayor. This was when Ken was just sitting down in front of the mayor, and he was sort of seeing what the digimon was thinking at that moment. There was a moment when it had looked like neither one of them really wanted to speak, as they both knew what had happened, and they were both thinking that this was going to lead into a really large debate, and neither one of them were really fully ready for something like this.

"So did the job work out the way that I was hoping that it would have?" After the mayor asked Ken this question, there was a part of him that was considering lying about it to get himself out of this. However, Ken felt like if he didn't tell the truth, he was going to be in as bad of a position as he would have been if he just did tell the truth. Or if it was even possible, one that was even worse than this one, and that was when Ken was telling himself that maybe he just needed to sort of go along with it, and then there was Stingmon who had been looking at Ken, as if trying to see where Ken was about to head with this.

Eventually, he took a deep breath and decided that he was going to take the answer, and he was going to have a level of pride with what he was going to say. "Not quite the way that you were hoping that it would have. I mean, I think that you were already aware that this was going to happen though. I mean, let's both be totally real here. You had planned out from the start that I was going to do that stuff. You had planned out the fact that I was going to fucking go in there and try to get the bottom of things, to bring some level of justice. So I think that there is no real need to try and act like this is all one big fucking shock." After Ken had said that, he was wondering what the digimon would say to this. "Don't even act like you are the most fucking shocked person in the world that I am talking to you like this. I am just fucking tell you the truth of the matter, and I am not really in the mood to try and act like I was going to go in as a spy or something like that." Despite the fact that he was being really frank about it, he was also telling himself that this was a massive fucking mistake. That he should have been more put together about it. As if he really did fuck up on this whole thing, and he was now starting to really see this.

"Do you not realize what you had just gotten yourself into when you did that? Oh my fucking god, you are even more stupid than I thought that you were. Now you really messed up things good around here this time." After the digimon said this, Ken looked right at the mayor, as if not really sure what he was going to try and tell the mayor. He was not really sure if he was supposed to try and smart back, or if he was going to just hear what they were having to say now. "I don't really think you get it, and I don't really even think that you actually care all that much no matter what I actually tell you."

Ken was just looking at Stingmon and both he and Stingmon were just pretty fucking confused at what was going. The digimon was not even angry at what Ken had done, they seemed to be more worried than anything else, and neither one of them were really ready for something like this. "Can you please tell us what got you so fucking worried? I mean, I don't really think any of us get it right now?" Ken asked, and then after he had been asking this question, he was waiting for the mayor to say something, but they were just too busy acting totally fucking shocked.

"Well, now my supplier is going to be mega fucking pissed off over the fact that I won't have any supplies for them. That is one thing that is going to fucking happen. Now that I have to deal with that, plus the fact that I need to create a new base of operations, I have to deal with the fact that I am fucking screwed. I think you will never really realize what you did now, but I guess that you don't really give a fuck, do you now?" After the mayor had asked Ken this, that was when Ken was utterly certain that he really did mess things up good this time, and then that was when Ken was wondering how he was going to get himself out of this one.

"Well, I had no real idea what was happening. I thought that you were just trying to take over the world or something. That was what we were told at least." Ken said, looking right at Stingmon as if hoping they could set aside their differences long enough to at least have a common narrative for a few fucking seconds. Then when that was the case, Stingmon just slowly nodded as if to go along with what was going on.

"Yeah, we were told that the digimon there were sort of working there to create weapons so that way you could eventually take over the world. What is it that is really going on now?" After Stingmon asked this, the mayor was looking like they were getting calmer for just a short moment, as they had been seeing that both Ken and Stingmon were telling the truth, and then they just thought that they might as well brief in the two now that they were there.

"Well, there is a small level of truth to what was going on down there. But not to the level that you may really think of it was. I guess that now that we are here, and we have some time to talk about it, I might as well brief you in on the truth of what is going on now." The mayor said, and then Ken was thinking that one way or another, no matter if this digimon was innocent or not, they were going to have to go along with what this thing was saying just to make sure that they were going to be safe for a while longer, and then Ken was telling himself that he really did need to listen to Stingmon more often, since it usually seemed like they were the ones who were right about what was being said, and that Ken was the one who really fucked this whole thing up front start to finish, and then Ken thought that it was going to be impossible for him to get out of this one.

"Well, there is a digimon named JewelBeemon, and they work on top of the mountain. Since we are only a day away from the bottom of the mountain, JewelBeemon decided that we would be a great place form them to fucking work on us, and I think that they really know that we are going to fall into what they are saying in the first place. But that is not what really matters now, since I am pretty sure that we really are going get killed by them some time soon. And besides, there is more than just JewelBeemon that has been working with us, and I think that if anything, they will be less forgiving as JewelBeemon is, which I think is really going to mess things up with everything." After the mayor said this, Ken thought about this all for a moment.

"Oh I would not really worry all that much about JewelBeemon. I kind of took care of them before I was able to come down here. A bit of a fucking long story right there. So I think that you will be fine with that." Ken said, and then after he said that, he was waiting to see what the mayor was going to say, but they just did not react for several seconds.

"JewelBeemon is more powerful than you think they are. There is a very good chance they just pretended to die so that way you could be distracted, and that way you would not really have any chance of getting in their way in the future. Have you considered that to be a possibility?" After the mayor has asked Ken this, there was a part of Ken that was really not wanting to consider it, but then as he was thinking about it, he realized that there was a good chance that what they were saying was true.

"I don't want to think about that chance though. I don't want to think about the idea that I fucked up even more than I might have." Ken said might because he was still not entirely sure if he was really willing to believe that the mayor was a ally or not, and the more that he was thinking about it, there was still a large part of him that was thinking that they were just sort of acting nice to Ken to be able to get him weaker, and to think that there was something wrong with Ken for trying to be against them. Ken was just not really sure if he was wanting to fully subscribe to this bitch being a fucking hero for any fucking reason at all, no matter what the whole case around it may have been.

"I think that you are going to have to accept the fact that there is a very large chance that this is the truth though. Even if you do not want to admit it, there is the reality that you really did make a huge mistake by getting into this trap that they already set up for you. I guess I would not really blame you though. How the hell were you supposed to fucking know that they were better than you?" The mayor asked this in a way to try and demean Ken a little bit better, and make him feel like he was fucking useless at the end of the day.

"I don't really though. I mean, they were burned alive at the burning hall. At least that was what I last saw of them, so I thought that this surely must have been the case. I mean, I guess that there is a chance that this was not the case, but I wanted to think that maybe I was going to get out of this pretty easily." After Ken had said that, there was a part of him that was starting to feel a little bit more fucking stupid now, and then he was wondering when he was not ever going to get to the point in which he was stepping over the line and which he was just fucking wrong all the damn time.

"You know, I just think that you are going to have to be fighting them some time soon, and I think that you need to be ready to sort of pay for the mistakes that you had been making, even if you do not want to do that. But you were the one who made the choice, and only you can pay for the fact that you did this." After the mayor said that Ken raised his hand up as if to show that he got it and that he did not need to really be reminded on this any more, and that if anything, it was kind of fucking annoying that they were being told this over and over again.

"Look, I fucking get it. You don't need to say it over and fucking over again. I mad a huge mistake. So how about instead of us whining like two year olds over it, we should try to figure out what the hell we are going to do in order to make this even work out at all." Ken said, and then he was placing his hands on his hair, as if he was starting to really realize how much he had fucked up by doing this whole thing. And what he was going to do in order to get the mayor to see that he was indeed going to be trying to change this whole thing.

"I guess that you might be right. Talking about this and sulking around this is not going to make this any easier on any of us. So how about we actually try and figure out what the hell we are going to be doing now..." After the mayor had said this, there was a level of just fear that they were letting through when they were talking to Ken, as if they were thinking about it was finally time for them to maybe see each other more eye to eye, even if this was going to be harder for them to really pull this off. They did know that no matter what happened earlier, and what was going to happen in the future, and even if Ken still did not agree with them on virtually anything, they knew that even if they hated it, they had to at least pretend to be getting along for the time being, to sort of see where this was going to be going.

"I think that this is going to be one of the harder things for both of us to really go through with right now, I fucking get that. I think that neither one of us are really wanting to be doing this, but we sort of have no choice. We need to figure out what we are going to do to make sure that your town does not get destroyed by... well let's just say your suppliers. Even if JewelBeemon is not there to do anything to you guys, I think that there is a chance that the others are going to be like this, and that is why I am going to start thinking more and more about what I need to do. I mean, as much as I hate to say this, I did make some mistakes. I mean, I think that it was terribly shady that you did that in the first place, that you decided to resort to shitty fucking business, but that is not the point of this. The point of this is to go around and change the mistakes that even if I don't want to admit it, that I fucking made." Ken said, and then after he had said that, he was watching the look on the digimon who was the mayor and he was waiting to see what the mayor was going to say to the way that Ken was forcing his composure out to be right then and there.

"I guess that I don't really have any good clue on what you could be doing right now. I mean, I have a feeling that like I said, there is going to be a big war coming up. One that none of us will be prepared for, and one that I think that we need to fucking just be setting up a very long time for. But I think that you already know this... I think that even if I don't like this, that we are going to be having the first battle of this war coming up soon. That this war is going to start in just a couple of days at best." After the mayor said that, Ken was thinking about what he had just heard, and the more that he thought about it, the more that he was thinking that maybe the mayor was telling the truth there, and that this meant Ken was going to be fighting in it, even if he did not want to.

"Well, I think that if this is how my fucking time here is going to go, I need to fucking be ready. I guess I just need to be ready and accept the battles that may be coming up just because of my stupidity." After Ken said that, he was thinking that maybe JewelBeemon really was around, and that this was all a part of the set up to their scheme, and that Ken did a better job walking into it than he ever imagined. Then when he thought on that, there was something if just feeling over himself that he got right then and there. He was feeling so fucking over just giving everything what they had wanted for all intents and purposes. And he was wanting that to end.

"Well, now that you seem to have some understanding on what you are doing, I think that we need to get much more serious about the thing that does matter. You know, trying to make sure that these things don't keep getting any worse. Do you know how you are going to be able to fight JewelBeemon, if they really are the enemy that I think you are going to have to be fighting soon enough?" After the mayor asked Ken this, that was when Ken started to wonder why they were so set on the idea that JewelBeemon was the thing he was going to have to fight, and he was trying to help the digimon understand that JewelBeemon was not all that big of a threat. But then Ken was wondering to himself as he was thinking this if what he was saying to himself was really as true as he had been thinking that it was. If there really was a huge chance that JewelBeemon was coming along, and that he was pretty much just going to have to get ready for something like this at any moment.

"Do you really even know what you are going to have planned out? Do you even really think that you have a plan at all? Or are you just going to be going in blind? I think that there comes a point in which you should not be doing this anymore, and you should just sort of be going into the fight with at least a little bit of a plan..." After the mayor had said this, that was when Ken was thinking more and more about what was being said, and then Ken was thinking that maybe he should be thinking about this stuff a little bit further. That maybe the idea of actually planning something out was going to be the best way he was going to save the town, and then that was when Ken was wondering if maybe he should be trusting what Stingmon believes in more often.

"I think that there is nothing that can really save your town from JewelBeemon, if they are as powerful as I am fearing that might be... But I guess that I will just have to see before I can really say anything else on the matter. I mean, my god, I fucking hate this whole guessing game that I am now sort of situated in right now." Ken said, and then he was thinking about the fact that there was only going to be a couple of things that was going to save him at all. Stingmon was wondering if maybe they should try and help Ken along, to maybe try and make Ken look better among the mayor, to even sort of justify what was going on, and make Ken seem like he was not a total heretic. But then they were thinking that it might be impossible.

"The guy thought what he was doing was the best choice for the digimon who lived in this world. The ones who felt lost and like there was nowhere else to go. Sure he could have been more refined with his methods, as we can probably all see now, but I don't think that anything he really did was out of trying to spite you. He was just thinking that you were part of the enemy. And for all we know, considering the shipments that you have been making and the profit that you have been getting from it, he might still be thinking this. But he also knows that you are the lesser of two evils, and I think that this is why he is willing to just do this right now. He is also willing to admit his mistakes, which is something that I think anybody should be willing to be forgiven on if they are able to do this. If you made a fucking mistake because you are retarded, you should be allowed to have a chance to change this again. You should be allowed to have a chance to show that you are not really going to just let the mistake fly by, and that you will try to make things better. Shouldn't that be enough for you to give him a minimal amount of respect?" After Stingmon was doing this, he was wondering what the digimon would be telling Stingmon. Ken was just feeling glad that on most cases, regardless of what came before hand, Stingmon was still there willing to be at his side, to try and make him sound like he was still mostly a hero. At least still mostly a person who can be respected here and there.

"I get that there are bigger things that we need to worry about right now. That is why I am not making a big deal out of any of this, because I know that things could be much worse amount us right now." After the mayor had said that, they were sort of looking at Ken, and they were thinking about the fact that this fucking young man was still getting another chance to do something right, even if they were still not really thinking that Ken deserved it all that much, but they were thinking that second chances were allowed on most cases, especially if the redemption story to be offered was real." The mayor said and then Ken was wondering where this was going to go next, and what Ken was going to have to do now.

"Well, I know that it may not really sound like it will help all that much, but I can go up to the mountain area again and try to check the hall once more. Maybe I can learn something there by going back or something." Ken said, and he was being honest with the idea, although he had zero idea what the digimon was going to think to this whole ordeal. They might think Ken was just trying to get himself out of this whole thing, to make himself free from any battles that were coming up, and they were thinking that Ken really must not have been aware of what he was doing if he was thinking any of this shit was going to be allowed.

"I get that you think you might be more useful by staying here right now. I sort of see where you are coming from right now. I really do in all honesty. I honestly do. But right now. I do not have the time or the resources to spread out right now, and at this moment, I need everything that I can in order to make sure that the digimon in this town are safe. That is truly my highest priority right now, no matter what else I may be thinking on other matters. I am their mayor, and I have to do anything to make sure that they are fine..." After the mayor had said this to Ken, that was something Ken was able to respect, no matter what he may be thinking of the fact that this situation was kind of annoying, he did nonetheless get it. He also told himself to consider it from the point of view of the mayor.

If Ken was the mayor, and there was somebody that came along and pretty much admitted to fucking up your entire town, and almost did not even care that they did so, almost as if they were proud of what they had done, then Ken would have been incredibly pissed off as well. He would have felt like there would have been no way he could trust the person as far as he threw them, and in a way he would be incredibly pissed at them as well. So Ken started to sort of feel for the digimon in a way, as if he was thinking that he had really gone too far on this.

"Yeah, I am sorry that I considered that idea. It seemed good at that moment when I was thinking about it. But I just want to find a way to sort of reverse this situation in a way. As much as I don't want JewelBeemon to be alive, and while I think they are probably not, I do have to see that it could be the case. I do totally see that something like this can be the case." After Ken said that, he was finding it worse and worse that he was openly admitting to the fact that this was possible.

"Well, even if JewelBeemon is not what I need to be worried about right now, there are other things that are crossing my mind that I think I still do need to fear right now. Such as if there are other digimon who I am working with find out about this, and what they are going to do. I think that they are just as big of a problem as JewelBeemon may be, even if they might not be at the moment since JewelBeemon is much closer." After the mayor said this, Ken was looking out the window, and he was thinking about what he was going to do in order to set himself down a path of redemption.

"I guess that I just don't know what I can really do right now. I mean, I want to do something to help out, I just don't really know how this is going to be the case." Ken said, and he was really letting the magnitude of his mistake fully sink in, and at this point the amount of guilt that he was feeling was so high up there that nothing that would happen could be able to get himself to think that it wasn't really so bad after all.

"I never even considered the idea that I could have been wrong about any of this. I thought that I knew what I was doing when this started. And in a way, maybe I did since in the long term these things will not be going out too much farther, and I think that this is a major victory on my part, since it does show that I was able to do something of value. But at the same time, I just think that I could have maybe done a better job on this than I wanted. I mean, maybe I should have thought more on the short term of things rather than just the super long term of it all." That was when Ken was wondering how much longer he would be allowed to beta himself up over the issue before the mayor would be tired of hearing about it. As he would find out, not that much longer at all.

"Listen young man, I get that you are feeling really angry about yourself right now. I get that you are suddenly thinking that you encountered the end of the world by this whole thing. But here is the thing. Nothing you can do about it is going to change anything. You already made the mistake, and there is nothing you can do that is going to change this fact. Whining about it will be making no difference at all. So how about instead of making a big deal about the mistake, we decide to just let it go, and think about the more long term things that can come out of this whole ordeal." After the mayor said this, Ken nodded and then there was something that he was thinking might be able to work. But in an extreme nutball screw up way.

"I don't really think that we are actually going to get something really going here, and I would be amazed if this works as well as I am thinking that it could, but I think I might have something going on here, that might be able to actually work." Ken said, as he was rubbing his chin, and the mayor was just looking at Ken, as if thinking that they were open to suggestions, as annoying as they may have been.

"Tell me what this idea is. I would rather have a bad idea to be working with over nothing at all. So if you got at least something then I guess that I would be able to work with it." After the mayor said this, Ken sighed in relief at the fact that the mayor was even willing to be giving Ken a chance at all, and then when that was what Ken was given, he felt like he needed to explain things right there.

"Well, I think that if there is going to be a large force coming along and trying to take you down for all of this, you simply just need somebody there to watch you, and to make sure that you are fine. Just somebody who is going to see to it that you will not get killed for any reason at all. I think that if either Stingmon or I just stayed here to protect you, will the other one of us can stay out there and fight off the digimon that could possibly invade for as long as possible, then perhaps we could be able to limit their forced down by just enough to where the one inside would be able to take care of the rest of the fight on their own." Ken said, and then he was thinking on how insane this whole idea was, and how there was no way in hell it was going t o work, but he was just telling himself that he needed to give it a try.

"I don't really know how well this is going to help. But I guess that maybe it can sort of work in the whole blaze of glory type of deal. Well, if it is just JewelBeemon that you would have to fight, then there is a chance, albeit so narrow that it might not even be worth considering, that you could be able to fight them off and weaken them down to the point in which they will not be able to make any meaningful difference to this town when you are done. And if you actually think that there is even a slight chance that this could be able to happen, then I guess that I would be willing to give you a chance." After the mayor had said this, they were looking at Ken, as if sort of seeing what the young man was thinking, and if he was going to maybe have a small chance to pull this off, as crazy and as against the odds that they were against him, maybe he did have some fighting power in him.

"I mean, I don't really know if this is going to work. But I feel like it may be worth a try. I mean, if I could even get them to be weaker, or be more fatigued, then that means that I bought you all time, which could be something worth of value after all." After Ken said this, there was a part of him that was sort of wondering what it would be like to actually try this whole thing off. He was then thinking that this was at least worth some form of a try at the end of this whole thing.

"I think that you may be onto something. It may very well work. I am not going to say that it will work, or that it might even have a high chance of working, but the fact that I am even saying that it may work at all is something that I still have to consider. I mean, I might as well let you try this out at the very least. I might as well see if this is really just fucking crazy, or if you really are smart in some fucking way." After the mayor has said this, the mayor was just looking to see what Ken was going to say, and if he was going to break at all, or if Ken was still going to be very firm on this. Watching the way Ken was presenting himself though was very interesting to the mayor. The fact that he was speaking at all like this, and that he was not even trying to give off any fear as to what was going to happen.

"I mean, if for nothing else, this could be a way to show that I did indeed try to make this work, and that I did try to make up for the failures that I have made while I was fighting out here in the digital world. To make up for one of the first major mistakes that I have really made in my fucking life." After Ken said this, he was wondering what he was going to do in order to get the mayor to sort of in a way pardon him for any of this, or if this was still not convincing them.

"Well, I guess when you say it like this, and that you are trying, I think it might be hard to really argue with this. I might have to sort of let this be the truth to the matter." After the mayor had said this, there was just a moment in which Ken was just wondering how much longer this conversation was going to keep going. Then after this, that was when Ken stood up and he was thinking that the whole point was made, and that this conversation really did not need to keep up anymore, and that he had sort of gotten all of the needed points across. So when Ken had thought this, he was walking to the door of the shack, and he was sort of ready to go out there and kick some form of ass.

"I have a job that I need to fulfill right now. And the more that I talk here, and the more that I act like I have all of these things that I need to do, the more time that I am just going to really give any of them a chance to really come along here and mess things up. So I am going to get the hell out of here, while you guys can discuss things in this town all you want. But I am going to go around and try to make things right now." After Ken said this, he was sort of looking out and then he was just not even waiting to hear what the mayor was going to be saying at this point in time when he just opened the door and then he left the fucking building, and he was out to be going on his own.

Once he was outside, he was sort of looking towards the mountain, and then he was just putting both of his hands together, and then he was taking in a deep breath as he was breathing into them a little bit. He was feeling some form of a cold coming in over him, but at the same time, he was just not really sure what else he was going to do now. There was one thing that knew that he needed to do, and that was to go down and try to redeem himself, no matter how hard that this was going to be, or maybe even close to being fucking impossible to pull off.

As he was standing there, sort of waiting for what was going to be coming next, that was when he was knowing that the digimon around him were sort of wondering what was going on, and what they really could do in order to help make sure that this was not going to go the way that they were fearing, and they were wondering what Ken was even doing at that moment, as if thinking that this entire moment was just a little bit fucking strange to be saying at the very least.

As Ken was thinking about the idea of fighting JewelBeemon again, there was a part of him that was telling himself that he would really like to do something like this. That this would be the one thing that he would want to do more than anything else in the entire world. He was thinking that a fight with JewelBeemon was really going to help him settle the score, and the more that he was thinking about this, the more he knew that he just had to do this. The more that he just knew that the fight was going to be brought forward to them, and that he was telling himself the fight was going to be exactly as he had wanted this to be, and nothing else. Nothing else would sort of describe what he was going to be going through.

Then that was when Ken was really letting in the few parts of his mind that was still sane sort of kick in. He was telling himself that he was really in over his head, and that he should have been thinking about what he was doing more than he was already. Then Ken was telling himself that he should have really planned this out much better. That the whole entire situation was really simply too fucked up for him to really even try to salvage anything out of it.

But then Ken was thinking about what JewelBeemon had really been wanting to do this entire time, and he was telling himself that this entire ordeal was just too much for him to really comprehend. The more that he was thinking about the fact that JewelBeemon was a insane asshole, there was something else that Ken was telling himself. That he was not allowed to in any way even flirt with the idea that this digimon deserved some form of a chance, and that just because he might have been weaker than them, to sort of just let them do whatever they wanted. Ken knew that this was totally factually and objectively wrong.

After Ken had told himself this, there was something else that he felt like he needed to be telling himself. That he just sort of had to get to work and do everything that he felt was needed to be done, even if it had meant killing somebody else, or letting himself be killed. Perhaps there was nothing wrong with letting himself die if there was nothing else that was going to be done in order to make the situation any better. As Ken was thinking about what it would be like to put everything forward, and to sort of let it all be thrown out there, that was when Ken was thinking he was sort of going to become the hero that this town really needed more than the hero that he wanted to be.

He was wanting to be the one that would show up in the fucking fairy tales, and one that would be looking like everything was just all fine and dandy. Not the fucking way that it was looking right now, where it was looking like he was just going to be a tortured soul, and one that was going to be going through a lot of turmoil, and one that really did not deserve one of another chance. But since he was there now, and he was given this chance, he was going to be taking advantage of this entire thing right then and there.

When Ken was holding the hilt to the energy sword, he was really putting his finger closer to the fucking button, and for some reason, he was not even caring on how it was going to look to the digimon of the town, since he was telling himself that they would rather have him be ready for any fight than to just sort of be thinking that he was going to be able to do this all in one go, and that he was just going to be the fucking flawless cowboy.

But he still did not turn on the blade quite yet. He was still feeling like he needed to be waiting on things for a while longer, just to really see where this was actually going to go as well. Then when he was thinking about that, there was something Ken was thinking to himself. He started to think that maybe Sam sort of new where this was going to actually go, and that Ken just needed to fucking accept the fact that Sam was really this calm and caring guy who had just been training him on this regard the entire time, and that he was needing to sort of look at the brother he hated for so long in a different light. He was telling himself right then and there that there was nothing that would happen that would justify the way that he had thrown away his brother and his entire reputation. Ken was telling himself that the way he looked at the man was one of the worst treatments that could have been given by anybody in the entire world.

When Ken started to sort of feel bad for his brother, there was another thing that he was telling himself. That he was telling himself that no matter what he was always telling himself, that Sam really was the favorite among his parents and then the more time that was passing by, the more he was telling himself that this was totally fine, and that there was no good reason at all for Ken to be their favorite. When Ken was sort of telling himself this, there was something else that he felt like he needed to really get across in his mind. That there was just something about the way that he carried himself on a situational basis that was just sort of wrong, and sort of un-needed. That was sort of bad. When Ken was telling himself that he just needed to accept the fact that Sam was their favorite, he was thinking about what he would be able to do to sort of fulfill the honor of Sam, and as a result, he would be able to really make them feel like he had done something wrong. When Ken had told himself this, he was now sort of even more ready than ever too be fighting JewelBeemon, the idea that there was the smallest hint of a chance that Sam was really sort of there at his side, to help make sure that he was going to get through this whole thing. When Ken thought that, he was wondering if there was even a small chance that his spirit was there to sort of guide Ken through these next couple of fights, and then if that was the case, then there was no way in hell he was going to let himself down.

Eventually, as he was watching more and more, there was something that what Ken was thinking was coming towards him from the mountain. This was when Ken was going to start to see if JewelBeemon had really made it or not. When he was thinking about this, and the answer that he was going to get one way or another, he was also telling himself that this was what he needed to be doing to make sure that everything finally went his own way. As JewelBeemon, or what Ken was thinking would be them were getting closer, this was the time period that Ken was also feeling bad for Stingmon, as they were not going to be able to sort of help take revenge the digimon that had been spreading lies to them their entire life, and the digimon that had been pretty much just using them for war related purposes, and the more that Ken was thinking about this, there was a part of him that was thinking maybe Stingmon should have been the one who was out there and getting ready to be doing the fighting, but then he was also telling himself that this was totally just not at all a big piece of needed fear that he was having at that moment.

With every single passing minute, there was something Ken was telling himself as this was going on. That he just needed to fucking be ready for whatever this was. He wanted to kill them. No matter what he was possibly thinking about the idea that the mayor might not have been so bad, Ken was still utterly convinced that JewelBeemon was something that he needed to really be careful about, and that Stingmon was really going to be a true enemy on this whole thing. That he was going to really be pushed to the limit when he was going to be fighting this fucking thing. But at the same time, he was telling himself that this was just what needed to be done to make all of these things work out in the first place.

Ken thought that the digimon who had trained him for two years to be a fucking fighter was going to soon regret training him to be a fighter, and that they were going to see the fact that if they had not done this, then Ken would have been the one who was going to die, or that maybe this would not have been a path that needed to be crossed at all. But then as Ken was thinking about these things more and more, there was just the fact that he was trying to keep himself focused on this whole thing for as long as he could. The more that he was sort of feeling the presence of what was coming to him, the more he was starting really think the enemy was going to be JewelBeemon, and that the more he was going to get ready to fight this thing, the more he was going to sort of have Sam be at his side, and that the simple fact that Sam was there was really going to change this all. Ken smiled, as he was thinking about what it would be like for Sam to be there. And he was sort of wondering on what Sam would be doing right now, and that was when Ken was ready for what was coming up now. Did Sam really know how he was going to be fighting, or did Sam think, if he knew about the digital world at all, that he was going to be able to go through this with no real problem at all. When Ken was thinking about how this could have been possible, Ken told himself something else. That fighting was the one thing that he always pretty much just had to accept he needed to do.

Fighting was something that even if he hated to do it, was so deeply rooted to the digital world, that trying to pretend that something else was going to come out of it was simply fucking taking this too far, and that in order to make things really work, he was going to have to give up the prep life style and he was going to have to become one of the real fucking goths, one of the people who truly would be able to save the world if he had just tried a little bit harder.

As Ken was thinking about where this was going to go, Ken also told himself that JewelBeemon was just not really going to be ready for his change in attitude. They were going to be thinking that he was going to be pushed around, and that there was going to be no fucking fight. When Ken was going to be presenting himself though, and he was going to really be fighting, he was going to show that he was much more than just a simple fighter. He was a warrior who was going to fucking not back down, and that the more that he was given a chance to really prove himself, the more that he was really going to do it.

With each passing minute, there was a inner strength in which he was starting to possess more and more. There was a level of certainty that he was giving himself. He was telling himself that the fight was going to be really going to go his way, and when he was telling himself that this fight was going to go his way, there was something else that he was growing more and more certain of. That this entire thing was just going to be one of his final trails before he really started to go out there and be in the digital world. Ken was almost thinking that this was set up from the start to sort of be a final trail on the whole thing, and when Ken was thinking about that, he was sort of getting himself ready for that. He was getting himself ready for the battle he was now going to certainly be facing, and get through the trail, so that way he could be able to go on forward with everything.

The more that Ken was getting himself totally ready for this so called trail he was going to be dealing with, the more that the digimon in the town were sort of looking at him, and sort of wondering what he was doing. Not in the way that they wanted him gone, or they were worried what he was going to do, but in the way that they were sort of curious on where this was going to go, and they wanted to see how far this would be taken. Then Ken was turning on his energy sword, and he was watching the green blade giving off the most light in the night covered town in the next ten feet around him. He knew that this would be a terrible weapon to sneak around with, but luckily for him, that was not the point of this. Not even close to the point of this.

After a while of waiting, he was eventually seeing the digimon that he had been sort of prepared for right in front of him. As he was looking right at JewelBeemon, he was sort of wondering how long they were going to try and play the quiet game, which he certainly did not really object to be playing, but he was thinking that there was going to be more important matters at hand than to see who was going to win the quiet fucking game. "I thought that you were going to not even make it down the fucking mountain without dying or giving up. I guess I was wrong about you after all young man." After JewelBeemon said this, Ken started to think it was strange how everybody was so used to calling him young man.

"You know, I had a pretty easy time taking care of your fucking cronies back at the hall. Do you really think that I was going to just let them kill me or something like that? I will fucking not tolerate you sort of just throwing me around anymore. I have a lot of problems that I need to be attending to right now, and you always coming back into my life is really not helping me out right now." Ken said, and then he was waiting to see what JewelBeemon was going to say, and if they were going were going to pretend to be offended by what they were saying, but then Ken was telling himself that he had no real purpose to be dealing with this at that moment, and that he just needed to get to the point.

"You actually really are not as well aware of what you are doing as you may be thinking that you actually are. I guess that this might just simple be something that humans are naturally flawed on. I don't really know, because I can't imagine just only one of you being so fucking stupid on these things on a constant basis. This has to be something related to your genes." After JewelBeemon said that, there was something about this moment that Ken could not help but find a little bit amusing. The fact that they were talking as if they actually undersood what humans were actually like. Then when Ken was thinking about what this digimon was going to think when they were proven wrong, Ken was just sort of getting the pitch perfect image in his mind. But despite this, he was wondering if JewelBeemon was just sort of talking to stall out time, and that if anything, they were actually worried about how well Ken might be able to really fight. It was a fucking long ass shot, but it was still able to get him excited for what was about to come.

"Well, I guess that it just is something that comes along naturally when you are a teenage dirt bag." After Ken had said that, he was just looking at JewelBeemon, and he was wanting to see what the digimon was going to say to this, or if they really had anything to be saying at all. Then as he was thinking this, he always felt like being a teenage dirt bag was something that nobody should be proud of, but in the context, to be like the people that JewelBeemon would really not be able to understand, he got that in this case, he was actually the lucky one after all.

"I do not really understand what you are talking about right now young man. I guess that maybe I don't really understand the talk of the human race as much as I may have thought that I did." After JewelBeemon said this, there was a faint hint of confusion of their talk, and then Ken was thinking that all he really needed them was to just be confused, and to actually consider what he was saying and then if he was to do something like this, then that could be when he would be able to sort of make his next move on the whole matter.

"Well, I don't really think that is anybody elses fault besides your own. Maybe you should have thought to look into our mindset a bit before you decided to take me in and try to train me to be your heir on something. Maybe that is something that you should think about doing in the future." After Ken had said that, there was something in him that was sort of feeling proud that he was just able to slam down this guy as much as he had been doing, and that he just needed to sort of keep this whole thing up.

"I am really not having any idea on where you think you are actually going to go with all of this commentary that you are providing right now. It really is not as clever as you may be thinking that it is. Instead it makes you come off as an idiot and makes you also look like you are desperate for attention right now." After JewelBeemon said this, that was when Ken had simply just shrugged and didn't even break on the character he was providing at that moment, and then he was waiting for JewelBeemon to react to all of this.

"Well, the thing is that even if you may not want that in me, that this is partly the actual case right now. So I would not really say that you are saying anything of me beyond the plain and simple truth to the whole matter at hand. So I think that we just need to understand another thing about each other. The fact that I do not give a damn what you may think of me, and that in fact, I have the exact opposite feeling of you. I think that you simply are somebody who I have no fucking attachment to, and that anything you say just makes you come off as a condescending prick." After Ken had said this, he was wondering how much longer he was going to be able to keep up this dialogue with this digimon. The one who was really going to show if Ken was really read for something like this whole fucking time, or if he was going to falter and die just because he came in too head strong on the entire fucking issue.

"Well, I think that no matter how much you may be loving to run your mouth right now, that you are simply just too scared to admit that you have no real idea what you are doing. You are just presenting yourself as a guy who is open to all of the options on the table, but the way that you are looking at me, and the way that you are just keeping yourself at a bare minimum composure shows that you really are just unsure on where you are about to head on this whole direction." After JewelBeemon said this, there was more truth to this than Ken wanted to admit, but he was telling himself that he was not going to break character, no matter how tempted he was to show the true side of himself, and no matter how much he was feeling like they were really going to break him down at any point.

"I think that I can be able to handle myself much better than you really think that I am going to be able to." After Ken said that, there was that part of him that was thinking that he was really digging up his grave as he kept talking right there, and that if he were to keep this whole thing going on for much longer, then he might as well admit defeat for being a dumb ass.

"Well, I have to give you credit on one single fucking thing. The fact that you have a bigger fucking pair of iron balls than I would like to admit that you did. I did not think for a moment that you were going to actually think talking down like this was really going to be getting you far at all. But I have to admit, I am a little bit impressed. Makes me think that I should have given you another chance, and that maybe I should have been fighting harder to make you stay along and keep training with me. But I guess that this is not going to be happening anymore." After JewelBeemon said this, Ken was going to be wondering how he was going to be able to break it to this thing that he was not really all that interested in taking over the world, and that he was more interested in actually doing something right for once in his fucking life.

"You know, I think that you simply fail to understand what a human will be willing to do when they actually to actually do something. When he wants to actually get something done, he is going to go through great lengths to make sure that this happens. And that also means that the entire posture that they have, and the attitude that they were showing will greatly change as well. So I think that you need to also be thinking this whole thing out as well." Ken said, and he was slowly looking at JewelBeemon, sort of seeing the expression on their face change as they were sort of seeing the look on Ken's face sort of really adopt the idea he was trying to get along, and the more that they were starting to think that maybe he really was not bluffing after all.

"You have only been away from me for a matter of days. How are you already acting like you own this fucking world? How are you able to adopt such a serious personality in such a short period of time? I really don't fucking get it." After they had said that, Ken laughed a bit, and he was sort of finding it really funny just seeing the way that JewelBeemon was getting more and more scared as this conversation had been going on, and then that was when Ken was thinking that maybe when he had wanted to be, he really could be able to show off a level of assertive dominance that he never really thought that he could have been able to do, but when he was faced with the moment, he could pull it off so fucking perfectly that it was almost scary in a way.

Ken spun the hilt to his energy sword a bit, and that was him showing that even if he was thinking he was not really prepared for this, that he was going to get right to the fucking fight, and that he was going to really show that he knew what he was doing this whole time. After he did this, he was seeing JewelBeemon sort of starting to smile just a little bit more, as if they were sort of getting more into liking the way that Ken was sort of presenting himself, thinking that in a way, it was actually kind of appealing to know that there was now going to be at least a little bit of a challenge that he was going to put up. He was at least going to put in a real fight, and the prospect of this was what was really keeping them excited for what was about to be coming up.

JewelBeemon was coming right towards Ken and with each step that they were taking, the less they were using their spear as a facade of a walking stick and the more that they had been sort of showing what it was really going to be, and that was the fact that this was going to be their main weapon that they were going to be using against Ken coming up in this fight. And then Ken was wondering what the digimon in the town were going to be thinking to what was going on, and if they were going to try and side with JewelBeemon or something like that. Despite how much he had hated even considering this idea, he did briefly consider this to be possible. But then if this were the case, he was just going to be fighting on his own, and he was thinking that maybe this was an idea that he was just going to have to get used to anyways, and that there was nothing too terribly wrong with doing this in all reality.

Ken brought out his arm as if he was going to just do a simple stabbing motion, and then when he had done that, he was seeing JewelBeemon getting ready to block back, and then they held up their arm, in which the attack only hit the top of their arm barely and then JewelBeemon was not even giving off any sign of pain, and then Ken was telling himself that this was to be expected, and that he should not have been as shocked at this as he was sort of giving himself out to be. Then eventually, he started to walk to the side line when JewelBeemon swung their spear down, and this time when this was happening, Ken knew it was going to be coming up several seconds in advance, so he didn't even really need to be thinking this one out too much, he just needed to perform.

"I have to admit, I was not really expecting you to actually think about dodging attacks or anything. That was always one or your biggest weaknesses when you were training up at the hall. Seems like you do remember some things a little bit more than I was really expecting you to. I mean, it wasn't the worst thing that you always did, but it was always something that exposed a little bit of a weakness towards you, I have to admit. But here you are, even just knowing the most basic thing of how you are supposed to be fighting." After JewelBeemon said that, Ken smiled, and then that was when he was thinking that he didn't really have a shitty reply to be coming up with, but that in all reality, even if he had wanted one, he really did not need one at that moment. He just needed to continue sort of going off of auto pilot.

"Well, I think that you may start to see that maybe I do know what I am doing much more than you are expecting me to. I think that maybe you should have been thinking about what I can do more than you needed to think about what I have done." Ken forced one out anyways, thinking that he would rather be coming off as a smart ass over somebody who was just going to sort of keep his mind off of things at that moment. As he was watching JewelBeemon, he was sort of wondering what else the digimon was going to be saying to this, and if they were going to try and reply back, of if they were going to just simply let this one slide, and if they were going to just let Ken be thinking that he was really the coolest tool in the shed this whole time.

"Well, I think that you may be smarter than I was giving you credit for. But that doesn't mean that you know exactly what you are doing all the time. You just happened to capture me by surprise for one moment." After JewelBeemon had said that, that was when Ken was just thinking that this was when he needed to sort of go along with what they were saying, since he was thinking that maybe they were right about this one.

"Well, I mean you got to give me credit for one thing. I am a much better fighter than you want to admit that I am." After Ken had said that, he was swinging his blade around and this time, before JewelBeemon could be able to process what was going on, they actually felt the sting of the blade hitting their side of their arm, and then that was when Ken saw that he did hurt JewelBeemon much more than he was expecting to, and when he thought that despite the moment of shock, he also knew that this was a small lead in that he had given himself as a result.

"To say that you were a better fighter than I thought that you were was to admit that a slug was faster than I thought that it would be." After JewelBeemons aid that, Ken had to take a second to really process how strange that come back was, and then he told himself to simply not really be thinking about this one too much, and that he was going to let this one slide for the fact that there was the tiniest hint of creativity to the whole matter, but then he was thinking about something else right then and there. The fact that Stingmon was getting time to be preparing for this fight, and every minuet that Ken spent on this fight, was another minute that Stingmon could get ready for this.

Then when ken thought about Stingmon again, that was when Ken was telling himself that he just needed to get right back into the fighting mindset, and that was when he was just telling himself that he was doing this for the digimon that he was going to have to admit was his closest ally no matter how much they fought with each other, and mo matter how much they may have out right pissed Ken off on so many moments, this was the one who really knew what they were doing.

JewelBeemon held their hand out and then Ken started to fall back a little bit and he rolled on the ground for a couple of seconds, and then he was feeling like he was getting a little bit of a headache on that matter, and then he got himself up and quickly grabbed the energy sword before JewelBeemon could even have a second to process the fact that it was right the fuck out there. So then he stood up, and saw how covered he was with dirt, and then he rubbed his face off a little bit, thinking that this at the every least could have been done for his own fucking sake.

Ken was just telling himself not to focus on the headache that he was starting to be going through at that moment. He was just telling himself that this was all a run for the course, and then when he told himself this, there was a tight grip that he was having on the hilt of his energy sword, telling himself over and over again that this was just how things needed to be done, and that the longer he waited on this, the more Stingmon would be safe, and he was telling himself that he was going to be the ultimate stalling tool, no matter what this would mean for his own personal health or anything stupid like that. He started to walk closer and closer to JewelBeemon and then that was when JewelBeemon was just standing there, to watch how much longer Ken was going to keep this whole fucking fight up, and they were thinking that this was starting to just get a little bit sad at this point, and that they wished he would just give up on the whole thing and admit defeat.

"I have a lot of things that I would rather be doing right now. A lot of things that I think are a much better use of what I am doing, and a much better use of my time. But here I am right now, dealing with you, and having to fight you constantly, and dealing with the fact that you think you can be able to rule this world with some form of a iron fist. I will never get to know what you are really thinking, and to be honest I am not really sure that I want to be able to really fully understand what your mindset is right now. I have a feeling that if I were to study you, and try to understand you further, I might make the terrible mistake of actually getting to know you a bit more, and think that you might not be so bad after all." After Ken said this, there was a part of him that was wondering if maybe this was such a bad thing after all, and if maybe he did need to know what JewelBeemon was thinking.

When Ken said this, he saw the look on JewelBeemon's face, and he was clearly seeing that this fucking egotistical digimon was actually thinking that they would sort of be up for the challenge, or trying to get Ken to sort of see their way. They thought that doing this could be able to get them a very important ally, one that would be able to really change things for them. "I think that if this is something that you are willing to admit could be happening, I think that maybe you should consider what it is that I am trying to do much more."

Then when JewelBeemon said that, he kicked them right in the side of the face, and then the digimon took a couple of seconds of recoil to this and started to go back, to sort of really let this whole thing sink through the fact that Ken was just going to be fighting with them, and the fact that he was not going to give up this fight no matter how it was looking like things were going to be going against him.

Ken saw JewelBeemon grab the spear again and then he was thinking that he just needed to find a way to utterly destroy this thing, no matter how long it was going to take. The digimon tried to stab Ken once, but then Ken stepped on the bottom of the spear, which made it go back a little bit, preventing the stab from really going the way that JewelBeemon was planning, and then when that second of shock came over them, and the fact that they had just slipped up there fully set into motion, that was when Ken was thinking about what he was going to be able to do now.

When the spear thing was all said and done, and JewelBeemon had their first few seconds of shock really subside, there was something else that was coming over the digimon. The fact that they were really just getting sick and tired of everything that Ken was doing, and they were going to try and find a way to destroy this miserable fucking pest, no matter what it would really have to fucking take. So when that happened, JewelBeemon grabbed Ken by the face and then they started to stick the spear right through his chest a little bit. But the stab only went in a small amount when Ken just face pounded them and then Ken punched them a couple of times and then he took out the energy sword and turned it on and then he slashed as hard as he could. When he had done this, he saw that JewelBeemon's left arm was now on the ground, which made Ken realize that he was really onto something this time.

The fact that he had weakened down the digimon to this extent made Ken think that he was now able to start to stand a chance yet again. Then he saw that JewelBeemon was just bleeding out a ton, and then when they were bleeding out, Ken started to think about where else this was going to go. He saw that JewelBeemon was in a ton of pain, and then after he had done this, Ken was just seeing that JewelBeemon wanted to really lash out a bit. They wanted to make sure that Ken understood what it was like to be in his mind set, to always just be running into things, and just be throwing himself around with little to no thought on what they were doing. This digimon really wanted Ken to see what the full mistake of all of this would really fucking be.

But Ken was thinking that nothing that JewelBeemon was wanting to do would really be fully working out now, since this did mean that Ken was just going to be able to one up them on every single thing without them having one of their arms. After Ken had started to think more and more that he really did sort of have this one in the bag, he was also getting himself to think that maybe Stingmon did not need to be helping in the fight at all, and Ken was thinking that he really did have this one all to himself. When Ken thought that he could have had this all to himself, he was really feeling better about the way that he could fucking fight. He was thinking that maybe JewelBeemon was going to fall prey to everything that Ken had been feeling at that moment, and that they were going to see the full magnitude of all of the mistakes that they had been making now.

Despite the confidence boost that Ken had been getting this whole fucking way and throughout the entire fight, there was still a part of him that was thinking that he needed to be more certain on what was going to happen. JewelBeemon grabbed Ken with their right arm after just dropping the spear and seeing that this was really not helping them out as much as they had wanted to admit, and then they grabbed Ken around and started to slam him down on the ground. Once Ken had been slammed on the ground in a rather brutal fashion, Ken groaned in agony and then he was getting himself up. Or at least he was trying to get himself up when Stingmon stomped on his chest twice in a row, and then Ken was starting to feel like his bones were about to crack a bit, and then after he had started to feel this way, Ken wondered where this was really going to be taking him, and what he was going to be doing to this whole situation right now.

Eventually, Ken was getting through the shock and anger at the fact that he was being beaten down like this, and he was telling himself that he was just sick and tired of this whole thing, and that he was going to bet JewelBeemon once and for all, he was slowly feeling the motions of walking coming around again, and he was feeling like he was sort of understanding how he was going to get through this whole thing now.

JewelBeemon really did have to give Ken more credit than they ever thought they could. "You know, I never thought that you were going to put up such a good fight. You really are giving this whole thing your all. I am not going to deny you anything like that at all. I think that you really could know what you are doing if you just tried a little bit fucking harder." After JewelBeemon had said that, this was when Ken was thinking about something else. The fact that Ken just needed to push himself through this whole thing. He just needed to fight as long and as hard as he could, and he just needed to keep going until JewelBeemon was dead, or until he was dead. Part of Ken was thinking that it would have been even better if both of these things could sort of be happening.

"I have a job I needed to do, and I am not going to give up until this job is done. I have a lot of patience. I feel like that is something that you seriously lacked when you were looking at me. You thought that I was just going to be a easy guy to throw around, but that is not going to be the case anymore." After Ken had said that, he was just really waiting to see what the digimon was going to try and say now, or if they were just going to not even try and entertain Ken anymore, and that they were going to focus on the battle now.

"The more that I listen to you running your mouth, the more that I think you are totally insane, and that you really have no idea what you are even talking about most of the time. I think that you seriously have got to get a grip on the way that you are looking at things right now." After JewelBeemon had said that, this was when Ken was just thinking about the fact that this was sort of one of the more interesting fights that he was doing now, since throughout this entire thing, there was some of a debate going on this entire way. He was really feeling like he understood to a very small extent where this was going to be going, and despite the fear that was going on his mind when he was thinking this, Ken still felt like having some form of a understanding of his enemy was really the most important thing that he could have been doing. That this banter that he was carrying out was something that was really going to add another level of depth to this whole ordeal, even if a lot of the talk itself was a little bit cartoony.

Despite the fact that Ken was starting to think that like he was saying earlier, the talk itself was a little bit cartoony, it did open up his mind to how JewelBeemon was thinking on a regular basis and everything. It did open up his mind a bit more to see just how insane this digimon really was, and there was the part of him that was thinking this was a good character insight, and that he just needed to keep going on this, and see how far this was really going to be going.

There was one other thing that he was telling himself. That just fighting this thing was much easier than he was thinking, and that if he was able to get through this relatively easily, then he was telling himself that he was going to get through the rest of this sort of easily as well. He just needed to focus one everything else that was going on at that moment. When he was deciding to focus on the fact that he had weakened them down, he was thinking about how he was going to destroy this thing now, and how he was going to make them see that he was at that point where he was just no longer taking any amount of bullshit that was going on at this rate. He was fucking over it. He wanted to fucking kill JewelBeemon, and when he was thinking of this desire that was growing more and more, he was thinking that he was going to go with it.

As Ken was thinking about the idea of finishing what he had started, there was that motivation that he kept growing more and more. he was forcing himself along, and he was telling himself that one way or another, this battle was going to end now, and that this was going to be all that there would be to it. As he was telling himself this, Ken was just thinking that if Stingmon saw how he was doing, that Stingmon could have actually been proud of what Ken was doing. He was telling himself that maybe Stingmon would have actually gone down there, and did their best to really help him out. But the more that he was thinking about what it would be like to have Stingmon be there for him at their side, Ken was getting himself more and more in tuned to everything that was going on around him.

He turned around in a spinning motion when he saw that JewelBeemon had vanished for a moment, feeling like he was knowing where this was going to go before it had even started. He was holding the energy sword as tightly as possible, thinking that if he had let this thing go, then he was going to be utterly fucked, and that he just needed to keep this thing at his side for as long as possible. He needed to have the feeling that he did have some form of defense going on this entire fucking way. But when he was thinking this, there was something else that was coming to his mind. The fact that he was just going to really see if Sam's spirit had been there watching him and trying to make sure that everything was going to be fine.

The more that Ken was thinking about JewelBeemon, and the idea of Sam being at his side, that was when he was thinking more and more about what he was actually going to try to do now. He needed to make sure that the entire battle was still under control. "This is one of the longest fights that I have had in a very long time. I almost forgot of the thrill of what it is like to be fighting. You have given this thrill back to me. For that, I have to thank you." After they had said this, Ken was wondering how Ken had been able to fight better than everything else that had fought them before, and Ken was just feeling certain that they were just saying this to let his guard down.

"I don't really think that you are telling the truth. I think that you just might be saying that to me to make me think that I am better than I really am. I sort of appreciate the sentiment I guess. But that doesn't mean that I am really going to fall for this. I mean, I think that it would have been more likely for you to say that I was the biggest waste of time you dealt with." After Ken said that, he smiled as if wondering when this digimon was finally going to let their guard down.

The more that he was thinking about when they were going to just let their guard down, that was when Ken was starting to think that there was a chance that maybe he was the one who was already sort of letting that happen at that moment. When Ken started to think that maybe it was him this whole time that was having this problem, that was when he was telling himself that he just needed to get much more focused on this whole thing now. But then Ken was thinking more to himself, and he was still in that level of personal peace that he still had not really had in a very long time, and that was still just barely enough to be able to keep him going on this entire ordeal.

Even as this was going on, there was something else that Ken was thinking. He was thinking that even with everything that was going on, he was still telling himself that Stingmon was a better fit for this role at this moment, and that Stingmon should have been the one doing the fighting right now, and that they should have been the one who was really taking things on the entire way there. Then eventually, due to him just feeling like he needed to do it, even though he had no desire to, he ended up letting go of the hilt on his left hand, and there was just him holding it with his right hand, and he was feeling so much easier and more at rest with what was going on then.

JewelBeemon started to fly to Ken and then they took out their hand and like what Stingmon had done earlier, they took out some form of blade from their hand, but this one was not really a energy blade. This was a actual physical blade and then they started to swing at Ken again and again and then Ken was cut right across the chest, not enough to make him have like all his guts coming out, but enough to give him a scar that would pretty much stay around the rest of his life.

Ken eventually saw JewelBeemon ready to attack again, and then he swung down and went through the chest at the top all the way to the bottom, and then when he had done that, he was seeing JewelBeemon just looking at Ken, and after a moment of silence, they fell down on the ground and then they were starting to go a little bit silent. Then when JewelBeemon was on the ground, Ken turned his blade off and then he grabbed the digimon and lifted them off the ground, to see what they were about to try and tell him in their final moments.

"You know, I thought that you were really going to fuck that one up at the end there young man. I have to admit, I did not really think that you actually had it in you to pull this whole thing off. Maybe I should have given you another chance. But it doesn't really matter now. I guess that now, you are going to be off and fighting your own life." After JewelBeemon had said that, there was a small hint to their voice that was showing deep and true respect for the young man that had bested them in combat. Even if it was a long battle, and one that was by no means easy, the fact that he came out on top at all showed that Ken did actually listen to what was taught to him at least a little bit. Then when the digimon was actually thinking this, Ken was just not really too sure where this was going to go now.

"Well, I just felt the need to fight until I got the purpose that I was looking for in my life. I felt like I was so close to finding it. That I was truly fighting for something that I might have been able to believe in. I think that this is what you should always fucking do when you are fucking fighting. You need to fight for what you think is right, not for the sake of the sport in it all." Ken was not really too sure himself why he was lecturing this digimon, since they were soon to fall prey to being too weak to live on any longer, but he was just feeling like he needed to tell them the truth.

"I think that you just seemed to think that there was something that would drive you forward. I don't know what was going on in your head, and in all honesty, I don't really even know if it mattes anymore. What does matter is the fact that you finally have everything sorted out in your mind. You felt like you made the right choice, and that is all that I can say to the matter. I just wish that you were able to see the vision of my goal, and you would be able to see why I wanted to do things my way so badly." After JewelBeemon started to say this, Ken started to think for a moment longer, trying to formulate a response.

"I don't know if I get it now. But who knows, there is a chance that one of these days, I will be able to get it. I think that I just need to sort of go around and travel around more. Sort of look for what things are now. I think you will one day sort of have your influence stuck onto me, no matter if I like it or not. I think that I have not really gotten away from you, even if you are not around there face to face to see what I am doing right now or ever." After Ken said that, he was starting to feel like this was almost a certainty, and not just a theory that he had been growing in his mind.

"I think that this is the first thing that you have ever said that we can agree on. Maybe you really do know me much more than I let you on to have. Not that it even really fucking matters anymore. As much as I hate to admit it. I mean, you already know where you are planning on going with your life now, and I think that I just sort of need to accept this. I sort of need to accept the fact that you have already made a choice on where you are going with your life. I may not always agree with this choice, but I think that looking around for what you think may not really even matter anymore. I think that this is something that would be considered to be a bit fucking rudimentary by this point in time." After JewelBeemon said this, that was when both of them were looking up at the fucking night sky, and then Ken was thinking more about what had just happened.

"We were so busy fighting each other, trying to see who was better and everything. That we did not even see what was there in front of us. That we did not really see the fact that we were sort of being fucking monkeys about this whole ordeal. Down right nearly embarrassing. I think that maybe we should have thought about this better." Ken said, and then he was wondering what the digimon was going to react to his current statement by. He was wondering if there was a chance that they might even agree with what he had said. If this was the case, Ken would be thinking that there was more to what he was thinking with this digimon with each passing moment now that they were actually taking it casually with each other.

"I just wish that one of these days, the things that I wanted to do will be seen by everybody, and they will see that I was right about the goals that I had. That I was not totally crazy. I might have a little bit of a insanity sprint going with me, I will admit. But I think that over all, I did actually have something going on here." After JewelBeemon had said that to Ken, he was hoping that the young human would be able to see where he was coming from, and he was just sort of hoping that the two of them were going to be able to really see eye to eye one of these days. He was hoping that what Ken had said earlier was not just going to possibly happen, but would actually happen one of these days, and that they just sort of needed to wait for this to happen.

"JewelBeemon, I do have to wonder, now that you have talked to me a little bit more, what really was your vision that you really having this whole time? I mean, I heard you talking about it a couple of times, but you never once told me what this vision really was." Ken said, thinking that this was going to be the biggest moment of his entire dialogue with JewelBeemon. That this entire thing was really going to set everything apart from each other. As Ken had said this, JewelBeemon was looking at Ken, and then there was a short bit of silence there, and then Ken wondered to himself how much longer this silence was going to be, and then he was hearing JewelBeemon starting to talk with him again, and as a result the wait did not have to really last all that fucking long.

"Well, when I was younger, I was asked a very simple question. One that I never really thought about before hand, before I was too fucking young and too fucking stupid to be thinking about it, but I was just simply asked, what kind of world I wanted. When I was asked this question though, I started to think more and more about it, and I came to some form of realizations now." After JewelBeemon had said this to Ken, that was when the young teen was listening to them more intently, and he was wanting to see where exactly this was going to go, thinking that they really did need to go further into it than this, but only because he just really wanted to see where this would end up taking him.

"Where did you exactly go when you were asked this question?" Ken asked, and then he was thinking that while he did not really fully get it all, he was thinking that maybe the digimon was sort of trying to fulfill what their answer to the question would have been, and this was where it all needed to come down to.

Even though Ken was not sure if he was going to agree with what the digimon was going to say, and he was feeling like there was going to be some form of a growing certainty that there might have been some insanity to them, Ken was thinking that maybe in theory at least, there can be some form of understanding. That there even could have been some form of sympathy.

"Well, when I was asked what I had wanted, I started to think about all of the fucked up things that had already been going on. The things that clearly showed that this world was not really going around the way it should have been. That nobody really cared unless if they were the one who was affected by what was being presented. It was a level of greed, and I was starting to realize how wrong it all was. I wanted to create something where there wasn't any problems with that going on." After JewelBeemon said this, they were looking at Ken, to see if they were getting it at all.

"I think that I might be slowly getting it. Not too much, and not really enough to say that my opinions are entirely changed or anything. But enough for me to sort of say that I sort of understand what you are saying." After Ken had said that, he was wondering what JewelBeemon would be saying to him, as if going to say that they were glad that Ken was sort of getting it now. After Ken was thinking about this, he was wondering what else he could really say to show JewelBeemon that he was at the very least trying to see where they were coming from.

"I was wanting a world where there would be no problem with getting around. I thought that if I managed to take it over, and everything would be fine since I was the one with the fucking vision. I thought that since I was the one with the fucking vision that I would be fine. That I did not need to subscribe to what everybody around me was thinking or doing. I thought that the only one that I needed to worry about was me, and that was only because I was worried that if I did anything else, then I would lose sight of what my original goal was. I felt like my original goal was indeed good, and that I just needed to finally sort of go along with what I wanted. When I decided that I was good where I was going, I decided that I was going to just get as far into this as I could possibly be able to go here. When I thought that this was all I needed to do, I decided to just go with it. I decided that I would just see where this was going to go. And then when I would see that I got what I wanted, the I could finally make it all work out." After JewelBeemon had said this, they were wondering what Ken would be saying, and then they were sort of trying to wait and see if Ken was going to ask more questions, or if he was going to let this whole thing be.

"What is wrong about trying to create a world that you want? A world where you feel like you are the one who is truly helping out in every single way that you could have been able to? I thought that if anything, my intentions would be greater appreciated." After JewelBeemon said this, Ken was just sort of unsure what he was going to say, but he felt like the digimon at least wanted him to talk, so he was going to do just this, to sort of see if he could be able to really put what he was thinking down into words, and not be sitting there as just a listener.

"Well, I think that what you wanted to do was not the problem. I think it is not this that you were wrong about. I think it is the fact that you decided that you were going to resort to the tactics that you did use that really changes everything. I think you should have been more clean about the way that you were doing this. I feel like if you were able to do something like this, then maybe you could have been able to really pull something off there. I think that you just needed to see your mistakes in the whole ordeal." After Ken had said that, he was wondering what JewelBeemon was going to say. "I mean, even if your intentions were good, the way you were going about them was fucking awful, and honestly, you should have been ashamed of the way that you decided to handle things." After Ken had said that, he was wondering what JewelBeemon was going to be saying, and he was wondering if the digimon was going to find a way to try and get themselves out of this, or if they were going to just let Ken continue talking throughout this whole thing. As Ken was thinking about this, and JewelBeemon was thinking over the blunt truth to this all, it was creating a moment in which both were utmost silent for a few seconds longer.

"I guess I just never wanted to think of it that way. I think I was just perhaps too scared too look at it this way. You know, sort of admitting that I did nothing right is a pretty scary thing for one to do. I think that maybe I should have just tried to go at this with a more clear mind. I should have tried to show you the way of my vision. But not in a way to where you think I was just a anarchist. Which I guess when I look at it through your lens, as a spectator, I could sort of see where you would be coming from." After the digimon admitted this, they were sort of hating themselves even more for even considering the idea of what they had just admitted.

"Well you know, I just wanted to present you with the truth of the matter. I wish that you would at least see it my way. I just think that I am going to keep fighting for what I believe in as well. I guess in a way, now that I am here, sort of thinking about this more, I am sort of that way as well. The fact that I am going after what I believe in, and only what I believe in. Sort of makes me come off as a bit of a fucking hypocrite when I think about it. Strange how now I am sort of getting it. Sort of getting where you are coming from." After Ken said that, he was wondering where else this was going to be going now. He was wondering how much longer this discussion would be going on.

"I guess that when you look at something, there will always be somebody who come off as a bit crazy to the eyes of somebody else. You are going to look like the crazy one to some others, and when that happens, there is a chance that they are going to be going after you. I think that it is very important to be considering that. That you might be going through this one day. That you might be sort of dealing with what is to come sooner or later now. You just need to be prepared for when that is going to be coming up. I just hope that you are going to be ready for this when it does happen. I mean, I am shocked that I even lasted as long as I did before it happened to me if I were to be entirely frank with you. I thought it would have happened so much fucking sooner than it did. But I guess that maybe I sort of should have given myself more credit for being able to hide myself in plain sight than ever." After the digimon had said this, there was another moment of silence, when the two beings were considering this.

"But before this all comes to an end, there is something that I do have to ask of you to do. I really do have an important request that I want you to be going through with right now." After JewelBeemon said this, Ken was wondering what this would be, and he was also wondering if he really wanted to do this, but then he was telling himself that there was nothing wrong with giving them what they had wanted. Even if it was a bit silly, and not what they had wanted.

"When you get the chance, can you please go out there, and can you please destroy the man in the purple jacket for me? They are one of the sickest people in the world, and you must see that I am right when I say this. This must be the one thing that we can agree on. They ruined everything that I ever stood for when I now see the true light of things. They ruined everything. Every single little fucking thing that I ever fucking stood for was fucking raped and ruined by what they were doing. I want them to see that they were wrong in ever thinking that they were going to do what they had wanted. And the worst part was that at the time, when I heard them speaking and telling me their lies, I fully believed in them. I fully believed in the promises he made for us." After JewelBeemon said this, there was a sudden cold moment in Ken's mind. How in the end, this wasn't even all their fault at all.

"You have no fucking idea how personal this guy has made everything for me right now. They have a lot of things that they need to be paying for, and you can be absolutely certain that I am going to get them for every single one of them. I am going to make them see that I am not to be fucked with when you make me mad." After Ken had said that, he was looking right at JewelBeemon, who was seeing the look on Ken's face, and that when when JewelBeemon was thinking that maybe Ken was actually the right one that they ended up placing their trust in when they had told Ken to go out there and take care of all of this for them.

"I think that maybe we just did not ever take the time to really see the truth in the moment. But now that I am certain of what we are both looking at right now, I think that we need to sort of see where this is going to head down now. I think that we should see what we had to really plan out first. Now that you and I seem to know what we are feeling, and where you want to be heading on this, I think that I can be able to leave you be on this, and that it is time for me to resign myself, and accept the fact that you have truly beaten me at my own fucking game." After JewelBeemon had said that, Ken and JewelBeemon were wondering how much longer they would be able to last.

"Trust me when I say that I will do everything that I fucking can to make sure that this man is defeated. I will not let them continue this anymore. I am going to fight them and keep going until this is all said and done. You can be sure of this, no matter where this is going to go." After Ken said that, he was just sort of watching JewelBeemon smile. As he was seeing JewelBeemon smile, there was something else Ken was thinking. That there was a certain amount of bliss to the way that the digimon was looking at him.

As if JewelBeemon had looked at Ken, and then what he was saying, and then after this, started to look at him as a bit of an acceptable apprentice. As if JewelBeemon really did make the right choice on training him in the first place, and that they needed to just wait a while to really see this choice pay off the way that it had now. "Young man, I believe in what you are telling me. I believe that you will be the one who will make things right. I truly believe that you are going to do what you told me you were going to do." After JewelBeemon said that, there was a silence that they had, and then Ken nodded, as if he was ready to accept the fact he was wrong about the digimon after all.

Ken eventually let JewelBeemon go after this, and then that was when Ken knew that JewelBeemon really was gone now. He started to feel like at the very end, he did understand where they were coming from. It took all the way to the very last second, and it was something that he was really not at all ready to face, but it was something that he was willing to accept now that the truth was presented right in front of him. When he was thinking about the truth, there was something else that was crossing his mind.

Just by simply having this conversation, and just by really seeing where they were coming from, that was when Ken was finally sort of getting it. He got where they were coming from, and by doing this, he was able to finally accept the idea that maybe he was growing up in a way. Growing into a mature man. Growing into a man who really can sort things out on his own. As he was thinking this, and he was thinking about the fact that he was finally getting to see what they were like, Ken was making peace with everything going on, and he was thinking it was time for him to finally get going, and to actually see where the digimon were all going, and where they were going to be all coming from.

Ken walked right back to the mayors hall and once he was inside, he was seeing Stingmon standing there. Stingmon was next to the mayor, and they were both sort of wondering what had happened, and where this fight had really gone. "Well, I think it is time for us to get the hell out of here." After Ken said that, he was looking at the mayor.

"I got a contract to fulfill. One under the idea of bringing some form of redemption to those who were not getting what they deserved." After Ken had said that, he was shaking his head and then the mayor was just not really too sure what to say. "Like you said, there is going to be a war starting soon, and you better get ready for it. You are going to have to do your part soon, or else you are going to be fucked." After he had said that, he walked out of the mayors hall and then Stingmon was really just not sure what to think of the moment.

"Is there anything that you want to talk to me about?" Stingmon asked, as if thinking that maybe Ken just needed to express how he was feeling on the matter. When they had asked Ken this, there was a moment of silence and then Ken shook his head, thinking that this was going to get the point across.

"No I don't really think I want to talk about anything right now. I think I just need some time to be thinking about all that is going on. Something that I never really like to do in the first place. But now that I am here, right now, I am starting to think that maybe I should try and do." After Ken had said that, he was looking right at Stingmon, and he was seeing that Stingmon was going to respect his wishes, and just sort of understand the fact that Ken needed some personal space every once in a while. When Stingmon thought about that, they just simply nodded, thinking that it would be best to just let it go now.

"Well, I get that you don't want to talk about it right now. I fully respect and understand this. But if you change your mind, then please just feel free to talk to me, and feel free to sort of open up about what you are thinking, and I will try my best to be helping you out right now." After Stingmon had said this, there was a part of Ken that was just glad that Stingmon was able to be so open about most things with them, and that was when Ken was starting to think that maybe he should have given Stingmon more credit than they had been giving the digimon, and that this digimon really did go through more than they deserved to get here. When Ken started to think that, he shook his head, as if thinking that it was awful that this was the way that things had been going.

"I think that I might start to talk to you more about it later. I think that I just need time right now. Nothing wrong with that. But trust me, if I ever think that I just need to open up about something, then I will come along and talk with you on everything. I just want to really process this all right now. Please understand that I can't really do anything else right now." After Ken said this, he was thinking about what the digimon was going to say, and he was wondering if Stingmon was going to respect his wishes.

"Well, I thank you for being so up front and frank with me on things right now. I respect the fact that you are finally telling me the truth and everything. I just want you to see that I do appreciate the truth now. I appreciate the fact that everything you do right now is something that you think will help somebody else out. You really do know what you want to do, and I will be there for the ride, even if I do not always agree, I will still see it through." After Stingmon said this, the two eventually found a shack about three days away from the city and Ken knocked on the door only to see that he was answered by a bunch of other human beings there.


End file.
